Baking journal: recipes, breakdowns, experiments

#Bread and sourdough

26 Sep 2025

The Perfect Ear: How to Get Beautiful Bread Scoring at Home

Ever wonder why some bakers consistently get stunning bread ears, while others don’t? The secret...

#Overviews #Croissants and laminated dough

05 Sep 2025

Dough Hydration in Croissants: An Experiment

Hydration is the proportion of water to flour weight. In laminated yeasted dough it decides...

#Recipes #Desserts and bakes

05 Sep 2025

Canelés de Bordeaux: Recipe and History

The canelé is a traditional dessert from the French city of Bordeaux: a crisp caramelised...

#Bread and sourdough

14 Aug 2025

5 Common Sourdough Bread Mistakes

Thinking about baking your own sourdough bread? Chances are, you’ve already faced a few bumps...

#Bread and sourdough

08 Apr 2025

How to Shape a Round Sourdough Loaf

A round loaf is shaped in two stages: a preshape followed by a 15–20 minute...

#Recipes

15 Dec 2024

Christmas Star Choux Buns: Full Recipe

Festive choux buns with craquelin, vanilla cream and a blackcurrant and banana filling. Full weights...

#Bread and sourdough

19 Sep 2024

Secrets of a Strong Starter: How to Know When It’s Ready to Bake

Sourdough bread is experiencing a real boom — and for good reason. Not only is...

#Croissants and laminated dough

03 Sep 2024

The Perfect Croissant: Crisp Crust and Open Crumb

An open honeycomb crumb and a crisp crust come from three things: dough and butter...

#Bread and sourdough

28 Aug 2024

From Starter to Stunning Loaf: Everything You’ll Master in Our Sourdough Course

The unique online bread-baking courses from Maru Expert are exactly what you’ve been looking for!...

#Dessert decorating

12 Aug 2024

Acetate Cake Collars: What They Are and How to Use Them

Acetate film gives mousse cakes and pastries clean, glossy sides, keeps fruit fillings from touching...

#Equipment and tools

08 Aug 2024

Pastry Equipment Checklist for Beginners

The starter kit is scales, a mixer, a thermometer, silicone spatulas, a ring or tin,...

#Equipment and tools

24 Jul 2024

Types of Baking Tins and How to Choose Them

Tins are distinguished by geometry — round, square, rectangular, shaped — and by material: metal,...

#Ingredients and substitutions

12 Jul 2024

Freeze-Dried Berries: What They Are and How to Use Them

Freeze-drying removes moisture from fruit in a vacuum. The berry loses its water but keeps...

#Ingredients and substitutions

02 Jul 2024

Preserving Summer Fruit for Pastry Work

Seasonal fruit is preserved four ways: frozen whole, as purée, as confit or dried. Purée...

#Ingredients and substitutions

26 Jun 2024

How to Toast Nuts Properly for Desserts

Toast nuts yourself even if you bought them ready-toasted — shop-bought nuts rarely have much...

#Dessert decorating

15 Jun 2024

Types of Food Colouring and When to Use Each

Food colours divide into synthetic and natural, and by format into gel, powder, liquid and...

#Ingredients and substitutions

01 Jun 2024

Pastry Powders: Gelling Agents and Stabilisers

Pastry powders are thickeners and stabilisers: albumen, agar, pectin, starches, gums and milk powder. Each...

#Chocolate

01 Jun 2024

Dutch-Processed vs Natural Cocoa Powder

Dutch-processed cocoa is the same cocoa powder treated with an alkaline solution. The treatment lowers...

#Inspiration #Pastry as a profession

24 May 2024

Baking for Your Family Without It Taking All Day

Baking for your household is about regularity rather than complexity. Master a handful of base...

#Creams and fillings

24 May 2024

How to Bloom Gelatin Powder: Ratios and Steps

Powdered gelatin is bloomed in cold water at a ratio of 1:5 or 1:6 by...

#Overviews #Croissants and laminated dough

19 May 2024

Butter Test for Croissants: Four Brands Compared

Four brands of 82 % butter tested in the same croissant dough: how each behaved...

#Croissants and laminated dough

18 May 2024

Learning to Make Croissants at Home

Croissants work at home once you have three things in order: keeping dough and butter...

