Cannelés

Oh the joys of spring break... the travelling... the free time... all the fun and more specifically all the baking! I have spent my weekend baking, and in the upcoming days, I will share all of these wonderful little recipes with you! Cannelés are one of Charles' favorite delicacies... and they are especially hard and tedious to make. It took me about 3 weeks of constant baking last september to finally 'master' (it is a big word to use) the art of Cannelés making! It wouldn't for the boyfriend's stomach and pleasure, I may not have tried this hard. Thank god i finally managed to get the hand of it because they really are delicious! Every batch is different but always good!

Ingredients:

• 250ml of milk
• 25g of butter
• 50g of flour
• 100g of sugar
• 1 tbsp of rum
• 1 egg + 1 yolk
• 1/2 tsp of vanilla essence

1. In a pan, bring the milk and butter to a boil. 
2. In a bowl, mix the flour and sugar. 
3. In another bowl, beat the egg and the yolk together. 
4. Add the egg mix to the flour and sugar and mix thoroughly. 
5. Add the rum to the milk and butter and whisk. 
6. Mix the milk mixture with the flour mixture and add the vanilla essence. You should get a liquid consistence. 
7. Refrigerate for 36-48 hours. 
8. Preheat oven at 200 degrees. 
9. Grease the cannelés molds and pour the dough leaving a 2cm margin for the cannelés to rise. 
10. Bake for about 55 to 65 minutes. 
11. Let cool and enjoy!!

* For the moulds you can buy silicone or copper. I find the silicone moulds easier to bake with. 

* You want to get a caramelized look on the outside and a very soft inside. 

Heart of Chocolate Cake

Sorry for my lack of updates but midterm season is here and trying to get everything done before spring break is a bit intense. Anyhow, I did manage to make this delicious cake this morning for breakfast. It is from Les 100 meilleurs desserts de Cyril Lignac and it is just divine. For all of you who enjoy a soft and light chocolate cake, you need to try this one!!!

Ingredients:

• 200g of dark chocolate
• 100g of butter
• 4 eggs
• 150g of brown sugar
• 50g of flour
• 1 pinch of salt

1. Preheat the oven at 180 degrees Celsius. Melt the chocolate in the microwave for about 1 minute.  In another bowl, melt the butter in the microwave as well. 
2. In a salad bowl, beat your eggs and brown sugar together and then add the melted butter. Mix thoroughly. 
3. Add the flour and continue mixing. 
4. Add the chocolate and mix. 
5. Put the mixture in your greased baking pan and put in the oven for about 20mins. 
6. Sprinkle with icing sugar.
7. Enjoy!

* Best served warm. 

Muddy Bread

I saw this recipe the other day whilst I was checking out Photograzing and the name of the bread led me to check it out... The description the blogger made about it was just simply so enticing that I HAD to try this recipe. It was a very good bread, and I did eat an entire loaf by myself... the rest was shared between Anne-Claire and Charles who thought the bread was good too. My only comment about this bread is that it tastes a bit like brioche and is a bit too sweet, so next time ill work on making it with more salt! You should try it - it definitely is worth it!

Ingredients:

• 2 ½ cups warm water
• 2 Tablespoons sugar
• 1 pakage dry yeast (2 packages may be used on a cold day)
• ½ cup sugar
• 1 ½ tsp salt
• 2 ½ Tablepoons of melted butter
• 5 ½ cups unsifted flour (the original recipe calls for 6 cups, I found that I needed less)

1. Stir into 2 ½ cups warm water, 2 Tablespoons sugar and yeast.  Let mixture set 5 to 15 minutes.
2. Then, add the sugar, salt and butter. Mix well and add the flour, cup by cup until you reach a dough like mixture. Work by hand towards the end, it will be MUCH easier. 
3. Put the bread on a floured table and start kneading the bread for about 10 minutes (tiring, but watch a movie or something!)
4. Place the dough in a ball into a large greased bowl and brush the top of the top with melted butter. Cover and let the dough rise for about an hour and half. 
5. Once this done, divide the dough in two and put them in previously greased pans and butter the top again. Cover and let rise again for an hour and half. 
6. Preheat the oven at 375 degrees F and bake the breads for 15 minutes at 375 and 20 minutes at 275 F. 
7. Remove from the oven and lift off from the pans and brush the entire bread with melted butter ( i found that melted salted butter did the trick!). 
8. Enjoy!

* Thank you to the runaway spoon for this wonderful recipe!