Bienvenue a Montreal

The Lobby of Hotel Gault

Ben and I have wanted to go to Montreal for years. For some people this may be an odd choice of cities but for the two of us, it sounded perfect: a beautiful city with amazing food.  Before taking off, we were told that traveling to Montreal was the shortest plane ride to Europe that you will ever take. Neither one of us really believed this statement until we arrived in Quebec.

Duck Poutine from Au Pied du Cochon

It is a fascinating city. For all intents and purposes, it is French. I think that we both knew this but did not fully grasp its French-ness until we arrived and observed that the city was one step away from selling foie gras out of a vending machine. The thing that fascinated me the most about the city was the interplay of the French and English language. An unofficial goal of the trip (after eating our body's weight in food) was to determine the protocol of speaking French versus English. While I failed at determining this protocol, I may have succeeded in being the single individual who eavesdropped on over one hundred conversations only to understand zero of them.

While I would love to share every minute of our trip, I have decided spare you and instead compile a list of my favorite things (starting with the food, of course):

• Au Pied de Cochon
• Au Cinquieme Peche
• Boulangerie Kouign-Amann 
• Engaufrez-vous
• Le Cartet
• Les Givres
• Liverpool House
• Mami Clafoutis
• Olive and Gourmando
• Schwartz's Deli
• St Viateur Bagels
• Atwater Market
• Bota Bota Spa
• Celebrating Ben's birthday over a giant s'more-like ice cream dessert
• Date (not fig) Newtons
• Fantastic street art
• Hotel Gault
• Jean Talon Market
• Happening upon the Folk Festival
• Maple syrup on a stick
  • A group of hipsters rocking a cardboard DJ booth in a vacant lot
  • Observing an odd lack of ducks (yet an odd number of duck entrees...)

Seal Meat, Gnocchi Poutine, Lamb Shank, and Sweet Breads from Au Cinquieme Peche

Kouignamann

Stuffed Waffles from Engaufrez-vous

Pastries from Mamie Clafoutis

An Unforgettable Meal from Liverpool House

Giant Ice Cream Dessert from Les Givres                             

Schwartz's Deli

St. Viateur Bagels

Marche Atwater

Marche Jean Talon

Enjoying an entire lobster at the Marche Jean Talon

Amazing Street Art

Maple Syrup on a Stick

Birthday Cake

I baked my own birthday cake. Some may call this heresy but I like to think of it as being the perfect time to make one hell of a cake. Besides the fact that it fell off of the stand and into my hand three quarters of the way through slicing it, I think that I succeeded in making a killer chocolate and passion fruit cake.

A little bit on passion fruit:

I love it. I love the sweet kind (granadilla) and the sour kind (maracuyá). As passion fruit does not grow anywhere near the US, it is close to impossible to find it unless you want to spend $3 on one piece of fruit. To make matters worse, it is also close to impossible to find passion fruit puree that isn't full of sugar. If you love it as much as I do, I highly recommend splurging on the products from Perfect Puree. They sell purees and concentrates of any fruit that you can think of: raspberry, strawberry, lemon...and any fruit that you may not think of: passion fruit, prickly pear, tamarind, lychee...

---

Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Frosting and Passion Fruit Curd
adapted from Ina Garten, King Arthur Flour

Make the Cake: Preheat oven to 350. Spray or butter two 8" cake pans and line with parchment paper. Spray or butter the parchment paper, as well, and dust with flour. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter and sugars on medium/high speed until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix until combined. Mix the buttermilk, sour cream and coffee in small bowl. On low speed, gradually add the flour mixture and the buttermilk mixture, alternating one third buttermilk then one third flour, ending with the flour. Mix only until blended.

Divide the batter evenly between the two pans (I weigh them to ensure that the batter is even) and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean and they spring back when touched. Cool completely then remove from pans.

Make the frosting: Sift the cocoa, 6 oz. powdered sugar and espresso powder into a bowl. Bring the cream to a simmer on the stove and whisk into the cocoa mixture until smooth. Set aside to cool for about 10-15 minutes.

Beat the butter, salt, and 8 oz. powdered sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and beat until combined.

With the mixer running on low, add the cocoa mixture one spoonful at a time until it is incorporated. Once the mixture is completely added, beat on high for 1-2 minutes until light and fluffy.

Make the curd: Whisk together the egg yolks and sugar in a glass bowl. Whisk in the passion fruit. Place the bowl over a pan of simmering water (a double boiler) and stir with a wooden spoon (or whisk) for 7-10 minutes or until the mixture is thick and no longer falls in a quick stream back into the bowl.

Remove from the heat and strain through a sieve, if needed. Add the butter and stir until combined. Chill until room temperature. This will keep for a few days in the refrigerator.

Cake
1 3/4 cups AP flour
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup butter, room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
2 eggs, room temperature
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup buttermilk, room temperature
1/2 cup sour cream, room temperature
2 tbsp brewed coffee

Chocolate Frosting
5 1/4 oz. unsweetened baking cocoa
6 oz. powdered sugar
1 tsp espresso powder
8 oz. heavy cream
8 oz. butter, room temperature
1/8 tsp salt
8 oz. powdered sugar, sifted
2 tsp vanilla extract

Passion Fruit Curd
4 egg yolks
3 oz. sugar
2 oz. passion fruit puree
2 oz. butter, room temperature, diced

---

Almond Cookies

I do not remember always liking almond desserts but I am pretty sure that I have loved them for at least the last five years.  I started making a gluten free almond cookie in pastry school and have been obsessed with it ever since.  With only five ingredients, this recipe is very easy to make and I guarantee that nobody will be able to eat just one.

---

Almond Cookies
from King Arthur Flour

Make the cookies: Preheat oven to 325°F. In a stand mixer, mix together the almond paste, sugar, and salt until crumbly. Add the lightly beaten egg whites to the almond mixture and mix until smooth. Add the almond extract and mix until combined.

Using a size 100 scoop, scoop the dough onto parchment or silpat lined baking sheets and bake for 15 minutes. Make sure that they cool completely before eating.

I added some chocolate chips to part of the batter which was a great decision, if I may say so myself.  I also think that dried cherries would be tasty...

8 oz. almond paste (Solo or Love n' Bake)
160 grams granulated sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2 large egg whites, lightly beaten
1/4 tsp almond extract

**These measurements only work with Solo or Love n' Bake brand almond paste.  If you choose to use Odense paste, make sure to cut down the paste to 7 oz., the sugar to 3/4 cup, and use only 1 egg white.

---