I’m sure a lot of cheesecake lovers would turn up their noses at a tofu cheesecake, and some would even go further and shun tofu as the work of the devil, while others wouldn’t hesitate to denounce me to the cheesecake security council and have me arrested. I’m resisting the pressure, friends, because i believe that.. err.. with great recipes comes great responsibilities (I heard that in Spiderman.. i think).

Even though tofu doesn’t appear too often in this blog let it be known that i’m tofu friendly and after seeing great versions of tofu cheesecake in popular blogs like Kitchen-M and Manggy , and sampling a great one at Morimoto in NYC a few weeks ago, i decided right there on the spot the world needs one more tofu cheesecake recipe: mine. Why mine? err.. I don’t know, just felt like saying that.

Sure it does sound healthy, and you might be tempted to have two slices (or in this case.. cubes) instead of one but you might want to think it again, friends. It contains what i would call a healthy dose of cream cheese as well as tofu. What makes this tofu cheesecake different? Well for one… it’s the softly set fresh passion-fruit juice that goes on top giving it that exotic tang and that cool look. For two, it’s not baked. Which means it’s easy. And surprisingly enough, it’s delicious too.

Now you don’t have to believe me. Unless you try it.

• Passion-Fruit Tofu Cheesecake

• serves 8
• 

• • Graham crackers crust:

  • 12 Graham crackers, crumbs
  • 4 ounces butter, melted
  • 4 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

  • Tofu Cheesecake Recipe:

  • 14 ounces silken tofu
  • 16 ounces cream cheese, at room temp’
  • 2 tablespoons passion-fruit juice
  • 1 Tahitian vanilla bean, split and scraped
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons powdered gelatin
  • 3/4 cup sugar

  • Passion-Fruit Jelly:

  • 4 fresh-ripe passion fruits, juiced and some seeds reserved
  • 1/2 teaspoon powdered gelatin

  

  • Graham crackers crust:

  • Preheat the oven to 350′F. Butter an 8-inches baking dish or ring. If using a ring line the bottom with aluminum foil and place on a baking tray.
  • Put the graham crackers crumbs in a bowl, add the sugar, ground ginger and salt and mix with a fork. Add the melted butter and mix it in until combined. Transfer the mixture to the prepared dish and press it down in an even layer. Bake until golden 10 to 15 minutes and let it cool completely.

  Tofu Cheesecake:

  • Put the silken tofu, the 2 tablespoons of passion fruit juice in a food processor and mix until smooth.
  • Put the heavy cream in a small saucepan and heat it until warm to the touch. Add the powdered gelatin and stir until dissolved. Remove from the heat.
  • Put the softened cream cheese, sugar and salt  and vanilla seeds in the bowl of a kitchenaid and beat until fluffy. Fold in the cream and the passion-fruit tofu mixture until incorporated. Pour into the crust and refrigerate until set. At least 6 hours.
  • Strain the passion-fruit juice and place in a small saucepan over low heat. Add the powdered gelatin and stir until dissolved. Remove from the heat and let it cool. Meanwhile rinse some of the passion-fruit seeds and place on top of the set cheesecake. Pour the passion-fruit mixture on top and let it set in the refrigerator for at least one hour.

(In an effort to update this blog little by little i’m re-posting this article from 2 years ago. While the recipe remains the same, i couldn’t stand the horrendous food photography anymore. I hope you don’t mind the little facelift.)

Gâteau Basque is one of the first thing i learned to make. It’s a relatively simple golden cake with a cream or cherry preserve filling that manage to generate an extraordinary amount of comment and argument. All useless if you ask me because… my recipe is the best. [giggle]

The Basque region is sandwiched between France and Spain. It’s a fascinating place known for its beauty, gastronomy, traditions and car bombings. I hail from Biarritz on the Atlantic coast, home to resorts, casinos and beautiful beaches and where you hardly ever hear about the separatist movement. The country side though, is home to a rare breed of human beings – the Basque people – quiet fighters dedicated to the independence of their country.

