The Cat Was Dead

Schrödinger didn't like cats. I think he rigged it. All photographs have been taken by myself. Please click the link below to see my food blog at Raspberry Brûlée.

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'Almond and Apricot Couronne – from Paul Hollywood’s How to Bake' from ‘Raspberry Brûlée’

Raspberry Brûlée, a home to patisserie obsessions, food thoughts, recipes and reviews. Brought to you from our little flat in Liverpool.

In the post ‘Almond and Apricot Couronne – from Paul Hollywood’s How to Bake’, we give the recipe for a “Couronne” (crown in French). This is the first post using recipes from Paul Hollywood’s new book “How to Bake”.

A couronne is a sweet, cinnamon bun-like dough, stuffed with almond paste and dried fruit sounds like my idea of breakfast heaven. It is put together like a cinnamon bun: rolled out yeast leavened dough enriched with butter is spread with the filling and a thin layer of marzipan, then rolled, split, twisted and shaped. The fillings melt together between the twisted layers during baking, and it is finished with a glaze, icing, and toasted almonds. Our recipe is slightly modified, but the success of this bake should be credited to a fantastic recipe from Paul Hollywood. It is delicious for breakfast and amazing served warm with a cup of coffee or tea.

I was going to start out by doing a review of the book itself, but I don’t think you can really review a cookbook until you have cooked from it. (My full review of How to Bake is now available here).

Also check out our review of How to Bake by Paul Hollywood, and his Victoria Sponge recipe.

Please come over to our blog to have a look at the full post and others :)

Hope to see you soon,

Miss Brûlée

[thecatwasdead]

'Being an official wine ponce (WSET level 2)' from ‘Raspberry Brûlée’

Raspberry Brûlée, a home to patisserie obsessions, food thoughts, recipes and reviews. Brought to you from our little flat in Liverpool.

In the post ‘Being an official wine ponce (WSET level 2)’, we explain about the wine course Chris is starting .

He's studying for the Wine and Spirit Education Trust (WSET) level 2 qualification in wine and spirits at Vinea in Liverpool. This seemed like the perfect way to broaden his knowledge and learn things outside of his comfort zone, while also gaining an internationally recognised qualification in booze.

While on the subject of wine, we went to a champagne tasting at Corks Out in Heswall (Chris is calling it 'necessary revision'). You can read about it here.

Please come over to our blog to have a look at the full post and others :)

Hope to see you soon,

Miss Brûlée

[thecatwasdead]

'Quick baguettes' from ‘Raspberry Brûlée’

Raspberry Brûlée, a home to patisserie obsessions, food thoughts, recipes and reviews. Brought to you from our little flat in Liverpool.

In the post ‘Quick baguettes’, we create a simpler and quicker plain white baguette.

As we weren't happy with the standard of 'baguette' in this country, we made some ourselves. The aim was to find a cross between a true baguette and a loaf, which can be made quickly and easily. The 70% hydration dough is less than the usual 75-80% of a baguette, which doesn't give a too open crumb structure. It also takes less time from mixing to baking, with only an overnight pre-ferment to boost the depth and complexity of flavour. The finished result is close to a baguette, whilst also being easy to make (and makes a heck of a good sandwich!).

Also check out The Fresh Loaf, where you will find information on all aspects of bread making and some great forums.

Please come over to our blog to have a look at the full post and others :)

Hope to see you soon,

Miss Brûlée

[thecatwasdead]

'Lime tarts, chocolate pastry, vanilla and ginger crème Chantilly' from ‘Raspberry Brûlée’

Raspberry Brûlée, a home to patisserie obsessions, food thoughts, recipes and reviews. Brought to you from our little flat in Liverpool.

In the post ‘Lime tarts, chocolate pastry, vanilla and ginger crème Chantilly’, we experiment with chocolate pastry and lime curd recipes.

We decided to try something we had not yet attempted: chocolate pastry. The recipe was created using our usual pâte sucrée with cocoa powder substituted for an equal amount of flour. Lime curd was something we had wanted to attempt for a while, and so we used the limes we had just bought and a lemon curd recipe to create the filling (natural lime curd looks almost the same yellow as lemon curd). The contrast of the tangy curd and sweet pastry was complemented by a simple crème Chantilly, lightly flavoured with vanilla and stem ginger while balancing the richness of the other components. The presentation of the tarts was also being tested, and so there are many variations in the photographs.

