The Cook's Atelier

Bonnes Fêtes

It's holiday central here at The Cook's Atelier.  We are baking cookies and glittering away.  The fancy German glass glitter finally arrived from La Poste and K has spent the afternoon making garland for the tree while I'm making chocolate-almond bark to share with our favorite food people in Beaune.  We've got some Christmas tunes playing on Deezer and petit Luc is reminding us of all our many blessings.

We are wishing all of you a Joyeux Noël and Bonnes Fêtes!

Chocolate-almond bark with sea salt

From Bon Appétit Magazine, December 2011 issue

1/2 cup sugar

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1 1/2 cups roasted almonds

1 lb. good-quality dark chocolate (62% - 70% cacao), finely chopped

sea salt (for sprinkling)

 

Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or foil.  Combine sugar with 2 tablespoons water in a small saucepan.  Stir over medium-low heat until sugar dissolves.  Bring to a boil and cook, occasionally swirling pan and brushing down sides with a wet pastry brush, until caramel is dark amber, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat.  Immediately add butter; whisk until melted.  Add almonds; stir until well coated. Transfer to baking sheet, spreading out to separate nuts.  Let cool.  Break up any large clumps of nuts.  Set aside 1/4 of nuts.

Stir chocolate in a medium bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water until metled.  Remove from heat, add nuts from baking sheet, and stir quickly to combine.  Spread chocolate-nut mixture on same baking sheet, keeping nuts in a single layer.  Top with the reserved nuts; sprinkle with the sea salt.  Chill until chocolate is set, about 3 hours.

Break bark into pieces and store between layers of parchment or waxed paper. Can be made 1 week ahead. Keep chilled.

Madame Milbert's cassis liqueur

One of my very favorite things about La Varenne was the potager and one of my favorite things about the potager was Monsieur Milbert.  Monsieur Milbert was somewhat of a cranky old Frenchman who oversaw the potager.  He was made "famous" in this favorite cookbook.  I remember the first day I arrived at La Varenne after reading this book and I felt as though I had fallen through the rabbit hole, right smack into a French fairytale.

Last summer, at our garden at Clos de la Cozanne, we ended up with buckets full of currants.  I called a chef-friend in Paris, who was a longtime resident at the chateau, to see if he had a copy of Madame Milbert's recipe for homemade cassis. After days of picking and separating little jewel-like berries from their stems, we made confiture and began the process of making our very first homemade cassis. After the currants were stemmed, we put them in French preserving jars and covered them with vodka to seep for the next few months in anticipation for bottling our cassis to enjoy during the holidays.

The time spent working at the chateau was life changing to say the least as I am now living in my very own French fairytale here in Burgundy.  If you'd care to join us, you can find out more about what we are up to here.

 

Madame Milbert's cassis liqueur

1 kg black currants

1 bottle 750 ml good quality vodka

400 grams sugar, or to taste

 

Remove the black currants from their stems by pulling them gently through the tines of a fork.  Wash and drain the currants in a colander and put them in a 2 quart preserving jar.  Pour over the vodka, adding more if needed to cover the currants completely.  Cover tightly and leave in a cool place for at least 4 and up to 6 months.  From time to time, open the jar and crush the currants with wooden spoon or potato masher.

After 4 to 6 months, put the currants and vodka in a saucepan and mash thoroughly again using the back of a ladle or a potato masher.  Heat gently without boiling, stirring often, until the currants soften and their juice is loosened, 10 to 15 minutes.  Work the mixture through a food mill to extract all the juice.

Return the juice to the pan.  Add the sugar and heat gently, stirring occasionally, until the sugar has dissolved, 10 to 15 minutes.  Take care not to let the juice boil or it may flame.  Remove the liqueur from the heat and taste it, adding more sugar if needed.  It should be rich and slightly tart or sweet, depending on your taste.  Let it cool, then bottle and seal tightly.  Store for at least 3 months so the flavor mellows.  

 

Apple upside-down cake

We are in full-swing, holiday decorating mode on this side of the pond. Recycled card stock has been cut into stars and waiting for the arrival of the German glass glitter via La Poste.  Our homemade cassis, made from black currents from our garden at Clos de la Cozanne,  is ready for gift giving.  We lean toward the non-commercial aspects of the season.  Lots of baking and festivities centered around good food and good friends.

I happened upon this cake recipe in the November issue of Bon Appétit while in the states.  The original recipe called for pears, which I am sure would be lovely, but I used apples inspired from our recent apple picking day at Clos de la Cozanne. This recipe is the perfect finish to an autumn supper and it's great for breakfast the next morning with a cup of tea.

Enjoy your holiday festivities!  Eat, drink and be merry...

 

Apple upside-down cake

Adapted from Bon Appétit Magazine, November 2011 issue

 

9 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature, divided, plus more

3/4 cup plus 3 tablespoon unbleached all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons coarse yellow cornmeal or polenta

1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1 cup sugar, divided

2 medium apples (about 1 pound)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 large eggs, separated

1/2 cup whole milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Butter pan; line bottom with a parchment-paper round.  Whisk flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl.  Stir 1/4 cup sugar and 2 tablespoons water in a small saucepan over medium-low heat until sugar dissolves.  Increase heat to medium-high.  Boil syrup without stirring, occasionally swirling pan and brushing down sides with a wet pastry brush, until sugar turns dark amber, 8-10 minutes.  Remove pan from heat; add 1 tablespoon butter (caramel will bubble vigorously) and whisk until smooth.  Pour caramel into prepared cake pan and swirl to coat bottom.

