Keen Baker? Try Your Hand At These Great British Bake Off Technical Challenges

Have you been keeping up with the current series of Great British Bake Off? Chances are, any burgeoning bakers will likely be feeling inspired by all of the fun recipes on screen – but the creative bakes are only half the fun. Try your hand at one of Great British Bake Off‘s Technical Challenges from this season, starting with the iconic GBBO chocolate fudge cake…

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Great British Bake Off Technical Challenges From Series 14

Week One: Cake Week

Paul Hollywood’s Chocolate Fudge Cake (aka THE fudge cake)

This season kicked off with a bang, with Paul Hollywood pulling out the big guns with the week one Technical Challenge: the iconic Great British Bake Off chocolate fudge cake. It’s a fun one to make at home (with or without the kids), and promises ultimate satisfaction as you fill up the infamous ‘missing raspberry’ gap.

 

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Serves: 16

Baking Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients

For The Sponge

• 175g dark chocolate, 54%
• 150g unsalted butter, diced
• 125ml hot water
• 3 medium eggs
• 125ml sour cream, at room temperature
• 50ml vegetable oil
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 150g caster sugar
• 150g light soft brown sugar
• 250g self-raising flour
• 50g cocoa powder
• 1½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
• ¼ tsp salt

For The Chocolate Ganache

• 300g dark chocolate, 54%
• 25g unsalted butter, diced
• 450ml double cream

To Decorate

• 400g raspberries

Method

1. Heat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/350°F/Gas 4.
2. For the sponges, grease and base line 2 x 20cm sandwich tins with butter and baking parchment. Combine the chocolate, butter and water in a heat-proof bowl and set over a pan of barely simmering water. Stir until melted and then whisk to combine. Remove the bowl from the heat and leave to cool slightly.
3. In a large mixing bowl use a balloon whisk to mix the eggs, sour cream, oil and vanilla until combined. Add both sugars and whisk until smooth. Add the melted chocolate mixture and whisk again until smooth.
4. Sift the flour, cocoa, bicarbonate of soda and salt into the bowl and whisk until thoroughly combined. Divide the mixture evenly between the prepared tins and level with a palette knife. Bake for about 35-40 minutes until a wooden skewer inserted into the centre of the sponges comes out clean.
5. Leave the sponges to cool in the tins for 10 minutes and then carefully remove from the tins and leave to cool completely on a wire rack.
6. For the ganache measure the chocolate and butter into a heatproof bowl and set aside. Pour the cream into a medium saucepan and slowly bring just to the boil. Remove from the heat and pour over the chocolate and butter. Leave the hot cream to melt the chocolate without stirring for 1 minute and then stir until smooth and glossy. Once smooth, leave it to cool and thicken before using.
7. Place one of the sponges on a cake stand and spread approximately 6 tablespoons of the ganache over the top with a palette knife or spoon. Top with the second sponge, turned upside down so the flat side is the top of the cake. Gently press the two cakes together. Cover the top and sides of the cake with the remaining ganache and roughly smooth the sides. Arrange the raspberries on top.

Week Two: Biscuit Week

Prue Leith’s Custard Creams

Possibly the nation’s favourite biscuit (topped only by the Digestive, maybe), custards creams have had a home in the UK since the 1900s. Prue Leith’s recipe ensures a silky-smooth filling and the recognisable ‘custard cream’ stamp that makes these biscuits so deliciously dunkable.

 

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Makes: 12

Hands-On Time: 1 Hour (plus chilling)

Baking Time: 15 Minutes

Ingredients

For The Biscuits

• 100g unsalted butter, cubed and softened
• 100g caster sugar
• 1 egg
• 1⁄2 tsp vanilla extract
• 175g plain flour
• 35g custard powder

For The Crème Au Burre

• 65g caster sugar
• 2 egg yolks
• 20g custard powder
• 150g unsalted butter, cubed and softened

Equipment

• Custard cream biscuit cutter and stamp
• 2 baking sheets, lined with baking paper
• Sugar thermometer
• Medium piping bag fitted with a medium plain nozzle