That’s exactly where my parents, eager to get rid of me, sent me to my first cooking school – i was barely 16. All things considered and in spite of the fact the school was in a town considered a separatists stronghold, i had a great time. What could be better than to be taught cooking by teachers well versed in the Art of War? It’s unfortunate my first instructor got arrested midterm during class for hiding explosives in his home basement – he was quickly and quietly replaced and we never heard of him again.

I forgot the reason why we gave his successor the name ‘Sergeant Peppone’, all i remember is that he was very insecure and would keep his recipes in a locked cabinet in the kitchen. My comrades and i were well aware he had the best recipe for Gâteau Basque in the whole region for having tried it during at a special event. We begged for the recipe afterward, but to no avail. The school recipe is all he was willing to share.

Umm.. He also had no idea who he was dealing with.

We put our Art of War training into action and devised a three-steps strategy to extract the Gâteau Basque recipe from him. The revolution had started.

Part 1./ Distraction
On the chosen day, the first team was dispatched to create a distraction by asking Sergeant Peppone the keys to the basement pantry claiming someone had lost his watch in there.

Part 2./ Infiltration
The infiltration team met them there, removed the cabinet’s key from the ring and went back to the kitchen to discretly give the key to the extraction team. The distraction team proceeded to create a spill on the pantry’s floor.

Part 3./ Extraction
The distraction team then called the instructor to the pantry to notify him of the spill. When the path was clear, the extraction team got the precious Gâteau Basque recipe from the cabinet, copied it quickly and put it back in its place. The infiltration team then returned the key to the distraction team. The keys were then returned to Sergeant Peppone like if nothing happened.

It went without a hitch. After so many years i think it’s time for me to make peace with the kitchen Gods – that’s why i will share the precious recipe with you my friends. You lucky brats, you!

• Gâteau Basque

• serves 4
• 

  • Gâteau Basque dough:

  • 250 grams Flour
  • 125 grams Sugar
  • 125 grams Butter
  • 25 grams Almond Flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon Almond Extract
  • 1 Egg
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 Lemon Zest
  • 1/2 Orange Zest

  • For the pastry cream filling (or use cherry preserve):

  • 1/2 liter Milk
  • 3 Egg Yolks
  • 100 grams Sugar
  • 50 grams Flour
  • 1 Vanilla Bean
  • 1 Tablespoon Rum (optional)

• • For the Gâteau Basque dough:

  • In a mixer with the paddle attachment add flour, sugar, butter, yeast, almond flour and lemon and orange zest. Mix until the mixture looks like sand. Add the egg and the almond extract and mix until the dough comes together. Do not overmix.
  • The dough will be a bit sticky and should be pressed into the pan rather than rolled with a rolling pin. Use a 8 inches cake pan or four 3-inches individual pans.
  • Fill with either pastry cream or cherry preserve (or a mixture of the two, as i sometimes do).
  • Cover with a round of dough and press the edges to seal. Make a steam vent in the center and a criss-cross pattern. Brush with an egg yolk diluted in a tablespoon of water.
  • Bake for 30 minutes at 375′F or until golden brown. Let cool completely before eating. Enjoy!

  For the pastry cream:

  • Scrap the vanilla bean into the milk. Bring to a boil. Whisk the egg yolks with the sugar until pale. Add the flour and whisk until incorporated. Slowly add the hot milk to the egg mixture while whisking and place the mixture back on the fire. Cook until the mixture starts boiling while whisking vigorously. Add the rum if using. Remove from the heat, cool and chill until ready to use.

I posted a chestnut mille crêpes recently and at this point you’re probably thinking that i’m obsessed with crêpe cakes, and that i need help. Sure, i’m obsessed with eating them but unfortunately my insurance company doesn’t reimburse this kind of therapy yet. While this mille crêpes looks similar to the last one i made, each version is quite unique and this might be my favorite of the two with its chocolate crêpes layered with orange pastry cream and the drizzle of orange caramel. It’s a pretty incredible dessert, if i dare to say so myself. And i think it deserves a little post.

