Almond Chocolate Cake Recipe (Moelleux au Chocolat)

Almond chocolate cake is a decadent chocolate dessert. The moist cake is made with blanched, ground almonds, semi-sweet chocolate and very little flour.

It's my best friend Alexia's favorite dessert. I remember one time visiting her in Düsseldorf, Germany, while she was finishing her masters. She picked me up at the train station and I surprised her with a still-warm almond cake. No joke, she finished the whole cake before we got back to her apartment; that's how scrumptious this cake is! Now that I'm back in Paris for the holidays, I can't wait to bake her favorite cake for her again. We haven't seen each other in almost two and a half years and she's getting married soon. While she's eating it again, I might try to embarrass her by re-telling the story to her fiancé. Am I not a wonderful friend?

Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies with Pistachios

Our family loves oatmeal cookies. They are great on their own or with tea, which we consume in large quantities. Oatmeal cookies also make a great palette for other flavors.

This time around, I flavored the cookies with dried cranberries and pistachios. You could also blend other flavorings such as raisins, pear glacé, dried mango, dried cherries or dried apricots and other nuts.

During the holiday season, I like to serve them with eggnog or soynog.

Chewy Pecan Caramels with Cardamom

The key utensil for making chewy caramels is a candy thermometer, as it's the only way to control the temperature of the sugar. A few degrees too high and the candies become hard.   

On a recent trip to San Antonio, we discovered these delicious Texan Pecan praline specialties. We brought a lot of boxes home but unfortunately they disappeared fast. Whenever my father-in-law or my husband come back from a trip to San Antonio, they bring back a boxes of the wonderful Texan delicacies. My mother-in-law always asks: "Honey, did you bring home my "magazines" from your business trip?" She refers to them as magazines because if the kids hear that there are caramels in the house they gobble them up right away.

This recipe is the result of several attempts to make the candies at home. To add my own touch, I flavoured the caramels with cardamom which pairs incredibly well with the crunchy roasted pecans. Until my father-in-law or my husband go back to San Antonio for their work, our family can enjoy these homemade caramels; they're perfect for the holidays!

Roasted Garlic and Cheese Creme Brulee Recipe

If you go through the previous crème brûlée recipes I've shared so far, this savory version will probably raise some eyebrows. It's not that I've run out of ideas for sweet crèmes brûlées; there are plenty more to come. I've just been toying with the idea of making a savory one because I think the creamy custard and crunchy top create a perfect canvas for savory ingredients.

I chose roasted garlic, goat cheese and herbs because they are intensely flavorful and make an excellent camouflage for the egg flavor. For the top, I mixed parmesan cheese and a bit of sugar and then took my blow torch to the mixture.

Savory crèmes brûlées can be quite an original appetizer to serve at your Christmas party. They are uncommon enough to help mark just about any special occasion though.

Peppermint Bark Candy Recipe

Peppermint bark is my husband Lulu's favorite Christmas candies. We usually get it from the store, but this year I thought it would be a nice touch to make it at home. It’s an incredibly simple recipe and makes a great gift. I made a large batch and hid the most of it from Lulu so that I can distribute it to friends and family.

To prepare peppermint bark, all you need to do is melt two kinds of chocolate and add a sprinkle of crushed candy canes. I made this with the traditional candies, but you could be more creative and replace the peppermint candy canes with chopped nuts, crushed pretzels, crushed cookies (such as ginger snap cookies) or other candies such as M&Ms or even chopped peanut butter cups. The possibilities are endless.