Milk Chocolate Honey Walnut Pie

There is angel in each one of us.

The dark cloud yesterday morning announced the sudden rain pour that was strong but brief. As I busily dry my wet umbrella while waiting in the covered bus stop an old woman on her late 80’s arrived and took refuge on the same shelter. Half wet from waist till her legs she smiled at me and told me with pride, “Oh It’s rare that it rains in Provence but I always carry my umbrella with me!” “What a great girl scout you are!” I teasingly replied. I don’t know if she understood the joke but we both laugh. As the bus arrived I have only one thing in my mind, sleep in the bus and listen to my Ipod. But alas, as I entered the bus the old woman already reserved the seat close to her for me. She smiled at me and insisted that I sit beside her for a company and told me that she would love to spend the trip beside me.

As our bus advance to our destination I get to know little by little this gracious stranger seated close to me. We were like high-school girls giggling at almost anything. Oh we talked about lot of stuffs. From politics to why women should never be allowed to drive to her misfortunes, her recent lost his son, and her current battle: his husband who’s still in comma for few days now. She told me how she loved him and how it would be hard for her to imagine living a life old and alone without him. People who know me personally know that I am type of person that loves to crack jokes and put a smile on other people’s faces for whatever it takes whatsoever the circumstances are. I didn’t only put a smile on her face I also made her laugh a lot of times. As we went down the bus, I gave her a strong hug, kisses on her cheeks and whispered words of encouragement on her ears. She was teary eyed when she waved her hand goodbye and continued her direction towards the hospital.

It is true that it’s not everyday we have rain in Provence. But it could be any day we can be an angel to a complete stranger.

----------------------------------------

My angels are flying a slice of this chocolate honey walnut pie over at Cookthink for their 33rd edition of Root Source Challenge. If you love honey you will surely love this edition.

By the way, Haze & Makis, this is the tart I bake for our lunchdate that didn't show up :-)

Milk Chocolate Honey Walnut Pie

For the pate brisée (recipe here)

300 g of coarsely chopped walnut
100 g of brown sugar (about half a cup)
2 tablespoons of honey ( I used lavander honey)
150 g of milk chocolate
55 g of butter (about half a stick)
2 tablespoons of flour
4 eggs
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
20 cl of heavy cream

Cream your eggs with sugar, then add the flour. Melt the chocolate and fold it into your heavy cream. Add the vanilla extra. Pour the chocolate mixture on your egg-sugar-flour mixture and mix them well. Put half of your chopped walnuts on your cooked pastry shell and pour over the chocolate mixture. Sprinkle the rest of your nuts on the top. Preheat the oven at 180° celsius and bake for 20-25 minutes. Serve with a scoop of ice-cream of your choice.

Try my other walnut recipes:

Rolled Turkey Escalopes with Walnut Parsley Pesto
Walnut Wine
Pannetone Pudding with cream-anglaise and Walnut brittle

Chocolate Coconut Pie

If there's one trait about me I am not proud of that would be my hot-temperedness. Oh for heaven sake it's a curse that runs in our blood a sort of a family heirloom. So as much as I can control this and to avoid further “collateral damages” my military attack could do I normally shut up my mouth and turn my back. Unfortunately yesterday wasn't just an ordinary day that I triumphed in holding back my anger.

Well you see, I got an invitation for a half-day Management seminar 2 weeks ago from my professional counselor. It has been several times I refuse to attend because of my busy schedule but I finally decided to do it, after all it will be for my own good. So I took the time out to fix everything at home, find someone to take care of Mayumi, put some appointment in the afternoon so that I could maximize also my time. When I arrived at the hall and told them I was there for this seminar, I was advised that I wasn't on the list. But the weird thing I wasn't the only one. There were eighteen unfortunate souls like me. The three secretaries were all panicking already on how could that happen that there was this much people invited to a seminar that doesn't even exist. Well, there was a scheduled management seminar that morning but it was for "Building Constructors". (Oh yes you heard that right, building constructors!) Everyone else was calm (I guess they were all too sleepy to react) well except for me I had my dose of hot chocolate that morning. I was fuming with madness and was busy bombarding with questions the terrorized secretaries that couldn't give me a decent explanation on what really took place. They were the organizers; they send the invitation to each one of us how come they don't know what happened? Of all the things I really hate that would be people's incompetence. But my path unfortunately always crosses with them.

