Walkers' Ginger Chocolate Tartelettes

When the generous folks at Walkers offered me the opportunity to blog about their Biscuits and Oatcakes, I jumped at the chance. After all, what's better than blogging about the things you love? 

I became smitten with Walkers while I was flying London trips.  I would bring home my family's favorite biscuits. Heaven forbid we should live without Walkers' Oatcakes, Stem Ginger Biscuits, Shortbread Petticoats or those yummy Butter Digestive Biscuits.  Now these are all available on line at www.walkersus.com. It's nice to know you no longer have to travel to the UK to get the Walkers you love! 

One of my favorite pie crusts is made with the Stem Ginger Biscuits. Full of the sharpness of ginger, these biscuits are a top notch pie crumb ingredient.

It's a fairly simple recipe. Crumbs, sugar, powered ginger and butter. Press it into your pan and bake with or without your filling. Baking without the filling ensures a crunchy crust.  Tartlettes are a favorite at our house, so I usually make a dozen and always try to smuggle a few to the neighbors.

These bittersweet ginger tartelettes are very rich and addictive, so be warned! The ginger flavor of the crust marries well with the dark chocolate ganache. A dollop of whipped cream and the bite of candied ginger makes for a wonderful presentation.

Walkers Stem Ginger Tartelettes

Down load recipe here.

Walkers Stem  Ginger Biscuits Crust

For 12 tartelettes 

1 1/2 cups finely ground Walkers Stem Ginger Biscuits

1/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon ground ginger

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Grind the cookies finely in a food processor, or place the cookies in a plastic bag and pound with a rolling pin until finely crumbled.

Stir in the sugar and ginger, blend well. Add the melted butter and toss making sure to moisten all the crumbs. Press into a tartelette pan. If you are using tartelette shells, making a once the crumbs are patted into the shell, place another tartelette shell of the same diameter on the top and press to evenly distribute the crumbs.

I baked the tartelette for 10 minutes at 350 degrees to dry the crust out and to keep it crunchy. 

Bittersweet Chocolate Ganache

Honestly, I just throw my ganache together. Here's a basic recipe you can change to your hearts delight. 

The ratio is 2:1 for chocolate and liquids.

12 ounces bittersweet chocolate

6 ounces heavy whipping cream

If you can find it, 2 tablespoons of The King's Ginger Liqueur makes a lovely accent

when added to the ganache.

Place the chocolate in a food processor and chop finely. Bring the cream to a boil, and pour it over the chocolate through the feed tube, while the processor is running. Allow to thicken.

Pour into a bowl and spoon or pipe into the shells.

If you are making the ganache by hand, chop the chocolate and place it in a bowl. Pour the boiled cream over the chocolate and allow to rest for 1 minute. Whisk the chocolate and cream together until the chocolate is melted and smooth. 

Spoon or pipe the ganache into the tartelette shells and allow to cool. 

Garnish with whipped cream and diced candied ginger.

Stay tuned for more Walkers recipes.

All recipes and Texts are property of The Gypsy Chef.

A Feast for the Eyes, Giverny

After this.

We all need a lot of this.

 

When I was in Paris in October, my friend Kelly asked me what I would like to do. Without a moments hesitation I said, "Giverny". We spent the day surrounded by beauty, color, fragrance and light dazzled our senses. Now it's time to share that experience. To all my friends that have been stranded by winter storms, I offer you a feast for the eyes. Enjoy, you deserve it.

 

 

 

 Kelly and the quintessential Frenchman.

And of course nothing was complete with a delicious lunch. 

Pate served on country bread with salad dressed in vinaigrette.

All text and photographs are property of The Gypsy Chef.

A Walk through the French Countryside

One of the nicest things about being in the French countryside is the lovely walks one can enjoy in the fall. We decided to walk to town and enjoy lunch at a local bistro, Kiki and Minou. What better way to work up an appetite?

The view was spectacular. Newly plowed fields, an occasion a cow and of course clumps of trees looking as though they were designed by a local landscaper. They sky was cloudy and a bit dark, but we decided to carry umbrella's to ensure it wouldn't rain. Besides we had Olivier on stand-by to pick us up. After all, we are sugar and we wouldn't want to melt.

French Town signs are so charming. They really tell it like it is.

Welcome to Espinesse Vozelle.

You are now leaving .....make no bones about it.

 

Lots of wild flowers were found along the route. This Queen Ann's Lace, or Chigger Bush as we called it in Ohio,  was just blooming.

We passed picturesque homes and gardens.

I love this driveway mirror.

Looks to good to be true, doesn't it?

Les Creux, means Slack periods.

The way I post my blog these days I should hang this sign over my own front door!

What was truly wonderful were the flowers that had taken route in the most unexpected places.

I am always a sucker for flowers falling over a fence.

The local school was charming, like a WW2 movie set. 

For some reason this place caught my heart. maybe it was the pink door and blue shutters. It just kept calling my name. " Pam, fill my yard with flowers, build a fountain, cook in my kitchen."

Something about those blue shutters....

And of course pink roses!

We posed under the road sign. It seemed like the perfect opportunity to just close your eyes and choose a destination.

And then the food!
But that's another blog.
 

All photos and text are property of The Gypsy Chef

Happy New Year!

Taken by DJ Cushenberry

Happy New Year Everyone!

I hope all your dreams come true!

Blackberry Picking

The lane leading to Jardins des Thevenets is lined with Blackberry bushes. One afternoon Tami, Kelly and Susan came back with handfuls of berries. They were so delicious we decided to return and pick a few bowls of them for breakfast.

On the walk we passed century old buildings.

Bits of  pieces of charm littered the path.

Windows were dressed with graceful branches and wild roses .

There were flowers everywhere.

Even the barn has that certain French charm:-)

Tami found the choicest berries.

Kelly managed to look chic even though she was being pricked.....

We used the berries for breakfast, served in a large compote dish they were a lovely addition to the yogurt.

They were so sweet we decided to use them for these delicious dessert verrines. Layers of berries, whipped cream and Speculos cookies were a light but satisfying sweet. As Lynn would say, "It was sufficient."

All photos and text are property of The Gypsy Chef.