le sauce

chocolate banana stuffed french toast pockets, with maple syrup and cream

This is casual fare, to be sure. Kid-stuff. Food to be eaten on the couch.

Or, you know, to be served to guests at a dinner party. Guests who will love you for it.

Because where else are they going to get their own, individual, stuffed french toasts, oozing with melted chocolate swirling around with sweet banana, pooling into maple syrup and pillowy cream? (Other than at their house the next morning when them make this very, simple, decadent thing to enjoy again as soon as possible.)

 

(See how this recipe fits into a lazy, Sunday, spaghetti dinner party menu!)

Chocolate Banana-Stuffed French Toast Pockets, with Maple Syrup and Cream

1 tbs unsalted butter at room temperature
3 large eggs
1 cup heavy cream, divided
1 tbs dark rum
1/2 tsp brown sugar
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
Kosher salt
12 thin slices of bread, a non-seedy, non-airy kind ("sandwich" bread will do)
12 dark chocolate feves (Valrhona feves or any disk, button or thin 1-inch piece)
1 ripe banana
1/3 c good maple syrup at room temperature
Icing sugar, optional

Preheat youe oven to 400F degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and use a wad of paper towel to rub it with butter. Set aside.

Beat eggs in a large bowl, then add 1/4 c of the cream, the rum, sugar and cinnamon season with a touch of salt. Mix well and set aside.

Lay 6 slices of bread on a work surface. Place a chocolate feve in the centre of each. Slice 6 piece of banana on a bias and place a pice on top of the chocoate. Cover each with the remaining 6 slices of bread and press down with your palms to flatten the sandwiches. Take a 2 1/2-inch round cookie cutter or thin-edged juice glass and centre on top of your bread, ensuring that your filling is not close to the edge you'll be creating. Press down to make your sandwich pockets and reserve crusts for another use (toast them in the oven following this recie to make croutons or bread crumbs out of them which freeze well, for instance).

Press down all around the edges of your 6 sandwich circles to create a seal. One by one, dip and turn them in the egg batter and place on the buttered parchment paper. Bake for 15-20 minutes, turning half-way through until golden on both sides.

Meanwhile, whip remaining cream with a wisk or hand blender until thick and creamy and almost to the point of forming peaks.

Remove toast pockets and allow to cool for a couple of minutes. Plate and drizzle with maple syrup, a dusting of icing sugar if using and a dollop of cream.

Makes 6 servings.

 

banana cream pie

 

The reason this recipe even made it into my dinner party is because you can make almost all of it the day before. Being someone who often forgets to think of dessert when planning a menu, and someone with a healthy fear of from-scratch dough, I wouldn't advise you to take this on if I thought it would be more trouble than it was worth or that it would cause too much stress. But the truth is, it's kind of perfect for when you have company coming over, since there's only 5 minutes of pre-serving work, which is nice since a finishing touch before serving seems to add an air of specialness, I think (a little fluffing and primping before showtime) and, honestly, I can't imagine going to the effort of making this pie, easy but time-consuming, unless it was a special occasion like a dinner party.  It's for when you're pulling out all the stops.

Oh and about the final result? It's the most banana-y banana cream pie ever, and the only thing I might change next time, is to try it without a chocolate crust, because I just wanted the banana flavour to sing even louder. I wished I had more. I wish I'd spent more time caramelizing the top with a torch, but I was too anxious to split this open, building as I had been, on and off for a whole day. Please make this when you invite me over. I'll bring very, very good port to serve with.

(See how this recipe fits into an indulgent deep-winter dinner party menu.)

Banana Cream Pie with Whole Grain Chocolate Crust
(Via Bon Appetit)

Filling
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons unbleached all purpose flour
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 cups whole milk
4 large egg yolks
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, diced
1 tablespoon dark rum

Crust
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/3 cup (2 ounces) bittersweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup unbleached bread flour
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter, diced
2 tablespoons orange juice
1 tablespoon (or more) ice water
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Nonstick vegetable oil spray
7 bananas (about), peeled
Additional sugar
Whipped cream (optional)
Chocolate sprinkles (optional)

Filling
Whisk first 4 ingredients in heavy medium saucepan until no lumps remain. Gradually whisk in milk. Add yolks; whisk to blend. Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean; add bean. Whisk over medium-high heat until pastry cream thickens and boils 1 minute, about 8 minutes total. Remove from heat; whisk in butter and rum. Remove vanilla bean. Transfer mixture to bowl; press plastic wrap onto surface. Chill until firm, at least 4 hours. DO AHEAD Can be made 1 day ahead. Keep chilled.

