Bakewell Slices for an almondy mood

Posted in Baking Recipes, Brownies & Bars, The Breakfast Bin by Clarisse Shaina

My week is finally winding down. With just little bits of business left to tie up, I’ve managed to squeeze in some time to write about these lovely bars. These bars, as you might have guessed, is based on the English Bakewell Tarts, which is something I have yet to try. (If anybody knows a good recipe for the tarts, please do link away!) I actually made this quite some time ago but had planned to share it only after trying the tarts. Unfortunately I haven’t had the chance to make them, but it would be such a shame to keep these bars to myself for so long.

These bars are made up of layers upon layers of yum: a buttery crust at the bottom, some sweet jam in the middle, a lovely frangipane on top of that, and finally a nice sprinkling of more almonds to enhance the lovely almond scent and flavour. This is a fantastic almond treat, sweetened mostly by a layer of jam. My love for almonds is actually a fairly recent thing. I did not use to like them, but I have always loved the scent of them. Thankfully tastes change, because I have much almond-consumption to catch up to.

Continue reading for the recipe

About these ads

17Dec2011

{Countdown to Christmas} Of Linzer Sables and snow

Posted in Baking Recipes, Christmas & holidays, Cookies, Dearly Dreaming Dorie, From the books by Clarisse Shaina

I’ve always wondered about snow. The only time I was ever in a country with snow, it had already fallen and was beginning to melt away on the ground, leaving only wet, icy signs that it was ever there. I want to see it falling on me at least once in my lifetime, and then I’ll be okay. However, given that I am afraid of very cold weather, I would have to be wrapped in at least 5 layers of clothing, and I would probably only stay outside for no more than an hour. I guess that would be enough to appreciate the magic of falling snow right?

Snow is ever so fascinating to me, perhaps for no other reason than I’ve never experienced it (I’ll tell you if I think up any more reasons once I do experience it). I could spend some time in a gift shop flipping over snow globes then feel fuzzy inside afterward. I reckon that has to do with how I would likely prefer to appreciate snow, looking at it from inside the warm comfort of my house, behind a glass window with a hot cup of coffee in my hands. But for now I’m settled with just, as the songs say, dreaming of a White Christmas. Watching the snow-like flakes of confectioner’s sugar falling onto these Linzer Cookies definitely made me happy!

Is it just me or do you hear the bells of Santa’s sleigh jingling in the background?

14Dec2011

{Countdown to Christmas} A Holiday Wreath for hanging in your tummy

Posted in Baking Recipes, Bread-making, Christmas & holidays, Yeasted breads by Clarisse Shaina

Is it just me or does my title sound just a tad morbid?

Anyways, since we were on the subject of yeast breads coming from my previous post, I was contemplating on doing some sort of Christmas yeast bread that is not a panettone. It wasn’t until I caught this very interesting-looking wreath bread on the cover of a local food magazine that I decided I would. It’s a little bit like a panettone in that it makes use of dried fruits, some of which inevitably end up within the bread. However half of the dried fruits do end up speckled all over the top as in bright red decorations, which gives this wreath bread a definitely more festive appearance compared to a panettone. Even my very traditional grandmother who doesn’t like anything that is not Chinese commented on how festive this bread looks in between bites. So I suppose I could declare this a success!

1Aug2011

{Dearly Dreaming Dorie} Cobblers and Thumbprint Cookies

Posted in Baking Recipes, Cookies, Dearly Dreaming Dorie, From the books, Pies & Tarts by Clarisse Shaina

So I’ve recently been going through Dorie Greenspan’s Baking: From My Home To Yours. I just finished reading the whole book last night, and it’s no surprise that I’ve bookmarked almost every recipe! I can understand why Dorie’s book is a must have. Every recipe seems well thought out and homey, literally something you would enjoy serving in the comfort of your home to the family you love, or occasionally, to impress the guests. Being relatively new to the cookbook-collecting business, I scour the review sites just to make sure the books I buy are topnotch and worth being part of my beloved collection. And I must say, there’s not a single regret in my bones that I got this one. I don’t know you’d be surprised how much I chased after this book -would you believe it was the last copy everwhere?!- just so I can share in the wonderfulness everyone has been talking about, and how triumphant I felt once I held it in my hands. Quite literally, I sang with joy.

I’ve tried a few recipes from the book already and so far all of them have been fantastic. I will not be sharing all the recipes here, because my objective is to actually get you to buy the book yourself. Maybe I’ll share some of the more heavily publicized ones, or the ones Dorie herself shares on her blog. As a fan of Dorie, it’s easy enough for me to be considerate towards her by not giving away a significant amount of her recipes out for free. Instead, I will share the experiences of making and eating her recipes. And then perhaps it will give you the push you need to go out and finally buy the book yourself!