Great Bloggers Bake Off - Savarin

As much as I love the Great British Bake Off I will admit that this year I have been a little disappointed with the themes *sorry* and I have found that on a number of weeks I have not been inspired to bake along. However as soon as I saw the technical from patisserie week I knew I had to have a go. I have never made a savarin before or, if I am honest, ever heard of it before. But I love yeast, sweet bread style cakes so knew that it would go down well here.

As always I was able to source all of the ingredients from my local Aldi. The ingredients are great and are low in price which is an added bonus! At the moment Aldi have got a lot of baking product that are on special buy and it was there I found a lovely non stick, premium bundt tin and an icing bag and nozzle set at a bargain price!

I will warn you that the savarin is a long bake. I started mine in the morning and it was finished in the evening. But it is a great bake and well worth the extra effort. As it needed a lot of time between steps I was able to do a bit, leave it and get on with other jobs and keep returning to the bake.

This is how I got on...

*UPDATE* Look what I received for my savarin!!!

Yes! I got a star baker award which I am over the moon about especially as I have never made one before and it was the technical challenge! Thank you Jenny for selecting my bake and for hosting the Great Bloggers Bake Off!

Paul Hollywood's Kouign Amann

This week I have decided to bake Paul Hollywood's technical challenge of Kouign Amann. Like the contestants this was a bake that I was not familiar with. I had never heard of it or even seen one. However I did like the look of them! Thankfully the hubby recently bought me The Great British Bake Off Big Book of Baking and it contained the recipe! I was pleased I wasn't going into this one blind!

If you do not have the book you can find the recipe here.

This is how I got on...

Paul Hollywood's Kouign Amann

Ingredients

300g strong white flour
5g fast action yeast
5g salt
200g warm water
25g butter, melted
250g block of unsalted butter
100g caster sugar

Method

1 - Place the flour in a bowl with the yeast on one side and the salt on the other

2 - Pour over the water and melted butter and mix (this can either be done by hand or by machine)

3 - If doing by hand gather the ingredients together until you have a rough dough and have collected all of the flour

4 - Remove from the bowl and start to knead, this starts as a sticky dough and will need a lot of stretching to build up the gluten

5 - After kneading for about 10 minutes you will have a smooth dough, place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover and leave to prove for about an hour

6 - Once the dough has doubled in size take the block of butter and roll it out into a square that is roughly 18cms x18cms then place in the fridge to keep cool

7 - Place the dough on a lightly floured work top and roll out into a square that is about 20cms x 20cms

8  - Place the butter square on top of the dough and fold over the corner to the centre so that the butter is encased in the dough

9 - Roll out into a rectangle and fold the bottom third up and the top third down, wrap in cling film and return to the fridge for half an hour

10 - Repeat the process two more times

11 - Remove the dough from the fridge and roll out into a rectangle, sprinkle over the caster sugar leaving a little for dusting

12 - Fold up the bottom third and fold the top third down, roll out into a rectangle

13 - Sprinkle over the remaining sugar

14 - Cut the dough into 3 even strips

15 - Divide the 3 strips into 4 so you have 12 mini squares

16 - Take each square and gather the corners into the centre and place in a well greased muffin tin

17 - Pre heat the oven to 200C (the recipe says 220C but I found this to be too hot so reduced the heat)

18 - Once the Kouign Amann's have puffed up place in the centre of the pre heated oven for 30 minutes, check them every 10 minutes as the tops brown very quickly due to the sugar. When the tops are brown enough cover with foil to prevent burning

19 - Once baked remove from the oven and allow to cool for a couple of minutes in the tray as the sugar is extremely hot, do not leave in for more than a couple of minutes are the sugar will stick them to the tray!

20 - Leave to cool on a cooling rack

These delicious little pastries are perfect when eaten fresh and have been a huge success in our house. I will definitely be making them again and may even add some fruit with the sugar next time!

Enjoy x

As you can see my little helpers couldn't resist tucking in once I'd taken my pictures!

As always I am joining in with the Great Bloggers Bake Off 2014 hosted by the lovely Jenny at Mummy Mishaps

I am also sharing with the lovely Supergolden Bakes My Great #GBBO Bake Along

Paul Hollywood's Apple Pie (with a twist!)