#Ingredients and substitutions

15 May 2024

Types of Yeast: Conversion, Storage and Use

To convert fresh yeast to active dry, divide by 2.5; to instant, divide by 3....

#Inspiration #Desserts and bakes

12 May 2024

Soviet Desserts: The Classics and Where They Came From

Bird’s Milk, Napoleon, éclairs, shortcrust rings and Potato cakes — Soviet pastry chefs created recognisable...

#Inspiration #Pastry as a profession

09 May 2024

How to Become a Pastry Chef: The Realistic Path

The path has three parts: base technique, visual reference and practice on real orders. Formal...

#Inspiration #Pastry as a profession

08 May 2024

Modern Dessert Trends: What Is Being Made Now

The defining directions are restraint in decoration, reduced sugar, local seasonal fruit and reworked classics....

#Equipment and tools

06 May 2024

How to Put a Tip in a Piping Bag

Fit the tip before you fill the bag. Cut the end so about a third...

#Croissants and laminated dough

02 May 2024

Laminated Dough: How the Layers Are Built

Laminated dough works by rolling a sheet of butter into the dough and folding it,...

#Macarons

28 Apr 2024

Why Macarons Crack: Three Causes

Cracked shells come from three causes: unstable meringue that was over- or under-whipped, insufficient drying...

#Inspiration #Croissants and laminated dough

23 Apr 2024

Why the Croissant Conquered the World

The croissant reached France from Viennese baking and became French there — when yeasted dough...

#Bread and sourdough

18 Apr 2024

The benefits of homemade bread

In the age of convenience foods and fast food, more and more people are returning...

#Overviews #Croissants and laminated dough

12 Apr 2024

Is a Croissant Course Worth the Investment?

Lamination is one of the most sought-after skills in a bakery and simultaneously the most...

#Dessert decorating

08 Apr 2024

How to make a velour cover

Velvet Coating – An Elegant Way to Elevate Your Dessert Velvet coating is a sophisticated...

#Bread and sourdough

02 Apr 2024

How to improve the quality of sourdough starter

Sourdough: The Key to Perfect Baking Sourdough plays a crucial role in baking, influencing the...

#Inspiration #Desserts and bakes

28 Mar 2024

Mousse Cakes: How They Are Built and Assembled

A mousse cake is built in layers inside a mould and frozen: mousse, an insert...

#Dessert decorating

25 Mar 2024

How to Decorate Easter Bread: Ideas That Hold

Easter bread is decorated with icing, chocolate, freeze-dried berries, nuts and sprinkles. One rule matters...

#Recipes #Bread and sourdough

22 Mar 2024

How to Make a Sourdough Starter From Scratch

A starter is raised from equal parts flour and warm water over 5–7 days: fed...

#Recipes #Equipment and tools

21 Mar 2024

Sponge Cake in a Slow Cooker: Settings and Timing

Bake sponge in a multicooker on the cake setting at 180 degrees for roughly 40–45...

#Bread and sourdough

18 Mar 2024

Bread Baking Equipment: The Minimum That Works

The minimum kit is scales, a dough scraper, a proving basket, a lame for scoring...

#Inspiration #Chocolate

15 Mar 2024

Simple Chocolate Decorations Anyone Can Make

The simplest chocolate decorations are shards, curls, stripes and lace. All of them are made...

#Dessert decorating

12 Mar 2024

Icing for Easter Bread That Does Not Crack

Three icings work for Easter bread: egg white, sugar icing on water or juice, and...

#Bread and sourdough

08 Mar 2024

Is Sourdough Bread Actually Better for You?

Sourdough differs from yeasted bread in the length of its fermentation. Over those hours part...

#Ingredients and substitutions

29 Feb 2024

Ingredient Substitutions in Baking: What Works

One rule covers most cases: replace an ingredient with something that plays the same role...

#Ingredients and substitutions

27 Feb 2024

Why Ingredient Temperature Matters So Much

Temperature decides whether ingredients combine into an emulsion or separate. Butter and eggs at room...

#Equipment and tools

24 Feb 2024

Gas vs Electric Ovens for Baking

In a gas oven the heat comes from a burner at the bottom; in an...

#Equipment and tools

22 Feb 2024

How to Slice a Sponge Cake Into Even Layers

Slice a sponge once it is cold and rested — several hours at minimum, ideally...

