You can bake this cake in a simple 9×9″ tin, and cut it into squares. Serve it warm, adding a scoop of vanilla ice cream – it’s the perfect end to a meal! Or, you can fancy it up a notch like I did here – baking it in two round tins to make a layered cake. I used a vanilla German buttercream between the layers (and a thin layer on the outside for a ‘naked cake’ look), then topped it with caramel sauce, poached pears and some candied nuts.

Now, I made this once before with the same amounts used in Justin’s original recipe – and found that it didn’t taste quite as strong as the cakes sold in Justin’s bakery (Bread Ahead). So this time, I increased the amount of chopped stem ginger and ground spices. It’s such a great cake – sticky and full of ginger flavour.

For the caramel sauce – I really wanted to use a recipe that only had a couple of ingredients. Caramel sauce isn’t complicated – just sugar and a fat (butter and/or cream) that has been heated to a specific temperature for the consistency you want. I adapted this recipe slightly, using a dry caramel (I can’t be bothered adding water only to then boil it away) to make a sauce with the right thickness to top a cake. Not too runny, but you can still get some nice drips on the edges. Of course, I accidentally boiled it too long (distracted) and it was super thick, so I just thinned it a bit with some hot water! You could also add more cream instead.

As for the buttercream? Well, I decided to go for a German buttercream, as I dislike the traditional stuff. I was always that kid removing the icing from her cupcake because American-style buttercream is either sickly sweet or just tastes like butter. German buttercream is pastry cream that has been whipped with butter. And it is delicious! I used inspiration from this recipe, whipping the butter first, and adding the pastry cream in increments. I didn’t have any issues with it splitting, so perhaps it’s the new way to make buttercream?

And to top off the cake? Spiced poached pears and candied nuts! I used Jamie Oliver’s recipe for the pears, which is just so simple! The candied nut recipe makes waaaay more than you need – but they taste great so who cares! I had hoped to get some gold leaf to finish everything, but they sold out Maybe next time!

And that’s it! Maybe a good cake for New Year’s Eve? I had hoped to post this before Christmas, but time got away from me… but hey – what else is new?

One of the many things that is hard to find in the UK is pumpkin purée. Unlike in North America, where “pumpkin spice” is in practically everything come autumn (seriously – it’s insane), the UK doesn’t really do pumpkin desserts. Suuure, you can get a pumpkin spice latte now at Starbucks, but pumpkin desserts are a quintessentially North American thing. Which makes sense – no Thanksgiving, no pumpkin pie.

So in the past, when I have come across canned pumpkin purée, I would buy a couple just for the future. You never know when you might need it! Update – my local little Waitrose has it in stock right now… whaaaatt?!

And of course, when I got the inclination to try these cupcakes, I was out of pumpkin and with nowhere to find it. So I thought about it and realized that spiced sweet potatoes (yams in Canada) taste a whole lot like pumpkin pie. So I figured I could simply use some pureed sweet potato instead of pumpkin! And you know what? I couldn’t tell the difference!

The original recipe for these cupcakes called for a graham cracker crust. Again, not something you can find here in the UK. However, my mom had sent me a box a while back, and I had juuuust enough left to crush up. You could substitute it with digestive biscuits, but I don’t think it’s worth it. The graham crust is more flavour than texture, and without the honey graham taste, I don’t think it’s necessary. You could just omit that part.

Of course, then they wouldn’t be very “s’more” but hey, you do what you can! After all, s’mores are a very North American thing, just like pumpkin pie. Which makes finding graham crackers nigh impossible. Why do I suddenly get these inclinations to bake things with hard-to-find ingredients?!

Anyway, if you’re not yet in the mood for Christmas (I am soooo excited for Christmas!!) and want something a bit more fall-appropriate to make – why not try these? They make a great mini cupcake too! Oh, and if you don’t have a kitchen torch (like me) you can use your oven broiler! Just make sure to keep an eye on them so that they don’t get too brown!

