After last weeks savoury we are are back to the sweet things this week, Dessert. Full of sugar, fat and all the things that are bad for you.  Thankfully it’s a bank holiday weekend, so lots of people to see who can eat this weeks showstopper, 3 tiered cheesecakes!

Signature Bake – 12 Crème Brûlée
They do like to bring back the retro in bake off and this week is no exception, in fact it’s deceptively delicate according to Paul.  The bakers had to keep to the more traditional methods of using a grill instead of a fancy blow torch to create the crunchy caramel topping, which proved tricky to get an even colour across all 12 dishes.

Key Points:

1. Adding hot milk to cold eggs needs to be done slowly, otherwise you’ll end up cooking the eggs.
2. Baking it a water bath will guarantee an even bake thoughout each pot.
   
3. When you baking it your looking for a little wobble meaning it just set, over set it will split and under baked it will pour out like soup

Flora was certainly out to impress with some added accompaniments to her rhubarb and custard versions. Ugne was the only one this week that produced a perfect consistency on her custard, although the caramel on the top wasn’t crunchy enough.  the rest of the bakers seemed to suffer from either over baking or underbaking. Paul’s ended up looking like scrambled eggs, while Sandy’s looked like custard.

Technical Bake – Spanische Windtorte
There are times when a recipe like this comes up, I wish I was still doing the technicals.  I like that they are always something new, often retro bakes that have otherwise been forgotten. Plus I love meringue, but I have a feeling my dentist wouldn’t be too pleased with this sugary concoction!

Key Points:

1. French meringue the sugar needs to added to stiff egg whites until smooth, glossy and pipe-able. It is then cooked in the oven making sure it is not overbaked which would cause it to loose it’s bright whitness. The end result should be a crisp, dry meringue 
2. Swiss meringue is when the egg whites and sugar are cooked over a ban-marie leaving you with a marshmellowy texture that is cooked in the oven to set.

Most of the bakers this week seemed to get away relatively unscathed in this challenge, and where they did fall down it was usually on the same thing, the meringues.  The French meringue was chewy rather than crisp and dry and the swiss was too sticky. Alvin seemed to suffer the worst, his meringue had lost it whiteness, and there was no distinction between the meringues.  Tamal was marked down for only using one style of piping and Flora’s was too chewy.  I was good to see that Paul managed to get first prize with his attempt, even when he was unconfident most of the way through

Showstopper: 3 tiered baked cheesecake
I know I can’t taste it and I don’t have smell-o-vision but flavour wise Ian managed to pull it off once again.  As I have said before I love how he combines herbs and spices into his sweet bakes. HIs apple and tarragon would definitely be interesting to try, I’m not so sure about Paul’s suggestion of basil and banana though.  Tamal was another one with some interesting combinations, honey and rosemary would be a winner in my house and I loved the colour of the mango one.  He’s definitely working his way to star baker, if Ian ever lets it go! I loved the idea of Nadiya’s and Matt’s inspiration of using sweet favourites, whether it was from a soda or chocolate bar.  The presentation of Ugne’s bake let her down a bit but the rest of the bake saved her.  Flora’s presentation saved her slightly but I think she be careful next week, sticking with only one flavour was certainly surprising for her, especially compared to the crème brûlée! It was sad to see Sandy go, she was a strong character in the tent, but sadly everything this week everything went against her.

3 tiers, 3 sizes, 3 baking times and potentially 3 different flavours too, this weekend we certainly full on, and not just on the hips!  I have an idea to focus the flavours on retro ice cream flavours, similar to neapolitan but with a bit of a twist, this is bake off after all!

Seeing all the sculptures from this weeks show, definitely opened the imagination from what I could do this weekend.  Do I make one thing, with the different doughs and bake it all at the same time, like Pauls Lion or different things and bring them together in the final build.  After spending some time reading up on the different possible breads that I could make I decided to go with the latter.

The main inspiration for the sculpture came from one of the breads that I found online. It reminded me of some breads I’d tried in Hong Kong a few years ago while on holiday.  Some were really nice, the coconut cocktail buns were my favourite while others were slightly more questionable, like the red bean curd buns! The dough of the cocktail buns was similar to brioche, light, slightly sweet and after a bit of research I managed to find the  recipe for this unique bread. This dough was enriched with egg, milk, and butter the same as brioche but this dough had a special starter added too.  

