This Smoked Salmon Cream Cheese Tarte Soleil – known as a “Sun Tart”, in English – is a gorgeous tear-and-share French appetizer. It features two layers of buttery puff pastry with a filling of cream cheese and smoked salmon, cut and twisted into tearable strands. This is a very simple recipe for a really impressive appetizer for the Holiday season!
Brie en Croûte is a festive French appetizer that is simply perfect for entertaining. Made with store-bought puff pastry, it encases a warm and melty whole wheel of brie, that’s then topped with honey, cranberries, nuts and thyme. Serve it on a platter with fruits and crackers, and be sure to impress your guests!
Known as a “Tourte”, this homemade French Chicken and Mushroom Pie is a comfort food classic through and through. It features two flaky sheets of puff pastry (homemade or store bought), encasing a creamy filling of mushrooms, bacon and chicken breast pieces, flavored with thyme and Dijon mustard. This is a wonderfully hearty dish, perfect for autumn or winter.
Known as “Torsades au Fromage”, these Gruyère Cheese Twists are the perfect crowd pleasers to serve with the French apéro – the traditional pre-dinner drinks and snacks in France. Made of flaky puff pastry twisted with nutty Gruyère Cheese, they are quickly assembled and deliver big buttery and cheesy flavors. If you’re looking for a no-stress finger food recipe for your next get-together, this is the one!
This Tarte Fine aux Pommes – literally “Thin Apple Tart” – is a French bakery staple in the Fall. It features a thin puff-pastry crust with no raised borders, thin apple slices for topping and crisp caramelized edges. I love how it’s quickly put together, requires no tart pan, yet makes for an utterly delicious and elegant dessert. It’s light, flaky and best enjoyed by hand.
Before wrapping up the holidays, there is one final occasion the French take to eat and rejoice: the Fête des Rois, or “Feast of the Kings.” Set on January 6, the day of the Epiphany (honoring the arrival of the Three Wise Men in Bethlehem), this celebration involves eating a Galette des rois, or king cake—two circles of buttery puff pastry filled with sweet, creamy frangipane—in which a trinket, called a fève, has been hidden.
This savory Tomato Mustard Tart is a classic Summer recipe that French home cooks love to make every year when tomatoes are in season. It features a buttery puff pastry, with in-season ripe tomatoes, a sprinkle of grated cheese and a heavy smear of Dijon Mustard at the bottom. There are a number of variations to this classic Summer dish, including some with ham, anchovies, olives, etc… But if you ask me, this basic one is simply wonderful as is.
Fried desserts aren’t the first thing that comes to mind when people think about French food, right? But you should know that some French regions boast with fried doughs and treats of all kinds – several of which make use of seasonal fruits in simple and comforting ways. These Pear Sauce Puff Pastry Fritters, known in French as “Rissoles aux Poires” are my fall Favorites. They’re made with puff pastry filled with pear sauce and then fried to golden perfection. They’re crunchy, sweet, sticky, and very moreish. These little fritters …
If you’re as fond of flaky pies bursting with fruits as I am, you’re in for a treat! This Jalousie Tart is named after its slatted puff-pastry top that allows the fruit filling to peek through, reminiscent of Jalousie shutters. In this lovely Spring variation, the crisp buttery puff-pastry encompasses an irresistible spiced berry filling bursting with sweetness and zing.
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