Thursday, April 1, 2010

April in Paris


Photos of the Palais Royal Jardin, Paris

I'm once again sitting in Boston Logan Airport; I'm off to Paris for a visit.  It's just over a year since my first visit.  I'm hoping this time since I'm there in April and not March, there will be a few more flowers and maybe some leaves starting to appear on the trees.  I have other hopes as well for this trip...but those can't be shared yet.

April means other things as well.  Easter falls in April this year, as well as my birthday and 2 of my brothers.  I will be celebrating my 30th in Paris.  My brother Philip lives in Massachusetts as well and his birthday falls the day before mine, my brother Mark's birthday falls 2 days after mine, but they are both older than me.  I had dinner plans with Philip and his Fiance Anne for last Saturday.  I realized while I was at work that morning, that I would be missing his birthday while I was on this trip, and I really wanted to do something nice for him. (We have a long standing of tradition of celebrating our birthdays together if possible)  I started doing a mental scan of cake ideas as I continued my work.  By the time I was ready to leave for the day, I had decided on a recipe from school, but with a few adjustments.  I had to scurry home and get moving to have it ready before meeting them for dinner.

Philip is not a big fan of cake, he will openly admit this.  He will also tell you the exception to this rule is my cakes.  My idea was not so cakey afterall.  A light flourless Hazelnut Dacqouise with bits of Dark Chocolate, and a hint of orange zest.  The Dacqouise was topped with thin layer of Orange Creme Brulee followed by a generous layer of Milk Chocolate Mousse and finished with a Dark Chocolate Ganache and thin slivers of candied Orange rind.  It was not bad for having put it together in just under 3 1/2 hours.  Philip was pleasantly surprised and he and everyone else who joined us really enjoyed the cake.  In the midst of the lighting of candles and singing the traditional birthday song, I forgot to take pictures of the cake before we demolished it. Maybe next time...

Birthdays require birthday cake or a yummy mousse cake; and in my family Easter also gets its own special treat as well: Easter Bread.  I won't go into too much detail right now, but I am planning to make some while in Paris to share with Romain and friends.  I'll post more about it and try not to forget the photos!

Time to board my flight.  Je vais a Paris encore! 

A bientot!

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