The Last Recipe

There is something immensely appealing about the making the last recipe in a cookbook. Don't ask me why, but I got a little giddy seeing that I was making the last recipe in Mastering the Art of French Cooking.  The occasion was our Julie/Julia dinner party and I was in charge of dessert.  Because I had not seen the movie I was at a bit of a loss for what to make.  

My boss actually gave me the idea to make this cake.  She just randomly mentioned her daughter making a cake that Julia makes in the movies where you press nuts in to the side of the cake. That's all I had to go on. So I read the the cake section (5 basic cakes takes up about 25 pages) and decided that Reine de Saba was the cake in question.

Nowhere does Julia Child tell you why it is named after the Queen of Sheba, but she does think of it is as a quintessential French Cake.  Me?  I'll just refer to it as chocolate and almond cake. I'll also refer to it as one of my favourite chocolate cakes ever.

Chocolate cake can come in many forms - uber moist, dense and flourless, simply chalky or dry, and sometimes perfectly lovely.  This one falls in the last category. Only a hint of almond touches the slightly creamy but rich texture. With ground almonds and whipped egg whites competing between grounding the cake and making it soar, it really lands somewhere in between in an earthly heaven made of chocolate.

The cake itself isn't the last recipe in the book, it is the chocolate butter icing. Officially, this might be my new favourite icing.  It isn't sweet or terribly rich.  Good butter makes this icing because all it really is is melted chocolate with butter whipped in.  Not much fancier than that. Of course, the recipe makes it seem a lot fancier, but don't be fooled. And don't get lost in the instructions.

You should also not be fooled by the small amount of icing the recipe makes.  It seems like such a paltry amount, but it covers the cake and is a perfect compliment to the cake.  Next time I might use that last recipe as a filling, or a crumb coat on a cake I cover with ganache. Or, I'll just follow the recipe again and make The Queen of Sheba as intended.

Cake decorating is not my forte. I sincerely hope that my girls NEVER ask for a themed cake because it will be a sad, sad birthday for them. I can, however, hold a cake and press ground almonds in to the side.  That is not difficult at all, but worth the mess. I strongly recommend that you do not skip this step.

If I drank espresso it would have been a nice accompaniment.  My mind went to scotch. But after more than a few glasses of wine that night, all I could think about was whether it would be rude or not to take one of the last pieces and skip making my souffle.  Alas, Pierre and Gail's husband made the decision for me.  The souffle was good, but I am still thinking about the cake. I just might open the book to the last page and make it again for Christmas dinner.

Impress Your Girlfriends

The next time you've got friends coming over for dinner or brunch and are worried about impressing them, make this dish.  You will look like a star, with 10 minutes of effort.  Just 10 minutes.  It works for mother-in-laws too.

This is the humble clafoutis.  See, it even has a fancy French name (pronounced kla-foo-TEE). It's not a showstopper cake topped with ganache.  Nor is it a buttercream topped cupcake.  And nay, it is not a labor-intensive pie. Just a simple clafoutis.

It does look good, though, right?

Traditionally a clafoutis is made with cherries, and nothing but cherries.  But we came home from a weekend visiting family facing a limited supply of groceries. I had a lot of apricots and a lot of cherries.  With just a few other simple ingredients we had dinner.

Yes, I said dinner.  We had a late lunch on the way into town so this is what we ate before the girls went to bed. I whipped it up, stuck it in the oven while we finally hung the swing Smilosaurus got for her birthday.  After the tantrums started I took the ridiculously good smelling 'pancake' out of the oven and we promptly ate it all but one piece.  And that one was eaten Nigella style at 3 am by me.

It really is an easy recipe.  All you need is a blender and a pie plate. Smilosaurus even pushed the button on the bender for me. Without any effort you can have dessert, or my favourite concept, brunch. 

And the taste?  It is described as a pancake or custard.  I thought it was more crepe like, but a bit heavier. Baked custard? Just know that it isn't pie, cobbler, crisp, crumble or buckle. It is clafoutis.

As I said, I used apricots and cherries, but any stone fruit or berry would work. Perhaps peaches and raspberries or plums, apricots, and nectarines. The recipe is based on one I found during Summer Fest, and comes from good ol' Martha.

Fruit Clafoutis

(serves 4-6)

1/2 cup vanilla sugar

2/3 cup milk

1/3 cup heavy cream

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

2/3 cup flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 cups sliced fruit

1. Peel and slice fruit (peaches, plum, or apricots into 6-8 slices and cherries in half). Set aside.

1. Butter a 9 inch pie dish and dust with a tablespoon of sugar. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Blend all ingredients except for the fruit in a blender for a minute.

3. Pour half the custard mixture into the prepared pie plate.  Arrange fruit on top and pour the rest of the custard over the fruit.

4. Bake for 45-55 minutes, until the top is golden brown and puffy.

Serve warm or cold with whipped cream.

Heaven in a Strip Mall

For our Tuesday Toodle yesterday we decided to tour the Bernard Callebaut factory. Hubby's cousin was visiting from the Okanagan and had spent most of her money shopping the previous day. What little girls wouldn't want to visit a chocolate factory? What Mama wouldn't?

Bernard Callebaut was a sensory delight. When you walk into the retail store you are overwhelmed with the sheer amount of chocolate selection - bars, dozens of chocolates, cowboy hats, chips, cocoa, and even a giant chocolate inukshuk. But what you really notice is the heavy air conditioning. I was worried it would wake the baby, but I think the scent lulled her to sleep. Oh, the scent. You really don't get the full effect until you go downstairs to the manufacturing facility. I would have been lulled to sheer indulgent relaxation if it weren't for the fascination of the chocolate making process.

We stared through the windows at the staff working on Christmas treats already. There were logs on the moulding rack - this wheeled contraption that turns the moulds as they spin around, in some kind of crazy orbit. There was one woman patiently adding a white chocolate drizzle to a gilberte. For the few moments we turned away from the manufacturing we could read about how the cocoa bean turns into the chocolate we so love.

As fascinating as it was to watch the chocolates being made, we grew impatient to try chocolate. Well, the 11 year old and I grew impatient, the Monster was anxious to ride the "alligator" back upstairs, and the baby slept. Upstairs we bought baking chocolate, tried a few chocolate treats, and shared a sample of luscious white chocolate soft serve. The Monster had a few toddler-sized bites of a dark chocolate fish before Mama took it away to enjoy later.

Now, you would think that a trip to a chocolate factory was good enough. Generally, it would be, but I had heard rumours of a great bakery in the same building. Unfortunately, the Manuel Latruwe is undergoing renovations. We'll have to go back again in a few months.

Fortunately, a French treat recently opened next door. L'Epicerie imports French products and serves deli sandwichs made from duck pate or the tastiest ham (carved off the leg in front of you). They have cheeses, olives, and a market cart of fresh produce. The Monster found the sample table and ate more than her fair share of cornichons and black olives. I bought some Puy lentils and olives to take home. We also decided on a ham sandwich on black olive bread to enjoy at home with chocolate for dessert, of course.

Sources:
Bernard Callebaut
Manuel Latruwe
L'Epicerie - 403.514.0555