salty and sweet ice cream

Chocolate Caramel Ice Cream with a pinch of salt

just like a salted caramel

I have always loved the salty sweet combination of dark chocolate pretzels and salted caramel. So, while Meme watched French Kiss (one of my favorite films) I made a sweet and savory ice cream ... Chocolate Caramel Ice Cream sprinkled with sea salt. The ice cream tasted like the perfect salted caramel. Watching Marc's dad and Meme scrape their bowls clean made me so HAPPY. This week has been filled with recipes, family stories, lessons in the kitchen, adventures, sight seeing, and birthday celebrations that made turning 28 ... extraordinary. I hope all of you have a wonderful weekend!! And, what is your recipe for a perfect weekend?

Chocolate Caramel Ice Cream
sprinkled with a pinch of salt

3/4 cup sugar
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/4 tsp of salt
3 egg yolks
3 tbsp of unsweetened cocoa powder
2-3oz of chopped semisweet chocolate
Caramel sauce (fleur de sel from Trader Joes is what I used)
1/2 cup half and half (chilled)
1 cup heavy whipping cream (chilled)
1 tsp of vanilla

In a medium pot, simmer your sugar, the first cup of heavy cream, salt, and cocoa powder (do not let this mixture boil)

Once simmering, remove from the stove and add half of the mixture into your egg yolks. You will need to make sure the bowl you use for egg yolks is large enough for your cream mixture. Make sure to whisk the entire time while adding your cream mixture. Add the remaining cream mixture and whisk.

Pour mixture into your medium sized pot and place on the stove watching closely and whisking until the mixture thickens. The mixture will turn into what I think looks and tastes like chocolate pudding. Don't worry, this makes for an incredibly smooth ice cream.

Once the mixture is thick enough (can coat the back of a wooden spoon) place mixture in a glass bowl and make a water bath. Let the mixture sit for a half hour.

Next, remove from water bath and place the mixture in the fridge for an hour or until cool.

When the mixture is cool, add the vanilla, heavy cream, and half and half. Stir until completely mixed.

Add to your ice cream maker for about  45-60 minutes. When your ice cream is thick enough add your caramel. Turn off ice cream maker and place ice cream in the freezer until serving.

Drizzle a pinch or two of sea salt or kosher salt over the ice cream when serving.

ENJOY! Bisous.

oh what a Sundae

a Sundae to share at Auberge du Soleil

This past weekend involved: conversations in French, lots of wine, copious amounts of cheese, an endless amount of adventuring in the Napa Valley, champagne, and a visit from Marc's Meme. She is 87 and is filled with life. I love spending time with family as it always makes me reflect on what is important.

Meme's secret to being happy ... 

Live a good life, be good to everyone, 

and 

every night enjoy a little cheese and wine!!! 

C'est La Vie to that!! 

Life
Found: the best sundae in the Napa Valley or rather anywhere
for a tasty Summer Salad recipe: check out my post over at the Glitter Guide ... From Market to Table
loving: lazy Summer days
embracing: a new habit ... early morning yoga

Bisous!

too much wine: a delicious cake disaster

the culprit

pouring the batter

tasting the batter

mixing the frosting

tasting the frosting

pouring the Red Velvet

smiling

admiring 

frosting 

 yum.

hmmm.

we blame it on the zin!! 

still smiling

What would Master Chef say?

It was still delicious!

Note to self: DO NOT TRY AND DECORATE A CAKE AFTER A COUPLE GLASSES OF RED VELVET WINE. 

I absolutely love Guava Cake and the Guava Cake from Akis bakery is pretty much out of this world. So, my friend Monica and I got together last week and tried to make a Guava Cake. We measured, sifted, mixed, and waited. We had high hopes for the cake as it looked perfect when it came out of the oven. The frosting was made to perfection and tasted heavenly. So, while the cake cooled, we drank a couple of glasses of Cupcake's Red Velvet Zin (note: if you haven't tried it .. do so) and enjoyed a dinner of lentil stew. Once the cake cooled we started frosting and quickly found out that decorating a cake after a couple of glasses of Red Velvet wine makes for a rather delicious cake disaster. We could not help but laugh ourselves silly when we took a look at our frosting job. I thought it would be only fair to let Coeur de La readers in on the cake decorating disaster and even with the drippy frosting the cake tasted incredible. Happy Baking! Bisous.


Lately
ice cream gone wrong: do not read blogs while trying to make ice cream
frosting gone wrong: too much wine equals a hot mess but a fun night
timers: do not forget to set your timer
embrace: the disasters
try: try try try again
always: laugh at your baking mistakes and if edible make sure to still enjoy them

good food and good friends

Barefoot Coffee

made to perfection

an iced voodoo

waiting at Bakesale Betty

 and having serious conversations about food

worth waiting for: a chicken sandwich and a lemon freeze ... sooo good

Lauren

sweet.

ICI

ice cream with friends

Summer!

Eat, Drink, Laugh, Repeat!!

