French Mardi Gras Beignet Recipe: Roucettes from Chartres

HaPy MaRdI gRaS!

For the occasion, I made some "Roucettes" to celebrate and share them with everyone. Those diamond shape beignets looking are called "Roucettes" where I am from. I did not have my grandma recipe but I found one on the net from the city I am originally from, Chartres. I will have to make sure that I will make my Grandma's recipe next year. It is a family recipe. She got it from her mother. her name was Madeleine. After all those years, I finally thought about asking my Grandma when I had her on the phone last Sunday. 

Roucettes de Chartres

Click on the link to get to the recipe from La Recette de Cuisine to get the Recettes Gourmandises: Recette de Roussettes de Chartres. The recipe is in French. However, I will get back to you to translate the recipe, put some of my own pictures and add some comments. I had to add way more flour than the recipe called for and did it entirely from scratch. I did not used a food processor to kneed the dough. I really wanted to add this post today for the occasion. If you are celebrating Mardi Gras, Have a Great Day!

Roucettes de Chartres Recipe

Ingredients:                                                                                                               Serving: Around 70 Roucettes
                                                                                                       
- 500 g flour
- 100 g sugar
- 500 ml milk
- 125 g soft butter
- 3 large eggs
- 20 g fresh yeast or 7 g of instant dry yeast
- 5 g salt
- 1 soup spoon of rum
- Oil (for cooking).


Directions:

1. Warm the milk in the microwave until you reach a temperature between 100 and 110 degree Fahrenheit. Add the yeast with a pinch of sugar. Let the yeast raise about 10 minutes. Make sure to use a large bowl.
2. In another large bowl, mix the flour, sugar and salt. Add the eggs, rum and butter. Pour the milk mixture/yeast mixture slowly and stir well to avoid lumps. You should have an elastic dough or a bread dough texture like. The original recipe called for 500 g of flour but I had to add 1.5 to 2 cups of flour to get the right bread/dough texture.
3. Sprinkle some flour on your working surface and knead the dough for 10 minutes.
4. Shape the dough into a circle. Place it in a greased bowl and cover it with a greased plastic wrap as well and let rise for at least 1 hour (minimum) in a warm place or until the dough has doubled in volume. Click on the following link to check my rising process: http://everythingtitia.blogspot.com/2012/11/laetitias-rosemary-bread.html

After  rising way over 1 hour

After kneading 10 minutes and ready to rise

5. Heat your fryer around 350 to 375 degree Fahrenheit. Make sure that you have at least 2 inches of oil in your fryer.
6. Cut a small piece of your dough and roll it with a rolling pin (5 mm thick). Cut the dough in a diagonal with a fluted pastry wheel cutter (do not use a knife) to give them the shape of a rhombus and you have make a roucette ;-)

Rolling and cutting the dough into rhombus with a fluted pastry wheel cutter

Ready to hit the fryer

7. Once you are sure that your oil is hot enough, place the raw diamond shape dough in the fryer. Fry 2 or 3 roucettes at a time for about 2 to 3 minutes on each side. They need to be between light to brown color.

Roucettes in the making!

8. Put the roucettes on a paper towel to absorbent the excess of oil and sprinkle with powder sugar.
9. You can enjoy them warm with some extra powder sugar or at a later time. Conserve them in an airtight container up to 3 days or freeze them for few months.

Delicious Roucettes!

• What Do I Think About This Recipe?

Roucettes are time consuming. If you decide to make some Roucettes make sure you have time in front of you. It takes around 45 minutes to prepare the dough between letting the yeast/milk set for 10 minutes to rise and kneading which takes 10 minutes as well. Note that you get the equivalent of 2 loaves of bread for the Rousettes' dough. As far a the rolling and frying steps, it takes around 1 hour and half. Rolling and cutting the dough into rhombuses take a long time. I cut some diamonds in advance as I was waiting for the fryer to be ready but had to stop frying them as I was cutting some more diamonds. I could not be at 2 stations at the same time. Some Roucettes were on the verge of being too brown. If you have someone who can check on the frying as you shape the dough it will save you a lot of time. 

Something that I noticed in relation to dough. After the first cut of diamond shape dough, I collected all the extra pieces left over to form another ball to roll flat again. The dough was very elastic which made it somewhat challenging. If you want more like a bread texture after you fried the Rousettes cut small diamond shapes around 2.5 inches. Longer and thinner Rousettes have just empty inside with a tinny touch of crunch. The best way I can describe the taste of a Rousette: A fried soft piece of brioche. There is rum but you cannot taste it at all. I like my Rousettes with some powder sugar. Some people in France like them with jelly. Here it seems that the trend is: honey and cinnamon sugar.

Click on the following link to get to the King's Cake recipe that I made last year: It is king cake time!