Crust
Combine first 7 ingredients in processor. Blend until finely ground. Transfer to large bowl. Using fork, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Mix orange juice, 1 tablespoon ice water, and vanilla in small bowl. Sprinkle over chocolate mixture, tossing until dough comes together in clumps and adding more water by tablespoonfuls if dry. Using floured hands, gather dough into ball; flatten into disk. Wrap; chill dough at least 2 hours and up to 1 day.

Preheat oven to 375°F. Spray 9-inch-diameter glass pie dish (including rim) with nonstick spray. Roll out dough between 2 sheets of parchment paper to 12-inch round. Peel off top parchment. Using bottom parchment as aid, turn dough over into prepared dish. Peel off parchment. Fold overhang under and crimp crust edges decoratively. Pierce crust all over with fork; freeze 10 minutes.

Line crust with foil; fill with dried beans. Bake crust 20 minutes. Remove foil with beans. Continue to bake crust until dry and firm to touch, about 10 minutes longer. Cool crust completely on rack.

Spread 1 cup pastry cream over bottom of crust. Slice enough bananas into 1/4-inch-thick rounds to cover cream in overlapping circles. Cover bananas with remaining pastry cream. DO AHEAD Can be made 6 hours ahead. Cover and chill.

Slice 3 (or more) bananas on slight diagonal into 1/4-inch-thick ovals. Arrange in overlapping circles atop pie. Sprinkle with sugar. Caramelize, if desired, using handheld torch. Alternatively, cover bananas with whipped cream, sprinkle with chocolate sprinkles, and garnish with additional banana slices.

day 12: vanillekipferl (vanilla crescents)

    [^{the le sauce} ₁₂ days of cookies]

Oscar and Lena want to wish you all the best of the season if you celebrate, and however you celebrate. Where they're from, they exchange gifts on the night of many moons. I simply use the holidays as a month-long excuse to eat and drink too much. These cresents are now on my list of must-have holiday treats: they're delcious, the texture is amazing and they are super-easy to make. We hope you try them and love them too.

Vanillekipferl (Vanilla Crescents)
Via Saveur 

1 cup confectioners' sugar, plus more for finishing cookies
1 c unsalted butter, softened
2 tsp. vanilla extract
5 oz. walnuts, finely ground in food processor
2 1/2 cups flour, plus more for rolling

Heat oven to 325F degrees. Beat together sugar, butter, and vanilla in a bowl; mix in nuts and flour. Flour and roll into a cylinder; divide into 48 pieces. Roll each into a sausage shape. Taper ends; bend into a crescent. Transfer to parchment paper-lined baking sheets, spacing cookies 1 inch apart. Bake until golden, 12–15 minutes. Sift with confectioners' sugar. Let cool.

Makes 4 dozen.

day 11: palmiers

    [^{the le sauce} ₁₂ days of cookies]

As pretty and eye-catching as costume jewlellery and a method so easy that even I felt free to come up with my own recipe--for a cookie! That's how non-intimidating these are and how adaptable. Feel free to make your own looker, sweet, savoury--or both at once... I think there's a blue cheese and fig palmier in my future, for instance.

Elderflower Marmalade Palmiers

2 tbs marmalade
1 tbs elderflower liquor (or Cassis, another fruit liquor or orange juice)
Cane sugar or granulated sugar for dusting
230 g thawed frozen puff pastry

Mix the marmalade and liquor in a small bowl and set aside. Have a pastry or silicone brush on hand.

Dust a large piece of parchment paper with sugar and place thawed pastry on top. Cover with another piece of parchment paper and roll the dough to a 11" X 7" rectangle. Remove the top piece of parchment paper and quickly brush the pastry with 3/4 of the thinned marmalade. Use the bottom piece of parchment to help you roll the pastry, tightly, in toward the centre evenly from both sides (one side at a time). Brush the outsides with the remaining marmalade mixture and use it to help make the roll stick together as much as possible. Wrap the roll tightly in plastic wrap and chill for 3 hours or even overnight.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Remove dough from plastic wrap and quickly slice crosswise into 1/2"-thick slices. Place slices 2-inches apart on a parchment-line baking sheet and flatten them slighlty with your hand. Bake 6-8 minutes (make sure the bottoms don't burn), turn over and bake for another 6-8 minutes or until golden on both sides. Transfer immediately to a wire rack and cool completely.

