Creme Mousseline is one of the prime Creme’s in Patisserie. It has a firmer set than Creme Patissiere, because it has butter added to it, but it is not quite as firm as German Butter Cream which has a higher butter content. It forms the basis of the Gateau Fraisier, Paris-Brest and a Mille Feuille….
Damson, Plum and Blueberry Jam
It has been a long time since I posted anything on the blog. Work has taken over my life in the last month as I am leading a major systems upgrade which goes live in 2 weeks time. Much nail biting, many sleepless nights, and a lot of hours have meant there has been little time to…
A Quick Sourdough Fougasse
I am always loathe to carp at the Bake Off as I love the programme but I was surprised that the technical challenge this week was a Fougasse, a french flatbread cut to look like a leaf. It was one of the first breads I made, and followers of professional baker Richard Bertinet (he who…
Danish Pastries – Round 2
Last week I ran up my first batch of Danish, using only half of my dough to make Pain au Raisin. This morning the second half of the dough came out of the freezer for breakfast and I ran up the second batch, venturing for my first time to make more complex shapes. This did prove…
Delicious Danish Pain au Raisins
The beloved has been asking me for years to make Danish pastries, but for some reason I have been dodging the challenge. I guess it was my first venture into the dough when I made croissants (which you also use for Danish) left me a little daunted. But 5 years has passed since then and…
Creme Patissiere
Creme Patissiere is an absolute Basic. So much more flows from this beauty. All the wonderful Cremes (Mousselline, Diplomate amongst many others), German Buttercream, and of course with a little less cornflour, that absolute British favourite – custard. There are 2 recipes out there – one using flour as the thickener, and one using cornflour….
Porcelain Marzipan Buttercream Cake in Dresden
I have been neglecting my blogging duties and services to baking. We have already been back from “us holidays” for a week and I completely failed to make a single blog post whilst travelling through Germany. I also somewhat failed to indulge in the delights of Kuchen. What went wrong? Well I put it down to…
Trdlnik – a delicious Czech tonguetwister
Hooray! We are on “us travels” as the beloved likes to say when he is trying to return to his northern roots. The house and garden have been submitted to the tender loving care of my little brother and his family for their holidays (I suspect my adorable nieces will be heartily sick of…
Summery Strawberry and Banana Tarte Royale
My brother is over from the States to visit my mother and we had a family get together on Saturday. The hubby made a delicious Shirazi onion, tomato and cucumber Middle Eastern salad and I was tasked with pudding. The specific request was another Gateau Fraisier but whilst it was tempting to iron out the imperfections…
Gooseberry and Thyme Syrup Cake – a rare treat
What on earth happened to the Gooseberry, one of the quintessentially British summer fruits? It was a staple of my childhood and used to always be in the shops at this time of the year. But over the last 20 years it has virtually disappeared from all but the larger Waitrose stores and completely from most…
Chocolate and Orange Layer Cake – a lesson in German Buttercream
What do you do when make too much cake and you have left overs. Well normally in the UK we break it all up and make a delicious alcohol soaked Trifle. However I made a Gateau Fraisier last week and I made far too much sponge and having sliced off the 2cm of sponge I…
A Gateau Fraisier for a Garden Party
Strawberry season is definitely here with a bang and strawberries in season taste so much better than the imported variety bought out of season and they are quintessentially part of the British summer. However it is the French who turn the humble strawberry into a work of culinary art with the Gateau Fraisier, which sounds so…
The Cottage Loaf 