Violet Bakery: Week Five
We're gonna need a bigger freezer.
After this month, my freezer is chock full of raw scones, cookie dough and pre-cut biscuits. 🤦🏻♀️ This is the problem with choosing a baking book for the month! Luckily I have plenty of neighbors, friends and coworkers that I can pass treats off on. (Whether they like it or not!)
I found these recipes to be accessible and overall, pretty simple for any level baker! I believe the measurements in this book have been converted for American readers, but just like with any baking recipe, I still recommend weighing your ingredients. It seems like some of the measurements are off based on the reviews I read! I never came across that problem personally, but just an FYI if you decide to purchase this book yourself.
My dark horse favorite of the month was the Kale and Ricotta Bread Pudding. It was so damn good! Honorable mentions were the Butterscotch Blondies and the Cinnamon Buns.
You should buy this cookbook if…
You’re an Anglophile.
You or someone you love is always in the mood for cake.
You’re curious about the baker who broke royal tradition.
September Cookbook: The Violet Bakery Cookbook by Claire Ptak
I almost skipped over the butterscotch blondies (pg. 143) because I was thinking there was no way in hell I was going to make “caramel shards”. Candy-making is something that I have no interest in learning. But! Monday night rolled around and I was looking for something sweet after dinner. These called for brown sugar, so I mixed in some of my Smoked Brown Sugar to add some ~depth~. The caramel shards (pg. 238) ended up being fun to make and gave the blondies a cool mosaic pattern on top. 10/10 will make again.
There is literally nothing on God’s green earth more satisfying than a bacon, egg and cheese sandwich. The bacon and egg buttermilk biscuits (pg. 58) were no exception. A straightforward buttermilk biscuit recipe with bacon and eggs. You can’t go wrong! I also put a few drops of my favorite hot sauce, the Double Take Cilantro Avocado.
It made sense that I close out the month with the whoopie pie that started it all for Claire Ptak. Before opening Violet Bakery, Claire used to sell these whoopie pies (and other treats) from her stall at the Broadway Market in London. This recipe is not in the Violet Bakery cookbook but can be found in Claire’s first book, The Whoopie Pie Book. (But I just googled the recipe and found it here.)
Fun fact: Whoopie pies were first created by the Amish who made them from leftover cake batter! Legend has it (I bet you didn’t know that there was dessert lore, huh?) when children and farmers would find the treat in their lunch pail, they’d yell out “Whoopie!” Hence the name.
Thanks for reading, sweeties! 🍎