If you want an impressively simple and scrumptious cake to make over the holidays and even take travelling, this is for you! We made it the first day of our Cordon Bleu course and though it was the fastest it was one of the best […]
A comedy of errors at the Cordon Bleu, the final vote and Xmas recipes
Learning from my baking mishaps during the last week of the Cordon Bleu pâtisserie course, we’ll be looking at what not to do with a croquembouche but first can you spot what’s wrong with my Triomphe de noix? The walnut caramel mousse cake hiccup If […]
Healthier spiced Christmas biscuits, aka cookies recipe – gluten-free! :)
Want a little healthier break with some yummy spiced treats? They’re gluten-free made with buckwheat flour and pure maple syrup instead of refined sugar. Then you can decorate with milk or dark chocolate. This was an experiment and I didn’t expect the pastry to hold […]
Cakes with some savoury petits fours – at the Cordon Bleu Paris
Yes, we had a savoury break and discovered the wonder of inverted puff pastry. You make it by hanging it out of the window upside-down. Sorry, I meant by having the butter on the outside of the dough instead of inside as in classic puff […]
Raspberry, goats’ cheese and fig pavlova!
A savoury-sweet tangy delight and swirly cloud of delicious flavours. Pavlovas are delicious anytime and a popular Christmas dessert in Australia and New Zealand. The base is very simple and fast to whip up if you follow a few basic steps. Yay! For this […]
Cakes and chocolates – at the Cordon Bleu, Paris
A run-down of last week’s cakes and chocolate you can vote for if you’d like to see them up on the blog with adapted and simplified recipes! 🙂 There’s the delicious multi-layered Opera cake with joconde sponge, coffee buttercream and syrup then chocolate ganache and […]
Savoury bacon crumble cheesecake
Finally a savoury recipe break between cakes! Woohoo! This cheesecake’s absolutely scrumptious, addictive, easy and fast to make. You can serve it in slices or convert to mini canapés for parties, picnics and breakfast! Yes, breakfast. 🙂 It was inspired by the Daring Kitchen cheesecake […]
Cakes from le Cordon Bleu pâtisserie course in Paris! Please vote! :)
Last week’s cake production was a little crazy, even by my standards! I gave some away to my landlord for his family and friends and to the homeless in the street, who looked happy to be given cake. One started eating a macaron immediately. This […]
Pomegranate and passion fruit yoghurt pavlova
I once committed a pàtisserie faux pas, in other words a mistake but it sounds better in French. I made some meringue nests and posted them as pavlovas!!! Oh dear. Months later I realised the error of my ways: pavlovas look like meringues and also […]
Cakes and Paris
From a mourning Paris I’ll just quickly give you the cake run-down first. The day before leaving for Paris I made a heavenly Raspberry, goats cheese and fig pavlova. The topping is easy and delicious and if you haven’t discovered pavlovas yet then do consider […]
Pomegranate red velvet cake
Red velvet cake has become hugely popular not only in its homeland, the U.S.A. but also in Europe. To be honest I wasn’t sure about this cake and had heard positive and negative reviews … but I love it! The red colour’s created not only […]
Chocolate, chestnut mousse and spiced apples verrines
There’s a trend in French patisserie for ´deconstructed desserts´ where the elements have been pulled apart and reorganized differently. And so my log cake was broken down, with the chocolate cider sponge and chestnut purée magically reappearing in some little verrines, layers of different textures […]
Savoury goats’ cheese macarons with fig, walnut and black sesame!
Well these are as savoury as a dessert with macaron shells of sugar, ground almonds and egg white can be! They were created in response to a Daring Kitchen macaron challenge. I’d made Italian meringue macaron shells many times so challenged myself to create an […]
Slightly healthier coffee and walnut cake with carrot recipe!
A naughty cake made slightly healthier! It’s that all-time British classic, a coffee and walnut sponge with the surprise addition of carrot! It’s moist, delicious, the walnut pieces offer a satisfying little crunch, the coffee a nice little hit, and the icing melts in your […]
Sweet potato, cranberry and walnut cupcakes recipe – for Halloween and la Castanyada! :)
La Casta… what? Well here in Barcelona Halloween is becoming more popular but to celebrate October 31st in true Catalan tradition you have la Castanyada, ‘Chestnut time’. I’ll tell you more about this celebration next week but it involves eating chestnuts, panellets (almond paste treats) […]
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