Ahhhh Paris

Over the weekend I watched Woody Allen’s film, “Midnight in Paris”, and fell in love all over again.  With Paris that is.  I love that city.  I’m not a world traveller by any means but of all the cities I’ve visited over the years it is my favourite.  It doesn’t matter what season it is or what the weather is, to me it is simply the best.

I can’t put my finger on what it is about it that I love so much.  I think it’s a combination of the history, architecture, the people, the food, the whole atmosphere.

Over this past weekend it seemed I encountered little bits of Paris everywhere.

Now if you’ve got $518,000 Canadian dollars this 400sq ft apartment in the 13 arrondisment can be yours!  Seriously 400sq ft!! For over half a million dollars.  But that is what apartments are going for right now in Paris.  It blows my mind but really just close your eyes and imagine living in this tiny apartment for one month.  Stepping out your door in the crisp fall weather and ducking into one of the many cafes for some hot chocolate and  this:

Mmmm…when I was there in 93 and 04 chocolate croissants were a staple in my daily diet.

 The picture above was taken from a book titled “The Art of French Baking” which was a collaberation of 3 women, notably Clotilde Dusoulier of the popular blog Chocolate & Zucchini.  The book is the first English translation of France’s 75 year old baking bible!   I would love to have this book and do a Julie & Julia style blog where I’d bake each dessert and write about it!!   Anybody willing to send me a copy of the book??

And as luck would have it while reading Whoorl this morning she also wrote of another book about a delightful hidden gem of a bakery, Rose Bakery.

Lastly while reading this month’s edition of Canadian House and Home I came across a recipe for Pudding Chomeur Cakes, which is not French from France but a poor man’s pudding with French Canadian origins.  I’m including it here only because it’s full of maple syrup (mmm!!) and fairly easy to make!!

Taken from House & Home

3/4 cup room temp unsalted butter           

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 3/4 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 cup maple syrup (pure)

1 cup whipping cream (35%)

pinch of salt

vanilla ice cream to serve (optional)

In a large bowl, combine butter and sugars and blend until smooth.  Add eggs and vanilla and beat until completely incorporated.  Add flour and baking powder and stir until dough is well mixed.  Refridgerate for at least an hour

In a saucepan bring syrup and cream to a boil, stirring often.  As soon as it reaches the boiling point, remove from heat, add salt and let cool until tepid, then refridgerate for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 450F.  Place 6 oven safe 5 0z. ramekins on a foil lined baking sheet and spoon a couple of tablespoons of the maple mixture into the bottom of each. Divide dough evenly among ramekins by loosely packed tablespoons.  Slowly pour remaining maple mixture over dough (it will sink into the holes), and bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.  Let cool several minutes and serve with ice cream!

Hope you enjoyed this little sprinkling of all things French!

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