So to pacify the angry me and definitely not to waste the time of other people who were there, they proposed that we attended this seminar instead. They negotiated with the speaker to tackle the subject on a much wider perspective to accommodate our needs. Especially when it comes to French government policies one single rule applies to all. My only regret, she didn’t talk much about her original topic for I could have learned a new stuff that can be useful for my house renovations.

Anyways, the only good thing that I could pull off from yesterday my meet up with another blogger, a Pinay who got a scholarship from Erasmus Mundus, who’s staying here in France for four months then off she goes to Finland and Netherlands (isn't that cool?). We had a succulent lunch in my favorite Vietnamese restaurant. Yay! Sorry for ranting, its my first anyways.

I'll be sending slices of this pie to Zorra our lovely host for this week's Weekend Herb Blogging, the event created by Kalyn. I'ts been a long time I haven't had my Friday Dose of Chocolate :-)

Chocolate Coconut Pie
For one big pie

Recipe for pie crust (pate brisée) here :

200 g of dark chocolate
20 cl of heavy cream (about half a small glass)
3 tablespoons of butter
1 egg
1 cup of fresh coconut

In bain marie melt the chocolate and butter. Out of fire, fold in the heavy cream and egg. Mix them well. Pour them over your shell pie. Arrange nicely your sliced coconut. Bake for 15-20 minutes at 180° celsius.

My other pie recipes:

Pinacolada Pie
Fig Coconut Custard Tart
Lemon Meringue Pie

Chocolate Crème Dessert & Lavender Fields

Chocolate Creme Dessert

If you have never been to Southern France yet or have been there and longing to see this beautiful region once again; allow me to tag you along with me as we take a short side-trip there in land of wine and cheeses.

Southern France is famous for its Middle ages Roman ruins, arena and beautiful paysages of blue sky, rosemary and thymes that is magnificently illustrated in the paintings of the world renowned painter Cezanne. This region is also home to pristine and turquoise blue water of Mediterranean sea, singing cicadas, delicious bouillabaise soup, sweet calisson (melon and marzipan candies) and of course the fragrant flowers of lavander.

For this edition of my Friday Dose of Chocolate, I'll be sharing with you the wonders of nature that we saw one saturday afternoon while having an impromptu picnic on the blazing road of tour de France.

Chocolate Pudding (Crème Dessert au Chocolat
recipe of Cyril Lygnac

2 eggs
4 egg yolks
55 grams of icing sugar
15 cl of milk
35 cl of heavy cream
120 g of dark chocolate

Preheat the oven at 130° celsius. In a salad bowl beat the eggs, 4 egg yolks and sugar together. In a casserole bring to a boil the milk and heavy cream. Turn off the fire and add the chocolate. Mix them well. Pour gently the chocolate mixture on the beaten eggs and sugar mixture. Mix them well. Filter the liquid in order to have a smooth texture. Cook in the oven for 35 minutes. Then wait for about an hour before pouring them on your individual serving glasses or bowl. Put in the fridge for at least 3 hours before serving. You can top it with fresh fruits of your choice.

No words can describe the beauty and fragrant hidden in this field.
Your eyes will make you believe you are staring the blue sea.
A memory and scent that will linger forever.

Try my other chocolate recipes:

Toblerone Molten cake
Mini Dacquiose Cake In Chocolate Cream chantilly

Chocolate Charlotte with berries

Chocolate Charlotte with different kinds of berries

Making tough decision by definition is never easy nor fun. And I never consider myself a specialist in this domain neither. For I am the type that would probably do a mini myni mo or draw lots in making crucial decisions :-). So yesterday when a good friend of mine asked for my advice on a career decision move, I knew it was way out of my league.

