Bake Off Bake Along: Week 4 - Espresso Crème Brûlée

Throughout the Bake Off Bake Along some of the biggest challenges have been photographing the bakes each week. Especially crème brûlée from desserts week. The Spanische windtorte and baked cheesecakes may now seem ages ago but you'll have to forgive me, I'm running a little behind.

So, in an attempt to catch up (and watch last weeks Bake Off!), here's my entry for dessert week, espresso crème brûlée...and yes I cheated by not grilling my sugar topping and instead opted for a kitchen torch, way more fun.

I used a Gordon Ramsay recipe which you can find, here.

In order to create the perfect wobble and crisp caramel topping, here are some pointers:

• my biggest mistake here was not using enough sugar to caramelise for the topping. I was in a little bit of a rush with these. But ideally all the sugar should melt into caramel. The recipe I used called for demerara which helps to give a nice toffee flavour but will not fully melt. For a smooth, glossy melt use caster sugar. 
• essentially you're making baked custard, so whilst different flavours are great, have a think of what goes with custard before getting too fancy! Earl grey would be great, as would orange and almond flavours. Unfortunately, as good as these espresso versions taste, they look a little brown and unappealing before adding a sugar topping.
• older crème brûlée recipes will be made entirely on the stove and heated until jelly-like and firm and cooled in the fridge. However, its must quicker and easier to make the custard and bake it for 30 minutes or so. The milk and cream is gently scalded in a pan before whisking into the eggs and sugar. The mixture is then poured into ramekins positioned in a large baking tray of water. By doing so the water will create steam and will also help to ensure that the crème brûlées are cooked evenly throughout. Once done they should become firm and have a slight wobble.
• some recipes call for buttering ramekins, but it seems pretty pointless, unlike panna cotta you don't need to remove them to serve.

With just a few elements, crème brûlée is surprisingly easy to make. Just not too appealing to photograph!

Fancy checking out how I got on with the rest of the Bake Off Bake Along challenges?

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Bake Off Bake Along: Week 6 - Lemon Custard Tarts (Pasteis de Nata)

We'll just skim past the fact that we're on week 6 already and I have been having far too much fun on holiday and weekends away to have done any baking for the other weeks. After a fortnight in Portugal this summer, eating my body weight in pasteis de nata and sagres, I decided to give them a try myself.

That aside, pastry week is one of my least favourite weeks. Particularly as I don't think Paul would accept the use of shop bought pastry. And so, to keep the silver fox happy, I gave a rough puff a go all in the name of 'bake off bake along'. I used this recipe from the BBC for the pastry which was pretty simple to follow. I just struggled with re-rolling some offcuts to get extra tarts from. They lost their layers and ended up more like shortcrust. Otherwise, not too shabby I'd say.

P O R T U G E S E   L E M O N   C U S T A R D   T A R T S   ( P A S T E I S   D E   N A T A)
(Recipe adapted from Paul Hollywood, makes one dozen tarts)

300g rough puff pastry, recipe here or shop bought is fine too

375ml whole milk

zest of 2 lemons

45g plain flour

185ml water

375g caster sugar

7 large egg yolks

1. Heat the oven to 180 degrees and lightly grease a 12 hole tart / muffin tray.
2. Make the pastry or roll out a block of shop bought pastry to the thickness of a pound coin. Use a 10cm cookie cutter to cut out a dozen discs and fill each of the tart holes gently pressing into each edge. Prick the base of each tart with a fork, cover with individual squares of baking paper and fill with baking beans. Bake blind for 10 minutes until the pastry starts to firm. Remove from the oven and set aside whilst you make the custard.
3. In a small pan, heat the milk, lemon zest and flour together whisking continuously for 2-3 minutes until it starts to thicken. Remove from the heat.
4. Pour the sugar and water into a separate pan and gently heat to melt the sugar. Once melted, increase the heat to boil until the syrup reaches 100-110 degrees.
5. Gradually whisk the syrup into the milk mixture. Add the egg yolks to a large mixing bowl and strain over the milk, whisking continuously. Cover the surface with a layer of cling film and leave to cool. 
6. Pour the custard into each of the custard cases, about two thirds full and bake in the preheated oven for up to 20 minutes. The pastry should be golden and the custard bubbly, firm and brown.