This starter, called Tangzhong,  is made from a roux of flour and water heated to 65℃ until it is thick, and then cooled to room temperature.   The roux helps to keep the bread it soft and fluffy, even after a couple of days apparently.  This method seems to have been introduced by Yvonne Chen 陳郁芬 who wrote a Chinese book, entitled “65°C湯種麵包” (Bread Doctor). She wrote about how this method originated from Japan, to help keep their breads fluffy and bouncy.  The science behind it is that the gluten in the roux will absorb the moisture in the bread and making become leavened (rise more).

Getting back to the point, while researching the breads to use, I found a recipe for Tangzhong Matcha Green Tea Milk bread.  I had bought some matcha powder recently and not had a chance to use it yet, so this would  be a good excuse for some experimentation. Inspired by the use of green tea I then decided to make a tea cup and saucer sculpture, filled with green tea (or a version of). Along with the chinese bread, I had to think of another two breads to bake to make the sculpture.

The starting point for this had to be a bread that would hold its manipulated shape during the second prove as well as during the bake. For the cup I wanted to do the lattice weave that I had attempted the previous week with the biscuit box, so I started looking at doughs that have a good history of plaiting. The ideal bread for this seemed to be the Jewish challah, it’s sturdy and easy to manipulate and had a good sheen in it two. I decided that in order to keep the nice smooth shape of the bowl I’d keep the dough plain and just and he seeds on the outside for decoration.

The third bread needed to be a filled loaf, and as the fiancé has a likeness for spice, and because we’re going on holiday there soon, I chose to use Spanish chorizo and smoked paprika. To give the dough an extra bit of umph I added tomato purée and cooked onions. This bread made up the saucer of the sculpture and to ensure that I had enough I made double! With all the breads decided on it was time to start.

Easy Dough’s it
As I mentioned previously I need to make a flour and water starter for the tangzhong chinese bread, so this was the first thing to do so that it could cool to room temperature before using. While this was cooling I made a start on the challah.  I’d read through a few recipes, some used fresh yeast others active dry yeast.  I decided to go with the latter, because that’s what I had in the fridge and feel more confident with.  The yeast had to be activated with warm water and sugar, until a foamy substance appeared on the surface.  While this was activating a mixture of eggs, milk and melted butter was then added to the rest of the dry ingredients and with the help of my dough hook and Ken Jnr set to work bringing it all together. The active yeast mix was meant to create a stiffish dough, that needed to be worked for a further 8-10minutes until I was left with a smooth, silky dough. The dough was then transferrred to a clean oiled bowl and left to prove.

The saucer was next. This bread used two different types of flour, wholemeal and plain, which would hopefully make a nice robust bread.  Sometimes using wholemeal flour can make the bread a bit dry. I was hoping to counter this with the use of the cooked onions adding some much moisture to the dough. However this may have added a little too much moisture as I needed to add a little more flour towards the end of the kneading process to bring it all together and making it less sticky. After a good 10 minutes kneading it with the dough hook I did the end part with my hands so that it was easier to judge the consistency of the dough.  Once I was happy with the smooth elastic dough, it was transferred another clean oiled bowl and left to prove.

Back to the chinese bread. As I mentioned earlier I wanted to use the matcha green tea powder that I  had sitting in my cupboard, not just to experiment but to get a  good colour too.  The plan was to make the bread look like a big whirl of alternating white and green, so that it would look like the swirl you would find on the top of a cappuccino.  However are reading a few recipes on this new style of bread I was concerned that trying to roll it in this way would restrict the rise of the dough.  Instead I went with the method’s in the recipes I was using, best stick to the experts knowledge especially a first attempt. In order to make enough bread to fill the challah cup, I made two doughs, one plain and the other green.  The doughs were enriched with egg and milk similar to the challah, but the final kneaded dough is softer and feels more elastic.

With these final two doughs made, there was nothing left to do for another few hours, while they proved to double their size.

