Southern Fried French

French Elegance, American Excess: The Ultimate Birthday Cake

I’m writing this post in case anyone else has had a similar dilemma.  Which is, making the perfect birthday cake for someone you adore, when baking is not your forté.

I can whip up some mean biscuits and a mess o’ cornbread, but otherwise, I’m not much of a baker. It requires too much precision from someone who likes to make things up as they go along.

But, my beloved husband requested a chocolate cake for his birthday. Yikes, I’ve never quite found the perfect recipe for that! I’m not fond of the devil’s food kind, with heavy buttercream frosting; it reminds me too much of a cake mix.  And yet I wanted a big fat American-sized cake but with French élan, the kind that you eat when you forget the diet and the cholesterol, and totally indulge yourself for the sheer joy of still being alive after all these years.

So first I looked to the French.  When they make a chocolate cake, it’s light and rich, one layer only, and usually served simply, with a bit of cream on the side.  So why not wamp it up, with lots of layers, a filling, and some French chocolate ganache?

Luckily I happened across Valerie’s Chocolate Cake, on the Smitten Kitchen website. Valerie is French, so she knows instinctively how to rock a chocolate cake.  The site gave instructions for making three layers (double the recipe, but use three pans), and it worked great. 

Then, with perfect timing, the New York Times featured an article last week on classic French chocolate ganache. Read this even if you’re not making a cake. You can use it as a sauce for ice cream, a glaze, a frosting—and it’s so simple you can make it in the microwave. And I am here to tell you that if you want to skip the cake and just lap it up with a spoon, you won’t be disappointed.

But after all that effort, who wants to make a complicated filling? I had the idea that crème fraîche might work. It was perfect. I whipped it with a little sugar, and stirred in some of the chocolate ganache. It added just a bit of tang to the cake, to cut the sweetness of the rest.

There was a big party (for 35-ish) at the château for Nicole and Ron (born a day apart), and the cake was a success. We are now all a bit older, and fatter.  And happier, bien sûr!

 

RECIPE:  The Ultimate Franco-American Chocolate Birthday Cake

I made Valerie’s French chocolate cake from the Smitten Kitchen blog.  At the bottom of the post she tells you how to make three layers if you want to do it American style. I used 8” cake pans instead of 9”, and it was fine. I didn’t bother to freeze them before frosting, they were quite easy to handle.  Photo: my cake on the buffet dessert table at the château birthday party.

For the filling:  Crème fraîche comes in liquid form, or épaisse, which means thick; I used the latter.  (If you can’t find it, mix half sour cream and half whipped  heavycream). I used about a cup of crème fraîche, and I added 2 tablespoons of confectioner’s sugar (icing sugar, if you’re a Brit) and a splash of vanilla. I also added about 1/2 cup of chocolate ganache (instead you could add dissolved espresso powder, or other flavoring, or stir in raspberries or other fruit at the end). Then I beat it with an electric mixer for a minute or two, until it was fluffy and well combined.

Read about how to make chocolate ganache here, in Julia Moskin's article.  This stuff, as she says, is a marvel. A note on using it as a frosting or glaze: if you put it in the fridge, it gets quite firm. I just zapped it in the microwave for a few seconds when I was ready to frost the cake, but ONLY for a few seconds. Once a bit of it is semi-melted, you can stir it to soften up the rest. This made plenty; cut it in half if you don’t want leftovers. You will, but your hips may not.

To assemble, spread the filling between the layers, spread the ganache generously on the top, and garnish.  Cut a big fat slice and eat with abandon.

In the COMMENTS:  Bonnie and Alix share my opinion of Lacoste, from last week's post.  And you'll see a comment form Sandy Vann, a francophile who has read my blog over the years, we've communicated from time to time--and we got to meet when she and her husband Terry came down to Cluny, during their Burgundy travels. Nice to meet you at last, Sandy and Terry!

Favorite Reads:  Want to try something fun? Go the Kim's 24/7 in France blog, and test your French cheese abilities with her French Cheese Quiz.  She describes a dozen famous French cheeses, and you have to guess what they are.  Also this week, in the Unexcused Absenses blog, Heather and Kent have a funny story called the Great Coin Shortage that is the quintessential French tale, when it comes to how the French do business.  We've been telling it to friends here. They all laugh, but nod knowingly.  Everyone here has a similar story! 

Buy Your Own French Village--Pourquoi Pas?

Nicole was talking in French class today, about how the French are not impressed by those who earn large sums of money, especially if they are entrepreneurial.  There is a suspicion here, of a capitalist economy, or perhaps self-made wealth is just not in the spirit of égalité.

Which reminded me of the fascinating story of Lacoste, a mediebal village in Provence.  Picture this:  a pretty but faded perched village in the now-trendy Luberon, parts of it nearly in ruins and mostly untouched since the 1930’s, with no sewage system to speak of, and certainly no job opportunities.  With a bit of a dark history: The Marquis de Sade built his castle here. 

Then in 2000, to the rescue comes that famous French entrepreneur and design icon, Pierre Cardin. He buys and restores the castle, he starts a music festival, he slowly buys up houses in the village as they come on the market, until he owns over 40 of them. He invests 30 million in the town; he creates 80 or so jobs in this community of 450.  The Savannah College of Arts and Design open a campus in the town. The French should be happy, non?  

Non.  We are talking, you will recall, about the quirky, passionate French, unmoved by this splashy outlay of cash. The fussing began: there are too many young people in the village now; too much change and upheaval;  Monsieur is a wealthy snob; it has brought in  all those foreigners; real estate prices have gone up; etc. etc. 

But it’s true that where there is gentrification, there is usually a downside.  So I decided to have a look at this town myself, predicting that it would have gotten the Disney treatment. Over-polished, with all traces of Reality scrubbed off.

This is a design master we’re talking about though, and the evidence of that good taste was everywhere.  The old patina remained intact, and the town was charming and peaceful. Here and there he had placed some very contemporary and tasteful statuary, which added intrigue.  It was  a beautiful day in June, and we expected it to be overrun, but there was barely a tourist in sight; we hiked up the narrow medieval streets to the castle, accompanied by a couple of cats and a stray tourist or two. I never saw the old Lacoste, but the new one is certainly lovely.

Monsieur Cardin says he did it all for his love of the village, not for himself.  After all, he is 92 years old, and Lacoste, for better or worse, will be part of his legacy.

PHOTOS: An arch in the castle wall; peeking into a courtyard; a house in Lacoste; The entrance to the castle, with a profile of the Marquis de Sade added by Monieur Cardin.

 

Headed for the Luberon?  For a good home base at a reasonable price for exploring Lacoste and nearby Bonnieux and Ménerbes, see this post.  Or If you too have made your millions, go upscale and stay at  the Domaine de Capelongue, A Relais and Châteaux property with a 2-star restaurant; or Bastide de Marie in Ménerbes, complete with spa.

In the COMMENTS: Jeff, of Americans in France, shares a little Beaune history.  Diane will be in Beanue next month (see her beautiful paintings of France at her website). Frank, you're right about the wine in Beaune!  Cynthia of The Daily  Basics if packing her bags too, if only in her dreams. Julie, yikes, hope your summer improves!

Favorite Reads: My friend Bennett, the lucky devil,  just spent a day in Provence with Patricia Wells an her husband Walter.  She of course is the author of The Food Lover's Guide to Paris: The Best Restaurants, Bistros, Cafés, Markets, Bakeries, and More , and several excellent cookbooks. She runs a beautiful cooking school in the Vaucluse. I also learned from Bennett that she has an app, which I immediately bought. It not only has great Paris restaurant recommendations, but it has THE most thorough FOOD GLOSSARY you will find anywhere, indispensable for puzzling out a French restaurant menu. A bargain at $4.99!

 

PHOTO LEFT: My friend Sandi adds yet another dash of style to the village of Lacoste.