If you think your tarts are cooked but the pastry hasn't browned enough, dust with a little icing sugar and grill or blow torch the tops until golden. Sneaky trick. 

Bake Off Bake Along:

Week 1: lemon and raspberry loaf

Week 6: lemon pasteis de nata, egg custard tarts

Week 8: treacle rum nicky tart

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Bake Off Bake Along: Week 5 - Cherry Bakewell Tart

Another week in the tent of dreams, and another bake that usually wouldn't phase me...but did. Its as if the baking Gods (i.e. Paul) knew I was using shop bought pastry and let me down. This week saw a patchwork of pastry and a leak. Pastry week was a flop.

A flop until I got some treats from the lovely Debenhams gang from their Tala range. My baking armoury is ready Paul, bring on botanical week! There's everything from icing nozzles to pastry making tools - star baker I'm coming for you.

But for now, I tried every which way to ensure that there were no soggy bottoms. With the blind bake, I pricked the base and loaded up with baking beans in a bid to dry out the pastry. My mistake was in chopping surplus pastry off before the blind bake rather than after, and it shrunk down the sides of the tin. I tried to patchwork in some new sides but it didn't work so much. Mary would have called in informal and Paul a mess. And ultimately it sprung a leak!

C H E R R Y   B A K E W E L L   T A R T
(Recipe adapted from BBC Good Food, serves 8)

1 block of shop bought shortcrust pastry (sorry Mary and Paul!)

2-3tbsp morello cherry jam

125g unsalted butter

125g caster sugar

125g ground almonds

1 egg, beaten

1tsp almond extract

50g flaked almonds

80g icing sugar, sifted

2tsp cold water

• Heat the oven to 180 degrees. Roll out the shortcrust pastry on a well floured surface until its the thickness of about a pound coin. Use the pastry to line an 8 inch tart tin. Prick with a fork to avoid any air bubbles, line with baking paper and baking beans and bake blind for 15 minutes to dry out the base.
• Spread the base evenly with the cherry jam.
• Melt the butter in a small pan over a low heat. Add the sugar, almonds, egg and almond extract and stir well. Pour into the pastry tin and cover with the flaked almonds.
• Bake for 35 minutes until golden and the frangipane is mostly firm.
• Make the icing with the icing sugar and water, pour into a piping bag before drizzling over the top of the tart once slightly cooled.

Thanks to the fab guys at Debenhams for sending over some Tala baking treats. Will certainly keep me going with bake off bake along! Check out their range here.

F O L L O W   M Y   B A K E   O F F   B A K E   A L O N G...

     

Week 1 - Jaffa Cakes
Week 2 - Iced Doughnut Biscuits
Week 3 - Chocolate Twist Babka
Week 4 - Giant Churros
Week 5 - Cherry Bakewell Tart
Week 6 - Brownie Bottomed Coffee Mousse Cake
Week 8 - Cherry, Marzipan and Cherry Cake

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Bake Off Bake Along: Week 1 - Black Forest Gateau

There's nothing better than Great British Bake Off season. This year I'm looking forward to baking along with the show as part of Ala and Amanda's Bake Off Bake Along. By doing so I hope to try out lots of new recipes...in the safety of my own kitchen without the watchful eyes of Mary and Paul!

During week one Mary and Paul set the tent the cake challenge. For the signature challenge contestants made a madeira cake, frosted walnut cake for the technical challenge and black forest gateau for the showstopper.

I've never made any of these cakes before so thought it best to start off simple for week one, a madeira cake. Well, let me tell you now, madeira cakes aren't that simple, especially if you're running on two hours sleep!

I went for an almond and raspberry version, which Mary would have deemed to have been underbaked and Paul would have been ashamed to see that I hadn't even attempted any candied peel and I most certainly didn't have that signature crack.

I skipped straight past the option of a walnut cake and went straight ahead with a showstopper, all guns blazing, no half measures. 

Using a classic BBC Good Food recipe, I opted for amaretto instead of kirsch, used morello cherries in the filling and even topped with some gold leaf.

As Mary and Paul weren't available to judge, or even Mel and Sue, I invited some guests over for Afternoon Tea to judge. This cake was most certainly a showstopper and towered over the table. Unfortunately (or not!), this cake was a little wonky as I was quite generous with the alcohol soaking, it sat a little wonkily and collapsed when slicing. Either way I'm still impressed with the taste and would definitely use this recipe again.

