It's not mahogany coloured because I don't have iron molds, but here's the yummy mango-coconut-caramel cake recipe translated from french. It's uniqueness stems from the fact that it's made almost entirely of fluffy eggs. It keeps for 2 weeks at ambient temperature.
I'm mostly typing this modified recipe up so I don't have to divide the recipe by 5 every time I look it up (the original recipe calls for 1 kg of butter and 1kg of eggs)...
Caramel Cake Base
150g lychee
182g almond powder
132g powdered sugar
106g flour
214g butter at room temperature
150g homemade caramel (see below)
4 egg yolks
1 whole egg
4 egg whites
50g sugar
32g milk
Homemade Caramel
128g sugar
22g semi-salted butter
150g cream
Drain the lychee ahead of time and cut each into 6 pieces. Sift the almond powder together with the icing sugar in one bowl, and the flour in another.
With an electronic mixer on low power, beat the butter into a mousse, then add the almond powder, the icing sugar. Measure out the right amount of homemade caramel from the recipe, then add it to the mixture with the egg yolks and the whole eggs. Continue mixing for 2 minutes and blend the milk in, delicately.
Beat the egg whites until they form peaks "au bec d'oiseau", meaning not too firm, speed 2, and mix in the sugar little by little. Blend the egg whites with the first mixture, while simultaneously sprinkling in the flour, and finally add the lychees. Butter and flour the pan, then pour in the mixture. Bake at 150C for 30 minutes, then turn the cake and bake for another 40 minutes.
When it's done, turn it over onto a wire rack. Sprinkle the coconut on top of the cake.
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Sunday, April 22, 2007
What's so great about April 22?
The air is heavy on the Côte D'Azur. A thick, white brume de chaleur cloaks the distant niçois hills, washing out the landscape in a layer of mid-afternoon heat. From my 7th floor terrace, I notice that this Sunday, all is not quiet as usual. The normally calm Place de Gaulle below is buzzing with people. And they be movin'.
They are not dawdling, not strolling, not basking in the spring warmth on a lazy Sunday; moms pull along their children, young couples stride hand-in-hand, all walking briskly, with a purpose. Today, French citizens are off to the poll stations. Today they will elect their new president!
Or at least narrow them down to two.
Who will it be? Sarko and Ségo, the powers representing the droit (right) and the gauche (left), lead up the pack for today's 1er Tour election, basically France's presidential Semi Finals. Polls estimate a 50/50 voter split once they get into the boxing ring called the 2ième tour, or as I like to call it, the Final Round. Things could get ugly.
However, before the bloodbath, I'd like to reflect on the last couple weeks. I gotta say, things have been pretty impressive on the part of the French political scheme.
First of all, you get to vote for the leader of the country. I know, lame and done elsewhere in the world... but as a Canadian (cf. Westminster System), I will never know this joy.
Next, l'égalité du temps (Time equality). Forget the free-for-all mo'-money-means-more-votes campaigning. All candidates are given exactly the same amount of television airtime (news reels, commercials, talkshows), to the minute. It's fair, it puts the big boys on the same level as the marijuana boys, it's all about power to the people... it's french.
And finally, publishing exit polls before the 8pm voting deadline is strictly prohibited, to prevent biasing voters. Thus, turning on the TV on election day does NOT give to-the-minute updates on every news channel. I had to settle on a dubbed made-for-TV police drama. :/
As a rather pathetic apathetic gal when it comes to politics, I've come to appreciate the french zeal for political debate and discussion. In reality, it's a battle of intrigue and goodguy vs. badguy (definition of goodguy/badguy changing depending on your opinion).
Will it be the mega popular socialist Ségolène Royal hoping to run away with the women's vote?
Or Nicolas Sarkozy, the smooth-talking frontrunner promising to wash away the racaille (low-class riffraff) and make France work harder (oh god, work?!)?
Or the diabolical extremist Jean-Marie Le Pen, whose followers hope for a "pure" French society cleared of immigrants?
Or maybe François Bayrou, whose first name is only one letter away from being "Français"??
Results. Here. Soon.
They are not dawdling, not strolling, not basking in the spring warmth on a lazy Sunday; moms pull along their children, young couples stride hand-in-hand, all walking briskly, with a purpose. Today, French citizens are off to the poll stations. Today they will elect their new president!
Or at least narrow them down to two.
Who will it be? Sarko and Ségo, the powers representing the droit (right) and the gauche (left), lead up the pack for today's 1er Tour election, basically France's presidential Semi Finals. Polls estimate a 50/50 voter split once they get into the boxing ring called the 2ième tour, or as I like to call it, the Final Round. Things could get ugly.
However, before the bloodbath, I'd like to reflect on the last couple weeks. I gotta say, things have been pretty impressive on the part of the French political scheme.
First of all, you get to vote for the leader of the country. I know, lame and done elsewhere in the world... but as a Canadian (cf. Westminster System), I will never know this joy.
Next, l'égalité du temps (Time equality). Forget the free-for-all mo'-money-means-more-votes campaigning. All candidates are given exactly the same amount of television airtime (news reels, commercials, talkshows), to the minute. It's fair, it puts the big boys on the same level as the marijuana boys, it's all about power to the people... it's french.
And finally, publishing exit polls before the 8pm voting deadline is strictly prohibited, to prevent biasing voters. Thus, turning on the TV on election day does NOT give to-the-minute updates on every news channel. I had to settle on a dubbed made-for-TV police drama. :/
As a rather pathetic apathetic gal when it comes to politics, I've come to appreciate the french zeal for political debate and discussion. In reality, it's a battle of intrigue and goodguy vs. badguy (definition of goodguy/badguy changing depending on your opinion).
Will it be the mega popular socialist Ségolène Royal hoping to run away with the women's vote?
Or Nicolas Sarkozy, the smooth-talking frontrunner promising to wash away the racaille (low-class riffraff) and make France work harder (oh god, work?!)?
Or the diabolical extremist Jean-Marie Le Pen, whose followers hope for a "pure" French society cleared of immigrants?
Or maybe François Bayrou, whose first name is only one letter away from being "Français"??
Results. Here. Soon.
Sunday, April 15, 2007
If only we had a car...
About an hour and a half drive's away from Nice, nestled in the hills behind St. Tropez, is a warm, cozy cottage surrounded by vineyards and mimosas. Somehow, this isolated island in a forest of oak trees is also high-tech palace, with cable TV and ADSL. (They say it took 3 men and 200m of cat-5 cabling.)
This is Kenzo's house, and we wanted to get there for the Easter weekend. However, us both being distrait and naturellement doués, we missed the train, misintepreted the bus schedule, and 7 hours later found ourselves walking on the side of a winding hillside road with Porsches screaming past us (hey, I said it was near St. Tropez). Our plan to get there just after lunch ended in us scrambling to get cover before nightfall.
Is it just me, or do my actual travel times always end up waaay longer than expected?
I wish I could fly.
This is Kenzo's house, and we wanted to get there for the Easter weekend. However, us both being distrait and naturellement doués, we missed the train, misintepreted the bus schedule, and 7 hours later found ourselves walking on the side of a winding hillside road with Porsches screaming past us (hey, I said it was near St. Tropez). Our plan to get there just after lunch ended in us scrambling to get cover before nightfall.
Is it just me, or do my actual travel times always end up waaay longer than expected?
I wish I could fly.
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
Nous sommes prets. One day.
What! I just received an e-mail from SFU stating that, once again, they've changed their logo.
OK, forgetting the fact that they just changed their logo 6 months ago, and admitting it's a little banal (bland), fine. I can imagine the triangle logo centered on a hoodie, anarchy style! :P
I do, however, have slight qualms with the new SFU tagline. It's the words that will go in newspapers everywhere, in all our recruiting material, to give a great first impression of Simon Fraser University.
In reading the words, the world will know we are a high-class university with top professors and students, an institution of knowledge. Well, without further ado, here it is.
SFU: "Un jour, nous comprendrons"
("One day, we'll understand.")
....why don't they just make it:
SFU: "Right now, we've got no idea."
We're just a little slower than other universities. But hold on, we mustn't forget our SFU Motto!
OK, forgetting the fact that they just changed their logo 6 months ago, and admitting it's a little banal (bland), fine. I can imagine the triangle logo centered on a hoodie, anarchy style! :P
I do, however, have slight qualms with the new SFU tagline. It's the words that will go in newspapers everywhere, in all our recruiting material, to give a great first impression of Simon Fraser University.
In reading the words, the world will know we are a high-class university with top professors and students, an institution of knowledge. Well, without further ado, here it is.
SFU: "Un jour, nous comprendrons"
("One day, we'll understand.")
....why don't they just make it:
SFU: "Right now, we've got no idea."
We're just a little slower than other universities. But hold on, we mustn't forget our SFU Motto!
"Nous sommes prets"
("We are ready")?
("We are ready")?
Does anyone else see the contradiction? *makes a face*
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