One of my favorite things to do when friends visit is take them on foodie adventures.  And, it always helps when the friends that are visiting are easy going, fun, and an all around great couple. On Friday we took Lauren and Craig to Barefoot Coffee for signature coffees. Craig is a coffee connoisseur and Lauren loves here espresso. My drink of choice is an iced voodoo ... think rich chocolate with coconut over ice ... so tasty. The boys ordered their coffee drinks and the girls stuck with voodoos.

After a coffee outing that had us: babbling about new food carts in Portland, me dreaming about getting back up to Portland at some point this Summer, and all of us laughing because we were happy to see each other ... we headed to Berkeley for Bakesale Betty and Ici. The line at Bakesale Betty was long but we waited and boy was it worth it. The chicken sandwich is INCREDIBLE. For dessert, we stopped on College Avenue for ice cream at ICI. It was nice that the the most difficult thing for us was picking a flavor. I settled on a Plum Sorbet that was light and so refreshing. After ice cream we traveled home and relaxed before an evening bbq. That evening our friends Daniel and Monica joined all of us in the park for a re-creation of our favorite burger ... a Jucy Lucy. The evening ended with coconut popsicles and lots of laughs. And what's better than an evening with good friends, good food, and good laughs?!


Tasty Places
Bakesale Betty: order their Chicken Sandwich
Try: the Lemon Freeze at Bakesale Betty
ICI: GO already
When Friends visit: make dinners too
Summer: Keep dessert simple ... popsicles NEVER FAIL
Stil Giddy about: this
Happy Tuesday! Bisous.

good morning and the Glitter Guide

I woke up this morning feeling GREAT ... after a weekend filled with good food, sweet friends, and a 10k race that made me happy, there is not a bone in my body that isn't smiling. And, what I am even more excited about is a Farmers' Market article that I worked on that is up at Glitter Guide. Sterling Style was one of the first blogs I started following as I loved Taylor's versatile style. So, imagine how excited I was when she asked me to do a piece on what I love, Farmers' Markets!! Thanks lovely ladies of the Glitter Guide!!! This week on Coeur de La ... stay tuned for: a couple of recipes, a foodie adventure recap, and a surprise or two.
Happy Monday! Bisous.
Check out the full farmers' market article here via the Glitter Guide

Des Amis

my favorite drink: a lilikoi margarita

smitten

a ham and gruyére crepe

a lentil crepe

hummus after a day at the beach

I can't wait to go back

dessert

If I had to pick my favorite type of restaurant it would be ... a place with a great outdoor ambiance, drinks made with fresh fruit, crepes that remind me of being in Paris, and a place where I can sit with friends for hours. It just so happened I found a place like this in Maui ... Cafe Des Amis. I was smitten as soon as I saw the back patio: twinkly lights, light music, and the smell of crepes lingered in the Maui air. I pretty much was in heaven when I saw that they had Lilikoi Margaritas. As all of you know, I have an obsession with lilikois (passion fruit) now. The margarita was hands down the best drink I have ever had ... so good I had two!! So, if and when you frequent Maui, make sure to head to Paia and visit Cafe Des Amis!! Happy Thursday. Bisous.

Cafe Des Amis
location: Paia, Maui
crepe to order: the lentil or the ham and gruyére
drink: order the lilikoi margarita
dessert: order the lilikoi margarita
ambiance: blissful
try: the hummus
end the night with: pineapple and coconut gelato at ONO gelato

Summer

my mornings: carrot orange pineapple juice

breakfast pizza

summer festivals

playing games at festivals

summer drinks

afternoon snacks: strawberry beet juice

Maui

wishing I was back here

remembering this drink: a lava flow

fancying: sushi

summer drives in Maui

admiring

backyard barbecue beverages: root beer

loving new pizzas: a bananas foster pizza

summer flavors: raspberry rose sorbet from The Penny Ice Creamery

long hikes

Summer

reading: A Pig in Provence

loving: day trips to Farmers' Markets

enjoying: my juicer ... I make juice every morning

running: 4-5 miles on my favorite trails

hoping: to make a road trip to Portland and San Diego

favorite meal: breakfast

excited: my sweet friend Lauren visits in two days

working on: photography projects

eating: lots of fruits and veggies

drinking: Paris tea with a little milk and sugar

latest find: thanks to a good friend ... I've been introduced to Cupcake Zin Red Velvet ... so good

found: my walking shoes for Paris (September can't come soon enough)

channeling: my creativity as I shoot another wedding in August

cleaning: my closets

cooking disaster: ice cream ... yes, I left my cream mixture on the stove too long 

preparing: for my race on Saturday

latest obsession: Raspberry Rose sorbet from The Penny Ice Creamery

craving: Banana's Foster Pizza made in our friend's wood fired oven

wishing: I was back in Maui relaxing

I hope all of you are enjoying Summer!! Feel free to make a list like this and send me the link to your blog post ... I would love to see what you've been up to. Happy Summer!

Bisous.