The simplest cheese, caraway & walnut biscuits

These are very simple and tasty savoury biscuits that are an ideal vehicle for a gutsy dip, eaten with a cheese and chutney, or munched on just as they are. Continue reading “The simplest cheese, caraway & walnut biscuits”

Gooseberry chutney

This is my very simple recipe for gooseberry chutney that is made in about 20 minutes: a perfect partner for cheese or smoked fish.

Continue reading “Gooseberry chutney”

Hot cross buns with attitude

These are light, full-flavoured sticky buns that have had slow rises to give a far greater depth of flavour. Small pieces of dried cranberries, juicy raisins, ginger and vibrant bursts of citrus run through the sweet, spiced dough. Continue reading “Hot cross buns with attitude”

Piccalilli: a prince among preserves!

Piccalilli is one of my favourite preserves and making a batch late summer is something of an annual ritual that I always look forward to. Continue reading “Piccalilli: a prince among preserves!”

Salted mocha & walnut battenberg cake

This is a return to the classic Battenberg, a cake that is right up there in my list of top 5 cakes. Continue reading “Salted mocha & walnut battenberg cake”

Mustard & caramelised onion sausage rolls

A slight variation on one of my favourite savoury bakes, sausage rolls. See my earlier post for the main recipe: The very best sausage rolls…. Continue reading “Mustard & caramelised onion sausage rolls”

Bread: tips & ideas for the novice home baker and upwards!

updated with further ideas & some newer photos

Phil's Home Kitchen

This post is part of my Baking tips page, along with tips for macarons, croissants, cake decorating ideas and pastry.

Barely a day goes by when I am not either baking or proving a bread of some type, whether it is a sourdough bread or a bread using commercial yeast: it’s a wonderfully tactile and intensely therapeutic process. There are certainly few greater pleasures in baking than the evocative smell of bread as it is baking, followed by eating warm bread that has been spread liberally with good quality butter: simplicity at its very best!

This post is about the basic, but nonetheless majestic bread loaf, made with commercial yeast as opposed to using a sourdough starter, although I dip into pre-ferments as a wonderfully simple way to add even better depth of flavour to bread. I have also posted guidelines for different types of bread, such as focaccia, one…

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Cheese & onion sourdough crumpets

These particular crumpets arose from an idea that came to me late one night – as is often the way! Continue reading “Cheese & onion sourdough crumpets”

Oscars-themed drip cake: “death by Chocolat”

My first real “drip cake”, this was made for recent Clandestine Cake Club meeting, with the theme being a cake with a take on Oscar-winning films……. Continue reading “Oscars-themed drip cake: “death by Chocolat””