Category: dessert

In the past few weeks, I have been trying to cook and bake more traditional recipes. Recipes that remind me of my childhood and recipes that I want to pass on to my own children to cherish just as much as I do.

Amaretti cookies are one of those recipes that I want my children to know and love just as much as I do. They are a soft cookie which is a must for my children. They are also prepared with ground almonds so no flour! Which is perfect if you are trying to stay away from gluten. With only five ingredients to prepare you can have these delicious cookies ready in under twenty minutes from start to finish.

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup of sugar
• spare sugar to sprinkle on top of cookies prior to baking
• one egg white
• 3/4 cup + 2 tbsp of ground almonds
• 1/4 tsp of almond extract
• pinch of salt

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 390F (200C).

Beat the egg white until it is almost double in size. Add in the sugar and whisk until it is fully combined.

Add in the ground almonds, almond extract and salt.

Mix the ingredients until the dry ingredients and the wet ingredients are mixed together fully.

Line a baking sheet with two layers of parchment paper. Create small balls with the dough and place them in rows on the baking sheet. Lightly cover each ball of cookie dough with sugar.

Bake for ten minutes in the oven or until golden brown. Check the cookies at the seven minute mark to see how they are baking.

Do you have a favourite traditional recipe that reminds you of your childhood?

Have you ever heard of Cannelés? I can honestly say I had never heard of these delicious pastries prior to working on this recipe.

Cannelés are little speciality pastry from the Bordeaux region of France. These little cakes have a crisp, caramelised coating with a slightly chewy and soft inside. They are small enough to eat out of your hand and have a divine taste that will leave you craving for more (we are the whole batch before we realized how many calories were in one but honestly felt no regret at eating so many they were that good!).

Cannelés have a very rich history that spans over the last three hundred years. One of the oldest stories tells of the nuns in a convenant in the Bordeaux region who used to make these special little cakes using leftover egg yolks from the local wine makers. Another tale tells of the residents of Bordeaux using spilled flour from loading docks to make these pastries for poor children. This video from Redpath shows the wonderful history of Cannelés:

I love to bake and when I received the challenge to create these delicious pastries I could not wait to get started!

For this recipe you will need:

• two cups of milk
• 50 gm of butter
• one vanilla pod
• 7/8 cup of flour
• 1 cup and 1 tbsp of Redpath sugar
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• two eggs and two egg yolks
• 1/4 cup of dark rum
• silicone cannelés mould

Directions:

1. Place the two cups of milk, 50 gm of butter and one vanilla pod in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Once it has begun to boil, remove the pan and allow to cool.

2. Mix together 7/8 cup of flour, one cup and one tbsp of sugar along with one tsp of salt into a large mixing bowl.

3. Place the two eggs and two egg yolks in a small bowl and beat lightly.

4. Combine the warm milk (remove the vanilla pod) along with the eggs into the large mixing bowl. Whisk it together until the batter is smooth. Stir in 1/4 cup of dark rum and place the vanilla pod back into the bowl.

5. Cover the mixture and leave in your fridge for 24-48 hours.

6. Pre-heat oven to 240C or 460F. Prepare your silicone moulds by placing them on a baking sheet and heating them in the oven for four to five minutes.

7. Remove your mixture from the fridge and spoon in the batter into each mould. You want to leave roughly 0.5-1cm room from the top to prevent your cannelés from overflowing.

8. Cook the cannelés at 240C/460F for fifteen minutes. Reduce the oven heat to 190C/375F and bake for another 50-60 minutes or until the cakes have a golden bronze colour. Remove the cakes immediately from the moulds (they shake out so well!) and let them cool on a wire rack. They are best eaten when warm so don’t be shy to eat them within an hour of baking.

Have you ever tried a cannelé before? Do you have a special pastry that you just love to make?

Disclosure: I received some of the above mentioned materials in order to create this recipe. All opinions expressed are my own.