Culinaristic travels of this summer

It's been a looong time since I wrote something in my blog..I feel like I haven't been spending so much time in the kitchen OR at my computer, since we have been on the road quite a lot, visiting three weddings, then moving out. But now I want to update some summer (food) stories here with a "slight" delay - here's first a very subjective repotage from the longer travels of this summer.



What the Finns are most mesmerised about when being abroad? Fruits! Just imagine that the only domestic fruits we can get here are apples, between August and October..it was just a pure delight to spend the first morning (and last as well) in France by picking up cherries and eating them very fresh, under the cherry tree. Also abricots, nectarines, peaches, melons etc. were very tasty and juicy...



Croissants! That's one of the things I miss most from French food culture when being in Finland. They are never quite the same, although we have some cafés and bakeries that try to make up for the loss, for example Labrioche here in Tampere. It's great to begin a new day with a fresh croissant, some honey or marmalade on it and a cup of green tea.



From Paris we traveled to Ghent, a cute Belgian town, which seemed calm and relaxed after a hot, crowded, busy Paris..I couldn't help stopping at every cute shop display to admire all those cute compositions of candy, kitchen ware, household decoration etc.



A raspberry-scented candy speciality of Ghent called cuberdons, which weren't unfortunately anymore so liquid inside when I ate them at home as they were fresh. Maybe it was the constant +30 weather that dried them ;)




World famous Belgian chocolate was sold in many shops :) I was caught in pfotographing action in front of this shop by the owner of it and she was very pleased to hear that the display was so cute, just look at those retro packages! If you can't afford buying hand-made chocolate, buy in a supermarket Galler chocolate bars - I tried pistachio and grand marnier, mmmm!



I can't say that I would be a big fan of French fries, but on this travel we ate them quite many times! This picture presents actually FRENCH fries somewhere near the Clignancourt flea markets, but I must admit that I fell for the Belgian ones ;) Their secret is to fry them twice, which makes them very crispy and tasty. We ate the best fries of Ghent in Frituur 't Puntzakje which you can find at Kleine Vismarkt 9.



I can proudly say that I have managed to drink a beer! Completely on my own! I hate beer taste and smell, but as a real culinarist I can't say no to something that is pink and smells of raspberry :)

Mireille Guiliano's Chocolate Cake

Because my sisters were asking me to give this recipe, I thought of typing it here now as well, both in Finnish and English! I don't have a picture of it, although I have been making it many times, mostly for guests, as it is rather heavey stuff to eat alone :D It's from Mireille Guiliano's French Women For All Seasons that followed the bestseller French Women Don't Get Fat. Well, despite the message of these books, everything enjoyed moderately is good for you, share this cake with other gourmands!

Jauhoton suklaakakku (8 annosta)
225g tummaa suklaata
225g huoneenlämpöistä suolatonta voita
4 isoa munaa
2,5 dl sokeria
1 dl Grand Marnieria tai muuta (appelsiininmakuista) likööriä
6 rkl maissitärkkelystä

Kuumenna uuni 175C. Voitele rengasvuoka tai 20-senttinen pitkulainen vuoka.
Paloittele suklaa ja sulata se vesihauteessa. Anna jäähtyä ja vaahdota sillä aikaa voi. Kaada jäähtynyt suklaa voin sekaan ja vatkaa kaksi minuuttia. Seoksen pitää olla sakeaa
Vaahdota munat eri kulhossa. Lisää sokeri vähitellen, koko ajan vatkaten, kunnes seos on vaaleaa ja sakeaa (n. 6-8 minuutin ajan).
Vatkaa suklaa-voiseos muna-sokerivaahdon sekaan ja lisää Grand Marnier. Vatkaa vielä minuutin ajan. Siivilöi maissitärkkelys taikinan joukkoon ja sekoita varovasti nostelemalla.
Kaada taikina vuokaan ja täytä se piripintaan. Peitä leivinpaperilla. Nosta vuoka uunivuokaan, joka on täytetty miltei kiehuvalla vedellä kakkuvuoan reunaan asti. Laita kuumaan uuniin 45-50 minuutiksi. Anna kakun jäähtyä ennen tarjoilua. Kumoa se tarjoiluvadille ja tarjoa sokeroimattoman kermavaahdon kanssa. Kakku on parhaimmillaan valmistamista seuraavana päivänä.

Itse olen tehnyt tavalliseen pyöreään kakkuvuokaan, enkä ole koskaan laittanut sitä vesihauteeseen. Joskus voisi kyllä kokeilla sitäkin vaihtoehtoa, ehkä kakusta tulisi silloin vieläkin parempi :) Koska ostin Grand Marnier -pullon vasta hiljattain, olen laittanut kakkuun myös lakkalikööriä ja marsalaviiniä, molemmat toimivat hyvin kakun maustajana. Onnistumisen takaamiseksi kannattaa ostaa mahdollisimman tummaa suklaata (min. 70%) ja oikeaa voita, lisäksi raakaruokosokeri, kuten Mascobado sopii suklaakakkuihin ihan loistavasti :)

And the same recipe in English!

Flourless Chocolate Cake (8 servings)

8 ounces (225g) dark chocolate
8 ounces (225g) unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus extra for buttering pan
4 large eggs
1 cup sugar (around 2,5 dl)
1⁄4 cup Grand Marnier or orange-flavored liqueur
6 tablespoons cornstarch

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Brush a 4-cup ring mold or a 9-inch springform pan with butter.

Chop the chocolate and melt it in a bowl set above a simmering pan of water. Remove and let cool. While the chocolate is cooling, cream the butter in a mixing bowl.

Pour the cooled, melted chocolate into the mixing bowl with the butter and beat for 2 minutes. The mixture should be thick. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, beat the eggs. Start adding the sugar, beating at high speed, until the eggs are thick and very pale yellow (6 to 8 minutes). Both the egg-sugar and chocolate-butter mixtures should have a similar consistency.

Beat the chocolate-butter mixture into the egg-sugar mixture and add the Grand Marnier. Beat another minute to mix. Sift the cornstarch into the batter and gently fold in.

Pour the batter into the prepared mold. Tap the mold on the counter to level and cover with buttered waxed paper. Put the mold in a baking dish and fill the dish with near-boiling water, almost up to the top of the mold. Put the baking dish with the mold in the preheated oven for 45 to 50 minutes. Let cool. Turn upside down on a serving platter, but wait 30 minutes to remove the mold.

Serve with unsugared whipped cream.


I have never prepared this cake in a water-filled baking dish, but maybe I'll try once, maybe it makes this cake even better! Because I bought my first bottle of Grand Marnier only recently, I have baked this cake also with Finnish berry liquor and Italian Marsala wine, both versions were tasty alike. I think it's worth using good ingredients for this cake, so choose dark chocolate (min. 70%) and real butter, not margarine. Cane sugar, like Mascobado, works fine especially in chocolate pastries.