 Makes 15-18 cookies.

day 10: flat-and-chewy chocolate-chip cookie

    [^{the le sauce} ₁₂ days of cookies]

This is the one. The one you leave out for Santa. Not only is it the quintessntial chocolate cookie that requires pairing with ice-cold milk, it's special enough, truly flat and chewy in the end and with chocolate slivers melding into the cookie base, rather than chips floating aruond on top, that Santa will remember you for years to come. And the fact that you could resist eating them all and could manage share these, well, that secures your spot on the NICE list. Guaranteed.

Flat-and-Chewy Chocolate-Chip Cookies
VIa the New York Times

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 tablespoon kosher salt
8 ounces butter, softened
1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 cups chopped bittersweet chocolate (chunks and shavings)
2 cups chopped toasted walnuts (optional)

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpat. Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt.

In a mixer fitted with a paddle, cream the butter and sugars until fluffy, 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, then the vanilla. Add the flour mixture all at once and blend until a dough forms. Fold in the chocolate and walnuts. Chill the dough.

Roll 2 1/2 -tablespoon lumps of dough into balls, then place on the baking sheet and flatten to 1/2 -inch-thick disks spaced 2 inches apart. Chill the dough between batches. Bake until the edges are golden brown, 14 to 16 minutes. Let cool slightly on the baking sheet, then transfer to a baking rack.

Makes 30 to 35 cookies.

day 9: tuiles

    [^{the le sauce} ₁₂ days of cookies]

Perhaps the most oddly-shaped cookie out there, but who are we to say? Somewhere in the universe, these may be what every cookie looks like: flat, lacy, entirely crispy without being remotely floury or cracker-like, and curled up into itself. Or, perhaps, they looks alien to... everyone, everywhere. Regardless, they'll be universally enjoyed and always a welcome treat, that much I know.

Pistachio Tuiles
Via Martha Stewart Living

2/3 cup sugar
3 large egg whites
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 cup shelled unsalted pistachios, finely chopped in a food processor

Preheat oven to 350. Whisk sugar, egg whites, and salt in a medium bowl until sugar has dissolved. Whisk in butter, then flour. Stir in pistachios.

Line a baking sheet with a nonstick baking mat. Place a long-handled wooden spoon on a clean work surface; prop up each end on a metal spoon to raise it slightly (you will use handle of wooden spoon to form tuiles).

Drop teaspoons of batter onto baking mat, spacing about 2 inches apart; flatten into 1 1/2-inch rounds. Bake until pale golden, 8 to 10 minutes. Let cool on baking sheet 30 seconds.

Working quickly with one cookie at a time, use an offset spatula to lift cookies from sheet and drape them over spoon handle. (If cookies become too crisp to work with, return to oven until pliable, about 1 minute.) Let cookies cool slightly, 20 to 30 seconds, then remove from handle; press sides together to close. Let cool completely. Repeat with remaining batter. Tuiles can be stored in an airtight container up to 1 week.

Makes about 6 dozen.

day 8: shortbread

    [^{the le sauce} ₁₂ days of cookies]

The most surprising cookie of all the ones I baked. First, the oddest technique: dough baked in its entirety and then sliced--kinda weird to watch the blob spread out, get seemingly too thin all around and too dark/crispy at the end yet completely work. And also, damn tasty. Like, way more tasty than I expected and the most commented on cookie by my lucky recipe testers.

Put whatever holiday spins you must on this classic shortbread cookie, but just make sure you make them.

Shortbread Cookies
Via Cooking by James Peterson

YS note: Feel free to cut the dough into diamond-shaped "lozenges" as Peterson recommends, once it has baked. My dough didn't spread out as evenly as expected, causing some parts to be thinner and darker in areas. I cut my cookies into squares or different sizes to create more flattering cookies, but all parts, lightly brown and crispier/darker were equally delicious (don't worry if your dough looks odd as soon it comes out of the oven too.)

