Strawberry crunch slices with Plougastel Gariguettes, Fromage Frais from Botlan Goat Farm and a red fruit coulis Serves 4: 1 goat’s cheese 300 g strawberries 2 sheets filo pastry A knob of butter 20 g brown sugar 100 g white sugar Juice of one orange For the coulis: Boil 50 g sugar in 50 ml water, leave to cool then mix with 150 g ripe strawberries. Mix the cheese with half the strawberries and the juice of one orange and add the sugar. Cut the filo sheets into 5 cm squares and brush with melted butter. Dust with icing sugar (allow 4 filo squares per person). Bake the squares in a hot oven (180°C) for 10 minutes. Build the slices up layer by layer like a millefeuille: spread the first layer with cheese,add a layer with sliced strawberries and repeat. Serve with the coulis.   Roasted “Curé Nantais” served with gingerbread cake and salad Serves 4: 4 slices of gingerbread cake 200 g Curé Nantais - roasted sesame seeds 200 g mixed salad 20 ml olive oil 50 ml vinigrette Cut the gingerbread cake and place a piece of Curé Nantais on each slice, sprinkle with sesame seeds, drizzle with olive oil and season with freshly ground pepper. Bake in a very hot oven (250°C) for around 10 minutes. Serve with a dressed salad. Cranachan This is my interpretation of a traditionally Scottish dessert. Many Scots still use the name "crowdie cream" relating to the fact that, in the past, a soft Scottish cheese called crowdie was used in the place of cream. This dessert is still very popular among Scots, and is best made with Scottish produce. However, it can be enjoyed by everyone as a summer treat using locally available ingredients. No matter, I have taken the best that our farmers can provide and produced a Breton version!! Ingredients: (Serves 6) 900 grams Concarneau Raspberries (strawberries can also be used as a last resort). 840 ml Unpasturized double cream. 6 tablespoons thick Huelgoat honey. 6 tablespoons Lambig (Calvados is a reasonable substitute) 6-9 tablespoons of pinhead oatmeal. Preparation 1. Place the oatmeal in a cool, dry pan and turn on the heat to simmer. Stirring occasionally, toast the oatmeal until it is golden brown. This process could take between 10-20 minutes. 2. Once the oatmeal is brown, turn off the heat and let it cool in the pan. 3. Place the cream in a bowl and whisk up until soft and relatively thick. 4. Add the honey and Lambig and fold it in with a whisk, until it is soft and creamy. 5. Pick out some of the best raspberries for decoration and add three or four to the bottom of each serving glass, leaving a few for final decoration. 6. Add the rest of the raspberries to the cream mixture and fold in carefully, breaking up a few of the raspberries to obtain a slight colouring to the cream. 7. Spoon the mixture into the serving glasses, and then add cream to the top to make an even base for the oatmeal. 8. By now the oatmeal will be cooler. Using a teaspoon, evenly sprinkle the oatmeal over the dessert. Add a raspberry for the finishing touch and chill for about three hours, or overnight. Cranachan can be served on its own, or with double cream and more raspberries. For an extra treat, make up the cream and add the raspberries as in 3, 4 and 6 above. Then freeze in a container for a yogurty fresh ice cream. Enjoy!!!! We always do Apple and Calvados Sorbet Sorbet, like its cousin Granité, is a frozen dessert, unlike ice-cream it contains no dairy products. Either can be used as an unexpected palate cleanser between courses or as light dessert, very refreshing!!!. Now this is my version of a sorbet/granite, using very sharp/tart apples, fiery Calvados and tangy limes; what a combination to serve at dinner parties and special occasions, it will certainly surprise your guests! Ingredients: 500 grams pureed Calville Blanc d'Hiver apple (Bramley’s will suffice) 100 grams water 150 grams caster sugar 40 ml Lime Juice 50 ml Calvados Preparation: Having peeled and cored the apples; puree them in a blender until smooth. Meanwhile bring the remaining ingredients up to the boil in a pan. Having allowed the mixture to cool, incorporate the pureed apples into the mixture. Place the mixture into a shallow bowl and place in the freezer, making sure to stir regularly to break up the ice crystals. Serving Suggestion: As a dessert, serve in a stemmed bowl and decorate with mint leaves, a large sweet strawberry and a thin stick of dark chocolate. A mind-blowing combination of flavours Bizcochos Borrachos - Drunken Sponge Cakes This is a real Andalusian recipe for a light spongy cake, drizzled with a sweet sauce of brandy, lemon and cinnamon. It is a wonderful light dessert that will complete a Spanish style dinner party. Ingredients • 4 Eggs • ½ cup Granulated Sugar • ¾ cup Flour • 1 tsp Baking Powder • 1 tsp Ground Cinnamon for Decoration For Sauce:  ½ cup granulated Sugar  225 ml Water  1.5 Tbsp Honey  45 ml Brandy or Rum  1 Cinnamon Stick  Peel from ½ Lemon Preparation Makes 1 22 centimetre cake or 9 small servings. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit or 180 degrees Centigrade. Generously grease a 8-inch square cake pan with vegetable shortening, then flour it. Separate the yolks from the egg whites. Then, beat the egg yolks in a bowl with the sugar until it forms a creamy mixture. In another mixing bowl , beat the egg whites until they are stiff enough to form a point. Fold in the yolk mixture with a spatula, smoothly and carefully. Fold in the baking powder and flour gradually, a bit at a time. Pour in the batter and bake for 20 minutes, or until it turns golden. Check doneness by inserting a toothpick into the center. If it is clean when pulled out, cake is done. While the cake is baking, make the syrup. In a small sauce pan, pour water and sugar, cinnamon, honey and lemon peel. Bring mixture to a boil, stirring occasionally. Allow to boil 1 minute. Remove from heat and add the brandy and allow the syrup to cool. After the cake has cooled, carefully cut into 9 pieces and place them on a serving plate. Drizzle the pieces of cake with the brandy sauce and then dust the top with cinnamon. Serve with coffee or tea. Crème brulée à l'Osso Iraty et à la myrtille Serves 4 Ingrédients: • 10 Egg yolks • 2 Egg • 100cl Single Cream • 120gr Sugar • 160g Grated Osso Iraty Cheese • Granulated Brown Sugar • Blueberries Préparation : • Preheat the oven to 150C/300F/Gas 2. Pour the cream into a heavy-bottomed pan over a medium heat and bring to a simmer. • Separate the egg yolks and egg whites. Only the yolks are used in this recipe, so you can use the egg whites for another dish or freeze them for future use. • Pour the caster sugar into the bowl with the yolks. Whisk together the egg yolks and the caster sugar until well combined. • When the cream is coming up to a simmer, add the grated cheese and stir thoroughly, then pour it into the bowl with the egg yolk mixture. Stir thoroughly for a minute or two to dissolve the sugar. • Ladle the Brûlée mixture into the serving dish (or dishes) adding a few blueberries. • Place the Crème Brûlée dishes into a deep baking tray and pour hot water into the tray, until the water reaches halfway up the sides of the dishes (this is called a bain-marie). • Place the bain-marie into the preheated oven 100ºC and cook the Crème Brûlées for about 30-35 minutes, until set firm but still with a slight wobble. Allow to cool. You can place the Brûlées in the fridge at this stage if you're not serving them immediately. • For the topping, sprinkle granulated brown sugar on top of the Brûlées. Heat the surface with a mini-blowtorch until it forms a thin layer of caramel. • Sprinkle over the rest of the sugar in a final layer and caramelise with the mini-blowtorch once again, to form a thick crunchy layer. The crème Brûlées are ready to serve immediately or in 2-3 hours. To prepare a blueberry coulis to mix 100grams of blueberries in 40grams of sugar. Tarte au Flan  My good friend Eric Shawn in the UK complained that he could not find a Tarte au Flan that tasted as good as the ones he had eaten here in Brittany. Hopefully he will enjoy preparing this recipe and impress his family and friends with his culinary skills. The basis of all flavoursome flans or tartes is to have a world class the pastry case, something I take great pride in making using a recipe given to me when I attended a master-class by the legendary Michel Roux Snr. By following his instructions to the letter, you too can produce fabulous rural  puff pastry for your flans, tartes and quiches; be they sweet or savoury. I would recommend to anyone who wants to make Michelin starred pastry that they buy a large toughened-glass pastry board, about 50 x 50 cms square. These are available from any good cook-shop for around 12 Euros.  There are easier methods but once you have tried this one you will never return to your old methods. If you make more than you need for immediate use then the remainder can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 days or the freezer for up to 4 weeks until required. Ingredients: • Rural Puff Pastry to line the flan tin • 1 litre of milk • 180 grams fine sugar • 120 grams Maïzena (Cornstarch) • 2 Whole eggs + 1 Egg yolk (must be fresh) • 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract • Cinnamon powder Preparation: 1. Line a greased, loose-bottomed flan tin with the puff pastry (not too thick) and prick the pastry with a fork 2. Boil a litre of milk with 180 grams sugar, keeping a glass to one side for the next process 3. Whisk together the glass of milk with the Maïzena, eggs and vanilla extract in a large bowl 4. When the milk and sugar mixture is boiling, pour it slowly on the above mixture while beating with a whisk 5. Pour the mixture into the pan and to the stove, cook until it becomes very thick, slowly stirring with a silicon spoon to prevent lumps forming. 6. Pour over the pastry then lightly dust with cinnamon powder 7. Place in preheated oven Gas Mark 4 (180°C/350ºF) for 35 to 40 minutes, checking regularly at the end of the cooking time.

Gourmet Fraisiere  Ingredients for 8 guests: 750 grams of strawberries (150 grams for the sauce, 8 whole strawberries for decoration and 500 grams for the fraisiere) 300 grams of unsalted curd cheese 300 grams of double cream (thick) 100 grams of caster sugar the juice of ½ a lemon 3 cl of Kirsch liqueur For the strawberry marinade: 100 grams of caster sugar the juice of ½ a lemon For garnish: 16 mint leaves Preparation: Put the following together in a salad bowl: 500 grams of strawberries cut lengthwise in four, sugar and lemon juice. Cover and leave in the fridge for 1 hour. In the blender mix the quark cheese, 150 grams of strawberries, lemon juuice, caster sugar and kirsch for 30 seconds. Next add the cream, which has to be vey cold, and mix for another 15 seconds. Pour this mixture into a large bowl and add the marinated strawberries stirring carefully using a wooden spatula. When the mixture is well blended pour into 8 stemmed glasses, decorate each with 1 whole strawberry surrounded by 2 mint leaves. A nice ending for any dinner party. L'été porte des fruits en vin rouge, Monbazillac, basilic et menthe This dessert is perfect for a summer's day with the refreshing taste of red fruits combined with a hint of mint and basil. You could use other fruits such as blackberries, peaches, or blueberries. Serves four 250ml Monbazillac or other dessert wine 100ml red wlne (Cabernet Sauvignon) 40gms caster sugar Halt a vanilla pod, seeds scraped out and set aside 5 grams (12 leaves) fresh mint, lightly chopped 3 grams (9 leaves) fresh basil, lightly chopped 225 grams raspberries 160 grams strawberries, stemmed, halved and quartered 40 grams wild strawberries (optional) 1large wedge of watermelon, peeled and diced or made into balls 100ml chilled pink champagne (optional, but the remainder will be appreciated by your guests) Bring the two wines, sugar, vanilla pods and seeds to the boil in a pan and turn off the heat. Tie up the herbs in a muslin bag and add to the pan to infuse the liquid. Cool to approximately 40ºC so that the fruit does not cook and lose its shape. Add the raspberries, strawberries and the melon then refrigerate for at least four hours. Remove the herbs and vanilla pods and place the soup and fruit into a large serving bowl or four individual bowls, Pour approximately two tablespoons of the champagne, if using, over the top as you serve. Apple mousse, Pommeau de Bretagne and marshmallow with cider caramel Apricot purée. 2 litre Cidre Cinnamon 250 ml Cream Zest of ½ Lemon 5 cl Pommeau de Bretagne 12 Gelatine Leaves 20 cl Chouchan (mead) 2.4 kg Boskoop apple sauce Blend the warm Chouchen with the gelatine, then mix in the apple sauce at room temperature. Add the whipped cream and Pommeau to the partially set mixture. Shape into circles of 7 to 8 cm diameter. Refrigerate for 4 to 5 hours. Cut several balls out of the apples. Poach the balls in cider and cook for a short while. Strain them and fry them in butter and sugar. Put to one side. Marshmallow 500 gm egg white 500 gm sugar 50 gm gloucose (heated to 120ºC) 20 gm gelatine and an extra 50 gm when whipping the egg whites Orange Blossom Presentation: Place the apple mousse onto the plates. Put the caramelised apple balls on top. Lightly drizzle with the apricot. Next place the marshmallow, caramelised with a blowtorch, on top of the balls. Drizzle the Pommeau caramel and cider liqueur around it. Crema Catalana Crema Catalana or Catalan Cream is Yvonne’s Andalusian version of the Breton dessert, Crème Brulée. Mind you between us we found a new twist, highly entertaining for guests. In fact, many regions lay claim to the origin of the dessert. Wherever it originated won’t matter as you eat this dessert, letting it dissolve in your mouth! It is a great dessert for Spring, since it is also called Crema de Sant Josep, or St. Joseph’s cream, traditionally prepared on March 19th, St. Joseph’s Day, the Spanish equivalent of Father’s Day. Ingredients: • 1 cup sugar • 4 egg yolks • 1 tbsp cornstarch • 1 stick cinnamon • grated rind of 1 lemon, lime or orange • 2 cups milk • 4 teaspoons Calvados Preparation: This is an extremely easy recipe that makes 4 servings. This is a great dessert to make ahead of time, since it is very easy and requires 2-3 hours of refrigeration before serving. Make it the day before and leave it in the refrigerator until you are ready to serve. Then, heat a ring on your hob, mix the sugar and Calvados in a small pan, heat until very hot then spoon equal portions over the top and ignite with a blow-torch. Spectacular or what? Your guests will be amazed!!!! In a pot, beat together the egg yolks and ¾ cup sugar until thoroughly blended and the mixture turns frothy. Add the cinnamon stick and grated citrus rind. Pour in the milk and cornstarch. Slowly heat the mixture, stirring constantly, just until thickened. Remove pot from heat immediately. Tip: As soon as the mixture thickens and you feel resistance while stirring, remove the pot from the heat or the mixture may curdle or separate and the texture of the finished crema will be grainy instead of smooth and creamy as it should be. Remove the cinnamon stick and ladle the milk mixture into 4-6 ramekins (depending on size). Allow to cool, then refrigerate for at least 2-3 hours. Gratin de clémentine avec un sabayon de Grand Marnier Ingredients : (For 6 servings): 500 grams of peeled Clementine’s 50 grams (2.5 soupspoons) of light brown cane sugar 1/4 cup of Grand Marnier (orange brandy) For the Sabayon 4 egg yolks 100 grams caster sugar 500 grams Fromage Blanc (cottage cheese) (30% fat) 1/4 cup of Grand Marnier (orange brandy) Icing sugar Preparation: In a large non adhesive frying pan, put your light brown sugar with 3 soup-spoons of water, when it turns to a light brown caramel, add the Clementine’s cut in slices and gently stir for 2 minutes with a wooden spoon in order to coat the Clementine slices with the caramel then add the Grand Marnier. After another minute place the Clementine’s into six soup dishes is such a way as to resemble a starburst. Heat your oven on the 'grill' setting to Gas Mark 8, then in a large glass bowl sat on a saucepan of simmering water combine the egg yolks, caster sugar, Grand Marnier, and whisk. Then add the cottage cheese whilst still whisking. until you obtain a creamy emulsion (sabayon) Cover the Clementine’s in each dish with the above mixture then put them under the grill to get a gratin (it takes 10 minutes). Serve immediately. Never add the Grand Mariner if you are serving this dessert to children. You can also serve this dessert in a large glass dish and brown it under the grill. Now watch as your guests look around for a second serving. Mi cuit au Chocolat et sa Crème Anglaise basilic Serves 4 Ingrédients: 100 gr 85% chocolate + 8 thin 85% chocolate tiles 80 gr de Castor Sugar 50 gr Unsalted butter 3 Eggs Flour Milk (Full-Cream) 4 - 6 Egg yolks 1 Vanilla Pod 80 g Icing Sugar Basil (Fresh) Préparation: Preparation of Crème Anglaise:   • Combine the milk and chopped vanilla pods and seeds in a heavy-bottomed pan, bring to the boil and simmer for 4-5 minutes. Turn off the heat and allow to cool for 30 seconds. • Separate the eggs, placing the yolks in a large mixing bowl, cream together the sugar until pale and fluffy. Keep the egg whites for another recipe or freeze them for future use. • Pour the milk mixture onto the eggs and sugar, whisking continuously until smooth and creamy, then return the mixture to the saucepan. Place the pan over a medium heat and stir continuously for 4-5 minutes, or until the mixture has thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon. • During this time, chop the basil finely. • Strain the mixture through a sieve into ramekins, stir in the finely chopped Basil, then place into the fridge to chill until needed. Préparation of Mi-cuit: Chop the 100 gr of chocolate, then melt in Bain Marie with the butter. Mix the sugar and eggs then add flour. Add the melted chocolate, mixing well. Divide mixture into 4 ramekins, half filling them. Place two chocolate tiles in the centre of each ramekin then fill with the remainder of the mixture. Cook at 240°C until the top has just formed a crust, 9 – 12 minutes. Serve straight from the oven accompanied by the chilled Crème Anglaise decorated with finely chopped basil. Rural Puff-Pastry for Tartes, Flans & Quiches This recipe will make 1.2 kilos of Puff-Pastry, enough to make four 20 cm flan cases. Ingredients • 500g plain flour • 500g very cold butter, cut into small cubes • 1 tsp salt • 250ml ice-cold water Preparation 1. Sift the flour into a mound on the pastry board and make a well. Put in the butter and salt and work them together with the fingertips of one hand, gradually drawing the flour into the centre with the other hand. 2. When the cubes of butter have become small pieces and the dough is grainy, gradually add the iced water and mix until it is all incorporated, but don't overwork the dough. Roll it into a ball, wrap in cling film and refrigerate for 20 minutes 3. Flour the work surface and gently roll out the pastry into rectangle remembering to roll in one direction only keeping the edges straight and even, until it is 3 times the width, 20 x 50 cm. Do not overwork the butter streaks; you should have a marbled effect. Fold it into three, ends to middle, then give it a quarter-turn. Roll the block of pastry into a 20 x 50cm rectangle as before, and fold it into three again. These are the first 2 turns. Wrap the block in cling film and refrigerate it for 30 minutes. 4. Repeat step three, giving the chilled pastry another 2 turns, rolling and folding as before. This makes a total of 4 turns, and the pastry is now ready. Wrap it in cling film and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before using.