Knead to rise
After a tidy up and trip out to grab some breakfast I returned to 4 bowls fully risen dough.  In the case of the chorizo dough it was a monster, however the challah looked like it could do with a little longer.

Starting with the nicely orange dough, I punched it down and split it into three.  Being inspired by a picture I found on pintrest, I decided that the ‘saucer’ should have an open middle so that the cup would be able to balance on it.  The middle circle of the sauce was a 3 strand plait, of which the ends needed to be tucked away under the start of the plait.  The next part was strand of dough with the ends rolled clockwise and anti-clockwise. As you can see from the pictures these were places all the way around the outside of the plaited ring. The last part to bring it all together was to twist a rope of dough to keep everything together.  I needed to leave some air around each element so that it had space to rise in the second prove.  Due to the shear size of this structure, I construct it on two baking trays and leave to proof in the giant proving bag I had from last year.

Time for tea
With the saucer left to prove while the oven heated up I moved onto the green tea milk breads. This dough was so smooth and silky, quite unlike the filled wholemeal dough of the saucer. Each dough needed to be cut into 6 and rolled into a ball.  A ball of each was then rolled out to an oval shape and laid, one on top of the other.  The two layers were rolled again, to ensure that they were stuck together, and then folded into third, similar to if you were making puff pastry. The fold was rolled again and lastly the dough was rolled up, into a wheel.  I chose to then cut the roll in half to help the design in the tin.  I did this again with the rest of the dough alternating outer colour of the rolls as I went. Once they were all in the tin it too was a left to rise until doubled once again

Last but not Lattice
I’d left this bread until the end because the rise on the dough appeared to be a lot slower than the other breads, possibly because I used active dry yeast as opposed to the instant quick yeast. Regardless of the rise though the dough was nice and soft, silky and very elastic.  I separated it into 2 equal portions and rolled out to the same size , or and close as I could get.  Each one was then cut into strips with a pizza roller, one vertically and the other horizontally. The next step was to start the weaving in.  The easiest method, and the one that stretched the dough the least was to fold back alternate lines of the vertical strips and lay a horizontal strip over the top. The strips were then unfolded over the top of hte horizontal stip and and the process repeated but by folding back the alternate vertical strips.  To ensure each strip bonded with the other I brushed a little egg white on the joins too.  After a good 20 minutes I had something that looked like a bread blanket!  

Transferring this to the foil covered bowl required a bit of magic of hand eye coordination and quick flipping but I managed to do it on the first go without any breakages. The edges were then trimmed and re-rolled to create a twisted rope edging. The final piece was then left to prove again before the weave was brushed with egg white and sprinkled with sesame and poppy seeds.

Bake & Build.
The first to bake was the chorizo bread which needed a little extra time than the allotted amount as it didn’t seem to have that nice hollow sound in the middle.  The consequence of this extended time did mean that the crust was a little darker than I would have like, but at least it wasn’t burnt. The second bake was the chinese green tea loaf, which came out with a lovely colour from the egg wash glaze and the smell was amazing! The cup was the last to go in, and for me the most impressive in design.  I was a little worried that it would collapse when I removed the bowl, but luckily it didn’t.  Everything held it’s shape, even when it was all put together,

Open for interpretation
As you can see from the pictures below the finishing piece held together well. However you will also see that the handle of the cup is missing, mainly due to a lack of dough. If this happened on the bake off I would certainly have lost points. Instead, as I’m not, I’m leaving it open for interpretation. It could be an egg cup, or a hanging basket, I prefer to see it as a Chinese cup and saucer that doesn’t have handles.

It’s Pauls week, and he’s taking no prisoners, what with irregular baguettes, unpractised bakes and Mary was left with being the good cop this week.

Signature – Quick Bread
A first for the bake off, but then again isn’t everything we see on it? The definition of this bread is a very speedy bread made without yeast.  Instead it uses baking powder or bicarbonate for soda as a raising agent.

