Madeleine

Meet Madeleine, the cutest mini-cake ever invented in France in the middle of the 18th century; soft like a sponge and with a hint of orange, this is the best excuse to have something sweet with your tea or coffee. I was so excited when I found a tray at the store that had madeleine forms (and other ones, like hearts and teddy bears- but that’s another story); the only downside it was that I had so much work, I couldn’t play with it for at least 2 weeks… BUT now, having no real responsibilities (that I care of), I started a bake off challenge! I only hope the fridge and my stomach could keep up with my pace. 

The funny thing with madeleines is that you have to add the butter in the last moment; usually you would cream the sugar and butter together, but in this recipe you should mix everything before, and than add the melted fat. In order to make the dough hard-ish again, place it in the fridge for an hour before scooping it into the shapes and baking it. 

• 

Ever since I met the chocolate ganache glaze I absolutely loved adding it to everything; it is so easy to make, and it’s guaranteed to work (and you will easily remember the heavy cream-chocolate ratio). When I was younger I used to make the Dr Oetker kind of glaze, the one that you would add some water to a chocolate-like powder and it would become a paste! So freakishly easy, but not as tasty as the real deal, sadly… Anyway, if you decide to cover your madeleines in glaze than you should definitely make another little step, and that’s adding crushed peanuts on top – a total game changer! PS: little trick that I learned- dip the cookie into the glaze, then dip it in a bowl filled with crushed peanuts. That way, when you let them vent on a cooling rack, you won’t destroy the chocolate layer (and it won’t pour on the rack). Double win!

So many words for such small dessert; you got to try it to see what a little wonder this madeleine is!

Strawberry fraisier

My goal for this summer was to try out new recipes that I was afraid of, so I’m not going to lie, this was a challenge for me- especially since I’ve had bad experiences with folding creams and pouring them into cooking rings. If you don’t know by now, this stunning dessert is called Fraisier, a classic French cake that is traditionally composed of a sponge cake cut in half, filled with creme patisserie and topped with almond paste which I swiped for a strawberry gelée. My expectations have been exceeded ever since I took the first bite out of this amazing dessert; I mean, how can something be so fluffy and delicate and still taste like strawberry heaven?!

Start off by making a sponge cake sheet; I didn’t include a photo of that because I think it’s a pretty easy step. Be careful though not to make it any thicker than 1 cm or half of inch because you’ll use two sponges anyway. Cut that cake sheet in twice as much circles as the number of cakes you’ll want cause one of them goes on the bottom, one on top. Make a sugar syrup to moist the sponges and add a little lemon extract in it for a nice twist. After that, cut the strawberries in 4 slices and arrange the bigger ones along the cooking ring. Set the other ones away.

Half of the job is done! You need to prepare the creme patisserie now; don’t rush into it, because if you don’t wait for it to cool down before you add the butter or mix it in with the whipped cream you’ll get NADA. And by nada I mean a soggy heterogeneous combination of ingredients. You don’t want that. So search deep inside of you for some patience, because after all you wanted to bake this French dessert to prove yourself something. (#peptalk)

While the desserts are cooling in the fridge, make a thin layer of strawberry gelee (thinner than mine, if you can) and let it set, then cut it in circles and add it on top. Finish the fraisiers with fresh strawberries and serve it as soon as possible, so you won’t drool all over when you open the fridge occasionally (this is the best tip ever!).

If you love strawberries as much as I do and you are looking for a fancy way to incorporate them into a dessert, I assure you that this is the one and only way to do that. There’s nothing that compares to that feeling of accomplishment when you take off the cooking rings and you see the beauty inside, the almost-perfect arrangement of fresh strawberries contrasting with the whiteness of the cream. I can gush about this a whole week if you let me, but I’ll stop for now; if you want to make this yourself, check the recipe below!