Bake Off Bake Along: Week 1 - Lemon and Raspberry Loaf

Hello, remember me? It's been far too easy over the last few months to eat all the food and not share. But, excuses aside, if there was anything that was going to blow off my baking cobwebs, then no surprises it was going to be the return of the Great British Bake Off. And boy was it good.

Initially I thought the first 2 challenges were a little on the easy side. But then I remembered the small fact that I've never dared make a swiss roll, let alone mini ones, and that my fruit is forever sinking in my cakes.

And so, I decided to ease myself in gently and try challenge one, the fruit cake. Adapted from an old favourite of mine, this lemon and raspberry loaf probably would have underwhelmed Paul in terms of its simplicity. And also the small fact that I managed to burn the top, let the berries sink AND go completely overboard with drenching it with syrup! Otherwise, all in all a great tasting loaf.

L E M O N   A N D   R A S P B E R R Y   L O A F
Makes one 2lb loaf

200g plain flour

2tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

230g plain natural yogurt

215g caster sugar

3 eggs

zest of 2 lemons

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

120ml vegetable oil

200g fresh raspberries

80ml lemon juice

2tbsp caster sugar

• Heat the oven to 180 degrees and grease and line a 2lb loaf tin.
• Add the flour, baking powder and salt to a large mixing bowl.
• In a separate bowl, add the yogurt, sugar, eggs, zest, vanilla and oil and gently whisk until combined.
• Fold the wet mixture into the dry before gently adding the raspberries at the very last minute.
• Pour into the prepared loaf tin and bake for 45 - 50 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.
• In a small pan, melt the additional sugar into the lemon juice to make a syrup. Prick the top of the baked loaf with a fork and pour over the syrup whilst still warm.

Bake Off Bake Along:

Week 1: lemon and raspberry loaf

Week 6: lemon pasteis de nata, egg custard tarts

Week 8: treacle rum nicky tart

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Bake Off Bake Along: Week 10 - Chocolate, Amaretto & Morello Iced Buns

Ten whole weeks has flown by. What will we all do with our Wednesday evenings now?

Baking along with the TV series has been both great fun and stressful. From the time my pastry fell apart, the nuts fell off my mokatines and my frangipane literally fell out the oven. I've also gotten over my fear of making pastry, kind of, and also brioche.

I'd have like to have made something more like a showstopper for my final bake. But then again, I'm pretty sure I've said that every week. Instead, for each challenge I've tried to work on things I've never made before as a good excuse to expand my repertoire.

And so, onto the final...

I chose to make iced buns a little differently. Regular iced buns remind me of the time someone once bought supermarket iced buns into the office. They were stale, lacking in jam and the lurid icing was too cloy. And just plain miserable.

I made brioche buns, stuffed them with morello cherry jam and frosted them with my favourite chocolate and amaretto ganache. For the brioche, I used a trusty Dan Lepard recipe and the filling recipe from my last bake for the frosting.

Unfortunately I didn't quite get enough jam in and the ganache was a little difficult to work with. I wanted it to cool slightly before frosting so as not to drip down the buns too much. But then it got too cool and too firm, and therefore a little lumpy once reheated slightly.

Here's a few pointers for brioche...

• ensure eggs and butter are at room temperature and dissolve the yeast into liquids at a warm to the touch temperature
• its best to use regular yeast, rather than a quick rising supermarket one, and the fresher the better
• be prepared to do a lot of mixing. For a long time you may think there's absolutely no way everything will come together to form a dough. Just keep adding small chunks of butter, bit by bit
• when the dough is ready and has come together perfectly, it'll cling onto the dough hook of your mixer and slap the sides of the bowl
• if kneading, the dough will feel sticky and loose. Persevere, otherwise adding more flour in will make the buns pretty tough
• butter helps to give brioche that nice rich flavour but also helps to shape the dough. If you need to shape the dough in some elaborate fashion, chill it for a good few hours to firm up the butter and it'll be more pliable
• the warmer your room, the quicker the dough will rise
• although, for optimum flavour, prove overnight in the fridge and leave to stand at room temperature for two hours before baking
• if you're making regular brioche and not frosting buns, brush the tops with egg yolk before baking for a super shiny top

And so that's it, my final Bake Off bake along recipe for the year!

