Kouign amann

There was a time in my life when laminating meant sandwiching a very important piece of paper between two sheets of plastic and heat sealing them together.  This often took place in a library and would result in every unsuspecting piece of paper receiving a glossy plastic shell.  I blame the weird melting plastic fumes.  Thankfully my life has brought me to a place where lamination means butter, flour and in very lucky cases sugar.  Kouign amann has all the elements of delicious lamination and I think it would taste even better if eaten in a library, just enjoy it away from the laminator fumes.

Egg Custard Tarts

Arguably one of my all-time favourite desserts, other than that isn’t my Mom’s lemon pound cake (that I still love in the face of my current disdain for lemons), my Mom’s Rice Krispie squares, or really anything my Mom bakes, is a Portuguese Custard Tart or pastéis de nata. Sadly I’ve never been to Portugal and tried an authentic pastéis de nata but I have sampled as many as I can get my hands on from various bakeries and they are all delicious.  The bright yellow egg custard is lightly flavoured with cinnamon and perfectly bruleed on top.

Now that I’ve got you salivating over Portuguese Custard Tarts it’s time for me to tell you these are not the same.  As sad as I was to learn that I wasn’t going to be mastering the Portuguese classic I did find out that the UK Egg Custard Tarts have a following of their own.  And who doesn’t love a bit of food history with their baking?  These tarts date back to the middle ages! Although I would have to wait to try my hand at the Portuguese version I was happy to be moving onto another British classic.

Hand Raised Pie

It’s that time again.   That time where I rub together flour and butter, where I pray for no soggy bottoms and where I go against all my instincts and surround raw meat with pastry. It’s meat pie time.  And not just any meat pie but hand raised meat pie.  Meaning not only do I have to produce something without a soggy bottom but also something structurally sound. Oh and hopefully it tastes good too because we’re going to have to eat these things.

So meat pies, we meat again.

Treacle Tart – Why Harry?

When I think of Treacle Tart I immediately think of Harry Potter.  I can’t say I remember him gushing about his love for this British classic in the books but there are just some things Harry Potter fans come to know. And a quick google revealed that Treacle Tart is mentioned several times in the series and I missed it.  I guess it’s time for a re-read.  So with Harry’s endorsement, I was eager to see what this tart was all about.