French Recipes, Podcast Episodes and France Travel Tips!
Mint Syrup
When in France you will often see people drinking syrups or cordials as they love them. More and more people here though are making their own so that they can control the sugar level and of course other nonnatural ingredients.
So here is my recipe for mint syrup.
James Hemings Snow Eggs Recipe
Snow Eggs or Isle Flotante or Oeufs a la neige as they’re known in France are wonderful poached meringues that sit on a custard or creme anglaise. The name snow was attributed to the whipping of the egg whites until they looked fluffy and stiff like snow.
In 1747 Hannah Glasse recorded in her cookbook The Art of Cooking Made Plain and Easy a recipe for floating islands, Glasse was an English cook but her recipe bears no resemblance to the recipe we know for today's version.
There is a note in a letter from Benjamin Franklin in 1771 about having a floating island dessert. But as far as we can tell James Hemmings's version that we know today was his own creation and is now enjoyed around the US and France, well even around the world.
Here is his original recipe for Snow Eggs
Lavender Sugar
French cuisine embraces lavender with it often being used to coat the outside of sheep and goat milk cheeses. In Provence, some places take lavender flowers and candied them to be used as decorations for pastries and cakes. A use I love is to make lavender sugar which is a great ingredient to place in the pantry.
My recipe for lavender sugar is below.