Cornmeal Madeleine with Lemon and Olive Oil

Menton's 80th Annual Fête du Citron or Lemon Festival is in full swing but it's been unusually rainy and cold outside so instead of taking part in the lemony fun, I'm cocooning inside and this requires good quality carbs like Madeleine.

I've flavoured these Madeleine with the fruity olive oil from Menton's own Huilerie St Michel and lemon zest, two flavours that are emblematic of Menton.

And the cornmeal?  Menton is on the border with Italy where polenta is popular and also I happen to love cornmeal.

To prepare these Madeleine you'll use the sponge method similar to making a genoise.  Don't panic!  It's easy to do so don't let that prevent you from making them.  Trust me, it'll be worth the extra effort.  The sponge method and a long chill in the fridge will produce a tender, light, delicious Madeline with a high hump on one side which all the best Madeleine should have. 

  
Cornmeal Madeleine with Lemon and Olive Oil

Makes 12 large or 24 mini Madeleine 

375°F (190°c) 
11 Minutes for large Madeleine
7  Minutes for mini Madeleine

Equipment
Madeline pan with 12 large indents OR 2 Madeleine pans with 12 small indents each
Hand held or stand mixer
Pastry brush
Bain Marie or double boiler
Pastry bag or plastic freezer bag


Ingredients
2        large eggs
72g    (1/3 cup) granulated sugar

40g    (1/4 cup) medium-grind cornmeal (not instant polenta)
140g  (1 cup) sifted all purpose flour
8g      (2 teaspoons) baking powder
1/4     teaspoon salt

Zest of one lemon

35g    (35ml) 2% milk
50g    (50ml) olive oil

1 tablespoon each of softened butter and flour for greasing the Madeleine pan

Method
1.  Mix together the cornmeal, flour, baking powder and salt.  Set aside.

2.  Prepare the sponge.  Combine the eggs and sugar in a large bowl or the bowl of your KitchenAid if you have one.  Set the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and stir the mixture until the sugar melts and it feels just warm to the touch.  Remove the bowl from the saucepan and whip the mixture on high until it triples in volume and is pale yellow and very thick.

3.  Prepare the batter.  Sprinkle one third of the flour mixture on top of the sponge and gently fold together until it's almost completely incorporated.  Stir in half of the milk, and mix in the remaining flour mixture in two additions.  Stir in the lemon zest.   When the mixture is smooth and all of the flour is incorporated, gently stir in the olive oil until it's fully incorporated.

4.  Chill the batter.  Cover the bowl with plastic film and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes for up to 3 hours. In the meantime, prepare your pan(s).

5. Brush the indentations with the tablespoon of softened butter, sprinkle with flour to coat thoroughly and tap out the excess.

6.  Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°c).

7.  Scoop the mixture into a piping bag or a plastic freezer storage bag and snip the tip to a little wider than width of your thumb.

8.  Pipe the batter into each of the indentations.  Starting with the tip at the wide end of the indentation squeeze the batter evenly until you reach the small end of the indentation.  When you reach the small end, stop squeezing the bag and pull it up and away from you, back towards the wide end of the indentation.  It's OK to leave a little tip sticking up.

9.  Bake the Madeleine.  Ideally, they should be no darker than light brown.
 
10.  To remove the Madeleine, tap the pan, Madeleine side down, over a tea towel.  The
Madeleine should fall out easily.  Allow them to cool on the towel with the hump side facing up.

Tips

-A fruity olive oil is best in this recipe.  Fructus by Ardoino is one that would work well.

-You can use any grind of cornmeal in this recipe but medium will give you the best texture.  Just don't use instant polenta or your Madeleine will be heavy and dense.
 
-If you don't have a piping bag you can use a large plastic freezer bag instead.  Just spoon the batter into the bag, cut a hole the same width as your thumb in one corner and squeeze away.

-Be careful not to overheat the egg mixture when you're warming it or you'll get scrambled eggs!

-If you prefer, you can replace the olive oil with a more traditional beurre noisette.  You'll need about 80g of butter to make 56g (2.5 ounces) of beurre noisette.

 -Don't over mix the batter. Treat it gently as though you were making muffins.

-Keep your eye on the Madeleine for the last few minutes of baking.  Remove them before they start to brown.

