A croquembouche is a French dessert consisting of a pyramid of choux-buns bound with threads of caramel. It’s sometimes served instead of a wedding cake or as a treat at other parties. It’s become popular also to make a croquembouche to look like a decorative Christmas tree.
A sausage roll is a savoury pastry snack which is popular in Britain and in the Commonwealth nations. They’re commonly sold in retail outlets such as supermarkets and bakeries. The mini, or cocktail, versions are often served hot or cold as buffet or party food.
A sausage roll consists of a tube of sausage meat enclosed in puff pastry and baked.
Not Delia makes cocktail sausage rolls
Maids of honour are small almond-flavoured custard tarts, traditionally made with a lemon curd and cream cheese filling. It’s said that Anne Boleyn invented them whilst she was lady in waiting to Catherine of Aragon and Henry VIII liked them so much he named them maids of honour after the Queen’s unmarried attendants.
Asda Good Living Maids of Honour
A Bakewell tart is a confection originating from Bakewell, a town in Derbyshire, England. Historically, it was served at any holiday occasion. Nowadays one could eat them on any day, usually with a cup of tea. Commercial versions are easily available.
The tart consists of a shortcrust pastry shell, topped with a layer of jam, another of frangipane, and a topping of flaked almonds. The tart itself could be a large round, or a tray bake, which is then sliced into portions, or – as shown above – made into little, cup-cake-sized portions.
The Bakewell pudding predates the Bakewell tart and the latter is thought to be a 20th century alteration. The Bakewell pudding has a flaky pastry shell according to Mrs Beeton, although the pudding’s earliest record, by Elizabeth Acton in 1845, makes no mention of pastry.
Originally from Turkey, baklava is a rich, sticky, sweet pastry made from layers of filo pastry, filled with chopped nuts, and sweetened and held together with syrup or honey.
It’s best to score the pastry prior to baking, as it will be very difficult to cut neatly after it’s been baked.
BBC Food’s Baklava