It’s time for the finale of my Great British Baking Show Competition and I am knee deep in flour, butter, sugar and eggs. I have one day to prepare three different elements of a classic British High Tea: Victorian Sandwich Cake, French Tarte Au Citron and Scones. Up to now I have not worried about the time requirement of each challenge but since I know how to make each of these items already I thought it would be interesting to try making them in the same time allotted to the contestants: five hours. Pastry dough for the tarts is made and resting in the fridge and I turn next to ...
DONUT JOY: MAPLE GLAZED WITH BACON OR CHOCOLATE GLAZED WITH NUTS?
Sweet and Salty Maple Glazed Donuts with Bacon Bits or Satisfyingly Rich Dark Chocolate Ganache Glazed Donuts with Crunchy Pecans, there is something for everyone here! In the beginning, donuts came in three varieties: filled with strawberry jam, coated in powdered sugar or sparkling with bright crystals of cane sugar. My favorite was, and still is, the jelly donut. Its soft pillowy exterior hides a blob of sticky red jam making each bite an adventure. Sugar donuts are also a favorite. When I was a child, my mother would cut the centers out of Pillsbury Poppin Fresh Biscuits, fry them and ...
ECLAIRS
Crisp and airy pate a choux shells are filled with vanilla or raspberry cream then covered with luscious chocolate ganache for two takes on the Classic Eclair. This is the year that time slowed down. Spring creeps ever so slowly across the landscape. Warm days are followed by cold and frost and my winter clothes have not yet rested safely in the back of my closet. Day follows day with extraordinary sameness broken only by the question of what the Great British Baking Show will ask me to make next. Truthfully, it seems like that show will never come to an end either! But it is coming ...
SORRY KUGELHOPF, I’M MAKING GREEN CHICKEN CHILI
This is the sad tale of three Kugelhopfs and knowing when to stop and make Green Chicken Chili instead. The story starts 39 years ago when I traveled to the French city of Strasbourg in the Alsace-Lorraine region near the German border. Students of history will know that this area of France has been hotly fought over and traded back and forth between Germany and France giving it a unique culture and cuisine. We visited the cathedral, walked along the river and explored the narrow cobblestone streets and, of course we stopped in a bakery. I had heard of the traditional cake of the ...
ALMOND PEAR PIES
Have you ever been in a bakery and been awed by the beautiful displays of breads, cakes and pastries? Of course you have. You should be. The baker has spent years perfecting his craft because presentation is a big part of the delight we get from a fancy dessert. This week’s technical challenge from the Great British Baking Show was to turn a simple Pear Pie into a pear sculpture. Like this: But having made it, I would never do it again. There is an easier way which results in a delicious handheld pie: crisp, flaky puff pastry, delicate poached pear and a luscious ...
Mango Passion Fruit “Cheer-amisu” Tiramisu
Tiramisu, or “Tuscan Trifle” is a rich layered dish of sponge cake, Marsala wine, coffee. chocolate and Mascarpone cream. The name Tiramisu translates as “Cheer me up” or “Pick me up”. So, when the challenge from the Great British Baking Show technical was for a tiramisu I decided to go my own route and make a “Cheer-amisu”: layers of sponge cake, mango and passion fruit syrup, Mascarpone cream, fresh fruit and bourbon (optional). This is a fun cake to make. The components are all relatively simple and the assembly leaves room for creativity. You make the design you like on ...
BRITISH BAKING SHOW BREAD WEEK: CIABATTA (NOT-AH)
Two days ago, I went for a walk and I found myself thinking about making Ciabatta Bread as a metaphor for living life by oneself in quarantine and maintaining a good mood. You start with the dough, which takes a lot more yeast than most other dough and you don’t add a lot of flour so it’s a very wet dough. Then you let it rise. And in spite of all that yeast it takes a long time to rise because you can’t put it in a proofing drawer or even in a warm place. It needs to rise slowly at room temperature. Eventually it doubles (or triples!) in size and you are ready to form the ...
BRITISH BAKING SHOW CHALLENGE 2: BISCUITS (COOKIES)
It’s week two of my Great British Baking Show Challenge. This week’s show revolved around Biscuits. For those of you who don’t know, a biscuit is what Americans call a cookie. Each episode of the Baking Show has three challenges to it. The Signature Challenge in which the bakers get to show off a recipe that they have perfected at home, The Technical Challenge in which the bakers are asked to show how much they know about baking in general by baking from a recipe which they have never seen before with limited instructions, and The Showstopper in which the bakers are asked to ...
THE GREAT BRITISH BAKING SHOW SIGNATURE CHALLENGE: HEATH BAR SWISS ROLL
Well, it’s been a long week. I don’t know about you, but I know I am bored when cleaning my house seems like a fun activity. Fortunately, I have The Great British Baking Show Challenge to keep me going. Season One, Episode One on Netflix (Which if you are a true fan of the show you know is not the very first season) was all about cakes. It was a nice way to get started on this game because I know something about British cakes having lived there for seven years. I choose the Signature Challenge, a Swiss Roll, for my bake. And then I made it American with a chocolate butter cream ...
WHEN LIFE GETS CHALLENGING, CHALLENGE IT BACK! BLUEBERRY COFFEE CAKE
Challenge yourself to make a beautiful blueberry filled coffee cake! Recipes for using cans of beans and other imaginative things to do with pantry staples are not really my thing. And there are a lot of much better chefs out there who are creating and sharing those kinds of recipes for you. I am working on the assumption that the cooks among you are looking for projects, something to stretch your mind and talents and hopefully result in something fun to eat (#gettingfatfromcoronovirus). Starting next week, I am replaying one episode from the Great British Baking Show, Season One and ...
