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Directly translated from French, Galette des Rois means King’s Cake. A beautiful frangipane based cake which celebrates Epiphany, Galette des Rois can be found in French patisseries during March and April, celebrating the three King’s visit to the baby Jesus. A small porcelain charm called a fève, is hidden in the cake and the person who finds it is “King” for the day and gets to wear the paper crown that comes with the cake. (For safety reasons you may replace the charm with an uncooked bean). While living in France I went down to the local patisserie every second day to buy one of these very special French traditions … it really is delicious and I find, quite addictive!

400g puff pastry

45ml smooth apricot jam

Frangipane filling:

125g butter, room temperature

125g caster sugar

125g ground almonds

3 eggs

10ml cognac / rum / vanilla and almond extract

Glaze:

1 egg

15ml milk

Line a large baking sheet with baking paper and divide your pastry in half.

Roll out each piece of pastry and cut a 25cm circle/round from each.

Place one round onto the baking paper and spread with the apricot jam, leaving a 2cm clear area around the edges. Put aside.

Add the butter and sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.

Beat the mixture until pale.

Add the ground almonds with the machine running on low.

Now add the eggs, one at a time, and finally the cognac (or other flavouring you may be using).

Spoon the frangipane onto the prepared pastry circle, taking care to keep the 2cm around the edges clear. Heap the mixture slightly more in the centre of the pastry, sloping down towards the edges.

If you want to add a fève, pop a dry bean into the filling at this stage.

Brush the clean pastry edge with water and cover the filling with the second circle of pastry. Press the edges to seal.

Lightly mark the top of the pastry from the centre to the edges like spokes of a wheel and brush with the glaze.

Refrigerate your galette for a minimum of 3 hours – if the pastry and frangipane is not ice cold, the frangipane filling will bubble out of the pastry. I refrigerate mine overnight.

Preheat your oven to 200℃.

Place the ice cold cake into the oven and bake for 30 minutes, until the pastry is golden.

Remove and cool.

Galette des Rois may be served warm or cold, but always remember the crown!

These hash browns are baked in muffin tins which means that they don’t fall apart but still tastes wonderful: fluffy on the inside and beautifully crisp and golden on the outside!

4 large potatoes, finely grated

1 onion

30ml butter, melted

15ml cornflour

2,5ml salt

Preheat your oven to 190℃.

Grease a muffin tin with at least 8 holes.

Peel the potatoes and onion and grate them finely. I do mine in the food processor.

Scoop the grated onion-potato mixture into a clean tea towel, hold it over the kitchen sink and twist and squeeze the towel to remove as much moisture from the grated mixture as possible. The drier the mixture, the more successful the hash browns will be.

Add the grated vegetables to a mixing bowl and drizzle over the melted butter.

Sprinkle the cornflour and salt over the mixture and mix/rub everything together so that all of the potato gets some of the cornflour and salt.

Divide the mixture evenly between 8 muffin holes, filling each about two-thirds full and then pressing the mixture down into the tin.

Bake the hash browns for 30 minutes, turn the heat up to 220℃ and bake for 15 minutes more.

Remove from the oven and loosen the outsides with the blade of a sharp knife.

Serve warm.

This is a basic, classic recipe for a really good chocolate cake that can take on many guises: serve it with Chantilly cream and fresh berries; sprinkled with powdered sugar; warm chocolate fudge sauce or as an old fashioned layered cake, but do keep the recipe as a reliable fall-back for those times that you need an uncomplicated but delicious cake!

375ml boiling water

125ml vegetable oil

125ml cocoa powder

4 eggs

5ml vanilla

325g caster sugar

300g self-raising flour

15ml milk powder

a pinch of salt

Preheat your oven to 180℃.

Grease two 22cm loose-bottomed cake tins.

Pour the boiling water, oil and cocoa powder into a large jug and stir to dissolve. Set aside to cool completely.

Add the eggs and vanilla to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium-high speed, until light in colour.

Add the flour, milk powder and salt to a mixing bowl.

Turn the mixer down to a low speed and add the dry mixture a little at a time, so that it incorporates into the batter.

Turn off the mixer and remove the bowl.

Add the cooled water mixture and fold it through with a spatula.

Scoop the batter into the two prepared cake tins and bake for 30 minutes.

Remove the cake from the oven and place it onto a cooling rack for 10 minutes before un-moulding.

Cool the cake completely before sandwiching it together.

This dessert causes quite a stir at a dinner party because of its unusual ingredients. I think most people react to being deceived into thinking that this is a “real” chocolate mousse dessert and that a common, store cupboard ingredient can turn into a delicious dessert. Do try it at your next dinner party: it yields 12 large portions, can be made in advance and keeps well in the refrigerator.

10g powdered gelatine

30ml water

200g chocolate biscuits (e.g. Romany Creams, Oreo)

100g butter, melted

500g powdered coffee creamer (Cremora)

250ml ice cold water

2 X 385g cans of condensed milk

250ml lemon juice

5ml vanilla

120ml cocoa powder

Pour the 30ml water into a cup and sprinkle the gelatine over. Set aside to bloom.