A loooong while back, I posted a recipe for making your own sourdough starter. I had intended to post a bread recipe shortly after, but it took me this long to get one that I was completely happy with. Some recipes were too wet, some not enough flavour, and others too dense. I kept trying new ones, and new methods until I had one that I knew would work every time. And here it is!

This recipe started out as a San Fransisco sourdough recipe from my old school textbook, On Baking: A Textbook of Baking and Pastry Fundamentals. It’s a great book that teaches the science and fundamentals of all manner of pastry and baking techniques, and includes recipes for almost anything you could think of! I often think that I need to really work through my recipe books, and this one is definitely high on the list. It’s got such a wide variety of recipes and explains them in full detail.

I tried making the sourdough recipe, as it’s described in the book, and it was okay, but not quite sour enough for my taste. That could be simply because of the unique wild yeast that lives in San Fransisco (L. Sanfranciscensis), or because this particular recipe was too ‘quick’ to develop a sour flavour. It actually used a small amount of commercial yeast in the dough, so that you could bake the loaf the same day you make it. Great if you’re strapped for time, but it leaves a bit to be desired in taste. However, it did explain one thing I had been wondering in the past – how to achieve what I consider a San Fransisco sourdough crust.

See, in Victoria, BC all sourdough that is labeled as “San Fransisco” has this soft glossy crust. It’s not the super tough stuff you associate with artisan bread, but something almost more akin to buns. While you can definitely make a San Fransisco sourdough with a traditional crust (like they do at Tartine in San Fran), for me, the key to making a San Fransisco sourdough bread (besides the yeast) is that soft crust. And you want to know the secret? Egg White! You simply brush the loaf with whisked egg whites all over before slashing and baking. It adds the glossiness from the egg proteins and softens the crust by preventing the chemical reaction that normally occurs.

Okay, but back to this bread recipe – I took the original one from the book, and started changing things, one at a time. First, I reduced the amount of flour in the recipe, to create a higher level of hydration. See, the higher the percentage of water in a recipe, the larger the holes and glossier the texture will be in the final bread. Really good sourdough bread has a slightly chewy texture, and large aeration holes – which can only occur with more water. Too much water and the dough will become very wet and difficult to work with – which I had at first. Of course, if you can master bread with a high level of hydration, it’ll produce an amazing loaf. However, for this recipe, I wanted something a bit easier to manipulate.

Second, I omitted the commercial yeast. I didn’t add anything to replace it, but simply went from a quick fermentation and proving, to a much longer one (overnight, in the fridge). Third, I added a series of folds instead of simply kneading the dough. This was partly due to the higher level of hydration (and how annoying it was to knead) but also because a longer bench time and folds produce a nicer crumb structure. And finally, I changed the oven times and temperature to the style of bread I was now making – and baked it in an ovenproof dish. Oh, and I omitted the egg wash, as I was now proving the bread in a floured banneton.

And that produced this recipe! Now, I will give a few tips to help you along with it.

1. If you don’t have a banneton, you can use a well-floured tea towel in a bowl. The bowl should be a small mixing bowl size, and you really want to work the flour into the towel. Start by just rubbing flour into the towel surface, then drape it in the bowl, and dust over even more flour. If you end up with too much on the bread, you can always dust it off with a pastry brush before scoring. I like to secure my towel with an elastic.
2. If you’re uncertain if your bread has proved enough, try gently pressing a floured fingertip in it. If the indentation remains, you are ready to bake. Just shy of doubled in size should be perfect, as it means the yeast still has a bit more energy left.
3. If you don’t have the time for all of the folds, simply knead the dough twice as long, until smooth. You’ll develop a nicer texture with the added time and folds, but you’ll still have a great loaf without.
4. Don’t fight the bread during folding – as the gluten develops it will not stretch as far. Just stretch it as much as it will let you, even if it means only 3 sides instead of 4.
5. You can turn the bread out directly into the baking dish, but I prefer to use parchment paper. It allows me to shift the bread in the dish to center it, and provides more room to score the bread. I traced the bottom of the dish onto parchment paper, cut it out, and scrunched it up many times to soften the paper. I reuse it each time I bake.
6. If you don’t have a lamé (scoring knife) use the sharpest paring knife you have or a serrated knife. You want to cut about 1cm or so deep – too deep and the bread will open up too much, and too shallow and the bread will tear elsewhere to allow steam to escape.
7. If you’ve never shaped bread into a boule or batard, watch some videos online. There are many great ones out there to show you how to do it (it’s hard to put into words). If the bread doesn’t hold its shape well after your initial shaping – you can let it rest for 20 minutes and then shape again.

