Raspberry Muffin—Muffines aux framboises— French style

It is a very hot summer here, and it’s also fresh berry season. Local commercial strawberry season has ended but there are still beautiful organic strawberries at the farmers markets. Thank you, organic farmers! They are my heroes. 

Right now the raspberries and blackberries are looking and tasting fantastic, so I made these simple muffins. It is very easy to make, and using powdered sugar makes the muffins soft and taste not too sweet... so you can really enjoy the taste of the raspberries.

Raspberry Muffins—Muffines aux framboises— a French style

Makes 12 cupcakes/muffins

Ingredients:

5 ounces (150g) fresh raspberries

5 ounces (150g) frozen raspberries

2 large eggs

5 ounces (150g) powdered sugar

2 ounces (60g) dark brown sugar

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

3.5 ounces (100g) unsalted butter, melted

8 ounces (250g) all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

½ cup chocolate chips (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease and dust/flour the muffin pan.
2. In a small mixing bowl, sift dry ingredients (flour, baking powder and salt).
3. In a medium mixing bowl, beat the eggs and mix with the butter; then add powdered sugar and brown sugar. Add the frozen raspberries and mix well. Fold dry ingredients into the egg/sugar/raspberry mixture.
4. Using a large spoon or a small ice cream scoop, fill muffin cups no more than 2/3 with batter. Place 4-5 chocolate chips on top of the batter for each muffin (you may push them into the batter with your fingers), if using.
5. Place the muffin pan in the center of the oven. Bake for about 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Rest the pan on wire rack at least 15-20 minutes before unmolding the muffins.
6. Decorate the muffins with fresh raspberries on top, and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Enjoy these muffins for dessert served with well-chilled rosé wine or a sparkling wine such as Cremant-de-Loire 

rosé. 

Super-Rich, Dark Chocolate Ice Cream—Sólo para ti!

Today is July 7^TH, TANABATA festival in Japan. It is a kind of St. Valentines’ Day there, during the warm summer nights.  Everyone writes a wish on a pretty card, not only for a lover, but to parents, teachers, etc. Often these writings are poems wishing for love, peace, health, etc. for the recipient.

Giving the cards is a very old tradition, popular since ancient times, along with hanging them on a bamboo tree. It celebrates the summer nights, and the once-a-year meeting in the Milky Way of two bright stars (represented by the stars Vega and Altair, as princess and prince, respectively). By midnight the next day we discard the decorated bamboo on the river or ocean.

Tanabata means literally, “Evening of the Seventh,” and comes with many myths and legends. One of my favorites is a true love story from ancient China’s Tong dynasty about 1200 years ago. A powerful, respected emperor fell in love with his son’s  beautiful wife. He made his son divorce the princess, and then made her his consort. He loved her very much, but unlike in the Disney movies, their happiness did not last long.

Tragedy unfolds, with the emperor facing a strong rebellion and his top associates blaming his consort’s family for mismanagement (which was not her fault) and asking the emperor to put her to death. He, of course, does not want to, but you know politics. After  facing serious defeat he had to run from his capital, and his consort meets a tragic end. However he asked God to be able to meet his love again on the evening of the seventh day of July every year on the Milky Way, or something like that. By the way, her name is Yang Guifei, the most beautiful Chinese woman in their history, and the Japanese have loved this story for over a thousand years.

Anyway, I made this seriously chocolaty ice cream, which has nothing to do with Yang Guifei, but while eating the ice cream I suddenly remembered the story. Make it for someone you love! 

