A rich but simple-to-make bake-stable custard perfect for piping into pastries before baking. Or to use when cold whisk together with double cream for the most luxurious custard imaginable. A perfect way to show off our BakeryBits Madagascan Whole Pod Vanilla Powder.
The custard powder just adds a little extra yellow colour to the cream, but you can simply use cornflour (cornstarch) as the ... Read more
Like the croissant is to France, boller are to Norway, although we eat them with coffee at parties and when walking the forests and mountains. They are a milk-based bread, lightly sweet with just a hint of cardamom. Boller are available everywhere in Norway with and without raisins but I have an overwhelming sense of disappointment when having one without, so always include them.
The most ... Read more
Our BakeryBits Christmas recipe is a 1950s sweet candied-fruit focaccia with flavours reminiscent of a great panettone, the crumb swirled with sugary ground almonds in a Sfogliato-style, and of course using the very best ingredients available to you here at BakeryBits, delivered fast. Easy to make, the perfect small gift for friends when you visit this Christmas.
It's based on an old 1940s sweet ... Read more
A dark rich fruit cake with a tang of sourdough that slices well, our Chestnut, Sourdough and Rum Christmas cake keeps for a few months perfectly if wrapped well and stored in a tin. The crème fraiche is boiled with the sugar and baked into the cake, so like butter it will add richness and keep perfectly well. The excellent Mulino Marino Organic Chestnut Flour adds a subtle earthy background to ... Read more
BakeryBits is known the world over for making it easy to buy and enjoy excellent and unusual stoneground flours, heritage grains, as well as the finest roller-milled flours used by the best artisan bakers. So, we thought that this year our mince pies should continue that celebration and combine stoneground flour – from one of our many great millers we stock, or out of your own Mockmill – with ... Read more
Merry Christmas to all you inspiring bakers. If you’re reading this in December it’s officially the start of the annual festive baking season but if you’re reading this in a European summer please put the slice of Christmas cake down and get some sun and exercise outside. I mean, there’s nothing wrong with a little Christmas cheer all year round but for me, at least if not for you, winter ... Read more
Rich with butter, combining three delicious grains – wheat, rye and spelt – in one very delicious easy-to-make pastry. I used stoneground rye and spelt flours, packed with flavour and texture, combined with roller-milled white bread flour that allows the pastry to roll out easily. The whisky helps to deepen the flavour: you can replace it with water, which will cause the pastry will ... Read more
I'm writing this in the run-up to Christmas, and if you're like me, you're probably wondering what to make beyond the usual mince pies and some fantastic loaves of bread: a big ol’ fruit cake, maybe, or a yule log? Perhaps you're also finding that it gets trickier every year to find the right gifts for the budding bakers in your family, or something to hint that you'd be more than happy to ... Read more
This is a three-day adventure to take you towards all-butter croissant perfection. Much easier and less effort than classic puff pastry, with much less rolling to do. This recipe only makes 6, but I’d like you to start here, getting your technique as sharp as you can, before you set up making dozens to supply your entire neighbourhood as the local viennoiserie star baker. You can do it, I ... Read more
This Honey cake with fresh ginger and sourdough recipe has grown out of one I wrote back in 1998 for my first book, “Baking with Passion”, where I was making a honey cake and wanted it to have a fresh bright ginger flavour. The bran-rich nuttiness of the Foricher’s Farine Complet T150 Brun de Plaisir flour suits this cake to a tee and helps to make a mixture that's high in natural fructose ... Read more
Madeleines are quick and easy to make sponge cakes, baked in a special tray that gives them their shell shape. Perfect when you can find a quiet 10 minutes with a mug of freshly ground coffee.
The recipe here is based on one by Eric Lanlard, which makes enough to fill the shells of our Madeleine trays. I've used some Fiori di Sicilia, which gives the cakes plenty of citrus fragrance.Method
Melt ... Read more
I've always loved malt loaf: the bought stuff, but only because I've never been able to make one that comes close to that moist malty consistency that just needs some butter on it for a delicious snack.... Until now!
With help from our friends at Muntons, we've got an easy recipe that makes a marvellous malt loaf. The secret to the rich, malty flavour and colour is to use a little roasted barley ... Read more
