Blueberry Clafoutis

I cheated.

I peaked in at around 40 minutes.  I don't know what I was expecting, but it certainly wasn't this.

Living, breathing, sighing, heaving.

My clafoutis was alive.    Billowing sheets of yellow custard.   Breathing in and out.   Hot, heavy breath.

I closed the oven door and walked away.  Tried to forget what I just saw.

Five minutes more.   The buzzer.

One more heaving sigh and then silence.    A lone blueberry exuded itself through the now thin crust of  golden yellow.

This is one hot little dessert.

A classic french dessert, traditionally made with cherries, it is a cross between a baked custard and an airy puffy pancake.   Very easy to put together and the results are subtly sweet and light.   (Makes great leftovers for breakfast.)  

Do you have a favorite blueberry recipe? 

Blueberry Clafoutis

Ingredients

1 pint blueberries, rinsed
3 whole eggs
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon almond extract
2/3 cup flour

butter
mint for garnish

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Butter your baking dish and layer bottom with blueberries.   Set aside.  I used a 9 inch cake pan.

In a medium bowl, combine eggs, cream, sugar and almond extract.    Mix in flour to form a smooth batter.

Pour batter over blueberries and let settle to reach all sides.  

Bake for 40 - 50 minutes or until you reach a golden topping.   Remove from oven.  The clafoutis will naturally puff and deflate.   Let sit for 10 - 15 minutes before serving.   Garnish with fresh mint before serving.

The Idea Was Good

I fell in love with this dessert.   Head over heels.   (if you squint and look close enough, you can actually see this illustrated in the spoon above.)

I had grand visions of recreating it at home.    Bringing back a little taste of Charleston to our dinner table.    

On our final night in Charleston, at FIG, we dined lavishly on all kinds of good stuff.    I was thrilled that they even made me a "very special" vegetarian plate for my entree.   I seriously felt awesome.   Who gets to eat a plate full of beets and sunchokes and farro on their birthday?  (yay, me.)

But the dessert, the dessert, was fabulous.    I couldn't take any pictures as the romantic mood lighting made for some horrendous blur, but trust me when I tell you how good this was.

Chocolate Budino with Sea Salted Caramel and Toasted Hazelnuts

John wasn't super excited about it as he's not a fan of hazelnuts but he definitely jumped in after my first bite.   I'd never had a budino before, an Italian pudding.    It was light, smooth chocolate silk.    As you slipped your spoon through the top layer of chocolate, you uncovered a buttery layer of salted caramel.  Topped with toasted hazelnuts and a light dusting of flaky sea salt.    I'm sure I say this alot, but we did feel like we had died and gone to heaven.  

I knew I was going to try and recreate this at home.    A way of celebrating my blog birthday and sharing something completely fabulous with all of you.

I cleared out my calendar, set aside an afternoon, turned on some tunes, laid out my ingredients and got to work.   The sun was flooding the kitchen (spring, I love you.) and I was happy happy.  

I had the makings of a caramel base going on the stove.    The corn syrupy mixture turned a deep shade of amber and I removed it from the burner to 'gently' add the cream and butter and salt.  

Here's where everything goes wrong.   Apparently, I wasn't gentle enough.  My promising caramel base turned into rock hard solid chunks of extremely salty candy like material.    So I did what all good cooks do and dumped in a ton more sugar and an equal amount of butter followed by a heart stopping amount of cream.     I whisked and stirred.    Put it on the burner and took it off.   High heat, low heat.  Prayed a little.

Eventually, I had what looked like a caramel base.    Looks, however, can be very deceiving.    (It tasted like gritty, salty, sweet, chewy, stomach rotting, grittiness.)

I crossed my fingers that no one would notice and I buried that lump of caramel like base under an almost perfect layer of silky smooth dark chocolate Italian pudding.  

Two seriously bad stomach aches later, one of which morphed into a case of viral like flu and I learned the hard way that sometimes it is just better to start over.

On a more positive note, I've been reading up on food styling and figured my little puddings would at the very least make for a fun photography session.

Any recent kitchen mishaps that you care to share?    (Sometimes, it is just best to admit defeat.)

Chocolate Raspberry Tart

File this one away under "Ridiculously Good".    I say this without the slightest bit of exaggeration.   My pet peeve for recipes that claim to be the best ever (ever. ever. ever.) keeps me cautious on my use of superlatives.

I am one of those strange women who never enjoyed chocolate until my thirties, when some massive hormonal shift took over and swayed my taste.    I didn't like ground beef either, but that's a different story and completely unappetizing in the context of chocolate.

