Beyond the Box: Baking from Scratch

Hello, again! I hope you all survived the ridiculously cold temperatures of this past week! We had it relatively easy with the lowest temperature reaching about 9 degrees. I don't remember what the windchill was, but it was too cold to take Pippin for a walk, so he was fairly pouty all week, but we managed to stay warm. After eating all that  bread  two weeks ago, I thought I would need a break from flour-based goodies for a while, but I dutifully checked my blog schedule and saw what I had previously picked to make next, and I got excited about baking all over again. Well, truth be told, I got excited about eating , but I knew that I would have to bake first, and immediately decided it was well worth it.  Our lovely bake this week comes from the most recent series of the Great British Bake Off/Baking Show (series 9, or available on Netflix in the US as Collection 6), and was the technical challenge from the first week, Biscuits. This bake is Paul Hollywood'...

Happy New Year, everyone! I hope you've all had some lovely and festive celebrations with the people you love most! Over the last month or so, we've been fortunate enough to catch up with so many of our friends and family to share laughter, memories, and (so much!) great food. Even though I haven't been posting regular updates here for you, I've been hard at work making great messes in my kitchen and planning where to take this blog and my fine readers over the next year. As much as I enjoy sharing original recipes with you, I can't deny the fact that those posts do not tend to see as much traffic as I would like. I may still do a few now and then (I know I have an update for my chocolate chip cookies in the works), but it is very obvious to me that what the people (or perhaps, web crawlers and bots) want are more posts where I try my hand at the Great British Bake Off/Baking Show technical challenges. Even when I took several months away from Beyond the Box,...

We are more than halfway through April, which means it's time to try my hand at another King Arthur BakeAlong! The April recipe is called " Almond Puff Loaf ," and although I can't quite say the name without giggling, it looks, quite frankly, scrumptious. But, guys, I'm a little nervous about this one. KAF promises that the recipe is easy and quick, but it involves a choux pastry, which I have never actually made before. I've seen it done on baking and cooking shows and my mom's kitchen, and I've been wanting to try it, but I haven't gotten around to it -- until now, where I attempt it for the first time, documenting it for your entertainment! But first let's discuss what I'm hoping the end product will be. This treat consists of two different types of pastry layered together and topped with jam, almonds, and a sweet icing drizzle. It looks like the kind of thing you would have for an indulgent breakfast or with a cup of tea for an af...