Date Flapjacks From Izy of Top With Cinnamon

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Date Flapjacks From Izy of Top With Cinnamon

Date Flapjacks | Izy of Top With Cinnamon on Pastry Affair

I stumbled across Izy's blog, Top With Cinnamon, over a year ago. Izy's photographs are absolutely breathtaking and her flavor combinations are both decadent and refreshing. And she also makes gifs! Watching her dig a spoon or fork into cookies or cakes gets me every single time. I just stare at the gooey chocolate and sigh. You will, too.

Date Flapjacks | Izy of Top With Cinnamon on Pastry Affair

Hi everyone! I'm so honoured to be able to guest post on Kristin's blog. The Pastry Affair has been one of my top sources of inspiration ever since I started my blog. Thank you so much for inviting me to contribute to such a beautiful space!

Date Flapjacks | Izy of Top With Cinnamon on Pastry Affair

Today, I'm bringing a classic British treat to your screens (and hopefully, kitchens!). Flapjacks.

Over here, a flapjack is a well-loved, simple granola bar-esque treat. They're loaded with butter and oats, as well as golden syrup. They're basically the best application of golden syrup in baking that I've ever found. That unique caramelised flavour translates so well to the final bar, and provides a brilliantly chewy texture. Of course, it can be easily substituted for another liquidy sweetener like honey or agave syrup, with excellent results too!

Date Flapjacks | Izy of Top With Cinnamon on Pastry Affair

A few years ago, my brother went through a phase of baking chocolate chip flapjacks EVERY SINGLE WEEK. I mean, of course I love them (it's butter, sugar and oats. Only crazy people wouldn't love that) but eventually got tired of their richness.

Date Flapjacks | Izy of Top With Cinnamon on Pastry Affair

In an effort to cut that richness and make them a bit more, ummm, healthy.... I've found my own perfect version of flapjacks. There's less added sugar in the oat part, coconut oil in place of some butter, and a gooey date ribbon running through them. (Oh, and there's a good pinch of Maldon salt in them too. Salty-sweet is my jam.)

Date Flapjacks | Izy of Top With Cinnamon on Pastry Affair

The smell alone of these when they're baking will be enough to draw everyone into the kitchen. They're that good. And hey, you could probably pass them off as a healthy granola bar and no one would ever judge you for eating 4 of them in one go (that totally didn't happen. But also, it actually did.)

Date Flapjacks | Izy of Top With Cinnamon on Pastry Affair

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Blueberry Braided Bread From Emma of Poires au Chocolat

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Blueberry Braided Bread From Emma of Poires au Chocolat

Blueberry Braided Bread | Emma of Poires au Chocolat on Pastry Affair

I discovered Emma's blog, Poires au Chocolat, soon after starting my own. The French name drew me in, validating my equal love of chocolate and pear cake, one of the recipes that inspired me to begin blogging. Emma's photography mixes simplicity and honesty with ease and grace, making it feel as if I am in the kitchen alongside her. Her voice is so real and truthful that I feel like I've gotten to know her well, despite living an ocean away. Simply put, her blog is lovely.

I'm honoured to be writing for Pastry Affair today. I've been following along for a few years now, watching Kristin's path weave side to side, just like my own.

Blueberry Braided Bread | Emma of Poires au Chocolat on Pastry Affair

In short (if only life was this simple and factual), I started out studying medieval literature (Old and Middle English, Old French, Chaucer, Julian of Norwich and so on). In my final year, after two years of blogging, I decided to train in pâtisserie. I spent six months at Cordon Bleu. A few months later, I left pastry and my first cookbook proposal to return to Oxford and medieval literature.

Yet my path soon twisted again and last Christmas I chose to return to food instead of pursuing a career in academia. I've stayed in my favourite city and as well as working on my blog (supplemented by tutoring, much like Kristin did), I'm now developing another book idea. It's a book that will be all the better for the twists and turns of the past few years.

