Bretagne

Putting a Breton twist on Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies! Today’s recipe revisits the American classic recipe of Chocolate Chip cookies, with the use of buckwheat flour and sea salt – two staple ingredients from my home region Brittany. Buckwheat flour gives earthy and nutty flavors to these chewy cookies, boosted with sea salt that is used both inside the dough and sprinkled over top. If you think chocolate chip cookies couldn’t get any better – just wait, and try! 

If you are a crêpe lover like me and always look for different ways to enjoy them throughout the seasons, this recipe is a great one to add to your arsenal. This Summer-perfect dessert includes a luscious homemade Blueberry Balsamic Sauce poured on a big scoop of ice-cream and a few Classic French Crêpes underneath.  The marriage of the warm, tangy, sweet Blueberry Balsamic Sauce (made with White Balsamic Vinegar) with the smooth, cold vanilla ice cream is a match made in heaven. The tender, soft crêpes bring another level …

Growing up in Brittany, on the Atlantic coast, sardines were a staple food – coming in fresh every morning from the harbor and sold at the local “poissonnier” (fish shop); in cans or in the form of the utterly popular sardine rillettes. This tasty spread is a delight for sharing during the French Apéro (pre-meal drinks & small bites) and makes the perfect nutritious snack too. So what are “Rillettes”, exactly ? If you’re unacquainted with it, a “rillette” (pronounced “ree-yet”) in French is similar to a pâté, often made …

It’s berry season! And what could be a better pairing for berries than a hefty slice of pound cake with a generous dollop of whipped cream? But not just any pound cake, a Breton Pound Cake! In French, this Breton Pound cake is called a “quatre-quarts“, which translates to “four quarters”. It is very popular in Brittany, of course, but also widely known and enjoyed all throughout France. It consists – just like a classic pound cake – of four ingredients of equal weight: one quarter flour, one quarter butter, …

It’s Carnaval season! And with Mardi Gras just around the corner, it’s time to dig out the large pots, slotted spoons and oil jars, and whip up some batches of beignets – something the French excel at! Whether they’re the classic soft “Beignets”, the crisp “Bugnes” or “Oreillettes” from the city of Lyon, the “Ganses” from the city of Nice, “Shenkeles” from the Alsace region… you’ll find carnaval fried doughs with so many different shapes, textures and names in France. But, some of my favorites are these little round puffs, …

This Chocolate Fondant Cake is a delicious recipe from La Baule, and is possibly one of the most well-kept culinary secrets in France… (updated recipe – January 2019).  La Baule is a picturesque seaside resort town on the Atlantic coast, where beautiful stoned-façade villas and casinos mass along stunning sand beaches. It is a beloved weekend getaway spot for Parisians, who yearn for a slower, sun-bathed atmosphere and some fresh Atlantic air.

If there’s one cookie that defined my childhood, it is undoubtedly this one: the Breton Salted Butter Sablé, also known in French as the Galette Bretonne. It is a crisp, “sandy” cookie made with the simplest of ingredients: flour, sugar, eggs and a lot of butter enriched with sea salt flakes. It can be found in all bakeries across Brittany, and lots of natives like myself will tell you it is their absolute favorite. Simply put: it boasts the perfect combination of sweet and salty flavors, finished with a generous …

Known in French as buckwheat “galettes”, these Brittany-style buckwheat pancakes are a variation on the utterly classic Buckwheat crêpes (a recipe that I shared here). They differ from the latter as they are thicker and smaller, but are made with the same ingredients and have the same delectable nutty, earthy flavors and fluffy texture dotted with little holes.

Apple season holds a very special place in the hearts of the Brittany and Normandy people. At this time of year, both regions boast orchards of blooming apple trees of all varieties and hence nurture an extensive repertoire of apple recipes – be it sweet or savory. Countless apples pies, chicken and pork roasts with stewed apples, apple cider in Brittany, Calvados in Normandy… apples are the Queen of the local gastronomy year-round. And frankly, as a Brittany native, I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of cooking and baking …

Known in French as “Le Fouesnantais”, this Cherry Bread Pudding recipe originates from Fouesnant, a small town in Brittany where cherries are a big part of the local economy. Filled with clusters of cherries and topped with a fragrant cinnamon crumble, it is rich and satisfying with bursts of sweetness (and it makes great use of whichever leftover brioche, pain au lait or bread you might have on hand!)