Brioche French Toast

It's rare for brioche to last long enough to get stale, but if it does, french toast is the perfect thing.

First whip up the batter: eggs, splash of almond milk, pinch of salt and a slash of vanilla.  Dip slices of brioche in the batter and fry in olive oil.  You can use butter to fry, but I like the heartyness olive oil adds.

Serve hot, dusted with powdered sugar and garnished with fresh fruit.

French bread made into french toast.  #winning

Cake with Raspberry and Orange

It looks like an underbaked cannelé.  That's because I tried making cannelés in a silicone "pan" and it was a disaster.  So, I whipped up a plain vanilla-orange sponge cake and baked it in the same mould.

Other than cake baking, it's fairly simple to prepare:

• zest a bit of lemon
• segment the oranges
• strain raspberries with melted apricot (or apple) jam

All that's left to do is pile that deliciousness on a plate.

Tarte Poire [Gluten free and Vegan Pear tarte]

A tasty sweet that's gluten free and vegan.

I started with the walnut-oat pastry dough that I typically use for crackers and pie crust.  Roll, cut and place in a spring-form pan.  I pre-baked the crust at 375F for ~20 minuted.  In the mean time, I prepared the filling: equal parts water and cashews, nutritional yeast, salt, brown sugar and vanilla.  Then, peel and slice the pears.

Fill the pans with the custardy mixture and arrange the pears.  Resume baking for another 20 minutes.  Allow them to cool and brush with pastry glaze - strained apricot jam.  Complete the dish with raspberries and sliced almonds.

It's got a good taste, but it's really heavy.  I think it would take on a new, lighter dimension by replacing some water with a bit of raw pear in the custard.

Raspberry-Pomegranate Parfait

Start with fresh pomegranate and extract the juice.  I used a ricer: Good Grips Ricer Mix raspberries, the pomegranate juice, a bit of vanilla and a smidgen of sugar. Muddle the ingredients and spoon a portion into a clear glass. Add Greek youghurt to a piping bag (I prefer vanilla or honey) and carefully add a layer atop the raspberries.  Continue alternating layers of fruit and youghurt until the glass is full. Top the arrangement with sugared raspberries and a sprig of mint.

Serve chilled. Sweet citrus flavours are an excellent complement to the raspberries.

Génoise Framboise

Light layers of wholewheat lemon génoise cake, raspberry jam and vanilla whipped cream!  Génoise is made without any baking powder or soda - it's leavened entirely by whipped eggs.

Here's how it's made: