Gâteau Fondant Aux Poires

I love Paris.

I especially love Pastries

And I'm joining Anita for her Simply Irresistible Paris Party!

Do you have a favorite Pâtisserie in Paris?

Would it be Ladurée for a macaron?

How about Pierre Hermé for some chocolat?

Or perhaps La Pâtisserie des Rêves for pastries?

Or stop by my favorite tea room.....

For some chocolat chaud:

Ah bien....we can't always travel to Paris, but we can dream can't we?  That's what Simply Irresistible Paris is all about. Take a bite of this lovely cake, close your eyes and think of Paris. Magnifique!


Gâteau Fondant Aux Poires

Ingredients:
3-4 small ripe pears, peeled, quartered and cubed
1 cup plus 1 1/2 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
zest of 1 lemon
1 1/4 cup sugar 
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 eggs, at room temperature
2 cups plus 1 1/2 tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
a pinch of salt

Method:
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Grease a 9 1/2 inch spring pan (as you can see, I cut the recipe in half and used the smaller spring form pan)
In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment beat butter and sugar together until very fluffy and white. Mix in the eggs slowly, one egg at a time. Add vanilla and lemon zest.
In another bowl sift together flour, salt and baking powder. Add the flour mixture slowly to the egg mixture. Don't over mix.
Pour half of the batter into the spring pan. Place the pears on top. Pour the rest of the batter in the pan.
Bake for about 60 min or until a tooth pick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
Dust with powdered sugar before serving.

(Recipe adapted from Kirsten at My Kitchen in the Rockies)

Bulgur Salad with Herbs, Apricots and Pistachios

I really love experimenting with different grains, often serving them very simply (so as to become familiar with their flavors and textures) as a side with dinner, but now I'm moving on to more grain-based salads and bulgur was one I hadn't yet tried in salad form. I do know it's used in many Middle Eastern dishes like tabbouleh, often substituted for rice or couscous and even served as porridge. It has a slight nutty flavor and I prefer it to quinoa (which I just can't seem warm up to, sorry about that), although bulgur IS wheat, which I know a lot of you are avoiding now.
The latest issue of Fine Cooking featured a dish with bulgur and lots of intriguing flavors. I loved that it can double as a side OR a salad. It'll travel beautifully, so you could take this along on a picnic. The flavors are marvelous....the tangy sweet of the apricots, the crunch of the pistachios and those herbs! Yum. The mixture of herbs adds so much freshness to the salad; hopefully, you'll have some available in your herb garden this summer.

Bulgur Salad with Herbs, Apricots and Pistachios
Adapted slightly from Fine Cooking Magazine, June/July Issue

Ingredients:

2 cups bulgur

Kosher salt

2/3 cup plus 2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup minced onion

3 medium cloves garlic, minced

Generous 1/2 cup roughly chopped apricots

1 cup coarsely chopped fresh flat leaf parsley

3/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro

3/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh mint

generous 1/2 cup chopped, roasted, salted pistachios

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

Freshly ground black pepper

Method:

In a large skillet, toast the bulgur over medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until darker in color and aromatic, about 3 minutes. Remove to a bowl.

Bring 2 cups of water  with 1 teaspoon of salt to a boil.

Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in the skillet and add the onion and garlic. Cook, stirring, until softened. Remove from heat, stir in the bulgur, apricots and 2 cups boiling water. Stir. Cover and let stand for 30-40 minutes until all the fluid has been absorbed. Gently stir in the parsley, mint, cilantro and pistachios. Add salt and pepper.

In a small bowl, whisk the remaining cup of olive oil into the lemon juice. Pour over the salad, correct the seasonings if necessary, and serve. Makes about 7 cups.

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The winner of the Amish cookbook is Grace, from A Southern Grace. I've sent you an email, please email me at bsmithw@gmail.com with your address and I'll mail the book ASAP.

Congratulations!

My Mother's Custard

Ah yes. A perfect, basic custard. Nothing fancy and nothing better. Don't we all have a favorite recipe? I don't care how many recipes I've tried, I always come back to this one. It's one of the most comforting desserts around, not overly sweet, perfect for kids when they don't feel well and I make it often to take to friends who are under the weather or on limited diets. Everyone loves custard. Mother made it all the time when we were children and continued to make it all her life. 

The key to any custard is in the baking. The biggest problem? Overbaking. If your custard comes out watery or has holes in it, you've overbaked it. A custard should be smooth and creamy, not watery, with a consistency somewhat like Jello. All ovens are different and until you know exactly how your custard will bake, start sticking a knife into one of your custards before the baking time is up. I've noticed the oven in my new house seems to run hot so I actually turned the heat down a bit to start with and the knife still came out clean 5 minutes early. When the knife comes out clean, take them out, forget what the timer says. 
Cool and refrigerate.

It sounds odd to put paper towels in the bottom of the pan, but my mother did it; she told me it makes for even baking. I ask you, who would know better?

Happy Mother's Day everyone!


Mother's Custard

Ingredients:
3 slightly beaten eggs
1/4 cup sugar
pinch of salt
2 cups scalded milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
freshly grated nutmeg

Method:
Preheat oven to 325
Combine eggs, sugar and salt until well mixed. Do not beat. Slowly add scalded milk, stirring, not whipping (you don't want foam) and then the vanilla. Strain into a pitcher and then pour into your custard cups. Bake in a pan whose sides are not deeper than the custard cups and has a sheet of paper toweling in the bottom. Place the custard cups on top and fill the pan half way up the cups with boiling water. Now sprinkle on the nutmeg.
Bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until knife comes out clean.