I was lucky enough to attend the filming of The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice with some members of the Sunday Baking Club for Week 8, Patisserie Week. You can find my review of that week by clicking here. The date is Friday 11th September and the theme for Week 8 has been…
My Thoughts on Patisserie Week
What do you get if you have a drunken nun with coffee and cream horns? No not The Vicar of Dibley, it’s Patisserie Week of Bake Off and the week that saw Paul leave the tent. Not the judge (although we do wish that was the case sometimes) but Paul the baker. The Signature was…
My Thoughts on Victorian Week
This week the tent went back in time to the Victorian era and was the week that my favourite, Mat, had to leave the tent (my support has now shifted to Nadiya!) and the week that Tamal was finally crowned Star Baker; I wonder if he managed to wear Ian’s ladyfinger crown? The Signature was…
My Thoughts on Pastry Week
Pastry Week of Bake Off is always my favourite because I love making pastry and I always get inspired by their bakes. Despite some foul smelling spices and a few soggy bottoms, it was Mat’s turn to be Star Baker and the tent said goodbye to Alvin. The Signature Challenge was a Frangipane Tart, a…
Pizza Scrolls
There’s a debate when it comes to pizza; which is the ultimate pizza, thin crust or thick crust? If you love pizza so much that you can’t decide which is better, I think you should definitely try my Pizza Scrolls. Instead of using a yeasted dough for these Pizza Scrolls, I switched it up and…
My Thoughts on Free From Week
5 weeks in and one thing was on everyone’s lips. No it wasn’t those gluten-free pittas, it was Ian. Could anyone take Ian’s Star Baker crown away from him? And more importantly what the hell is psyllium?! Before we start going into detail, can I just say I love the contestants on the show, they’re…
GBBO Alternative Ingredient Week Challenge 5: Refined Sugar-Free Coconut Flapjacks
Week 5 and The Great British Bake Off has gone all Alternative Ingredient, that is to say free-from baking. I’m not the biggest fan of free-from baking because it often means sourcing strange flours from a store that is 12 miles away. So when I read the 3 challenges this week, I wasn’t sure which…
My Thoughts on Dessert Week
Dessert Week of Bake Off was full of wobble, French meringue, Swiss meringue and more wobble! There was enough wobble for Sandy to start wobbling out of the tent all the way back home and Ian to launch into unprecedented Bake Off heights as he stood on the apple and tarragon layer of his cheesecake…
GBBO Dessert Week Challenge 4: Vanilla Cheesecake
I love cheesecake. There’s something about the combination of a buttery biscuit base and a sweet creamy filling that works every single time. This recipe is a recipe which I’ve used ever since I first made it and I’d like to feel that I’ve perfected it. Now the challenge on Bake Off is making a…
Banana and Dark Chocolate Chunk Loaf Cake
Take those blackened overripe bananas and make this delicious Banana and Chocolate Chunk Loaf. Banana cakes are so simple to make and everyone seems to love them. They make use of those bananas you didn’t think could be eaten and are a great way to get your children in the kitchen. Whilst I’ve used chocolate…
My Thoughts on Bread Week
Bread Week was the best in Bake Off history; better than 8-strand plait in Series Three and even better than Paul the Psychic Octopus tribute loaf in Series Four. This week had one of the best Signatures by the cast and the single most impressive showstopper EVER. Let’s start with the (for me) controversial Signature…
GBBO Bread Week Challenge 3: Quick Chocolate Dough-Knots
The quick bread challenge is a fun one and I should expect it may encourage many at home to try their hand at bread making. The first thing I thought about was soda bread but I wanted to try something different, a sweet bread. I wracked my brain and came up with these Quick Chocolate…
My Thoughts on Biscuit Week
Biscuit Week was full of ups, downs, Mary and Paul’s teeth scattered across the tent with the crunchy biscotti, collapsed biscuit boxes and the remaining pastry crumbs from the arlettes. Yep that’s a pastry in Biscuit Week. But more controversy later… The signature challenge this week is Biscotti, a twice baked Italian biscuit. The bakers…
GBBO Biscuit Week Challenge 2: Chocolate and Nut Biscotti
Biscotti are these dry twice-baked Italian biscuits, in fact the name itself originates from a word meaning “twice cooked/baked”. You’ll often see biscotti in coffee shops alongside an espresso or even as a dessert with vin santo, a Tuscan fortified wine. Some recipes for biscotti will make a very firm dough but this recipe is…
White Chocolate Crumble Cake
This delectable cake would be fit for any afternoon tea. My White Chocolate Crumble Cake composes of a crumbly and delicate white chocolate cake with an equally buttery crumble topping. This cake, despite containing white chocolate, is not sweet and I serve it with some Chantilly cream for that extra moisture as it is very…
Andrew in the Kitchen 