The Passionate Baker

Kougin Amann is a round multi-layered cake, originally made with bread dough containing layers of butter and sugar folded in, similar in fashion to puff pastry albeit with fewer layers.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.

The macaron is traditionally held to have been introduced in France by the Italian chef of queen Catherine de Medici during the Renaissance. Since the 19th century, a typical Parisian-style macaron is presented with a ganache, buttercream or jam filling sandwiched between two such cookies, akin to a sandwich cookie. The confection is characterized by a smooth squared top, a ruffled circumference—referred to as the "crown" or "foot" (or "pied")—and a flat base. It is mildly moist and easily melts in the mouth.

Stay tuned for the flavors I'll be bring to the show!

My bakewell tarts are filled with a seedless black raspberry jam, topped with frangipane and baked off and finished with powder sugar.

The history of the Bakewell tart is an English confection consisting of a shortcrust pastry shell beneath layers of jam, frangipane, and a topping of flaked almonds. It is a variant of the Bakewell pudding, closely associated with the town of Bakewell in Derbyshire.