I have been making this French orange-currant cookie for many years.  Recently however, I found the identical recipe printed in Linda Dannenberg's book Paris Boulangerie Patisserie.  Dannenberg attributes the cookie recipe to Jean-Luc Poujauran (actually his father, also a baker).  Not far from the Eiffel Tower, Patisserie Poujauran is located on rue Jean-Nicot on the Left Bank of Paris.  Both a patissier and a boulanger, Poujauran's organic breads and pastries are considered by many the best in Paris.

Poujauran delivers his breads to restaurants around Paris in this truck with a basket on top.

I have been to the shop (with the pink paint and spotted dog on the front) several times, but it wasn't until my last visit that it was actually open when I passed by.  Fortunately, I have a good friend that hauls home bags of these cookies whenever she is in Paris, allowing me to compare my home-baked to the originals. 

I suggest when making these cookies to use all organic ingredients as Jean-Luc does, and European butter, if possible. A wood burning oven wouldn't hurt either (sigh).  Also I have found that kept in a tin, allowing the orange zest to infuse the cookies, they just get better and better over time.

                            Sable a l'Orange et Raisins
        (from Paris Boulangerie Patisserie by Linda Dannenberg)

1/2 cup plus 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup sugar
1 large egg, room temperature
1 large egg yolk, room temperature
2 Tablespoons ground almonds
1 2/3 cup unbleached flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup currants
1/4 cup chopped candied orange peel (or grated zest of one orange)
1 large egg beaten with 1 teaspoon water for glaze

1.  In a large bowl with an electric mixer, cream the butter with the sugar until light.  Add the egg, egg yolk, and almonds in turn, mixing after each addition until well-blended.  Sift the flour with the baking powder and add to the butter mixture, mixing just until partially incorporated.  Add the currants and orange peel or zest, and finish mixing the dough with a large rubber spatula just until blended.  Be careful not to overmix.  Cover dough and refrigerate at least one hour.
2.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Place parchment paper on two baking sheets.  Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface about 1/8-inch thick.  Cut out the cookies with a cookie cutter and place on the prepared sheets.  Brush the cookies lightly with the egg wash.  Bake until light golden, about 13-15 minutes.  Cool slightly, then transfer to a rack to cook completely.
3.  Invite a friend over for coffee. 

This is my ultimate obsession... my French Bulldog Pipi (yes, I know what her name means in French and it's quite appropriate).

My first encounter with a French Bulldog was ten years ago at the Hotel Saint-Germain in Paris.  Jules (Julius Augustus Caesar) was the resident Frenchie and he totally stole my heart.  I couldn't get down to the lobby fast enough in the mornings to see him again.

Three years later when I returned to visit Jules, he was joined at the hotel by his daughter Ogune.

              I would even see Frenchies used in window displays!

After that visit, I made it my mission to find a Frenchie of my very own.  And this is the little girl I found.  Pipi is now seven years old.  (In this photo she is modeling her coat designed and constructed by me).

Frenchies are becoming very popular in our neighborhood of St. Paul.  They are described as little clowns in a philosopher's robe.  Here Pipi is shown with house guests Tayto and Belle.

                            How can you not love a Frenchie?

Over the years I have clipped many pages from the food section of the Sunday New York Times Magazine.  The September 25, 1988, magazine featured the article Time for Snacks by Patricia Wells and listed recipes for after-school treats from four pastry shops in Paris.  One recipe that I make often is Tartelettes aux Pommes (free-form individual apple tarts) from Poilane on the Rue du Cherche-Midi. 

The breads and pastries baked and sold there have a charming rustic quality due to the brick wood-burning ovens. 

Lionel Poilane's breads have a world-wide reputation and are served in some 400 Parisian restaurants.

Poilane's butter cookies, known as Punitions, can be found in Dorie Greenspan's cookbook Paris Sweets.

The recipe for Tartelette aux Pommes makes four, but I have quadrupled it for parties.  It's quite impressive to have a large basket full of 16 individual apple tarts.  One caveat, if you saute more than 4 apples at a time you will need to cut back on the amount of butter used or you will be steaming the apples instead of caramelizing.  (I recommend doing only four at a time).

                              TARTELETTES AUX POMMES
                            (as adapted from Patricia Wells)

1 recipe flaky sweet pastry dough (see below)
4 Golden Delicious or Gala apples
4 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 Tbsp. light brown sugar

1.  Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
2.  Divide the dough into four equal portions.  Roll each portion into a six-inch circle.  Place the circles of dough on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and refrigerate until ready to bake.
3.  Peel and core the apples, then cut each into 12 pieces.  Heat the butter until hot (but not smoking), in a large frying pan.  Add the apples and granulated sugar.  Saute' until lightly browned and starting to caramelize.
4.  Remove the pastry from the refrigerator and spoon the apples into the center of the pastry rounds, dividing them evenly.  It helps if the apples have cooled somewhat before being placed on the pastry rounds.  Fold the edges of dough up over the rim of the apples and pleat, forming about a one-inch border.  Brush the border with the egg.
5.  Bake in the center of the oven until golden, about 20 minutes.  Sprinkle the apples with the brown sugar. 