I like to trick people into thinking mille crêpes are a lot of work to make while in fact, they’re quite easy. Apparently, i’m not the only one. Some well-known bakeries are not afraid to charge up to $85 for a cake like this. I wonder if that makes me a big doofus for revealing the recipe? Just give me 25¢ on the slice and a hug if you decide to open your own bakery featuring this recipe. I’m easy.

Let me give you a little background story on how this mille crêpes came to be. Once again this is a ‘recycled’ recipe that i created with the leftover batter from the chocolate crêpes suzette with pistachios i made at work last week. If you haven’t seen the recipe i posted almost 2 years ago, click on the link, take a look and be prepared to get hypnotized (i also updated the photography on that post). I lost a few people in the wilderness that day so be careful it doesn’t happen to you.

I found myself with quite a bit of chocolate crêpe batter left and improvised this mille crêpes the next day. It requires a bit of obsessive-compulsiveness to neatly assemble this cake but i have plenty of that in store. That’s what happen when you train with fancy French chefs. Besides that, there’s nothing complicated here. Try it for yourself.

• Chocolate Mille-Crêpes with Orange Pastry Cream, Orange Caramel & Candied Zest

• serves 8
• 

  • Chocolate Crêpes & Orange zest:

  • 1 large orange: 1/2 zest removed and julienned; 1/2 zest finely grated
  • 1/3 cups plus 3 tablespoons sugar
  • 6 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 3/4 cup all purpose flour, sifted
  • 1/2 cup hazelnut (or almond) flour, sifted
  • 1/4 cup cocoa powder, sifted
  • 1/8 teaspoon plus a pinch of salt
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 tablespoon dark rum
  • 2 cups milk

  • Orange Pastry Cream:

  • 2 cups whole milk
  • 1 vanilla bean, split and scraped
  • 6 large egg yolks
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/3 cup cornstarch
  • 3 tablespoons butter, at room temp
  • zest of 1 orange

  • Orange Caramel & finish:

  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 1/4 cups freshly squeezed orange juice
  • 2/3 cup heavy cream
  • pinch of salt
  • 1/3 cup pistachios, for garnish

  • Chocolate crêpes & Orange zest:

  • Bring a small saucepan of cold water and the julienned orange zest to a boil. Drain. Return the orange zest to the saucepan. Add 1 cup of water and 1/3 cup sugar and bring to a boil. Simmer 30 minutes. Cool the zest in the syrup.
  • Melt 1 1/2 tablespoons of the butter. Whisk together the flour, hazelnut flour, cocoa, 3 tablespoons of the sugar, 1/8 teaspoon salt, and the eggs until combined. Whisk in the melted butter, followed by the rum, grated orange zest, and milk, just until each ingredient is incorporated. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour or overnight.
  • Make the crêpes in a non-stick 8-inch pan over medium high heat, brushing the pan with melted butter in between each crêpe. As the crepes are made, stack them on a plate (you will need 12 to 14 crêpes for a cake). When the crêpes are cool, place a crepe on a serving platter (or cake board) put an equal amount of the orange pastry cream in the center and spread evenly all around with an offset spatula. Top with another crêpe and repeat the operation 12 to 14 times. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours or overnight.

  • Orange pastry cream:

  • In a small saucepan, bring the milk and vanilla bean (pulp and pod) to a boil over medium heat. Remove from the heat, cover the pan and let it infuse for 10 min.
  • Whisk the yolks, sugar and cornstarch together in a bowl. Drizzle a quarter of the hot milk and whisk vigorously. Pour the rest of the milk and keep whisking. Discard the vanilla pod and pour the mixture back in the pan. Place over medium heat and bring to a boil while whisking energetically for 1 or 2 minutes.
  • Set the bottom of the pot in a ice-water bath to cool, stirring frequently so that the mixture remains smooth. Cool to 140′F (warm to the touch) and stir in the butter and the orange zest until completely incorporated. Cool and refrigerate until ready to use.

  • Orange caramel & Finish:

  • Warm a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Sprinkle the remaining cup of sugar into the saucepan a little at the time, and as the sugar melts, add more while stirring. When the caramel has turned a dark-amber color, add the orange juice, heavy cream and a pinch of salt. Continue to cook, stirring, until the caramel has dissolved. Bring to a boil for 4 minutes.
  • Pour some orange caramel over the mille crêpes and serve with candied zest and pistachios.

