CHAMPAGNE !

Something to celebrate...any excuse!


Everytime I bring out my grandmother's champagne bowls, all the chaps launch into a frenzy about how they were designed around Marie Antoinette's boobs so that France could drink to her health...

I always silently wonder who my oversized Ikea champagne flute was designed after... 


After having read article after article about the global-crisis, trying to decipher any hints that we are coming out of it, I finally have a piece of good news.

Market indicator...?
Champagne sales rose globally by 8% in 2010!!

Not only have sales risen but the sales of quality champagne have also increased. No more "under 10 Euro" bottles next year..the consumer prefers to pay more for better quality. 

Does this mean we are coming out of the doldrums? Could this be an indicator that we are rolling out of the crisis? This DesperateAngloHousewife has been smiling ever since she heard the good news... I may even buy a bottle this weekend and join the movement.

Out with the champagne flutes and fantasy!

And now for a thoroughly sexy dessert...

Gratin de framboises au champagne/ Raspberry and Champagne Gratin

200 gr raspberries
100 gr fine white sugar
a little water
100 gr cream
3 egg yolks
2 gelatine leaves
10 cl  champagne ( plus a flute for the chefess!)
7 biscuits à la cuillère/ sponge fingers
1 tablespoon raspberry liqueur
50 gr toasted almond slithers

Pre-heat grill, high temp.
Dampen the gelatine leaves in a saucer of cold water.
Whip the cream and set aside.
Make a sugar syrup with the sugar and water (2 Tb at tops).
Put the egg yolks in a bowl and add the gelatine leaves and sugar syrup ( wipe them well) whisking energetically until thick. 
Add the whipped cream and raspbery liqueur to this mixture.
Dip the biscuits in the champagne and lay them out in a plat à gratin ( a shallow porcelain baking dish, one you can serve at the table). 
Cover them with the raspberries and gently pour the egg yolk mixture over the top.
Grill quickly until the topping bubbles...serve immediately with more champagne!

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