                                        PATE BRISEE

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
7 Tbsp. unsalted butter, chilled and cut into pieces
2 tsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
3 Tbsp. ice water

1.  Place the flour, sugar and salt in the bowl of a food processor.  Pulse to combine.  Add the butter and process until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.  Add the water and slowly pulse3 just until the pastry begins to hold together. Form a disc and wrap in plastic.  Refrigerate for at least an hour. 

Valentine's Day a year ago was our last day in Paris.  It was a cold, rainy, windswept day.  We decided to spend that day at Chateau de Chantilly, 30 minutes north of Paris by train.  The chateau's art collection is second only to Le Louvre in France, but the reason we really wanted to go there was to eat...

especially the desserts.  Chateau de Chantilly is where Chantilly Cream was accidentally invented!

The tables in the charming stone-walled dining room at the downstairs restaurant Les Cuisines de Vatel were decorated for the special occasion. 

                 My niece's husband was also color-coordinated!

                After our bellies were full, we toured the chateau.

                         and admired the mosaic tile floors...

         and looked out through the windows to the formal gardens.

                 The Chateau de Chantilly even has its own chapel.

Soon enough it was time to walk down the cobbled road and catch the bus back to the train station...   

For our last night in Paris.

A year ago this week I was in Paris along with my sister, her daughter and her daughter's husband.  We always stay on the Left Bank at either the Hotel Saint-Germain or the Hotel Lindbergh and because of that location we always find ourselves passing by Deyrolle.  The first floor is a small shop devoted to outdoor items and clothing for gardening and hunting, but if you walk up the centuries-old staircase to the second floor you will be astonished at the diverse collection of animals in this taxidermy shop. 

                          Not something you see every day. 

Even tho' the animals are so amazing, I also find myself admiring the architectural details; like the herringbone parquet floors and the old French windows.... 

and these beautiful wooden file drawers.  In addition to these stuffed animals, Deyrolle also has a room full of rare butterflies and bugs. 

                                        Don't miss it!

Yesterday my niece (a graduate of the French Culinary Institute in NYC) sent me photos of her kitchen.  She had just finished tiling the back splash and wanted me to see the results.  The tiles are very beautiful, but the photo that I just love is this one with old European chocolate molds resting on the back of her range.  The reason she didn't tile this area is because she's planning on covering the wall with flat chocolate molds....

like this chocolate shop on rue du Bac in Paris has done.  Every single wall is plastered with these vintage French chocolat moulds.

I have been collecting molds for many years, for the interesting shapes and the color and patina of the old metals.

In addition to my molds, I have many old tinware pieces handcrafted in the Amana Colonies of Iowa.  An example is the huge colander pictured above.  I'll save those for a future post!

Sometimes you just don't care if you look ridiculous.  When the temperature falls to minus 40 degrees with the wind chill and my French Bulldog Pipi needs to take care of business, she is not bothered by what she looks like or who sees her.  I have decided to stay indoors during this recent arctic blast and have become very creative with what I am finding in my refrigerator.  One thing that is helpful during our harsh Minnesota winters is to have fresh flowers in the house.  In addition to the bouquets of flowers I am always bringing home, I have amaryllis bulbs blooming.

I like white amaryllis against the strong orange walls of my sun room.

Last February it was warm enough in Paris for the florists to display their amaryllis outdoors on the sidewalk!  Not possible here in Minnesota.

When I go to Paris it is all about pastry.  O.K., there is the occasional shopping spree and sight-seeing but that usually happens on my trek to the pastry shops that are on my "I can't go home until I've been there" list.  I have to describe my baking as more "rustic" French.  That, I feel, allows for imperfections.  Pastry in Paris is usually anything but, and I always have a camera in hand to photograph these exquisite creations.  On my last trip to Paris PIERRE HERME (72 rue Bonaparte, 6e), JEAN-LUC POUJAURAN (20 rue Jean-Nicot, 7e), and STOHRER (51 rue Montorgueil, 2e) were all patisseries I needed to see.  Either I have read much about the shop or have obtained a recipe from that patisserie and want to compare my baked goods to theirs. 

One patisserie I must visit every trip to Paris is GERARD MULOT (76 rue de Seine, 6e), and for many reasons.  I have baked several items from that patisserie (Brioches aux Gouttes de Chocolat, Tourte au Saumon, Tarte au Chocolat, and most recently Tarte au Clafoutis aux Cerises) and all have had excellent results.

You will never be disappointed with anything purchased at Gerard Mulot (Catherine Deneuve is a regular).  AND, they let me photograph inside the shop!  That's a rarity anywhere in Paris, and I have learned to always ask first (unless I want to be reprimanded in French) before I pull out my camera.  I am not quite as brave as Carol Gillott.

Gerard Mulot's popularity is quite obvious on Saturday afternoons when lines of Parisians extend out the door and down the block to make purchases before the shop closes that evening not to reopen until Monday morning.

Lately, my friends and family have been enjoying Gerard Mulot's Tarte au Clafoutis aux Cerises (mine shown at left) from the book, Paris Sweets by Dorie Greenspan.  The recipe calls for either creme fraiche or heavy whipping cream to be used in the custard.  I recommend the creme fraiche for that wonderful tanginess it achieves.  Clafoutis is usually baked in a dish without a crust, but having made it as a tart, as Patisserie Gerard Mulot does with a shortbread cookie-like crust, I cannot imagine it any other way.