Dark Chocolate Ice Cream – Super Rich

Recipe adapted from Chez Panisse Desserts by Lindsey Shere

Makes about 4 cups (one quart)

1 cup (250 ml) half-and-half

¾ cup sugar

4 egg yolks

6 ounces (180 grams) dark chocolate, chopped

1 ounce (30 grams) unsweetened chocolate

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 cups (500 ml) heavy cream

2 teaspoons cognac or 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2/3 cup (80g) cacao nibs (optional)

1. In a saucepan, warm the half-and-half with the sugar until sugar dissolves. Whisk the egg yolks just enough to break them up and stir in some warm half-and-half.
2. Return to the pan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture coats the spoon. Strain into a bowl and set aside.
3. Melt the chocolate with butter in a medium-size bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Stir until the chocolate it is smooth and glossy. Remove from the hot water, and begin to whisk in a little of the warmed custard, a tablespoon or two at a time until the mixture begins to thin. Adding the custard gradually to the chocolate will prevent the ice cream from getting little grains of chocolate in it. When all the custard has been incorporated, gradually whisk in the cream. Add the cognac or vanilla to taste, and chill thoroughly at least 2 hours in refrigerator.
4. Turn on the ice cream maker and pour the mixture into the freezer bowl and let mix until thickened according to the manufacturer’s instructions... normally about 15-20 minutes. Stir in the cacao nibs last, before ending churning. 

Transfer the ice cream to an airtight container and place in freezer about 2 hours. 

Good Wine for This Summer -- get a case!

It's hot, full sun here in California. The air is crisp and dry and the sky completely blue from horizon to horizon. It is time to buy wines for summer. LA FERME JULIEN is my first choice for this summer. They are from the south of France, made by the well-known Perrin family. As the quote from its back label says  "Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication - Leonardo da Vinci".

Yes they are simple wines, but quite good. They have been my regular dinner wine for some time, and I always keep a few bottles in my closet (i.e., wine cellar). I particularly like the Red (rich and flavorful, good for BBQ and of course for anything else) and Rose (light and bone dry -- always in my refrigerator for an aperitif). The White is also light and dry but a bit herby. They are very food-friendly wines and affordable. What's not to like about that? They are available at Trader Joe's for $4.95 a bottle. Thank you Trader Joe's!

I also must mention the "CHARLES SHAW" wine exclusively sold at Trader Joe's. It is now legendary, with an astonishing 600 million bottles sold in the last decade.

The CHARLES SHAW brand changed the wine world: It created a huge new market of wine lovers in America, while making many wine snobs irrelevant, including me. It's fair to say this is not great wine, but its quality is incredible for the price (currently $2.49 per bottle). However, most importantly, CHARLES SHAW has educated American consumers about wine, and made it more accessible to more people. And I'll bet part of Trader Joe's success is due in no small part to CHARLES SHAW wine. They sell case after case.

CHARLES SHAW wines have democratized wine in America by allowing many people to graduate from box and jug wine, talk like old wine snobs, and buy wine by the case... for the price of a bottle of most other wines. It is amazing. Needless to say, if you have never had it you must go get some.

Here is the "CHARLES SHAW" lineup.

At Trader Joe's Market in San Carlos, California:

Cherry Clafoutis -- Make this now!

Strawberry season is ending.  After gorging on strawberries,  we’re now in a big cherry season... but it’s peaking. Before they are gone completely, I must follow my annual ritual of making “Cherry Clafoutis.” As a lover of French food, I always make cherry clafoutis at least once this time of the year at home as well as at work. I love all kinds of custard desserts, but this one is very special to me, because of  some unforgettable memories that I don’t want to lose!

Cherry clafoutis is a very popular vanilla-flavored pudding -like dessert  that is best eaten at room temperature. It is studded  with cherries, but many other kinds of fruit can be substituted, such as apricots, raspberries or plums (I have a big plum tree in my back yard; they are ripening and should be ready to eat in a week). For French people this dessert is a must-make, or at least eat, in cherry season!

In France, they normally do not pit the cherries for traditional cherry clafoutis –it is enjoyed with the pits for the added depth to the dessert’s  delicate flavor. However, here in California the sun is so strong and the cherries have so much flavor that I often pit them; and particularly at work, so that I don’t have to warn our guests.

