cookbook addict

Religieuse minimaliste Ah, l'éclair au chocolat, ma pâtisserie du dimanche préférée... ça me rappelle mon enfance, les déjeuners du dimanche en famille et ma grand-mère qui apportait souvent un assortiment de pâtisseries pour le dessert. Que des bons souvenirs! Et si j'aimais les éclairs en particuliers, c'est que toute l'architecture molle, craquante et sucrée, et chocolatée me plaisait. J'aimais moins les religieuses car le gros chou avait une proportion de crème trop importante par rapport à la pâte, et puis les rosettes de crème au beurre, c'était pas trop mon truc non plus. Chocolate éclairs are my favourite pastry. They remind me of my childhood, when my grandmother used to bring an assortment of pastries from the shop for dessert after our family Sunday lunch. Good times! I had a soft spot for éclairs and their sweet, crunchy but soft, chocolatey architecture (French éclairs are filled with pastry cream, not whipped cream). I liked religieuses le...

Who hasn't wondered, while watching the Godfather I, what on earth were cannoli and why they were so important that they shouldn't be left in a car with a dead wiseguy? Of course that doesn't include people actually acquainted with the said pastries, who wouldn't for a second think of ever forgetting a box of those wonderful delicacies. So let me introduce you... Cannoli (plural form of cannolo), crunchy cigars of deep-fried pastry crusts, filled with the omnipresent (at least in Sicilian pâtisserie) crema di ricotta , simply ricotta mixed with icing sugar, small chocolate chips and decorated with some candied orange peel. This simple delight can come in oversweetened guise so beware and choose wisely. Of course, for the sake of testing and experience, I tried them from different shops (at least four times, including one last nostalgic roll from the airport café). The following picture was taken at the Caffé Antico Spinnato, one of the places to people watch in Palermo....