Here's how I got on with the previous 9 weeks:

   

   

  

Thanks Amanda and Ala for hosting such a fun challenge x

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Bake Off Along: Week 2 - Arlettes

Things are hotting up on the Great British Bake Off and its getting pretty intense in the tent. Before I brave the bread challenge (no lions here I'm afraid) its time for the Bake Off Along biscuit challenge.

During week two contestants were asked to make biscotti in the signature challenge, arlettes for the technical and a showstopper biscuit box. In a bid to try making something I've never done before, I opted for these cinnamon arlettes.

Not only are they not so flattering to photograph, they are deceivingly fiddly to make!

I used a classic Paul Hollywood recipe, here.

They do taste pretty great, so I'm keen to make them again perhaps by cutting corners and buying some ready rolled puff pastry to speed up the process.

Some tips and tricks I learnt along the way:

• skip Paul's numerous steps on butter layers, make the pastry and roll into a rectangle. Brush with melted butter and scatter over a generous layer of cinnamon and sugar
• in order to roll the dough really tight, use clingfilm
• the dough needs to be really cold in order to slice thinly, if impatient, 20 - 30 minutes wrapped in cling film and plonked in the freezer will do
• gentle sawing motions when slicing them into 1cm slices helps them to keep their disc shape
• depending on size, you'll get 6 - 8 on a cookie sheet/baking tray, give them lots of room. Sandwich the discs between two sheets of baking paper and roll until 0.5cm
• keeping the arlettes tucked inside the baking paper, transfer onto a baking tray (using a flat cookie sheet is ideal). To ensure they don't rise, weigh them down with another tray on top
• from a few practice rounds, I'd say the arlettes need anything between 5 - 8 minutes per side. Bake one side, flip the tray upside down and bake the other side

I can hear it now, Paul saying my bakes are not even and consistent. Well you know what Paul, neither were yours on the recipes picture! Like I said, these are deceivingly fiddly.

See how I got on last week with the cake challenge:

Bake Off Along: Week 1 -  Black Forest Gateau. 

Take a peak at how the others did last week and Ala's biscotti, here.

Bake Off Bake Along: Week 8 - Treacle Rum Nicky Tart

Paul Hollywood's certainly pulling out all the stops this year on the mean bakes. Last week's 'forgotten bakes of the past' was certainly original but there just wasn't anything that cut the mustard for me. So in absolute protest, I made a mash up of the Cumberland rum nicky and a treacle tart. That is a treacle tart, complete with lashings of rum and a lattice topping. Ideal.

Whilst my lattice may not be exactly symmetrical or even formed of even pastry widths, I was pretty chuffed that I actually managed to make such a big tart without a soggy bottom! And even more so that I found an excuse to make a seasonal dessert for the family's Sunday dinner all in the name of GBBO. Even if I may have cheated a little. 

T R E A C L E    T A R T
Recipe adapted from BBC Good Food, serves 8

2 packets ready rolled shortcrust pastry 

1 egg, beaten 

350g golden syrup

50ml dark rum

juice and zest of 2 lemons

1tsp ground nutmeg

150g fresh white breadcrumbs

• Heat the oven to 180 degrees and lightly grease a tart tin.
• Line the tart tin with one roll of pastry, ensuring to gently press into each edge. Prick with a fork to stop from rising during baking. Place in the fridge to cool also whilst making the filling.
• To make the filling, gently melt the golden syrup over a low heat and remove. Add the rum, lemon zest and juice, nutmeg and breadcrumbs. Pour the filling into the prepared pastry tin and smooth over the top. Brush the top edges of the tart with the beaten egg ready for the lattice top.
• To make the lattice top, unroll the second roll of shortcrust pastry onto a well floured surface, or just within the baking paper its packaged in. Egg wash the top (do this first before making the lattice, otherwise it'll drip into your filling). Slice inch wide lengths of pastry, ensuring long enough to cover the width of the tart and weave into a lattice pattern over the mixture, egg wash side up. Press down to seal the edges and trim any surplus.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes, until the pastry becomes crisp and golden.
• Serve warm or cold, with your choice of ice cream, custard or cream. 

Bake Off Bake Along:

Week 1: lemon and raspberry loaf

Week 6: lemon pasteis de nata, egg custard tarts

Week 8: treacle rum nicky tart

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