Figs, figs and more figs!  Our little fig tree has really over achieved this year! Big, fat, juicy green figs with the most succulent deep red interior.  A true taste of summer.  But we have sooo many! We have given figs to all the neighbors, I have made jam twice, we eat figs with the local jambon de Bayonne regularly.

Here is a quick and easy dessert using fresh figs, that bakes in the oven in just minutes, or, as I did, covered on the barbeque.

Cafe Presse also has spring desserts! Check out these great new inspirations from pastry chef Allyson Lanter. And of course we still have our traditional French sundae La Dame Blanche, as well as chocolat chaud, house made caramels, ice creams and sorbets.

Coupes Glacées are one of the specialties of French cooking that tend to be less known to the rest of the world.  This relative obscurity may stem from the fact that the French didn’t invent ice cream (who did? You may well ask, as it is a topic of much debate. See Elizabeth David’s excellent Harvest of the cold months for what must surely be the definitive study of the question).  But the fact remains that one finds Coupes Glacées or ice cream sundaes in small restaurants across France.

At Cafe Presse, we decided to honor this frozen tradition by featuring our pastry chef’s excellent house-made ice creams and sorbets in our own frozen coupes.  For the summer 2018 menu, we are featuring one of the grand classics of frozen coupes, La Dame Blanche.  This sundae is made with vanilla bean ice cream, warm chocolate sauce, broken chocolate cookies and fresh whipped cream.

Also on the new menu, our seasonal coupe filled with nectarine sorbet, crunchy meringue, summer berries and rose syrup.

Or if you prefer your ice cream or sorbet straight no chaser, choose your two scoops from all the ice cream and sorbet flavors featured on our summer menu or opt for the chef’s daily seasonal ice cream or sorbet creation.