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101 recipes

Torta de ricotaLemon ricotta tart

Italian families brought ricotta tarts to Buenos Aires and Rosario, and torta de ricota is now as Argentinian as mate: every panadería has one in the window, with a lattice of sweet, crumbly masa frola over a pale, lemon-scented ricotta filling. It is cut into wedges for the merienda, the late-afternoon snack, or for a birthday where nobody wants a heavy cake. The texture is light and slightly grainy rather than silky, and the pastry tastes of butter and vanilla. Wet ricotta is the biggest risk, giving a weeping, soggy tart. Chef's tip: drain the ricotta overnight in the fridge in a sieve lined with a cloth, and add a few raisins only if they have been soaked, or they draw moisture from the filling.

90 min

Argentinian Baking

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Tarte au fromage blancBaked cheesecake tart

Alsatians call it Käsküeche, and it is the cake their pâtisseries in Strasbourg and Colmar sell by the tall wedge on Sunday mornings, to take home for dessert after lunch. Fromage blanc, eggs and a little crème fraîche are baked in a high-sided pastry case until the filling puffs well above the rim like a soufflé, then settles into a light, creamy, gently lemony cheesecake. It is much less sweet than an American cheesecake and is eaten plain, maybe with a coffee or a glass of cold milk. Taking it out of a hot oven straight into a cold kitchen is what makes it crack and sink badly. Chef's tip: switch the oven off at the end, prop the door open with a wooden spoon and let the tart cool inside for an hour.

90 min

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Broyé du PoitouGiant butter biscuit

From the Poitou-Charentes region of western France, broyé is one huge, thick butter biscuit baked in a round and carried whole to the table. Tradition says you break it in the middle with a firm blow of the fist, and everyone grabs a jagged piece; farmhouse cooks served it at weddings and family lunches, and it still ends meals there with coffee or a glass of local pineau. It is crisp at the edges, slightly tender in the middle and tastes of salted butter. Some families add chopped candied angelica from Niort. The top is glazed with egg yolk for its shine; milk gives a softer sheen if you prefer no egg wash. Chef's tip: mark the top with a fork in a diamond pattern and press quite deep, because the lines spread as it bakes; a pale broyé is the common mistake, so bake on until it is evenly golden all over.

45 min

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Tarta de coco y dulce de lecheCoconut and dulce de leche tart

Ask Argentinians for their favourite tart at a family birthday and this one often wins: a crisp shortcrust spread thickly with dulce de leche, then covered with a coconut, sugar and egg topping that bakes into a golden, chewy crust. Bakeries from Córdoba to Mar del Plata sell it by the slice for the merienda with mate or a café con leche. It is very sweet, so the slices are thin, and it is a good keeper for a few days. Ordinary spreading dulce de leche is the mistake: it runs and bubbles out at the edges. Use the thicker pastry-style kind, sold in Argentina as 'repostero'. Chef's tip: chill the case with the dulce de leche spread on it for 15 minutes before adding the coconut, so the two layers stay distinct.

75 min

Argentinian Baking

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Gâteau à la brocheSpit cake

At weddings and village fairs in the Aveyron and the Pyrenees, gâteau à la broche is a performance: a wooden cone turns on a spit in front of a wood fire while a cook ladles batter over it, layer after layer, for hours. The drips set into the spiky ridges that make the tall, hollow cake look like a fir tree. Slices have thin golden rings, a soft, buttery, eggy crumb and a scent of orange-flower water; it is eaten at the end of the feast with sweet wine for the adults or coffee. Older recipes use rum where this one uses orange-flower water and lemon, and at home a foil-wrapped rolling pin turned under a hot grill does the job of the spit. Pouring too much batter at once is the easy mistake: thick layers stay raw inside, so ladle thinly and let each one colour. Chef's tip: keep the batter at room temperature and stir it each time; cold batter clings badly and drips off in sheets.

140 min

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BizcochueloPlain whisked sponge cake

Nearly every Argentine birthday torta starts life as a bizcochuelo: a tall, plain sponge of eggs, sugar, flour and cornflour, with no butter and no baking powder, lifted only by long whisking. Grandmothers bake it on Sunday to split into three and fill with dulce de leche and whipped cream, or eat it plain in the afternoon with mate. The crumb is fine, dry-ish and airy, made to soak up syrup. Opening the oven in the first 20 minutes is the classic way to flatten it, so leave the door shut. Chef's tip: whisk until the mixture reaches 'punto letra', thick enough that a ribbon drawn on the surface holds its shape for a few seconds; that takes a good 8–10 minutes with an electric mixer, and warm eggs get there faster.

55 min

Argentinian Baking

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Gâteau battuTall egg-rich brioche cake

Picardy's tall, fluted gâteau battu ("beaten cake") gets its name from the long beating its dough needs: so many egg yolks and so much butter go in that it is closer to a thick batter than a bread dough. In the Somme it is the cake of family celebrations, first communions and weddings, and of Sunday breakfast, and it is baked in a distinctive tall, ridged mould that gives it the look of a chef's toque. The crumb is yellow, very light, buttery and only gently sweet. Serve it in slices with rhubarb jam, poached fruit or crème anglaise, or toasted the next day. Unmoulding too soon is how it collapses: the crumb is so tender that it needs 10 minutes to firm in the tin. Chef's tip: let the dough rise slowly until it reaches the rim of the mould, even if that takes 3 hours; rushing it gives a dense, cakey bottom.

