This fougasse is from the little principality of Monaco in the South of France. It’s an amazing discovery with the loveliest riot of mouthwatering flavours and textures. The dough is flavoured with anise seeds, anise liqueur, orange blossom water, rum, ground star anise and toasted […]
All posts tagged: recipe

Modernist Greek yoghurt strawberry chocolate cake recipe! Yann Couvreur-style Fraisier chocolat, optionally glutenfree with added sugarfree frosting
This modernist-style decoration with strawberry slices was launched by French pâtissier Yann Couvreur for his revisit of the French classic le Fraisier. It’s straightforward to construct with perfect distribution of fruit both outside and inside, wonderful flavours, moisture and freshness. So I thought I’d share it […]

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 […]

My best yummiest sourdough hot cross buns recipe! With candied fruit, ginger, sultanas, chocolate chips… or everything! :)
These surprised me as being the best sourdough hot cross buns I’ve ever made so decided to share them here with you. They’re deliciously simple compared to previous prototypes on the blog. Being in lockdown here in Barcelona means I can’t go hunting high and […]

Wonky fluffy Japanese pancakes recipe! Optionally gluten free and a class project for kids or adults… :)
These pancakes can reassure us all that delicious food need not be perfectly shaped! Yes we eat with our eyes but our stomachs will be extremely happy with these light slightly mishapen yummy treats. They can be served with all sorts of things like maple […]

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 […]

Cardamom and vanilla Greek yoghurt cream rainbow crêpe cake recipe! No-bake, with mostly natural food colouring… :)
Wasn’t sure about crêpe cakes. It seemed a lot of time for pretty basic layers and flavours. But actually this was fun, yummy and pretty relaxing to make, partly because I made the simple basic crêpes over two days. It took a little under an […]

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 […]

Amazing Basque burnt cheesecake recipe! Glutenfree, adapted from la Viña’s best cheesecake in the world! :)
This is the easiest most delicious cheesecake I’ve ever eaten!!! Others have said online it’s the best cheesecake in the whole wide world. I doubted the social media hype and had to try for myself to realise how right they were. So total thumbs up […]

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 […]

Half-healthy choc chip cookie and cherry ice lollies (popsicles) recipe! Glutenfree or not…
We all need lots and lots of ice lollies here! Summers seem to be getting hotter even in the UK where I’m on holiday visiting mum. But back in Barcelona there’s an army of delicious homemade ice lollies waiting in the freezer to cool me […]

Anna Olson’s creamy lemon squares in half-healthy lime, yoghurt and skyr ice lollies (popsicles)! :) Glutenfree or not…
The original plan was to simply make Anna Olson’s creamy lemon squares with yummy cream cheese but there were issues with not very defined layers. Ahem. Apparently there’s no such thing as a fail, you just re-name it (which is how an apple pie dropped […]

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 […]

Zen stone mousse cakes recipe! Blackcurrant-raspberry, matcha and black sesame entremets or verrines, glutenfree or not… :)
These mousse cakes are light and refreshing, deliciously fruity and slightly savoury with the black sesame. And they look like stones, which as a rock climber and nature-lover I totally adore. I discovered the mould on the 3-day pâtisserie course I attended recently (see photos […]