I love coconut. Show me a chocolate selection box and I always go ferreting for the coconut ones. There’s that blue one in Quality Street and explain to me what is exactly wrong with a Bounty Bar? So when I found a recipe on German website Vanilletanz, I couldn’t resist. It is a delicious confection…
Chocolate Swirls
I am not the best at chocolate work these swirls are a not hard to do and I firmly recommend trying them out because they are a useful store cupboard item and add a lovely decorative element to a cake or torte. They have made an appearance a couple of times now in various goodies…
Quince and Ginger Cake
In my quest to find new uses for quinces, and a desire not to turn up empty handed to a coffee with a neighbour I decided to try this recipe. I love Ginger Cake and the thought of a quince flavour rater appealed. The recipe comes from Jane McDonald Hunter’s “Quinces – Growing and…
Quince Curd – a qui-luscious treat
The hot dry summer we have had was not good for fruit trees generally, but our quince tree (not the pretty one below) is heading out of its early youth and so for the first time delivered a healthy crop. Quince is quintessentially autumnal, and has a unique flavour profile. They were much used in…
Paillette Feuilletine – Essential Crispy Flakes
You might have noticed that I have gone a little Torte mad recently. What I have discovered is that a crunchy layer is an absolute must for Mousse Tortes and these crispy flakes along with Praline are a must have ingredient. Best of all they can be made in advance and stored away. You can…
60th Birthday Golf Cake
Oh lord – you know you are heading into the deeper parts of middle age when your siblings start to hit their 60’s, which is just what my oldest brother has just done. His eldest kids (ok so they are both in their early 30’s now so hardly kids), organised a surprise party and asked…
Blackcurrant and Violet Mousse Hedeghogs – an absolute delight
These little delights certainly tested my skills and also resulted in a huge thumbs up from my harshest critic, the beloved-whose-palate-must-be-pleased-and-thrilled. They are a delicious confection from Adriano Zumbo (more on him later) consisting of 10 elements based around blackcurrants which certainly tested my skills and used ingredients I have not come across before. The…
Fruity Meringues – a zingy revelation
These little marvels were discovered by me in Adriano Zumbo’s recipe book “The Zumbo Files”. What makes them a total revelation is the freeze dried fruit powder. This is folded into the meringue mixture, and not only does it give the meringues their colour, it also gives them an intense fruit flavour. These one’s are…
Nut Praline
Nut Praline is a patisserie basic that is used to provide crunch and flavour to chocolates and cakes. It was, as with so many other things in the world of patisserie, invented in France by a french chef called Clement Lassagne. It is made by coating roasted nuts in caramel, which is then broken up…
Inverted Sugar Syrup
I have recently done a recipe that called for inverted sugar, an ingredient that I have not come across before. It is used by Patissieres because it crystallises less easily than normal sugar, and baked items made from it tend to retain moisture more easily so have a longer shelf life. It can bought commercially…
Raspberry and Vanilla Buche – leftovers can be fun
The beloved and I have a constant battle over the freezer (actually make that freezers). Our wartime-born mothers taught us that waste is a sin, so all left overs go in the freezer. The problem is they have a tendency never to re-emerge from them. A recent audit revealed some most suspect unlabelled objects that…
Spicy Redcurrant and Rosemary Chutney
In a tiny interlude from baking, I am diverting to the world of preserving, something I haven’t done for a while. I have one redcurrant bush in the garden and providing it is protected from the predations of the local birds, it normally gives a decent crop. This year I forgot to net the bush…
The Cottage Loaf 