Belgian Pistolets

Posted March 5, 2026 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 0 Comments

I’m a huge fan of the Brontë sisters, so over the past several years, I’ve been working my way through all their books, making recipes for them as I go. I’ve made full menus for JANE EYRE, WUTHERING HEIGHTS, and AGNES GREY and made a solo recipe for THE TENANT OF WILDFELL HALL. Today’s recipe is inspired by THE PROFESSOR, Charlotte Brontë’s very first novel, which was posthumously published.

THE PROFESSOR tells the story of William Crimsworth, a young man who travels to Belgium as an English language teacher, a story partially inspired by Charlotte Brontë’s own years as a teacher in Belgium. Crimsworth tries lots of unfamiliar foods in Belgium, including pistolets, a type of Belgian bread roll. My interest piqued, I decided to make some for the blog.

I did quite a bit of googling, trying to pin down what makes Belgian pistolets distinct from other varieties, like those made in France. From what I read, Belgian pistolets are always fluffy on the inside and have a seam down the middle, bisecting the roll into two sides. Some versions I saw had a firm, crunchy exterior, while others had a thinner, more delicate crust. I discovered many different methods for making them, and in the end I decided to go with this pistolet recipe I found on Youtube. I took the liberty of adding a steam pan to the recipe, since many recipes I saw called for it (and I’ve never tried it before, so I was curious).

These came out SO soft and fluffy, perfect with a thick schmear of butter. My son loved them so much he ate them for breakfast every day until they were gone! I’m definitely adding them to my baking repertoire.

German-Style Candied Roasted Almonds inspired by TINY BOOKSHOP

Posted January 1, 2026 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 0 Comments

This post is not sponsored by TINY BOOKSHOP or Neoludic Games.

Hands up if, like me, you have been playing the TINY BOOKSHOP computer game to the point of irresponsibility. 🙋 That’s ok, no judgement here. It’s that dangerous combo of cozy and addicting, and I couldn’t love it more.

For those who haven’t played, TINY BOOKSHOP is a game in which you run a mobile shop for second hand books. Different locations in town have customers that are interested in different genres, so you have to stock your shelves based on where you plan to park your bookshop that day. As you progress through the game, you get to know the locals and unlock some of the secrets of the town. And as you sell books, you get opportunities to recommend books to customers based on what they’re looking for. The best part? The books on your shelves are real books like JANE EYRE, TASTING HISTORY, GAME OF THRONES, and so much more! In fact, I keep a notepad next to me when I play, because it’s given me lots of new books to add to my TBR.

Seasonal progression is part of the gameplay, and the Winter Market sells two snack items that add boosts to your shop: roasted almonds and yuletide coffee. The roasted almonds are described as “a crunchy treat so sweet,” which makes me think they’re candied as well as roasted. This sounds similar to German candied almonds (Gebrannte Mandeln), which have a thick, rough, crunchy coating of sugar and spices. This would make a lot of sense, since the studio that developed the game (Neoludic Games) is based in Germany.

For my German candied almonds, I went straight to All Tastes German. It’s the same place I found my favorite authentic German jagerschniztel recipe. I only made a few small tweaks, since I didn’t want to depart too much from the traditional recipe.

Just like TINY BOOKSHOP, these little nuts are so cozy and addicting. First you get the crunchy, sugary sweetness of the coating with the lightly toasted almond in the background. Then as the sugar begins to dissolve on your tongue, it unlocks the cinnamon. Even though I’m posting this on New Year’s Day, I made the recipe on St. Nicolas day, and it felt SO perfect to be standing at my stove stirring sweet, fragrant almonds on that day. I think I might have unlocked a new annual St. Nick tradition!

P.S. Just want to remind everyone that I’ll be posting on a different schedule from now on (the first Thursday of every other month), so my next recipe post will go up on March 5th. You can find more details about the change here.

Uncle Albert’s Plum Cake

Posted December 25, 2025 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 0 Comments

Plum cake features prominently on the tea table when Mary Poppins and the children visit her Uncle Albert, a beloved moment for both fans of the book and the movie. Admittedly, I didn’t decorate mine with pink icing like the one in the book, but I did sprinkle it with sliced almonds and a dusting of sugar. I used a recipe by Nigella Lawson as a starting point, though I did make some key changes (such as adding cubed plums to the batter and sprinkling sliced almonds and sugar on top).

