The secret of the amazing flavour of this cake lies in the long process of maturing and only natural ingredients such as honey and spices. I prepare the dough on stir-up Sunday and let it sit in the fridge for almost a month. After the long rest, the cake is baked, sprinkled with Amaretto Liqueur,  dressed up with layers of plum jam and marzipan, tightly wrapped, and left in the fridge for another week. Just prior to the festivities or one day before Christmas, Polish Traditional Gingerbread Cake needs only a shiny coat of chocolate ganache. Find the recipe here….

Keks is a sponge cake with a high content of unsalted butter, packed with dried fruits and almond flakes. It’s baked in a loaf tin and then served generously dusted with icing sugar. Dried fruits – apricots, black currants, sultanas and raisins are soaked in a warm mixture of orange liqueur and orange juice with the addition of orange zest. Keks is buttery, sweet and moist, taste amazing both freshly baked and after a few days. The cake can be prepared in advance and kept tightly wrapped in baking paper and aluminium foil. Find the recipe here…

Traditional sweet mini pies baked and eaten in the festive season before Christmas. Mince pies are made from short crust pastry filled with the sweet mix of dried fruits, spices, citrus zest, all soaked in alcohol. These festive pies of English origin have been known there since the 13th century. They originally were savoury, not sweet as consisted of a mixture of minced meat, suet, fruits and spices. Today almost every housewife has her own recipe for mince pies and mincemeat if she prepares a homemade version of the pies. I prefer less sugary filling but use a bit sweeter French buttery pastry. Try my recipe here…

Hot Cross Buns are a staple of British cuisine. They are made from enriched yeast dough packed with dried fruits, lemon or orange zest, spices and marked with an icing or dough cross on top. The cross is believed to represent the crucifixion of Jesus, the spies signify the spices used to embalm him at his burial. Traditionally spiced and fruited buns are eaten hot or toasted on Good Friday and Easter, however people buy them whenever they feel like a sweet and aromatic bun. In 1592, Queen Elizabeth I banned the sale of hot cross buns on every day except for Good Friday, Christmas and at funerals as they were too special to be eaten daily. Find the recipe for aromatic hot cross buns with a pinch of saffron here…

My poppy seed filling is full of almonds, nuts, dried fruits, flavoured with orange juice and zest. All its sweetness becomes from honey, not sugar. I make it only once a year, just before Christmas, for a traditional polish cake – Poppy Seed Rolls. The filling is an amazing natural poppy seed paste which can’t be compared to any ready-to-eat canned store-bought stuff. Neither difficult nor time-consuming to master can be prepared a few days in advance. The poppy seed filling is also eaten with pasta as a traditional meal at Christmas Eve in some regions of Poland. Find the recipe here...

Granola and Granula. Both names were used in the 19th century in the United States for foods which contained whole grain products crumbled and baked until crisp. Then this breakfast meal consisted of Graham flour and was formed into sheets, baked twice and broken up into smaller pieces. It was edible only when soaked in milk overnight. Fruits and nuts were added in the 1960s and the first mass-market granola was introduced in 1972. Today most of the store-bought granola is high in sugar, unhealthy oils, artificial flavourings, some unnecessary ingredients and it isn’t healthy anymore. But amazingly delicious and healthy cereals can be made at home from the ingredients we know and like. Home made granola is absurdly easy to make. Find the recipe here...

White and brown chocolate chip cookies with currants are full of dark chocolate and sweet dried summer fruits. Simply bitter-sweet harmony. I am happy to announce that 200 cookies, homemade by Polly Eats London have been delivered today to Art Habitat as a part of its marketing campaign. The second equal batch of confectionery will be made and supplied next week. We are ready – all hands aboard - and look forward to this. Try to bake them yourself and you will never forget this amazing texture and taste. Find the recipe here...