1/2 pound butter, at room temperature, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1¾ cups flour
¼ cup turbinado sugar or additional granulated sugar (optional)

In a bowl with a wooden spoon, or in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle blade on medium speed, beat together the butter, 3/4 cup sugar, and the salt for about 7 minutes by hand or 5 minutes with the mixer, or until smooth and creamy. Add the flour and work by hand or on low and then medium speed with the mixer until the dough comes together in a cohesive mass. Flatten the dough, wrap it in waxed paper, and chill it about 15 minutes but not too long or it will harden the dough, making it too hard to handle.

Line a sheet pan with parchment paper or use a nonstick sheet pan. On a floured work surface, using a rolling pin our your fingers, roll or press the dough into a rectangle about 1/3 inch thick. Sprinkle with turbinado sugar. Transfer to the prepared pan, cover and chill for 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until pale brown on top. Remove from the oven, transfer the log to  cutting surface a, and immediately cut the rectangle into 1-inch-wide strips. Then cut across the strips at about a 30-degree angle every 2-inches to make lozenges. Let cool completely on cooling racks and then pull apart the cookies.

Makes about 20 cookies.

day 7: poppy seed hamantashen

    [^{the le sauce} ₁₂ days of cookies]

Cute little things and they'd better be for their finicky-ness. I have some tips* on how to make this dough work if you have any trouble--and you may have a little your first time out, but trust me, these cookies are worth it. Poppyseed hamantashen are like a prettier and tastier fig cookie (yes, the big brand fig cookies you're thinking of but tastier) with their sticky, poppyseed filling and cakey cookie exterior. Sort of a grown-up and less-expected option to the tried-and-true jam cookies that abound at the holidays.

Hamantashen With Poppy Seed Filling
Adapted slightly from the New York Times, which was adapted from “Schmaltz” by Shmil Holland

*YS note: After chilling in the fridge for just an hour, wrapped in plastic wrap, my dough was far to hard to roll, and letting it warm up for 20 minutes did not help. It was extremely crumbly and I had to add a few tablespoons of water and re-mix dough, chill again and then proceed. If your dough is crumbly, add up to 3 tablespoons of water to bring into a pliable dough before wrapping and chilling it. I learned, later, than another way to get hard cookie dough to submit to you is to bash it flat with a rolling pin, repeatedly. It makes it more workable and half your work is done for you since it's half-way rolled out. Plus it's true, those rumours, not much else feels as good as pounding something with a rolling pin. Lastly, pinch your corners together firmly or these pretty triangles will revert back to unfolded rounds while baking.

For the dough:
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
2 large egg yolks
8 ounces unsalted butter at room temperature, in small pieces
Grated zest of 1 lemon
2 1/4 cups all-purpose unbleached flour
Dash of salt
1 large egg, beaten, for the glaze

For poppy seed filling:
1 cup milk
1/2 cup sugar
Grated zest of 1/2 orange
1 cup poppy seeds
1/3 cup raisins
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 tablespoon brandy
1/2 tablespoon orange liqueur
1/2 tablespoon butter
1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract.

Put the confectioners’ sugar and the egg yolks in a food processor and blend. Add butter and lemon zest and process to blend. Gradually add the flour and the salt, pulsing until it forms a ball. If your dough is too crumbly to come together in a ball, add up to 3 tablespoons of water, as needed.* Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour or overnight.

Meanwhile, prepare the filling: Put milk, sugar and orange zest in a saucepan over medium heat. Grind poppy seeds in coffee grinder. When mixture is warm, turn heat to low and add poppy seeds and raisins. Cook until the seeds absorb the milk and the mixture is thick, about 15 minutes. Add the lemon juice, brandy, orange liqueur and butter. Stir and cook for 2 minutes more. Stir in the vanilla extract, remove from the heat and cool.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 pastry sheets with parchment paper.

Roll out the dough to 1/4-inch thickness and use a cookie cutter or glass to cut 3-inch circles. Put a heaping teaspoon of the filling in the center of each, and press up the sides to form triangles. Brush the tops with beaten egg.

Bake until golden and dough is delicately firm all the way through, about 15 minutes. If trays are on different racks, switch them after about 10 minutes.

