Care to join me for another walk through Paris?

I am not ready to leave Paris behind as yet, so please indulge me a little longer if you will. 

There are so many reasons why this trip was so special to me. I've been meaning to visit Paris for years and gave up an opportunity to be there for a brief visit almost a decade ago. How I regretted that decision for years! Being there now, finally, I was hit with a strong wave of nostalgia: a reminder of many, many good times and lovely friends.  

How could I feel nostalgic about a place I have never been? Because the very first formal job I ever had was at the Alliance Française in my hometown. I worked there for a few years and was immersed in a completely 'French' environment. I made a lot of friends, was exposed to not only the language but also French culture & got to meet a diverse group of artists from France; some of whom became friends that I have kept sporadically in touch with over the years. But sadly, there are many friends that I lost touch with - through my own fault, more than anything else. Being in France gave me the opportunity to look them up and reconnect with a few. And it felt wonderful. 

As we approached Paris and prepared for landing, all I could see below was a bed of thick clouds. It was like descending into nothing - which was a little disconcerting but at the same time reminded me of what Baudelaire (I think it was him) said, " J'aime les nuages.. les nuages qui passent la-bas . . des merveilleux nuages!". That thought came out of nowhere & was the first of a series of random literary references that swam through my head the entire time that I was there. 

After a rainy landing, we were there. 

It took a while for it to sink in that I was really there, I was in France. 

I barely slept that night. After taking a nap for two hours, I was up again because I had to work on an assignment for school. I got over with it around 5 a.m. and then, because I couldn't sleep & because I couldn't stand it any more, I went for a walk at 5:45 a.m. The guy at the front desk of our hotel gave me a very strange look as I was walking out the door and I should have understood why: because the only other people out on the streets at that time were trash-collectors. 

 

We were close to the Champs Elysees, so I walked down the avenue, down Boulevard Haussmann, and then through winding streets until I reached my hotel after almost two hours. Paris was a very sleepy town, there was little traffic - even at 7 a.m.- and I felt completely wide awake: intoxicated by the beauty of the city. 

I finally managed to take another brief nap before we went out to explore the city later in the morning . . and then I went and got really sick later that night. I think it was just a combination of lack of sleep & jet-lag, but I had to sit around nursing a really bad case of flu for the next two days. All I had energy for, was bus-tours. And while I got really good photos out of the experience, my kids were essentially tortured for two days! 

And then I was back on my feet and walking all over the city again . . 

Or taking little Cafe-breaks and sitting around just watching traffic and passersby. 

 

Or taking photos of cafes . . 

Or of my other obsession: Parisien Metro signs

  

And while winding streets are charming . . . 

. . some of them also contain surprises:

 Walking through streets is not all that I did . . among other things we did with the kids, we went to the fantastic Jardin d'Acclimatation & it was hard to tear my kids away at the end of the day .

 I wouldn't mind living in the Jardin d'Acclimatation - it's magical and beautiful, with lots of surprises. Like this little guy who decided to take a walk alongside us:

I felt a bit like this statue upon leaving France . . 

"C'est comme une rêve" remarked a child, sitting in front of me in the plane, as he stared down at the city we were departing from. And he was so right because it really was a dream. . 

Did you enjoy the walk with me? I have lots more photos where these came from and I took them doing what I do best: walking randomly and aimlessly across cities. A friend of mine once asked me in a letter, years and years ago: " fais-tu toujours de grandes promenades?"  (do you still take longs walks?) and I would have to say, yes I do and I love it still. 

Baking With Dorie: Summer Fruit Galette

Ever since Elizabeth picked the recipe for this weeks' challenge, I've been constantly dreaming about this galette. I felt it was another very versatile recipe that could be varied in many ways. I dreamed up, in elaborate length, what I would do with it & was meant to bake the galette before I left for our short holiday. But with so many things to do before we left, the galette took a back seat and I had to bake it in a hurry this morning. 

I had already decided, before I left, that I would make it with pineapples. The other recommended fruits are in season (apricots, plums, peaches), but I found the freshly cut rings of pineapples so appealing when I was out grocery shopping one day that I decided right then I'd have to use them in the galette. 

For the jam, I used a thin layer of homemade mandarin marmalade and topped it with a generous amount of crushed Speculoos (my current addiction) & spooned over just a little custard before baking it for the second time.  For those who don't know what Speculoos are: they are traditional Belgian bisuits that are crisp, caramelized and slightly spicy. After eating my way through many, many Speculoos-flavored gelatos and ice creams, I have still not had enough and I felt the slight gingery-spiciness would go really well with the pineapple.

