Pete Fred

Gotta use up this miso... Miso Ganache Fudge Cake by Gurdeep Loyal. I came upon this particular cake (and the previous STP) via a post about 'flavour-maxing'. While I liked the punched-up flavours in the STP, for me this didn't wow. The chocolate cake was fine but ultimately no different to any other less max'd one I could've made. The miso ganache was good, though, and if I wanted to add a savoury-salty edge to something I'd keep it in mind. Overall it was a pleasant cake, so I'm reluctant to damn it with faint praise.

Miso isn't something I've baked with before, so after picking up a packet or two there was work to be done. First up, Dorie Greenspan's Miso-Maple Loaf Cake... I didn't much care for the texture of this cake - too dense and close crumbed for me. "Sturdy" should've tipped me off. I've also learned to be suspicious when a recipe says the mixture "might" curdle, as that's usually code for "always curdles, but let's pretend it doesn't matter". But I really liked the flavour; the miso-maple combo was a winner. Next, Miso Rose Chocolate Chip Cookies... These mostly tasted of chocolate. A pleasant miso umami-ness came through in the aftertaste, albeit not particularly strongly. I couldn't detect the rosewater, but that may be down to the brand. I found the cookies a touch too soft. When baked for longer to firm up more, they were too dark and overbaked for my taste. Finally - and this is quite a mouthful - Prune & Chinese Five Spice Sticky Toffee Pudding with Miso Butterscotch Sauce... Great flavours here; the five spice worked really well with the miso toffee sauce. I was less enthusiastic about the sponge, however, which was too soft for my liking. I'll just have to sub those flavours into my regular STP when I fancy a change. Overall, I liked what miso brings to the party. Just need to find the right vehicle for it.

The French love a crêpe on la Chandeleur (Candlemas). I sometimes make a crêpe cake but this year I fancied a bit of a change. I've never made - or eaten, for that matter - Crêpes Suzette so thought I'd have a crack at it... I guess it's a classic for a reason. Absolutely delicious.

I'm not averse to an occasional microwave mug cake so thought I'd try the Sticky Toffee Pudding from NYT Cooking. Nuke your cake... Apply the sauce... Dive in... It was a pleasant little treat that I'd happily make again. And talking of making things again, another lardy cake so I could fiddle with the method...

Yup. Three simple turns with a third of the lard/sugar/fruit each time (no resting).

Lardy cake... Having not made one in a while, it was a nice reminder that it's worth giving butter a day off from time to time.

Clementine tart, inspired by Alex Croquet... Prettier than its apple cousin, but I think I still prefer the OG. The clementines weren't the best or particularly firm, making it difficult to get thin, regular slices, resulting in a fraction too much bite in some of the peel. If I can crack that, and adjust the sweetness better for the fruit, then it's a winner. There's a couple of videos of him making them, if you like watching that kinda thing (in French).

Far Breton... The Agen prunes were soaked in Armagnac, because it would be rude not to.

@AAQuesada If you want some homework, the bon appétit Bake Club podcast recently covered all things pavlova, explaining egg/sugar ratios, the role of acids and cornstarch, etc..

Tuscan rice pudding tarts... They weren't remarkably different from any other rice pudding tart I've made. The filling is a 50:50 mix of rice pudding and pastry cream, which I thought might lighten things, but I can't say it was a revelation. Still, they were pleasant little bites. Recipe here.

The NYT recently reposted these Salted Margarita Bars... Caveat: I'm not a tequila drinker, and I've never had a margarita, so take my comments with, errrrr, a pinch of salt. The flavours weren't particularly to my taste, but if you're a fan then maybe it'll push your buttons. I was mainly interested in the frozen cream angle, and that I did like. Straight from the freezer it was still soft-ish, kinda like ice cream (frozen custard) with a bit of density/chew. It was 3C/37F here today, so maybe not the best conditions to road test a frozen treat, but for a hot, sunny day, it could well hit the mark. YouTube (where somebody's stuck the recipe in the comments).

Moravian Sugar Cake from NYT Cooking... I *think* I've made cake(s) in the past with mashed potato, but seemingly they weren't particularly memorable, as was the case here. I liked the look, but otherwise it didn't land with me. Recipe or YouTube.

@ElsieD I'll have a slice or a munch to satisfy my curiosity, and sometimes I might stash the odd thing in the freezer, but it mostly gets given away if I can find a willing recipient. If there's no one around then, sadly, it often ends up in the bin, which is what happened to 1¾ lemon tarts. I will pay for this in the next life, no doubt.

If you don't like lemons please look away now. I was curious about a couple of things with this lemon tart from Australian pastry chef Gareth Whitton: the custard, the plain shortcrust, and the dulce de leche. First up, I did a small test of his yolk-heavy custard (a dozen-ish yolks plus a couple of eggs) against the one I normally go with (seven eggs)... There wasn't a huge difference, but I preferred my usual one (right) which was lighter and zingier. With that settled, I made a tart with his plain shortcrust and the dulce de leche... I wasn't a fan of the pastry, a little too puritan for my tastes in this kinda thing. The dulce de leche is used as a chablon rather than a flavour element. There was the merest hint of cooked milkiness at the end of a mouthful, but you'd struggle to call it if you didn't already know. But as a barrier to keep the pastry from softening it worked rather well. I'm not sure I'd go to the trouble of making a batch specially, but it's something I'll keep in mind in future. I still had a bunch of lemons hanging around so made another tart, keeping the chablon but swapping in a sweet paste... In his shops, they now glaze with a lemon gel for flavour and stability, but I couldn't find a recipe for that. Might have to buy the book.

It's been quite a while since I've had a mince pie... Obviously they're unknown in France, so I had to convince my neighbour that there was no actual mince/ground beef in there before he would try one. But he was a fan. Recipe here. (Just don't tell the neighbour that I used beef suet as the fat.)