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French desserts – they’re world renowned, world class and mouth-wateringly delicious.

For the times when you can’t be in France but fancy a sweet treat that’s easy to make at home, here are they’re easy to make..

Tarte Reine Claude

This classic French plum tart is fit for royalty, made with greengage plums, known as reine claude (Queen Claude) in France…

Ingredients

1 packet of puff pastry

1.2 kg of plums (greengage)

4 tablespoons almond powder

2 tablespoons brown sugar

Preheat the oven to 190 ° C.

Wash the plums and pit them.

Line a buttered tin with the rolled out puff pastry. It can be quite thick as it soaks up the juice from the plums. Pick the bottom with a fork. Sprinkle the almond powder evenly over the pastry.

Cut the plums in half and arrange them skin side up over the pastry. Sprinkle with brown sugar.

Bake for about 30 minutes. It’s done when you see the plums are caramelised on top!

Serve with vanilla ice cream or Chantilly cream with some grated orange zest…..

Chouquettes

Deliciously simple, moreish little snacks…

Ingredients for 35 chouquettes

25 cl of water

1 tablespoon caster sugar (10g)

5g salt (level teaspoon)

100g butter (cut into cubes)

150 g flour

4 medium eggs

Sugar crystals

Preheat the oven to 200 ° C (Gas Mark 7) and line a tray with baking paper.

Heat the water, salt, sugar and butter in a saucepan stirring constantly. When the butter is completely melted and the liquid brought to a boil remove from the heat.

Pour in the flour in one go and mix with a wooden spoon over a low heat until the dough comes away from the sides of the pan.

Remove from the heat, add the eggs one at a time and mix well.

Place a tablespoon of dough on the baking sheet and leave plenty of space in between for them to rise. Sprinkle the crystal sugar over the dough mounds.

Cook for 15 minutes then lower the thermostat to 175 ° C (Gas mark 6) and cook for a further 15 minutes.

Blackberry and apple clafoutis

You might have had cherry clafoutis but this versatile dessert works well with strawberries too and apple with blackberry!

Ingredients: Serves 4-6

400g apples

125g blackberries

250g crème fraîche

50ml whole milk

Seeds of 1 vanilla pod

3 eggs

100g all-purpose flour

60g fine sugar

Preheat the oven to 180°C and grease a rectangular baking dish of approx. 26 x 18.5cm with butter.

Peel, core and chop the apples. Spread them over the baking dish together with the blackberries.

To make the batter:

In a large bowl, whisk the crème fraîche, milk and vanilla. In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs, flour and sugar. Add to the cream, eggs and vanilla and whisk well.

Pour the batter over the fruit and bake for 35-40 minutes.

Delicious warm or cold, it goes well with ice cream!