Who writes here
Marion Kieffer has been baking for about ten years in an ordinary kitchen, with an oven that runs hot underneath. She writes about what goes wrong and why.
My name is Marion Kieffer. I have been baking afternoon treats at home for about ten years, first for my children, then because I grew to love it.
I am not a pastry chef. I work in an ordinary kitchen, with a cheap electric oven that runs far too hot underneath, one decent tin and an ageing scale. That is exactly where this site comes from.
Why this blog exists
For two years, I got almost everything wrong. Soggy tart bases, cakes raw in the middle and burnt underneath, creams that split. For a long time I assumed I was the problem.
In fact, most recipes leave out what matters. They give a temperature without mentioning it assumes a well-calibrated fan oven. They say “leave to rest” without saying how long, or why. They assume equipment they never name.
Here I write the opposite: what the recipe does not tell you, what happens when it goes wrong, and how to manage with the equipment you already own.
What you will find
Everyday cakes, tarts and their base pastries, small bakes, creams and technique. And a whole section devoted to baking without: without an oven, without butter, without sugar, without eggs. Not for dietary reasons, that is not my subject, but because an empty cupboard or a broken oven should not be the end of the story.
How I work
I test at home, in ordinary conditions. When a recipe only works with particular equipment, I say so. When I have not verified something, I say that too.