The cravings started with those those little volcano chocolate cakes with the melting centers.  These did the job until they started appearing on menus everywhere and quality took a nosedive.    As a rule, I now only order "the volcano" when the menu requires a twenty minute lead time, otherwise, I don't bother.

Lately, I have been looking for a chocolate dessert that I can serve at home.   A dinner party staple.   Something easy, but, fabulous.   This is the recipe.    A layer of buttery chocolaty crust, topped with a truffle like (extremely rich) interior, brushed with a thin layer of fresh raspberry preserves and finished with a smooth dark chocolate glaze.    

Smooth, rich, creamy chocolate heaven.   Seriously.  The best dessert I've ever made.  

Strawberry and Vanilla Cupcakes

I like pink.

(Not afraid to say it.)

I also like pretty sparkly things and dinner by candlelight.

I like long walks on the beach and romantic sunsets.

(For the record, I like Justin Beiber too.   (Yes, I know.))

So, naturally, I love Valentine's day.

Lemon Snowflakes

Lemon Snowflakes.    Aren't they pretty?

As I prepare to escape the frigid North Carolina weather, I wanted to leave you with something that I think you might enjoy.    Sweet, light, fresh and a little sparkly.    Like a cold winters day, but you can enjoy these inside, where it is warm and cozy.   Maybe with a cup of tea?    

Perfect for a cookie swap or holiday dessert table which is exactly what I made these for.   I am looking forward to sharing the entire table of goodies with you, but for now just a little taste.  

Originally hearts in this recipe from Good Housekeeping, I swapped these for the beautiful snowflake design and decided that snowflakes are very deserving of a sprinkling of silvery edible glitter.    

Lemon Snowflake Cookies

Ingredients
3 cups all purpose flour
3 tablespoons cornstarch
3/4 tablespoons salt
3 sticks butter
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon grated fresh lemon peel
1 and 1/2 teaspoons lemon extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract

Lemon Glaze Ingredients
1 and 1/2 cups powdered sugar
5 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1 and 1/2 teaspoons lemon peel

edible silver glitter

Preparation
1.  Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2.  Combine flour, cornstarch and salt in small bowl.
3.  Combine butter and sugar in a large bowl with mixer at medium speed.   Add in lemon peel and extracts.  
4.  Reduce speed to low and gradually add in flour mixture.
5.  Divide dough in half.
6.  Roll each half to about 3/8 inch thick.
7.  Using snowflake cookie cutter, cut as many cookies from sheet as possible.  
8.  Place cookies on ungreased large cookie sheet, about an inch apart.
9.   Bake about 15 minutes until a pale golden color.
10.  Repeat with dough scraps and second half until all cookies are baked.
11.  Transfer to rack and let cool about ten minutes.
12.   While cookies are baking, make lemon glaze.    Add powdered sugar, lemon juice and peel to small bowl and whisk until smooth.
13.   Dip each warm cookie into glaze and place back on rack to cool and set.
14.   Before fully setting, sprinkle with glitter (optional).

Stay warm and bon appetit!

Italian Wedding Cookies

My little wedding ticker thing says I'll be getting married in 5 days.   Yikes.

I mean that in an "I am so very excited to finally do this" kind of way.    I am not good at waiting.   This last minute stuff is killing me.   I saved up a bunch of mini projects just to take my mind off of the anticipation.   I am very grateful that we have had a short engagement period.  

To say I have a case of anxiety right now is a major understatement.     Anxiety mixed with a sense of calm.   Up and down.  I'm even driving myself crazy!   Ugh... Saturday, just get here already.

When I get this way I need to do things to keep busy.     Lately I've been filling my time with some pretty intense 'last chance' workouts.   Ever since I brought The Dress home last week and it is hanging on my door I have been feeling it taunting me.   Come on... one more work out... you can do it...

Well, these crazy workouts are resulting in an injured knee, unexplainable lower back pain and now a weird throbbing pain in my left hip.    I have to cut back a bit and find another diversion to keep me occupied or I risk finding myself limping down the aisle.      Luckily, I love to cook and moving myself back into the kitchen is a welcome reprieve (although I realize counterproductive in terms of The Dress, but that's besides the point).

I vowed that October would be the launch of wedding month here on Vita Nostra.   Then I realized I probably should not write too much about it or I'll give all the good stuff away in advance of the wedding.   So I will be keeping it a little intentionally vague for now, filling this space with little hints of what is to come.

Today I give you Italian Wedding Cookies.    We had these every Christmas when I was growing up.    Batches stacked up in containers kept cool in the frigid garage (winter in New Hampshire = lots of free refrigeration in unexpected spots) throughout the month of December.    

