Chocolate-pecan pie

A pecan pie with chocolate is objectively better than one without it and should really be a prerequisite for any pecan-cum-crust affair.

Clotted Cream, Heavy Cake.

Heavy Cake is one of those British regional bakes defined more by its origin story than necessarily how it tastes. I've sampled it in the UK and tried different recipes at home, and each had a different taste and texture. One from a bakery in Port Isaac was sweet, slightly spongy and, well, like a [...]

Oatmeal cream pies

Like much of my baking, this project stemmed from a surfeit of buttercream leftover from a previous adventure. Also, my never-ending search for a decent soft and chewy oatmeal cookie, a feat I've still yet to achieve. While these oatmeal cream pies turned out pretty well (and not so cloyingly sweet as their name brand [...]

Chocolate birthday cake with vanilla buttercream

Any baker worth their flaky sea salt ought to have a simple yet special birthday cake in their repertoire. Personally, I don't have strong feelings when it comes to vanilla versus chocolate cake, but I am particularly partial to vanilla buttercream. Chocolate cake, then, seems like a good contrast and my wife, Reese, makes an [...]

Funfetti Crumb Cake

We finally broke down and bought the Butter Crumb Cake from Tom Leonard's market. We'd been liberally sampling it for a while (one has to be sure of these things) and decided that, indeed, it's exceptionally tolerable. I have an inherent weakness for cinnamon-sugary things and these sorts of cake tend to make me a [...]

Matthew’s Millionaire’s Shortbread

I measure the ingredients by weight because it’s more accurate and gives more consistent results. The volume measurements should work, but I haven’t tried them and can’t make any promises. Make sure the sweetened condensed milk is fat-free. No concession to health (and these bars truly aren’t), it’s simply that full fat condensed milk’s too [...]

Where’s the Meat?

So, here's my personal tragedy for the week: I'm allergic to meat. Alas, I shit thee not. Believe me, it's every syllable as absurd as it sounds, but nonetheless real. Unfortunately in this instance, I have science on my side. "But, but, but," you may well and truly ask, "how the hell can this be?" [...]

Hot Cross Buns: Function + Folklore

Since tomorrow's Good Friday, hot cross buns are in order. Rather than attempt anything like a comprehensive history of these folklore-encrusted creations, I thought I'd share a few of the more interesting tidbits. Even the eminent Ivan Day throws up his hand at the bun's lineage beyond the 18th century, saying "when you start looking for [...]

Orange Pound Cake (for Nat’l Pound Cake Day)

Apologies, first of all. I've been coping with less than ideal circumstances for baking lately and so have a touch of hiatus. Namely, a housemate who thinks the kitchen--the sacred hearth from which we feed ourselves--is a smoking den. It is, decidedly, not. But what can one reasonably do with the unreasonable? And by "unreasonable," I mean someone [...]

1912 Scones

Titanic has been in the news a lot lately. New evidence suggests a coal fire on board played a more significant role than originally thought. It started spontaneously (as coal fires do, apparently) before Titanic began her maiden voyage in a three-story coal bunker abutting the hull, right where the ship later struck ice. This [...]