BROWNiES

I am sorry. I really am. It's just that I can't help myslef. It's almost beyond my control. I keep posting recipes who are really good for your mouth but not so good for your thighs. I promess, the next post will be healthy (Fortunatly, I also wrote "and my love for baking" to the healthy, organic pitch in the blog presentation. This makes me feel a bit less guilty)
Plus, as you may all know,  I have wayyyyy more clicks when I post decadent food. Please, leave me some comments. This will help the mood to keep blogging (Is that even a word? If it is I say the world is way out of control)

Oh BROWNiES BROWNiES, BROWNiES !!!!!!!!!! On their own (frozen, cold, hot from the pan) brownies are already amazing but add vanilla icream and caramel sauce and your favorite dessert will no longer be cheescake or tarte tatin. I feel like eating the picture up here. Ok. Stop. Calm down. Take a deep breath.  Everything is going to be ok.
You can make this brownie recipe just the way it is, no ice cream or caramel and they will already be amazing. You will only need one bowl and it's such a simple recipe. The best if you ask me. Lightly crunchy on the outside and a bit chewy gooey yummy inside.

iNGREDiENTS:

• 85 gr unsweetened chocolate, roughly chopped

• 85 gr all-purpose flour
• 115 gr butter

• 250 gr sugar

• 2 large eggs

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• a pinch of flaky sea salt


RECiPE:

• Preheat your oven to 175°C (350°F).
• In a pan over medium low eat, gently melt chocolate and butter. (microwave or bain-marie works as well)
• Transfer chocolate and butter mixture to a bowl or make the batter in the pan (less dishes!!)
• Stir sugar + vanilla extract.
• Add egg, one at a time.
• Finally stir in flour.  
• Butter a square baking pan or put parchement paper on the bottom of the pan (my favorite option) so the cake won't stick. Don't skip this or you will have a hard time unmolding the brownie.
• With a spoon, scrape batter into bakingpan. 
• Sprinkle with sea salt.
• Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out batter-free.
• Let cool and cut into desired size. If you’re like me, you will prefer these and all brownies, cold or even frozen. But I bet you’re normal and will just eat them hot from the pan. 
• ET VOiLA !

MACARONS the old fashion way

The old fashion way is always the best. This recipe is so simple, tender on the inside and crunchy on the outside. Trust me, once you try it you will never stop making it. Plus, the only fat comes from the nuts and it's gluten free. This recipe has become one of my trade mark recipes. Go for it!

iNGREDiENTS :

• 200 gr icing sugar
• 150 gr ground almonds
• 100 gr ground azelnuts
• 3 egg whites
• zest of one orange
• a few drops of almond extract

RECiPE :

• Preheat your oven at 175°C (350°F)
• Stir all your ingredients together: ground almonds & azelnuts + icing sugar + egg whites + orange zest + almond extract.
• On a prepared parchment paper, form little balls, using two spoons; a piping bag, fitted with a 12mm nozzle or a homemade piping bag (cf video recipe).
• Bake for about 12 to 15 minutes or until the macarons are lithely brown on the edges. The center should stay quite tender and the edges a bit crunchy.
• ET VOiLA ! (easy, eh? ;) )

APPLE AND ORANGE TEA CAKE

This cake is a variation of a cake I make all the time. It's a butter/oil free tea cake with apple and orange zest. So no butter, no oil but a lovely and creamy mascarpone cheese, mostly used to make the famous Italian Tiramisu. Mascarpone gives a light and moist texture to the cake, and the orange zest a nice perfumed flavour. This recipe is really simple to make and you will only need one bowl. So if you are tired of doing the dishes, this is for you!

iNGREDiENTS:

• 250 gr mascarpone
• 220 gr organic cane sugar (preferable but not essential)
• 250 gr all purpose flour
• 3 eggs
• zest of half a lemon
• 1 small orange (zest + juice of half of the orange)
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 big apple
• 1 pear (the pear will bring more moistness to the cake)

RECiPE:

• Preheat your oven at 180°C (350°F)
• In a bowl, stir together: mascarpone + sugar + eggs, until creamy.
• Add: flour + baking powder and stir again.
• Add the lemon and orange zest + juice of half the orange. Stir again.
• Peel and core the apple and the pear and cut them in pieces. This time I cut them in thin small slices but depending on how you like it, you can also make big pieces.
• Add them to the batter and stir one last time.
• Put the batter into a prepared baking pan (greased with butter). 

• Bake from 40 to 60 minutes, when a skewer will come out clean, it's done. The baking time will really depend on your oven and cake pan size. Start checking after 30 minutes. You might have to cover the cake with foil after about 30min to stop the top from over-browning.
• ET VOiLÀ!