Powdery simple sweetness in a buttery shortbready (not too sweet) way.  (Warning: Addictive)

I tried to get my dad to find my mother's recipe, but no luck.   This one, on AllRecipes.com was perfect in a pinch.   The only thing I changed was a slight reduction in salt.  I will definitely be using this recipe again.   As far as baking goes, this is really simple and they are fun to make.   You could easily go a little haywire with the powdered sugar though, so be careful or you'll be finding it in some very unexpected locations around your kitchen.   Not that this happened to me or anything ...

Italian Wedding Cookies

Ingredients
1 and a 1/2 cups unsalted butter
3/4 cup powered sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 and 1/2 cups finely ground almonds
4 and 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups all purpose flour
Lots of extra powdered sugar for rolling

Preparation
1.  Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2.  Add butter and powdered sugar to large bowl.   Cream together.   Add salt.   Beat everything with a hand mixer (if available) until light and fluffy.    
3.  Add almonds and vanilla extract.   Mix.   (Note - if you are not able to purchase ground almonds, just do it yourself.    Buy the slivered ones and run them through your blender for a minute or two.)

4.  Gradually blend in flour until well mixed.
5.  Use one teaspoon of dough for each cookie.    Shape with your hand into a round ball, crescent, or any other shape that you find appealing.   Place on ungreased cookie sheet.   You can place these fairly close together as they do not spread.

6.  Bake for 15 to 20 minutes.    Remove before browning.   The color of the cookie should remain light, but should be firm to the touch.    I did mine for 16 minutes per batch.
7.  Remove from sheet and let cool for 2 to 3 minutes.    Roll each cookie in powdered sugar until fully coated.   Set aside for further cooling.

Enjoy!

And that's my little hint for today of things to come...

Ode to Madeleine(s)

My first born child will be named Madeleine.    Madeleine Sophia.    Or Sophia Madeleine.  

Or something altogether different if she shows up as a boy instead.  

Are baby names like weddings?   Do little girls dream of these and compile lists of their favorites?   I did.    Well, on the baby name part anyway.   Somehow I missed dreaming about planning my wedding.   I know, that doesn't seem quite right when I say that out loud.   Oh well.  It is fun to fantasize about what might lie ahead.  

So in honor of my (potential) future, I'm dedicating today's post to the Madeleine.   We are moving away from the baby arena and on to the sweet delicate french cake of the same name.   I have to confess that while in Paris, I never once had a madeleine.  I saw them.  I knew of them.  I just never had one.  

In fact, given this background, I certainly didn't think of purchasing a madeleine pan while compiling my lists of must have things to bring home from Paris.    My list had all kinds of other things, but not this.     It turns out that on one of my shopping afternoons at the Place du Madeleine, poking around all of the amazing gourmet shops, with dreams of filling my luggage with all kinds of french treats, I had a sort of a reality check.

First, I remembered the hassle of flying into Paris with my severely overweight and therefore, expensive, luggage.   Then, I had a vision of arriving in customs and being peppered with questions about bringing in live fruits and animals and things from the farm.   In my vision, I panic, which is immediately seen by the officer who yanks me out of line and demands that I open my suitcase right then and there.    I am surrounded by sniffing dogs.   I am no longer in fear of things like underwear popping out, but now of strawberry jams, delicate honey's, french teas and all types of other things that will probably have me somehow banned from returning to the country.

Yes, I have a little anxiety issue.    Regardless, I just wasn't willing to take the risk.

Which made me a very sad customer.    

Which also brings me back to the reason for this post, the madeleine.  

While perusing Fauchon, one of my favorite shops, with all of its hot pink and black gorgeousness, I run across a table of pans.   Tucked away in the back.   In vibrant silicone.    And there it was, a sweet, hot pink, mini little madeleine pan.  

Just the perfect size for my suitcase.   Flat, flexible, and non-edible.   Definitely not from the farm.  I breathe a sigh of relief.  

I am happy to report it made it back in tact and it produces the sweetest little cakes you've ever seen.   I know they are supposed to resemble scalloped edges, but whenever I see these, I think kitty paws.    They are so cute.   Light as air.   Fluffy.   Perfect tea time treat.

This recipe is minimally adapted from the fabulous version found on 101 Cookbooks.  I added honey to my version which gives these a beautiful and very light honey lemon essence.  

