Top Tips

It’s admittedly very tongue-in-cheek of me to refer to these as “masterclasses”; they are more like tips for areas of baking that I am particularly fond of: little baking bites, to dive into as and when……!

Being an amateur baker, I will bow to the professionals any day of the week; I am certainly not an authority, just a very keen home cook who loves to research and practise in order to get better.

Key areas within the world of baking

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The links below go to my full recipes and guidelines on those areas. Those guidelines summarise what works well for me, giving reliable results that I am very happy with: and I tend to measure “happy with” by how easily I can devour them and how confident I am to serve the bake to others!

Breads

Breads made using commercial yeast

Walnut & raisin “tear and share” bread

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Baguettes

Anchovy, onion & garlic focaccia

Sourdough bread

Olive, cheese & tomato sourdough

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Sourdough boule

Chocolate, cranberry & orange sourdough

Cakes

Cakes: making, flavouring & decorating cakes

Lemon & vanilla Victoria Sandwich cake

Spiced lime & poppy seed bundt drizzle cake

Stem ginger & lime cake

Macarons

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Tiramisu macarons

ginger macaron snowmen

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Bitter orange macarons

Pastry

Choux pastry (sweet & savoury)

duo of éclairs

Choux buns with blackcurrant craquelin

Gougères: simple to make and always a delight to eat!

Croissants & related pastries (viennoiserie)

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Traditional method: look at those layers!

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croissants: open, “honeycombed” interior

Kouign-amann

Rough-puff pastry

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chorizo & fennel sausage rolls

beetroot, walnut & goats’ cheese tart

turmeric rough-puff off-cuts

Shortcrust pastry & baking blind

Mince pies with pistachio Viennese biscuit topping

Spiced smoked cod & fennel tart

baking blind

4 thoughts on “Top Tips”

Great tips section Philip. Easy to follow for an eager novice like me. I will soon be attempting croissants with your guidance. You need to publish your telephone number so I can call you when I get stuck 🙂 🙂

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Philip says:

December 20, 2014 at 2:51 pm

Thank you Dan. I hope you enjoy the croissants. They really are great fun to make

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Hi nice reading youur blog

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Philip says:

November 13, 2021 at 3:24 pm

thank you Monica

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I love to hear your comments: Cancel reply

Dan says:

December 20, 2014 at 1:42 pm

Great tips section Philip. Easy to follow for an eager novice like me. I will soon be attempting croissants with your guidance. You need to publish your telephone number so I can call you when I get stuck 🙂 🙂

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1. Philip says:
  
  December 20, 2014 at 2:51 pm
  
  Thank you Dan. I hope you enjoy the croissants. They really are great fun to make
  
  LikeLike
  
Moni says:

October 4, 2021 at 5:20 pm

Hi nice reading youur blog

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1. Philip says:
  
  November 13, 2021 at 3:24 pm
  
  thank you Monica
  
  LikeLike