Aukland won our affection not alone through the views on to the water from every street almost, or the pleasant temperature while Europe is hiding under a blanket of white but truly by its food and its little cafes and restaurants we ate in.
Viewing entries tagged
Coffee
Easter Sunday is a traditional feast here in Austria. But with the table set with everything you can imagine, we all are waiting only for this Brioche served hot from the oven by Sophie let alone the smell that tortured us until it is ready it is no wonder that we cannot show you a single piece cut up for you or us eating it. You must understand it is a race of how to get enough for each one of us. Enough of this warm fresh French Brioche. The one behind the lens would be for sure the one going away hungry and unhappy so the desire to take those missing photos is close to zero. But we share the recipe with you so can stress every one in your own family at Easter Sunday with this treat !
You need
75 ml | 1/3 cup warm water
1 package | 2 1/4 tbsp active dry yeast ( not quick rising)
325 gr | 2 1/3 cups cake flour
280 gr | 2 cups all purpose flour
75 gr | 1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
6 large eggs at room temperature
285 gr | 10 ounces butter at room temperature
The dough must rest overnight in the fridge so please start the evening before you need the Brioche.
The yeast must dissolve in the water for 10 minutes until you can see a little foam..
Sift the flours together in a bowl with the sugar and salt and attache the dough hook to your stand mixer. Set the mixer on low to medium speed and add the eggs one at a time. Beat 1 minute.
Slowly add the dissolved yeast and continue on low speed for 5 minutes. Stop the machine, clear the hook, the dough likes to climb up the hook, beat it another 5 minutes.
Add the butter in cubes in 4 batches beating for a minute after each batch. Now beat the dough another 10 minutes until real soft and smooth.
Transfer the dough into a large floured bowl cover it with plastic wrap and let it double in size somewhere warm and cozy. Best is the oven on lowest heat mine is 30°C. That takes 3 hours.
turn it on a floured work surface and gently fold it several times to let the air out of the dough. Return it to the bowl for the overnight rest in the fridge. Sleep quicker that night ;-)
In the morning before everyone gets up you are back in the kitchen opening the fridge and here it is: your Brioche dough, now ready for the final workout:
Depending on your loaf pan size either use two or one larger one, butter and flour the pan and take the dough out and divide it in equally sized small balls set them next to each other in rows of two and fill the pan with your small dough shapes, 2 centimeters lower than the pan. Let rise in a warm place uncovered until 2 centimeters above the top of the pan.
Preheat the oven to 175 °C | 350 °F .
Bake for 45 - 50 minutes and test with a wooden chopstick or skewer if it comes out clean it is done. If you like to freeze the Brioche then wrap it in tin foil freeze it still hot for up to 2 months. I know a nightmare for the freezer .- Heat the oven to 120°C | 250 °F and without thawing first and still wrapped the Brioche can be reheated. that takes 20-25 minutes.
Adapted from Tom Keller ad hoc at home
The first time I had a matcha latter, I was mildly taken aback by its earthy taste.
Now I call myself a complete convert thanks to the amazing lattes at Chalait (they even have matcha cortados, how amazing is that?) coupled with the delicious food, perfect for anytime of day. When I went with Carissa, we shared the avocado toast (which comes with hard boiled eggs and radishes) and the Muesli toast (which is serves with greek yoghurt, almonds and berries). They also have an incredible matcha hot chocolate and a nutella baguette with sea salt and pistachios that I have yet to try. Conveniently nestled on the corner to some of my favorite West Village streets for a post breakfast stroll.
Find them here:
I was so happy to have little pockets of my New York life with familiar faces towards the end of my course in Paris and when Vanessa came to visit me in Paris for the day, we went to the Royal Monceau Raffles Hotel to have tea in their charming courtyard. They have a selection of Pierre Herme pastries (Pierre Herme actually runs the restaurant as I found out later) and warm scones with clotted cream and passion fruit raspberry jam (seriously, who could say no to that?) and fruit salads with rose petals, not to mention gorgeous tea cups. Perhaps summer finally arrived in Paris too?
HolyBelly is a simple cafe near Canal St Martin with a homey atmosphere and run by Australians. Interestingly enough, everyone near me eating at the cafe was also Australian, so it must be a good place...
One of my favorite parks in Paris is the Jardin du Palais Royal, a small garden located within a Palace in the heart of Paris. It usually has less people and a really quiet and relaxing atmosphere to sit and read, or shop in some of the stores along the arcades.
Maison Kitsune is somewhat of an institution in Paris, the have a popular clothing brand, make their own CDs and now have Cafe Kitsune in the arcades of Palais Royal. They make great coffee, not to mention ice cream and matcha lattes, and they also sell Bob's juice, which is a great find for juice lovers in Paris. I had watermelon and ginger juice and a cappuccino.
Patisserie Ciel combines simplicity with Asian flavors and absolute precision and consistency in cake making. They make beautiful variations of angel cake filled with delicious cream centers. I tried the yuzu and the chocolate and was stunned by the lightness of the cake with the flavorful centers. Their take away boxes are some of the most beautiful packaging I've ever seen and great for gifts.
Now on to some of my summer favorites in the picture above! I love light nail polish colors for summer like Essie's Fiji or a good white nail polish, but I have to say Chanel's Frenzy is my absolute favorite. When it comes to sunglasses my mom and I always fight over who gets to buy our favorite pairs of the season and often end up buying the same ones and these are no exception (Prada tortoise sunglasses). I love that these sunglasses are light on the inside and have a tortoise shell look on the outside, perfect for summer. I like to keep my jewelry dainty in the summer with simple thin gold and silver rings from Anna and mix things up with a little sparkle from J Crew. Last, but not least Bobbi Brown cream eye shadow in bone (01) is easy to apply and lightens up your eyes for a refreshing summer look.
Let me know if you have any summer favorites I should try out!