Interestingly, British plum cake can refer to two distinct styles of cake. The oldest form is studded with dried fruit (which were collectively referred to as “plums,” even if they were made of other fruit), and it’s closer to what today would be considered a fruit cake. Over time, plum cake in Britain became more synonymous with other European plum cakes, which involve a thick batter mixed with ground almonds and studded with fresh plums.

I love how the fresh, tart plums complement the nuttiness of the sponge cake. I was worried it would be too stodgy and wet due to the moisture in the plums, but the cake had a delightful fluffy texture. The perfect recipe to round off my last menu of the year!

Mary Poppins’ Crumpets

Posted December 11, 2025 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 0 Comments

Today’s recipe is a British staple: crumpets! A perfect addition to any MARY POPPINS menu. I made them once years and years ago (before my blogging years), but I can’t believe it has taken me this long to write a post about them. Here we go!

Today’s dish is a slight variation on a recipe by chef John Kirkwood, which came very highly recommended. It was pretty easy, and my family loved them, especially my kids. They’re already asking me to make them again! My favorite thing about them was how perfectly they reheat in the toaster.

Traditionally, crumpets are topped with butter and/or jam (or sometimes cheese). I had mine with some cinnamon sugar butter, which was divine. My kids, ever the true Americans, had theirs with maple syrup. These might be our new household replacement for pancakes!

Toad in the Hole

Posted November 27, 2025 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 0 Comments

Today for the entrée of my MARY POPPINS menu, I’m making toad in the hole, a classic British dish made with sausages baked in a Yorkshire pudding. Mary visits the butcher in Chapter 8 of the book and buys “two pounds of sausages—Best Pork,” so when I imagined how the Banks family might have used them, I decided on toad in the hole . . . mostly because I looove Yorkshire pudding and will look for any excuse to make it!

Toad in the hole might look a little intimidating, but it’s actually pretty easy. To start, just whisk some egg, milk, flour, and salt together for your pudding batter. Let it rest in the fridge overnight (that’s the secret to a really eggy Yorkshire pudding). Cook some sausages in a pan in a really hot oven, pour your batter in with the sausages, then it will puff up and get all crispy and delicious. I combined the original Yorkshire pudding recipe I used for my ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL menu with a few tips from Daring Gourmet.

This was so fun! And less fussy than trying to make mini Yorkshires in my muffin tin. I hope to make it again soon!

NOTE: This recipe needs to rest for at east 3 hours (up to overnight).

Mrs. Brill’s Savory Scones: Bacon Cheddar Chive Scones

Posted November 13, 2025 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 0 Comments

Here we are! My last menu of the year, and I have an announcement to make:

I’ve been blogging for almost 13 years now, and I’ve had an amazing time! I still like making full menus, but with growing homeschool responsibilities and cookbook projects, I’ve decided to cut back on my blog posts.

There are a lot of reasons for this, most of them very positive. Homeschooling my kids is going great, and as they get older, that’s taking up a larger chunk of time. Additionally, I’d like to devote more time to publishing cookbooks, and I know splitting my time between parenting, homeschooling, writing, recipe development, and blogging would be too much for me, especially since my health is inconsistent.

This is the last full menu I’ll make for this blog. Starting next year, I will make one recipe per book and post every other month for the foreseeable future.

I started Alison’s Wonderland Recipes to help me develop my cooking skills. It has done that for me—and so much more!—and now feels like the right time to move forward and focus my energy elsewhere.

On that slightly bittersweet note, let’s begin my last official menu for Alison’s Wonderland Recipes . . . one inspired by Mary Poppins!

There are lots of classic British foods mentioned in the Mary Poppins book (like crumpets, jam cakes, and bangers and mash), and today’s recipe is no exception. We’re making scones! I’ve made lots of scone recipes before (including a mushroom scone in my cookbook, A LITERARY PICNIC), but today’s recipe is a little different. It’s inspired by my favorite scone from my local bakery, a bacon Cheddar chive scone.

I used my go-to basic scone recipe as a base and packed it with as much bacon, Cheddar, and chives as it would hold. And it paid off! These are so flavorful. Plus, they’re delightfully tender and freeze beautifully. The perfect start to my Mary Poppins menu!

