Surprise surprise I've just arrived back home from my favourite place in the world, the city that refreshes me, that feeds me all the pastries in the world, Paris. Where else! I really should expand my horizons and explore other cities but I love that place. I needed an escape, a couple of days away from the city, away from work, a break to just chill out. I am lucky that Paris is so easy to access, it's just a few hours away from my house in London and sometimes it feels like a home away from home (maybe I should just bite the bullet and move). On this trip I didn't really plan anything, I wanted to wander around and explore the city, eating pastries and drinking wine. I also decided to try my hand at vlogging. Maybe I am too old for it but after quickly becoming smitten with Snapchat, vlogging seemed like the logical next step. Let me know what you think?

List of places I visited in the Video

Du Pain et Des Idees
- brilliant boulangerie in Canal St Martin
Pierre Herme
- my favourite macarons in Paris, plus try the Ispahan Croissant, my favourite Paris bite
Drinks at Freddys and dinner next door at Semilla
Coffee at La Fontaine de Belleville
Yann Couvreur
- brand new patisserie in Belleville, very good all around but the Merveille was my favourite
Fou de Patisserie
- pastry concept store serving patisserie from different pastry chefs across paris
Coffee in the Marais from Boot Cafe
Market on Boulevard Richard Lenoir (thursdays and sundays)
Eclairs from Eclair de Genie
The cookery school we filmed the Facebook Live in is called La Cuisine Paris and is a great spot to take a class whilst in Paris. 

Whilst I was in town David Lebovitz asked if I fancied filming a Facebook Live with him, which of course I did. So I am now the weird guy security stops and looks at weirdly when their case contains cake tins, parchment paper and a thermometer. Between thunder storms, torrential rain and crazy humidity I whipped up a batch of my Passion Fruit Caramels from Patisserie Made Simple in my adorable Airbnb and to my extreme pleasure David declared them as good as the original caramels that inspired my recipe from Jacques Genin. You can watch the full video on David's channel here and the recipe is below. 

Passion Fruit Caramels

Ingredients - Makes 30  

150ml passion fruit pureé (approx. 10 fruit)
300g caster sugar
100g unsalted butter, diced

Method
Halve the passion fruit and scrape out the seeds and flesh into a sieve over a small bowl. Push the flesh and juice through the sieve and measure out 150ml of this purée. Lightly grease a 23cm x 13cm loaf tin (although the exact size is not crucial) and line with foil or baking parchment, then grease the lining. Have this ready by the hob, so that it is right by you when the caramel reaches the correct temperature.

Put all the ingredients in a heavy-based pan over a medium heat. Cook until the sugar and butter have melted, then cook the mixture, without stirring, until it reaches 122ºC. Immediately remove the pan from the heat and pour the caramel into the prepared loaf tin. Leave to set for at least 4 hours before cutting into pieces. These caramels will keep for up to one week wrapped in baking parchment and stored in an airtight container.

Taken from Patisserie Made Simple by Edd Kimber, published by Kyle Books. Priced at £19.99. Photography by Laura Edwards.