That’s it! A great sourdough recipe, for days when you have lots of time (folds) and when you don’t (just kneading). Oh, and once you’ve got it down, why not experiment with adding in some flavour? My most recent bread had walnuts and figs worked into the dough (100g figs, 80g walnuts). I can’t wait to keep creating new flavours with seeds, herbs, and spices. Perhaps olive and rosemary next? Or beetroot from our own allotment?

Now I must get back to my next bread recipe development – a proper 6-day loaf. And one with a San Fransisco crust!

Okay, it’s time for a really simple recipe. I’ve meant to post this for ages, but haven’t made them often enough, and keep forgetting to take a photo. These are one of Richard’s favourite things that I make – they’re a softer cookie (unlike the crisp biscuits that people tend to make here in the UK), with lots of peanut flavour.

Now, the most important part of the recipe is the peanut butter that you use. If it’s one of those cheaper brands, with tons of added sugar and palm oil, then you won’t get as strong of a peanut taste. I only ever buy 100 percent peanut, peanut butter. Surprisingly, Morrisons has a really good one, which is waaaay cheaper than all the health-food ones, but still tastes great. Trust me, I love this stuff. It’s great in a banana smoothie too!

These are really simple cookies, where you just have to cream together the butter and sugar, add some eggs, and then mix in the dry ingredients. Nothing fancy or complicated here!

And you can totally leave them plain, or dunk them in some chocolate like I did here, and top them with some chopped peanuts. But then, I actually prefer the taste without the chocolate, as it can kind of mask the peanut butter. It’s completely up to you! Oh, and the more you spread them out before baking, the crispier they will get. If you want a really chewy cookie, leave them as balls, and allow them to spread in the oven. They’ll end up really soft in the middle.

However, the first couple of recipes that I tried never lived up to their pictures. It sort of bummed me out, and I put off finding a good recipe. That is until I was asked to make scones for someone’s wedding. That sort of put the fire under my butt that I needed!

So I decided to try Mary Berry’s recipe for classic Devonshire scones. Well, they had the same problem as the ones before, but this time, I decided to tweak them until they came out the way I wanted! Scones tend to fall into two camps – slightly dry and crumbly, or softer and layered. The first time I made this recipe, they definitely fell into the first category. And I’m not the biggest fan of the crumbly kind of scones.

on the left are the scones from the first attempt – and on the right are the scones after I tweaked the recipe I started thinking about it – crumbly is because of a lack of gluten development. Most scone recipes tell you not to work the dough very much – just press it together a couple times and cut it out. But that’ll end up with crumbly scones. If you want them to hold together better, you’ll have to knead the dough briefly – like 10-15 turns of kneading. By working the dough a bit, you’ll end up with a softer, fluffy texture – just the way I like them! Oh, and be sure to roll them out thick! If they’re less than 1/2″ in height, then they won’t rise as much. The thicker you roll it out to, the more they grow!_

Oh, and the original recipe said to use a mixture of egg and milk to wash the scones, but I found a whole egg worked best. I tested a few different options (egg + milk, egg white only, etc. etc.) and found that the best colour and shine came from a beaten whole egg. Feel free to sprinkle the scones with a bit of sugar if you want as well!

Now all you need is some clotted cream and fresh fruit jam! Of course, then you’ll need to decide if you’re the type who adds the cream first or the jam. Apparently, it’s a bit of a controversy over here. You can make your own clotted cream really easily if it’s not something your local grocery store stocks. All you have to do is cook heavy cream (whipping) in the fridge overnight! Serious! The slow heat separates the fat from the rest of the cream, and it rises to the top. Just scoop it off and whip it if you like yours fluffy (or not).