#Chocolate

20 Feb 2024

How to Melt Chocolate: 5 Methods and Temperatures

The simplest way to melt chocolate is over a bain-marie with the bowl clear of...

#Equipment and tools

17 Feb 2024

Why Pastry Is Weighed, Not Measured in Cups

In pastry work everything is measured by weight, not volume: a cup of flour can...

#Ingredients and substitutions

15 Feb 2024

What Passion Fruit Pairs With: Flavour Combinations

Passion fruit is sweet with pronounced acidity, and its profile carries citrus, fruity, grassy and...

#Ingredients and substitutions

15 Feb 2024

Sugar-Free Desserts: What to Use Instead

Sugar does more than sweeten: it holds moisture, contributes structure and colours the crust. Substitutes...

#Equipment and tools

12 Feb 2024

Choosing an Airbrush for Velvet Spray

An airbrush sprays a mixture of chocolate, cocoa butter and oil onto a dessert —...

#Chocolate

10 Feb 2024

Cocoa Products and Types of Chocolate Explained

The cocoa bean yields cocoa mass, cocoa butter and cocoa powder. Dark chocolate is cocoa...

#Recipes #Dessert decorating

08 Feb 2024

Fondant for Cakes: 3 Ways to Make It at Home

Fondant is a pliable edible paste for covering and decorating cakes. At home it is...

#Dessert decorating

05 Feb 2024

Natural Food Colouring You Can Make at Home

Homemade food colouring is made from the juice of vegetables, fruit and berries: beetroot gives...

#Inspiration #Desserts and bakes

03 Feb 2024

Red Velvet Cake: Where the Name Comes From

The Red Velvet recipe was first published in a newspaper in the American state of...

#Recipes #Creams and fillings

01 Feb 2024

Cream Cheese Frosting: 5 Recipes With Ratios

Cream cheese frosting made on cream uses cold cream cheese, 33 % heavy cream and...

#Recipes

01 Feb 2024

Choux au Craquelin With Cherry Cream: Recipe

Choux buns with whipped cherry ganache and compote. The choux pastry here is made without...

#Pastry secrets

30 Jan 2024

What to Do With Leftover Egg Yolks: 3 Recipes

Leftover yolks go into crème anglaise, shortcrust pastry and lemon curd. They keep up to...

#Equipment and tools

27 Jan 2024

Cake Turntables: How to Choose One That Works

A turntable is what makes an even coat possible — without one, smoothing a cake...

#Equipment and tools

25 Jan 2024

How to Package a Cake, Even Without a Box

The usual packaging is a kraft or cardboard box sized a couple of centimetres larger...

#Equipment and tools

23 Jan 2024

How to Transport a Cake: Rules for Car and Plane

Transport a cake chilled, flat and on a non-slip mat — in the boot, not...

#Equipment and tools

19 Jan 2024

How to Choose a Cake Board

A board holds the cake through assembly and transport and stops it deforming. Choose on...

#Dessert decorating

17 Jan 2024

Wafer Paper Sails: Cake Decoration Step by Step

Wafer paper sails are made from edible wafer sheets: soak the sheet briefly in cold...

#Creams and fillings

15 Jan 2024

Do Cake Layers Need Soaking? When and How Much

A soak is for dry, dense layers — classic sponge made without butter. Moist layers...

#Recipes #Creams and fillings

15 Jan 2024

What Is Coulis? Raspberry and Hibiscus Recipe

Coulis is a smooth berry or fruit sauce served with desserts. Unlike confit it is...

#Dessert decorating

14 Jan 2024

Food Colouring for Pastry: A Practical Overview

Food colouring is a pigment added to give a product colour. It divides into natural...

#Creams and fillings

12 Jan 2024

Sheet or Powdered Gelatin: Which to Choose

Sheet and powdered gelatin are interchangeable at the same weight. The difference is in preparation:...

#Creams and fillings

11 Jan 2024

Types of Cream: Which Fat Content for Which Job

Only cream of 30–35 % fat whips. Cream at 9–15 % goes into custard and...

#Ingredients and substitutions

09 Jan 2024

Why Alcohol Is Used in Baking and What Replaces It

Alcohol in baking opens up flavour, carries aroma and does the work in a soak....