Crown Someone. Serve the Cake of Kings.

Some modern day fèves from my favourite Paris pastry supply shop, MORA

Today is Epiphany in France so don't put away those holiday fat pants just yet!

There is one more delicious cake to indulge in during the coming week, the Galette des Rois or Kings' Cake.  Larousse Gastronomy calls it "Twelfth Night Cake" but most people call it Epiphany Cake since it's  meant to celebrate the Christian observance of Epiphany.

So why all the fuss?  Well, baked into each cake is a fève or trinket and along with each cake comes a crown. You've got to love a cake that comes with its own accessories!

 

With the Epiphany cake, the fun really starts when the cake is cut and served:  the one lucky person who gets the portion with the fève inside is crowned king.  Aside from getting to wear the crown, being king comes with the royal responsibility of buying the next Epiphany cake.  Precisely when this next cake should appear on the scene varies depending on whom you ask.  As I recall, the last time we served an Epiphany cake in our home, the second cake never appeared, the king kept the fève, posed for photos and gave a long-winded speech.

A Provençal Epiphany cake with candied fruit and violets

Traditionally, Epiphany cake is made with layers of pâte feuilleté or puff pastry filled with frangipane, a rich almond cream, but some regions of France have their own style.

Here in the south, you'll find a special Provençal version  made by topping a golden ring of brioche with candied fruit.  Usually there's candied fruit inside too.

One of my favourite bakeries, Le Baiser de Mitron in Menton makes four versions of the Epiphany cake including a special, praline coated ring of brioche.  As an unusual bonus, they put 2 fèves in each of their cakes, perhaps so the cost of buying the next cake can be shared between the two kings.  Unfortunately, they provide only one crown.

A French friend of mine enjoyed the Galette Franche-Comté as her customary Epiphany cake, popular in Besançon near the French/Swiss border.

Instead of puff pastry the Galette de Franche-Comté is made from pâte à choux, or cream puff dough, collapsed into a pancake that's quite thin so sometimes you can see a bump where the fève is.  Her family had a lovely tradition when it came time to serve the Galette. The youngest child in the household would sit under the table and as her mom apportioned the cake, the sequestered child, unable to see the slices and perhaps a bump where the fève was, got to chose to whom each slice was served.  How's that for a sweet childhood lesson in égalité !

Polar bear fèves

In her great-grandmother's time, the fève in her Epiphany cake was a modest little dried bean and I'll bet she never would have predicted that the fève would evolve the way it has and become a collector's item.  For example, the Paris pâtisserie, Lenôtre, offers a chic boxed set of fèves depicting Aston Martin in place of the humble bean.

The venerable Parisian pastry supply shop, Mora, (a personal favourite of mine) has a great selection of  fèves and crowns that you can order by mail. Keeping apace with modern times they stock ceramic race cars, cupcakes, coffee makers, spices, bees, childhood songs, hand bags, and dairy products.  Something for everyone.

Another local pastry shop  I popped into  today is baking a  polar bear fève into each of its cakes this year.  Why a polar bear?  Why not?

Supermarket Intermarché has cakes stacked like cord wood and an Epiphany cake promotion from January 3rd to the 10th.  For every €10 you spend you get a scratch card for a chance to win a free cake.  I lost.

If vintage is more your style you can always find fèves in antique shops and usually there's a box or two to poke through at the weekly brocante or flea market.

Fèves  for sale at the Brocante

For the true enthusiast, this January 8th in Paris you can attend the 22nd annual Fèves des Rois World Collectors Expo.  Imagine what miniature fun that would be surrounded by millions of fèves.

Epiphany cake promo at Intermarché

If you have the time, why not try your hand at making your own Epiphany cake? French company Vahiné has a handy little Epiphany cake kit available from most supermarkets.  Each kit includes the necessary ingredients for a frangipan filling with your choice of either chocolate or praline, a crown, and a little fève of a Japanese girl in a kimono. You just need to add a few basic ingredients of your own, a bit of puff pastry, and some imagination.

A crown and fève from Vahiné's Epiphany Cake kit

Just for fun, why not put a little fève or trinket into your next dinner party dessert? It can be something fun or something expensive...

