This is another traditional french cake that is very popular at goûter time and is a real favourite with french kids.

Ingredients :

• 125g butter
• 200g self-raising flour
• 3 eggs
• 6 tablespoons of milk
• 200g sugar
• Vanilla essence
• 25g cocoa powder

Method :

1. Pre-heat oven to 180°C
2. Cream the butter and the sugar together
3. Add the eggs, milk and flour and mix well
4. Separate the mixture in two halves
5. Add a few drops of vanilla essence to one half
6. Add the 25g of drinking chocolate to the other
7. Grease and flour your loaf tin
8. Pour in some of the vanilla mixture, followed by the chocolate mixture and repeat
9. Bake in pre-heated oven for 40 minutes

Financiers are a french pâtisserie made with ground almonds.  In 1890 the pâtissier Lasne re-visited an old recipe from the 17th century for a small oval cake called visitandines (called after the religious order of sisters who created the cake), using the same ingredients but changing the shape. As his shop was situated in the financial district in Paris and almost all his clients worked there, he called his cake a “financier” and gave it the shape of a gold bar.

Financiers are light and spongey and are a perfect accompaniment for afternoon tea. I have added raspberries to the recipe but you can make them without or juggle around with other flavours!

They are traditionally rectangular shape but if you don’t have this type of tin you can use a mini-muffin tin or a small bun tin instead.

Ingredients :

• 140g icing sugar
• 125g ground almonds
• 50g flour
• 150g butter (beurre noisette)
• 3 egg whites
• Raspberries
• Salt

Method :

1. Pre-heat oven to 180°C
2. Make a “beurre noisette” by melting the butter over a low heat until it turns golden brown (and gives off a nutty aroma hence the name) and leave to cool
3. In a bowl mix the sugar, flour, ground almonds and a pinch of salt
4. Add a pinch of salt to the egg whites and beat to a soft peak
5. Fold the egg whites into the dry ingredients
6. Mix in the cooled, melted butter
7. Spoon the mixture into the financier tin and place 2 or 3 raspberries on top, pressing down slightly
8. Bake in oven for 15 minutes

The quatre-quarts is a classic recipe from the french repertoire. Directly translated into english it means “four-quarters”. It originated in Brittany and its name comes from the fact that it is made up of 4 ingredients in equal quantities, each representing a quarter of the cake.

This is the traditional quatre-quarts recipe but you can then add different flavours etc – lemon, vanilla, apples

Ingredients :

• 4 eggs
• Same weight in flour
• Same weight in sugar
• Same weight in salted butter
• I heaped teaspoon of baking powder

Method :

1. Crack your eggs into a bowl and weigh them. 4 eggs weighs around 180g – 200g.
2. Use the weight of your eggs and weigh the exact same amount of flour, butter and sugar.
3. Melt butter and allow to cool
4. Beat the eggs with the sugar
5. In another bowl mix the flour and baking powder
6. Make a well in the flour and pour in the egg and sugar mixture and beat gently with a whisk
7. Add the melted butter and mix well
8. Pour batter into a greased loaf tin and bake for 50 minutes

Another simple, easy to make cake that is a tried and tested goûter time staple here 🙂

Ingredients :

• 4 eggs
• 180g sugar
• 120g flour
• 150g salted butter melted (if you use unsalted add a good pinch of salt to the ingredients)
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder
• 100g grated coconut

Method :

1. Pre-heat oven to 180°C
2. Beat the eggs with the sugar
3. Add the other flour, baking powder and melted butter and mix well with a whisk
4. Mix in the coconut
5. Pour into greased cake tin and bake in oven for 25-30 minutes

There is nothing nicer than a good old apple tart – plenty of apples around this time of year and as per usual this is a very simple recipe with a minimum of ingredients but with a great result!

The main difference between apples in France and in Ireland and the UK is that cooking apples don’t exist – eating apples are used which I prefer anyway as you don’t need to add any (or very little) sugar that way.

Ingredients :

• 1 short-cut pastry
• 4-6 eating apples
• Vanilla Sugar
• Butter

Method :

1. Pre-heat oven to 180°C
2. Chop 2 apples into small cubes and place in a saucepan with approximately 2 tablespoons of water
3. Leave to simmer until the apple softens and then mash or use a hand mixer to make a compote
4. Roll out pastry into your tart tin and prick the base with a fork
5. Spread the compote onto the tart base
6. Peel, core and cut your apples into quarters and then slice each quarter3 or 4 times
7. Place the apple slices on the compote, arranging them around in a circle – or anyway you like!
8. Sprinkle some vanilla sugar over the apples and add 3 or 4 small knobs of butter
9. Bake in oven for 30 minutes
10. Enjoy on its own or with some freshly whipped cream or ice-cream

I love lemon flavoured cakes and desserts but I like them to have a really strong lemon flavour so this lemon cake is only going to be the one for you if you really appreciate the tangy fruit too!

The icing is optional as even without, the cake is very lemon-y!

The temperature for the cake is 170°C and it really needs to be no higher, as you can see from the picture my cake got slightly too done on the outside because I wanted to double up and bake it at the same time as a brown bread loaf so everything went in at 180°C – I won’t be making that mistake again!

Ingredients :

• 175g sugar
• 120g melted butter
• zest of two lemons
• 3 eggs
• 150g flour
• Juice of two lemons (approx 80g)
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

For the icing :

• 125g icing sugar
• 25g lemon juice

Method :

1. Pre-heat oven to 170°C
2. Melt the butter in the microwave
3. Mix the butter and sugar together
4. Add the lemon zest and then the eggs, one by one mixing well after each one
5. Mix in the flour and baking powder
6. Pour in the lemon juice and mix well
7. Pour the mixture into a greased 1lb loaf tin and bake for 40 mins at 170°C (it may need 5 minutes more or less depending on your oven)
8. When the cake is cooked remove from the tin and wrap immediately in clingfilm while waiting for it to cool, this will keep the cake lovely and moist!
9. Whisk the icing sugar with the lemon juice
10. Remove the cake from the clingfilm and place on a grill
11. Cover the cake with the icing and leave for a few moments for the icing to harden
12. Eat!

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Its another loaf recipe – easy, versatile and perfect for the “goûter” I tend to use my loaf tin more than any other in the kitchen. This recipe is perfect for the autumn season as apples and walnuts are plentiful.

Ingredients :

• 150g softened butter (I just melt it in the microwave)
• 150g caster sugar
• 3 eggs
• 200g flour
• Teaspoon baking powder
• Pinch of bread soda
• Pinch of salt
• 50g raisins (pre-soaked in hot water to plump them up!)
• 60g walnuts
• 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
• 200g grated apple (2 apples)

Method :

1. Pre-heat oven to 180°C
2. Beat the eggs and sugar
3. Add the flour, baking powder, bread soda, salt and cinnamon
4. Mix in softened butter
5. Add grated apple, raisins and walnuts
6. Pour into cake tin
7. Bake in pre-heated oven for 50 minutes at 180°C

Well this definitely isn’t a french recipe but one that I have always made when there were a few bananas left in the fruit bowl!

Ingredients :

• 175g self-raising flour
• 1/2 teaspoon of bread soda
• 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
• 125g sugar
• 50g butter
• 1 egg
• 3 tablespoons of milk
• 3 bananas
• 50g walnuts

Method :

1. Pre-heat oven to 180°C
2. Sieve flour into a bowl and add sugar, bread soda and cinnamon
3. Melt butter in microwave and mix into the dry ingredients
4. Add milk, walnuts, egg and mashed bananas
5. Mix well
6. Pour into greased loaf tin
7. Bake at 180°C for 40 minutes