#Ingredients and substitutions

05 Jan 2024

Powdered Egg White: What It Is and How to Use It

Albumen is egg white that has been pasteurised and dried. It replaces raw white in...

#Chocolate

04 Jan 2024

Compound Chocolate vs Real Chocolate

In real chocolate the only fat is cocoa butter; in compound chocolate it is replaced...

#Creams and fillings

03 Jan 2024

French, Swiss and Italian Meringue: The Differences

All meringue is egg white and sugar; only the method changes. French is the simplest...

#Overviews #Ingredients and substitutions

28 Dec 2023

Coffee Roast Levels and What They Do to Flavour

Roast level decides what ends up in the cup: light keeps the acidity and fruit...

#Equipment and tools

26 Dec 2023

How to Use a Piping Bag and Tips

Fill the bag no more than halfway, folding the top outwards, and hold it with...

#Equipment and tools

23 Dec 2023

How to Use a Bottomless Cake Ring

A bottomless ring stands on a tray lined with parchment or a silicone mat, and...

#Equipment and tools

21 Dec 2023

Hand, Stand or Planetary Mixer: Which to Buy First

A hand mixer is enough to begin with: it copes with meringue, frosting and loose...

#Overviews #Croissants and laminated dough

21 Dec 2023

Best Yeast for Enriched Dough and Croissants

Enriched dough and croissants call for fresh yeast or osmotolerant dry yeast. Ordinary instant yeast...

#Equipment and tools

19 Dec 2023

Silicone Baking Mats: Which to Choose and How to Use Them

A silicone mat replaces parchment: it does not slide, does not stick and lasts for...

#Recipes

15 Dec 2023

Tomato and Caramelised Onion Galette

A savoury galette on shortcrust pastry with tomatoes and caramelised onion. The dough is made...

#Overviews #Equipment and tools

12 Dec 2023

Cupcake and Muffin Tins: Which to Buy

Tins differ by material — metal, silicone, perforated — and by the type of case...

#Chocolate

23 Nov 2023

Chocolate vs Chocolate Coating: The Difference

Classic chocolate is cocoa butter, cocoa mass and sugar. In a coating the cocoa butter...

#Creams and fillings

21 Nov 2023

How Long Do Pastry Creams Keep? Storage Chart

Chocolate ganache made on butter keeps longest in the fridge — around three months —...

#Inspiration #Dessert decorating

19 Nov 2023

How to Build Dessert Decorating Skills

Decorating is a skill built by repetition rather than by looking at other people’s work....

#Inspiration #Pastry as a profession

18 Nov 2023

Films and Series Worth Watching for Pastry Chefs

A selection of feature films, documentaries and baking shows — for visual reference and inspiration...

#Overviews #Equipment and tools

15 Nov 2023

Barista Equipment: What a Beginner Actually Needs

The starter kit is a burr grinder, a tamper matched to the basket diameter, a...

#Pastry as a profession

14 Nov 2023

Orders From Friends and Family: How to Price Them

An order from someone close is still work — ingredients, hours and risk. The approach...

#Recipes

09 Nov 2023

Meringue Roulade: Recipe and Rolling Technique

A meringue roulade is baked at a low temperature until the surface is firm and...

#Creams and fillings

02 Nov 2023

Which Cheese to Use for Cream Cheese Frosting

Cream cheese frosting needs plain, unflavoured cream cheese of at least 22 % fat. Processed...

#Recipes #Desserts and bakes

28 Oct 2023

Scones: History and Four Tested Recipes

A scone is a quick bake raised with baking powder, somewhere between bread and a...

#Inspiration #Croissants and laminated dough

19 Sep 2023

The History of Tartlets: From France to Today

A tartlet is a small shortcrust case with an open filling. Today it is both...

#Inspiration #Pastry as a profession

09 Sep 2023

Where to Find Inspiration as a Pastry Chef

Inspiration is a habit of collecting material rather than a state of mind. Three sources...

#Inspiration #Pastry as a profession

24 Aug 2023

Are Pastry Courses Worth It, or Is YouTube Enough?

The difference between a course and videos on the internet is feedback. Recipes are freely...

#Inspiration #Ingredients and substitutions

19 Aug 2023

Freshly Roasted Coffee: Why the Roast Date Matters

Coffee beans age on contact with air and lose their aromatic compounds. Peak flavour falls...