I used this recipe to make some myself! It’s so simple and just takes time. You don’t need to make as much as the recipe says, but simply fill your dish with heavy cream until it’s about 1-2″ high. It may only take 8 hours until the skin turns yellow on top, but longer (about 12 hours) if you’re making a big batch. If you’re not able to get some locally, it’s a great way to get proper clotted cream, no matter where you live.

So why not treat yourself to some proper clotted cream and scones, and have a mini high tea at home?

One of the first things that came to my mind was rhubarb doughnuts! Someone at my work had actually tried to make rhubarb and custard doughnuts before, but the acidity in the rhubarb jam he made caused the cream to curdle. Ever since then, I’ve always thought that if I were to do it, I would turn the rhubarb into a curd instead, as it would prevent any curdling. After all, you can mix lemon curd with cream and it’s fine – and lemon is even more acidic!

So I went back to my tried and true recipe for crème patissière, which is the same recipe I use for making lemon curd! I simply swap the milk amount for lemon juice and add as much zest as the amount of lemons I juice. I figured I could do the same with rhubarb purée! However, once I had stewed the rhubarb, and blitzed it – it wouldn’t press through a sieve like raspberry or some other kind of puree. Too much fibre. In the end, I didn’t see it and simply reduced the amount of cornstarch in the recipe to account for how thick the puree is to start with. I figured that the rhubarb purée was about halfway between how thin milk is, and how thick I wanted the final curd – so I halved the amount of thickener (cornstarch) to just 10g.

The rhubarb taste is there, but subtler than I was expecting. I’m debating trying to make these without the custard next time. I would double the amount of rhubarb puree, and just flavour the whipping cream with vanilla and fold them together. I think the flavour would be amazing – but then I love rhubarb, and it might be too strong for some. But even without the strong rhubarb flavour – these still taste great!

For the doughnut itself, I used the same recipe from Justin Gellatly’s book Bread, Cake, Doughnut, Pudding, that I used in the paska doughnuts. Except, as these weren’t paska doughnuts, I used his traditional recipe with water instead of citrus juice. If you want a few tips on how to fry them, check out the paska recipe! My key tip is always to prove the doughnuts on parchment paper, rather than trying to lift them off a floured surface. You can even pre-cut the squares before shaping so that you don’t have to try and cut around the doughnuts once proven.

When I was trying to decide how to garnish these (all doughnuts need a garnish, IMHO), I was torn between poached rhubarb and rhubarb curls! In the end, I think the poached stuff works better, as it looks more like rhubarb at first glance. It is a better colour. However, the fact that you can make ribbons out of rhubarb is always fun. I used this recipe to make them.

Which garnish do you think looks better?

Either way, if you happen to have a glut of rhubarb from your garden or just love doughnuts, why not try these? You could even try reducing the amount of creme patisserie in the recipe to see if the stronger flavour is better? Taste is always a personal preference. Or, you can just eat the rhubarb curd straight – ha! Pipe it into tart shells, or make a rhubarb meringue pie! Enjoy!

I mean sure, you can make all sorts of paleo “blah-blah-naturally-sweetened-with-bananas” type things… but those aren’t really muffins. Muffins are fluffy, and slightly sweet, with a delicious crusty top. They’re basically cupcakes without the frosting if we’re being honest with ourselves. They’re cupcakes we can feel better about eating.

However, if there was such a thing as a healthy muffin – this would be it! It does contain sugar but also has pumpkin purée, apple, carrot, and zucchini (courgette) inside. Not to mention pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds.

It might not seem like the kind of recipe for the beautiful sunny weather we’ve been having, but I think it works. The flavours may feel like fall (with the pumpkin, cinnamon, and cloves) but the fact that it’s healthy makes it feel like summer to me! I can’t be the only one who craves salad and other healthy foods once the weather heats up? Goodbye, hearty and rich stews – hello BBQ!

In my humble opinion, if carrot cake is acceptable all year round, why not these?

So if you’d like a morning treat, or something to bring to the office, and are looking for healthier options – why not try these? I can guarantee you that you won’t be disappointed.

