1. Chocolate lava cake (*fondant au chocolat)

Of course it is here ! The first one is unbeatable; even with all the new dessert we discover from different countries or invented, the chocolate lava cake is our little jewel. It needs to be perfectly cooked, not too much and not too sweet to taste the delicious chocolate flavor. It’s my must-have. I’m completely in love with it, and it’s a safe bet when you have some guests to dinner.

In some restaurants, it will be written on the menu that they will ask more delay to serve it. It’s that it’s not cooked already and they will just ask you to wait for them to prepare it at the order.

Go for it at least once in your life, and don’t hesitate to taste this beauty from home right now, thanks to my recipe just here.

2. Crêpes

My sweetest childhood memory! I love to eat crepes, but I don’t like making them! Yes, I know that I’m not supposed to tell you that… It’s a really easy recipe for us as anyone, even the person who completely doesn’t know how to cook, knows how to make crepe and have the right pan at home. It’s just that it takes more time than other cakes as you have to cook each crepe one by one.
My dad was the king of the crepe! No precise proportion with the ingredients he always said: “à l’œil” (=roughly), not so easy to learn to make them!!
The bonus with them is that you could taste them the sweet or salty (if you don’t put sugar in the ingredients). It’s really convivial as everyone tastes the same thing, but could choose a different flavor inside.
The perfect recipe for a Sunday afternoon in the family.

Here in France we have a restaurant specialized in crepe. They only serve this on their menu. For the salty part, they propose “Galette” that are made with another flour, the buckwheat one, which gives them a dark color. It’s a specialty from Brittany.
These restaurants are named “Crêperie”, and you could enjoy a glass of cider with them, so classic and delicious !

3. Chocolate mousse (*mousse au chocolat)

Really light and with a nice chocolate taste, this recipe is a real success as well. As it’s composed essentially of chocolate, I’m more than happy with this dessert, as you can imagine.
For me, it’s really important for it to be really light with a lot of air inside; otherwise, I think it’s a little bit too dense.
This recipe is really easy and does not count many ingredients inside (3 to 4). Just be careful as you will use raw eggs to take really fresh ones to bake it.

4. Floating island (*Ile flottante)

This dessert is composed of eggs. You will find on the bottom a delicious vanilla custard (named Crème anglaise), white eggs whisk with a little bit of sugar and cook in the oven (not as a meringue, they stay really light and fluffy in this recipe. They are called “oeuf à la neige), and a caramel sauce on the top.
My grandmother adds as well some flaked almonds on the top. She just roasted a little bit in the oven to bring some crunchy at this recipe.

It’s basic here in France, with not too many ingredients as well. For me, with these basics, you have to be really precise and really good with the taste as you don’t have a lot of things around to rectify if an element is not good.

To be honest, it’s been a while since I saw this dessert on a menu. I’m more used to eating this recipe at my grandmother’s house.
It’s a good basic to taste.

5. Apple tart (*Tarte aux pommes)

In a rustic or more sophisticated way, the apple tart is always a good idea, and the apples are easy to find all year long in our supermarkets.
With a delicious homemade crust, it’s always a good idea.
We have different ways to bake them :
– The “traditional” with some apple sauce on your crust, your apple slices, some small pieces of butter on the top and some sugar to allow it to caramelize a little bit
– The previous version, but with some almond powder instead of the apple sauce on the bottom
– The one with a pastry cream in the bottom and apple slices on the top
– The apple tart with a frangipane on the bottom and apple slices on the top
– And the “Tarte Normande” with a filling composed of thick cream, eggs, sugar. They are higher than the other one to have a nice quantity of filling

Yes, we have plenty of different types of apple tart here, and I’m not mentioning the “Tarte Tatin”…
The basic one, the traditional one, is the easiest and the most common, I think. And it’s probably the one mentioned in this statistics, but I advise you to taste them all and find the one you prefer 🙂

6. Crème brulée

Some French pastries have no translation like this little one.
The Crème brûlée is an individual dessert composed of a vanilla filling cooked in a small pan traditionally made in terra-cotta.
They are cooked slowly in the oven. When they are done, just before serving them, you add some brown sugar on the top and burn the top with a welding torch to create a caramel surface on the top.
You will have the crunchy caramel layer and the delicious smooth vanilla below; it’s delicious.
The vanilla flavor is the traditional one, but you can now find many different flavors as chocolate, coconut, lemon, passion fruit, and so much more.
Try first the vanilla. That is, for me, the best one !

Even if it’s really easy, unfortunately, many places bought pre-made filling where you just have to add some water to create it… Not the best way to taste this delicious recipe, so why not going for a homemade version ? 

7. Profiteroles

For years, this recipe was my first choice when I went to eat at the restaurant. As it’s really “easy” compared to other recipes, there is less risk of having one that is not homemade. It doesn’t cost a lot to make it to the restaurant, and it’s so gourmand.
Be careful; if you’re already full, I advise you to take one for two people. At the restaurant, it’s always a huge quantity that is served. I don’t know why, maybe because it doesn’t cost a lot, but they usually serve two to three big choux with all the chocolate on the top and the chantilly cream.
If you cannot wait to go to the restaurant here to taste them, you can find the delicious homemade recipe in my choux pastry class just here. You will learn how to be the next Choux pastry chef and master the profiteroles recipe.