Biscuit de Savoie (cake)..and a handful of spring lilacs.

..biscuit de Savoie..

My hens, tiny as they are, provide us with a plenitude of eggs. As if that is not enough, the two geese, Sidonie et Aglaé, add their daily quota as well. I donate eggs left and right and we still end up with a surplus! I don’t complain..an old Paysanne told me that laying hens are happy hens. So how can I deprive a happy poule from laying a happy egg?

The goose eggs are perfect for baking. They are far too rich for eating on their own, too rich  even for an omelette or mixed with chicken eggs. Seeing that I have these basket fulls of goose eggs, I found this delicious Biscuit de Savoie that asks for 14 eggs. Yes, you read right – FOURTEEN eggs. It may seem expensive to you, but the cake is worth it. To me of course, it is a bargain, because I only dig into my basket for 7 goose eggs and I have a perfect cake. Mon chéri, who is not a cake lover, now asks for the 14- eggs-cake, as he calls it. I hope you try it…you will like it!

La recette:

1. Preheat the oven to 170 °C.
2. Separate the yolks and whites of 14 eggs into 2 bowls.
3. Add 500g castor sugar and the seeds of 1 scraped vanilla pod to the egg yolks. Beat until the mixture is light and fluffy.
4. Add a pinch of salt to the egg whites and whisk/beat until stiff peak stage.
5. Sift together 185 g Flour and 185 G Maizena(cornflour/cornstarch).
6. Add 1/3 of the stiff egg whites to the creamed yolk and sugar mixture and mix well. Gently fold in the rest of the egg whites into the mixture, alternating with the sifted dry ingredients. Don’t over mix! Always stir/fold in by going in the same direction.
7. Pour the batter into 2 buttered and flour dusted  cake tins of 26cm in diam. each. Fill the cake tins only 2/3 with batter, as the cake rises high while baking.
8. Bake for 45 minutes or until a skewer is removed clean when piercing the cake.
9. Leave to cool and dust with sifted icing sugar or top with a vanilla  butter icing.
10. Serves about 8 people or more.

Une pincée de sel:

• Remember that 2 large chicken eggs = 1 goose egg.
• The lightness of the cake is due to the 14 beaten egg whites.
• Fill the cake tins only 2/3 with the cake mixture..the cake rises high in the oven.
• The cake is baked when a knife blade is retracted clean when piercing the cake.
• From this recipe I get 2 cakes (26cm diam. and 24 diam.). Half the recipe to get only 1 cake of about 26 diam.
• Use eggs at room temperature.
• Flavour with almond essence instead of vanilla.
• Dust only with sifted icing sugar, or top with a butter icing, or drizzle with a runny milk icing.
• Replace the vanilla pod with a packet of vanilla sugar (7.5g) or a tsp of vanilla essence.
• Serve (without the topping of butter icing) as dessert with strawberries, whipped cream and a strawberry coulis.

I am still old school. I love my metal cake tins. I have succumbed to the silicone stuff, but now I’m handing them all out as gifts and I am reverting back to my old tins, some of which still come from my mother. Maybe it is what happens when one gets older..you revert back to the things that once gave you joy, in spite of new trends and “fashionability”. By oiling my tins with butter and giving it a dusting of flour, sticking to the pan is not a problem. But of course..freedom of choice is what makes the world go round, so by all means use whatever you fancy!

The biscuit de Savoie was adapted from the book Pâtissier, Petit Larousse.

…a handful of spring lilacs..

Spring is awakening very slowly this year, causing the garden to be in a slow rising too. but nonetheless, colour is everywhere. The glycine (wisteria) is absolutely gorgeous in the gardens and of course, we all have lilas..of all colours. I only have the light lilac, of which the colour fades beautifully as it ages. And they fit into all pots and vases and tittles and cups. For tables and bathrooms and shelves and corners to enjoy to the full. They don’t last too long once picked, but for the day or two they provide me with such satisfaction and my barn house smells like spring, even on a cool rainy day! It is true. The biggest happiness comes in small doses.

*Our little poulain (faul) is a week old today and getting just more cute by the day. If you would like to see some pics of her and her equally adorable maman, make a stop at  A spring poulain! on my blog Coin Perdu, to read and see how things went last Friday night with the birth! Very exciting, it was!