See, sourdough isn’t a new thing. Despite its recent popularity, sourdough is what all bread used to be back in the day. Before breweries developed the commercial yeast that we now use today, the only kind of yeast we had was wild! Wild yeast is everywhere… in the air, on the walls, etc. – all you need to do is provide it with food, and water to let it grow!

They say Egyptians first discovered how to bake bread – someone left a bowl of a porridge-type dish (made of wheat) lying around and discovered it started bubbling. I love the idea of whoever thought “Let’s put this in an oven!” And since that day, we have been raising cultures of wild yeast to add air and flavour to our breads.

So, do you want to make your own starter? You can go about it two different ways – first, you can make one out of just flour and water, or you can use fruit and vegetables! Unwashed fruit contains lots of wild yeast on the surface, plus plenty of sugar inside to feed the yeast culture. Grapes are an obvious choice, but really any fruit and certain vegetables will do (apparently beets work).

In my copy of Justin Gellatly’s Bread, Cake, Doughnut, Pudding, I found a starter recipe that used rhubarb! As I had let my last starter die, I thought I might give this one a shot! I had some leftover rhubarb to use up and figured why not? Not only does the rhubarb add food for the yeast, but it brings its own sour flavour to the starter.

The one thing to consider when using the different starters in a recipe is the water content. Some starters have a higher water ratio than others and will impact your recipe. If the recipe has its own starter recipe, do the calculations to determine the ratio. If your own starter is different, then you’ll have to adjust the amounts to match.

I normally like to keep my starter at a 50/50 ratio to keep things simple, but Justin’s rhubarb recipe came out just a little on the dry side. As I was planning on trying out his sourdough bread recipe, I didn’t bother adjusting the ratio. But in the future, I will feed it 50/50. That way I can add my starter to any recipe and keep my mental math to a bare minimum. I’ll also use only white bread flour, as I prefer it for flavour.

So if you want to make your own starter, why not try one of these?

The Kitchen Basic Sourdough Starter

(One of my favourites – the recipe link has great explanations)

• 440g all-purpose flour (divided)
• 440ml water (divided)

Day 1: Make the initial starter by mixing together 110g flour and 110g water. Stir into a smooth batter, scrape down the sides, and cover loosely with cling film. Leave out at room temperature overnight.

Day 2: Feed the starter by adding another 110g flour and 110ml water to the mixture. Mix well, scrape down the sides, and cover again with cling film. Leave overnight at room temperature.

Day 3: Feed the starter again, just as day 2. You will probably see bubbles by now, and the starter will begin smelling a bit sour, like vinegar.

Day 4: Feed the starter again, just as before. Your starter should definitely smell sour by now. Don’t worry if there is lots of liquid on the surface, but simply mix it all in.

Day 5: Starter is ready to use. You can bake with it today, or place it in the fridge until you need it. Remember to feed about once a week, by removing about half the starter and then feeding it to replace the amount lost. Keep the ratio 50/50 between flour and water unless you intend to alter your starter’s consistency.

Sourdough Starter Made with Grapes

• 120g unwashed, organic grapes
• 480g all-purpose flour (divided)
• 360+ water (divided)

Day 1-2: Mash the grapes thoroughly in a container, cover with cling film, and leave at room temperature for 48 hours.

Day 3: Strain the grapes to remove the juice, and add enough water to equal 120ml. Mix in 120g flour, cover loosely with cling film, and leave at room temperature overnight.

Day 4-5 (same for both days): Feed the starter by adding 120g flour and 120ml water. Mix thoroughly, cover with cling film, and leave at room temp. overnight.

Day 6: Your starter is ready to use. You can bake with it today, or place it in the fridge until you need it. Remember to feed about once a week, by removing about half the starter and then feeding it to replace the amount lost. Keep the ratio 50/50 between flour and water unless you intend to alter your starter’s consistency.

Rhubarb Sourdough Starter (Justin Gellatly – Bread, Cake, Doughnut, Pudding)

(When I made this, I didn’t use rye flour and instead substituted it with more white or whole wheat. It’s up to you what flour you use for flavour. I also didn’t discard as much as I wanted to build a bigger culture.)

