The Tarte Tatin

What a classic! I love it as it is so easy to make and delicious. Serve it with some vanilla ice-cream or crème chantilly.

You will need:

- 5 big apples (you can use Braeburn) peeled, cored and cut in quarters
- 100g caster sugar
- 60g of unsalted butter
- a disc of puff pastry (a bit bigger than your dish) - the recipe of the puff pastry will come later
- cinnamon (optional)

Pre-heat your oven 180°C/gas 6

Heat the tarte tatin dish on the hob at a slow-medium heat and melt the butter with the sugar to make the caramel.

When you are happy with the colour of your caramel, don't let it too be too brown though because it will keep on cooking afterwards, arrange the apple quarters in the dish very tight around the edges first with the core facing up and put some in the middle. Ideally, you want all the gaps filled in so cut some little quarters if you have to. I personally put a bit of cinnamon on top of them as it brings a bit of spices but you don't have too. I cover the apples with some foil and let it cook for about 10 mins so the apples start being soft but you don't want to cook them too much.

Remove the foil, place the puff pastry on top of your apple quarter and cover the whole dish. Tuck in the edges.

Make a few holes with a knife in the pastry to allow some steam to escape during cooking.

Cook in the oven for 30-35mins. Let it rest for 5 - 10 mins and de-mould your dish, apple-side up. Serve it warm with some vanilla ice-cream or chantilly.

Parmentier de Canard à la confiture de Figues (like a cottage pie but with duck and fig jam)

I looooooove this recipe! It's easy, quick and delicious ! you can't go wrong at all. Try it with friends too, they will be impressed :)

For 6 people

You will need : 

- 4-5 thighs of confit of duck (you can buy them in Waitrose, it is a bit pricey though, they are sold in a tin)
- 1 pot of fig jam
- 2,5 kg of potatoes (Maris Piper for example or any sort of potatoes suitable for mash)
- 4 fresh figs
- a bit of hot milk (optional)
- 25g of butter + a few tiny cubes
- enough breadcrumbs to cover the top of your dish
- a bit of nutmeg (optional)
- Black pepper and salt

- Take the thighs out of their tin, try to shake them a bit to get rid of of the duck fat and put them in a frying pan. Heat the pan very gently - you don't want to cook them (they are already cooked), you just want to liquify the fat to get rid of as much of it as you can.

- When you think enough fat has gone, take them out and place them on a plate and let them cool down.

- Preheat your oven to gas mark 6 (180°C)

- Meanwhile, in a big saucepan, bring to the boil some salted water (preferably use sea salt, but not too much!a little handful should be enough) and add your peeled potatoes (cut in half so they cook quicker). Once cooked (it takes about 20mins), drain them in a colander and wait a bit until the steam has evaporated.

- Put your potatoes in a big bowl and mash them with a potato masher. Add, little by little your 25gr of butter. If you think it's too much butter, you can use less, although a good mash needs some butter. If you want, you can add some hot milk too to the mash, it will smooth it. Add some black pepper and a bit of salt if necessary. Finish your mash by adding a tiny bit of nutmeg (optional), not too much because the nutmeg is very strong! (this is a typical way of making mash potato)

- Once your duck thighs are cooled down, use your hands to remove the meat from the bones and dispose of the skin. When you have all your meat, tear the meat into chunks (not too big, not too small).

- Cover the base of an oven dish with half of the mash potato then spread enough fig jam on top so it covers the mash. Cover this with your duck meat, and finally cover up with the rest of the mash potato. Spread more fig jam on top of the mash potato if you want (I do all the time and don't worry, it won't be too sweet) and cover with some breadcrumbs. I personally put a few cubes of butter on top of the mash so it doesn't dry out.

- Place your dish on the middle shelf of your oven and cook it for 20-25 mins (until coloured on top).

- Serve with a nice green salad and some fresh figs, gently pan-fried in butter.

Bon Appétit !

Passionfruit Cheesecake with Strawberries served with a Mixed Berry Coulis

Ingredients for the cheesecake:

- 6 leaves gelatine
- 600gr light cream cheese (I used Philadelphia)
- 200gr caster sugar
- 200ml whipping cream
- 2 tbsp of lemon juice
- a pack of strawberries

Ingredients for the base:

- 200gr of shortbread fingers
- 30 gr unsalted butter

Ingredients for the glaze:

- 4 passionfruit 
- 1 leaf gelatine
- 15g caster sugar

Ingredients for the coulis:

- 10 strawberries (not too small)
- 10 Blackberries
- 10 Blueberries
- 1 tbsp of water
- caster sugar if necessary

- Take a 20cm cake tin with a removable base. To make the shortbread base, I used a freezable bag and put the 200gr of shortbread fingers + 30gr of melted butter. Try to get rid of the air in the bag, close it, and smash the bag full of shortbread and butter so everything is crushed ! Make sure the butter is well absorbed.

- Empty the bag into your cake tin, and, using your hands or a spoon, smooth the shortbread and butter mix uniformly over the base of the tin. Place your cake tin in the fridge while making the cheesecake.

- To make the cheesecake: cut the gelatine leaves into broad strips. Place these in a small bowl, cover with cold water and soak for 5 minutes, then drain. Pour over 3 tablespoons of boiling water and stir to dissolve.


In a saucepan, gently heat all of the ingredients needed for the cheesecake (apart from the gelatine and the strawberries), stirring until the cream-cheese liquefies, and then whisk until smooth. Be careful not to boil your mixture. When the mixture is smooth, add the gelatine that you have already dissolved, stir well, and put the whole mixture in your cake tin, atop the shortbread base. Cover with cling film and place the tin back in the fridge until the cheesecake is set. ( I left it in the fridge for 4-5 hours).

- To make the passionfruit glaze: scoop out the passionfruit into a small bowl, taking care not to include any of the skin (you only want the seeds and the juicy flesh). Soak, drain and dissolve the gelatine as for the cheesecake. Add the sugar and stir to dissolve. Stir the passionfruit pulp a tablespoon at a time into the gelatine solution. You should have about 150ml of mixture: if not, make up the quantity with a little water. Pour the glaze over the top of the cheesecake, then cover and chill overnight. 


- Run a knife around the edge of the cheesecake and remove it from the tin. Decorate with the strawberries or other fruits if you prefer. A bit of icing sugar too on top if you fancy it! 


- To make the coulis: Wash the fruit well, and cut the strawberries into quarters if big. Put all the fruits in a saucepan, add a tbsp of water and heat gently until the fruit begins to soften. Don't boil the mixture! When soft, take the fruit off the heat. Using a potato masher, mash the fruit until puréed. Sieve the purée, add sugar if necessary and serve the coulis with the cheesecake! 

Hocus-Pocus: If you've made too much coulis, freeze it and take it out for another dessert or try mixing it with yogurt :)


YUM YUM :)

Bon Appétit !