Makes 24-30 cookies.

day 6: green tea butter cookies (langues de chat!)

    [^{the le sauce} ₁₂ days of cookies]

Langues de chat always appealed to me for their name alone (French for cat tongues, named for their shape) but Clotilde's clever version caught my eye for their colour. Cookies made green with matcha powder are a treat to behold and better to eat. A cup of hot matcha is a fitting pairing for its flavour and but also because each, warm virtuous and subtle sip balances out a few buttery cookies perfectly. I prefer to pair them both with another favourite coupling of mine: my couch and my magazine.

Matcha Green Tea Butter Cookies (Langues de Chat au Thé Vert)
Via Chocolate & Zucchini

60 grams (1/4 cup plus 1 teaspoon) unsalted butter, softened
60 grams (1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon) sugar
2 egg whites
60 grams (1/2 cup) flour
1 teaspoon fleur de sel
1 1/2 teaspoon matcha (powdered green tea)

Combine the butter and sugar in the bowl of a mixer, and process until fluffy. Add the egg whites and process until combined. Add the flour, fleur de sel, and matcha powder, and process until smooth. Cover and chill for an hour.

Preheat the oven to 200° C (400° F) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Transfer the batter in a pastry bag with a 5-mm (1/5-inch) tip, or use a food storage bag and snip one corner to create a 5-mm opening. Squeeze the batter onto the prepared baking sheet to form 6-cm (2 1/3-inch) sticks, not too close to one another. Slip into the oven and bake for about 7 minutes, until the edges start to brown but the center remains green.

Transfer the cookies on a cooling rack while still warm, and let cool completely. The langues de chat will keep for a few days in an airtight container at room temperature.

(For the classic langues de chat, substitute 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract for the green tea powder, and bake until the edges start to brown but the center remains pale.)

Makes about 18 cookies.

day 5: honey-gingerbread town square with royal icing

    [^{the le sauce} ₁₂ days of cookies]

Oscar and Lena live in a quaint town on a planet where the houses are made of honeyed gingerbread. What makes it even more special is that they don't work, yet they have money to travel whenever they want. It snows but they have no visible hair or clothes yet are never cold. I've pressed them for the location but they're vague and start talking about the state of the Euro or their love of fried shishito peppers instead. When I finally get it out of them, how to get to their home town, I'm buying a train ticket asap. You can come too.

Honey-Gingerbread Cookies
Via Martha Stewart Living

Note: To make the houses you see above, you can use these townhouse templates.

5 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
4 teaspoons ground ginger
4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cloves
1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
2 sticks (16 tablespoons) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup honey
1/2 cup unsulfured molasses
Royal Icing (recipe follows)

Whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and spices in a medium bowl.

Beat butter and sugar with a mixer on medium-high speed until fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in honey and molasses. Reduce speed to low. Gradually add flour mixture, and beat until just combined. Divide dough into 3 portions, and wrap each in plastic. Refrigerate for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. On a generously floured piece of parchment, roll dough to a scant 1/4 inch thick. Brush off excess flour. Slide dough and parchment onto a baking sheet, and freeze for 15 minutes.

Cut out desired shapes. Transfer to parchment-lined baking sheets, and freeze for 15 minutes.

Bake cookies for 6 minutes. Remove sheets from oven, and tap them firmly on counter to flatten cookies. Return to oven, rotating sheets, and bake until crisp but not darkened, 6 to 8 minutes more. Let cool on sheets on wire racks.

Spoon icing into a pastry bag fitted with a very small plain round tip (such as Ateco #0 or #1). Pipe designs on cookies. Let cookies stand at room temperature until set, at least 2 hours (preferably overnight). Cookies can be stored between layers of parchment in airtight containers for up to 1 week.

Makes about 2 dozen town houses, 4 dozen deer or trees, or 6 dozen men

 

Royal Icing
Via Martha Stewart Living

1 pound confectioners' sugar, plus more if needed
5 tablespoons meringue powder

Beat sugar, meringue powder, and a scant 1/4 cup water in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on low speed until smooth, about 7 minutes. If icing is too thick, add more water, 1 teaspoon at a time; if too thin, beat icing for 2 to 3 minutes more, or add more sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time. Use immediately or store in an airtight container at room temperature overnight; stir before using.

Makes about 2 1/2 cups