Challah

Here's an interesting fact about me: half my ancestors are Jewish. My maternal grandparents, and a big chunk of my family on that side.

Almond and Chocolate Cupcakes

It was another friend's birthday last week. I kid you not.

That picture is really starting to get on my nerves.

The Essence of Danish Pastry

The first thing I found when I started looking up recipes for Danish pastry was a load of articles saying "It's not as scary as you think!". Considering I actually didn't have an opinion on how scary it was before I started, that all actually made me feel worse about the whole thing.

The Essence of Chocolate Ganache

This was something else that I wasn't sure about making an Essence out of. But I decided to go for it. After looking at a lot of recipes, they all seemed pretty much the same, which I took as a good sign.

The Essence of Pancakes - American Style

I was born and brought up (although not so much bred) in London, England.

But because of the 'not so much bred' part, American pancakes are actually the type I grew up with. We never ate pancakes any more than the average family (once or twice a year at the most), but when we did, they were proper thick, fluffy, fried cakes.

The Essence of Pancakes - European Style

As I talked about in my other pancake post, European pancakes are not actually my 'mother dish', although it should be by rights of my geography. And in fact, if I was given the absolute choice, I think I'd simply have to opt for American style overall.

But flat, wide, unleavened European pancakes have their own unique applications too, and I can't deny that.

Excuses

It was my birthday last week. Happy Birthday me!