Category Archives: Food history

Paris-Brest with passionfruit crème diplomate

This Paris-Brest choux is another Daring Bakers‘ challenge. I have made Paris-Brest before on a few occasions and to follow the original recipe is to produce one large ring-shaped choux filled, decorated simply with toasted, flaked almonds and filled with crème mousseline. It’s typically large enough that it can be sliced to serve a numberContinue reading “Paris-Brest with passionfruit crème diplomate”

Chimney cake

Another Daring Bakers challenge – thanks to Swathi from Zesty South Indian Kitchen. Chimney cake (its anglicised name) or Kürtőskalács is a brioche/enriched dough treat from Hungary and Romania. It’s name reflects the shape, caused by coiling dough round a wooden cylinder and baking the whole thing together. This cake is a legacy of medievalContinue reading “Chimney cake”

Bakewell tart with blackberries

I make Bakewell tart fairly often as it’s a bit of a family favourite. This weekend we drove through Bakewell en route to the spa town of Buxton. Bakewell is about a 40 min drive away even though we do live in the same county. All the towns in that area are just gorgeous; beautifulContinue reading “Bakewell tart with blackberries”

Apricot, apple and almond Chelsea Buns

I was just thinking I hadn’t made an enriched dough recipe for a while… Background/history of the recipe Chelsea Buns are a specific version of a traditional, rolled enriched and sweetened bread. Unusually for a bread, their origins are actually known, as they were invented at the Chelsea Bun House in London, probably in theContinue reading “Apricot, apple and almond Chelsea Buns”

Science of bread making – how yeast works

So, being nosey as usual, after making a batch of spelt walnut loaf I thought I ought to learn a bit more about yeast and the bread fermentation process. I remembered some stuff about yeast from A-Level biology (yeast is one of the most researched and written about organisms going) and I’ve had a batchContinue reading “Science of bread making – how yeast works”

Sachertorte

I’ve made Sachertorte before but found it to be a very adult-oriented cake, certainly one that my children wouldn’t particularly enjoy. So, I set about making a sweeter, less bitter version. It still has all the essentials to be a Sachertorte-type cake with the melted chocolate in the mix, the Savoy-sponge method and the meltedContinue reading “Sachertorte”