Omelette Norvégienne and the beginning of a new year

Here in France, c’est la rentrée! Similar to what we call “back to school” in the United States, la rentrée literally means the return, that is the return to everyday life and sadly, the end of summer vacation.  More than crisp new notebooks or the smell of a fresh box of crayons, the French see the rentrée as the start of a new year, even more so than January 1.  In the spirit of la rentrée, I am looking forward to this year of possibilities, a sort of renaissance where projects once put aside will be taken out of the drawer and dreams will be re-imagined; perhaps finding their way into reality.

One of the advantages of living in France is that most people get a month long summer vacation.  I went home to South Carolina, where I spent three weeks with my family.  Eating and laughing, very good times.  Three weeks goes by too fast, so here I find myself back in Paris with work only a couple days away.  Unpacking suitcases, tidying up the apartment, taking the dog on his walks…but also savoring these last moments of summer.  Perhaps a little dessert wouldn’t hurt.

Allow me to present to you the The August 2010 Daring Bakers’ Challenge, a dessert that can be best described as “nutty and toasty meets cool and creamy.”

The August 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Elissa of 17 and Baking. For the first time, The Daring Bakers partnered with Sugar High Fridays for a co-event and Elissa was the gracious hostess of both.  Using the theme of beurre noisette, or browned butter, Elissa chose to challenge Daring Bakers to make a pound cake to be used either in a Baked Alaska or in Ice Cream Petit Fours.  The sources for Elissa’s challenge were Gourmet magazine and David Lebovitz’s “The Perfect Scoop.”

Just like summer, this dessert is…

going…

…going…

…going…

…going…

gone.

Brown Butter Pound Cake

19 tablespoons (9.5 oz) (275g) unsalted (sweet) butter
2 cups (200g) sifted cake flour (not self-rising; sift before measuring) (See “Note” section for cake flour substitution)
1 teaspoon (5g) baking powder
1/2 teaspoon (3g) salt
1/2 cup (110g) packed light brown sugar
1/3 (75g) cup granulated sugar
4 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F/160°C and put a rack in the center. Butter and flour a 9”x9” (23cmx23cm) square pan.

2. Place the butter in a 10” (25cm) skillet over medium heat. Brown the butter until the milk solids are a dark chocolate brown and the butter smells nutty. (Don’t take your eyes off the butter in case it burns.) Pour into a shallow bowl and chill in the freezer until just congealed, 15-30 minutes.

3. Whisk together cake flour, baking powder, and salt.

4. Beat the brown butter, light brown sugar, and granulated sugar in an electric mixer until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well, and then the vanilla extract.

5. Stir in the flour mixture at low speed until just combined.

6. Scrape the batter into the greased and floured 9”x9” (23cmx23cm) square pan. Smooth the top with a rubber spatula and rap the pan on the counter. Bake until golden brown on top and when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 25 minutes.

7. Cool in the pan 10 minutes. Run a knife along the edge and invert right-side-up onto a cooling rack to cool completely.