She's one of the talented and intelligent person I know. And for one, she would never occupy that VP post in a big shipping corporation if she'st not well deserving. But she wanted to quit and leave everything she has worked hard for for years. I listened to her most of the time, I knew she needed someone to listen to her. And when it was my time to talk I just told her not to make any hasty move at the height of our emotions that she will regret afterwards. She thanked me and felt relieved afterwards. I am really glad to be of help.

Well she's not called Charlotte, but I do hope this edition of my Friday Dose of Chocolate will give her some dose of encouragement and happy thoughts.

I'll be sending over this Chocolate Charlotte with berries to Susan of Food Blogga, the lovely host of Sugar High Friday, playing along with berries .

Chocolate Charlotte with Berries

about 22 pieces of ladyfinger biscuits
about 15 g of gelatine powder
about 1/4 cup of raspberry coulis
150 g of dark chocolate
25 cl of heavy cream (very cold)
25 g of sugar
some ice
half a cup of raspberry syrup (or any berry syrup)

Start by warming up in a casserole hlaf of the raspberry syrup then add the gelatine powder. Cut the fire and pour in the raspberry coulis, mix well. Melt the chocolate in bain marie set aside. Whisk the cold heavy cream (you can put some ice on it) to make your cream chantilly. Add little by little your sugar. Fold in delicately the melted chocolate and the raspberry mixture. Dip lightly your ladyfinger biscuits on half of the remaining raspberry syrup and assemble it on your charlotte mold. If you prefer you can also make smaller charlotte using ramekin. Line up your dipped biscuits on the side of your mold, then pour your chocolate raspberry mixture. Refrigerate it for 24 hours. Decorate the top with berries of your choice.

Some Charlotte facts:

Charlotte is a typical chilled dessert with sponge cake or biscuits. It is normally serve cold during summer. You can vary you charlotte by putting bavarian cream, purée with gelatin or even chocolate mousse. You can also do some savory if you want. Its origin is vague, some claim it originated from the English word "charlyt" which means a dish of custard. While others claim it was named after Queen Charlotte the wife of King George III.



Try my other berries recipes:

Mango Blueberry Opera Cake
Home-made yogurt with red fruits
Poached pears with wild thymes and raspberries

Peanut butter Chocolate Maple Syrup Marble Cake

How many friends do you have?

My granddad popped us this question when we were kids. I proudly claimed that I have plenty. He looked at me and smiled and told me he only have very few. Why is that so we asked him. And he replied to us by telling that it is not the number that counts but the quality. He told us that he had very few friends but they were real and sincere friends. He then recounted the story way back during WWII of how his american friend saved the life of my granddad's family one night when a group of a Japanese soldiers attacked their village. He told us with teary eyes, you see if weren't for him I wouldn't be here to tell you this story. And this happened long long time ago. Everytime I look back at this moment, I know that this have served its purpose. Because I grew up with lots of friends. And I can proudly claim that they are real and sincere. For all the ups and downs of my life, they were there. I feel so lucky :-)

And as I type this post I am on my way to meet up with some bloggers. Well you see I thought of writing about friendship because never I would imagine to develop real friendship too through blogging. So this Friday edition of my Friday Dose of Chocolate I'll concocted this special peanut butter chocolate marble cake for them. See you later guys!

Peanut butter Chocolate Maple Syrup Marble Cake

3 eggs
120 g of sugar
175 g of flour
165 g of butter
3 tablespoons of maple syrup
2 tablespoons of peanut butter (put more if you are a great fan)
1 tablespoon of Nutella choco spread
50 g of dark chocolate
a pinch of salt
1 table spoon of baking powder
10 g of butter to grease the baking dish

Start by separating the yolk and white of your three eggs. Cream the yolks with your sugar, melted butter and maple syrup until it becomes creamy. Add the flour, salt and baking powder. Mix well. Beat the egg whites until they become stiff and fold in gently the mixture. Divide this cake mixture into two. Mix your melted chocolate and nutella spread on the other half and your peanut butter on the one. Pour the two flavors at the same time on a greased baking dish of your choice, or you can pour them alternately to make that marble effect that you want. Preheat the oven at 180° celsius and bake it for thirty to forty minutes. To avoid burning the top you can put an alluminum paper on the top of your cake during the last ten minutes of its cooking time.