Grease a 25cm loose-bottomed cake tin. You may use a bread tin but if it doesn’t have a loose-bottom you should line it with baking paper in order to un-mould the dessert for presentation.

Add the chocolate biscuits to the bowl of a food processor and blitz until you have a uniform crumb mixture.

Melt the butter and add it to the crumbs in a thin stream , with the processor running.

Tip the crumb mixture into your prepared baking tin and line the bottom and sides by pressing the mixture firmly with the back of a spoon. Set aside.

Add the coffee creamer to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.

Add the ice cold water and mix until combined.

Add the condensed milk and mix together at high speed for 7 minutes. You will end yup with a very thick and creamy mixture.

Turn the speed of the mixer down and add the lemon juice a little at a time, making sure it is incorporated before adding more.

Add the vanilla in the same way and then turn off the mixer.

Sieve the cocoa powder onto this mixture and turn the mixer onto medium speed.

Melt the gelatine by putting it into the microwave oven for 10 second spurts until runny.

Now add the melted gelatine to the mixture while the mixer is running.

Run the mixer for 1 minute after the gelatine has been added to make sure it is well incorporated.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared cake tin and place in the refrigerator for 4 hours.

Un-mould the mousse dessert and decorate with cocoa powder and fresh berries.

This is a classic chocolate ganache recipe and can be used as a warm chocolate sauce or as frosting on cakes. Utterly delicious!

250g chocolate

30ml butter

160ml double cream

5ml vanilla

Chop the chocolate finely and set aside.

Add the butter and cream to a small saucepan and put it onto medium-low heat.

Stir the mixture with a whisk until all the butter has melted.

Leave the mixture for about 2 minutes or until tiny bubbles form along the edges of the pan. Remove from the heat immediately.

Add the chopped chocolate and stir the mixture so that the chocolate can melt.

Add the vanilla and stir the sauce with a whisk until it is completely smooth.

The ganache may now be used as a smooth, pourable fudge sauce to accompany cake, dessert or as a warm sauce for ice cream.

Yes that’s right! No kneading for these fabulous rolls. They are an absolute pleasure to make and truly has the texture of fluffy pillows!! Makes 12 rolls

10g instant yeast

10ml and 50ml sugar

125ml water, lukewarm

600g bread flour

7,5ml slt

250ml milk, lukewarm

50g butter, melted and cooled

2 eggs, beaten

Pour the lukewarm water into a mixing bowl and sprinkle the yeast and 10ml sugar on top. Stir thoroughly and set aside.

Add the flour, 50ml sugar and salt to a large mixing bowl. Stir to combine.

Now add the warm milk, melted butter, beaten eggs and yeast liquid to the dry ingredients.

Mix together with a spatula until combined and you are left with a thick, sticky batter.

Cover the mixing bowl with a damp tea towel and leave to rise to more than double its size/volume. This should take about 2 hours.

Line a 23cm X 30cm roasting tin or baking tray with baking paper.

Punch the dough back to deflate and and knead it very briefly by hand – you simply want to deflate the dough.

Dust a work surface with flour and turn the dough out onto it. It will be very sticky and you may dust your hands and the dough with flour as you work.

Shape the dough into a log, cut it into 4 even sized pieces and then cut each piece into another 3 pieces.

Take one piece of dough and flatten it slightly between your palms. Use your fingers to gather the outsides of the dough, so that it forms a stretchy, smooth surface in your palm. Press the gathered ends together and flip the ball so that the smooth side is on top.

Place the ball on the lined tray.

Repeat with the remaining dough by lining them up 4 X 3.

Spray the surface of the rolls with cooking spray and wrap with plastic wrap.

Leave the covered rolls in a warm place for 40 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 180℃, on the fan setting.

Uncover the rolls and bake them for 20minutes.

Remove the baking tray from the oven and brush the rolls with 15ml melted butter.

Place on a cooling rack to cool completely.

This is a delicious vegetarian lunch when paired with a salad. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature.

1 X Sour Cream Pastry, blind baked as described in the recipe on this blog

750ml butternut, cubed

125ml crumbed feta cheese

250ml feta cheese, cubed

83ml pumpkin seeds

4 eggs

250ml sour cream

2,5ml salt

Once you have baked your pastry, preheat your oven to 190℃.

Prepare the butternut by peeling it and cutting it into cubes no larger than 1,5cm X 1,5cm.

Add the cubes to a roasting tin and drizzle lightly with olive oil. Roast in the preheated oven for about 30 min, stirring through occasionally, or until just done.

Allow to cool.

Spoon the roasted butternut into the baked pastry shell and spread it evenly over the bottom.

Scatter the cubed feta over the butternut.

Add the crumbed feta cheese, pumpkin seeds, eggs, sour cream and salt to a mixing bowl and whisk the mixture to combine.

Pour this mixture onto the butternut and feta and bake for one hour.

Take the quiche out of the oven and allow it to stand for 20 minutes before remoulding it.

Serve warm or at room temperature.