I always start the festive season by making homemade Gingerbread Mix Spice. The preparation takes only a few minutes, and all I have to do is mix all ingredients. The Gingerbread Mix Spice is a blend of seasonal spices: cinnamon, ginger, allspice, cloves, cardamom and nutmeg. You can make the spice mix milder by cutting the ginger amount or adding more if you need an extra punch. The Gingerbread Mix Spice is very aromatic, fresh, warming and great for gingerbread of all kinds and muffins. It should be kept in an airtight container. Find the recipe here…

Crostini, called in France Croutons, are small slim slices of toasted bread. They are served with different toppings: pâtés, rillettes, and spreads and make a fabulous canape or aperitivo with a drink. Ideal crostini are bite-size, made from a stale baguette, brushed with olive oil or butter, and baked in the oven until golden. Once you discover how to make crostini/croutons, you will never again resort to store-bought varieties. I serve my little crusty rounds with homemade Vegetable Spread, Pork Pâté and Duck Rillettes. Find the recipe here…

They usually are engaged in architectural grand designs but also are food enthusiasts and home cooks. Two amazing ladies and architects on a daily basis attended my first sourdough bread baking course.  It was a great pleasure to share with them the knowledge and experience I’ve gained for over last eight years, show them a technic of how to make sourdough lavain, feed and care for sourdough starter, and finally make bread. My keen students rolled up their sleeves to put all theory into practice and got their hands dirty while stirring and mixing, so they created their first sourdough bread we could enjoy. More about the course here…

Traditional stolen often contains marzipan – a confection made mainly from ground almonds and sugar. I don’t use marzipan because the fruit blend and a thick coat of icing sugar that covers the bread are sweet enough, so extra sweetness is overwhelming for me. Stollen is a yeasted bread baked with dried fruits and spices that's originated in Dresden. It’s traditionally served at Christmas time in Germany, Austria and parts of France. Stollen symbolises the baby Jesus blanket, and the fruits in it represent gifts of the Three Wise Men (called the Three Kings or Three Magi as well). Find the recipe here…

Panettone, sweet enriched bread comes originally, according to many sources, from Milan and is a true symbol of Italian Christmas. It’s more bread than a cake, although brioche-like dough of slightly sweet flavour is studded with dried fruits, almonds and raisins. The most traditional panettone is made by wild-yeast fermentation, augmented by a small amount of commercial yeasts. Making of this Christams sweet bread is a lengthy procedure, but the result is well worth it: you will end up with a golden, aromatic, and delicious Christmas bake that melts in your mouth with every bite.  Find the recipe here…

My, oh my! These buns are so light, delicate and pillowy that you can’t stop eating them! They’re St Lucia buns, served in the run-up to Christmas across Scandinavia. The sweet rolls are eaten traditionally on the 13th of December, St Lucia’s Day (also known as The Festival of Light), in celebration of Lucia, the patron saint of light and the victory of light over darkness. These golden-hued saffron buns are formed into an S shape that resembles a curled-up cat and two raisins are added to represent its eyes. The slightly sweet rolls taste best warm with butter. Find the recipe here…

Gingerbread Biscuits of different shapes can easily replace traditional glass baubles and stars on the Christams Tree. They also can be an excellent edible Christmas present and great fun for children in the festive season. This gingerbread dough has a perfect balance of spices – cinnamon, ginger, cloves, all spices, and plenty of honey. It’s soft and may be a bit difficult to handle at the beginning, however make perfect and delicate biscuits that snap when break. The dough develop its flavour and makes better biscuits when left for a few days in the fridge. We decorate our Christmas tree with homemade gingerbread biscuits every year. Find the recipe here…

These little buns are light and fluffy, and their dark sweet-sour filling makes your fingers and smile dark blue. I always bake them in summer when wild blueberries are in season. Sweet little cushions are made with yeasted, buttery dough, stuffed with aromatic wild fruits, and a little crumble on top. They are the best straight from the oven, dusted with a pinch of icing sugar, for breakfast or as a dessert. Find the recipe here…

This round flatbread with a pocket inside originated within communities west of the Mediterranean Sea and is considered the oldest type of bread in the world. Pita Bread is made from yeast-leavened wheat dough and baked at high temperatures in the oven or on a cast-iron skillet. It goes well with meat, cheese, and grilled and raw vegetables. The pita also makes an excellent starter when served with sauces and dips such as hummus, baba ghanush, and tzatziki. My homemade Pita Bread puffs up beautifully and forms the signature interior pocket you can fill with anything you like. Find the recipe here…

This soft and slightly sweet bread is perfect for sandwiches and toast. The dough enriched with milk and butter can also make many different types of rolls, such as hamburger or hot dog buns. You can refrigerate the dough overnight, just after kneading and bake it the next day. It's called slow rise and helps develop the dough's flavour. However, it can be risen and baked the same day - both methods work and make delicious bread. 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…

Wonderfully crisp, extraordinarily delicious and super healthy. Danish crispbread - Knækbrød - makes a beautiful snack served with dips, spreads, and pâté; it can also be eaten for breakfast with butter and sweet toppings. Flat and very dry bread contains rye and spelt flour, rolled oats, sunflower, sesame and flax seeds with a small amount of water. It can be shaped round or broken into irregular pieces.  I find Knækbrød a fantastic and elegant starter served with pickled herring or a thin slice of smoked salmon. Find the recipe here….

They are extremely light, puffy and soft, filled with homemade plum jam and dunked in the lemon glaze. Polish traditional doughnuts - pączki (pronounced PAUNCH-key) - are our national treasure.  These sweet creations are made from enriched yeasted dough consisted of flour, eggs, fat, milk, then deep-fried (in oil or lard), stuffed with a sweet filling, glazed or sprinkled with powder sugar and eaten the same day. They're traditionally made for Fat Thursday, the last Thursday before Lent fasting begins. Everyone must have at least one doughnut on Fat Thursday. Find the recipe here…

If you are a rye fan, for a real treat try this double rye sourdough bread. It contains dark and light rye flour as well as bread flour to give light texture. Double rye requires overnight sponge made of light rye flour starter and some amount of dark rye flour, but on a baking day, it needs only 3 hours to be ready to pop in the hot oven. The bread is delicious, moist, sweet and tastes great next day if kept in the container. Great served with herring tartare or pickled herring. Find the recipe here… 

This is dark, moist and dense bread with a hint of sweetness - a bit in Lithuanian-style. Barley malt syrup and a little of honey give this beautiful colour of the crumb and a caramelized crust. My recipe uses light rye sourdough starter and a mix of bread and dark rye flour. It requires patience as the sponge needs to be prepared a day before and give it time to rise. But as a reward, the final rise of bread takes only two hours. Malt and Honey Dark Rye Bread is the perfect winter bread which tastes amazing with hard cheese, pickled herring or paté. Find the recipe here…

These buns are totally festive, perfect for a holiday table such as Thanksgiving or as a Christmas morning treat. Soft inside, light, reasonably sweet, full of dried cranberries and chopped walnuts, they taste delicious served warm, with chilled unsalted butter that melts on their tops. The yeasted dough is comprehensive and can be baked as a simple loaf or braided in Challah bread style. Cranberry-Walnut Buns are also great as festive burger buns served with turkey patties, vegetables and cranberry sauce. 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…

Simple brioche dough is easy to handle and makes beautiful soft buns that can be served slit and filled with burgers, pulled pork or as breakfast rolls with a sweet topping. The buns are not quite eggy and buttery as these made from rich brioche dough, but still extremely fluffy and light. This recipe produces only 6 buns but simply double the ingredients, and you will get more these delicious creations. They are a real treat. Find the recipe here…

Croissants are a family traditional treat and have been baked in my home since I remember. They are light, soft and have a beautiful crust due to the dough which is a combination of shortcrust pastry and yeasted dough. The croissants can be packed with anything you can think of: plum or strawberry jam, chocolate, caramel sauce or fresh apples in cinnamon. I love them with sweet cherries inside, sprinkled outside with icing sugar and served with vanilla custard on side. They're great for party, picnic, family event or an elegant afternoon tea plate. You will love them with your first bite. Find the 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…

French Madeleines are my favourite little spongy cakes – so buttery, soft and sweet with a citrusy flavour. They may come with many different flavours - vanilla, chocolate, orange and many more. Some bakers add to the batter poppy seeds or chocolate chips, other glaze ready cakes with lemon-glaze or sprinkle with icing sugar. I like French Madeleines plain only with orange or lemon zest and vanilla extract. The Madeleines are the best straight from the oven, they only need a couple of minutes on a wire rack before you eat them. Find the recipe here…

I find this recipe easy enough to start an adventure with pretzels. It doesn’t call for a boiling water bath with baking soda which takes more time and requires a bit of experience to get the pretzels “wrinkles free”, slick and shine. The recipe lets the baker focus on mastering the pretzel twirls (which is quite important) as the formula is simple and the dough has a nice consistency to work with. I recommend preparing the pretzel dough a night before a baking day to allow the flavour to develop. The Soft Pretzels are perfect for breakfast, as an appetizer or snack. Great with butter, jam or any favourite dip. Find the recipe here…

