Desserts

Decadent yet elegant, a Classic French Chocolate Mousse is a must in your repertoire as a French host(ess), or just to treat yourself. This timeless dessert relies on only a few ingredients – chocolate, eggs, butter and sugar – to create a smooth, airy texture with intense chocolatey taste. It is a great make-ahead dessert to serve in individual cups.

Riz au Lait with Caramel Sauce is what we call a recette de grand–mère, aka a “grandmother’s recipe”. Practically every French grandmother knows their way with pantry staples (rice, milk, sugar and vanilla) to make this creamy rice pudding topped with caramel sauce. This is a comforting and thrifty dessert that always pleases both kids and adults. 

A Breton Pound Cake, known as “Quatre-Quarts” (four quarters) is the ubiquitous French snacking cake. It’s simple, not-too-sweet, just dense enough to be eaten with your hands and full of buttery flavors. This version is studded with lightly caramelized apple chunks to keep it moist and irresistible. A great year-round recipe for your baking repertoire!

Before wrapping up the holidays, there is one final occasion the French take to eat and rejoice: the Fête des Rois, or “Feast of the Kings.” Set on January 6, the day of the Epiphany (honoring the arrival of the Three Wise Men in Bethlehem), this celebration involves eating a Galette des rois, or king cake—two circles of buttery puff pastry filled with sweet, creamy frangipane—in which a trinket, called a fève, has been hidden.

After a festive or comforting meal, a fruit salad is always a welcome ending on a lighter and more refreshing note – even in the Winter! This Winter Fruit Salad plays with in-season fruits: pears, apples, clementines, kiwis and pomegranate seeds. This is a colorful, vitamin-packed mix of sweet flavors and crisp textures, that looks as beautiful as it tastes.

In France, a proper Christmas dinner wouldn’t be complete without the traditional Bûche de Noël. This wooden log look-a-like cake, traditionally made of a rolled-up Génoise cake frosted with Chocolate buttercream, is part of the official conclusion to a Christmas feast. A holiday ritual no one will pass on – even with an overfilled belly. 

Here’s to Fall baking at its best! This Apple Cinnamon Galette, or a “Tarte Rustique” as we call it in France, holds all the deliciousness of an apple pie but with half the work. This rustic-looking fruit tart features a flaky all-butter crust, folded in a free form manner over crisp apples. It is an uncomplicated Fall dessert that doesn’t require much time to assemble nor does it require a pie dish. It’s laid-back, comforting and always a crowd pleaser. 

Known in French as Pêches Melba, this French bistro classic is a cup-held dessert of syrup-poached peaches served atop vanilla ice cream, all doused with a sweet raspberry coulis. It’s a breeze to recreate at home, and is naturally best made at the height of summer, when peaches are at their sweetest, juiciest peak. Think of Pêches Melba as France’s version of peaches and cream—but with that little extra je ne sais quoi.

This Plum Moelleux Cake recipe was destined to be shared quickly on my Instagram… But following the success of it, I decided to share it on the blog as well, so no one misses out on the goodness! A “moelleux” is a French cake made with the simplest of ingredients and a generous amount of butter, for a melt-in-your-mouth texture. The crumb is rich and a little dense, which makes it the perfect vessel for ripe Summer fruits likes blueberries, apricots and plums. I make this recipe with apricots every Summer, …

A Galette, or a “Tarte Rustique” as we call it in France, is one of the easiest ways to showcase Summer fruits at their prime – and this Peach and Blueberry Galette is a perfect example of it. This rustic fruit tart features a flaky all-butter crust, folded in a free form manner over ripe Summer fruits. It is an uncomplicated dessert to make during these late-Summer nights, and it doesn’t require much time to assemble. A dollop of whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla ice-cream on top will …