If you like this recipe take a minute to vote for me in the Bon Appétit Blog Envy Bake-Off. Cast your vote here. Thank you so much!

Let me start-off with a big lie. Mille Crêpes means“a thousand crêpes” in French. Hmm.. I used fifteen mayyybe sixteen crêpes. Can we just keep it a secret? Anyway, did anyone ever bothered to count the legs on a centipede (Mille-Pattes)? Or the puff pastry layers on a Napoleon (Mille-Feuilles)? No! So until someone comes back to me with scientific evidence that a Mille-Pattes has in fact a thousand legs, this cake will remain a Mille Crêpes. Ok?!

No, i didn’t invent the Mille Crêpes. I don’t know who did but i had a version of it at Lady M in New York (which they sell for $45 for a 6′inch cake and $85 for a 9′inch!). You’d be correct to picture me with dollar bills in my eyes and a shiny lightbulb above my head right now. I say forget Mille Crêpes and let’s call it the moneymaker instead.

This is one of these desserts that looks more complicated than it really is. If you have enough cooking skills to spread butter on a piece of toast, you can make this. I love fire, so i had to sprinkle sugar over the cake and ‘brûlée’ the top with a blowtorch to give it a nice caramelized finish. Like polish on a shoe. It’s optional but definitely a nice touch.

For the chestnut cream i cooked chestnuts in milk with sugar and vanilla and added a few tablespoons of sweetened chestnut paste to the mix and puree it to a nice creamy/spreadable consistency. After it cooled you can fold a small amount of whipped cream to the chestnut puree to lighten it up. Or you could eat it with your fingers right from the bowl. Don’t bother to make the crêpes in that case.

The other nice touch was the orange caramel sauce. It complemented the rich chestnut with a little bit of zing. If you don’t know what a little bit of zing is.. sorry. I can’t help you. Vanilla ice cream works too but vanilla ice cream always works, doesn’t it?

Try it but under no conditions tell anyone this cake has any less than a thousand layers. Just do your best to look really tired when you serve it, as if you worked on it all night.

• Chestnut Mille Crêpes

• • Serves 4

  

• • For the crêpes:

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1/2 cup lukewarm water or light beer
  • 4 large eggs
  • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
  • 3 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 1 tablespoon Cointreau or Grand-Marnier

  • For the chestnut cream:

  • 16 ounces chestnuts (use bottled chestnuts)
  • 2 cups whole milk
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1 vanilla bean, split and scraped
  • 4 tablespoons sweetened chestnut puree (optional)
  • 1/2 heavy cream, whipped (optional)

  • For the orange caramel:

  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 cup orange juice, strained

  

  • For the crêpes:

  • Combine all the ingredients by hand or in the bowl of a blender. Mix until smooth. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate (Preferably overnight, this allows the gluten in the flour a chance to relax.)
  • Place a 6-inch nonstick or seasoned crepe pan over medium heat. Using a paper towel, coat the pan with a little butter.
  • Pour about 2 tablespoons into the pan. Lift, tilt and rotate the pan so that the batter forms an even, very thin layer. Cook until golden. Turn the crepe over and cook a little longer. Remove the crepe to a piece of wax paper. Continue cooking the rest of the crepes.

• For the chestnut cream:

• Combine the chestnuts, the milk, the sugar and the vanilla in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Cook over medium high heat for 10 to 15 minutes. Remove the vanilla bean and puree the mixture in a food processor until smooth and creamy. Add the sweetened chestnut paste if using and process until smooth.
• Transfer the mixture to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until cold. Fold the whipped cream into the mixture and reserve.

• For the orange caramel:

• Cook the sugar in a dry heavy saucepan over moderate heat, undisturbed, until it begins to melt. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally with a fork, until sugar is melted into a deep golden caramel.
• Tilt pan and carefully pour in juice (caramel will harden and steam vigorously). Cook over moderately low heat, stirring, until caramel is dissolved, then cool sauce.