#Creams and fillings

18 Aug 2023

How Much Frosting for a Cake: Working Amounts

Filling a four-layer sponge cake takes around 500 g of cream. Fully coating a cake...

#Chocolate

12 Aug 2023

How to Colour Chocolate Without Ruining It

Chocolate is coloured only with fat-soluble colours or lustre dust. A water-based colour makes the...

#Pastry as a profession

01 Aug 2023

What terms does a novice pastry chef need to know?

If you're just starting your journey in pastry arts, you've probably already encountered many terms...

#Inspiration #Macarons

27 Jul 2023

Macaron Fillings: 12 Combinations Worth Trying

A macaron filling has to be stable and must not release moisture into the shell,...

#Overviews #Equipment and tools

18 Jul 2023

Buying a Planetary Mixer for Home Baking

A planetary mixer becomes necessary once meringue, marshmallow and yeasted dough enter your regular work:...

#Ingredients and substitutions

09 Jun 2023

Baking Powder Substitutes: Ratios That Work

The simplest baking powder substitute is baking soda plus an acid: for one teaspoon of...

#Macarons

12 Apr 2023

Secrets to making perfect macarons

Why does the surface of macarons crack when baked? If the cap is rising like...

#Creams and fillings

12 Apr 2023

Types of Pastry Cream: 10 Classics Explained

There are ten base creams in three families: custard-based (pâtissière, anglaise, diplomat, mousseline), butter-based (Charlotte,...

#Equipment and tools

11 Apr 2023

Kitchen thermometer. How to choose?

Everyone who likes to cook and bake at some point of their culinary journey ponders...

Ptifur is a mini-refreshment or a mini-cake

#Inspiration #Desserts and bakes

10 Apr 2023

Ptifur – desserts that we are used to, updated

Ptifur is a mini-refreshment or a mini-cake. In France, they are classic already and are...

#Creams and fillings

09 Apr 2023

Caramel. Preparation. Usage. Secrets.

Caramel is both easy and difficult to prepare. And there are so many myths about...

#Recipes #Chocolate

08 Apr 2023

William Curley’s truffles with black currant and hibiscus

The truffles with dark chocolate and soft sourness of currant and hibiscus will for sure...

#Recipes

07 Apr 2023

Panna Cotta with basil and raspberry

Ingredients: 15 g gelatin 180 bloom 500 g cream 33% 70 g sugar 250 g...

Snack cake with dried tomatoes and mozzarella

#Recipes

06 Apr 2023

Snack cake with dried tomatoes and mozzarella

Ingredients: 3 eggs 150 g flour 100 g mozzarella 50 g ham or smoked sausages...

#Recipes

05 Apr 2023

Two recipes with seasonal berries

When it’s a berry season, you will love these two simple recipes in case you...

#Chocolate

04 Apr 2023

How to re-evaluate the recipe for a different type of chocolate

Often in mousse, ganache, truffle recipes chocolate with a specific cocoa percentage is indicated. Sometimes...

#Ingredients and substitutions

03 Apr 2023

A key to understanding the taste

Hello! Today we want to talk about foodpairing – how to combine tastes at work...

#Pastry as a profession

02 Apr 2023

Seven secrets of a food photographer

1. Use natural lighting. Light from the window works perfectly because it does not distort...

#Ingredients and substitutions

08 Feb 2023

How to Proof Yeast: The 10-Minute Test

The test takes ten minutes. Stir a teaspoon of yeast into 100 ml of water...

#Equipment and tools

11 Jan 2023

Parchment Paper Substitutes: 7 Options That Work

The best parchment paper substitute is a silicone baking mat — it is reusable and...

#Ingredients and substitutions

18 Nov 2022

Why Dough Is Not Rising: 4 Reasons

Dough fails to rise for four reasons: the yeast is dead, the liquid was hotter...

#Desserts and bakes

28 Oct 2022

8 secrets of the perfect cheesecake

Cheesecake is rightly one of the most popular and best-loved desserts in the world. Creamy...

#Recipes

28 Jul 2022

Tart with apricots and almond custard

We prepared a free lesson for you that you can watch on our YouTube channel....

#Recipes

28 May 2022

Choux with hot chocolate custard that melt in your mouth (Christophe Michalak)

Choux dough: 150 g water 150 g milk 6 g sugar 6 g salt 130...