Kaiser Rolls require time and pre-fermented dough called pâte fermentée. This is a portion of dough made several hours ahead, left to ferment in low temperature and used as one of the components of the main dough. Pâte fermentée is crucial because improves the flavour and texture of the rolls. This is super important to ferment pâte fermentée at least overnight. 2 hours process in room temperature can be sufficient when you're in a hurry but doesn’t improve the flavour of the rolls leave them a bit flat and usual. The original method for shaping the rolls by overlapping the folds may be difficult to teach therefore many people to use a store-bought roll cutter. I use a knotted roll method which is a bit challenging but quite fun. Find the recipe here…

Sausage Rolls are a staple of British food. They are a very popular snack available from bakeries, take-aways and supermarkets. One of the popular british bakery chains sell 2.5 million sausage rolls per week! An early version of the roll with pork filling was popular in London during the Napoleonic Wars and then recognized as an English dish. The sausage rolls are the best party food. They can be served with drinks, either straight from the oven or cold, with vegetable dips or relish. Great and easy snack for a coming Christmas party or Christmas. The sausage rolls can be prepared and cooked in advance, kept in the fridge and warmth through in the oven. Find the recipe here…

This is a menu for a casual come-and-go gathering on Halloween Night or after Trick-Or-Treating. Neither creepy nor spooky but frightfully delicious and based on seasonal and autumnal products. Here there are Orange Vivid Squash Soup served with Hot Parmesan Biscuits that warms up, filling Hot Pork Empanaditas, delicious Mushroom Tartlets for foodies and sweet aromatic Apple Muffins that are loved by everyone and always turn out well. The courses of the menu are quite simple but need some time to be prepared. Some of them can be made in advance. Find the recipes for perfectly arranged Halloween Dinner Menu here…

There is nothing better than homemade challah bread. A freshly baked loaf is so delicious that calls only for butter, while the leftover bread makes wonderful French toasts and delicious Bostock served with almond cream and berries. Challah, the braided Sabbath bread is made with the enriched yeasted dough which contains oil and eggs. The generous use of eggs gives challah a beautiful deep golden crust and exquisite flavour. This bread doesn’t require any special techniques although its braided form may look complicated. The dough is quite versatile and can be used to make any other baked goods such as dinner buns and cinnamon rolls. Find the recipe here…

The Onion Buns originate from Jewish Cuisine and were baked by the Jews who lived in Lublin Old Town, in eastern Poland. At that time the buns looked like pancakes - were flat, very crispy and made with cake flour. They became very popular in the 19th century and were produced by many bakeries in the Lublin region. The original recipe was passed down the generations and... had been changed for years. Today the Onion Buns look like the rolls however their flavour is beautiful and widely valued. My Onion Buns are a bit French because the onion is cooked in unsalted butter. The recipe calls for bread flour and homemade buttermilk which make the buns exceptional. Find the recipe here...

I was convinced there is only one recipe for this classic afternoon tea treat that everyone follows. But after going through many cookbooks and food blogs, watching lots of films, I realised one thing: the perfect scones don't exist... No answer to the question of how to make the perfect scones! Why is that? Because there are as many recipes as there are cooks, and the taste of homemade scones eaten in childhood lasts in us forever. I found my way in making the best scones that taste heavenly, bearing in mind 3 basic rules: the flour is always sieved, the rising agent used reasonably and the dough is handled as little as possible. Find the recipe here…

I like these simple flat and crunchy crackers because they are versatile and fancy. They are perfect pair for cheese and wine or a cheese and charcuterie board, great with dips made from pulses like hummus and peammus or fantastic as a classic snack with the seed topping. Homemade Crackers are simple to bake, the only challenge I can find is rolling the dough as thin and even as possible which ensures that they are crispy. I cut the crackers in advance but they also can be snapped into shards after baking – their irregular shapes look amazing in bread baskets. Find the recipe for Seed-Topped Crackers here

As a snack – perfect. For dipping – even better. Crispy Italian Breadsticks widely called Grissini, are served in restaurants as an appetizer accompanied by antipasti such as olives, cheese and cured meat. They are made of flour, yeast, water and olive oil, shaped by hand and baked in high temperature ideally in a wood-burning oven. Breadsticks are essentially all delicious golden-brown crust and that beautiful crust makes them so addictive. Make grissini at home as a party nibble.  Bake them as you like - plain or flavoured, sprinkled with sesame seeds, poppy seeds or sea salt before baking. Serve with favourite hummus or cocktails. Find the recipe here…

I always wanted to make bagels. I searched for many recipes which I tried and never was happy with the result. The bagels were flat, wrinkled and doughy. But I finally found the perfect recipe in a book of Peter Reinhart and also found out that dough is the key. Bagels need to be made of stiff dough to float in the boiling water without losing the shape at the same time. This recipe doesn’t require any special skills, ingredients or tools. The most important thing is to follow the instructions and your bagels will be deliciously chewy with a thin wonderful crust. Serve them fresh out of the oven with soft cheese, smoked salmon or just butter. Find the recipe here...