Method

1. Make the biscuits. Beat the butter and sugar in a stand mixer fitted with the beater, on medium speed for 2-3 minutes, until light and creamy. Add the egg and vanilla and thoroughly mix.
2. Sift in the flour and custard powder and mix by hand to a crumbly dough. Bring the dough together with your hands and knead it gently on a lightly floured work surface until smooth. Do not overwork the biscuit dough.
3. Divide the dough in half and shape each half into a flat disc, then wrap and chill them for 1 hour.
4. Roll out one of the discs of dough on a lightly floured work surface until about 3mm thick. Lightly flour the custard cream biscuit cutter and stamp, then cut out and stamp 12 biscuits, flouring the cutter and stamp each time.
5. Place the biscuits on one of the lined baking sheets and chill them while you roll out the remaining dough to make 12 more custard cream biscuits. Chill the biscuits for 30 minutes and heat the oven to 170°C/150°C fan/325°F/Gas 3.
6. Bake the biscuits for 12-14 minutes, until the edges start to turn a golden colour. Leave them to cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
7. Make the crème au beurre. Tip the sugar into a small pan, add 2 tablespoons of water and bring it to the boil. Boil the mixture until the temperature on the sugar thermometer reaches 115°C/239°F.
8. Put the egg yolks in the bowl of stand mixer fitted with a whisk and whisk on low speed. Slowly and carefully pour the hot sugar syrup over the egg yolks, then increase the speed to high and whisk until the mixture is thick and leaves a ribbon trail when you lift the whisk. Sift the custard powder over the surface of the mixture and whisk again until the mixture is cool to the touch.
9. A little at a time, gradually add the butter, whisking continuously until incorporated. Spoon the crème au beurre into the piping bag fitted with the medium plain nozzle and chill it until you’re ready to assemble the biscuits.
10. Assemble the custard creams. Turn 12 of the biscuits design-side down and pipe equal amounts of the crème au beurre around the edges and in the middle of each one. Sandwich with the remaining 12 biscuits, design-side out, on top, then chill the biscuits until the filling is firm. They will keep for up to 3 days in an airtight box.

Week Three: Bread Week

Paul Hollywood’s Devonshire Splits

It’s Bread Week on the Great British Bake Off, which means Paul’s in his element this time round – and in true Hollywood fashion, he’s set quite the Technical Challenge: Devonshire Splits. Paul’s dad used to make these in his bakery, so no pressure trying to get a perfect bake going.

Makes: 8

Difficulty: Needs skill

Hands-On Time: 1 Hour (plus rising)

Baking Time: 15 Minutes

Ingredients

For The Dough

• 335g strong flour, plus extra for dusting
• ½ tsp salt
• 25g caster sugar
• 9g fast-action dried yeast
• 215ml whole milk
• 25g unsalted butter, at room temperature, cubed
• oil, for greasing

For The Jam

• 100g strawberries
• 125g jam sugar

For The Chantilly

• 400ml double cream
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• 15g icing sugar

To Decorate

• 8 small strawberries, hulled & thinly sliced
• 1 tbsp icing sugar for dusting

Method

1. For the dough, tip the flour into a large bowl. Add the salt and sugar on one side, the yeast on the other. Heat the milk in a small pan until warm but not hot. Add the butter and ¾ of the milk to the flour, then turn the mixture round with the fingers of one hand.
2. Add the remaining milk a little at a time, mixing until you have taken in all the flour and the dough is soft and slightly sticky.
3. Oil the worktop to prevent sticking. Knead the dough on it for at least five minutes until smooth and no longer sticky. Lightly oil the bowl, return the dough to it and cover. Leave to rise, until doubled in size.
4. For the jam, place the strawberries in a small deep-sided saucepan and crush them with a masher. Add the sugar and bring to the boil over a low heat until the sugar has melted. Increase the heat and boil for 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and carefully pour into a heat-proof bowl. Leave to cool and chill to set.
5. Line two baking trays with baking parchment. Scrape the dough out of the bowl onto a lightly floured surface and fold inwards repeatedly until all the air has been knocked out and the dough is smooth. Divide into 8 pieces.
6. Roll each piece into a ball by placing it into a cage formed by your hand on the work surface and moving your hand in a circular motion, rotating the ball rapidly.
7. Put the balls of dough on the prepared baking trays, placing them slightly apart. Place each tray in a clean plastic bag or loosely cover with clingfilm and leave to prove for about 40 minutes until the rolls have doubled in size.
8. Heat the oven to 200°C / Fan 180°C / 400°F / Gas 6 and bake for 12-15 minutes, until the rolls are golden and sound hollow when tapped underneath. Place on a wire rack to cool.
9. For the chantilly, whip the cream, vanilla and icing sugar until it holds a medium firm peak and chill until ready to fill the buns. Using a serrated knife cut a deep slit into the top of each bun. Spread the jam on both sides of the split then generously fill each bun with whipped cream. Using a palette knife, smooth the cream flush with the top of the bun.
10. To decorate, lay the strawberry slices in a line along the length of the cream filling, gently pressing them into the cream until flush. Dust with icing sugar to serve.

Featured image: Jennifer Pallian, Unsplash