This is the Paris Brest recipe I made on MasterChef.
Typical Paris Brests are made of choux pastry and a praline cream. My version here, which is the one that I made on MasterChef, added in extra elements of chocolate and yuzu to it. Given the heaviness of the this dessert, personally I think that it can benefit from some acidity and the yuzu does just that. You can typically find yuzu juice from asian supermarket, but failing that you can also substitute with lemon too.
Chocolate and passion fruit tart
Passion fruit and chocolate have always been an unusually great combination – one that I’d love to see more on the high street. The sharpness of the passion fruit often serves a good role in lightening up the whole dessert, and this tart has gone further and made a passion fruit cream to give it a more fluffy texture.
This is a recipe adapted from Edd Kimber’s latest book “Patisserie made simple“. Great book have to say, where the recipes that I have tried so far have been pretty spot on. I am not sure if it should be classed strictly as ‘simple’ from an amateur perspective but if you follow it step by step and put time in it you’ll almost certainly get it right.
I have made a few changes to this recipe to make it even easier to make. For example, you should boil the passion fruit content first in order to separate the flesh from the seeds much more easily. The original recipe also recommended that I use a chocolate pastry, but because I already got some normal ones in hand I’ve decided to use that instead
I did not start off looking for a gluten free brownie recipe. I just wanted to find the perfect brownie recipe that I can keep coming back to. This is what I have landed on – it is fudgy, gooey and incredibly delicious. The trick? Use corn starch rather than standard flour – this swaps the cakey texture for a soft centre and a crisp crust.
Just remember to let it set after coming out of the oven. You will thank me.
This recipe uses 4 ripe bananas, and only 140 calories per portion (vs. 300 cal for many other recipes) and is really soft and perfectly sweet.
I recently made a wedding cake for a friend, and afterwards this left me with LOADS of spare chocolate cakes (You know, cakes dome up and you end up needing to cut off a lot of it. Ideally you would want to be able to make the cake rise flatly, which we can cover at another time).
In a bid to use them up, I’ve decided to try make tiramisu out of them. The results were great – the mascarpone cream really helped keep the cake soft and moist. For best results – it is best served 20-30 minutes after coming out of the fridge (cakes don’t usually taste as good cold, so better to have it closer to room temperature).
Make no mistake – although this is not a traditional tiramisu recipe, the mascarpone cream is properly authentic. It doesn’t take long to make but makes all the difference between an okay tiramisu and an excellent one. If you want a lighter version, you can use whipping cream rather than double cream. Some also use whipped egg white instead of cream – but personally think that it doesn’t give you as rich a taste as using cream.
I’ve decided not to put any coffee or alcohol into this but you can definitely do so as you see fit!
I have always been a big fan of choux pastry because you can literally do anything you want with it – there are thousands of filling combination you can try out and you can also top them with whatever you want. The pastry itself is quick to make and watching it rise so dramatically in the oven is always soothing to watch. In its most basic form, cream puff / choux buns are basically a plain profiterole filled with whipped cream – and occasionally topped with a chocolate sauce. As much as I like them, I always feel that there need to be more crunch to it – and thus this recipe. The cookie top, or chocolate craquelin, is, again, quick to make but also gives an an extra crunch and sweetness to the whole thing. If you haven’t had it before, really worth trying out!
A few weeks back marked a year at my current workplace – and as per start up tradition we all tend to bring something in to celebrate our “anniversary”. I have been giving this recipe some thoughts for a few weeks, and having taken some inspiration from Supermoon Bakehouse (which I have been dying to go for ages because they make insane croissants – but it is all the way in New York!), this is what I have ended up with:
Braised ox cheek, carrots, bone marrow, sourdough crumbs, horseradish mash
Out of all the famous Chefs here in the UK, Jason Atherton is by far one of my favourite. I have been to many of his restaurants, and collected most of his cook books. One thing I like about his books is that they can be tricky and require certain amount of chef skills, but completely doable at home if you put the patience in it. He has the tendency to add some unusual twists into things that transform the dishes from good to excellent.
Buttery tart case filled with caramel and a chocolate souffle topping
So I happened to have some leftover short crust pastry and chocolate and loads of time so decided to try out this recipe by Edd Kimber.
I always think that there is some sort of satisfaction when you make your own salted caramel and souffle from scratch. And the thing about souffle is that they are often posted as a premium dessert at restaurant but they are so cheap to make. Something that is definitely worth learning if you want to impress.
A slick looking Rhubarb Tart following an adapted recipe from La Patisserie Des Reves. Perfect to try out at this time of the year as Rhubarb is (finally) in season
Out of all the patisseries I have been to, La Patisserie Des Reves has to be one of my favourite and most respected. I came across it originally when I was travelling in Paris on a friend’s recommendation – and it is one of those places where you would immediately be struck by their futuristic design and original take on traditional patisseries. Their pastries are elegant, intricate and in most cases taste better than you’d expect.
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