Here are my other chocolate recipes:

Chocolate clafoutis muffin style
Sacher Torte
Toblerone Molten Cake

Apricot Almond Ginger Confit Devils Cake

Apricot Almond Ginger Confit Devil's Cake

The Devil wears Prada.

I am pretty sure that most of you have read the book or saw the movie. Not that my post will talk about the plight of this helpless Fashion editor assistant, its just simply that I thought about this book as prepare this chocolate cake and that phone call I got few weeks ago. Well you see few weeks ago I received a call from Elle's magazine wishing to feature an article about my fashion brand and my creations. I was ecstatic naturally. But lots of things happened after that that phonecall that has derailed my thoughts and focus. Its been weeks that I am floating and I haven't started things that I needed to do. It is hard when its the brain that's draining up. I know I needed a break so badly. It won't be long it will be just for few days, enough for me to work on my creations and pending projects.

So for this edition of my Friday Dose of Chocolate, I'll be leaving you with a slice of this delicious chocolate cake and a quote from Arnold Schwarzenegger's famous line; I'll be back!


This will be my entry for this month's Royal Food Joust, hosted by Jen of Leftover Queen.

Apricot, Almonds, Ginger Confit Devil's Cake with hint of chili

4 eggs
120 g of butter
100 g of dried apricot (chopped)
150 g of almonds (chopped)
about 2 tablespoons of ginger confit (chopped)
80 g of flour
150 g of sugar
200 g of dark chocolate

for the chocolate ganache
150 g of dark chocolate
10 cl of fresh cream
half a teaspoon of chili powder

Start by melting the butter and the chocolate. Mix them well until it become homogenous. Beat the eggs with the sugar and flour. Fold in the butter-chocolate mixture and mix them well. Put the chopped almonds, ginger confit and apricot in the cake mixture. Grease a round baking dish of about 20 cm, and pour the cake mixture. Bake in the preheated oven at 180° celsius for 30 to 35 minutes. Let the cake cool before unmolding it.

For the chocolate ganache, melt the chocolate and blend it well. This helps your chocolate becomes brilliant and shiny. Pour your warm fresh cream and mix well. Add your chili powder.

How long can you resist?

My other chocolate recipes:

Chocolate Saucisson
Chocolate Creme Brulée

Friday Dose of Chocolate #2: Chocolate Saucisson

Slice them up, Chocolate Saucisson

Have you ever broke the law?

I am not proud of it but for the love of food I did. Most international airports normally prohibits bringging in and out of certain meat products and I cannot count how many times I violated this. You see french charcuteries and me are like inseparable lovers. Since the first time I tasted them I already fell in love with them. My favorite are the french saucisson! Those dry-filled sausages best eaten with cornichon (tiny cucumber) pickles. When we used to live in Tokyo, I see to it I bring back home some for a year's consumption. I would wrap them in socks or hide them in the middle of my clothes unnoticed. The latest stint I did was when we visited New York and to please our French friends based there we brought along some. I always succeed in passing probably because of my innocent look :-)

So why am talking about this? Well, Lore of Culinarty is hosting an interesting food blog event on Original Recipes. And I am pretty sure you haven't seen nor tasted something like this before. And since its my second edition of my Friday Dose of Chocolate I'll be sharing this Original Chocolate recipe, my Chocolate Saucisson. Don't be deceived they are sweet. Kids will surely love them and adults as well. You can serve them right after a good meal with a cup of strong coffee.

(By the way, sorry for not visiting your blogs yesterday I wasn't at home. We had some family affairs to attend to.)

