Honey-like fig tart

 

Figs are wonderful fruits that you can eat raw and cold as snack, with fresh white cheese and honey, in salads, and in yoghurt and muesli too. But my favorite way to eat figs is in a warm tart at the end of summer. This simple recipe will delight your tastebuds so I recommend you try it if you like figs :-) 

I finally found nice ripe figs at the supermarket so I was able to replicate this tart that I like to make every summer. Baked figs will melt in your mouth and if you had a small scoop of vanilla ice-cream it will add a very nice contrast. Enjoy!

Recipe for a 20 cm fig tart:

Pâte brisée (shortcrust dough):

200 g flour

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp sugar

110 g butter

0.8 dl cold water

16-20 ripe figs

brown sugar

ground almonds

Prepare the shortcrust dough as previously described and refrigerate it for at least 30 min. Wash figs, cut away the top and cut in 4 quarters. Roll out the dough (approx. 4mm thick) and transfer to a buttered and floured tart pan. The dough has to be relatively bigger than the tart pan such that you can fold the edges over the fruits!
Cover the dough with some ground almonds. Place the fig quarters geometrically on top and sprinkle them with some brown sugar. Fold the dough edges on the first row of figs. Bake approx. 30 min at 200 C. Enjoy the tart warm, it will melt in your mouth!

Banana-walnut bread, moist and decadent

You have old bananas that are too ripe to eat? Make banana bread :-D

That was my case last week. I received a baking book called “Flour” from the so-called bakery in Boston and went on to try their famous banana bread recipe.

The cake was dangerously easy to make and especially easy to eat… it is too good! In fact I liked the banana cake (or rather “bread”) so much that I bought more bananas this week, let them ripen and then made a bigger banana bread (I increased ingredients by 50% and made a 36cm long cake) that I then shared on the train with my friends on our way to Tours!

Recipe for a 24cm cake:

210 g flour

1 tsp baking soda

¼ tsp cinnamon

½ tsp salt

230 g sugar

2 eggs

100 g colza oil

340 g mashed ripe bananas

2 tbsp crème fraîche or sour cream

1 tsp vanilla extract

75 g roasted + chopped walnuts (or pecan nuts)

In a big bowl beat sugar and eggs together until obtaining a fluffy white mixture. While mixing on low speed, add colza oil as a drizzle. Add bananas, cream and vanilla extract and mix until incorporated.
In a small bowl mix dry ingredients (except for sugar). Add dry ingredients and nuts to the wet mix and slowly mix until roughly incorporated. Transfer to a buttered and floured 24cm long cake pan. Bake 1hr at 160C and another 5-10 min at 180C.