The squirrels around our garden would have had an amazing time if they’d been
on holiday in the Lozere and Perigord areas of France. I’ve never seen so many nuts or ‘noix’ on
display in the markets.
Nuts galore on the market
Nutty treats included
the scrumptious Gateaux aux noix. It's not like an sponge
cake as the texture is dense but it's certainly delicious! Here’s a recipe
which a French friend gave me – tres facile!
100g caster sugar
100g butter (softened)
150g( chopped) walnuts
40g flour
1 tsp baking powder
3 eggs
Fold the chopped walnuts in half the sugar. Mix the butter and the
rest of the sugar together. Add the chopped walnuts and sugar mixture and then
the eggs, one at a time. Fold in the flour and salt. Grease a cake tin or dish
(approx 20cms) and pour the mixture into it. Bake in a hot oven (Mark 7,
210-220C) for around 30 minutes. Allow to cool.
Make the icing by sieving the
icing sugar and coffee powder (grind the granules in a pestle and mortar) and
adding a couple of tbsps of water. Mix until smooth and not too runny. Coat the
top of the cake and finally decorate with whole walnuts.
Decoration
200g icing sugar
2 tbsps coffee granules
Water to mix
Whole walnuts
Grandma’s tips :
Use a food processor to chop up the walnuts.
Grind the coffee granules to a powder in a pestle and mortar.
You can add a splash of Armagnac to the cake mixture before
baking.
Laurent and Pat served some tasty aperitifs including Le Birlou, a
fabulous aperitif made from apples and chestnuts in their wonderful renovated
farmhouse at La Borie d'Aubrac in the SW corner of France. It’s on the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostella but you didn’t have to be one of the pilgrims to enjoy the laughter and conviviality around the large dining table every evening with different nationalities coming
together to enjoy our hosts’ fabulous hospitality. I showed them
Grandma’s blog. Expect to hear of international puddings and cakes added to the Recipes. Bon appétit!
Have you got a favourite international cake recipe?