• To assemble the Mille Crêpes:

• Lay 1 crêpe on a cake plate. Using an icing spatula, completely cover with a thin layer of chestnut cream. Cover with a crêpe and repeat to make a stack of 15 to 20.
• Chill for at least 2 hours. Serve cold. If you have a blowtorch for crème brûlée, sprinkle the top crêpe with 2 tablespoons sugar and caramelize with the torch. Slice like a cake. Serve with orange caramel and vanilla ice cream. Enjoy!

I know what you’re thinking. Molten chocolate cakes are so 1999 and yet it seems every restaurant in every corner of the world has some version or other on their menu. Sometimes you just wish the recipe could be put in a time capsule and sent to space for 10 years or so. Everyone needs a break sometimes but we can’t ignore the fact that, when done properly, these suckers can be quite incredible and so i thought i would give them a little makeover and feature them in a dessert that taste more like Nutella for grown-ups. Yes, you heard me right…

{{loud thump of people fainting}}

When i came across a delicious-looking block of dark Gianduja (or Gianduia) at Buon Italia in Chelsea Market there was no doubt in my mind, not only i was gonna make a molten gianduja cake but i was gonna serve it with nocciola (hazelnut) gelato and some homemade hazelnut brittle. Hazelnut three-ways if you prefer. One warm and gooey, one chilled and creamy and one crunchy and… extremely addictive. Gianduja is a chocolate originally made in Piedmont, Italy that contains about 30% hazelnut paste. It’s most popular incarnation is of course Nutella which wouldn’t work here because it’s been already processed into a paste with added crap you really don’t want. The ironic thing is that the cake batter taste almost like Nutella – without the hydrogenated oil. Hmm.

If you need more convincing just imagine the combination of warm melting Gianduja chocolate and the cold hazelnut gelato. These two were truly made for each other. You could also buy a good quality hazelnut gelato to serve with this dessert but i recommend keeping with the hazelnut theme because it really works. You trust me, don’t you? Yes?.. Can i have your wallet?

The hazelnut brittle is a foolproof recipe that you could adapt to pretty much any kind of nuts, except a nut like me. Scratch that. On second thought i wouldn’t mind being brittlelized.  I have to warn you though that you might find yourself getting up in the middle of the night to have a little snack. Hide the hazelnut brittle, my friends… hide it from yourself!

• Gianduja Molten Cake with Hazelnut Gelato & Brittle

• • Serves 6



• • For the molten Gianduja cakes:

  • 8 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 3 teaspoons all-purpose flour
  • 4 ounces dark gianduja chocolate
  • 2 large whole eggs
  • 2 large egg yolks
  • 1/4 cup sugar

  • For the hazelnut brittle:

  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
  • 1/2 cup ground hazelnut
  • 1 pinch of salt

  • For the hazelnut gelato:

  • 8 ounces hazelnuts, skinned and toasted
  • 1 1/4 cups whole milk
  • 1 1/4 cups half & half
  • 4 egg yolks
  • 4 tablespoons sugar
  • 
    

    For the molten Gianduja cakes:

  • Butter and lightly flour six 3-ounce ramequins.
  • Combine butter and Gianduja chocolate in a bowl and place on top of bain-marie; heat until chocolate and butter mixture has melted.
  • In a medium bowl beat together eggs, yolks, and sugar until light and thick.
  • Add melted chocolate mixture, and beat to combine. Add the flour until just combined and divide the batter among the ramequins.
  • Preheat oven to 450′F and bake until the sides are sets but the center remains soft. Between 6 and 9 minutes depending on your oven.
  • Gently invert ramequins on the plates to let the cakes fall off.
  • 
    

    For the hazelnut brittle:

  • Preheat the oven to 350′F
  • In a small saucepan, combine the sugar, 1/3 cup water, and the cream of tartar. Cook to a golden brown caramel. Pour onto a baking pan lined with parchment paper or a nonstick baking pad. Let it cool.
  • When cool, break into pieces and grind to a powder in a food processor. Stir in the ground hazelnuts.
  • Spread a thin layer of the caramel-nut mixture on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a baking pad. You can give it the shapes you want. Bake for 5 minutes. Let it cool and keep it in a dry, cool place.

  

  • For the hazelnut gelato:

  • In a food processor grind the hazelnut to a paste (only use skinned hazelnuts)
  • Combine the milk and the half & half in a medium saucepan. Bring to a simmer and turn off the heat. Whisk in the hazelnut paste and cover. Allow to cool completely.
  • Strain the hazelnut milk into a strainer lined with cheesecloth and extract as much of the liquid as possible. Discard the solids.
  • In a bowl beat the egg yolks and sugar. Add the strained milk mixture while whisking.
  • Put the mixture back into the saucepan and cook on the lowest heat while stirring constantly until it thickens slightly, about 4 to 5 minutes.
  • Cool completely.
  • Freeze in your ice cream maker.

She posted this recipe a while back and raved about it, i wanted to see for myself as soon as i got my eager little fingers on the precious beans. These bite size cakes look like little atomic mushrooms, and that’s exactly what you will feel while chewing on them, a badass explosion of flavors. Careful now, it might make your head spin.

Tonka beans have been banned by the FDA because they contain a substance called coumarin, a blood thinner used in prescription drugs. What the FDA is quiet about is that cinnamon contains similar amounts of coumarin, but i guess that’s okay. Let’s try not to make sense of certain regulations. The bottom line is that high intakes of tonka beans or cinnamon can be bad for you but since we use it as a flavoring, i wouldn’t worry too much about it. Just call me doctor Zen.

(photo courtesy of Wikipedia)

Tonka beans have an amazing fragrance (and it’s used a lot by perfumers) reminiscent of vanilla, almonds and cinnamon with a hint of clove. It can turn a variety of desserts and even some savory foods into.. er… sex! uh uh! yea! That’s right! Just ask the uber-talented Tartelette.

I still have some other projects planned involving Tonka beans, ice creams, custards..etc.. I’ll share my findings with you and let’s hope the FDA changes it’s mind soon. In the meantime… vive la contrebande!

Just so you know. This recipe originated on this French Blog.
Tonka Bean, White Chocolate and Apricot Cakes

(from Tartelette)

• 1 1/2 sticks butter, melted and cooled
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 cup white chocolate, melted
• 3 large eggs
• 1/2 cup flour
• 2 tonka beans
• 15 dried apricots, cut in small dices

Preheat the oven to 350F.
Whisk together the eggs and sugar until pale and thick, about 2-3 minutes. Add the butter and chocolate. Whisk well and add the flour. Finely grate the tonka bean and add to the batter. Add the dried apricots and mix until incorporated.

Divide evenly between muffin tins coated with cooking spray and cook for 15 minutes (longer if using a larger pan, about 20-25 minutes)

Even I, insensitive brat that i am, lost my senses to the heady perfume of the fruit cooking with star anise, vanilla, clove and cinnamon. Didn’t feel that guilty since my teens in France, when i would sneak-out of my bedroom at 2 am to watch Playboy Tv while my parents and siblings were asleep. It was unbearable in a good way. A little bit like watching the 2 am movie on an encryted channel… without the decrypter. And i don’t care what my friends say, shaking your head from left to right really fast does NOT work!.. hm … How the heck did we get here?

Oh yes, the quince! Let’s start the recipe before this story gets worse, and believe me, it can! The goal today is to learn how to make this baby…

Update: I’m submitting this recipe to Mansi’s blog event: A vegetarian Thanksgiving.

QUINCE:

• 2 large quince, peeled, cored, and each cut into 16 slices
• 1 cups sugar
• 1 vanilla bean, split
• 1 whole clove
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 2 star anise
• 3 cups water

CAKE

• ½ cup unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 1-1/3 cups confectioners’ sugar
• ½ cup almond flour
• 1/3 cup cake flour
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/8 tsp ground cardamom
• 4 large egg whites (1/2 cup)
• ½ tsp grated orange zest
• Additional butter for greasing the pans

1. To prepare the quince, in a large saucepan, combine the quince and all the ingredients. Cut a round of parchment paper and lay it on top of the quince to keep the fruit submerged. Bring the mixture to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat and simmer until the quince is tender, about 1 hours. Let the quince cool in the poaching liquid. Drain the quince pieces on layers of paper towel. Discard the liquid.

