Basic sweet shortcrust pastry. It is a beautiful thing. It can be used for pies, tarts and pastries of all sorts. It seems though, that shortcrust pastry is sometimes feared, that it is too hard to make, too complicated, or some are afraid it won’t turn out. So I thought I would share with you my basic recipe for shortcrust pastry. There are many variations out there, using different sugars, … Continue reading →
Category Archives: Pastries
Chocolate Chip Hot Cross Buns
Only one more week until Easter! Last Easter, I was absolutely obsessed, OBSESSED, with hot cross buns. Not the traditional kind, however, with all the dried fruit and candied peel and all those gross things. The chocolate chip kind of hot cross buns. It started thanks to the local bakery chain in the mall where I work. Around last Easter, I was working at a mens retail store, and spent … Continue reading →
Polish Blueberry Cakes (Jagodzianki)
Today I am just sharing some photos with you. These little cakes are a traditional Polish pastry, called Jagodzianki (say ya-go-jan-ki). The name means blueberry cakes, or blueberry pastries. They are made from a basic Polish yeast dough and filled with blueberries. Most bakeries sell them, or some version of them, in Poland, but I have never had any as good as my mum’s. Bakeries tend to use blueberry jam … Continue reading →
Nutella Croissant Puddings
What do you do when you have bought too many French pastries? Or when you have leftover homemade croissants? You make croissant puddings, of course. And then if you’re anything like me, you eat them for breakfast. This is one of my absolute favourite recipes. It is so quick and easy to make and is always, always, always delicious. The layers of croissants, Nutella and custard are just heaven. I’ve … Continue reading →
Polish Pastries
I am in Poland in a little town where my mum grew up called Opole Lubelskie. In town in Opole, there is a bakery, or piekarnia, that you can smell from all the way down the street and around the corner. It smells delicious. Like fresh pastries and yummy, warm bread. When I lived in Poland, pastries and sweet rolls, along with pate and beer, were staples in my diet. These … Continue reading →
French Pastries
So yesterday in Paris, Mum and I didn’t actually eat any proper food. We ate pastries. We walked around Paris for about ten hours (so I guess we burnt it all off!) and every time I saw a patisserie I made her stop so we could go inside and every time she saw a cute cafe she made me stop so she could have a cafe creme. We went to … Continue reading →
Chocolate Croissants (Pain au Chocolat)
My boyfriend likes chocolate croissants. He went through a phase where he was buying them all the time. Every day. He couldn’t get through without them. So when his birthday came around, what better to bake him than chocolate croissants? This recipe is the same as for croissants, with the addition of chocolate and a different way of forming their shape. Like my croissant recipe, there are lots of photos … Continue reading →
Croissants
The dreaded croissant. Making croissants can be scary. It can seem to be ridiculously hard. The first time I looked at a recipe and saw how long it was I FREAKED OUT. Said no way, I’m not making croissants, they take forever! Well they do take forever, but then one week when I knew I would have some time, I just relaxed and made them step by step. Croissants aren’t … Continue reading →