A few months back one of my favourite little locals dropped a rather tantalising post exulting a new addition to their dessert menu. While I never made it in to try said bowl of deliciousness it certainly set the cogs ticking, and after plenty of delays and distractions this week not only did I get around to trying a recipe I'd had bookmarked for yonks, but also finally looked up what an arlette actually was...
Read MoreA sweet digression
While I'd intended to do something daring with whole spelt, cultured butter and laminations on my day off a forecast of a humid 37°C had me slightly hesitant, and when someone went and mentioned salted fennel custard, well, who was I to pass up on that?...
Read MoreA handy dessert
Having dabbled once or twice in the construction of the humble iced sandwich I've always wondered: what makes the perfect cookie base? Presumably you want something relatively crispy so that you don't end up with a handful of soggy mess. But by the same token, make it too crunchy...
Read MoreThe agony of offcuts
Most bakeries have a few ways of up-cycling their croissant dough scraps: working it into the next batch, or making cruffins or pain au raisin to name but a few. I'd come across croissant (butter) bread once or twice during past visits to the UK, but being something that rarely (if at all) features on menus here I'd kind of let the idea fall by the wayside. That was until...
Read MoreBitter accents
The Danes have a breakfast tradition called Pålægschokolade - a thin slice of dark chocolate that is used as a topping for rugbrød in a simple, indulgent breakfast. This combination of chocolate and rye is an absolute classic...
Read MoreA babka moment
Sometimes the indulgence is not so much in the eating, but rather in the act itself. To take time and just stop. To not rush or do ten things at once, but just sit and watch the steam as it swirls gracefully up from your coffee cup...
Read MoreSticky buns
Since becoming a "professional baker" (who is still very much in-training) I'm often asked if I have a good-slash-favourite recipe for all manner of things, and it's made me realise how poor my collection of stock recipes actually is. Sure, I have a few books and/or cooks-slash-bakers that I tend to turn to first, but...
Read MoreFat Tuesday
Like many of our significant holidays Shrove Tuesday (better known by us heathens as Pancake Day) first began as a pagan celebration, whereby townsfolk marked the changing of the seasons by baking pancakes. Symbolising the hot sun...
Read MoreRhubarb custard buns
Not surprisingly, a lot of the conversations we have at work revolve around food, and so it was that in a recent doughnut-related discussion contrasting the appeal of zany versus classic fillings I was reminded of the infallible combination of rhubarb and custard, and how I'd been meaning to try Dan's rhubarb and custard buns pretty much since time began...
Read MoreDay-old bread
One thing I've found since becoming a baker (in-training, that is) is that I'm often on the look-out for new ways of using up old bread. Toast is, of course, the most obvious option, and we're all pretty familiar with breadcrumbs, French toast and B&B pudding when there's a reasonable chunk of loaf still to get through...
Read More