2. To make the cake, preheat the oven to 400F. In a large skillet over medium heat, melt the butter. Continue to let the butter cook until it turn a rich hazelnut brown. Strain the browned butter through a fine sieve into a clean bowl, discard the solids.

3. Sift together the confectioners’ sugar, almond flour, cake flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cardamom. Place the sifted ingredients in the bowl of an electric mixer with the whisk attachment. On the lowest speed, add the egg whites and orange zest and mix. Increase the speed to medium and beat until very smooth. Decrease the speed to low and stir in the browned butter, beat until smooth.

4. Butter a 10-inch tart pan or individual tart pans with a removable bottom or a springform pan. Pour in the batter and smooth the top. Arrange the quince slices on the batter.

5. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the cake is golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack and cool completely. Remove the sides of the pan before serving because they really don’t taste that good.

When my zen-ness was restored and i focused on lemons instead of toes, i found this Pablo Neruda poem “Ode to a lemon” and read it by candlelight while munching on something.. well… lemony. It was delicious! When light came back, there was only a few golden crumbs on a black lacquered platter that looked like shiny meteorites in the night sky. It’s either that or I had too much vodka with the cake.. or maybe it was hallucinations.. or… was i abducted by..al..aliens!!?…

Nah!… hmm!?.. Naaahhhh!!.. But a bit spooky?.. yaaahh!

How we got from lemon cakes to aliens i don’t know, but i’m sure of this – the recipe comes from pastry chef extraordinaire Pierre Herme who definitely looks more like a melon than a lemon, but a melon with enormous talent. It’s simple, it’s good and it gets much of its depth of flavor from the unexpected addition of extra-virgin olive oil. The rapberries add a nice touch as well. Herme describes the cake as having a rich aroma, a light olive taste, and a soft texture. I think he’s about right. I mean i wouldn’t argue with the guy anyway… he’s about triple my size. The cake can also be dressed-up and covered with meringue and browned quickly in the oven. See recipe.

(*the absolut ad was borrowed from here . Sorry absolut, couldn’t resist!)

Ligurian Lemon Cake

(recipe from Desserts by Pierre Herme)

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 cup sugar
• Zest of 2 lemons (removed with a zester and finely chopped)
• 4 large eggs, at room temperature
• 3 tablespoons whole milk, at room temperature
• 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 7 tablespoons (31/2 ounces) unsalted butter, melted and still warm
• 2/3 cup mild extra-virgin olive oil
• about 1 pint fresh raspberries

1. Preheat the oven to 350′F. Butter a 10-inch round cake or springform pan, dust the interior with flour, and tap out the excess.

2. Sift the flour and baking powder together and reserve.

3. Place the sugar and chopped zest in the bowl of a mixer and rub the ingredients together between your fingers until the sugar is moist, grainy and very aromatic. Fit the bowl into the mixer with the whisk attachment in place, add the eggs, and beat on medium-high speed until the mixture is pale and thick, about 3 minutes.

4. Set the mixer to its lowest speed and beat in the milk. Add the sifted dry ingredients, beating only until they are incorporated, and then add the lemon juice, warm melted butter, and olive oil, again beating only until blended.

5. Pour about one third of the batter into the prepared pan – it should be just enough to form a thin, even layer. Top with enough raspberries to cover the batter, then pour on the rest of the batter, using a rubber spatula to gently spread the batter to that it runs down between the berries and just cover them.

6. Bake the cake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until it is golden and pulls away from the sides of the pan. A knife inserted in the middle should come out clean. Remove the cake from the oven and immediately unmold it onto a cooling rack; invert so that the cake is right side up. Cool to room temperature.