300 min

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CroquemboucheCaramel-bound choux puff tower

At a French wedding, christening or first communion, the croquembouche ('crunch in the mouth') arrives at the end of the meal: a tall cone of choux puffs filled with vanilla pastry cream, stuck together with amber caramel and wrapped in spun sugar threads. Guests crack puffs off with a knife or the back of a spoon, so each bite is crisp caramel, light pastry and cold, smooth cream. Pâtissiers often flavour the cream with orange liqueur; it is written here with vanilla only, and you can add 2 tablespoons of liqueur to the cooled cream. Underbaked choux is the classic mistake, because pale puffs go soft and collapse under the weight, so bake them until they are deep golden and dry inside; and since hot caramel burns badly, keep a bowl of iced water beside you and work with care. Chef's tip: build the tower on the day, no more than 4 hours before serving; the caramel softens in the fridge and humid air.

210 min

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PalmiersPuff pastry palmiers

Palmiers, "palm leaves", are the crisp, sugar-glazed puff pastry hearts sold by the bag in French bakeries and eaten with coffee or by children at goûter. Puff pastry is rolled in sugar instead of flour, folded towards the centre from both sides, sliced and baked until each heart is caramelised and glassy. The common mistake is underbaking, which leaves them soft and pale. Chef's tip: turn them over halfway through baking so both sides caramelise.

40 min

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Langues de chatCat's tongue biscuits

Langues de chat, "cat's tongues", are long, thin butter biscuits with golden edges, served with coffee, ice cream or a bowl of chocolate mousse in French homes and cafés; they keep well in a tin and children love them. A simple batter of butter, sugar, egg white and flour is piped in strips and baked until the edges just brown. The common mistake is piping them too close together; they spread. Chef's tip: tap the tray firmly on the worktop after piping so the strips flatten evenly.

25 min

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Croissant

The croissant is the breakfast of Paris, bought warm from the corner boulangerie on weekend mornings and eaten with café au lait, and although it came from Vienna it was in 20th-century Paris that it became the buttery, flaky crescent we know. A lightly sweet yeasted dough is wrapped around a sheet of cold butter, rolled and folded three times, shaped and proved until wobbly, then baked until deep golden with a honeycomb of layers inside. The common mistake is proving in a warm place, which melts the butter out of the layers. Chef's tip: prove the shaped croissants at cool room temperature, about 24 °C, until they have doubled and jiggle when the tray is shaken.

680 min

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Crêpes dentelleCrisp lace crêpe biscuits

Crêpes dentelle, "lace crêpes", are a speciality of Quimper in Brittany, said to have been invented by a baker there in 1886 who burnt a crêpe and rolled it up; they are wafer-thin, crisp, buttery rolled biscuits, sold in tins all over Brittany and eaten with coffee or crumbled over ice cream. The common mistake is spreading the batter too thick, so they will not crisp. Chef's tip: spread the batter so thin you can see the tray through it, and roll each one as soon as it comes out of the oven.

40 min

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Gâteau nantaisAlmond rum-free lemon cake

The gâteau nantais comes from Nantes in the Loire, created in 1820 by a local baker when the city's port imported sugar and rum from the Caribbean; it is a dense, moist almond cake with a crackly white glaze, eaten at goûter and family lunches. Traditionally the cake is soaked in rum and the glaze flavoured with it; this version uses lemon juice for both so all ages can eat it, and adults can add 2 tablespoons of rum to the glaze. The common mistake is overbaking, which dries it. Chef's tip: soak the cake while it is still warm.

50 min

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Torteau fromagerGoat's cheese cake

The torteau fromager is the cake of the Poitou-Charentes, a tall, light goat's cheese cake with a dramatically burnt, almost black dome, sold at markets around Poitiers and served at Sunday lunch and weddings. Fresh goat's cheese is beaten with egg yolks and sugar, folded with whisked whites and baked in a pastry-lined dome mould at a high heat, which gives the dark crust. Use pasteurised fresh goat's cheese. The common mistake is opening the oven early, which makes it fall. Chef's tip: do not worry about the black top; it is meant to be that way and tastes of caramel.

80 min

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Pain au chocolat

Pain au chocolat is the favourite after-school and Sunday breakfast treat of French children, called pain au chocolat in Paris and the north and chocolatine in Toulouse, Bordeaux and the south-west, a friendly argument that never ends. Croissant dough is cut into rectangles and rolled around two batons of dark chocolate, so every bite has crisp pastry and a melting seam of chocolate. The common mistake is rolling it too tightly, which stops the layers rising. Chef's tip: roll loosely with the seam underneath, so it does not unroll in the oven.