As Kristin said in a post last year, "my path may be riddled with curves, but I've learned to embrace the zigs and zags of my road."

Blueberry Braided Bread | Emma of Poires au Chocolat on Pastry Affair

Just like the braids of this bread, sometimes our dreams can be multiple and interwoven, each one taking priority at different times. One strand is at the front, then the next. Neither one ever goes away and both are always connected to the centre.

I'll always have my studies in the background, nudging me every now and again - is it my turn yet? I don't know at the moment if it will ever get a turn again - but then maybe it will, in one form or another. I've learnt that I never know until I hit the peak - that glorious, heady moment as a child when you reach the top of the swing, legs kicking to get higher, before you hurtle backwards again.

It's that moment when you realise you have no choice but to change, to pull the next strand on top, creating your braid. It repeats until you reach the end and the final strand is tucked under. How do I know if I have reached that point? I can only trust.

Blueberry Braided Bread | Emma of Poires au Chocolat on Pastry Affair

Though the braiding technique can look a bit intimidating, it's not bad once you've got your head around it.

There are lots of different ways to fill these braids. The first one I tried used lemon curd along with the creamy filling. I've also made a version filled with salted caramel, walnuts and meringue and a different bread recipe, which was pretty amazing (I made it for a challenge, I don't think I'd include meringue again). I like the creamy-fruit type for breakfast or brunch. I made a simple blueberry compote here but you could use other fruits or possibly use a not-too-sweet jam.

Blueberry Braided Bread | Emma of Poires au Chocolat on Pastry Affair

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Cookie Dough Cake

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Cookie Dough Cake

Cookie Dough Cake
Cookie Dough Cake

My mother used to warn me to keep my fingers out of the mixing bowl. There are raw eggs, she'd say while playfully slapping my hand away with a spatula. You'll get sick. Even though she had my best interest at heart, I wasn't very good at listening. When her back was turned, I'd swipe a finger through the brownie batter or pinch off a piece of cookie dough, quickly hiding the evidence between my lips. The taste of the raw dough from my favorite cookies and cake outweighed the warnings my mother gave, each and every time.

(Sorry, mom.)

Cookie Dough Cake
Cookie Dough Cake

After eating raw batter for the better part of 25 years (and having yet to get sick), I cannot say my habit of licking the spatula clean has gotten much better. However, I am a bit more careful about the batter I choose to eat. When I'm craving a bit of cookie dough, I'll make a batch without eggs so I can sneak as much as I'd like.

A few years ago, I slipped a little cookie dough into a batch of cupcakes that was headed to the oven. The result was unique, but no less delicious than the sum of its parts. The memory of those long ago cupcakes were the inspiration for this cake. Real cookie dough is cut into small pieces and spread throughout the batter. As the cake itself tastes like cookie batter, the finished product becomes a texture playground, alternating between light cake and dense cookie dough. It's a fun, sweet cake that begs for a glass of milk.

Cookie Dough Cake
Cookie Dough Cake

As a side note, I'll be taking a break from blogging for the next month to deal with medical issues, move across state lines, and begin a new job. With so much going on all at once, I need to step away from the kitchen and concentrate on other things for awhile. Even though I'll be gone, I won't let this space go quiet. I have asked a handful of my favorite bloggers to share their own recipes with you. Each week you'll meet a new face and have the opportunity to try out a sweet treat or savory dish.

I have a feeling you'll fall in love with their words and photography as I did.

Cookie Dough Cake

This Cookie Dough Cake with Brown Sugar Buttercream is where chocolate chip cookies meet cake. The cake is made with brown sugar to give it the taste of cookie batter. Small pieces of cookie dough are mixed into the batter, giving the cake a unique texture that's somewhere between a cake and cookie dough. While the cake is more dense than usual from the cookie dough, it has the undeniable taste and texture of sneaking a finger full of batter from the bowl. While the brown sugar frosting is optional, it can work as a nice complement to the cake when spread in a thin layer.

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