Promis Juré!

Chocolate shops are everywhere in Brussels. The standbys are still found in the Grand Sablon, but if you stroll the city, you'll find plenty more--including the likes of chocolatiers like Laurent Gerbaud's on Rue Ravenstein. Asian influences are showcased not only in the ingredients he uses in his chocolates, but also as part of his logo: the word "chocolate" in Chinese is stamped on the red seal packaging all his beautiful products.  The shop is a combination tea shop (delicious hot chocolate served here) but also a place where you can schedule a chocolate tasting or take a workshop on how to mold and  put together those precious wafers studded with pistachio, almonds, dried fruits and more. Laurent also dips Dandoy's famous biscuits in his handmade chocolate. As his sign states, there's no additives or preservatives in his chocolate. It's pure, unadulterated pleasure--made with love, served with pride, and as I can attest--devoured with gusto. (I swear to God!)

Joyeuses Fêtes: memories of chocolat chaud

It's a grey day out--the color of Paris at Christmas time in a way--and I am missing the streets and the City of Light when it dazzles the most. Yes, even though often grey outside in December, Paris is somehow filled with a glow always. Here's what I am missing the most today:
A visit to La Charlotte de l'isle on the Ille St. Louis--a tiny spot for late afternoon hot chocolate or tea--and a slice of lemon tart drizzled with dark chocolate. I was thinking about this after re-reading my story in AAA Home & Away magazine this month (the cover story--hurray!) A French Twist on the Holidays: Parisian Noel  If you cannot access it without a zip code, type in 55417 (:
For several years, my best friend Angie and I went to Paris in early December--it is a lovely time to visit and I am thinking it's time in 2012 to start up the tradition again.  For today, I only wish there was a place like La Charlotte de L'isle to go to in Minneapolis or St. Paul. A small shop, where everyone is crushed together--and there is even a piano squeezed in against one wall. (If you're lucky you might hear a piano recital.) The best part--the hot chocolate was served in real cups and arrived on a tray with a carafe of water because the chocolate was so sweet and heavy.

Happy Pie Day!

 

"OK, here's the Thanksgiving menu so far: apple pie, pumpkin pie, blueberry tart, and ice cream roll. What am I missing? CAKE! We need cake."
Debra Messing as Grace Adler on Will & Grace

I love Wayne Thiebaud's paintings. I really wanted to post a copy of one of his pies and cakes for this blog post--but I didn't want to infringe on anybody's copyright. So I'm doing almost the next best thing: posting a photo I took in Traverse City this summer at the Grand Traverse Pie Company. Yum to their pie. Cake too. Don't know if they had the ice cream roll. Happy Thanksgiving!
PS I'm seriously thinking about making pumpkin bars tomorrow with cream cheese frosting. No. I AM making them tomorrow. (Just to get myself in the thankful holiday spirit.)

Belgian Chocolates

I am just back from Belgium--Brussels and Brugge--with a suitcase entirely filled with boxes and tins and bags of chocolates. (You think I am kidding; I'm not.) I can only say that there is a reason Belgian chocolates are the best. Actually, there are many reasons. I believe it was Elizabeth Barrett Browning who put it so poetically ...How do I love thee Belgian chocolate...let me count the ways....(or something to that effect..)

Plaisirs sucrés

Why don't restaurants in the U.S. serve espresso with complimentary truffles? It's such a civilized way to end a meal. (This was in Honfleur, France. A rainy day--but who cared?)

In our first hotel, they were selling local honey at the desk. Mmmmmm. With a baguette, honey. S'il vous plaît.

Tarte tatin in Normandy

Having just returned from the Normandy region of France, I am in the process of going through photos and re-living the various sweet moments spent there. This being the season of apples, it was fun to be in Normandy with the apple trees heavy with their fruit. It was also a perfect time to indulge on their famous tarte tatin. One of the most delicious I tasted was at Auberge Les Deux Tonneaux in the picturesque village of Pierrefitte-en-Auge. I walked through the cafe's lovely terrace (which was closed that day because of misty rain) and marveled at the apples and pears hanging from the  trees over the tables. Inside this cozy country pub cafe (it's in a thatched-roof cottage), the bar serves up the regions' famous cider and Calvados.  In the adjoining small dining room, a fire burned cozily in the old fireplace and the view out the window included another thatched cottage across the road with rolling green fields in the distance. The food was solid Normandy classics, and dessert was flaky apple tart--France's famous tarte tatin-- warm from the oven with a scoop of Normandy cream rich ice cream. After our espressos, the owner brought us complimentary mini snifters of local Calvados, a  fitting finale.

dining room place settings

                                                            the view from the terrace

                                                           tiny snifter of Calvados after cafes

                                                                         interior of pub area

Auberge Les Deux Tonneaux (Inn of the Two Barrels), Le Bourg, 14130 Pierrefitte-en-auge

Click on above to go to their website.