Chocolate Saucisson

125 g of dark chocolate
50 g of butter
150 g of chopped hazelnuts
12 pieces of Pims soft chocolate-orange cookies (you can replace it with genoise like chocolate cookies with orange marmalade fillings)
100 g of dried raisins
6 tablespoons of icing sugar
3 tablespoons of Amaretto or Cognac (optional)

Melt the chocolate in bain-marie or micro-wave oven. With the help of spatula mix well the chocolate to help it make shiny. Add the butter in the melted chocolate. Crush with your hands the Pim's soft cookies. Mix all the ingredients except the icing sugar. The alcohol is optional, omit it if it's for kids. Put them in the fridge for about thirty minutes. Check the consistency. It should be still a little bit soft and manageable for shaping. Put them in a parchment paper and roll as if you are shaping a long sausage. Once you have shaped them roll them over icing sugar. Wrap them with alluminum foils or parchment paper and keep in your fridge for minimum of seven hours. It is advised you cut them in front of your guests so they can still see the shape of your chocolate saucisson.

You can check my other chocolate recipes:

Chocolate Creme Brulée
Mini-Dacquoise cake in Chocolate Creme Chantilly
Profiterole with Lychee ice-cream and Cherry Chocolate Sauce

* For my French readers: you will find the french version of this recipe of "saucisson en chocolat" here: http://www.lesfoodies.com/hilda/recette/saucisson-en-chocolat

Friday Dose of Chocolate: Chocolate Creme Brulée

Creamy and chocolatey: Chocolate Creme Brulée

Friday the thirteenth, goodluck or badluck?

I was so much inspired by the Cookbook project of Barbara (Taste & Tell) and I have been pondering for a while to do the same thing considering the tons of cookbooks that I have. But I wanted to do something that best speaks of me. And I guess there is no other way to do this but to share with you my love for chocolate. From this day on, I'll be sharing with you my chocoholism through my Friday Dose of Chocolate, a weekly post on the chocolate recipe I enjoyed that week. Considering the number of chocolate cookbooks that I have prepare for something really different and delicious. I warn you this could be sinfully addicting.

And no other better date to debut my very first Friday dose of chocolate but on this lucky(unlucky) day of Friday the thirteenth.

Allow me to tell you some of my chocolate trivia:

* When I was a kid, I'd love to do errands for others in that way the I could buy my favorite Choc'nut bars through the centavos I get paid.

*Growing up as teenager I enjoy spending time in my cousin's place specially in the afternoon when my auntie prepares our afternoon snack. Our all time favorite is her chocolate rice pudding out of left over rice. Ihough I never succeed in discovering her secret.

* Eversince I met my husband I'm having strong heart-palpitations. Well there isn't any romantic explanation to this , the only culprit is my higher pure cacao consumption since we lived together.

* This is my minimum daily chocolate consumption: 2 full scoops of chocolate powder for my cold milk in the morning, 3 spoonful of Nutella chocolate spread for my croissants, a slice of chocolate cake during lunchtime (this could vary though: muffins, pie but always chocolate flavored), a bowl of chocolate cereals for my afternoon snack and a bar of chocolate caramel in the evening.

Everybody loves chocolate. And I do hope to satisfy your cravings with my Friday Dose of Chocolate.
Chocolate Creme Brulée
source: Accro au chocolat by Cyril Lygnac
4 ramekins

Ingredients:
4 egg yolks + 2 whole eggs
20 cl of heavy cream
125 g of chocolate
40 g of sugar
20 g of brown sugar for the caramel topping

Beat the egg yolks and two whole eggs with the 40 grams of sugar. Blend them well until them become creamy. Place the cream in a saucepan, over low heat allow it to simmer for about three minutes. The add your chocolate and let it melt. Turn of the fire and let it cool down before adding the eggs-sugar mixture. Pour this chocolate cream on your ramekins. Place your ramekins in a baking dish and fill the baking dish with enough water to come halfway up the sides of the reamekins. Place the dish in a preheated oven 180° celsius and bake for 20 minutes. We have different ovens so the cooking time and temperature could vary depending on your oven just be sure that the custards are justly cooked; still creamy and yet firm. After their cooking time refrigerate for minimum of one hour the ramekins. Just before serving sprinkle the top with brown sugar. Put ice cube in a tray around ramekins and place try under a preheated hot grill for about one minute or until sugar melts and is golden.

I want some more...