Just remember to warn your guests before they dig in!

Grab and go cakes at the local Intermarché

Fairy Cakes with Feijoa Glaze and Lime Sugar

Fairy Cakes with Feijoa Glaze and Lime Sugar

If you're lucky enough to find some Foraged Feijoa or if you're really lucky and happen to have a bush or two, here's a good way to enjoy them.

Fairy Cakes are traditionally made in mini cupcake cases but you can make them in larger ones if you can't find the small ones.  Since this batter makes lovely sponge and is quite versatile, you can use it for making  little cakes of other shapes and sizes too, just use your imagination and any other pan you have on hand. Just be sure to not  to over bake them.  Remove them from the oven when they spring back when touched.  Don't let them brown!

If you don't have any Feijoa on hand you can substitute passion fruit with equal success.

Makes 24 mini-cakes

or 12 regular cupcakes 

350ºF/180ºC

10 minutes for mini-cakes

15 minutes for regular cupcakes

Equipment 

24 mini cupcake cases or 12 regular cupcake cases

2-12 hole mini cupcake baking pans or 1 12 hole regular cupcake pan

Fine mesh sieve

Microplane zester or other fine grater

Ingredients

1/2 cup (110g) unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup (95g) granulated white sugar

2 eggs

2 tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 plus 1/3 cups (115g) of all purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

For the glaze 

12 ripe Feijoa to make 1 cup of deseeded pulp

1 teaspoon lime juice

1/2 cup (55g) icing sugar, sifted

A few drops of yellow food colouring 

For the lime sugar 

Finely grated zest of one lime

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

Method 

1.  Line your muffin tins with paper or silicon cases. 

2.  Mix together the flour, baking powder and salt together.  Set aside.

3.  Mix the milk and vanilla together. Set aside.

4.  In the bowl of an electric mixer or using a hand-held mixer, beat the butter and sugar together on high speed until light and fluffy.  Add the eggs, one at a time and beat well after each.  It's OK if the mixture looks curdled.  This is normal.

5.  With the mixer on low or by hand, alternate adding the flour and milk to the butter mixture in two additions until just incorporated. 

6.  Fill each of the cases or mini cake moulds until one third full.  You can use a pastry bag, or drop the batter from a spoon.  Be sure not to overfill the cases and try not to get batter on the sides.   When they are finished they should not be higher than the height of the case.

7.  Bake until they just spring back, they should not be browned at all.

8.  When they are finished baking, pop them from the baking pan onto a cooling rack but leave the cakes in their individual cases.

While the cakes are cooling, prepare the glaze and lime sugar.

Glaze 

1.  Cut the Feijoa in half and scoop out the soft insides into a sieve and press them through the sieve to remove the seeds.  You should have about 1 cup of Feijoa pulp.  Pour the mixture into a blender or food processor.  Add the lime juice and process until smooth.  

2.  Pour the puréed Feijoa into a sieve resting over a medium sized bowl.  Using a spoon, stir and press the purée through the sieve into the bowl.  

3.  Add the icing sugar and stir well.  Add the food colouring a drop at a time until the colour is pleasing to you.  Pour the glaze into a measuring cup with a lip or a pitcher for pouring.

Lime Sugar

Grate the lime zest into a bowl and add the sugar.  Using your fingers, rub the zest and the sugar together until it's well mixed.  It will smell wonderful.

Finishing

Arrange the cakes on a baking tray and carefully pour a bit of the glaze on top of each until the top appears level.  Allow the glaze to crust for about 1/2 hour.

Sprinkle a bit of the lime sugar in the centre of each.  Allow the glaze to crust for an additional 1/2 hour or so and serve.  Enjoy!

Classic Swedish Baking: Jelly Roll Slices with Berries and Cream

During a "let's catch up" drink this Friday, my Swedish friend surprised me with a lovely gift from a recent trip to her native Sweden:  a classic Swedish baking book entitled, Sju Sorters Kakor by Ica Bokförlag. 

After a bit of research and setting up a short cut key for an umlaut, the whole sweet picture came into focus.

Sju Sorters Kakor was first published in 1945 as the result of a baking contest held after the end of World War II and since then 3,657,000 copies have been printed.    In 2008 it was translated into English and was renamed, "Swedish Cakes and Cookies."  My Swedish friend translated it as, "Seven Kinds of Cookies" even though there are far more than that in the book.

Some of the goodies from Sju Sorters Kakor

The minute she gave it to me I flipped through it and became inspired.  I know nothing about Swedish baking so here was something new to explore and play with.  There were so many interesting recipes that I'd like to try but the first one I chose is Rulltårtsbakelese Med Bär or Jelly Roll Slices with Berries and Cream.  It's a pretty cake that could be served at a formal tea or as a luncheon or dinner dessert.

I translated and interpreted the recipe from Swedish, added some vanilla and salt to the sponge and some details to the method for clarity but the essence and final product remain the same.  I was stymied by one word however, Vispgrädde.  My Swedish friend says its a thick cream with a fat content of 40%.  Yowza!  I wish I could find Vispgrädde here in France!

The biggest difference I found between Swedish and English recipes was that Swedish measurements are in decilitres (dl) which is a liquid measure.  One dl = 100 ml.  If you have a liquid measuring cup you should use it.  I've left the "dl" measurements in the recipe so you can measure in Swedish too.

When was the last time you made something from Sweden?  Give it a try - it's delicious!

Rulltårtsbakelse Med Bär  
or 
Jelly Roll Slices with Berries and Cream

Serves 10-12

Preheat to 250ºC/480ºF then bake at 200ºC/390ºF for 5 minutes

The original recipe in Swedish

Equipment

1 - 12" x 16" (30 x 40 cm)  jelly roll pan

Wide parchment paper

Medium offset spatula

Hand held beaters, whisk or stand mixer

Piping bag with the tip or your choice

For the Sponge Roll 

3 large eggs

2dl or 200 ml or 174g granulated sugar  

2dl or 134g all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2dl or 46g milk or cream

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

Filling

2dl/280g seedless black currant or seedless raspberry jam or 

2dl/280g strawberry jam

Topping

3dl/ 720g whipping cream

1dl/55g powdered sugar 

2 pints fresh berries such as raspberries, red currants, strawberries, blackberries or a combination

2 teaspoons powdered sugar for dusting (optional)

Cream Filled Genoise with the First Summer Strawberries

The main thoroughfare in  our neighbourhood in Ottawa is undergoing massive reconstruction which means that vehicles are being redirected onto the less travelled side streets.  

One of these side streets leads to the entrance of the weekly Lansdowne Farmer's Market and to keep this street safe from frustrated speeding drivers, the city installed a traffic "speed minder" that clocks a driver's speed he zooms towards it.  Above it is a huge digital sign that displays the speed at which one is travelling.   
On Sunday morning as I walked towards the market and the speed minder, the display clocked me in at 10 kph.  

Why the rush?  The season's first fresh, luscious strawberries of course!

Worth hurrying down the street

To celebrate the arrival of the delicious local strawberries, I created this simple cake.  It's easy to make, quite light, not too sweet, and it's pretty too!

The base is a cake called Genoise which I posted a few weeks back. I hope you practised it because here is a great way to use it. 

For this cake you will need:

One genoise sponge cake at room temperature.

The Strawberries:

1 quart plus one pint ripe strawberries

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

Optional aromatic additions to the strawberries according to your tastes:  1/8 teaspoon of any one of finely chopped: fresh lemon thyme, fresh lemon balm, fresh rosemary, fresh mint, fresh lavender, or lemon zest

Cream Filling:

1 1/2 cups (355ml/348g) whipping cream

1/4 cup (22g) powdered sugar 

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste

  
Soaking Syrup:

1/2 cup (118ml/118g) water

1/3 cup (70g) granulated sugar

Optional:  1/4 cup less 1 tablespoon (40ml/40g) white rum

Finishing:

1-2 tablespoons (10-20g) powdered sugar

Equipment:

Serrated bread knife or cake slicing knife
Hand held beaters or a stand mixer with a whip attachment
Parchment paper 
Pastry brush
Small offset spatula

Optional:  Piping bag with a Wilton "1M" star tip or Kaiser 13mm star tip, 9" cardboard cake round, pretty cake stand or cake plate

Prepare the Strawberries
Wash the berries and set aside 8 of the best ones for garnish. Remove the calyx from the remaining berries and slice them lengthwise into halves or quarters depending on their size.  Sprinkle them with sugar and the optional aromatics if you are using them.  Mix gently and set aside. 

