If you wanted a great afternoon of light fare paired with wonderful desserts, where would you go? The Left Bank of Paris? Vienna? The Spanish Steps?
How abut Poundbury? In Dorchester? A hundred miles due west of London. There you will find the Bramble Café, founded by Mat Follas who was a Masterchef UK Winner in 2009. This café was opened in 2016 and is a “must stop, must eat” destination. This compendium of recipes is one that will interest any baker. Anyone who loves dessert.
The ideas here are British, well actually British Empire. There are treats here from New Zealand, Australia and Canada. Some of these ideas are ones you may not be familiar with, but anyone who knows British baking will see this is familiar ground. Ah, but here the ground has been groomed and upgraded. Mat has perfected classical recipes, offering his own artistic twist with culinary and presentation variations.
That book cover is his cheesecake, richly adorned with berries. There is a classic Coffee and Walnut Cake, but made here with oil instead of butter. The Ultimate Chocolate Fudge Cake is made with, what else, fudge. Yes, you melt fudge as one of the components in fashioning these chocolate layers:
Or, if you love vertical desserts, consider this Lavender Mousse, Blackberry and Cinder Coffee Verrine:
The cinders here are coffee biscuits, offering sublime contrast to the velvet of the mousse.
Steve Painter has photographed this book, filling it with vibrant colors intended to trigger your saliva. The intent is fully met.
There is even a chapter that does not have chocolate. The tea sandwich ideas here include Cucumber and Mint, Smoked Salmon and Dill Mayonnaise, Hummus and Rocket Arugula, and the very British Beef and Horseradish. The sandwiches are delectable. Don’t overeat though. You need room for:
Macaroons
Brownies with Crust
Apple Crumble Slice
Apple Cake
Lemon Drizzle Cake
Don’t let the “basic” recipe titles here fool you. These are perfected recipes, ready for you and your kitchen. And your tummy!