Key points:

1. Crumbly texture of the soda bread depends on the ratio of bicarb to buttermilk correct. Not enough will create a densely packed loaf, too much and it won’t hold it’s shape.
2. The dough doesn’t need to be kneaded, over-worked dough will lead to a tough chewy texture not the crumbliness that is iconic with soda breads
3. Cut the bread with a cross, almost to the bottom, which will help distribute the heat in the middle of the loaf.

Dispersal of the filling it needs to be even, but Dorret blended her’s too much, leaving the flavour but making the texture too tight.  Tamal on the other hand had big lumps that could be seen in the final loaf. Ugne was pushing the limit by using both Bicarb and baking powder, it could have been a disaster, but it worked well in the end, without a hint of bitterness. Once again Ian has added the home grown element with his wild garlic, in words of Mel “delish”

Technical – French Baguette
Granted Paul is the bread man and he knows his rolls, but nothing could seemed to please him much with this bake. It’s all about the crust in the outside and the open irregular, chewy texture of the dough similar to a ciabatta

Key points:

1. Pouring water into a tray in the oven when putting the dough will help to create the steam needed to create the crust.
2. Proving is important, and using the plastic tub helped to create the irregular structure, its the same method that was used for last years ciabatta.

There was a lot more failed bakes this week than successful ones.  Most of them needed more time in the oven, they were underproved and soft, especially Paul who came last. Flora was ahead of the game in this challenge, having made them before and she came 2nd once again in the technical, she’s certainly a confident little baker.

Showstopper – 3D Bread.
Alvin’s was by the most impressive, he may have gone overboard but he did it with style. Everything kept it’s shape, even the horn, that held a variety of rolls, loaves and plaits.  Paul adventurous lion showed that he knew how his bread worked, and he was able to produce a lion, complete with mane claws and flaring nostrils.  It was a shame that Sandy’s bread sculpture wasn’t as moving as it’s inspiration of the Tower of London Poppies. I take my hat off to Flora and her corseted dress, I thought the bodice looked beautiful. Along with Ian’s flowerpot, Nadiya snake and Tamals ‘bread-cycle’ it was a great composition. From the start of the show it seemed that Dorret could not please both the judges, and finishing off with an unpractised bake was certainly the last straw.

I’m not sure of the structure of this weeks bake yet, but I have a giant pot of basil growing in the kitchen so I might take some inspiration from the bakers in the show and do a pesto dough. Once again, everything will happen on Saturday, so not so much practise for me, instead there will be plenty of research and wine consumed through-out!

Oneliner of the week comes from the host Sue: “If you don’t know what a baguette is, it’s over, get out of the tent now!”

I really thought that these showstoppers would have been easier than doing the two other challenges together, but no. On second thoughts these tasks are definitely more challenging. First off the challengers have had at least a week to practise, not only their bakes, but the concept and design too. I have less time due to work and only having the weekend to bake. Which means all my experimentation gets done in realtime, and explains why my initial design idea changed several times and why I spent a good 8 hours doing it compared to the bakers 4 hours!

The box
My first idea was to create a box around one of my other hobbies, sewing. The box would be a circular shaped box with a lid, inspired by the Chinese bamboo steamers I have in my kitchen. The lattice weave the lid was the main element that I was keen to do, and thought it would be easy enough, having practised with ribbons. To make it more interesting and of course, showstopping it was going to be in two colours. As you can read, I said was, this is because all did not go to plan.

Dough x3
As mentioned in the show you needed to have a strong and hard biscuit to be able to make a sturdy structure.  For this I chose to use gingerbread, but not just one, two, on top of the different biscuits that needed to fill the box!  A lighter gingerbread, following a new recipe which used a raising agent, golden syrup and cinnamon. For the darker biscuit it was a recipe I have used before for gingerbread houses and uses, dark brown sugar, black treacle, ginger and cloves.

All about the base.
Being inspired by the show, I thought I would go with a rounded base, similar to Nadiya.  I thought it was the most impressive, and daring of them all, when everyone else went with a square or rectangular box. After rolling out the darker gingerbread, made by pouring the melted liquids and molten sugar into the dry ingredients, it was time to transfer it to the upturned, and greased bowl.  This was easier said than done and after two or three attempts, there was no way it was going to work.  The biscuit dough just kept breaking, at one point I had ¾ of it on the bowl and the last ¼ split and slid down the side. In the end, I went with the regular box shape that everyone chose, the basic 4 sided box.

