Apr 7
After a very, very long, cold, grey winter, things are looking up.
The birds are so riotously giggly about it all, they’re waking me up in the morning.
So this is one for those of you still in shivers.
And for those of you who’d like to make a chocolate cake that’ll drive away all memories of dismal days, go see Irvin at Eat the Love. He’s got one you might just die for. (Just don’t forget the salt.)
Feb 24
Almost a month of silence… some have been asking me what’s been going on? Where did Crumpet Kitchen go?
Crumpet Kitchen is here, never fear, but a little distracted with other stuff. Stuff that’ll take a while and that doesn’t belong on a public space like this. I’m sure to do an Arnie, but in the meantime: (1) a chocolate and Salidou birthday roulade, and to compensate, (2) I’ll still be posting healthy veggie recipes with my partner in cooperative bio, Coralie, over on the P2R blog. We publish every Friday that P2R delivers (that’s just about every week).
But for now: birthday roulade because it was… my birthday this week, and for some years now I’ve entrusted the making of my birthday cake to myself. Not because I’m at all pernickety about these things, but apparently it takes a lot of pressure off those cherished members of my family who get a little flustered with flour, eggs and some beaters (unless it’s to make pancakes, because some people are very good at making pancakes). Read more
Jan 27
The Jerusalem Artichoke, a.k.a. in these parts, the topinambour – not just the name of that really good store close to the Parc de Milan (go in for one small thing, come out 100 francs later). Despite its appearance that looks as if it might start squirming larva-like over your counter, this oddity started life as a very, very pretty flower in the heat of summer and needs the first frosts of winter to render it ready for the table. True, it has a particular taste, and some tell too of a particular after-effect, but done right, it can turn out to be really rather good. Read more
Jan 13
Parmi mes nièces et mes neveux (et j’utilise le terme avec un large esprit anthropologique) il y a des talents importants. Des ingenieurs de lego et de robot, des infatigables charmeurs, des sportifs, des écrivaines et des multilingues, des DJs et des musiciens, des lecteurs et des rêveurs… Et une, quand elle ne s’occupe pas de la comptabilité des grandes entreprises à Londres, elle se détend avec la préparation de gâteaux. L’année dernière j’ai témoigné d’une invention merveilleuse de madeleines au “lemon curd”. Les ami-e-s et collègues à Lausanne, vous connaissez déjà peut-être sa recette fabuleuse de brownies ? Et oui, vous en avez gouté à plusieurs reprises ! Ce weekend, un peu stressée de son travail notre chère F. a pris le moment dans la cuisine pour inventer des cupcakes fourrés au chocolat et caramel avec leur ganache au chocolat et glaçage au caramel salé… Voilà comment se détendre le vendredi soir ! Ses ami-e-s s’invitent pour le petit-déjeuner, et j’en doute pas ! Read more
Jan 6
In a vague, distant memory there’s a picture on the box of a jigsaw puzzle at my part-Swiss cousins’ house in Dublin. Pure seventies kitsch, the colors were dizzy in their exaggeration. Dazzlingly blue sky, pure white snow, startlingly green pines. The Matterhorn, a.k.a. Le Cervin, a.k.a. Monte Cervino, loomed large, photographed by mere mortals in all its snowy disdain. I knew the ubiquity of a Swiss penknife, I had gorged on Nutella long before anyone else outside the family (it was no less a surprise to learn the stuff was Italian)… but this scene remained a mystery. The puzzle too. I never did get to put it together.
Cut to a few decades later: the puzzle is made of pastry, the cut is the mountain itself. Inspired by the glass design work of ECAL students exhibited at the mudac (GO! before 17 February), I thought I should get a bit creative myself. Read more
Dec 31
It was four years ago I stopped by at the local DIY during one lunchtime and picked up a pretty little plant heavy with miniature oranges. Perfect, I thought, to cheer up the office. Since then, my little Calamondin plant has given fruit every winter, and has even become mother to seven other little Calamondins. Her progeny have so far proved a lot less productive. Such is life.
My annual harvest however, poses a trio of problems: (1) I need to make efforts with a cotton bud at pollination time, (2) I am horrifically forgetful, and (3) when I do remember, I end up with 7 or 8 tiny fruit in return, about the size of a (very) small clementine, with a sharp juice and a sweet peel. It’s hugely satisfying to make it all the way to step 3, but a little daunting all the same. After all, apart from basking in self-satisfaction, what do you do with Calamondin if it’s not in industrial quantities? One year there was just about enough to make a small pot of Calamondin Curd (it was good!). This year, I was freshly inspired from an excursion to make chocolate truffles. Read more
Dec 23
Ceux qui sont intolérants (voir allérgique) au lactose, au gluten, au sucre… ils sont de plus en plus parmi les amis, la famille, les connaissances. Ma mère (no lactose, no gluten) m’a envoyée récemment une recette intéressante pour un “sticky ginger cake”. En même temps, je suis entrée en conversation avec une bien aimable dame qui souffre d’encore plus d’intolérances que ma mère (rajoutons : no sucre). Voilà le challenge ! Je rentre à la cuisine, j’adapte… Et ce qui sort, je pense, servira de base pour une série de gâteaux. Affaire à suivre pour une série destinée à ceux qui ne sont pas là pour faire énerver quand ils refusent le pain, le beurre, même toute sorte de pâtisserie. Read more
Dec 13
A chaque endroit ses traditions, à chaque saison ses parfums. Un gateau de Noël au nom de “Jamaican Black Cake” mérite bien le prénom “le pavé” donné par un ancien collègue qui m’en commandait chaque année. Cette recette reprend les bases du “Christmas Cake” anglais (des fruits secs, du brandy) mais aux airs caraïbes. Je dois sa publication ici à quelques amis et à d’autres qui ont toujours voulu savoir mais dingue, il y a quoi dedans ?!
Le grand secret (désormais plus de secret, évidemment) de la recette du Crumpet Kitchen c’est que je commence en mars/avril avec des grands bocaux remplis de fruits secs, du rhum et du marsala, mis à mariner pendant l’année. L’ouverture des bocaux 7 mois plus tard risque faire tomber dans les pommes mais le résultat, c’est nyam… si que pour les adultes ! Un goût profond, complexe, intense, à savourer. Read more
Dec 2
If there was one thing I learnt from writing a doctoral thesis across an ocean from the library, and doing so in double-quick time, it was that a few rules are necessary. A few years later, I find myself once again part headless chicken*, part head in the books with a ‘do not disturb’ sign fluttering above my head, often rather ineffectually (cats have an innate disrespect of such signs). Much to the cat’s dismay I’ve resuscitated those rules, to whit:
1. Stop worrying/fussing/procrastinating/beating yourself up (the difference can be minimal) and just do it. Perfection is for the afterlife. Possibly. Read more
Nov 25
Food, it’s often said, brings people together.
Stirabout Sunday at the Crumpet Kitchen brought us together. For this year’s edition of the “atelier pudding”, once again we chopped, we grated, we measured, we stirred. Old faces and new. Some more expert in the Christmas Pudding and others new to the cause.
And we ate. Funny how you can put a call out for a “buffet canadien” (a potluck) and end up with two delicious salads and two very more-ish tarts. Perfectly proportioned. Sometimes, it just works.
Theme: Linen by The Theme Foundry
