Le Verger at Chambellain in the Loire Valley

I seldom write about my professional activity, A World in a Pan in this blog . But I feel I have to share this experience with you all! One of the tours I offer is a 2 1/2 day/2 night gastronimic tour at Le Verger , luxury Bed & Breakfast near Angers, in the Loire Valley. As you see, we did everything with class! As owner Anthony Murphy says in his website, "Le Verger is a stone manoir built at the turn of the centuryset in a magnificent eight acre secluded private park surrounded by mature trees and lush landscaped grounds just at the entrance of the charming old village of Chambellay".
We hosted a fun food loving international group of nine participants, eager to explore Angevin cuisine. Some highlights: Our welcome drink was a Soupe Angevine ... and as the picture shows .. it's not so much about soup ... This cocktail is made with Cointreau, which is produced near Angers, and Cremant de Loire, a local dry sparkling wine. The menu included "galipettes", giant stuffed mushrooms that we prepared together.
I captured here part of the smiling group in the state-of-the-art spacious kitchen Anthony (in the middle) designed. I recently shared with you my recipe of French Toasts and I am sure Anthony won't mind me sharing his recipe of Pain perdu with you:
Ingredients for 8 servings
1 stick of unsalted butter
1 cup of brown sugar
1 Tbsp of maple syrup (or honey)
a loaf of country style-bread that you let dry one or two days before using
5 free range eggs
1 1/2 cup of light cream (creme fleurette)
1 tsp of vanilla, 1 tsp of Cointreau, a pinch of salt.
Steps:
Melt the butter with the brown sugar and maple syrup in a heavy pan over low heat. Stirr constantly until the sugar has dissolved. Pour into a rectangular baking dish (13 x 9). Cut six 1-inch thick slices of bread and trim the crusts. Squeeze gently the bread slices in one single layer. In a separate bowl beat together the eggs, cream, vanilla, Cointreau, and salt until smooth. Pour over the bread. Cover with a film and keep in the fridge at least 8 hours. Remove the pan from the fridge. Preheat the oven at 350F. When the oven is hot, bake uncovered until pale golden, about 40 minutes. Serve immediately with confectioners sugar.
More adventures in my next post and HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO ALL THE MAMANS! (thank you Joyful for reminding me)