These tarts are really lovely, with delicious nectarine slices on a subtle almond cream base, surrounded by caramelised puff pastry. Delightful. Light, juicy, crisp and melt-in-the-mouth all at once. And easy to make. If you love nectarines and tarts, this is for you. Quick! While […]
All posts tagged: baking
Healthier maple syrup Bostocks recipe! A kind of magical French toast with leftover brioche… :)
These are absolutely delicious and super easy. If you’ve bought or made brioche that’s a little heavy or has gone dry then ‘bostock’ it and fall in love with it all over again. The recipe calls for day-old brioche and is traditionally popular with French […]
Classic French Pont-neuf pastries recipe! Delish choux and pastry cream-filled tartlets with jam, glutenfree or sugarfree options… :)
These delicious intriguing treats have a dreamy filling of choux pastry dough folded into pastry cream, encased in a thin layer of shortcrust pastry. You can add a thin bottom layer of jam, fruit or apple compote. They’re classic little French cakes that seem to have faded into […]
Heavenly dulce de leche chocolate cake recipe! With homemade dulce de leche and glutenfree flour mix (optionally) and Stay Homas lockdown songs… :)
This cake has brought me tender caramely chocolate moments of happiness during our strict lockdown here in Barcelona. The dulce de leche caramel notes lift the melted milk, semi-sweet or dark chocolate cake and the chocolate drops folded in provide satisfying little chocolate bites contrasting with […]
Healthier Gâteau Basque recipe! Citrus, blackcurrant, cherry and walnut or any other flavours with optional pastry cream… :)
This is a beloved classic cake from the Basque country in the South of France and Northern Spain. Although a Gâteau is a cake it’s kind of pretending to be a tart because you roll out the buttery soft shortbread-like dough, fill with pastry cream […]
Slightly healthier brioches polonaises recipe! With sourdough or standard brioches, orange blossom water and candied fruit! :)
These addictive traditional French pastries have been out of fashion but fully deserve a comeback. Small brioche buns are sliced in three then the layers soaked in rum syrup and interspersed with crème pâtissière and chopped candied fruit. They’re encased in a layer of Italian meringue, sprinkled […]
Healthier panellets recipe! Almond paste treats for la Castanyada!
These little cakes are from Catalunya and other parts of Spain like Andorra, Ibiza and Valencia. Panellets actually translates as ‘little breads’ and they’re a traditional dessert on All Saints Day which is known here as la Castanyada ‘chestnut time’! Panellets are commonly made of […]
Slightly healthier chocolate mûrier recipe! Blackberry and chocolate layer cake, glutenfree or not… :)
This is a delicious autumn cake that works really well visually and taste-wise even when a little imperfect. The blackberries are lovely with the optionally glutenfree light cocoa genoise sponge which I made lower-sugar by replacing some sugar with birch extract xylitol. For my first […]
DoubleTree Hilton (or very similar) perfect chocolate chip cookies recipe! Glutenfree or not… :)
These are amazing! They welcome you with one at DoubleTree Hilton hotels as a marketing strategy. It works. I became a DoubleTree and cookie person dancing round the Girona hotel room munching happily away. These are made from an online recipe passed on by a […]
Black sesame, raspberry and matcha layer cake recipe! Glutenfree or not… :)
This ‘wow’ cake is the latest favourite shared with friends and family who thoroughly enjoyed it. Words of praise were bandied about like ‘amazing’, ‘nice’ (a real compliment from someone understated) and ‘outstanding’. If you love interesting East-meets-West flavours, want a glutenfree cake (or not, […]
Naked or gingerbread village orange spiced layer cake recipe! Glutenfree or not … :)
Totally in love with this moist orange spiced layer cake and cute gingerbread village, which is optional but provides a lovely extra layer of flavour and crisp texture. There are printable templates for the houses and they’re pretty with rustic imperfect piping. Even without gingerbread […]
Healthier vegan macadamia vanilla cookies recipe! Glutenfree or not… and happy Chinese New Year of the Pig! :)
These vegan cookies are delicious, buttery, crumbly yet slightly moist and generally amazing. Friends have asked for the recipe so here it is. I’m not vegan but can say they’re some of my favourite biscuits! It’s also nice to know they’re animal fat-free with vegan butter while […]
Happy new year 2019 baking plans and top recipes from 2018! Photos, trends, inspiration … :)
Happy new year again! Sharing the previous year’s top 20 posts with you is a tradition and great excuse to look at cakes and other treats then plan some of the coming year’s bakes. Sadly last year I created a long to-bake list but posted less […]
Gingerbread house recipe! With help from Donal Skehan and Mary… :)
Gingerbread houses are fun, magical and yummy! They’re a great crossover project between crafts and baking if you want a special edible ‘work of art’. Even if your piping’s a bit dodgy like mine you’ll get a wonderfully rustic house that looks homemade as Donal […]
Pumpkin roti sisir – Indonesian fluffy pull-apart bread recipe! Sourdough and instant yeast versions… :)
It’s wonderful to discover breads from different parts of the world like this fluffy pumpkin roti sisir. It’s fun to assemble and pull apart for slices. You don’t need a knife! My sister-in-law who’s from there tells me ‘they love their fluffy pull-apart bread in […]
lili's cakes 