Prepare the Soaking Syrup
In a small saucepan, combine the water and sugar. Allow the mixture to boil for 2 minutes.  Pour the syrup into a bowl and set aside to cool to room temperature.

Assembly 

Slice the cake in half and place it on the parchment paper

Cover your work surface with parchment, enough to accommodate at least twice the width of the cake.

With a sharp, serrated bread knife or a cake cutting knife, slice the cake in half lengthwise.  The bottom of the cake will become the top of the finished cake and the top will become the bottom.  If you lined the cake pan with parchment, remember to remove it.  Place the bottom layer on a cardboard round if you have one.  This will make it easier to lift the cake to its final destination.

Now is the time to add liqueur to the syrup if you are using it.

Using a pastry brush, brush both halves of the cake with syrup making sure that there is syrup everywhere on the cake, especially towards the sides.  Don't saturate the cake, just moisten it.  You may have some syrup left over. 

Prepare the Cream 

Spread the cream

Pour the cream into a chilled bowl and add the powdered sugar and vanilla. Beat on high to stiff peaks. Set aside.
First, reserve about 3/4 cup of the whipped cream for making the rosettes on the top of the cake.
Divide the remaining cream into two.  Using an offset spatula, gently spread out half the cream on each half of the cake.  Spread the cream within 1/2" (1cm) from the edge.  If you put cream too close to the edge of the cake the cream will squeeze out the sides when you put the top on.

Arrange the berries

Pour the macerated strawberries into a sieve to separate the liquid from the berries.  Arrange half of the berries in the cream on one half of the cake. Return the remaining berries back into the reserved liquid and refrigerate.  

Flip the half of the cake without the berries on top of the one with the berries and press gently until the cream comes closer to the edge.  Don't press too hard - you don't want the cream to squirt out the sides.

Dust the top with powdered sugar

Finishing

Put the 10g of finishing powdered sugar into a fine sieve.  Tap the side of the sieve to lightly powder the top of the cake.  Now gently lift the cake and place it on a serving plate or cake stand or you can do this after you have finished the next steps.

If you have a piping bag, fill it with the reserved 3/4 cup cream.  Pipe 8 evenly spaced rosettes around the top of the cake and top each of them with a strawberry.  If you don't have a piping bag, just drop the cream by the spoonful.

Pipe rosettes on top of the cake

   

To make an even pattern, imagine your cake as a clock face.  Start by piping one rosette at 12:00 then 6:00, 3:00 and 9:00.  Finally, pipe a rosette in between each.  This will create 8 equal servings. Place a reserved whole strawberry on top of each rosette. 

Serving

Cut and serve the cake at the table and pass the remaining macerated berries with a spoon so guests can help themselves.


This cake is best served the day that it is made. After that the cream's texture changes.  Of course this doesn't mean that you can't have a piece as a midnight snack.  All for the greater good, of course.

Génoise for a Change

Last night while we were all sleeping soundly, the temperature in Ottawa dropped from unbearably hot and humid to strangely cool and dry so like any dedicated baker, I rose at the crack of dawn, pulled on a sweater and headed to the kitchen to fire up the oven.

I was rooting through my pantry and being in a contemplative mood that early in the morning, I started thinking about how basic baking ingredients can vary widely from country to country and subsequently effect the texture and taste of the final product,  flour and sugar from France being two examples.  Flour in France is grown from different varieties of wheat, milled and graded by grind, not type of wheat and generally makes a cake with a lighter crumb.  Granulated sugar is produced mainly from sugar beets, not sugar cane like in North America and performs differently in certain recipes, especially those which require high temperatures.  It also has a bit of a funky smell in raw form.  

Over the years it has taken a lot of trial and error to adapt my favourite English recipes to foreign ingredients but in some cases, the recipes are not only changed but improved.  On a recent trip to Japan I brought back some bright white, soft wheat flour and used it to make a Matcha Chiffon Cake that was so tender and light it was like eating a cloud.

Because of its simplicity, I sometimes bake génoise to discover these differences...