 

 

5 Reasons to Visit Beaune on Your Next Trip to France

This is how much Ron and I love the town of Beaune, the wine capital of Burgundy:  If we lived in France only in the summers, that’s the place we would choose to live.  PHOTO: A musician at the Beaune market.

Beaune, the heart of the famous Côte d’Or region of France, is a gorgeous town located between Dijon and Chalon-sur-Saône. History lovers, gourmets, les amateurs de vin, you will all find something here to love.  Here are 5 reasons to go:

1.  The Architecture, and the town itself.  Beaune has a great layout: it’s lively, walkable, and surrounded by a small ring road where you can park and walk in.  The lay-out is circular, since the town was surrounded by ramparts, many still remaining.  The buildings and the winding  back streets are lovely, and steeped in history.

2.  The wine, bien sûr!  This is Wine Central, and there are caves galore to visit, in and all around Beaune.  There are a maze of tunnel-like wine caves to explore that run under the streets.

3.  The Food, and a great hotel.  We love Ma Cuisine, Le Gourmandin, and La Cibolette, all reasonably priced.  And there are lots more restaurants to love.  If your budget can stand it, stay at L’Hotel de Beaune, it’s truly special and right in town.

4.  The Market.  Every Saturday the best food market in Burgundy is right in the main square by the famous Hospices de Beaune. Bonus:  there is a small brocante flea market in the next square over, also every Saturday, plus a foire with baskets, cloths, and gifts.

5.  Because it’s in Burgundy—the best part of France, of course!  And Beaune would be my number one pick as a home base to visit Burgundy, especially the northern part; and you can reach the southern tip of Burgundy is an hour and a half.

We were in Beaune last week with friends, and we are quite envious of our American friends Patty and Jock, who own a townhouse in Beaune centre.  They were kind enough to invite us over to their charming abode, where we sipped some very good wine in their garden.  Merci, Patty and Jock! (That's them on the right, in their garden).

In the COMMENTS: Suzanne has good cornbread ideas, but I must tell you that in Charleston we do everything different--white cornmeal is a sacrilege, only yellow will do! Debbie, that sounds like a peach millefeuille, hmmm.  Natalia, that's the part I remember from Peter Mayle's book too.  Donna says 'perfect is boring'--merci, my Dear.  Mary, no need to seal the edges of the biscuits.  And RE your

Burgundy questions, September weather should be coolish and great, and it's hard for me to recommend a wine, there are over 1500 Burgundy wines.  And most of them are good!  For Burgundy fêtes and attractions, go to Burgundy Eye. Libby, glad you stayed in Goult, so you know how great it is. Connie, YEA, so glad y'all are coming!

 

Favorite Reads:  I just finished a really good book called The The Perfume Collector: A Novel, set in Paris. Kathleen Tessaro is a pretty writer and it's a page-turner, too. If you want to read a really funny account of French escargots, up close and personal, go the blog A Small Village in France. You will learn more than you wanted to know about snail drool. Also, for fellow animal lovers, don't miss the very funny article in the New York Times called A Man and His Cat.

 

PHOTOS Above, where to stay in Beaune: in a restored 19th century house.  Right, visiting a wine cave.

 Art News:  The artist in Goult in the Luberon we talked about  in the post two weeks ago, Françoise Van Heuverswyn, now has her website up and running.  She does nudes and also some beautiful and colorful abstracts.  You can find her new site here.

 

 

 

 

The French Fête: Some Winners, Some Turkeys

PHOTO: a musical fête in Givry.

It’s no wonder Peter Mayle spent a year going around to small french village fêtes, and wrote a book about them. They are uniquely French, often delightfully campy. The French love them, and summertime is brimming over with them.

There are fêtes for figs, for apples,  for noisettes or escargots, and various  other food groups; medieval festivals; boules or fishing competitions; wine festivals, of course, fêtes for music or theatre. Costumes are often involved.

PHOTO, Men in Tights:  a group of our friends, in the spirit for a medieval festival.  L-R, Pete, John, Eliot, Tony, Monty, and Rudy.