*Have a great Sunday tomorrow..I will be off to a brocante, make a stop at the jardinerie for some tomato plants and  do some weeding at home…

So, as always..

à la prochaine!..

Ronelle

Joyeuses Pâques!

To all my friends and readers and visitors, those who stop for a moment and those who pass right by…whatever you do during this Easter period, whichever way you celebrate it, or even ignore it…I wish you fun and joy,  many chocolate Easter eggs, (may you win the Easter egg hunt), and the most important of all…stay safe and pass on that wide smile!!

Joyeuses Pâques a tout le monde!

Ronelle

Lemon cake… and an Easter spring is in the air.

Easter  is spring time. Or spring is Eastertime.Whichever way, that is of course for us here in the Northern Hemisphere. Down south everybody is preparing for winter with their days beautiful and lazy with fall colors entering the scene.

Because I am so busy in the garden(every minute the skies give me a chance!) I don’t get to the stove much, and when I pass the stove per chance, I am too tired to the bone to cook and bake….so….. I am re-posting this delicious little cake from a past post; Lemon cake and writing our stories. I might just make a stop with my tired bones next to the oven and put it together for us too on Sunday afternoon to enjoy with English tea! I have never come across someone who didn’t fall in love with it right after that first bite..and just look at the recipe down below.. really….this is as easy(yet delicious) as it gets!

Pincée de sel:

• Use freshly squeezed orange juice instead of lemon juice.
• Add some grated lemon/orange rind to the mixture.
• Top with some icing sugar of your choice, or serve without. I prefer without, since icing sugar makes it too sweet for me.
• Decorate with fresh edible flowers.
• The cake is even more flavorful the next day.
• Use for dessert: break into pieces and serve, topped with strawberries, whipped cream and a berry coulis, OR serve with warm caramelized peaches and crème frâiche.

Here at Coin Perdu, I am fervently planting and digging and dividing,  as much as my arm allows, that is. It is just wonderful to be back in the garden. The rains are still coming down very regularly, but the moment it stops, I charge outside to do a little something. A new garden is such hard work, especially in the preparation thereof, because planting in bad soil makes for even harder work the next season! It might look like nothing at the moment, BUT in a few weeks…!

..passion fruit juice for our break…

..mon cheri preparing the potager for me..along with his very willing assistants..

..early morning by the potager and the mist slowly lifting..while I slowly sip my coffee…oh, that first morning coffee..sooo good..mince!

..when taking a pause the chickens are there to “pause” along – this day I had un fraisier(strawberry cake) which I shared with them(of course!) and they loved every morsel! for the rest of the time, they scuffle around my feet in the soil, just coming up for some air every now and then..!

..still a lot to be done: the dalles(paving stones) must be laid on the terrace and partly into the lawn at the bottom, the wrought iron pergola must be constructed for the white glycine(wisteria), a stone bench under the small window. To the right I have planted kitchen herbs which I hope will grow under the walnut tree, since not many things grow under a walnut…

..eh bah voila..there you are, mon café..!

..my tulips are slow in the rising, but they are coming on steady..pretty soon they will be spectacular in their show off! I am so chuffed, because all my  bulbs I brought back from Amsterdam, (see post here) is pushing through, except for 3 Allium bulbs I lost to mischievous rabbits.. 

..a lot of planting still awaits me – 60 lavenders, (lavande angustifolia, lavande intermedia, white lavenders) 20 santolinas, agapanthus, cistes,  4 olive trees, 6 Cypres de Provence,  buddleias, kniphofias, ceaonothe de Versailles,  100 Siberian irises, then a lot of Iberis, Eryngiums, ficoides…

..In between all the pathways and staircases and dry hot corners, I stick in some thym serpolet and  succulents like the ever popular sedums, sempervivums and jovibarbas, which grow beautifully in all those sunny spots…

* I am working on a series on tartes, tourtes, quiches et cakes, which I will combine with some table setting in white with silver, yellow with pottery, red with vintage and blue with rustic.

*So stick around..if I can just get my act togehter and organise my organising better..i will be back soon with the series on tartes, tourtes, quiches et cakes,

Joyeux Paques

et à bientôt!

