Free Video Tutorials on Baking, Pastry making and Creating Desserts. Have a sweet life!
L
ike every other delicious invention, thumbprint cookies’ origin is claimed by many. So, some say that Jewish people invented those, another story says that they were created in Poland, some swear that their origin is actually Swedish, and others claim they appeared somewhere in Central Europe.
W
hat is toffee? Is it a buttercrunch, or butterscotch? Is the butterscotch the same thing as the buttercrunch? Is there a difference? If those questions sound familiar to you, don’t worry, because many, many people – my students included – ask the same! Have no fear because the time has come to resolve this dilemma once and for all!
A
s we’ve already learned in the post about toffee, buttercrunch is a candy very similar to toffee. Similar I say, not the same! However, lots of people, while talking about a hard, crunchy candy made of sugar and butter use both of those terms interchangeably.
B
utterscotch is a hard candy similar to toffee and buttercrunch, except that, instead of regular white sugar, it is always made of brown sugar and butter, with the addition of glucose syrup, vanilla and other flavorings.
A
h, Le Macaron! This sweet little masterpiece from France is a serious pain in the-you-know-where to make for many pastry enthusiasts – heck – even some trained chefs have been known to throw the whole batches to trash! But hey – don’t worry, with this step by step recipe, you’ll be able to ace it every time!
D
id you know that in 2015 (according to the UN’s Sustainable Development Solutions Network SDSN) the citizens of Denmark were the happiest people in the world? Some would reasonably guess that Danish pastry is one of the reasons for all that happiness, since it originated in Denmark, would they? Well, although it sounds unlikely, they would be wrong! So, why in God’s name is it called Danish at all?
W
hen I imagine how a lady’s hand should look like, what comes to my mind is an image of a thin, silky smooth hand and elegant, elongated digits with manicured, buffed fingernails. And maybe, jut maybe, some discrete jewelry, if any. Now, who, in God’s name, could find any resemblance between the image I have just described and soft sponge cake cookies that got exactly the same name, is beyond me!
T
his bread is so fantastic that I am literally over the moon and I just can’t stop eating it! Forget everything that you have learned about making yeast dough for a moment, and take a look at this perfect, crunchy crust! And the inside, OMG the inside is so soft and full of little holes! The best part is – it is so ridiculously easy to make this bread that anybody can do it!
C
ould it be that some bored Swiss banker, sitting in the vault and making endless rolls of money, came to an idea of making a cake that looks like – a roll of money? Or the inventor of the Swiss roll was a tired clock maker that became dizzy of looking at the countless cogwheels swirling back and forth? Nobody knows.
C
hiffon is a fabric that is usually used for evening gowns and it denotes high style and fashion. It is elegant, lightweight and sheer – just like the chiffon cake!