7. For the meringue (optional), beat 1 large egg white in a dry and clean mixing bowl until it holds soft peaks. Add 1/4 cup of sugar in a slow, steady stream and continue to beat until the mixture forms firm, glossy peaks. Spread the meringue over the top of the cool cake using a metal spatula. Dust with confectioner’s sugar and bake for 4 to 6 minutes, or until lightly browned. Enjoy!

The Basque region is sandwiched between France and Spain. It is an interesting place known for its beauty, gastronomy and car bombings. I hail from the overdeveloped Atlantic coast, home to resorts, casinos and beautiful beaches and where you hardly ever hear about the separatist movement. The country side though, is home to a rare breed of human beings – the Basque people – quiet fighters dedicated to the independence of what they consider their country.

That’s exactly where my parents, eager to get rid of me, sent me to my first cooking school – i was barely 16. All things considered and in spite of the fact the school was in a town considered a separatists stronghold, i had a great time. What could be better than to be taught by teachers well versed in the Art of War? It’s unfortunate my favorite instructor got arrested midterm during class for hiding explosives in his home basement – he was quickly and quietly replaced and we never heard of him again.

I forgot the reason why we gave his successor the name ‘Sergeant Peppone’, all i remember is that he was very round and very insecure and would keep his recipes in a locked cabinet in the kitchen. My comrades and i were well aware he had the best recipe for Gateau Basque in the whole region for having tried it during a special event. We begged him for the recipe afterward but.. no. He wasn’t willing to share it with us and only gave us the school’s recipe. Pfff..

We didn’t like that, so we put our Art of War training into action and devised a three-steps strategy to extract the Gateau Basque recipe from him. The brats rebellion had started.

Part 1./ Distraction
On the chosen day, the first team was dispatched to create a distraction by asking Sergeant Peppone the keys to the pantry claiming someone had lost his watch in there.

Part 2./ Infiltration
The infiltration team met them there, removed the cabinet’s key from the ring and went back to the kitchen to discretly give the key to the extraction team.

Part 3./ Extraction
The distraction team then called the instructor to the pantry. When the path was cleared, the extraction team got the precious recipe from the cabinet, copied it and put it back in its place. The infiltration team then returned the key the same way.

It went without a hitch.All i can say is that the cooking school i later attended in Paris wasn’t that exciting in comparison.

After so many years i think it’s time for me to make peace with the kitchen Gods – that’s why i will share the precious recipe with you my friends. You lucky brats, you!

• 250 grams Flour
• 125 grams Sugar
• 125 grams Butter
• 25 grams Almond Flour
• 1/4 teaspoon Almond Extract
• 1 Egg
• 1 Pack of Yeast
• 1 Lemon Zest
• 1/2 Orange Zest

For the pastry cream:

• 1/2 liter Milk
• 3 Egg Yolks
• 100 grams Sugar
• 50 grams Flour
• 1 Vanilla Bean
• 1 Tablespoon Rum (optional)

To make the pastry cream:

Scrap the vanilla bean and place in the milk. Bring to a boil. Whisk the egg yolks with the sugar until pale. Add the flour and whisk until incorporated. Slowly add the hot milk to the egg mixture while whisking and place the mixture back on the fire. Cook until almost boiling. Add the rum if using. Remove from the heat and cool.

To make the dough:

In a mixer with the paddle attachment add flour, sugar, butter, yeast, almond flour and lemon and orange zest. Mix until the mixture looks like sand. Add the egg and the almond extract and mix until the dough comes together. Do not overmix. It should look like this.

The dough will be a bit sticky and should be pressed into the pan rather than rolled with a rolling pin. Use a 8 inches cake pan or three 3 inches individual pans.

Traditional Gateau Basque have a filling or either pastry cream or cherry preserve but never both at the same time. As you can see i break tradition by adding a few preserved cherries to the pastry cream. Why? Cuz it’s good duh!

Cover with a round of dough and press the edges to seal. Make a steam vent in the center and a criss-cross pattern. Brush with an egg yolk diluted in a tablespoon of water.

Bake for 30 minutes at 375′F or until golden brown. Let cool completely before eating. Enjoy.