Topping it off
Now that the style of box had changed, I still want to make it impressive and as the name of the challenge states, a show stopper.  On the show everyones’ lids were loose and removable so instead I chose to make a hinged lid!

Using a dowel that I found in the drawer, I made holes in the side panels of the box to hold the lid and for the lid encased the dowel in the biscuit dough. This meant the lattice work idea had to be changed as it was going to be a smaller surface area than originally planned. However this wasn’t the only alteration. After rolling out the second, lighter dough, it was obvious that it weaving it wasn’t going to work.  The dough was too soft, even though it had been in the fridge for a lot longer than recommended. I was impossible to pick up a length of the rolled out dough, without it breaking within a second.  

As this creation has based around my other crafty hobby, sewing, I quickly changed the design to replicate a patchwork quilt instead.  This turned out to be a lot easier and less time consuming, I just wish I had thought of it sooner.

Sticky stuff
Once all the pieces of the box were cut, baked and cooled it was time to stick them altogether. As I previously mentioned, I’ve made gingerbread houses before.  During their construction it became clear that as much as royal icing looks great, it does take a long time to set.  The best thing to use is hot molten sugar. It’s stronger and instant, it’s also one of the quickest ways to get a blister too!

Pushing my buttons, and rolling rolling rolling!
When the glueing of the box as complete it was time to focus on the other main component of this challenge, the biscuits inside the box. For these I decided to go with the fiance’s favourite, the ever so moreish, shortbread.  In order for these to be showstoppers in their own right, they had to be a pimped up version. Inspired by Ian’s use of rosemary in his biscotti, I decided on using lemon thyme in addition to the lemon zest, making them refreshing and flavoursome.   

I used to make shortbread when I was younger, using the rubbing in method however this recipe calls for creaming the butter and sugar instead then adding the flour.  As many of you will know, shortbread contains a lot of butter, which helps to make them melt in the mouth, but also a little tricky to roll out. The recipe I used for these was courtesy of Mr Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, and he suggests rolling the dough between two sheets of greaseproof paper, without the use of any extra flour. I did use this method, but as the dough so soft, removing the offcuts of the dough proved tricky, and ended up leaving the cut shapes a little mis-shapen.  Next time I think I’ll still with the old fashioned floured surface, and put the dough in the fridge to harden up some more before attempting to roll it out.

To make them look more like buttons, and to help the piping later, I used a smaller cutter to make an indent around the inner edge of the biscuit, not to mention adding some button holed for good measure.

The icing on the cake biscuits
Once everything was baked cooled and constructed it was time to start icing, everything. I sometimes like to use two piping bags when piping, one filled with the icing inserted into another which has the nozzle. I’ve found this is the best method, especially if you need to switch the colour icing, but keep the same nozzle.  

I began with the shortbread biscuits, as I wasn’t sure if I had enough icing to do everything, and didn’t want to end up with an Alvin moment, with the job half done. It all started well, although some of my circles were a little more wobbly than others, overall I was happy.

Moving onto the box lid it suddenly became trickier to ice. After putting up with the pressure for a good 10 minutes, I gave up with a really saw hand and took a look at the nozzle. It became clear that some of the icing had started to dry up in the nozzle making it harder to pipe and leaving my hand feeling pathetically weak! After quick rinse under the tap, it went back to normal, but I had to repeat the process another 3 or 4 times throughout the rest of the decorating.  I did have an idea to make pretty patterns on the patchwork squares, but after icing for about an hour and with a saw hand, frankly I gave up.

Sewing up loose ends
For the finishing touches of this showstopper I had made a pair of scissors and sewing needles out of the remaining gingerbreads.  Icing these was a little easier, as it was just on the edge but I definitely think I need more practice.  Maybe when I have more spare time, maybe I’ll go on a piping course.  I’ll be writing letters and shapes similar to when you were learning to write, by tracing the outlines on the pages! Until that time comes I’ll just stick with the handmade artisan look.