Five Homemade French Food Gifts from the Bonne Femme Cookbook

Some of the recipes in The Bonne Femme Cookbook will make lovely gifts for the food-enthusiast in your life. Of course, the cookbook itself would be a nice little gift, too. How about giving both?

Here are the gift ideas:

1. Caramel Sauce, page 379

My caramel sauce is a deep-brown one, like this. Photo by annieseats via flickr.

2. Cherry or Raspberry Coulis, page 375

Yes, cherries and raspberries are out of season. So yes, you can use frozen fruit! It will make a perfectly intense fruit coulis. Photo by inthekitchen via flickr.

3. Tapenade, Black or Green (pages 6 and 7, respectively, or find the recipe here.)

Make a few batches. Present them in small jars, maybe alongside some great crackers and a bottle of wine. Photo by Marxfoods.com via flickr. 

3. Winter Compote for Cheese, page 328 (or find the recipe here)

Winter Compote for Cheese. Present it in lovely beribboned jars, tucked into a gift basket with a few wedges of French cheese. Photo by Richard Swearinger.

4. Chocolate-Cherry Pound Cake Bonne Femme (find the recipe here)

Wrap up this beauty in silver foil with a big red bow. Tell the recipient that it freezes well if they wish to keep it a while (though they’ll probably want to dig into it right away).

5. Madeleines, page 366 and 368 (or find the recipe here)

I love these little tea cakes, but unfortunately, they don’t keep that well. Offer them as a hostess gift to someone who will likely enjoy (or share) them that day.

Keep in mind that some of these items do need to be refrigerated (as specified in the recipe). If that’s the case, remind the recipient to stash them in the fridge to store.

What? No time to cook? Why not send someone a copy of my Braiser Cookbook. They don’t have to have a braiser to make these recipes (as I explain in the book a Dutch oven works great). At $2.99, this is hardly more expensive than a Christmas card—and so much more useful!

A fun gift you can give instantaneously.

Merry Christmas to all!