Ingredients

For the quails

• 8 small quails des Dombes
• 20 g butter
• 6 cl oil
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• 4 cloves garlic
• 8 sprigs thyme
• 50 g coarsely chopped onions
• 1 (small) bay leaf
• 2 juniper berries

For the sauce

• 5 dl brown chicken stock (or meat juice available in retail)
• 50 g finely mashed carrots without salt
• 40 g butter
• 1 pinch of cinnamon
• 30 g wild cranberries
• Salt and pepper to taste

For the carrot cake

• 3 egg yolks
• 100 g sugar
• Grated zest of 1 yellow lemon
• 150 g ground almonds
• 150 g grated carrots
• 40 g starch
• 5 g baking powder
• 1 pinch of salt
• 1 pinch of cinnamon
• 3 egg whites

For the wild cranberry jam

• 300 g wild cranberries
• 1 pinch cinnamon
• 250 g caster sugar
• 1 dl red wine

Decoration

• One bunch of flat-leaved parsley and a little bit of thyme

Mise en place

1. For the carrot cake

Preheat the oven at 180 degrees. Whisk the egg yolks with the sugar and the grated zest. Add all ingredients except for the egg whites. Beat the egg whites until stiff, and fold delicately into the mixture and then pour the dough into a baking form previously lined with baking parchment. Bake the cake in the oven for 25 minutes and let it cool to room temperature.

2. For the cranberry jam

Cook all ingredients until they have reached the consistency of a lukewarm jam. Keep it warm while you wait.

3. For the quails

Place half a garlic clove and 1 sprig of thyme inside of each quail, season this at the last moment, cook them on high heat on the leg side, add the aromatic garnish under the quails and turn them on their backs. Sprinkle with knob of fresh butter and continue the cooking process in the oven, frequently pouring the juice over them (every 5 minutes). Let them rest for 10 minutes on the open door of the oven.

4. For the sauce

Reduce the chicken stock to half, then thicken it with the finely mashed carrots, add cold butter, boil up, season with salt, pepper and cinnamon according to taste, then set aside.

Finishing touch

1. Glaze the quails with a little sauce and return them to the oven.
2. Cut the carrot cake into pieces (2 cm wide slices) and put these slices into the oven.
3. Heat the wild cranberry jam and the sauce.

Presentation

Put a slice of cake at the edge of a warm plate, add a big scoop of cranberry jam and put the caramelised quail on the other side, then add the herbs. Spread the very warm sauce across the quails.

Wine suggestion: Pinot Noir Colline de Géronde