Well, October certainly hasn't hung around! One minute we're baking all the pumpkins in sight, the next the month's disappeared into a puff of smoke (or possibly a little Panda Flour dust)!
It's been a busy month in the Panda family kitchen, sometimes you get one of those bakes that catches you completely off guard. You pull it apart, take that first bite and… well, you just know! There's been plenty of that happening lately, with a few seasonal favourites, some new experiments and, of course, another instalment in our ongoing quest for the perfect shortbread.
Here's what I've been getting up to behind the bamboo…
Proper pull-apart Pumpkin Spiced Cinnamon Buns. Some bakes seem to skip straight past all the usual taste-testing stages and go straight to the plate!...well, these were one of those! Soft, beautifully pull-apart pumpkin spiced cinnamon buns, with all those lovely warming flavours you'd expect from an autumn bake, we soon confidently declared them delicious!
Pumpkin Spiced Blondies. Oh, Pumpkin Spiced Blondies… you have my heart! Another little seasonal experiment that has landed rather firmly in my favourites category. There's something about bringing those warming pumpkin spice flavours into a bake that just feels right at this time of year. This one might be staying around for a while!
Reinventing the Nutwell Tart — The Panda Way!
Well, now… these have worked out a treat! A little experiment in reinventing the Nutwell Tart using Panda Flour, and we’re particularly pleased with how the texture has turned out. Just the sort of little slice you'd want alongside a lovely brew. Nothing too complicated, just a lovely bake and another experiment that seems to have gone in the right direction.
Dipping Our Spatulas into Christmas… Black Forest Brownies! Absolute decadence without consequence. Some recipes simply don't need fixing, and our trusted Panda Brownies are one of them. No tweaking, no adjustments, no reinventing the wheel on this one… but we did fancy adding a little something extra…enter roasted cherries. Oh so rich, chocolatey, beautifully fudgy brownies, with little pockets of roasted cherry running through them. And just like that, our familiar brownie favourite got a rather delicious Black Forest makeover!
A little nod towards Christmas, perhaps, but certainly not a bake that needs to wait until December.
…….Shortbread — V4!
And, of course, we couldn't possibly leave without another instalment of the shortbread story.
Version 4 has made an appearance, and while we're certainly getting closer, we're still not quite at that finished-product moment.
Back to the drawing board it is!
I suspect there'll be a few more rounds of tasting, tweaking and testing before this one is ready for its big debut. The good news? Nobody seems to be complaining about having to help with the research!
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And that's another little collection of Ways with Panda!
Some bakes arrive as an almost instant success, others need a little more patience (I'm closely looking at you, Shortbread!). But that's the fun of experimenting. You never quite know which idea will become the next firm favourite.
Until next time, keep experimenting, keep baking and remember… there's always another way with Panda.
See you next month,
Emma
