Join me as I bake through the Great British Bake Off.
Sfogliatelle, meaning "small, thin leaves" in Italian, perfectly describes these delicate laminated pastries that are popular in Naples. In this version, half are filled with a traditional semolina-ricotta cream flavored with chocolate and Amarena cherries. The other half encase a French almond cream reminiscent of almond croissants. Try either one ... or both!
A trifle terrine is a layered dessert made in a loaf pan and served in slices. Inspired by another layered dessert, this Spumoni Trifle Terrine highlights four classic Italian flavors: Amarena cherry, amaretto panna cotta, chocolate mousse, and pistachio bavarois. Beneath those creamy layers is an amaretti cookie crumble.
This walnut spice cake with coffee crème au beurre filling complements the cream cheese buttercream frosting and walnut praline topping. It also sports a unique caramel collar, a creative touch that offers an artistic flair!
Fondant fancies two ways: Champagne and rose fancies feature a rose-flavored sponge brushed with champagne syrup and sandwiched with raspberry curd. Orange blossom and marmalade fancies are scented with orange blossom water and filled with a dollop of orange marmalade. Two for tea, anyone?
An early form of marzipan, marchpane was used in Tudor times to create elaborate centerpieces. This marzipan pumpkin patch sits atop a disk of marchpane, which sits on an olive oil orange marmalade cake, made with a whole orange and lemon.
These mini mousse cakes are light as a feather but pack a real flavor punch. Caramel Macchiato Mousse Cakes have both coffee and vanilla mousse layered atop a chocolate sponge, with a salted caramel ganache on top. Lemon-Berry Mousse Cakes feature a berry-flavored mousse on a lemon sponge, with raspberry gelée hidden inside!
An amuse-bouche is a bite-sized hors d'oeuvre served by chefs at the beginning of a meal. These Crab Rangoon Parcels and Rhubarb-Ricotta Tartlets both feature my Practically Painless and Almost Perfect Phyllo Pastry. Even better, they can be made in advance!
These churros are flavored with a blend of chai spices and scented with orange zest, accompanied by a blood orange caramel dipping sauce. Churros make a great snack any time of day, or eat them for breakfast with a mug of thick, hot chocolate, like the Spanish do!
Moby Dick’s Bubble Bath, my chocolate centerpiece, consists of a white chocolate whale sitting in a chocolate gingerbread bathtub, surrounded by towers of dark chocolate bubbles.
Vol-au-vents are delicate shells of puff pastry that can be filled with almost anything your tastebuds fancy. Some of these are filled with succulent beef tenderloin, and the rest with melted brie and cranberry chutney.
