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.