Notes about Recipes in this book

• Ligurian focaccia from Nove Ligure (Focaccia alla Novese)

  • kbrooks on May 03, 2026

    This is an okay apple cake. Won't make again as I have better apple cake recipes.

• Crusty "slipper" bread (Ciabatta)

  • kbrooks on March 17, 2025

    Really tasty ciabatta!

• Currant rolls (Krentenbollen)

  • kbrooks on October 01, 2024

    These are nice sturdy rolls. They remind me of the raisin rolls that were always in the bread basket on the dinner table on HAL cruises,only better. Good also for sandwiches as they are not sweet.

• Darina Allen's soda bread

  • kbrooks on March 18, 2025

    I bake a lot of yeast breads, quick breads and biscuits. For some reason I have never made soda bread until I made this yesterday for St. Patrick's Day. It was so quick and easy! Turned out delicious, light and fluffy. Served with orange marmalade (the good Scottish kind) and butter. The basically same recipe is also in Fanny Singer's cookbook/memoir "Always Home " except she uses half whole wheat flour and half all purpose flour.

• Chocolate studded sweet buns from Basel (Schoggiweggli)

  • kbrooks on March 17, 2025

    These are so yummy!

• Apple cake (Appelgebak)

  • kbrooks on May 07, 2026

    Nothing the best apple cake, but not bad

• Lemon-scented shell-shape cakes (Madeleines)

  • kbrooks on March 17, 2025

    These are absolutely perfect! Light. Lemony.

• Spicy meat pie in a filo crust with yogurt sauce (Habibi gullash bakeri)

  • kbrooks on March 17, 2025

    This is a keeper. The only thing I changed was to use red bell pepper instead of green. The yogurt sauce on the side is delicious.

• Ham- and cheese-filled brioche from Regaleali in Sicily (Sformato di formaggi principe di Galles)

  • kbrooks on March 17, 2025

    Wow is this delicious! Takes some time and effort - plan your time accordingly. The end result is worth it.

• Sausage rolls

  • MollyB on October 16, 2018

    These rolls are fabulous but a lot of work. I served them with some Puddletown Pub Chutney (from Three Little Figs), which was the perfect accompaniment. We also made the quick puff pastry from the cookbook, which worked beautifully. The recipe editing is not quite as good as the results - the filling made twice as much as we needed, so I'd cut it in half if I made it again.

• Quickest puff pastry

  • MollyB on October 16, 2018

    Very good, but bear in mind that "quickest" is relative. You still need several hours for it to be ready to use. I made it for the Sausage Rolls in the book (which were great). The editing is sloppy - it references an illustration of how to fold the dough that is not there. You can figure it out from the text if you read it closely and have some experience with making pastry, but I wouldn't try this particular recipe if you're a novice cook.