Peel, halve, and core the apples.  Place flat on a work surface and cut lengthwise into 1/4"-thick slices.  Layer slices over caramel, flat side down, overlapping as needed.

Mix remaining 3/4 cup sugar, 8 tablespoons butter, and vanilla in a large bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.  Add yolks, one at a time, beating to blend between additions and occasionally scraping bowl.  Beat in flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with milk in 2 additions, beginning and ending with flour mixture.

Using clean, dry beaters, beat egg whites on low speed in a medium bowl until frothy.  Increase the speed to medium and continue to beat until whites form soft peaks.  Fold about 1/4 of the whites into cake batter. Add in remaining whites; gently fold just to blend.  Pour batter over apples in pan, smooth top.

Bake cake, rotating pan halfway through, until top is golden brown and a tester inserted into the center comes out with a few small moist crumbs attached, abour 1 hour.  Let cool in pan on a wire rack for 30 minutes.  Run a thin knife around inside of pan to release cake.

Invert cake onto a plate; remove parchment paper.  Serve warm or at room temperature with Calvados spiked whipped cream or caramel ice cream, if desired.

 

Almond pear tart

This has to be an all time favorite autumn tart here at The Cook's Atelier.  It's easy to make and absolutely delightful.  I promise, you are going to love it!  It's perfect for the holdiays and gives you that little taste of France wherever you are.

It's quiet here today and I've been recipe testing and enjoying my holdiay preparations.  There are roasted vegetables in the oven, little votives are lit all over the atelier and I'm enjoying a nice glass of red wine.  It's good to be home.  Now that things have slowed down a bit, I promise to be back soon with some more recipes for your holdiay celebration.  In the meantime, you can follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

We are working away on the schedule for next season and will be offering a few five-day programs in addition to our cook's workshop series, market tours and cooking classes.  We'll be back soon with details, but if you're thinking about a visit to France, be sure to keep us in mind.  The Cook's Atelier really is something special and we'd love to share a little bit of magic with you.

 

Almond pear tart

Serves 6 to 8

 

1 recipe pâte sucrée

for the pears

4 cups water

1 1/4 cups sugar

1 1/2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

4 medium pears, peeled

Bring 4 cups water, sugar and lemon juice to a boil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring until the sugar is dissolved.  Add pears and reduce the heat to medium and simmer until the pears are tender, about 20 minutes.  Cool the pears in the syrup.

 

for the almond filling

2/3 cups ground almonds

1 tablespoon all purpose flour

6 tablespoons sugar

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

1 large egg

In a medium bowl, mix the ground almonds, sugar and butter until smooth.  Add the egg and mix until incorporated.  Cover and chill at least 3 hours.

 

to prepare the tart

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Position a rack in the center of the oven.

 

Place the dough on a lightly floured work surface, and sprinkle with a little bit of flour.  Roll it into a 1/4-inch-thick circle, flouring as needed.  Starting at one side, roll and wrap the dough around the rolling pin to pick it up.  Unroll the tough over the 9-inch tart pan.  Gently press the dough into the pan, being careful not to stretch the dough as this will cause it to shrink when baking.  To remove the excess dough, work your way around the edge pinching off the excess dough with your fingers.  Chill the dough in the freezer for 10 minutes before baking.

Prick the bottom with a fork and line the shell with parchment paper.  Fill the lined tart with dried beans or pie weights and bake for 15 minutes.  Take the tart out of the oven and carefully remove the parchment paper and dried beans.  Return the tart to the oven, and bake until golden brown turning as needed to ensure even color.  Set aside on a rack to cool.

Spread almond filling evenly in crust.  Stem pears and cut each in half lengthwise; scoop out cores.  Cut each half crosswise into thin slices.  Gently press each pear half to fan the slices but keep the slices tightly overlapped and arrange on the tart.

Bake tart until golden and a tester inserted into the center of the filling comes out clean, about 55 minutes.  Cool tart in pan.  To serve, cut into wedges and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

 

Pâte sucrée

Makes enough for 2 tarts

1/4 cup heavy cream

2 large egg yolks

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup granulated sugar

A pinch of sea salt

8 ounces unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Whisk the cream and the eggs together in a small bowl and set aside. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, salt and butter.  Using your fingers, incorporate the butter until you have a coarse meal.  Gradually add the cream and yolks, and mix until just combined.  Be careful not to overwork the dough.  Bring the dough together with your hands to incorporate completely.  Divide the dough in half, shape into disks, and wrap one of them to freeze and use later.

If the dough is soft, put it into the refrigerator for a few minutes prior to rolling. Place it on a lightly floured work surface, and sprinkle with a little bit of flour. Roll it into a 1/4-inch-thick circle, flouring as needed. Started at one side, roll and wrap the dough around the rolling pin to pick it up.  Unroll the dough over the 9-inch tart pan.  Gently press the dough into the pan, being careful not to stretch it as this will cause it to shrink when baking.  To remove the excess dough, work your way around the edge pinching off the excess dough with your fingers.  Chill for 1 hour before baking.