680 min

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OranaisApricot custard pastry

The oranais, also called abricotine, is a French bakery pastry that is said to come from the city of Oran in Algeria, brought back by returning pieds-noirs in the 1960s, and it is now found in boulangeries all over France for breakfast and goûter. A square of puff or croissant dough has its corners folded over a spoonful of pastry cream and two apricot halves, so it looks like a pair of eyes. The common mistake is using wet canned apricots, which make the pastry soggy. Chef's tip: drain the apricots on kitchen paper and glaze them with warm apricot jam after baking for a jewel-like shine.

50 min

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Agneau pascalLamb-shaped Easter cake

The lammele, or agneau pascal, is the Easter cake of Alsace, a light sponge baked in a lamb-shaped earthenware mould from Soufflenheim and dusted with icing sugar, with a little paper flag tied round its neck. It is bought from bakeries in Strasbourg and Colmar or made at home for Easter Sunday breakfast. No lamb meat is involved; it is a vegetarian cake. The common mistake is not greasing the mould well enough, so the head sticks. Chef's tip: brush the mould with soft butter, chill, then dust with flour, so every detail comes out clean.

60 min

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Brioche à têteTopknot brioche

Brioche à tête, the brioche parisienne, is the little fluted bun with a round head that sits in every French bakery window, eaten for Sunday breakfast, dunked in hot chocolate or served with jam at goûter. The dough is very rich in eggs and butter, kneaded long until silky, then chilled overnight, which makes it easy to shape and gives a deep flavour. The common mistake is adding the butter too fast, which leaves a greasy dough. Chef's tip: add the butter a little at a time while the mixer runs, and wait until each piece disappears before adding the next.

620 min

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Pain suisseCustard and chocolate brioche

Despite its name, the pain suisse is entirely French, a long rectangle of brioche-style dough folded around vanilla crème pâtissière and chocolate chips, beloved in bakeries across France as an after-school treat. The pastry cream bakes into a soft, creamy layer studded with melting chocolate. The common mistake is overfilling, so the cream leaks out the sides. Chef's tip: chill the filled strip for 20 minutes before cutting; the slices stay neat and square.

255 min

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Tarte à la tomate et à la moutardeTomato and mustard tart

Tarte à la tomate is a summer favourite all over Burgundy, home of Dijon mustard, made from July to September for picnics, light lunches and apéritif. A crisp shortcrust case is spread thickly with mustard and grated cheese, covered with overlapping tomato slices and herbs and baked until the tomatoes are jammy; the mustard mellows into a warm, tangy layer. Comté and Gruyère are usually made with animal rennet; use a vegetarian hard cheese if you prefer. The common mistake is using watery tomatoes, which make the pastry soggy. Chef's tip: salt and drain the tomato slices on kitchen paper for 15 minutes before laying them on the tart.

60 min

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Pompe à l'huileOlive oil orange flatbread

The pompe à l'huile is the centrepiece of the thirteen desserts of Christmas Eve in Provence, a flat, slashed sweet bread made with olive oil and scented with orange-blossom water. Tradition says it must be torn by hand, never cut, or you will be ruined in the year to come, and it is eaten after the gros souper on 24 December. The common mistake is using a harsh, peppery olive oil, which overpowers it. Chef's tip: use a mild, fruity olive oil and brush more over the warm loaf.

170 min

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Tarte courgette et chèvreCourgette and goat's cheese tart

Tarte courgette-chèvre is a modern French classic, the tart everyone brings to summer picnics, family barbecues and school fêtes from June to September. Lightly fried courgette slices and rounds of fresh goat's cheese are set in a savoury egg and cream custard in a crisp case, with thyme and a little honey to round off the tang. Many French goat's cheeses use animal rennet; choose one labelled vegetarian if needed, and a pasteurised one for anyone pregnant or with a weakened immune system. The common mistake is adding raw courgettes, which weep into the custard. Chef's tip: blind-bake the case for 15 minutes first so the base stays crisp.

70 min

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Pâté aux pommes de terrePotato and cream pastry pie

Pâté aux pommes de terre is the farmhouse pie of the Limousin, the Berry and the Allier in central France, baked for Sunday lunch and village fêtes and served warm with a green salad. Thin slices of potato with onion, garlic and parsley are baked inside puff pastry, and when the pie comes out of the oven a lid is lifted and thick crème fraîche is poured in to soak through the potatoes. The common mistake is slicing the potatoes too thick, so they are still hard when the pastry is done. Chef's tip: slice the potatoes 2 mm thick and cook the pie for the full hour; the potatoes must be soft before the cream goes in.

85 min

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ChouquettesSugar choux puffs

Chouquettes are the small, hollow choux puffs studded with pearl sugar that French bakeries sell by weight in paper bags, a favourite treat bought on the way home from school and shared between brothers and sisters. They are made with the same choux dough as éclairs but left unfilled. The common mistake is opening the oven too soon, so they collapse. Chef's tip: press the pearl sugar in well after glazing, so it does not roll off.

40 min

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