Enjoy!

Laetitia :-)

Project: Fixing an Ottoman Seat

An Ottoman for FREE (with a broken seat)

Few weeks ago, I got a double seat faux leather ottoman with a wooden tray in the middle for free. Perfect for the playroom to replace the suitcase where we have all sorts of costumes to play dress up. One side of the ottoman would be perfect to put the dress up clothes away and the other side for the trains and train tracks. It would be great for space saving, sitting and extra playing area. The only thing, I had to fix it before having it functional, safe and secure. 

The thing about this piece of furniture, it was free because one of the seat was obviously broken. However it was in overall good condition. My overall goal for this project was to fix the seat at a very low cost by reusing everything taken apart and using things that I already had at home.

AFTER

BEFORE

On Your Mark, Get Set, Fix It!

Project at a glance

Difficulty level of the project: Easy

Time: 4 hours (including a trip to Home Depot to get a piece of wood)

Cost: $6

Challenge(s): Putting the hinges and side piston by myself. 2 people is better for this task.

Step by Step

1. I took several pictures of before and during the disassembling of the seat to make sure that I was going to rebuilt it the correct way. I had to consider 2 different layering of staples and screws for the hinges and side furniture piston to put back. I had to know where they were placed exactly. A crew on a staple could not be happening.
2. I removed all the staples that held the black thin felt like piece of fabric carefully as well as the ones securing the faux leathe cover. This task was long and tedious. It took me 1 hour and a half. 
3. Assessing the seat problem: I just had to replace piece of wood. I needed a half inch thick of compressed wood which cost me no more than $6. 

   

   Here is the hidden problem

    
4. I measured the dimensions of the original piece of wood and used a jigsaw to cut my new piece of wood.
5. I tried it on the foam cushion to check if it fit perfectly before stapling again.
6. I stapled and stretched the leather like fabric back. For the stapling part, I checked the placement of the staples going back to some pictures that I took I the beginning of this project. 

   

   One side done. Three more to go.

7. At some point, I noticed that the fabric was slightly ripped. To fix this problem, I cut a small piece of "Duck Tape" (I only had white) and placed it on the inside of the fabric to fold the ripped piece of fabric back in the hole.

   

   View on the ripped faux leather

   
   

   

   A nice patch using "Duck Tape"

   

   The seat looks perfect!

   Afterwards, I was able to finish stapling the leather seat cover and the felt fabric on top of the leather. 
8. I crewed the hinges and side piston back. 2 people are better for this part if you want to do it fast. 

   

   The new seat is back at its original place.

9. The seat looks and fit perfectly and the ottoman is a great storage piece of furniture for the messy-fun playroom! 

Having Fun Playing!!!!!

Happy Fixing!

Laetitia :-)

- Valentine's Day Mantel -

- Friday, February 14th, 2014 - Valentine's Day - Vendredi 14 Fevrier 2014 - Le Jour de la Saint Valentin- 

Our Valentine's Day Mantel

For Valentine's Day this year, I decorated our mantel using and re-purposing what we have in the house and found some great (free) printable online. The color palette was: black, grey/silver, red and white. I think that it turned out great for a first time. It was just nice and simple :-) This post is coming late but I really wanted to share our mantel. 

___________________________________________________

On this picture you have a "Silver Heart Love Frame" and a "Love Black Bottle".

• Silver Heart Love Frame

The picture in the frame is from Landeelu. It is a beautiful, nice and simple design but with a lot of character. I put it in a silver frame that I had around the house and voila. I reduced the size of the printable to fit my frame (11 by 9) and printed on strong white paper. Check Landeelu website. She has a lot of great ideas. 

• Black Love Bottle

The black bottle was made several years ago. It was collecting dust in the basement. After all those years, I finally found a purpose for the bottle. That was why, I could not get rid of it. I recycled a clear glass bottle and applied several quotes of black acrylic paint and painted some flowers around it using white. I did not finished it with a clear stain this time. To fit the mantel, I added some ribbons of different colors, patterns and dimensions. I placed them loose around the collar of the bottle. A knot was not good enough to hold it and a double knot was not looking good, so I saw each ribbon together to do the trick. The finishing touch was some tall and thin bamboo looking sticks that I had in the basement collecting dust as well. 

The Valentine's Day printable in the black frame was retrieved for free from How to Nest for Less. I printed it on strong white paper. I only had this black frame which was way too big for a regular 8.5 by 11 in. To cover the empty space to have a mat effect, I used silk paper that I had in my wrapping paper supply that I cut to the dimension on the black frame (18 by 15). My silk paper was a bit wrinkled and fixed it by spaying a little water on it and ironed it on the the low setting. 

Joyeuse St Valentin!