Our friends Gerard and Maria went to the Ciné-Pause recently, in the tiny village of Donzy-le-National. This is an annual rural film festival that lasts a few days, and they attended the opening night festivites.  Sadly we weren't there, but we got the scoop. 

The outdoor evening included dinner, a concert, and a movie. It was held in the village square by the church.  A big crowd—300-ish people—turned up, twice what they expected, so our friends were not optimistic about dinner.  Many people had dressed up as their favorite film stars, for a festive touch.

The evening began as ALL French events begin: with speeches. The French love to talk, and anything from a concert to a village meeting will begin with speeches by those invovled in the planning, plus the mayor, and anyone else who is inclined to address the crowd.  They are always lengthy, but I notice they don’t really say much.  As our friend Tony says, the general theme Is: "the village is wonderful, the fête is wonderful, you’re wonderful, I’m wonderful, life is wonderful."

So on this occasion the organizer, gaily dressed in top hat and tails and accompanied by a woman pimped up for the red carpet in a slinky evening gown, got up to begin the monologues.  Now there is a little poultry farm next to the church (I told you it was a small village), and turkeys are very curious. So as soon as monsieur started his speech, they all came over to the fence to see what was happening, and started gobbling loudly in response.  Perhaps they were asking him to keep it short.  “And then,” said Gerard, “a group of guinea hens thought the turkeys had  a brilliant idea, and they started shrieking loudly.” There were also a few ducks, quacking. Monsieur was nearly drowned out by the chorus, but he bravely soldiered on.    PHOTO, Tough Crowd:  beware of avian feedback.

Next up, the woman took the mike, but couldn’t figure out which way was up, and began talking with the mike upside down.  This, combined with the ever-louder bird concert, made it impossible to hear.  “People in the crowd were yelling at her, saying they couldn’t hear her,” Gerard said.  “Then she yelled back that she couldn’t understand what they were saying. And so it went.”  

When they had had enough of this madness, and anticipating the dubious nature of dinner, Gerard and Maria slipped through the crowd, jumped in their car, and made their esape. They went to nearby Cluny, where they had a blissfully quiet meal, en plein air, sans speeches and poultry.  Bonne fête, quand même!

 

So, here's what we're cooking that's festive, for summer:

 

RECIPE:  Peach Pie Biscuits

I wanted to make some sweet biscuits the other day, and I had loads of beautiful fresh peaches.  Hmm, could I chop them up and add them to a biscuit, or would they get all mushy?  Though I didn't use her (scone) recipe, many thanks to Joy the Baker for the idea to actually stuff the peaches inside the biscuits. The technique worked great. These are remniscent of a peach pie, only easier to make!   Photo:  OK these are not beautiful and perfect, but they sure were good. Plus we scarfed up half of them before I remembered to take a picture.

• 2 cups unbleached flour (250 gr)
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 5 tablespoons (72 gr) cold butter
• 1 cup light cream
• 2 or 3 fresh peaches, peeled
• 2 tablespoons sugar mixed with 2 teaspoon cinnamon

Pre-heat oven to 400 (200 C). Add the first four dry ingredients to the bowl of a food processor and pulse a few times.  Cut the butter in small pieces, add it in, and give it 10 one-second pulses until it's well mixed, but full of very tiny lumps.  Pour it into a bowl.  

Make a well and add the cream, stirring quickly with a fork until it sticks together and forms a ball.

Flour your surface, and knead the dough 2 or 3 times.  Roll it out, in this case pretty much as thin as you can get it. Line the peach slices up like little soldiers, nearly to the edge, on HALF the dough.  Don't overlap them, but they should touch.  Sprinkle with half the cinnamon-sugar mixture.

Fold the empty half of the dough over onto the peaches and cut the dough into squares. Sprinkle with remaining sugar mixture. Gently lift them off with a spatula, onto a baking sheet, and bake until golden, about 20 minutes.  

Favorite Reads:  If you want to know more about French fêtes, try Peter Mayle's charming book, French Lessons: Adventures with Knife, Fork, and Corkscrew, in which he visits all sorts of French food festivals.