Join me as I bake through the Great British Bake Off.
What can be found in Chinese restaurants all over the world but didn't originate in China? Fortune cookies! Impress your friends and tantalize your tastebuds by making your own. With hand-written fortunes customized for any occasion, they make great gifts or party favors. Or make them to celebrate Chinese New Year — just be sure to give a nod to their Japanese roots!
What better filling for a cookie than cookie butter? The speculaas cookie butter lends the warmth of its spices to the mellow, buttery-rich pecan shortbread. So get double the cookie, double the fun with my pecan shortbread cookies with cookie butter filling!
These mini Swiss rolls are reminiscent of Hostess Ho Hos, Little Debbie Swiss Rolls or, in the UK, Cadbury's Mini Rolls — but with the added kick of peppermint! A thin, chocolatey, light sponge is spread with mint buttercream and rolled up like a tiny Swiss roll, then enrobed in melted chocolate.
Peach melba cake plays on the simple flavors of the classic dessert, with the enhancement of warm spices to add a taste of autumn. It has the consistency of a buttery pound cake studded with peaches and raspberries to give a burst of flavor in every bite.
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.
