Another week of dough, which means another week of proving stresses.  Lets hope that the corner in the kitchen will work as well this week as it did last week! You can tell that it’s a Paul week, because he was asking more pointed questions about the doughs and prodding them too. How rude!

Signature Bake: Sweet Fruit Loaf
This weeks bake needs to made using an enriched dough, which according to Sue, is a dough that has won the butter lottery!  Its got to be fruity, packed with flavour, quirky and if I was in the bake off trying to please Mary, the key this if to have texture too.

Key points:

1. Enriched dough benefits form a slow prove as the butter, eggs and fruit sit on the yeast and retard it slightly.
2. If it is under proved its dangerous, as there is no point hoping that it will rise more in the oven and save the bake, it won’t.

Bugger, I really thought that the signature bake was going to be the doughnuts, and I had a recipe all planned too!  I can’t do a panettone as it’ll take to long and I did it for the yeasted cake week. Now I have to get the thinking camp on and rethink the whole thing!

Technical Challenge: Povitica
I’m not going to try and pronounce it but Chetna was definitely lucky this week with this being the same as her signature bake.  It think this is the first time that this has ever happened in the Bake Off, which is pretty surprising. This is pretty daunting, an enriched dough, that is a cross between a bread and a pastry. It needs to be rolled thin, filled and and rolled into a long sausage that needs to be coiled into a loaf tin. What could possibly go wrong?

Showstopper Challenge: Doughnuts (36, two flavours)
It was two years ago that they had doughnuts as the technical challenge and I was really looking forward to making these again. Unfortunately the chocolate rum doughnuts are going to have to wait for another time.  Martha was ambitious with her laminated doughnut, which I think would have been like the growingly popular CroNut, if it had worked.  I love Richard fairground flavours, but I would never be able to make rhubarb & custard in my house. The boyfriend is strongly against rhubarb and I have not been able to convince him that it is not the food of the devil!

My favourites this episode:

1. Nancy was definitely being a brit risqué this week, but you have to admire her bravery to use the microwave for the proving.
2. Richard, he might of been the wing-man to Nancy, and constantly checking our what she was doing with the technical, but his signature was stunning. Plus he got star baker, AGAIN!
3. Luis had another great week.  I liked his idea for the cocktail ring doughnut I thought is a bit risky, but it worked, so well done

And so to the loser which was sadly Martha.  She had a semi success first bake but from there it was downhill.  With a lot her bakes, through out the series her flavours worked but something with the bake has failed her.  I think it is a shame the she is now out, but I have no doubt that we will see her again soon.

I’m off to Rome fort the weekend, which means I’m going to have to cram my baking and blogging into one day! Lets hope I can get some inspiration for the sweet fruit loaf while I’m away, and not get too swayed by pizza, pasta and gelato!

Savoury Saviour! This is one recipe I am going to take time over and enjoy.  It’s nice to finally be free of the sugar for at least one challenge, that isn’t bread related.  I really think that on the next bake off they really need to try and add more savoury items, Baking doesn’t always need to be sweet cakey delights.

With this bake I wanted to put something together that would pack a punch and liven up the tastebuds. One of my favourite types of food is Mexican, I love the freshness of the lime and the bold use of the chilli (even if it can be too hot sometimes).  Last year the boyfriend and I went on our first big holiday to Mexico, and other than getting a stuffy snotty nose half way through, it was brilliant. As the nights are getting longer it seemed only right to remind ourselves of warmer, sunnier weather and lazy days, which is why Empanadas.

It wasn’t until I did a bit of research that found that there are many different version, but also the origin is not actually Mexican but Spanish.  Well they both speak a similar dialect, just on different continents, so I’m sure it’ll be ok to mix this recipe up a bit.

Using Latin American recipe as a base for the bake I started with the pastry.  This one needs to be slightly flaky, but robust, so it can hold the filling without leakage.  To combine the ingredients and make the dough, I have decided to do things a little differently this week.  For ease and the sheer quantity of potential mess I could create, I chose to use a food processor.  Usually I would make this all by hand, but I wanted to see if there would be a big difference with the mixer.

With dry ingredients in the mixer, I thought it would be good to spice things up a bit I  added a little of the hot smoked paprika, that was to be included in the filling, into the pastry too. It was just enough to colour it but not to add flavour. To the flour was added a mixture of butter and the ever healthy lard (that I have left over from a previous bake). After blitzing til it looks like breadcrumbs the eggs and milk are added to bind it all into a yummy, ball of dough, which needs to be chilled in the fridge.

Quality not quantity
The next thing to do was the filling.  The last few times I have used an American recipe some of the measurements have been slightly questionable, but they always seem to work.  This time however, when it comes to the measurements for the spices, they seem ridiculously over generous.

There are 3 main spices in this, hot smoked paprika and chilli powder, both of which need to be 2 tablespoons worth, and ½ tablespoon of cumin.  After seeing the spices measured out it looked a little too much for 500g of beef mince, so I went on instinct and halved it all. I could always add more later, but I would be impossible take it out.

I’ve had to make a few extra substitutions to the filling because I was unable to get everything. Instead of mixing in fresh oregano to the cooked mince, I added dried to the raw mince, and fresh coriander at the end. I thought the coriander would help to make it a little more Mexican!

Inner goodness
The filling was made by softening the onions in melted butter, then adding the raw mince, to which the spices and herbs had been added.  Once the mince is cooked it needed to be left to cool, before adding the chopped spring onions and fresh herbs.  The other components for the filling include green olives and hard boiled eggs.  The eggs are a little odd addition, but I guess it comes from the idea that the pasty is a full meal, and making a little go a long way.

While the beef mince filling was cooling I rolled out the dough.  It was a little tough to roll, maybe I should have added some more milk when blending it. Having said that, when it came to the folding it up around the filling, it felt rubust enough not to burst.I know that technically I should only be making 12 savoury parcels, but I had plenty of filling, maybe too much. Plus I the pastry would certainly be enough for more than 12, so I just went with it and made as many as I could. Thankfully the extras mean that my pack lunches for the week are sorted!

Fill it up!
With the pastries rolled out and singled (for ease) it was time to start filling!  The recipe suggested that the egg and olives are sliced on top, but after trying to fold up the first one like this I decided it would be better just to mix everything up! The tricky thing was the repulgue, or in lamens terms, the edge crimping! It took a few tries to get this right, and then it was through the help of a tutorial online! Eventually after about 5 or 6 pastries I managed to get it looking similar to the empanadas in the pictures but I was certainly in need of practice. I took nearly 40 mins to make over 20 pastries!

Brush ’n’ Bake
After a ridiculous amount of time crimping the pastries they needed to go back in the fridge while the oven heated up. Once the oven was ready the empanadas were brushed with beaten egg and baked for 25-35 minutes.

Something a little extra
Trying to ignore the spicy smells emanating from the oven, I decided to pre-occupy myself by whipping up a little dipping sauce to go with them.  To bring the freshness of Mexico to my pastries I’ve gone with a chimichurri sauce.  It similar to a salsa verde, with I love, just with a little extra kick. The recipe was from the same site as the empanadas, and once again asked for fresh oregano, which I couldn’t find.  Instead of using the dried herb, I’ve gone with coriander, so that it ties in with the filling in the pastry.  The extra kick came from adding a fresh red chilli rather than dried powder and a good squeeze of lime. Voila a punchy, green, zingy sauce to cut through the denseness of the pastries.

Golden parcels of spicy warmth
These were such a breath of fresh of air after all the weeks of cake and sugar! I’m glad I adjusted the spices, cause otherwise I don’t see how you would have tasted the beef. there was a few leakages but overall pastry managed to hold.  They had a nice colour and sheen to them thanks to the eggwash and added spice. The sauce helped to add an extra dimension to them, but they were just as good without it.  These will definitely be making a re-appearence in my house The perfect little nibble for a party, and you can make them in advance and freeze them too. Next I’ll be experimenting with the fillings, maybe cheese and chorizo?

I was looking forward to making this sweet pastry treat.  I’ve only ever seen and them in their large form but never made them.  Infact I have near forgotten about them until I saw the label of for them on an empty shelf in Sainsbury’s then on Bake off.  I like making pastry, but it is not something I do that often, especially puff pastry. I like the process of rubbing in the butter into the flour, something about it takes me back to my childhood when I used to help my mum bake. This pastry however, was a little more complicated than the simple shortcrust you make for your mince pies.

There’s not a lot of ingredients for this challenge which potentially makes this less prone to failure, I hope.  The only problem that I can foresee is if the yeast doesn’t rise or the butter doesn’t chill enough between turns.  For these reasons I am going to take extra time, to ensure everything goes smoothly.  First off the yeast…

This pastry starts of a little like bread dough because of the yeast.  Instead of using my hands I used the ol’ Kenwood for this pastry, as there was going to be so much happening in the kitchen this week I wanted to eliminate more mess. Good idea in theory, but it never really plans out that way when you’re trying to a multitude of baking takes at one time! With the flour, yeast salt mixed together in the bowl the warm water and melted butter is added, and it was left to knead/mix for about 8 minutes.  Once the smooth dough was formed I shaped it into a bow and left it to rise in a clean bowl, in what I hoped to be the a good rising spot in the kitchen.

Bish, Bash, Butter!
While the dough was rising it was time to take out some unwanted tension and stress out on the butter.  The recipe calls for a 18cm/7in square of butter, but after a few hits with the rolling pin, there was very little that was square about butter.  Using a ruler as scraper and leveller I eventually managed to make a square, to roughly the right measurements before it was too soft. Then it was back in the fridge until the pastry was ready.

Teacher knows best?
After an hour or so the dough had risen to almost double its size, which was great. I finally seems like I have found a spot in the kitchen that rising dough likes to sit!

In the recipe on the BBC site the dough needs to be emptied and rolled out into a 20cm/8in square, so unlike bread you don’t need to knock out the air. The next step was to diagonally place the butter square on top of the dough square and fold in the corners creating an envelope.

I am going to have to disagree with the Hollywood on this one. With these measurements, there was no folding of corners happening, there was simply not enough dough. So I swiftly removed the butter, stuck it back in the fridge, while I rolled out the dough a little more. Now that it was rolled out to an adequate size the butter could be placed as before and wrapped nicely it the dough.

Roll & Fold
The next step was to roll it into a rectangle while keeping the envelope sealed, tricky but not as hard as I thought it might be. The rest of the process was pretty simple and the same as rough puff/regular puff pastry.  Folding the top third of the pastry over the middle and the bottom third over the top of the first third. After all the folding it done the pastry is then wrapped in clingfilm and placed in the fridge to rest for at least 30 min, until the butter has had time to harden up again.

This rolling and folding process has to happen 3 times in total, remembering to turn the pastry before rolling it. It’s a really nice pastry to work with, with each rest in the oven it proves a little more making it airy, fluffy and light.

Things get fast!
The final fold on the pastry is the same as before but this time with the addition of sugar.  I wasn’t really sure as to the amount needed, but seeing I needed to sprinkle sugar over pastries the whole thing another 2 times I gauged it by eye.  I put enough onto the layer so that I could still fold it comfortably but not too much that it all came out when folding it. With the final fold made, the more precise rolling out needed be done.

Pinchess & Perks
This whole process had to be done pretty quickly so that the butter didn’t melt to much before the pastries are formed and put snuggly into the pre-greased muffin tin. The sugar folded pastry needed to turned once more, rolled out to 40×30 cm and then cut into 12 equal squares.  It all very well to say squares but the corners can be a little tricky so I tidied up some of the edges with the use of the pizza cutter!

Once all the squares were cut the corners need to be pulled up to the centre with the diagonal corner. Then pinch them gently together so that they end up forming a shape similar to a four leaf clover.  This then needs to be placed into the case. When I had 12, (almost) equally sized parcels sitting in the muffin, they were sprinkled with sugar again and left to prove again for 30mins, while the oven heated up. Those little off cuts ended up being my chef’s perks. While the pastry parcels were on the final rise, I cooked them in the warming oven…yumm!

When the 30 minutes were up, it was time for a final sprinkle of sugar and into the oven for 30-40 minutes.  I kept a close eye on these pretties while they were in the oven and I didn’t want a singe-fest happening again like the mini pear pies.  After they had been in the oven for about 25 minutes I covered them with a sheet of tin foils and left them in for another 8 minutes.

Its worth mentioning that the bottoms of some of the pastries were more dome shaped than others. I think this is because I didn’t push the pastry down into the mould enough, I just placed it in gently. This didn’t detract from the flavour, just the presentation, but I can live with that.

Decadence, pastry-fied!
There is no other way to describe these pastries than sublime.  They were crispy light and fluffy,  little like croissants but a little more decadent. It would be easy to make a few additions to the flavours especially adding a little spice to the sugar. I reckon cinnamon would work really well, especially if I can figure out how to incorporate some apples without making the pastry soggy. Improvements or not, I have a feeling I will definitely be making these again!

 

 

Hoorah! I cannot tell you how pleased I am that there is finally a savoury bake to make! Don’t get me wrong I do like a bit of cake everyone and then, but after 6 weeks it can get a little boring, and heavy of the tum! This week certainly seemed one were the judges were taught a few things too especially Nancy and her ground rice to avoid leakage

Signature Bake – Savoury Pastry Parcels 
As Mel and Sue mention there are a lot of cultural versions of a similar pastry; Cornish pastry, Spanish empanadas and samosas.  I was nice to see a good selection among the bakers, with no real double ups.  It was no surprise to see Chetna making an indian pastry and it was great to see her boldness with the spices and the lentils.

Key Points:

1. If your adding a raw filling to the pastry, ensure it is chopped small to ensure that it is cooked all the way through
2. Concentrate on the seasoning, and the moisture. Making sure the ratio of filling to pastry is balanced.
3. Crimp the edges well to avoid any leakage

I’ve decided to spice things up with this one and in keeping with the holiday memory theme, I want to do something Mexican.  I remember having empanadas with a zesty spicy salsa, one lunchtime by the pool, so I’m going to aim for that. These can either be baked or fried, so I might try doing half and hale with the bake, and see which way tastes best.

Technical Challenge – Kouign Amman x12

It’s got to be buttery, its got to be crispy and its got to be flakey. The lamination is all about the  got to be dough – butter, dough – butter layers… Texture of a puff pastry, but a bit more open, a bit more structured and that comes from the yeast

Luckily I can say that I have some direction when it comes to this bake, and I’m not as in the dark as the bakers.  I have tried the originally cake in the home of its origins, Brittany, on a family holiday. I remember discovering it on a solo trip to the local market, but not eating it until I had then cycling along to find a nice spot over-looking the sea. It was amazing, so caramelly and crunchy, but still soft in the centre.  The one I have bought also had apple in it which added some extra scrumptiousness of the whole thing.  Only last week did I get excited when I saw that they had started stocking it in Sainsburys, but the shelf was empty

Key points:

1. There should be a minimum of 3 turns of the pastry before adding the sugar
2. Sugar goes in the last layer only, otherwise it will disappear within this pastry
3. Prove at room temperature rather than the fridge

Just because I have seen, and eaten a few, it doesn’t mean that I’ll be able to do this problem free. This will be the first ever yeasted pastry I’ll have made so as ever, the fingers are crossed!

Showstopper Challenge – Eclairs x24 (in 2 flavours)
Choux Pastry,  I love making this, I really felt like I had accomplished something the first time I made this. Plus it gives you a great arm work out! It would have been nice to of seen a few more savoury options here, but it was nice to see Nancy mixing it up with her “traditional with a contemporary note”.

My Favourites this episode:

1. Richard, star baker for a third time! This guy has staying power and I would love him to reach the final.  His pasties were well filled and eclairs perfectly balanced.  He may not be the most delicate with his decorating but certainly has a talent.
2. Luis, I liked his idea of adding spice to his savoury pastry and I might pinch it for mine.  The flavours of his eclairs were as bold as his design, although I wasn’t stunned by the presentation.
3. Chetna, she pulled it off again, and if her technical had been better she would have been up for star baker again.

It was Kate’s time to leave this week. From the start of the show things just didn’t run smoothly, with the timer of the frier, the proving of the pastry and the mess of her chocolate eclairs.  She was a get baker friendly, smily and always happy, plus she never let Paul shake her.

Martha was definitely close to leaving the tent this week, and I hope she is able to pull herself back next week.  It was nice to see the camaraderie among the bakers with richard and Chetna pulling together to help Martha complete the last challenge. It was really heart warming.

This weekend’s bake will certainly bring a light relief to the past few weeks of cakes! Plus I have a feeling that it will all be eaten with a lot more enthusiasm from the boyfriend!