Bread week this week and not one of my favourites. Don’t get me wrong I love making bread, the kneading and the smell of it baking, it’s just the bits in between I have problems with. As Paul Hollywood said, you need to be a patient baker this week, especially when it came to the technical. I’m just to need a little more patience as bread dough doesn’t like to rise in my house, and I don’t have the warming drawer like they do on the show, which could be a bonus for this weeks technical. Back to the show…

Signature Bake: Rye Rolls (12)
I’m not sure what I’m going I do for this weeks signature bake, do I go sweet or savoury? I’m going I have to look around for inspiration, but I like the idea of using two doughs like Louis and Kate. Let’s hope my proving methods work to ensure a good bake! Key tips:

1. Rye flour has a low gluten content which can make it difficult to work with, so you really need to knead it for longer
2. Additions can be made to enhance the colour; black treacle, honey or cocoa.
3. Be careful if your adding a glaze before baking it as it will darken the bake and lead to you removing it from the oven under baked
4. Add fillings after the first prove otherwise they could prevent the dough rising

I always find in odd when they say you have to present a certain number of rolls etc, and yet the bakers don’t think to make one extra for testing. Surely this would be the sensible idea as it means you can check the flavours and whether it’s fully cooked. There were a few people on this weeks episode who could have definitely done with making a bakers dozen (13).

Technical Challenge: Ciabatta rolls (4)
This weeks technical challenge, 4 ciabatta rolls, shouldn’t be effected too much by my lack of a warming drawer as it need to rise at room temperature. Great, I can do that, I’ll just have to occupy myself for the long duration it takes to rise I that square box. Do I need to do it in a square box too? If I’m sticking to the rules I guess I have to!

I have made a few breads Paul Hollywood’s How To Bake, and a lot of them are wet doughs. This is a another one and messy one too! Also where do they get all these giant clear bags from? The only bags that size, that I have, are black sacks which are not conducive to bread making! Is there such a thing as a proving bag?

Show-stopper: Centrepiece Loaf
There was definitely a variety of centrepieces on show last night, some more successful that others.  It seemed that the main school of thought, when adding fillings to your loaf, is to keep is as dry as possible.  Avoid using a fillings that produce a lot of moisture when cooked, as they will prevent the dough from cooking.  Another key thing to note is to be careful when trying to create a pattern inside the loaf as well as on the outside. My favourites from this episode

1. I thought Kate had a really good week this week.  After a few near misses in the last week it was great to see her reaction to her Rye Rolls. Star Baker was almost hers after she was the most patient in the technical, but unfortunately her show-stopper let her down.  Personally I thought it looks great from the outside, this the slashed and twists but it was the inside that let her down. The spiral inside her loaf restricted the rise in the oven, leaving the middle under baked and raw.
2. So far Louis has been consistent throughout all his bakes in the series so far. He is creative and imaginative with both his flavours and designs.  His Rye Rolls were genius or as Paul said; “Pure Alchemy!”
3. I was pleased to see Iain be able to pull himself back from last week, and it good to see that his flavour combinations finally got the thumbs up from the Paul and Mary.

It seems that Norman was sticking to his traditional guns this week, although he did add flavours to his show-stopper, it just was not in the creative way the judges would have liked. I think he’ll potentially be the next baker to go, but from the preview of next weeks show, WI Diana could be in the firing line too! Jordan’s show-stopper was definitely what it said on the tin for him, but not in a good way.  It was too wet, and too ambitious.  Just because you like lot of different flavours together on their own, doesn’t mean that they are going to work in one bake. Sadly there will be no more Captain Chaos, and his crazy coloured wardrobe will certainly be missed.

This week is definitely going to be interesting adventure. By the end of it I can guarantee I will have a face and hair flecked with flour but that my flat will smell heavenly (hopefully)!