A biscuit roulé (literally meaning rolled biscuit) is very similar to a swiss roll and particularly popular at this time of year as a base for a christmas log cake, called a bûche de Noel in french.
Biscuit Roulé
Tarte Tatin
Tarte Tatin is a well known french apple tart. Research shows that it is called after two sisters, Stéphanie and Caroline Tatin who ran a hotel, Hotel Tatin, in Sologne (region about 100km south of Paris).
Orange Loaf Cake “Cake à l’Orange”
Pear and Chocolate Loaf
Yet another loaf cake – my most used tin in the kitchen! Pears are in season at the moment, for this recipe just make sure they are nice and soft before using.
Marble Cake or Gateau Marbré
This is another traditional french cake that is very popular at goûter time and is a real favourite with french kids.
Financiers with Raspberries
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.
Quatre-Quarts
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.
Coconut Cake
French Apple Tart
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.
Lemon Cake
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!
