Learning to Bake Properly

I had set myself a Great British Bake Off Challenge. 9 weeks, 27 bakes. I started and I finished and now I am non-stop baking. So now a new challenge must begin. So now originality is the name of the game. Any flavour combination suggestions welcome!!

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Spiced Almond and Orange Couronne.

This is a twisted bread filled with an almond, cinnamon and cardamom spiced frangipane with orange zest and orange soaked raisins. It is glazed with orange blossom honey, drizzled with a water icing and sprinkled with toasted flaked almonds.

The bread is perfectly risen and springy. The filling cooked well on the outside, becoming caramelised and golden, and on the inside it remained soft and moist. The flavours are well balanced and compliment each other beautifully. It looks and tastes great, despite my reservations of it not working!

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Passionfruit Cream Éclairs.

These are some choux éclairs filled with passionfruit curd and whipped cream, dusted with icing sugar.

The pastry is crisp and perfectly dried out with the cream filling contrasting this in texture. The sweetness of the passionfruit is beautiful against the plain choux and and cream. These are perfect for spring.

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Plum Bakewell Tart.

This is a shortcrust tart baked for dessert for an Easter family gathering. It has a layer of plum jam, almondy frangipane and plums, glazed with more plum jam and decorated with flaked almonds.

The pastry was short and crisp with a slightly soft filling and delicious plum flavour. I am very happy with how it looks and its taste too!

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Amaretti Simnel Loaf.

This is my simnel loaf cake made with amaretti soaked fruit, flaked almonds, a layer of homemade marzipan in the middle and a topping of grilled marzipan. 

The cake was light and full of flavour despite my fears of it being dry and overcooked. The marzipan is almondy. It is a different, but great, take on a simnel cake. I am very happy with this and it was a perfect Easter gift.

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Chicken and Bacon Pie.

This is a hot water pastry pie filled with layers of chicken and bacon flavoured with thyme. It has a chicken stock jelly.

The pastry is crisp and the meat well cooked. The jelly, other than the small bit that leaked out, is set well and has a strong flavour. It shaped better than I expected and the layers inside were perfect. It was an excellent dinner!

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Good Friday Fish Pie.

This is my fish pie made for Good Friday. This is a potato topped pie filled with smoked haddock, cod, salmon and prawns in a lemon and parsley sauce.

The filling was flavoursome with a strong taste of lemon and the fish delicious. The potato was soft and creamy. It was delicious and a perfect start to Easter.

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Sour Cherry and Chocolate Hot Cross Buns.

These are some Easter hot cross buns filled not with spices and fruit but dried sour cherries and chocolate chips.

The flavour is delicious with the dark sugar providing a richness and the sweetness of the chocolate and cherries. They are a little under proved due to a poor rise from my slightly dry dough but other than that they are soft lovely.

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Easter Spiced Garibaldis.

These are my Easter version of one of my favourite biscuits, the garibaldi, They are a plain biscuit dough filled with currants, raisins and dried cranberries with some mixed spice and orange zest and juice.

They browned well and are crisp. The filling is spicy and delicious with the flavours of Easter. They were a simple but excellent bake.

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Chocolate, Cardamom and Almond Simnel Roll.

This is my chocolate and cardamom swiss roll sponge filled and topped with chocolate and almond buttercream and decorated with 11 chocolate 'apostles'.

The cake is light and rolled well. It lacked the chocolate intensity however the cardamom spice came through nicely. The cream was light and flavoursome, perfectly complimenting the sponge. The look of it is quirky and it is an interesting take on a simnel cake.

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Miniature Coffee and Hazelnut Cakes.

These are the second of my bakes for my work colleagues. They are mini coffee cakes filled and topped with coffee buttercream and chopped hazelnuts.

The cake is flavoursome with the coffee strong and the light muscovado sugar adding a caramel hint, They look great and the hazelnuts give a welcome crunch, I am very happy with them!

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Miniature Chocolate Cakes.

These are the first of the bakes for my work colleagues to celebrate my leaving. They are some miniature  chocolate cakes filled with chocolate buttercream and decorated with dark and white chocolate shavings.

The cake is light and rich with chocolate because of the high cocoa content and the dark muscovado sugar. They look and taste delicious!

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Meringues.

I used some of my leftover egg whites that are building up due to the crème patisserie I keep making. They are glorious rose-swirled meringues.

I think they look beautiful and they taste sweet with a crisp crunch. They are delicious. I think you can't get much better than a meringue!

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Spiced Plum and Vanilla Victoria Sandwich.

Today I fancied making a victoria sandwich. Mine is filled with a homemade plum jam spiced with cinnamon, ginger and star anise with a vanilla buttercream. It is sprinkled with caster sugar. I really like a victoria sandwich sponge. It is reliable and always delicious. I use the creaming method so it retains as much air as possible. The rise was as desired and the flavour great. The subtle hint of spice in the jam adds a welcome layer that perfectly compliments the vanilla in the buttercream and cuts through the sweetness. A successful take on a classic!

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Berry and Coconut Friands.

These are today's after work bake of some lemon friands made with dessicated coconut and full of juicy berries and currants.

They are light and beautifully browned with a soft crumb. The berries are sweet and cut through the sponge well. The coconut is a great addition giving them an extra, delicious, flavour. I am very happy with my first friand attempt (especially as they came out the tin perfectly!).

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Blood Orange and Pomegranate Tart.

This is a shortcrust pastry tart filled with a baked blood orange curd flavoured with orange blossom and cardamom, and topped with pomegranate seeds and orange zest.

The pastry was short and crisp. Unfortunately some of the butter from the filling soaked into it despite it being blind baked so it is slightly more biscuit-like now. It is still very crisp. The flavour of orange is powerful. All the textures and flavours work beautifully together.

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Dark Chocolate Blackcurrant and White Chocolate Melting Middle Puddings.

These are some chocolate melt in the middle puddings filled with a blackcurrant coulis and white chocolate centre.

The pudding was light and chocolatey. It was moreish and irresistibly tasty. The blackcurrant was sharp against the sweet chocolate. They melted in the middle, with the dark and white chocolates both being liquid. They needed to be baked at a slightly higher temperature to make the outside faster so the inside was even more liquid. I can't complain at the end result though!

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Wholemeal Rolls.

These are some wholemeal bread rolls.

The texture and flavour were spot on. I am really pleased with the purchase of my razor blades as they scored the top very well. They are great rolls.