Ingredients

1 and 1/2 sticks unsalted butter with extra for greasing the pan
3/4 cup all purpose flour
4 eggs
pinch of salt
2/3 cup sugar
zest from a large lemon
1 and 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 and 1/4 teaspoon honey (I used lavender scented)
Powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Begin by clarifying the butter.    Melt the butter on medium low heat.    Stir regularly for about 15-20 minutes until butter turns a little brown and has a nice cooked aroma to it.    Solids should be floating on the top.    Strain solids from butter and allow the butter to cool in small dish.   Set aside.

While butter is cooling, prepare your pan.  I used a mini madeleine pan, silicone version.    Butter and dust with flour.   Shake excess flour from pan.    Set aside.

In large bowl, beat eggs and pinch of salt for about 3 minutes until appears light, foamy and doubles/triples in volume.    Slowly begin to add in the sugar, while continuing to beat the egg mixture.   Whip this at high speed for another 2-3 minutes until creamy.

Fold in the lemon zest, honey and vanilla.   It is important to maintain the volume and air in the egg sugar mixture as this is necessary for the cake to obtain a sponge like airy texture upon completion.  

Gently fold in the flour just until incorporated.   Do not overmix.  

Spoon out filling into prepared pan.    Try for about 2/3 full.    

Place pan in oven and bake for 7-8 minutes.  (Longer for larger version).     Immediately remove from pan to cool.  

Dust with powdered sugar after cooling.

A few lessons learned that I'll pass along to you.   It is really easy to overfill these.   If you do, they will rise up over the top and connect to the other madeleines which completely destroys the dainty effect you are trying to achieve.   Be patient as filling them.   There is no rush.

Enjoy!

Blueberry Boy Bait

Anyone else out there in a relationship with a workaholic?

I can't be the only one.

My then boyfriend, now fiance, soon to be husband falls squarely into this category.    It is all very admirable and I respect him greatly for the care he puts into his profession, however, I've also learned that sometimes I need to employ special tactics to lure him away.

Sometimes it takes really REALLY special tactics.     The big guns.

Like last summer.    I ran across a special girly lotion called Blueberry Boy Bait.   Interesting name, right?   I read a little and found out the lotion was based on a special recipe by the same name.    Created in 1954 by a young girl in the Pillsbury Bake Off junior division who recognized the special effect it had on young men and named it accordingly.

Well, sold, seems like this might do the trick.   I added yet another bottle of pretty girly lotion to my collection in the already overflowing cabinet.   Yes, I have a lifetime supply, in probably every flavor imaginable.  I know I am not alone in this either.

Flashback to last year.  Late summer evening.   John's working in his kitchen on the laptop.   I proudly prance into the room all lathered up in my special boy bait.  

"What's that smell?"

"Me!  Don't you love it?"

"Um.   No.   Gross."

Crushed I tell you.   That lotion never saw the light of day again.   It is hidden in the back now, buried under other goodies awaiting a true dermatological emergency.

Needless to say, the story stuck with me and when I ran across the recipe recently from Smitten Kitchen, I sensed it was time to give it, hopefully, a more successful shot.    I've been good on my no sugar, minimal carb diet all week in preparation for this attempt.    The blueberries have been resting in the fridge since Thursday.

Last night, we're making dinner.  

John says, "I am going to put blueberries in my salad."

"Noooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!"

I think the hint worked.    I received a one line email from him from work today asking if he should pick up ice cream after work.

He thinks I am making pie.   Little does he know, I'm making Boy Bait.

Here's the recipe, adapted from Smitten Kitchen's version who modified the Cook's Country magazine who adapted it from the original boy baiter in 1954.


Blueberry Boy Bait  (serves 12)

Cake Ingredients
2 cups plus 1 tsp all purpose flour
1 tbls baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 sticks softened butter (yes, two!)
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup fat free milk (original recipe calls for whole or even buttermilk, but this was all I had)
1 1/2 cups blueberries (original recipe calls for 1/2 cup, fresh or frozen, but we reallllly like blueberries)

Topping
1/2 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Use a 9x13 glass pan.   Butter sides and bottom.   Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium bowl, combine 2 cups flour, baking powder and salt.  Set aside.

In a separate large bowl, blend together softened butter and the two sugars.    Blend for about two minutes.    Add one egg at a time, blending until incorporated.    Add 1/3 of flour mixture and blend.   Add 1/2 cup of milk and blend.   Add another 1/3 of flour and blend.   Add final 1/2 cup of milk and blend.   Add final 1/3 of flour and blend.   The mixture should be light and creamy and fluffy at this point.

Toss blueberries with teaspoon of flour and gently fold into the large bowl.    Be careful to leave the blueberries in tact or you will dye your batter prematurely.

Carefully spread mixture into the your greased pan.  

Mix topping and sprinkle all over top.