• 30g rhubarb, thinly sliced
• 500g water (divided)
• 285g white bread flour (divided)
• 185g wholegrain rye flour (divided)
• 60g wholemeal bread flour (divided)

Day 1: Place the rhubarb in a bowl with 100ml water, 50g white bread flour, and 50g rye flour. Mix together into a paste, cover loosely with cling film, and allow to rest at room temperature overnight.

Day 2: Mix in 50ml water, 25g white bread flour, and 25g rye flour. Cover, and allow to rest at room temp. overnight as before.

Day 3-4: Same as day 2. You should see fermentation starting.

Day 5: Pour 30g of the starter into a new clean container. Pick out any pieces of rhubarb (it’ll be mostly broken down now), and discard them. Whisk in 125ml water, 80g white bread flour, 30g rye flour, and 30g strong wholemeal flour. Discard the rest of the starter (I know, wasteful).

Day 6: Same as day 5.

Day 7: The starter is ready to make bread! You can bake today, or refrigerate until needed. Feed with whatever ratio you want, about once a week.

For this recipe, I chose to use almonds and citrus – as they were two things I already had in the pantry. Try experimenting with all sorts of nuts, dried fruit, zest, chocolate, spices, etc… the options are endless. What about chocolate + hazelnut, lemon + cranberry, or white chocolate + pistachio? My original recipe was for orange, white chocolate, and ginger, but I’m not the biggest fan of white chocolate. Use whatever flavours you enjoy!

One part of the recipe that you shouldn’t skip, is the cooling step. The biscotti will spread, so the longer you chill it, the better it’ll hold its shape. You can chill it for just 30 minutes, overnight, or freeze for 20+ minutes.

This recipe makes about 24-30 small pieces, or you can shape it into one large log and get about 15 pieces. Just be careful about the baking time if you opt to make the larger size. They’ll take a bit longer to dry out, but otherwise, it’s the same process.

So, if you’re a fan of biscotti like I am, why not try making your own? It’s really far easier than you think.

Well, it’s officially 2018! And why not start the new year with some good old-fashioned doughnuts? My grandma always called these New Year’s Küken (or “cookies”) but you may also know them as Portzelky. They are a German Mennonite favorite, always made for New Year’s Day.

When I was a kid, these weren’t my favorite things because they contained a dreaded ingredient – raisins. Not sure why, but I have always disliked raisins, especially in baked goods. You know when you pick up a cookie, thinking it’s a chocolate chip, only to eat a raisin?! Worst thing ever… I can remember eating raisins out of those little red boxes as a child and enjoying it. But now, despite my best efforts to get used to those shriveled little pockets of sadness… I just don’t like ’em.

Now that I am making my own New Year’s cookies, I can use whatever fruit I want! (Eat that, raisins!) I have always wanted to experiment with these little doughnuts and decided to try three different flavors this year.

The first uses raisins, but I soaked them with some alcohol for flavor (sloe gin to be exact). The second was candied citrus zest, and the third was apple and stem ginger, with a hint of cinnamon. All three also have some fresh orange zest and vanilla in the dough… because apparently, I cannot leave anything alone. When I told Richard I wanted to make these but add/change things, his response was “Of course”.

(You may wonder why I am bothering to make raisins, but I want Richard to be able to try them, and he likes them.)

Now, my grandma always waited for these to cool a bit, and then dusted with icing sugar, but I decided to mix that up too. For the candied citrus zest ones, I rolled them in a bit of caster (berry) sugar after letting them drain off the oil. You need to do it while they are still warm (like the paska doughnuts I made last year) so that it stick properly.

As for our opinions on which flavor is the best? Well, Richard and I both liked the candied zest and apple ones, but he also liked the raisin ones. He preferred the icing to caster sugar, but I can go both ways. Caster looks prettier than icing sugar, but it’s really a personal choice. As always, they taste best warm, so invite a few people over while you make them! Who would say no to warm, sugary doughnuts on New Year?