Cherry Clafoutis

Recipe adapted and modified from La Tartine Gourmande, by Béatrice Peltre

Serves 6

You will need:  one 12-inch clafoutis mold or six 8-oz baking dishes (ramekins)

Unsalted butter, for the mold

½ cup blond cane sugar, plus more to sprinkle in the mold(s)

¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons (200 ml) whole milk (not low fat)

¾ cup heavy cream

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

3 large eggs

¾ cup all-purpose flour (or brown rice or sorghum flour for gluten-free clafoutis)

2 tablespoons melted unsalted butter

1 pound + 5 ¼ oz (600 g) ripe sweet or sour cherries (such as Rainier or Bing)

Confectioners’ sugar to dust the custard

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Butter a 12-inch mold, or six 8-oz cup ramekins, and sprinkle with the sugar; tap the excess out.
2. In a small saucepan, heat the milk and cream until just about boiling point and add the vanilla. Set aside.
3. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, combine the sugar and flour. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Stir in the warm milk/cream mixture and melted butter. Arrange the cherries in the mold or individual ramekins and pour the batter on top.
4. Place the clafoutis in the oven and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or 25 to 30 minutes if you are using ramekins—until the flan/custard is set and golden in color. Remove from the oven and let cool to room temperature.  Dust with confectioners’ sugar and serve.

Cherry Garcia Ice Cream

Here in the San Francisco Bay Area, the weather has finally gotten hot. That means ice cream season of course, but cherries are in high season also. They have a short season, but are abundant in markets everywhere right now… sweet and juicy, and looking beautiful! I love to eat them plain, but then I get flashbacks of when I used to eat Ben & Jerry’s “Cherry Garcia” ice cream.

Ben & Jerry’s Ice cream was (and I guess still is) so popular with their unique combinations of flavors, such as “Chunky Monkey”, “Chubby Hubby” and “Mint Chocolate Cookie”, with a lot of nuts and chocolate… mmmm. I wasn’t so crazy about some of the others, with over-mixed flavors and too many ingredients. But I loved “Cherry Garcia” …maybe because I love cherries and dark chocolate. It’s a simple but great combination, which I always thought was a brilliant idea. Needless to say, it was often in my freezer.

However, as with Häagen-Dazs ice cream (I also once loved their “Rum Raisin”), Yoplait yogurt, and other brands that got so popular and then were bought out by big food corporations, the taste faded out quickly and, sadly, I had to find new sweet addictions.

Now those original tastes/flavors have become legendary, and I am grateful that I could experience and love them… like favorite old girl friends. To get that flavor/experience back, I now make my own. 

Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia Ice Cream

Recipe adapted from Ben & Jerry’s Homemade Ice Cream & Dessert Book (1987), by Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield

Makes about 1 quart (4 cups)

Ingredients:

1/3 cup dark chocolate (bitter or semi-sweet) chopped into small pieces

1/3 cup Bing cherries, fresh or frozen, pitted and coarsely chopped

2 large, very fresh eggs or 4 egg yolks*

3/4 cup sugar

1 cup milk

2 cups heavy or whipping cream

Instructions:

1. Place chopped chocolate and cherries into different bowls and place bowls in the refrigerator. You want to keep all ingredients cold.
2. In a medium-sized mixing bowl whisk the eggs until light and fluffy. Whisk in the sugar a little at a time, and then continue whisking until completely blended.  Add milk and heavy cream and whisk to blend thoroughly. Place the mixture in the refrigerator and chill at least 2 hours.
3. Pour the mixture into an ice cream maker and churn/freeze following the manufacturer's instructions, about 15 -20 minutes.
4. When the ice cream stiffens, and about 2 minutes before it is done, add the chocolate and cherries, then continue freezing until the ice cream is ready. Transfer to a container and chill at least 2 hours.

*Note: For best results, make a custard first (instead of step 2):Mix the sugar and milk in a small saucepan and heat slowly over medium-low heat. Before it gets to boiling stage, remove it from heat, add egg yolks and whisk well. Bring back to the stovetop and stir constantly with a wooden spoon until the mixture thickens, about 1-2 minutes. Strain the mixture through a fine sieve into a clean bowl and whisk in the heavy cream. Chill in the refrigerator at least 2 hours. Continue at step 3.