There are numerous variants of the recipe for Brandy Snaps, few make any reference to brandy. A glance down the ingredients might indicate that these are high calorie biscuits and so to be avoided. Certainly they can never be considered ‘healthy’ but each biscuit only requires around a teaspoon or so of the paste so […]
This classic of French patisserie can be found in many boulangeries or patisseries throughout France. It is based on choux pastry, a topic we covered in an earlier post. The recipe for this particular choux based product dates from 1910 when it was developed by Louis Durand of Maisons Lafitte to commemorate a bicycle race […]
Choux Introduction English is a confusing language even for native speakers. We are criticised for failing to learn other languages. Even with the best of teachers French can cause as much confusion as English. This entry is headed Choux. Will we be discussing cabbage and its versatility, or pastry, also versatile with numerous uses […]
A filling based on autumnal flavours for macarons and other pastries. Almost all macarons use the same basic recipe for the two shells that hold whatever filling is chosen. We use the method presented here. Different colourings are used to give the finished product an appearance that best suits the chosen flavour. Here we used […]
Recipe (for one serving) 30ml Tequila 30ml Mozart Black (dark chocolate liqueur) 0.5ml 250 Scv Naga chilli vodka No special method required – just put the ingredients in a shaker, shake and serve Background I was wanting to devise a cocktail that could use the chilli heat and flavour from the 250 Scoville Naga […]
Macarons It is appropriate that the first recipe for this new blog should focus on making macarons. Baking has been something that I have enjoyed for many years but a fascination for French patisserie became a passion to learn how to create some of the classics, and not so classics, after attending a short course […]
As Master of Malt say about this vodka: “We have created a monster, summoned from the very bowels of hell, formed in a vile carboy filled with a horrid mound of Naga Jolokia chillies (the world’s hottest chillies), steeped in grain vodka. We’ve packaged it in a handsome, heavy glass bottle with […]
Making good quality pizzas at home has long been an ambition of ours. The mechanics of assembling a good pizza are pretty straightforward (see the pizza section of this blog) but the stumbling block has always been how to cook it to give a good base and evenly cooked topping. There are actually three main requirements. […]