Bake 45 to 50 minutes.    Cool for 15 minutes.   Eat warm or at room temperature.

PS - It worked.   

Early this evening.    I hear the garage door open.   The suspense is killing me.    Shoes on the floor.    I tense up a little bit. 

"What's that smell?"

"I made it for you."

"Really?   It smells amazing."

"Wait until you try it."   (I can say this because I've already eaten several scraps that conveniently broke away.)

And the rest is history.   He loved it.   Boy bait worked. 

This is one fabulous recipe.   A keeper.   As a bonus, it is edible at any time of the day. Seriously.   Bon Appetit!

Cherry Pie Day

This is one fabulous pie.    In the most simplistic and yummiest way possible.   And since we've all been soooo good this week, I think we definitely deserve a little dessert heading into the weekend.

I have to confess this is only my second attempt at a pie in my entire life.    The first attempt, a well intentioned blueberry pie with cornmeal crust, just recently actually, didn't quite live up to expectation.   It tasted really really good but looked horrid.  I massacred the crust.  Wow.   It was not attractive.  I like things to look pretty.  

I also like a good challenge.    I figure I should learn how to make a pie so that when I'm old and grey and my future children talk about how wonderful their mother was they can say things like "Remember that fabulous pie we used to have?" and other similar glowing comments.  

I've been combing through recipes on blogs like crazy and was so super thrilled when I saw one that seemed so easy that it would be perfect for my next try.    And it was a cherry pie too.   And I had cherries already in my possession waiting for me to do something with them.    Yesterday was therefore deemed cherry pie day.  

PS - I love my life.   Cherry Pie Day.   A year ago, the thought would have never crossed my mind.

Back to the recipe.   I found it on a wonderfully entertaining and lovely blog, Zoom Yummy by Petra.

Check out the recipe here.

Look at that ingredient list!   Short and sweet.    And who doesn't love cherries?

The crust was incredibly simple to make.   I was momentarily horrified by the massive amount of butter I threw into my little machine, but once it started blending and the butter turned into a lovely pile of dough, I forgot all about it.   If you don't see it, it must not exist.   Sometimes that is a good philosophy.

Once I blended it all up and rolled it into a nice little circle, I threw it into the fridge to 'chill'.   Took all of maybe five minutes to bring it together.  

With the dough relaxing, it was on to the cherries.    I seriously need to invest in a cherry pitter.   I didn't think hand pitting three cups of cherries would be all that bad.    It was definitely do-able, but just really messy and time consuming.   My kitchen looked a tiny bit like a crime scene with me as the guilty party. It was kind of a soothing task, mindless chopping away, but just plain messy.  

After chopping up all the cherries, it was on to making the filling.   Unbelievably simple.  I had no idea it would be this easy.   Cook the cherries in water, throw in some cornstarch and sugar, and mix until properly thickened.    Gorgeous color and fun to sample as it reached the appropriate state.   That's it.  Filling done.

Dough is ready for me now.   This is the part I was most terrified of.   Last time I tried this, I started rolling out the dough and it just kept tearing apart.   Then once I thought I might have a sheet, I attempted to add it to the pie plate where it completely disintegrated.   It had some sort of meltdown and forgot to act like dough.  This was so disheartening.  

This time around I approached it with a little more patience.   Carefully rolling out the dough, using flour when appropriate and my favorite tip of all, curling up over the rolling pin and laying gently into the plate.   No casualties.   At this point, I was feeling pretty impressed with myself.

The recipe has some awesome instructions on how to make a lattice crust.    I wasn't sure I would attempt it when I started, but my confidence told me I could do it.     I tried to photograph the steps along the way, but really, you should just look at the one's in the original recipe.    They are perfect.   It was fun, and seriously easy too!   I was so happy with how it turned out.  

My fiance came home and looked at it and said, "Now that is a pie".  Yay!

The recipe called for 45 minutes in the oven, but for some reason, mine didn't cooperate.   I left it in another half hour or so until the top started to brown and all of the yummy cherry juice started to bubble up through the lattice.

Isn't it beautiful?

And it tasted even better.   Not too sweet at all.   Perfect cherry.   Good flaky crust.     You simply must try this recipe.  

And since the pie was so good to me, I figured it deserved a little ice cream as a reward.   Not just any ice cream, but the creamiest, sweetest tahitian vanilla bean gelato.   A perfect match.  

Yum.

Next week I'll be taking you back on my European adventure with me.   I have been procrastinating telling you the rest of my story, but I think I am ready now!

Happy Pie-Day!   Wishing you all a wonderful happy summer weekend ahead!