This afternoon, I had a powerful craving for apple tartes from Poilâne, the legendary boulangerie of sourdough perfection on Rue du Cherche-Midi in the Sixth Arrondissement of Paris. I have typically passed by it each Saturday afternoon to pick up several slices of the dark, fragrant bread. Toast one and slather it with salted butter and cherry confiture, and you’ll understand why foreigners have bought plane tickets to transport these loaves.
Miniature apple tartes are always stacked up in the window. The caramelized apples glisten under amber syrup and are cradled in a buttery, golden shell. I usually take one too.
Then, if I’m craving a noisette to accompany my dessert, I continue onto Rue Bonaparte and turn towards the Café de la Mairie. The tables are cheerful under red awnings, and the servers let you nibble on pastries from nearby boulangeries, which is typically interdit/forbidden in Paris.
But today, instead of the gorgeously crunch-worthy slices of sourdough bread and luxurious apple tarte, I turned to the recipe of a fellow Paris-lover — Dorie Greenspan — for an afternoon treat at home.
Her acclaimed recipe is called the “Three Ingredient Almond Crackle Cookies.”
As I wrote in my prior post, I’ve recently started a three-week cleanse. What has not worked for me in embracing this ritual is the omission of luxury — a delicious bite to look forward to each day.
Dorie helped me crack the code this afternoon of how to introduce dessert into my day, as my cleanse allows most foods except sugar, gluten, wine, coffee, and dairy (all the ingredients I love!) for the next few weeks.
This my adaptation of her recipe. It was an exquisite feeling to crunch into a hot, satisfying cookie that I whipped up in 20 minutes.
All I needed was a hot chocolate to accompany it, but for now…this dessert only takes three ingredients.
The sugar-free version is:
Whisk together 1 egg white and 6 tbsp. xylitol, then add 1 1/2 cups crushed or sliced almonds. Spoon out the mixture onto Silpat and bake for 20 minutes in a 325 degree F oven.
You will momentarily forget your Poilâne craving.
Bon Appétit.
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