Aromatic Apricot Jam

Posted October 30, 2025 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 0 Comments

This post is not sponsored by TALES OF THE SHIRE or Wētā Workshop Game Studio.

Since there’s an extra Thursday this month, I get to make a bonus recipe! Seeing as this is a TALES OF THE SHIRE menu, I knew a jam recipe would be perfect. Jams feature prominently in the game, first as gifts from neighbors, then as ingredients in larger recipes. When you reach high levels of friendship with your fellow hobbits, they finally share their jam recipes so you can make them yourself.

I’ve made lots of jam recipes here on the blog—blackberry, peach, strawberry, raspberry, and blueberry—so for my TALES OF THE SHIRE jam, I decided to go with one I’ve never made before: apricot!

In the game, you receive the recipe for Aromatic Apricot Jam from Nora Burrows when you reach level 10 friendship, but don’t worry—if you need some for an in-game recipe before that, you can trade with Delphinium, who lives in a tree in the nearby forest.

This was a pretty easy recipe to develop. I just tweaked my peach jam a bit to suit the higher water content in apricots. I can’t believe it took me this long to get around to developing it! I love apricot jam—it’s so tart and juicy!—so this disappeared in days. It’s perfect on crusty bread or fresh scones. Just the right recipe to finish off my TALES OF THE SHIRE menu!

Three Teas to be Discontinued at the End of October

Posted October 24, 2025 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Teas / 0 Comments

Hi, everybody! As you may recall, in January I announced that this year I will discontinue a few of my custom tea blends every few months. I’ve been making blends for almost 10 years and have over 60 blends by now, so I think it’s time to say goodbye to some of the less popular teas.

Before I discontinue each set of teas, I share a post here (and link to it on social media) one week before the blends are officially discontinued. This will give people time to grab a few final tins if they’d like.

This month I will discontinue the following teas:

Monsieur Fouquet’s Peach Tea

Forest Spirit: A Totoro Tea

Ocean Princess: A Ponyo Tea

These teas will be available to order until the end of October.

Thanks for your continued support of my teas and recipes!

I’ll be back next week with another recipe post. See you then!

Monsieur Fouquet’s Peach Tea from The Man in the Iron Mask

Ocean Princess from Ponyo

Forest Spirit Tea from My Neighbor Totoro

Mrs. Cotton’s Amazing Autumn Tart

Posted October 16, 2025 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 0 Comments

Time for my favorite dessert from TALES OF THE SHIRE: Mrs. Cotton’s Amazing Autumn Tart! It’s one of the first recipes you learn in-game, and it’s a common craving of Farmer Cotton’s. Understandably so!

In the game, you can use any two fruits and a berry to make the tart, along with cream and flour. Since this is an autumn tart, I decided to stick with forgables you can find in autumn in-game: apples, peaches, and blackberries. Plums might work even better than apples, but I recently tested several versions of a plum recipe so I’m kinda over plums for the moment.

For the tart shell, I used the same one as my Raspberry Basil Tart. To incorporate the cream, I made some almond pastry cream and spread it on the bottom of the tart. I made the blackberries into a seedless blackberry jam, which I spread on top of the pastry cream. Then I studded the top with fresh apple and peach slices.

I love this tart’s interplay of flavors: sweet apples and peaches, tart blackberries, rich pastry cream, and buttery crust. If you close your eyes, you can picture yourself enjoying it while sitting on a blanket in an orchard, the autumn sun on your face while a light breeze stirs the crunchy leaves around you. A truly hobbity dessert if there ever was one!

Gaffer Gamgee’s Root Soup

Posted October 2, 2025 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 0 Comments

Taters! Can’t have a TALES OF THE SHIRE menu without them. Not only are they Sam Gamgee’s favorite food, but they’re the first item you grow in your garden in-game. This recipe is an ode not just to taters, but all root vegetables. It’s packed with carrots, parsnips, turnips, and onions too! Don’t worry, if you don’t like turnips, you can double up on another veg or add rutabaga (my personal favorite soup veg).

According to the recipe’s description on the TALES OF THE SHIRE wiki, “only the most seasoned gardener could create a soup with such simple ingredients,” so I kept mine simple too. Just some chopped root vegetables in a simple simmered broth flavored with garlic, ginger, and bay. And a Parmesan cheese rind if you have one on hand! That’s my secret ingredient for adding richness and depth to any broth. 😉