Any Fruit Biscuit Cobbler

November 27, 2020 By Korena in the Kitchen 1 Comment

Back in August, this was the first baking recipe I managed to make from scratch, start to finish, since Max was born, and this belated post is a testament to how hard it is to get almost anything else done when you are caring for a baby! I first discovered this cherry biscuit cobbler last year and couldn’t wait to make it again with different fruit fillings. The biscuits themselves are like perfect tea time scones, light and perfectly tender, and when combined with jammy fruit and optional but highly recommended ice cream or whipped cream, the whole thing tastes like a cross between a pie and a shortcake.

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Cranberry Apple Cinnamon Danish Swirls

November 26, 2018 By Korena in the Kitchen 3 Comments

When Dale Carnegie wrote his famous self-help book, “How to Win Friends and Influence People“, he listed six ways to get people to like you. I’m here to present you with a seventh way: make these cranberry apple cinnamon danishes and share them with whomever you are hoping to befriend.

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Blackberry Basil White Chocolate Tart

October 1, 2018 By Korena in the Kitchen 8 Comments

Blackberry season almost completely passed me by this year. Normally I’m out scouring the neighbourhood ditches and roadsides for blackberries the minute I notice they are ripe, but somehow I missed the signs and nearly forgot. Luckily, once I remembered, the blackberry item I had in mind only required a small handful of berries, which is how I ended up foraging for blackberries in the rain at the very tail end of the season and came up with just enough for this pretty little tart.

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Stella Parks’ Spiced Vanilla Hot Cross Buns

March 31, 2018 By Korena in the Kitchen Leave a Comment

Guys, I’m having a serious moment with Stella Parks, aka BraveTart. By which I mean, I want to bake all her stuff. Luckily, “her stuff” includes a killer recipe for hot cross buns, so I’m back this year (after a brief hiatus last year) with HCB take seven on the blog. In the past I’ve dabbled in various combinations of chocolate, sourdough, cider, porter, honey, and tea infused HCBs, and this year’s version comes with a hit of vanilla and the unexpected addition of Greek yogurt. One of the things I love best about Parks’ recipes is the way she explains the science behind certain ingredients. In this case, the Greek yogurt adds softness and moisture to the dough, and its acidity also helps with gluten development (and now I understand what “The Lemon Juice Secret” is from the back of the Rogers Flour bag!).

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Franzbrötchen {Cinnamon Sugar Buns}

March 10, 2018 By Korena in the Kitchen 10 Comments

Imagine if a cinnamon bun and a croissant had a baby, only the baby was smarter, taller, better looking, and more popular than both its parents. This baby would be the Franzbrötchen, a cinnamon-sugar filled flaky pastry of German persuasion that is right up there among the best things I’ve ever baked.

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Swedish Kanelbullar and Chokladbiskvier

November 30, 2017 By Korena in the Kitchen 4 Comments

To make up for the fact that I’ve been a slacker these last few months with Around the World in 12 Plates, I’m bringing not one but TWO recipes to this month’s party. Sweden was November’s destination, and similar to their Danish neighbours’ appreciation for hygge – enjoying simple pleasures and general coziness – the Swedes have a serious appreciation for fika, which you could sort of think of as coffee break hygge. But fika is not buying a to-go coffee and inhaling it in your car on the way to somewhere else – it is intentionally slowing down to drink a cup of coffee (or tea), eat some kind of delicious baked good, and enjoy yourself – either alone or with friends. It is so much a part of Swedish culture that workers have fika breaks built into their work days.

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Greek Kataifi

April 30, 2017 By Korena in the Kitchen 1 Comment

Greek kataifi is a cousin to baklava, a similar combination of chopped nuts and crispy dough soaked in syrup, only instead of being made with thin, stacked sheets of phyllo dough, kataifi is made with what is commonly described “shredded phyllo”: fine strands of dough wrapped around a nut filling like a little bundle of hay. Only when I decided to make kataifi for this month’s Greek installment of Around the World in 12 Plates, I discovered that kataifi dough isn’t shredded phyllo at all, but actually something quite different.

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Oliebollen {Dutch Doughnuts}

January 9, 2017 By Korena in the Kitchen 7 Comments

Oliebollen | Korena in the Kitchen

Made from a yeasted dough filled with apples, raisins, and currants, these little deep fried balls of delicious known as Dutch oliebollen were the December Daring Kitchen challenge, and yes, as per usual, I’m several weeks behind. I’m actually a little sad to be posting this challenge, because it is the very last one: participation in the Daring Kitchen has been on the decline for the past few years, so the group is shutting down and it’s time to move on. Since joining the group in 2011, I have made so many delicious desserts and baked goods that I never ever would have tried on my own, from the Mawa cake to the Esterhazy torte, homemade phyllo pastry to ensaimadas, sfogliatelle ricci and lobster tail pastries to Armenian nutmeg cake and nazooks. Not the mention the Battenberg cake, povitica, and sourdough bread, which started a whole other sourdough journey. The Daring Kitchen was one of the main reasons I started this blog, so while I understand and support the reasons for ending the challenges, it’s a little bittersweet.

Oliebollen | Korena in the Kitchen

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Joulutortut {Finnish Christmas Tarts}

December 27, 2016 By Korena in the Kitchen 2 Comments

Christmas has come and gone, and I have managed to come down with a case of what might be strep throat… but in all honesty, I don’t mind that much because it gives me a legitimate excuse to lie on the couch and do nothing for a few days! The lead-up to Christmas, what with all the prepping and shopping and baking and traveling to visit family while still working full time, is absolutely exhausting, and I’m ready for a break, sick or not. But I wanted to tell you about these beautiful little Finnish Christmas tarts before the holiday is too long past, because they were extremely delicious and pretty fun to make, not to mention fun to say (in your best Swedish chef accent): “YO-lou-TOR-tou”.

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Apple, Pear and Quince Speculoos Crumble

November 16, 2016 By Korena in the Kitchen Leave a Comment

I got Dorie Greenspan’s Baking Chez Moi for my birthday this summer and spent about three days straight reading it from cover to cover. By the time I was done, I had bookmarked so many recipes that it looked like this:

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