Go on, spoil yourself...make some raspberry and white chocolate blondies!

Ok so you HAVE to try these. They are diiiivine. That is if you like raspberry and white chocolate, of course. But really, who doesn't? Personally, I think they go together brilliantly, as the tartness of the raspberries balances out the sweetness of the chocolate just perfectly. And white chocolate is very sweet, which is probably why I like it so much. I've always wanted to try making brownies with white chocolate and I'm so glad I did! Brownies in general are just delicious - it's that combination of biting down on a cracked crust on the outside, but then the middle is still all gooey and scrummy. Mmmm...heavenly. The trick is to take them out of the oven before you think you should (which proves a little difficult when you're using an outdate French oven which you have to light with a match! Yes, a match. And never seems to get quite hot enough. Sometimes it does feel like I'm living in the last century here). Apart from that, they're really easy to make. Just hard to stop eating!

Oh, and I have some exciting news! Self-raising flour does exist in France, under the guise of farine de blé avec poudre levante pour gâteaux. Well it's not much of a guise actually, because it literally translates as 'wheat flour with baking powder for cakes', so I don't know why I couldn't find it. It's just a bit of a mouthful! Anyway, I digress. Get baking!

Raspberry and White Chocolate Blondies makes about 12

Ingredients:

150g white chocolate

100g butter 

3 eggs

175g caster sugar (although I just used granulated and it worked)

1 tsp vanilla essence

200g self-raising flour

1 tsp baking powder

175g raspberries (preferably fresh, but I used frozen which didn't seem to matter) 

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees.
2. Line baking tin with greaseproof paper.
3. Break chocolate into a pan and add butter.
4. Melt. 
5. Remove from heat and stir in sugar thoroughly.
6. Add eggs one at a time and then vanilla essence, along with the raspberries. 
7. Stir in flour and baking powder.
8. Pour into prepared tin.
9. Bake for 30-35 minutes - it should be ready when a skewer inserted still comes out a bit sticky. 
10. Allow to cool.
11. Remove from tin and peel off paper, then cut into squares.
12. Try one...or maybe two, because be warned, they are very moreish!!

Quickish Quiche

Quiche is something you can never get enough of. In my opinion anyway. It's the perfect snack, but is equally tasty as a main meal served with a salad. Another French delicacy actually and they really do know how to do them here! The great thing about them too is that you can just bung anything in them (within reason of course). I'm a little bit keen when it comes to making sure I eat my 5-a-day, so what better way to eat them than in a quiche! This recipe is one of those make-it-up-as-you-go-along types - my favourite sort probably. Normally, I like to make my own pastry if I have the time, but my kitchen here has very limited surface space so I bought some ready-made. What's great about being in France is that they sell it already rolled out in the right sized circle! So that saves a lot of time and effort (although I do love making pastry, even if it is a little frustrating at times!). Here's my very simple quiche recipe. Voilà...enjoy.

Lardon, Goat's Cheese and Various Veg Quiche Serves about 4-6 (depending on how hungry you're feeling!)

Ingredients:

 
200g short crust pastry
4 eggs
200ml milk
2 tsp crème fraîche
100g lardons

100g grated cheddar cheese
A couple of florets of broccoli
1/4 red pepper, chopped
1/2 onion, finely chopped
50g goat's cheese, sliced
Whatever other veg you fancy!
Salt and pepper

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees.
2. Line a flan/quiche tin with the pastry.
3. Cover with greaseproof paper and tip baking beans in.
4. Place in the oven for 10 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, boil the broccoli for about 5 minutes.
6. Gently fry the lardons, onion and pepper until cooked.
7. Beat the eggs together.
8. Add milk and crème fraîche to the eggs, then mix again.
9. Season with salt and pepper.
10. Take the pastry out of the oven and remove the baking beans and greaseproof paper.
11. Tip the lardons and veg into the pastry case, along with the slices of goat's cheese.
12. Pour the egg mixture on top.
13. Sprinkle the grated cheese on top.
14. Place in the oven for about 35-40 minutes or until the egg mixture has set and it is golden brown.
15. Enjoy!

Lasts several days in the fridge too. And might even taste better actually!

What better way to spend a Sunday afternoon...baking Nutella Macaroons

Well this is all very exciting. My first ever blog! I must admit, I don't really know what I'm doing, but after a little persuasion, here goes...

I've realised I spend a lot of my life thinking about food. Eating makes me happy. And knowing that I've made what I'm eating myself makes me even happier! So I'd like to share that little bit of happiness and tell you some of the recipes that brighten up my day. At the moment I'm studying in the south of France and you can't get much better than that in terms of bakery treats! Pain au chocolat, tartes aux fraises, éclairs, milles feuilles or just a simple baguette - the list is endless. My mission is to try them all by the end of my year here! And it just makes me want to bake them too!!

Today is Sunday, a fairly quiet day in France, so what better way to spend it than baking with friends! I've hardly done any baking since I've been in France and I miss it. I'm not sure whether baking itself is a particularly French thing (and it's certainly not very French to have your cake with a cuppa!), but that's what we did and we gave it a French twist I guess by making Macaroons. Of sorts anyway - the recipe actually called them cookies but they ended up looking more like Macaroons. Nutella was our inspiration. We fancied chocolate and you see Nutella everywhere in France (I've developed quite an addiction to it I think), plus this recipe only has three ingredients! Perfect, especially with our lack of equipment and utensils. The quantities we used were all a bit vague (scales are some what lacking), but the end result was a delicious, chocolately heaven! Definitely give them a go.

Yes, this really is all you need!

Although if you're making these in France as we were, I maybe lying to you a little bit...Self-raising flour doesn't seem to exist in France so we used ordinary flour and added about half a sachet of levure chemique. If you're making these in the UK though, it is only three ingredients!!

Nutella Macaroons         Makes around 8 Macaroons

Ingredients:

1 cup (200g) Nutella (plus a bit extra for the filling)
1 egg
1 cup (200g) self-raising flour


Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees.
2. Lightly grease a baking tray.
3. Put Nutella and egg into a large mixing bowl.
4. Whisk together using an electric mixer if possible.
5. Add the flour and mix until combined. It should form a wet dough.
6. Place dough on lightly floured surface and gently knead.
7. Form small balls (about 3cm in diameter) and place on baking tray a few inches apart.
8. Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes.
9. Allow to cool.
10. Spread Nutella on one side of a pair and sandwich together.
11. Enjoy! (Preferably with a cup of tea!)

We also attempted to make a bakery treat that I'd never heard of until the other day called cakepops. These didn't go quite as well as the Macaroons but it was fun making them and they tasted yummy! (We managed to get very messy too). Basically, the idea is that you mix cake crumbs and butter icing together, put a lolly stick in them and dip them in melted chocolate. This was very much an experiment though and guess work - I definitely think our recipe needs refining! Here's how they ended up:

I think they're meant to be perfect balls - well ours certainly weren't! Expect to see some perfected ones somewhere in the future. What a lovely day of baking anyway.