At New Year’s people might make resolutions to get fit, study more or watch less Netflix.  But some of us draw up lists of things to bake.  Lol.  I’ve been very slow this year and it’s already March but here are my plans and a quick look at last year’s most popular blog posts as I pause for reflexion and inspiration.  Hmmm… what should I bake in 2020?  Any ideas?  What could be useful?  And why are my most popular creations almost all beige-coloured?!  Anyway here goes with my annual excuse for looking at cake stuff.

The top 9 most visited posts are in the main photo.  Below you can see runner-up numbers 10 to 18.  Quite a lot of beige.  Sigh.  I like colours but will get over it as these are super yummy useful recipes that deserve to be here.

Statistics

Here’s a screenshot of the top 20 stats from my wordpress blog, for people into that kind of thing.

Numbers 19 and 20

Complete list with links (click for recipe).

This includes many posts from the 2018 list but shuffled around with four new additions (in bold) including two sourdough bakes and one ‘healthier’ optionally refined sugar-free and glutenfree recipe. Yay!  The mycryo cocoa butter post makes me wonder if more people are now trying out this relatively new product.

1. Neutral mirror glaze (nappage neutre)
2. Dreams of Florence caramel and raspberry dome cakes
3. Easy fresh raspberry jelly layer/insert for tarts and mousse cakes
4. Creamy flan parisien (French custard tart)
5. Savoury goats cheese macarons with fig, walnut and black sesame
6. Earl Grey melting moments biscuits (cookies)
7. Kanelsnurrer, Scandinavian cinnamon and cardamom twist buns
8. Healthier sourdough orange and lemon cake
9. Gâteau Moka
10. Creamy caramel mousse for entremets
11. Pâtes de fruits, French fruit jellies
12. Making thin decorative shapes with tempered chocolate
13. French meringue discs and nests
14. Lining a French tart ring with pastry and blind baking
15. Caramel mirror glaze
16. Inverted or inverse puff pastry
17. Healthier pineapple tarts with honey or maple syrup
18. Pumpkin and chocolate buns, sourdough or instant yeast
19. Chinese baozi (steamed bun) dough recipe
20. Tempering chocolate – easier with mycryo cocoa butter

Lots of the French-style pâtisserie stuff is refusing to budge from the top 20, which is fair enough.  I mean French cakes are soooo good and Google sometimes kindly allows mine to be on the first or second search page.   Can’t really get my head around marketing but I do like making and eating cakes… 🙂  So let’s look at 2019 and baking plans for 2020.

What happened in 2019?

I managed to post around half the stuff on last year’s to-bake list (see ticks) which is pretty good for me!  But I’ve decided not to make figgy pudding again and I’m not sure about black olive jellies – they’re a bit weird (which is also why I liked them).  Anyway, here’s what was posted.

1. Gingerbread village cake √
2. Vegan macadamia cookies √
3. Cannelés
4. Bungeoppang (aka Taiyaki) fish-shaped snacks
5. Double tree Hilton cookies √
6. Vegan raspberry coconut layer cake
7. Black olive jellies
8. Gâteau Basque √ (with healthier and glutenfree options)
9. Brioches Polonaises √ – with sourdough brioche (in basics section)
10. Figgy pudding (nearer Christmas time)
11. Sourdough bread pudding √
12. More sourdough bakes plus some stuff from last year’s list! (some) √

All so yummy.  But my favourite unplanned bakes were the Burnt Basque cheesecake – so easy and amazingly tasty – my black sesame, raspberry and matcha layer cake and the raspberry, lychee and rose loaf cake.  In 2020 I’d like to make these again!  Yum.

So what about 2020?

Sourdough

I’ve been exploring sourdough bakes the last few years and really enjoyed the amazing online sourdough series and pastry courses at Sourdough Schoolhouse.  I got very carried away making sourdough brioche and bagels and have just started their glutenfree course with Marissa – loving the flavours and flours like sorghum and tapioca starch!  I also recommend Emmanuel Hadjiandreous’s How to Make Sourdough book for its simple clear approach – his cranberry and ginger stollen is divine!  Will definitely be baking more sourdough this year.  As well as making the usual glutenfree lower sugar stuff and refining some French or Swedish creations!

And also…

The very vague list (the ones in bold have been posted – click on them to go to the blog recipe)

1. Dulce de leche chocolate cake (decorated for Easter) ✓
2. A new sourdough cake – Mojito oblivion sourdough brioche layer cake ✓
3. Sourdough stollen
4. A version of the World’s Best Cake
5. Puff pastry mini cakes like puits d’amour or pont neuf pastries ✓
6. An entremets ring cake (mousse cake) – made as a yule log: Purple Wonderland fruity entremets log cake ✓
7. Adventurous fun cookies
8. Something colourful but healthier (to break from the beige) – Halloween black and orange sourdough bagels ✓
9. A bake with that charcoal powder I still haven’t used! (the Halloween activated charcoal bagels – see no. 8) ✓
10. Savoury Swedish sandwich cake ✓
11. A glutenfree cake with interesting organic flour mixes (the Dulce de leche chocolate cake – see no. 1) ✓
12. Xmas mousse cake baubles

Plus some no-bake (Mojito brioche layer cake no-bake version – see no.2 and nobake lime cracker pie) or stove top stuff that’s teachable in class (chocolate cake in a frying pan?)

Yes I’ve become a lot more vague and open about my possible creations!!!  It will be a surprise for us all.  In the meantime let’s have some stollen or chocolate cake prototypes.  Someone has to test them…! 🙂

Any requests?

I can’t promise anything but I can try – so tell me, what kind of recipes would you like to see posted on this blog?  Any particular cakes or bakes?  Some savoury stuff perhaps?  Let me know in the comments if you have any ideas or preferences.

Keep calm and make cakes

Leaving you some Swedish raspberry heart glutenfree biscuits to thank you for being here.  They’re a yummy work in progress…

I’ll say bye for now dears.  Have a lovely safe week and year ahead!  The world can seem a crazy worrying place at the moment – it might be a particularly good time for some baking therapy.  Happy continued baking and eating! 🙂 Lili x