Bake Along with Bake Off: Pretzels

It’s always embarrassing when the Waitrose man asks why you’re the third person looking for malt extract that day and you have to reply that it’s ‘for a Bake Off thing’. (You can get it in Holland and Barrett, who knew?) I thought I’d not come across it before but actually, of course I have – Kanga gave it to Tigger and Roo as their strengthening medicine. Anyhoo, hurrah, the last ever technical bake! And quite an enjoyable one at that, using a grand total of zero eggs. Not too tricky either (once you know how long to boil them for), although it seems that I misread Paul’s instructions and did mine upside down, with the tails sticking up in the air. Oh well, they look pretzel-y enough for me. George Bush would be quaking in his boots.

Makes 12

For the dough:

500g strong white bread flour

10g salt

7g yeast

40g butter, softened

280ml milk

1tbsp malt extract

Zest of 2 oranges

50g poppy seeds

3 tsp bicarbonate of soda

To finish:

20g rock salt

50g sesame seeds

Juice of 3 oranges, zest of 1

125g sugar

Let’s take a moment to appreciate the beauty of this set.

1. Tip the flour into a large bowl and put the yeast on one side and the salt on the other. Add the butter on top. Dissolve the malt extract in the milk then gradually pour into the flour, mixing to form a dry dough.

2. Knead on a clean work surface (you won’t need any extra flour) until soft and smooth, 10-20 minutes. Divide into two equal balls and add the poppy seeds and orange zest to one, kneading until the seeds are evenly dispersed. Place each ball of dough in a separate, oiled bowl, cover and leave to prove in a warm place for 45 minutes to 1 hour.

3. Preheat the oven to 200C and put a large pan of water on to boil. Paul says 7 litres, but my largest took 4 litres and that seemed to work just fine.

4. Divde each ball of dough into six equal pieces, and roll each one into a 40-50cm long sausage with a slight bulge in the middle. You might need to revisit each one, as they do spring back slightly.

5. Shape your pretzels either by flipping them around in the air or, if you’re not a show off, just cross the ends over each other twice before sealing them either side of the central bulge.

6. Add the bicarbonate of soda to the boiling water. Using a slotted spoon, lower each pretzel in the water one at a time for 5 seconds, then remove to a large baking sheet. Whilst the plain pretzels are still wet, sprinkle with the rock salt and sesame seeds. Slash the bulge of each pretzel with a sharp knife before baking for 20-25 minutes until well browned.

7. Meanwhile, make the orange glaze. Finely shred the orange zest and heat in a small saucepan with the juice and 100g sugar. Boil for 1 minute, then remove the zest and coat with the remaining sugar. Boil the rest of the mixture over a high heat until thick and sticky.

8. Place the pretzels on wire racks and top the sweet ones with the glaze and candied orange.

Bake Along with Bake Off: Hazelnut Dacquoise

Oh super, more custard! A chance to use up a fraction of the 13 egg whites in the freezer (all from Bake Off), although it is advisable to freeze them individually rather than try and hack 23% off a frozen block of albumen. But anyway, to sum up – really quite nice, I could eat the coffee custard all day long and the little ganache swirls make it look much more fancy than it really is. Had a slight bother trying to find blanched hazelnuts, which I eventually found in Waitrose. Why go anywhere else?!

Serves 10, from Mary Berry

For the meringue:

250g blanched hazelnuts

300g caster sugar

25g cornflour

6 egg whites

Pinch of salt

For the ganache:

150g plain chocolate

110ml double cream

For the coffee custard:

600ml whole milk

3 egg yolks

125g sugar

2 tbsp Camp chicory & coffee essence

50g cornflour

300ml whipping cream

To decorate:

50g caster sugar

36 whole blanched hazelnuts

1/2 tsp lemon juice

100g chopped, roasted hazelnuts

1. Place the hazelnuts in a food processor and blend until coarsely ground. Spread out onto a baking tray and toast at 180C until golden brown, stirring every 3 minutes. Set aside to cool, then mix in 100g of the sugar and the cornflour.