Granita for ice-cold comfort

Italy in the summer time is hot, hot, hot. Almost as hot as July and August in Minneapolis has been this year. With our AC on the fritz, I am learning to cope. But barely. However, a couple years ago when my best girlfriend, Angie, and I visited Italy, we learned that Italians cope with the heat in a most delicious way.

In Rome, at Caffe Tazza d’Oro,** it’s printed on the glass door as you enter: “Granita Caffe con panna.” After the second visit, we had the routine down: go to the register, pay and get your receipt for the granita, take the receipt over to the guy behind the counter, present receipt, wait, receive your coffee granita, go outside, indulge (and cool off) while people-watching in front of the Pantheon (it’s right around the corner from the cafe). Repeat as necessary.

Granita, an exquisite powdery ice, is usually flavored with espresso or fresh fruit and often topped (or layered as at Caffe Tazza d’Oro) “con panna,” (with whipped cream).

But you don’t have to go to Italy to enjoy this icy sweet treat—it’s easy enough to make at home (and just a bit more economical—although perhaps not quite as exciting). Plus it makes a great and cooling and light (depending on how much whipped cream you’re into) finale to a spicy bbq, late night porch supper, or as a poolside refreshment (even if your pool happens to be the inflatable kind).

**Via degli Orfani, 84 (Pantheon) - 00186 Roma
Tel. +39.06.67.89.792 +39.06.67.92.768

Coffee Granita

1 cup water
½ cup granulated sugar
3 cups brewed espresso coffee (or 3 cups regular coffee that has been brewed double strength)

In a 1 ½ to 2 quart saucepan, bring water and sugar to a boil over moderate heat, stirring only until the sugar dissolves. Continue boiling for four minutes without stirring. Remove pan from heat and let syrup cool to room temperature.

Stir in the coffee and pour mixture into a 12 x 9 inch pan.

Freeze the granita, stirring and scraping the icy crystals in to the center of the mixture with a fork approximately every 30 minutes or so until completely frozen, about three to four hours. The finished granita will have a fine and snowy texture.

Serve with a dollop of Kahlua-flavored whipped cream.

Kahlua Flavored Whipped Cream

½ cup heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons Kahlua

Whip cream until soft peaks form. Gradually beat in liqueur (try Bailey’s as well)


Strawberry Granita

1 cup water
½ cup sugar
2 lbs. fresh strawberries, pureed (you can use less, but I find this amount gives a rich strawberry essence)
1 tablespoon lemon juice

In a 1 ½ to 2 quart saucepan, bring water and sugar to a boil over moderate heat, stirring only until the sugar dissolves. Continue boiling for four minutes without stirring. Remove pan from heat and let syrup cool to room temperature.

Clean and de-hull the strawberries. Put half of them in the blender and pour in half of the cooled syrup plus the lemon juice. Blend. Do the same with other half.

Pour mixture into 13 x 9 inch pan.

Freeze the granita, stirring and scraping the ice crystals into the center of the mixture with a fork approximately every 30 minutes until completely frozen, about three or four hours. The finished granita will have a fine and snowy texture that is a bit more slushy than the coffee granita.

To serve: In a chilled stemmed glass (try a martini glass), layer some of the granita, then whipped cream, granita, ending with whipped cream. Top with a fresh whole strawberry. You can use plain whipped cream, sweetened with 1 tsp. granulated sugar or try the following liqueur-flavored option.

Kirsch-Flavored Whipped Cream
The following yields enough for approximately four servings, depending on the size of stemmed glasses used.

½ cup whipping cream
2 teaspoons kirsch
1 teaspoon granulated sugar

Whip cream until soft peaks form. Gradually beat in liqueur and sugar, whip until stiff.

(this story with recipes was originally published two years ago in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel by yours truly)