The Passionate Baker

A Bakewell tart is an English confection consisting of a shortcrust pastry shell with a  layers of jam, and top with frangipane.  Baked off to a golden brown and topped is powder sugar.  It is a variant of the Bakewell pudding, closely associated with the town of Bakewell in Derbyshire.

The tart can be made with a variety of jams or compotes.  I like the seedless black raspberry, but I also like to change it up with whatever fruit is in season.

Swedish Kringle is a wonderful light almond pastry with a buttery, flaky crust, and is topped with a a light almond glaze and chopped almonds.

If you like almond flavoring, you’ll love this.

Kougin-amann (pronounced [ˌkwiɲ aˈmãn]; pl. kouignoù-amann) is a Breton cake.  The name comes from the Breton language word for cake (kouign) and butter (amann). It is a round multi-layered cake, originally made with bread dough containing layers of butter and sugar folded in, similar in fashion to puff pastry albeit with fewer layers. The cake is slowly baked until the butter puffs up the dough (creating the layers) and the sugar becomes caramelized. The result is similar to a muffin-shaped, caramelized croissant.

​Kouign-amann is a specialty of the town of Douarnenez in Finistère, Brittany, where it originated around 1860.