2. Turn the oven down to 150C. Line three baking sheets with nonstick paper, and draw a 21cm circle on each one. In a large bowl, whisk the egg whites and salt for about 2 minutes until white and frothy. Continue whisking and add the remaining 200g of sugar, one tablespoon at a time, until stiff and glossy.

3. Fold in the hazelnut mixture, and transfer to a piping bag fitted with a 1.5cm round nozzle. Starting in the centre of each circle, pipe 3 spirals of meringue onto the prepared baking sheets. Bake for one hour, rotating the trays at least once to ensure they cook evenly. Turn off the oven and leave the meringues inside to cool with the door open.

4. To make the ganache, finely chop the chocolate and place in a bowl. Heat the cream to boiling point then pour over the chocolate, stirring until completely smooth. Leave to chill and thicken to a stiff piping consistency.

5. Make the custard by gently heating the milk to boiling point in a large, heavy bottomed pan. In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, sugar and coffee essence, followed by the cornflour, one spoon at a time. Pour over the hot milk, whisking continuously, then return to the pan and simmer for 2-3 minutes until very thick. Cover the top of the custard with cling film to prevent a skin forming and leave to cool completely.

6. Whisk the whipping cream to soft peaks, then fold in the coffee mixture one half at a time.

7. To make the praline, line a baking sheet with nonstick paper. Melt the sugar in a small frying pan until it turns golden brown. Add the lemon juice and hazelnuts, stir well and tip out onto the tray. Working quickly, cluster the hazelnuts in groups of three. If the caramel sets too quickly, return to the pan and warm gently to melt it.

8. To assemble, spread the bottom meringue disc with a thick layer of coffee custard. Repeat with the next layer, and top with the best looking meringue. Spread the rest of the custard around the sides, and press the toasted hazelnuts onto it. Using a star shaped tip, pipe 12 ganache swirls around the edge of the dacquoise, and top each one with a praline cluster.

 

Update: 9. Serve to your beautiful friends (and creepy bf).

Bake Along with Bake Off: Religieuse

These were… fine. Choux pastry is lovely, as is creme patissiere (or creme pat as the bakers all call it, making me think of cowpats), as is ganache, but together they’re just not as exciting as the name suggests. I used the leftovers to make some little eclairs which were much more pleasing, I think just because the ratios were better (a whole ball of creme patissiere can be a little cloying…). The prospect of the all-female final is also not as exciting as it should be, mainly because I don’t particularly feel that any of the bakers are as wonderful as they have been in previous years. Bring back James and Brendan!

Recipe as always from the BBC

Makes at least 8, or lots of eclairs

For the pastry:

60g butter, cubed

75g flour

2 free range eggs

For the creme patissiere:

500ml whole milk

Seeds from 1 vanilla pod

6 egg yolks (ffs, Mary)

75g caster sugar

20g cornflour

25g flour

To decorate:

150ml double cream

200g plain chocolate, finely chopped

150ml double cream, whipped

1. Line a baking tray with parchment and draw on eight 5cm circles and eight 2.5cm circles, leaving a bit of room in between.

2. Heat the butter in a heavy based saucepan with 150ml water until it melts. Bring to the boil and immediately remove from the heat before tipping in the flour. Stir quickly until the mixture comes together, then return to a low heat. Cook for 3-5 minutes, stirring constantly.

3. Leave to cool slightly then add the beaten eggs a little at a time until the mixture forms a smooth paste. Transfer to a piping bag with a large round nozzle and pipe discs onto the circle templates. Smooth down any peaks with a wet fingertip.

4. Bake at 220C for 10 minutes, before turning down to 190C for a further 10-15 mins. Remove from the oven, pierce the base with a skewer to allow any steam to escape and return to the oven for a further 4-5 minutes. Leave to cool.

5. Gradually heat the milk and vanilla seeds until it reaches boiling point, then remove from the heat and leave to cool for 30 seconds. Whisk together the egg yolks and sugar in a bowl until pale, then add the cornflour and flour.

6. Pour the milk over the eggs, whisking continuously, then return to the pan and cook for a further minute. By this point the creme patissiere should be a thick paste. Leave to cool in a bowl, lining the surface with clingfilm to prevent a skin forming.

7. Make the chocolate ganache by heating the cream to boiling point and pouring over the chocolate. Stir until smooth and glossy, and leave to cool.

