We had this tart for breakfast at Hotel Albergaria do Calvário in Évora, Portugal. It had a good nutty flavor and was not overly sweet as the other pastries we’d had in Portugal. I loved it! The hotel kindly shared their recipe with me. So here it is how to make it!
This delicious tart takes a little bit of planning, First you poach the pears, which is a no-brainer. Then you make the shell, add the toppings and bake it again, et voilà – a beautifully golden colored, nicely caramelized tart!
I made this cake last week for a Chinese New Year’s celebration party. It was an instance crowd-pleaser.
I was asked to share the recipe so here it is.
I make a really good almond cake.
I seldom bake in the summer. I have no desire to turn my house into a furnace (most houses in Seattle don’t have A/C). But when I do, it is usually with seasonal fruits.
I baked this tart two days ago.
On tasting, my friend Katia said “It is heavenly, you have to write about it”.
So here it is. Continue reading “Recipe: Blueberry Tart”
Two things I miss most from visiting b.patisserie in San Francisco: one is chef Brenda Leong’s delicious kouign amann – I have yet to find anything like it in Seattle. The other is Bostock.
Bostock is toasted brioche soaked in pastry syrup, topped with almond cream(frangipane) and sliced almonds. It is quite easy to make, as long as you have day-old brioche. I didn’t have day-old brioche at hand, so I made one from scratch and waited till the next day to make bostock. I know it sounded like wasting a good loaf of freshly baked brioche. But when one wants a bostock, one must have it!
Ingredients:
Orange Pastry Syrup
2 cups water
1 cup sugar
orange juice, Grand Marnier, Cointeau or Triple Sec (to taste)
Combine water and sugar in a small saucepan. Bring syrup to a boil. Once sugar dissolves, remove from heat and cool. Add orange juice or liquer to syrup. Syrup keeps up to one month in the refrigerator. Continue reading “Bostock”
The smell of good bread baking, like the sound of lightly flowing water, is indescribable in its evocation of innocence and delight…
―MFK Fisher
It’s been a while since I baked brioche. I almost forgot how intoxicating it smelled when one is in the oven. This recipe, adopted from L’Academie de Cuisine, yields approximately two pounds of dough, which will make 4 small, 2 medium or 1 large load of bread.
Ingredients:
“The only thing that will make a souffle fall is if it knows you’re afraid of it”
-James Beard
The first time I made a soufflé, it was a screaming success! I mean look at it – it rose up high and even, had the right amount of air pockets; The texture was light and fluffy, and the taste amazing. Continue reading “Quinoa & Veggie Souffle”
Today a friend asked me what my blog is all about. Without hesitation I told him, it’s about food, it’s about travel, it contains recipes…and then it suddenly dawned on me that most of my recipes are from the food I sampled throughout my trips, inspired by the looks and tastes of a particular local dish and the anecdotes surround it. Cooking or reproducing it simply becomes an extension of the fond memories, back home. Continue reading “Apricot Walnut Bread”
