Pig's Ear Market and Bakery

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Liam’s Apple, Almond, and Maple Crumble LoafSignature Bake, Collection 5, Episode 1 Cake WeekWhat is a Bramley apple? I ...
11/16/2025

Liam’s Apple, Almond, and Maple Crumble Loaf
Signature Bake, Collection 5, Episode 1 Cake Week

What is a Bramley apple? I have never seen them in any orchard or store produce section in my area. Apparently, they are an English cultivar that are very crisp and tart and usually used in baking. The best substitute in the US would be Granny Smith apples. I made this cake during the start of apple season so I used fresh Macs bought at my local apple orchard. Very fresh Macs will be tart and crisp, but they get soft after a week or two so most store bought ones would not be good in this recipe. If it is not apple season, I would go with Granny Smith.

Notes from the bake: I ordered light muscovado sugar from Amazon and used it in this recipe. It is comparable to light brown sugar, just a touch drier and maybe a bit less sweet. I think there is not enough difference to go out of the way to get muscovado.
I bought some whole nutmeg at a local co-op and highly recommend grating it yourself. My nutmeg grater is one of my favorite baking tools.
For golden caster sugar I used Domino’s Golden Sugar. Once again, it is not as finely ground as caster sugar would be, but it works. I imagine I could throw it in my food processor for a few seconds to make it finer–I am not sure it would make a big difference.
This recipe uses maple syrup– I used my homemade syrup from last season’s sugaring. I always recommend using real maple syrup, not imitation. It is worth every penny.
This was baked in an 8X4 loaf tin. The instructions said to grease and line the base and short ends of the tin with baking paper. My cake stuck a bit on the long sides of the tin. Maybe lining the whole tin with baking paper would work better?

Judge’s reactions:
Interestingly, the judges on GBBO thought Liam’s bake was stodgy (Prue) and a bit boring (Paul). My judges disagreed. This cake was moist, full of apple flavor, and the crumble top and glaze were delicious. I cut it while still a touch warm and Joey and I each had a slice with our mugs of tea. The kitchen smelled so wonderful, we just couldn’t wait for it to cool. We should have waited. It was even better once cooled, and best of all after a day of resting and letting the flavors develop and the moistness intensify. So we recommend letting the cake completely cool, wrapping it up in plastic wrap, and serving it the next day.
This cake was completely gone the day after baking it.

Sophie’s Raspberry, Yuzu, and White Chocolate Trifle TerrineShowstopper, Collection 5, Episode 5 Pudding WeekThis is bea...
11/08/2025

Sophie’s Raspberry, Yuzu, and White Chocolate Trifle Terrine
Showstopper, Collection 5, Episode 5 Pudding Week

This is beautiful and a lot of work. The version described in the recipe is different from the one made on the show in terms of how it is presented, but all the elements are there. This is something I will definitely make again.

Notes from the bake: Yuzu is a Japanese citrus fruit. I ordered bottles of yuzu juice on Amazon. Organic and natural food stores may have it, or Asian markets if one is near you. I live in rural Maine for context here. The recipe calls for yuzu liqueur in the sponge. I could not find any so I substituted limoncello liqueur. A few days ago I discovered yuzu liqueur in a local natural food store so I plan to use it next time.
Leaf gelatine can be purchased on Amazon as well. My local grocery store does not carry it. It feels like plastic sheets. You put it into a bowl of cold water and let it sit for 10 minutes or so. It will soften and be squishy. When ready to use it, scoop it out of the water with your hand and squeeze out excess water. It will feel a bit slippery, rubbery, slimy. There are many types of leaf gelatine on Amazon and I cannot tell you what the differences are. For this bake, I used PerfectaGel Platinum 230 Bloom.
I have not used vanilla bean paste until just the past year or two. Over my more than 40 years of baking liquid vanilla flavoring has done the job (not imitation vanilla). I have added vanilla bean paste to my flavoring inventory. It is worth it.
For chocolate I usually use Lindt chocolate. It seems to be the best quality for the price in my part of the world.
Pay attention to the pan size for the sponge here. On my first attempt, I assumed my jelly roll pan would be the same as the swiss roll tin called for in the recipe. It was much too big. You want a pan that is no more than 8 in.X12 in. You are going to cut out a piece to fit the terrine tin so you will have extra cake–you could use a 7 in. X11 in. if you have one hanging around. I actually think a thicker cake layer would make the end result better.
For the terrine tin, I used an 8X4 inch bread pan. It is a tight fit, but it does fit.
Judges’ reactions:
Everyone liked this and everyone had similar thoughts. We all thought the jelly layer was too thick and would have liked less jelly. The favorite layer was the white chocolate bavarois–which is a custard with white chocolate, and gelatine added to help it hold its shape. The cake layer seemed to disappear and we all thought a slightly thicker cake layer would make it taste more trifle-ish.
Next time I will use the yuzu liqueur in the sponge, bake the cake in a smaller pan so it is thicker, and reduce the jelly recipe–maybe even cut it in half. I’ll update on how it goes!

I am going to be posting details here of bakes I am doing from The Great British Bake Off (Great British Baking Show) we...
10/31/2025

I am going to be posting details here of bakes I am doing from The Great British Bake Off (Great British Baking Show) website. I hope you find some useful information if you want to try some of these bakes. Would love to see your results!
The first post features Paul Hollywood's Devonshire Splits. See the comments.

08/01/2014

Sorry to all those trying to call in an order...our phone lines have been wacky. Any other TDS subscribers having problems placing and receiving calls today?

07/23/2014

Today we have chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting, fresh raspberry cake, cheesecake topped with fresh raspberries, Boston cream pie....and later today, we will be putting out the carrot cake. It's a piece of cake day at the Pig's Ear!

07/14/2014

Don't forget...BBQ burgers and dogs on the lawn from 11-1 at the Pig's Ear, Monday through Friday! Unless it rains...barbecuing in the rain is no fun.

07/10/2014

This Saturday, the Pig's Ear will be launching the new barbecue on the lawn beside the store. We'll have ribs, chicken, burgers, hot dogs and salads, cold drinks and lots of sweets. Starting Monday, we will be serving grilled burger and hot dog meals with chips and a drink for one low, easy price right outside. Swing by and check out the new stuff that's always going on!

07/04/2014

Happy 4th of July folks! Yes, we are open til 8 PM and yes, we have donuts. KaBoooom!

06/30/2014

There is strawberry shortcake in the cooler...it won't last long.

06/27/2014

Made a triple batch of buttermilk donuts today...more donuts is always a good thing!

06/23/2014

Every week we are raffling off something cool....this week it's a Sam Adams t-shirt (size x-large). Come fill out a slip and throw it in the goose. No purchase necessary...but seriously, there's cheesecake in the cooler :)

06/21/2014

Fresh baked blueberry cake, peanut butter chocolate chip squares, and raspberry thumbprint cookies are going in the bakery case...

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Palmyra, ME
04965

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