8. To assemble, pipe the creme patissiere into the base of each choux bun until full and puffed up. Dip each into the ganache to coat the top half, and rest the smaller buns on top of the larger ones. Pipe whipped cream collars to cover the joins using a small star shaped nozzle.

Bake Along with Bake Off: Apricot Couronne

Whew! Just in time before tonight’s episode. I’m scoffing this as I type,  and I have to say that six episodes in they’ve finally set a technical challenge that I might consider making again. It’s really quite surprisingly delicious, and officially I don’t really like apricots all that much. It’s not especially tricky, as you might have gathered from the disappointing lack of on-screen disasters, just quite time consuming.

For the dough:

250g strong white bread flour

5g salt

7g sachet yeast

50g butter, softened

105ml milk

1 egg

For the filling:

90g butter, softened

70g light brown sugar

Zest and juice of 1 orange

120g dried apricots, finely chopped

35g plain flour

60g raisins

65g walnuts, finely chopped

To decorate:

1tbsp apricot jam

3tbsp icing sugar

Handful of flaked almonds, lightly toasted

1. In a large bowl, combine the flour, salt, yeast, milk, butter and egg with your hands until they come together to form a sticky dough. Tip out onto a floured surface and knead for 10-12 minutes until smooth and silky. Today’s kneading viewing: the IT Crowd!

2. Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with a tea towel and leave in a warm place for around an hour.

3. To make the filling, grate the zest from the orange and set aside. Squeeze out the juice, and use this to soak the apricots in. Meanwhile, beat together the butter and sugar before adding the flour, walnuts, zest and raisins. Strain the apricots and add them to the mixture.

4. Roll out the dough to a rectangle approx. 35×25 cm. Spread out the apricot mixture on top, and roll up tightly along the long edge. Cut in half lengthways, and turn the halves so that the exposed edge is facing upwards. Twist the two lengths over and under each other to form a rope, then arrange into a loop on a lined baking sheet. Place inside a large plastic bag (I used a recycling one) and leave for another 35-45 minutes.

5. Bake at 200C until risen and golden, covering with foil for the last 10 minutes if necessary.

6. Heat the jam with a little water, then brush the glaze over the warm loaf. Mix the icing sugar with a splash of water, then drizzle over the couronne. Sprinkle with the flaked almonds.

Bake Along with Bake Off: Tuiles

A little behind with these, thanks to a little break in Sicily – not a lack of commitment to the Bake Off cause! This post is dedicated to the memory of Howard, whose dulcet Yorkshire tones won’t grace our screens till he most probably pitches up at the final. A sad loss. Anyhoo, these aren’t too tricky so long as you don’t take the whole tray out at once and plonk it on the side – much easier to try and mould them half in the oven, so they stay nice and soft. I reduced Mary’s recipe to 1/3 as I didn’t want 8 baskets, 32 tuiles and 8 cigars, or indeed 6 egg yolks. I can’t imagine who would.

65g butter, softened

60g icing sugar

Few drops vanilla essence

2 egg whites

65g flour

1tsp cocoa powder

25g chocolate, melted

1. Beat together the butter, sugar and vanilla to form a smooth paste. Gradually add the egg whites, whisking continuously, before folding in the flour.

2. Transfer a tablespoon or so of the mixture to a small bowl, and stir in the coca. Cover both mixtures with clingfilm and leave to settle for half an hour.

3. Meanwhile, make a stencil by cutting a 7cm circle from the lid of an ice cream tub, leaving a good inch or so around the edge.

4. Place the template on a lined baking tray, and spread a dollop of  mixture over it with a pallet knife. Scrape off the excess and gently peel off the template to leave a very thin circle of paste. Repeat to make the first six tuiles.

5. Transfer the chocolate mixture to a piping bag, and pipe concentric circles onto each disc.

6. Bake at 180C until the edges begin to turn golden brown, then lift each tuile using the pallet knife and mould them around a rolling pin to cool.

7. Make six more discs, but this time mould them around wooden spoon handles to form cigars. Leave to cool before dipping both ends in the melted chocolate. Then eat all the tuiles because what else would you do with them?