Showing posts with label French. Show all posts
Showing posts with label French. Show all posts

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Chouquettes (Sugar Puffs)


These dainty and light sugary snack reminds me of my days in Fontainebleau, France as an MBA student there. It would be my comfort snack, that I always get from the campus bar (yes, we there was a bar in the campus building, where students we could get coffee, ice cream, sandwiches and snacks and probably alcohol too though I don't remember ^_^) in between the afternoon classes.

These chouquettes are basically mini-cream puffs (the french call it pate-a-choux) without any filling, but that are covered with lots of coarse sugar bits. When I started my attempts at baking, it was one of the first thing I though to try, after the less satisfactory batches of blueberry muffins and banana bread. To my surprise, it was not difficult to make at all! I did get lucky by getting good tips beforehand (watching youtube demonstrations was also useful), but once you get a hold of the one/two key tips, it's such a delight to make, especially for one who does not have an electric mixer and minimal baking tools such as myself! It has become so far, my favorite thing to bake!

Monday, February 24, 2014

Lemon Yogurt Cake & Strawberry Compote


During my quest searching for the elusive Moroccan ever-so-light yogurt cake, I came across several French yogurt cake recipes, all of which claim to be simple and light. I picked this one from Smitten Kitchen's blog because it seemed to have the least sugar content, and visually looks the lightest! I wasn't disappointed at all. It was not only light, but moist and flavorful. I used lemon, instead of lime, it worked. And used another JustOneCookBook's Strawberry Compote recipe, instead of the blackberry sauce. The sweet and freshness of the compote complemented the tanginess of the cake perfectly.  It was light enough to have for breakfast, with a cup of tea. Enjoy!