Laetitia :-)

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Suggestions for Next Year

1. Switch from white to red candles.
2. A valentine theme inspired pot for the plant. I saw some nice ones at a thrift store early February.
3. Find or make a red button to sew on the white ribbon - Maybe I should use a small heard piece of wood from my supplies, make some holes and a quote of red paint and stain.
4. Make a small bag using the tutorial of Petite Purls or the design of a traditional rice bag.
5. Replace the plastic heard with one made from a piece of fabric.
6. Add another square frame and print the Heart from Landeelu.

Felt Christmas Tree for Toddlers - Tutorial

- A TRAVELLING CHRISTMAS TREE -

Felt Christmas Tree

It is a long over due project that I have been planning to post since December last year. YES, LAST YEAR! Here I am a year later and on time for the Holiday. Last year, I decided to make a felt Xmas tree for our 2 year old to avoid him to play with the real tree and the ornaments. It did work. He enjoys putting his own ornaments on his tree and travels with it all over the house. It is still a success for this year! It is an easy, quick and FUN Project :-)

Time to Decorate the TREE!

Materials:
- white foam board
- green felt with glitter
- brown felt
- tacky spray
- ribbon
- buttons (depending on the size of your tree)
- glitters (different colors)
- hot glue gun





Steps:


The Tree
1. Cut the white foam board the dimensions of your choice. I made it a little taller than our little boy. My design was very simple: a triangle and a square on one whole piece.
2. Cut and spray glue the brown felt for the trunk and place it at its location on the white board.
3. Cut the green felt a bit bigger than your tree to have some extra to fold it in the back of the white board. Spray of your glue on the board and put the edge of your piece of felt on the bottom edge, to meet the edge of the brown felt, and apply the felt evenly. Turn your tree and apply some spray glue on the extra felt and fold on the back.

View on the Button Ornament Holders 

Ornament Holders
1. Get some buttons (around 15), spray some of your tacky glue, sprinkle some glitter of you choice all over immediately, and let it dry. I let it alone for the entire afternoon.
2. Place your buttons on your tree suiting your mood. As you can see on the picture, you have 2 different styles of button holders. 1) You just have the button that I hot glued which is perfect for an ornament with a string. 2) I hot glued a ribbon (around 4 inches) with the edges on the top and a button at the same time. You now have a loop to hang a hock for your ornaments which require one.

Note: Get your felt early November is you want to have a choice for the brown.

HAPPY HOLIDAY!

Pumpkin Spice Cake Square

Pumpkin Spice Cake Square

My goal was to make a pumpkin bar with an end result looking like a lemon bar in my mind. I should mention that I have never had a piece of pumpkin bar before. After searching and comparing online recipes, I came up with this recipe which turn out to be a cake that I called "Pumpkin Spice Cake Square". Give it a try... and if you happen to have the recipe that I was originally looking for, send it to me. Thanks.

This recipe makes 24 servings.


Ingredients:

• Cake

Out of the Oven

- 4 large eggs
- 1 2/3 cups white sugar
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 t baking powder
- 1 t salt
- 1 t baking soda
- 2 t cinnamon
- 1 t pumpkin spice

• Butter Cream Frosting

- 6 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
- 6 T butter, room temperature
- 3 cups confectioners' sugar

A nice layer of Butter Cream Frosting!

Directions:

1. Preheat oven at 350°F.
2. Spray a 9 by 13 in. glass pan.
3. In a large bowl, beat together the eggs, sugar, oil and pumpkin.
4. In another large bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.
5. Add to wet ingredients to the dry ones and mix very well.
6. Pour the batter in your baking pan and bake for 35 minutes.
7. Remove from oven and let the bake cool down completely.
8. Once the cake is cool, It is time for the frosting. In a large bowl, beat together the cream cheese, butter and confectioner's sugar until you get a nice creamy paste.
9. Immediately evenly spread the frosting on the top of the cake.
10. Cover your cake with clear wrapping paper and put it in the fridge to let the frosting set for 20 to 30 minutes.
11. Cut into squares and serve.

Inspired and adapted from a member of food dot com


What do I think about this recipe?

The cake and frosting are quick and easy to prepare. It would be a perfect dessert to bring without spending all day in the kitchen. Just bake the cake either the night before or early in the morning and it will be perfectly cool to lay the frosting. Note that the cake will rise around 1/2 inch higher than the edges, in the middle.

The cake is definitively moist and light. But do not let this small square fulls you. You will feel satisfied after it. The spices are not overpowering the taste of the cake. It just the right amount. The frosting has a creamy and soft texture. It gives some extra sweet tenderness at each bit.
For a more sophisticated look for a party, I would try to bake the cake in a mini muffin or small square pans, use a piping design of your choice to spray the frosting and add a tiny pinch of cinnamon or pumpkin spice on top of it.

ENJOY!

 Laetitia