Join me as I bake through the Great British Bake Off.
Named after Queen Victoria herself, the Victoria sandwich was said to be Her Majesty's favorite. This light sponge sandwiched with jam and buttercream is often used as a standard of baking for the British home cook, so it's fitting that this was the final technical challenge in the 2016 season of The Great British Baking Show.
Pavlovas aren't just for summer anymore. This triple-layer meringue crown lets autumn fruits and holiday flavors shine, with layers of cinnamon-spiced apples, gingery cranberry sauce, spiced pecans and pomegranate, all enveloped in a maple-scented crème fraiche whipped cream. It would be the crowning glory of any holiday table!
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?
One batch of puff pastry, two flavors of savory palmiers! Bacon and balsamic-onion jam palmiers satisfy that salty-sweet craving, while parmesan and chili crisp palmiers give you a buttery crunch that packs a zesty punch.
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.
A precursor of today's sugar cookies, jumbles first appeared in a cookbook in 1585. These are flavored with caraway, aniseed, mace, and lemon zest and make a fortifying snack or breakfast cookie.
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!
Mary Berry's marjolaine is a 7-layered delight featuring four layers of almond-hazelnut dacquoise sandwiched with praline buttercream and chocolate ganache. Overall, a delightfully nutty, crunchy, creamy concoction that presents itself with elegance and panache!
The French cousin of focaccia, fougasse is mostly associated with Provence in the southeast of France. This fougasse is scented with olive oil and studded with fresh herbs. It pairs well with pasta, a green salad, or a charcuterie board and a nice glass of wine.
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!
Here's the Dish 