Please come over to our blog to have a look at this post and others :)

Hope to see you soon,

Miss Brûlée

[thecatwasdead]

'Lemon drizzle on a rainy day' from ‘Raspberry Brûlée’

Raspberry Brûlée, a home to patisserie obsessions, food thoughts, recipes and reviews. Brought to you from our little flat in Liverpool.

In the post 'Lemon drizzle on a rainy day', we give the recipe for a traditional and light lemon drizzle cake.

As the British summer has disappeared again, we've taken the opportunity to bake and try to bring a little bit of summer indoors with something bright and zesty: a lemon drizzle cake. We wanted to create a lighter cake using lemon zest, lemon syrup to keep the cake moist and intensify the flavour, and a traditional "drizzle" icing including lemon juice.

Please come over to our blog to have a look at this post and others :)

Hope to see you soon,

Miss Brûlée

[thecatwasdead]

'Lychees with pink muscat, rose sabayon and shortbread' from ‘Raspberry Brûlée’

Raspberry Brûlée, a home to patisserie obsessions, food thoughts, recipes and reviews. Brought to you from our little flat in Liverpool.

In the post 'Lychees with pink muscat, rose sabayon and shortbread', we give the recipes needed for the lychee and rose sabayon, and the shortbread fingers. We played Ready Steady Cook with the fresh lychees, and decided to create a lightly perfumed sabayon with rose water and 'Stella Bella' pink muscat dessert wine. Thin fingers of shortbread added crunch and a rich, buttery accompaniment to the lightness of the fruit and subtle rose flavoured foam.

Please come over to our blog to have a look at this post and others :)

Hope to see you soon,

Miss Brûlée

[thecatwasdead]

‘Raspberry Brûlée’ - New Food Blog!

Raspberry Brûlée, a home to patisserie obsessions, food thoughts, recipes and reviews. Brought to you from our little flat in Liverpool.

I hope this blog will become an outlet for my obsession with food, in particular pastry, baking and patisserie. My posts on Raspberry Brûlée won’t all be based on desserts - savoury dishes will make an appearance, as well as reviews of restaurants, books and food events. I hope that over time it will become a catalogue of things I have made; successes, failures, experiments and experiences in food.

The name  came about during a brainstorming session on potential blog names. Every good name we could think of had been taken and I had just been making crème brulees. I’m a big fan of the culinary classics, give me a choice between a classic pudding or some ultra modern concoction of gels, foam and freeze dried nonsense and I know which I’d go for 9 times out of 10. Not that I don’t enjoy modern or innovative cooking, but a classic creme brulee seems far more suited as a metaphor for my personal style. Bruleeing is also a great excuse to use a blowtorch (always a good thing if you’re a pyromaniac like me) and in combination with my favourite fruit seemed to produce the perfect title for my future blog to be. The fact that ‘Raspberry Brûlée’ reminded me of the title of a classic Prince song was an added bonus 

I’m also hoping that Raspberry Brûlée will act as a platform through which I can meet like minded foodies and perhaps get more involved in the food scene which seems to be rapidly developing in Liverpool. If you love food as much as me please visit the blog and give me a follow, post a comment or get in touch for a chat, I’d love to hear from you.

Hope to see you soon,

Miss Brûlée

[thecatwasdead]

At the touch of love everyone becomes a poet.

Plato

[thecatwasdead]

Nuzzle

Zebra and her foal. Taken at PheZulu Game Reserve, Kwa Zulu Natal, South Africa.

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No mice here.

Windmill in old Amsterdam. Love the look of them, outside and in.

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[thecatwasdead]

If an elderly but distinguished scientist says that something is possible, he is almost certainly right; but if he says that it is impossible, he is very probably wrong.

Arthur C. Clarke

[thecatwasdead]

Shadow

Aerial view of the shadow of the 'plane flying over England.

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Hello, Sun.

View from the Izana Observatory. Taken in the late afternoon.

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[thecatwasdead]

He taught me housekeeping; when I divorce I keep the house.

Zsa Zsa Gabor

[thecatwasdead]

Jack frost

Frost tried to kill off my lavender plant. Frost failed.

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Bite marks

Chocolate covered raspberry macaroon. Best way to spend time when you're standing in a queue. Still prefer Ladurée's.

http://www.sadaharuaoki.com/profil/en.html

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[thecatwasdead]

From now on we live in a world where man has walked on the Moon. It's not a miracle; we just decided to go.

Tom Hanks