Salon de Thé - Fauchon Paris

I love tea.. But what I like in France is their salon de thé. Although the name is tea saloon, but the attraction is more like drinking tea with different kind of pattisseries. Anyway, I am not going to talk about this just yet.

I just bought this nicely stored tea bags from Fauchon Paris. There are 5 bags in each golden slim metal box. It's so slim that you could put this in your bag, in your pocket or stored nicely in the drawer of your office desk, which I'm gonna do :-) These are boxes of Ceylan, Darjeeling, Fauchon Mix (Citrus, Lavender, Vanilla), Apple and Camomile Infusion.

Leftover Ganache

I had some leftover ganache from my glazed chocolate brownies. It seems a waste to not use it. I took out the ganache from the fridge and pinch it a bit and taste it.. yummy... it's so good, so definitely cannot go to waste.
I googled 'leftover ganache' and I found some interesting ideas. Re-melt it and serve as chocolate fondue is sooo very tempting. But it is dangerous because I am alone with bowl of melted chocolates.. aie aie aie...
So I settled for chocolate truffles (des truffes au chocolate). I never made it before, so it is a good moment to do some tests.
There are so many different coating for chocolate truffles. Scurring for stuff in my kitchen, I found chopped peanuts, speculoos and box of dutch processed cocoa powder. That's it! I shall make chocolate truffles with 3 different kinds of coating. Btw, speculoos is a biscuit quite close to ginger bread, mostly popular in Belgium. I think Neuhaus made chocolate truffles with speculoos coating.



Anyway... here they are...

Comfort baking

The 2 cakes that never let down : Banana Bread and Chcolate Brownies





Something extra for my chocolate brownies, this time I made Chocolate Ganache, and glazed the brownies with it :)



Boiled liquid cream poured into chocolate pastilles.



Whisk them together...



Add in butter...



et voila :D

Raspberry Swirl Cheesecake

This is my second time making the raspberry cheesecake. Again, this is the baking version.

Mee Goreng

Simple stuff, yet yummy :D

Overdue loads

I have been cooking, experimenting, but just do not have time to put the photos on the page and write something. After the raspberry truffle tart from my last post, I did raspberry cheesecake, tried japanese cheesecake (without success huhuhu), and am thinking to bake so many things.

I will try to load some pics here, maybe this weekend :D

Raspberry Truffle Tart

For dinner at a friend's house last Monday, I made raspberry truffle tart for dessert. The mix of chocolate and raspberry intrigues me. So, I smell a challenge. Reading the recipe, it's not that hard.. and there is no white egg involve here.. phew what a relief!!!

As usual, I get my recipe from Joy of Baking.

It is not the season for raspberry. I tried to get fresh ones at the market but it's very expensive. So I settled with frozen raspberry sauce. I found it in the fridge where there are also ice creams. Otherwise, I think frozen raspberry can be used too.

Here are some photos from this adventure. Then followed by the recipe from Joy of Baking.

Verdict: Easy to make, yummy to eat!! Not to mention the licking off the spatula and bowl.. blisssss






Raspberry Truffle Tart
Biscotti Crust:
8 ounces (225 grams) store bought biscotti, broken into pieces
5 - 6 tablespoons (70 - 84 grams) unsalted butter, melted

Filling:
1/3 cup raspberry sauce (recipe follows)
10 ounces (280 grams) semi sweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 cup (240 ml) heavy whipping cream

Raspberry Sauce:
1 cup fresh or frozen raspberries
2 tablespoons (30 grams) granulated white sugar, or to taste

Garnish:
Fresh raspberries

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (180 degree C). Have ready a 8 - 9 inch (20 - 23 cm) fluted tart pan.

Biscotti Crust: In your food processor, place the biscotti and process until finely ground. Transfer to a bowl and add the melted butter. Stir to combine. Press this mixture over the bottom and up the sides of the tart pan. Bake in the preheated oven for about 15 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool completely before adding the filling.

Filling: First, we need to make the raspberry sauce. Place 1 cup of fresh or frozen raspberries, that have been thawed, in your food processor and process until the raspberries are broken up. Pour into a strainer, set over a bowl, and press on the raspberries to extract the juice. Add sugar to taste. Set aside.

Place the chopped chocolate in a medium sized stainless steel bowl. Set aside. Heat the cream in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring just to a boil. Immediately pour the boiling cream over the chocolate and allow to stand for 5 minutes. Stir until smooth. Stir in 1/3 cup of the raspberry sauce. Pour the chocolate filling into the baked and cooled crust, smoothing the top with an offset spatula. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

To Serve: Cut into small slices and serve with fresh raspberries and with any of the remaining raspberry sauce. Can also serve with whipped cream or cr?e fra?he.

Makes one - 8 - 9 inch (20 - 23 cm) tart. Serves 12 - 14 people.