Rosemary & Lemon Olive Oil Cake/Gâteau au citron, huile d’olive et romarin

This combo’s been playing on my mind ever since my Apple and Thyme disaster.  It started off oh so excitingly and ended with….. sad, disappointing looks and me, head bowed, scurrying off to facebook to recount the sorry tale.

So there I was in full feeling sorry for myself mode, when one of you suggested I try lemon and rosemary instead. Lemon and Rosemary you say? Hmmm….I said noticing a crafty smile appear on my face.  Just looking at the words together in print was enough to convince me it was a good idea. It just sounded right, the taste in my mind was delicious, yet everytime I tried to picture it. I’d get a flashback  of the muffin that never was, so had to wait until I was fully recovered to try it out and try it I did.

Chestnut and Cocoa Dacquoises/Dacquoises à la châtaigne et cacao

This is the kind of recipe that brings out the bowl licking child in you, one where you stand impatiently in front of the oven, desperately waiting for the goods to be ready and almost burn your fingers when you try to taste them long before they’ve cooled down.  Once the egg whites are out of the way, it’s a pretty simple recipe to make, and I find it’s always the simplest looking recipes that hold the most delicious surprises.

I came up with this recipe trying to create the perfect Christmas biscuit or cookie if you’re a U.S reader.  I mean it’s almost Christmas right? So it’s time to make Christmas cookies….but… I’m not sure why.  It might be just be me or UK-ers in general but I’ve never really got the cookie thing, particularly at Christmas and I have to say , this was one thing I didn’t miss when I was told I was gluten intolerant.  I see those huge boxes of Christmas biscuits in the supermarket but I’ve never really been tempted so I was aiming for a biscuit that wasn’t quite a biscuit and from that idea my Chestnut and Cocoa Dacquoises were born