It is a truth universally acknowledged that all posts about madeleines must contain a reference to Proust. Because everyone (even people who have never actually read a thing by Proust) know that he had a serious thing for these little shell-shaped pastries.
High-brow literary references aside, there's a good reason that madeleines inspire such adoration. They're neither cookie nor cake, but somewhere in the middle, and utterly perfect for dunking into a mug of hot tea....
One of my favourite parts of June is the return of the local farmers market.
Compared to the bigger markets like the St Lawrence or the Brickworks, the little market at Withrow Park with its dozen stands may not look like much, but I think it's perfect. It's got everything I need... fresh fruits and vegetables, meats, eggs, cheese, bread, and pastries, all locally grown and produced....
When it comes to guilty indulgences, I have more than my fair share. The occasional expensive latte on my afternoon coffee break? Yup. Lying in bed for an extra hour on weekends? Double yup. A great pair of shoes, especially if they're on sale? Absolutely. Gooey sweet desserts? Not so much.
Yup. Despite what you might thing from reading this blog, I don't really have much of a sweet tooth. Honestly, I'd much rather save the calories for savoury treats, like gooey soft cheeses or fresh-baked bread.
I do, however, make an exception for certain things....
There's something a little ironic about writing a post for Bastille Day literally hours after coming home from a trip to England, but such is the life of a (not-so) globe-trotting food blogger.
When the Holiday Food Blog Party gang decided to celebrate the French national holiday of Bastille Day a few weeks ago, I immediately called dibs on gougères. They're one of my favourite classic French pastries - golden bite-sized puffs of savoury choux pastry flavoured with cheese and herbs.
My go-to recipe comes from David Lebovitz. It comes together quite easily, as long as you've got your mise en place done before you start cooking, and works like a charm, rising up to golden puffy perfection even when I get lazy and scoop out the dough with a disher instead of piping it out all proper-like. They're about as foolproof as choux could possibly get....
My love affair with plums is already well-documented here, so I'm not going to bore you with another one of my long-winded odes to their awesomeness.
Soooo... instead, I'm going to bore with a long-winded ode to the awesomeness of clafoutis. Or, more specifically, a yellow plum clafoutis that combines two wonderful things into one perfect easy summer dessert.
Despite the fact that it's dead simple to make and incredibly delicious, clafoutis doesn't seem to be all that popular here in Canada, which is an awful shame - especially once you come to realise that it's one of the best desserts to make with the fabulous locally-grown fruits that are available at this time of year. ...