Ronelle

Salmon, potato and mussel salad..and a contribution to pie-ography

Nothing makes a better salad than leftovers.During spring, when all attention is focused on the garden and restoration work on the house, all sorts of salads with leftover meats and fish and vegetables make life so much easier. It is also a time when I stock my pantry heavier than usual with some interesting condiments to add zest to the salads without spending hours in the kitchen in the evenings. It is typically additions like sundried tomatoes, ready made pestos and tapenades, marinated mussels and oysters, canned sardines and anchovies, mackerels, beans and split peas.

For this easy peezy, light and delicious salad, I used the left over salmon and steamed potatoes from the previous evening’s dinner and turned it into a salad with all sorts of other goodies coming from the pantry and the fridge. I served it with toasted pita bread and  a cream and dill sauce. What can I say…“cetait un régal tout simple”!

Salmon, potato and mussel salad.

1. Heat some leftover salmon(flaked) and potatoes(cut into chunks). Add some chopped spring onions and a handful of currants.
2. Arrange a mix of fresh salad leaves and herbs on a large platter.
3. Sprinkle with nuts and marinated mussels and sliced marinated tomatoes and artichoke hearts.
4. Make a cream sauce of a finely chopped small shallot, handful of chopped dill, a cup of cream or créme fraîche and a TBS of mayonnaise. Season with salt and pepper and a squirt of lemon juice.
5. Top with the warm(not hot) salmon mix. Sprinkle with chopped dill.
6. Serve immediately with pita breads or a country bread and some extra sauce on the side.

Une pincée de sel:

• Use a good mixture of herb salad leaves.
• Use mushrooms instead of the fish, if you don’t like fish.
• When using chicken, replace the dill int eh sauce with basil pesto or freshly sliced basil.

A contribution to Pie•ography..

Last year I’ve been asked by the creative Jo Packham, creator of Where women cook, to contribute, along with 38 other women, a recipe to her book, Pie•ography. The project was to create a pie which best described each author and write a short biography along with it. I found it quite a challenge, because talking about myself isn’t something I am comfortable with. Nothing wrong with revealing a little bite here and a little pinch there, but sitting down and directly saying: “..and so, his is who I am…”  – THAT is tough. BUT…I finally got something on paper and created my pie..so I can tap myslef on the shoulder and say ;..“not too bad, Ronelle, not too bad at all..!”

For fun, I listed 30 tongue in cheek- things you don’t know about me. Read at the bottom if you’re interested.

Thank you to Jo for inviting me to join in..it is a great book and I am honoured to be in the company of highly talented and educated and ambitious women in this book, of whom Jo is of course one. Her creativity is never ending. for me it was a fun and exciting  project to be part of!

30 things you don’t know about me:

1. My worst characteristic is impatience.
2. My best one is enthusiasm.
3. I can lift my one eyebrow and drop the other at the same time.
4. My ankles are rather thick
5. My feet are quite cute.
6. I used to trust people easily.
7. I now put my trust rather in animals.
8. I am impulsive and it gets me into trouble.
9. I don’t fit into my wedding dress any more, but it doesn’t bother me.
10. I  don’t fit into my bathing suit and that bothers me.
11. I still want to do parachute jumping, but I hate flying.
12. I don’t like sharing the licking bowl when baking.
13. I hate washing dishes. I also hate stacking the dishwasher. I see no light.
14. My mom used to say my bladder is situated just under my eyes. It takes very little to make me cry.
15. I laugh easily and loudly.
16. I have perfected the puppy eye flutter. Mon chéri is completely defenseless against it.
17. I hate conflict of any kind.
18. I don’t believe the truth has to be told at any cost. Sometimes the truth serves no purpose..
19. I have a great sense of humour. It is my life line.
20. I love to learn, but I hate to be taught.
21. I don’t mind making a fool of myself, but I don’t like to be made a fool of by others.
22. It only takes one glass of wine to have me make a fool of myself.
23. I  don’t answer a telephone.
24. I am a coffee snob.
25. I have two experiences in my past which I can’t forgive and forget. They still influence my self image to this day.
26. I am a nomad, I have to move on every few years.
27. Autumn makes me  sad.
28. When I am upset I get into bed and cover my head.
29. I am a Leo.
30. The sun is my oxygen.

You can find the recipe and how I worked my way to it here.

Pi•ography  can be ordered from Amazon.com.

If you want more information, don’t hesitate to contact me(details in my sidebar)

So, until next time…

Amusez vous bien et soyez sage sage!

(Have fun and stay out of trouble!)

Ronelle