And now I wish I had some ice cream to go along with this galette that is so delicious, warm from the oven. So delicious, in fact, that you'll wish you had made enough dough for a 9" double crust. It made me wish, also, that I had enough time to make the ice cream I had originally planned to go along with it. A summer gallette does seem kind of lonely without ice cream. 

Thanks for choosing this recipe Elizabeth! For a gluten-free version of this dessert, please go over to Elizabeths' blog Gluten-Free Baking 101. 

Check out what the other BWD bakers have done with this weeks' challenge by checking out the blogroll here or here. For the recipe, please go over to Tina's blog My Domestic Bliss, or pages 366-7 of Baking: From my home to yours by Dorie Greenspan.

If youd' like to join us for our next BWD challenge on July 5 (Caramel-Peanut-Topped Brownie Cake, pages 264-5), please drop me an email. We'd love to have you bake along with us. 

Paris - one last time

I took the train to Paris for the last time yesterday morning, leaving my sleeping family behind so that I could have one last visit. . I got there early in the morning and here's the route I took . .

Rue Montorgueil was sleepy-town when I got there. .

But there were still temptations to be found:

Back near the Quartier Latin

Gotta love Parisien windows

Au revoir Paris

Que Je T'aime, Paris!

This is why I'm so quiet... No words needed. . Just enjoy the promenade with me . . .

Baking With Dorie: Lemon Cup Custard

If you've read my previous blog posts about BWD challenges, you'll know that I try to play around with these recipes - taking my cues from the alternative suggestions in the book. So, even though I chose the recipe for this weeks' challenge, I already knew I'd end up making anything but the Lemon Cup custard. 

And how glad I am that I tried other variations. In fact, I tried two: the espresso-cinnamon cup custard and the orange-star anise version. I'll eat anything with cinnamon in it (I even eat fruit with a generous sprinkle of cinnamon), so I knew I was going to love the espresso custard. And I did. 

The most enjoyable part of this challenge was baking these custards. I used espresso cups to bake my espresso-cinnamon custard and halved the recipe because I wanted to try more versions. The custard came out slightly jiggly after 20 minutes and I felt I might have under-baked it just a little.

I had plenty of custard left over but own only 3 espresso cups (don't ask me why). Since I was obsessed with the idea of making it in small cups, I baked the remaining amount in my daughters' tea cups (from Ikea). I loved how cute they looked:

This time I baked for 20 minutes again and it seemed just right. I cooled the custards overnight and dusted with cocoa powder right before taking these photos. I know it looks like specks of chocolate here but it's actually cocoa powder that just turned strangely solid, speck-like as soon as it came in contact with the very cold custard. 

Regardless of how strange it looked, the espresso custard was lovely - the texture was that of a classic baked custard but there was no eggy taste because of the strong flavors from the espresso and cinnamon (I think I may have used a lot of cinnamon - but I did say I love cinnamon, didn't I?)

Since I'd made the Espresso Custard a week back, I still had plenty of time to do another version but it was hard to decide which one. I almost discarded the idea, but then Tina sparked my curiosity by talking about the 'egginess' of the custard and how bakers from TWD had been generally unhappy with this custard because of the eggy factor and the lack of strong lemon flavor. 

I knew then that I had to do another version and find out for myself. I'd been partial towards the idea of Orange and Star Anise quite simply because I've never had a dessert flavored with star anise. Where I come from, star anise is used primarily in meat dishes, and then also, sparingly. The closest I've come to having it in something non-savory is green tea. So I was skeptical but too curious not to try it out. 

Again, I halved the recipe and used the zest of 2 oranges instead of 1. I had a star anise with just 3 points so I threw the whole bud into the milk instead of removing 3 points from it. After the milk came to a boil, I removed it from the heat and then let everything infuse for about 45 minutes (or a little more) instead of 30.

This time, I baked the custard in a bowl instead of ramekins so I wasn't sure about the baking time and may have over-baked it just a little because the center jiggled only slightly. The custard smelled slightly eggy & I couldn't be sure the orange flavor had really come through because once again, I refrigerated the custard overnight before finally tasting it the next morning. 

Let's just say it was simply wonderful! It took a few minutes for my taste-buds to adjust to the idea of star anise in a dessert, and then there was no looking back! It was slightly over-baked, but still very flan-like in texture with a wonderful burst of citrus flavor and the surprising warm undertone from the star anise. This recipe was, for me, a winner in every way and I may never go back to making custard with short-cut instant mixes when it is so simple to make it from scratch, and that too, with so many variations.

Do check out the BWD blogroll here and here to see the other versions of this dessert by my fellow BWD bakers. If you'd like to join us for our next BWD challenge on June 21 (Summer Fruit Galette, chosen by Elizabeth of Gluten-Free Baking 101), drop me an email - we'd love to have you bake along with us.

You can get the recipe right here, after the jump: