This weeks signature bake was certainly open to many interpretations, do I do a cracker, water biscuit, something puffy or a crisp-bread? Then do I go with seedy or plain, herby or spiced, oaty or buttery?  The idea for the eventual biscuit came through a process of elimination.  I’d already made oatcake biscuits and although the flavourings I had in mind would have worked, I wanted to try something new.  The other eliminating factors came courtesy of the boyfriend, “don’t do water biscuit, they are too crumbly and messy” and “mehh, I’m not so keen on seedy and they get stuck in my teeth!”.  As I was giving him the deciding vote on this one, I thought I may as well look for something I knew we’d both like. Ritz crackers!

I couldn’t simply make the replica of the famous brand, I would have to put my own take on it, to be able to call it my signature bake.  The flavourings for my take on this buttery, flakey morsel were to add rosemary and parmasean cheese.  I had thought about adding chilli instead of the rosemary, but I think I’ll save that one until next time.

The problem with typing in Ritz cracker recipes as your search term is ithat you simply find loads of recipes where people have used the crackers as a componant to a recipe, from Crab au Gratin where it has a ritz cracker crumb topping to a Quince and Manchego Cheesecake with a ritz cracker base! However after spending some time surfing around the internet I found a few recipes that had been created by other bloggers in the US, and decided as it is an American product I thought it best to follow the homegrown writers.

Using two recipes for comparison, The Cupcake Project and Sweet Precision, I measured out all of the ingredients and thought about my own additions.  Rosemary can be pretty overpowering if you use too much and end up making the biscuit taste a bit soapy.  I had two fresh springs from the plant that we’re managing to keep alive (nothing to do with me), and chopped the leaves finely, giving me enough for about ½ teaspoon.  The parmasan, is a nice dry cheese, that should add a nice crispiness to the cracker. Again you don’t want too much otherwise you won’t taste the rosemary or the cheese that you’re serving them with. I finely grated enough cheese for about ½ cup (American measurements for this one keep in with the theme!).

Sticking with the pain free method I added all of the dry ingredients into the food blender and whizzed until combined.  Then I added the butter,  and whizzed again until it resembled breadcrumbs, then added the oil. I chose to go with the olive oil for this one and I felt it would work better for the other Italian flavours, plus I didn’t have any vegetable oil at home.

Then it was time for the binding agent…water.  Now I had recipe 2 or 3 times and felt confident about this next part.  I had the water measured out and started to pour it in, ½ a cup at a time. By the time I had added the second ½ cup I could see that there mix had gone past the point of dough and as now more like a thick paste**.  I stopped adding the water and instead added more flour to bring it back.  After adding almost a whole cup of flour the dough was now formed.  I started to question the authenticity of the recipes and whether American all purpose flour was fundamentally different to our own plain flour.

Turnin the dough out onto the floured surface I split the ball in half and started to roll it out while the oven (with thermometer in place) got to the correct temp, 400F or 200°C. Rolling them out to about 3-5mm, I used a 5cm floured cookie cutter to cut them out.  Once they were on the pre-lined baking tray, I added the characteristic hole featured on the famous cracker. Unfortunately I did not have a nifty gadget, like Nancy and Norman had on GBBO, instead I used the traditional four pronged fork. Now pronged and prepped they were now ready for the oven.

Once the alloted baking time of 12 minutes was over, I removed the first batch and stuck the next lot in. After impatiently waiting for the first batch to cool, I tested one. They definitely tasted like the famous ritz’s I was trying to emulate, and the colour was right, but they were still a little soft in the middle.

The second batch were better in colour and snap, but because they were left a litte longer in the oven, they some had bitterness to the edges. It was at this point I thought I would try reducing the heat and leave them in a little longer. This resulted in a biscuit that took far longer to colour and by the time it did, it tasted over baked and bitter.

The best result would be the happy medium between the first batch and the second. There was a good taste from the cheese, and it had a good snap, especially after they cooled down. One thing I would change for next time would be to add more rosemary, as I don’t think the flavour was consistant through out the bake. In order to get the salty flavour that is iconic of the little favourites, you had to brush them with oil, straight after they come out the oven, and sprinkle over the with salt. For a more artisan, fancy edge to the biscuits, I think I’ll use maldon salt flakes next time, or maybe some extra parmesan.

I’m not sure this first attempt will match the mass manufactured variety, but it’s nice to have something a little different and filled with less unpronounceable ingredients. However the taste fresher and are just as moreish!!

**It wasn’t until 3 days after making these that I have realised my major mistake.  The recipe calls for ⅔ cups, which is two thirds of a cup not 2 to 3 cups! All of my recipe rescuing with additional flour and blaspheming the American flour was in vain, I had simply read the recipe wrong! Thinking that American all-purpose flour must be different to UK plain. This may also have contributed to the softness in the bake, I’ll just have to wait to find out!

You know when you’ve done something before, you feel more than confident that you will be able to do it again without any problems? This is how I felt entering this challenge, and continued to feel for most of the bake, right up until the chocolate part.  Chocolate it not my friend, whether that is to my hips or trying to temper the stuff!  I can sometimes get a little impatient when it comes to finishing a bake, I just want to get it finished so that I can share, eat or simply move onto the next task.  This attitude is often not conducive to a creative baker, as it can lead to disasters.  The disaster on this challenge was definitely the chocolate.

Some may think that the complicated part of a Florentine recipe would be the sugary caramel mix that is the main body this snappy little delicacy, but I found this part the easiest.  I have to admit something here, I have gone against one of my challenge rules:

1. Use the same ingredients as stated in the recipe, no substitutes are allowed

This rule breaking is strictly medical. I am not a big lover of walnuts, and other than my dad, most of my family are against them, with my sister saying “Walnuts! No one like walnuts, don’t ever bother with them!” Walnuts are one of the few foods that I have an allergic reaction to, resulting in the inside of my mouth and lips become really itchy!  It can be really annoying, not only because of how uncomfortable it feels, but because I end up making faces that make me look like a monkey doing facial exercises! But back to the rule breaking, instead of the walnuts I used hazelnuts instead, much better with chocolate, especially if you think of Nutella!

Every thing for these bejewelled beauties has to be chopped, right down to the cranberries (which I nearly forgot and had to pick out before I mixed it all together)! The important thing to remember is not to use the mini electric chopper. This wonderful gadget is great when it comes to dressings and mini sauces, but for these nuts it chops them too finely.

Once everything was measured and chopped, it was all mixed into the melted butter, syrup and sugar mix.

Now came the tricky bit, portioning it out into 18 even spoonfuls. It’s probably best to measure them all out, like some of the contestants did on the show, but I decided to gauge it by eye and spoon! With 18 little discs measured and space out on 3 sheets of baking parchment, they went into the oven for 10 minutes, with a tray rotation half way through.

It was important to keep a close eye on the time well as the Florentines, as you want them all to be the same colour, which can turn very quickly leaving you with a bitter caramel.

Leaving the Florentines to cool and harden it was time to face my nemesis, chocolate. The first part was easy, melting it in a bowl over a pan of boiling water. It was the cooling down that gets me. After a waiting what felt like absolute age, I covered only 3 Florentines with it dripping through the lacy holes, so I resorted to putting it in the fridge for a few minutes.BAD IDEA! When I took it out it had started to harden and go lumpy, there was no spreading going to happen with it in that state. So, it was back to the hob to re-melt the chocolate, and repeat the whole process! In the end I have decided that not only do I need to some more practice in chocolate tempering, but I need to buy one of those fancy digital thermometers! Both of which will be a pricey investment.

The end result for this technical gave me 18 florentines which were lacy, nicely coloured and had a good snap, but needed a bit more attention needed for the chocolate. The most important thing to note though, they tasted delicious!

 

GBBO Episode 2 – 13/8/14

Sometimes you’ve just got to laugh at some at some of the things that not only Mel and Sue come out with but also Paul and Mary. This week the shining example of this came from the blue-eyed baker himself when explaining the fist challenge of the programme, baking 36 savoury biscuits. Since when do you make 3 or 4 biscuits for a dinner party? In all my history of baking biscuits, never has the dough only ever made this few a quantity.

Signature Challenge: Savoury Biscuits (36)

I need to get my thinking cap on for this challenge. I’ve only ever made oatcake biscuits before and although they were pretty moreish and great with cheese I think I’m going to have to up my game for this challenge. I have never really thought much about making savoury biscuits, which is odd, because I love cheese and biscuits and the boyfriend would much sooner eat these than sweet biscuits. It was good to see the variety of flavours that could be done and the differnet options for the bakes, from a dry oaty mix, to a sandwiched biscuit.

Key tips to take away from this weeks episode for the bake this weekend:

1. Prick the biscuits to ensure they stay flat
2. You what a short texture, so don’t knead the dough too much otherwise it’ll become tough
3. An even thickness to the biscuit will ensure a consistant even bake (hopefully)

There are a few flavour combinations I’m playing with, I just need to figure out the best biscuit base that would compliment them. So check back later to see which I’ve gone with.

Technical Bake: Florentines (18)

Now these I have made before in both mini and large sizes. These are a favourite in my family. I think the first time I had them is when Mum bought them as a treat for my Dad and I managed to sneak one out! Anyway I’ve made these a few times, mainly for christmas presents and parties, so I’m not particularly worried about this weeks challenge. Although from past experience with things, its never too good to go into these challenges with too much confidence, it can lead to silly mistakes and panicked failures!

Showstopper: 3D Biscuit Scene
I truly empathise with these guys on this challenge. I once made gingerbread house for nieces and nephews for Christmas one year, all filled with home made sweets. What resulted in an alright piece of baking masonry also created some of the fasted developing blister I have ever had!

My favourites from this episode:

1. Once again Chetna managed to bring in her family roots and influences to the signature challenge. This is something I really admire, being able to know what herbs and spices work well and having a natural flair for the combinations is a real talent
2. Iain, Richard and Luis definitely stole the show with their free standing sculptures. I used to love making cardboard cutout sculpture as a child and the guys bakes this week reminded me of this. Great ingenius planning with some amazing attention to the detail.
3. It was nice to see a variety of biscuits being used, even if there was some questionable colours. I’d never have thought of a mulled wine biscuit, I’d probably just have drunk it!

I really think it was a close call this week and I think that sadly Iain, Norman and Jordan and will really have to push the boat out next week. Enwezor, it was a shame to see him go as he had a good bake on the signature, and his technical was good apart from the cutter trimming. Mary really did not like the idea of using shop bought fondant and the editing really showed that. I think that scorn will haunt me for the rest of the week!

I’m so pleased that the Bake Off is back on, I love having a challenge to look forward to, and knowing that by the end of the weekend I will hopefully have learned something new and added to my baking repertoire. This week’s cherry cake challenge was just that. I’ve been staying at my sisters this week while she is on holiday, so this weeks baking adventures have been subject to a few strange anomalies!

In the previous years that I have done the challenges I have set down some ground rules for myself:

1. Use the same ingredients as stated in the recipe, no substitutes are allowed
2. Use the same baking equipment and used on the show
3. No assistance can be given from a third party (unless it’s doing the washing up 🙂 )

I try to keep to these rules as much as possible, but unfortunately there are a few exceptions to rule 2, the lack of beautiful pastel coloured Kitchenaid mixers, the amazing bread proving/warming drawer and the seriously longed for oven with the telescopic shelves. In the absence of these 3 main items, I do my best to buy or borrow any equipment I do not already have.

I have made various cakes in various shapes, sizes and flavours but not a cake in a bundt tin before. As I mentioned previously I did not have to buy this tin, as I could borrow one from my sister, and thankfully not loose anymore of the limited space I have in my kitchen! Although the tin was not the exact same, smooth tin, it was still the same measurement and a little exception to my second rule. I’m always sceptical when a cake tin claims to be non stick, and usually line a tin with parchment for safe measure. It would have been very tricky and time consuming to line this tin, instead it was a few bits of butter rubbed all over the inside of the tin.

As I mentioned earlier I have been staying at my sisters this week, so not only am I using her bundt tin but also her other baking equipment including, her oven, obviously! So the oven was put to temperature using her oven thermometer (a must in baking), while the rest of the cake was put together.

I was surprised to find out that the mix was pretty much an all-in-one mixture, all apart from the cherries of course.

These little beauts require some special attention. Remembering to save 5 cherries for the top (avoiding the same mistake that Jordan made) it was a sticky messy job of have to quarter the rest of the pot. Why is it that when you get near something remotely sticky, especially jam/marmalade, you find it a sticky patch on your arm long after you have washed your hands etc? Anyway, after the cherries were cut, they had to be rinsed and tossed in flour, in order to obtain the suspended cherries throughout the cake, and save them dropping to the bottom.

The little red jewels had to be folded into the rest of the mixed batter, a batter that was particularly thick, maybe too thick? Once it is all combined then into the tin is has to go. As it was so thick, there was less pouring and more dolloping going on, which meant that it had to be spread around the tin. Dolloping also meant that some of the mix got smeared on the edges of the tin. It’s important to remember that these bites need to be wiped off before it goes into the oven, otherwise they would cook and burn while the rest of the cake is cooking. After the mix is spread evenly around the pan the journey to the oven was next.

Strange anomaly number 1.
Opening the door and lowering my sight to the thermometer, I discover that this vital little gadget was indeed broken! This meant that the temperature of the oven was uncertain, and even though the dial said it was correct, I like to be sure. Without this certainty, my state of mind for the cooking process was a little apprehensive.

Once the time was up it was time to take a peak in the oven, I couldn’t peak through the door during the baking because sadly the bulb was broken (anomaly no.2). First impressions, it s not risen enough, plus I have cracking on the top (which will eventually be the base), which I found out recently is the cause of a oven that is too hot. Damn that thermometer and not having superhuman heat sensors in my fingers! The colour of the bake was consistent if a little more golden (especially around the edges) then really needed, again the result of an oven that is too hot.

The next morning it was time for the icing and yet more sticky cherries. The almonds toasted nicely and slowly in the pan, but I wish I had more to nibble on!

Judgement and instinct are a wonderful thing and I really should pay more attention to mine. I knew that my icing was just a little too thin, only a little bit, mind you and should have gone with my instinct instead of adding all of the juice! It still looks ok, but is on the verge of being a little too thin.

Over all I’m happy with the bake, and the overall flavour and presentation was good. Sadly though, due to the oven temp it was a little dry. Next time, and there will be a next time, I will be sure to make sure everything is working first!