My brioche-style hamburger buns are made from classic egg and butter dough but with…cream. This special ingredient makes the buns very fluffy and tender with a hint of sweetness but still sturdy to hold the burger patty and the accompanying toppings. Their light and soft texture allows creating a homogeneous composition with beef, cheese, pickles, tomato, onion and sauces. If you want to make an impression and serve your friends and family the best burgers in town, start with those amazing buns. Find the recipe here…

A cast iron pot is perfect for making crusty golden artisan-style bread at home. The pot with its thick walls and a tight lid is a moisture-sealed chamber which traps steam and provides a temperature-stable baking environment. Moisture is important during the early stage of baking because allows the bread to rise fully. It creates this beautiful shiny crispy crust outside and let the interior of bread be white and soft. The crusty white bread requires a bit of work and time but its flavour and smell is worth this effort. It is the best just after cooling when the crust is fresh and very crispy. Find the recipe here… 

I always have about 200 ml of uncultured buttermilk left after making butter. It’s thin, cloudy, slightly sweet and buttery-tasting, very different from store-bought buttermilk. As a beverage, perfectly quenches thirst, cures a hangover and gives energy. It is also an amazing ingredient used in cooking and baking. The opportunities are endless with buttermilk. You can make waffles, pancakes, bread, scones and many more. I use my buttermilk to make rolls. They are light, fluffy and very soft after baking and dough is velvety – the best dough I’ve ever kneaded! Warm, fresh buttermilk rolls are absolutely delicious, ideal for breakfast with melting homemade butter. Find the recipe here...

The poppy seed roll – or in other words – the poppy seed strudel - is a typical polish pastry usually prepared for Christmas and Easter.  It consists of sweet yeast dough filled with aromatic poppy seed paste which is full of nuts, dried fruits, almonds and resins. According to some old polish beliefs, poppy seeds eaten at Christmas Eve dinner brought happiness and prevented from evil, were also a symbol of fertility. Why is this pastry exceptionally delicious? Because of the balance between the thickness of the dough and the amount of the poppy seed paste - moist, naturally sweet and rich in nuts and fruits. Find the recipe here...

This bread has a divine firm close-grained crumb and golden soft crust. It can be used for sandwiches, toasts, French toasts and croutons. In French bakeries, white sandwich bread (pain de mie in French) is usually formed and baked in special covered moulds to get absolutely symmetrical loaves. That helps to make perfect slices which are essential for professional-looking canapes or fancy sandwiches. I baked my bread in a straight-sided uncovered tin which made the loaf look more conventional. Find the recipe 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...

Banana bread recipe was featured for the first time in American cookbooks in the 1930s. In those days baking soda and baking powder without which making the banana bread was impossible, were introduced into domestic kitchens making baking easier and more accessible for housewives. The first recipe appeared in Balanced Recipes Cookbook in 1933 published by Pillsbury. But popularity was gained in 1950 when the United Fruit Company released Chiquita Banana’s Recipe Book containing this recipe to conquer the American food market and make bananas more palatable for American families. Find the recipe here...

This is my everyday bread. Very comforting, healthy, delicious and far different from what is mostly available now in local shops. You can buy the sourdough loaves in many artisan bakeries across London, they are decent but unfortunately pretty expensive. Making the sourdough bread at home is neither costly nor difficult however requires a bit of patience, effort and experience. You can read a lot of recipes on the Internet and in cook books but the sourdough bread is something you learn by doing. Anyway, you need to start somehow so let’s get started together. Find the recipe here...

Everybody loves crackers! Everybody loves cheddar cheese crackers! The mass produced snacks are usually full of bad ingredients such as flavour enhances, preservatives, leavening, contain a lot of salt but not real cheddar cheese. If you think that making home-baked cheddar cheese crackers from scratch involves tons of hard work and time, you don’t know how wrong you are. That will take you no more than 2 hours. You may use any kind of cheddar cheese – mild or mature, any spices you like - grounded paprika, thyme, cayenne pepper. Up to your taste. Cheddar cheese crackers are high-calories snacks but who eats them every day? 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...