As you will probably know we recently saw Paul Hollywood's Get Your Bake On Live tour in York.

During the show Paul demonstrated how to bake 4 delicious treats

• Apple pie
• Black Forest Gateaux
• Multiseed loaf
• Orange and almond couronne

Over the next few weeks I am challenging myself to bake all four. I will be adding my own twists on a couple but will probably follow the recipe for the others. But I will be letting you know how I got on with them all.

He also demonstrated the technique of making a plait loaf which I am eager to try!

This week I have made the Apple pie, with a twist! I have added dried mixed fruit, cinnamon and nutmeg.

This is how I got on...

Paul Hollywood's Apple Pie (with a twist)

Ingredients

Pastry

275g plain flour

140g butter, cubed

2tbsp icing sugar

3tbsp water

1 egg for brushing
 

Filling

3 large cooking apples, peeled and sliced

125g dried mixed fruit with candied peel (added ingredient)

1tsp cinnamon (added ingredient)

1/2tsp nutmeg (added ingredient)

4tbsp caster sugar

4tbsp water

Method

1 - Place the flour in a large bowl, add the cubed butter and icing sugar

2 - Rub the butter into the flour until you have a breadcrumb consistency

3 - Gradually add the water until you have a dough like ball

4 - Wrap the pastry in cling film and place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes

5 - To make the filling place the sliced apples in a pan with the water, caster sugar, dried mixed fruit, cinnamon and nutmeg

6 - Place on a medium heat and cook until the sugar has dissolved and the apples are just starting to break down

7 - Remove from the heat and allow to cool

8 - Pre heat the oven to 200C

9 - Remove the pastry from the fridge and split into two pieces

10 - Roll one piece out and use to line a pie plate, trim the edges

11 - Spoon the apple filling onto the centre of the pie plate and spread out evenly

12 - Place to one side and roll the remaining piece of pastry dough

13 - Take the egg wash and brush it onto the edges of the pie

14 - Lay the top pastry over the fruit and seal around the edges

15 - Cut three slits on the top to let any steam escape, brush over some more egg wash, sprinkle over some caster sugar, place in the preheated oven and bake for about 30 minutes

16 - Once the pastry is a golden brown remove from the oven and leave for about 10 minutes to rest.

This apple pie was delicious with the added extras. It goes perfectly with custard, cream or ice cream. The pastry is a rich buttery pastry. Next time I would probably increase the pastry quantity to 300g as I found that it was a little too thin. But overall this is a lovely pie which is easy to make!

 

The original recipe was found in the Paul Hollywood Get Your Bake On live tour programme.

I am sharing this recipe with Javelin Warriors Cookin w/Luv Made With Love Mondays
 

Paul Hollywood - Get Your Bake On Live In York

If you are a regular reader you will know how excited I have been during the build up to seeing Paul Hollywood's Get Your Bake On show in York.

Let me tell you, Paul Hollywood certainly did not disappoint!
 

The description of the show was an evening of fun, stories, demos and audience participation.
 

When we arrived at the Barbican I was delighted with our seats. We were on row E and as their seating area is tiered we had a fantastic view, even more so when the two seats in front of us were left empty!
 

We were at Paul Hollywood's eye level!
 

As it got closer to starting my excitement built up!

I was going to see my baking inspiration. My baking journey began when I was a child but my passion had not been ignited until I received Paul Hollywood's How To Bake. From that day on I baked and baked and baked!

I had found something that I enjoyed doing and was good at doing! This ignited my passion and I have not looked back. It really became an addiction, I caught the baking bug, I wanted to try more bakes, experiment more and create my own recipes!

All of this came from that first book.
 

A comedian spokesman came on first to warm the audience up a bit before the man himself came on stage!
 

Then the moment came, it was Paul Hollywood's turn to walk on stage!

There he was, he walked on stage and I was in awe!
 

My baking hero was stood in front of me.
 

In person he just as charismatic as he comes across on the television. You can feel the passion that he has for baking as he talks about it.
 

He told us stories of his childhood, growing up and his travels.  It was great hearing about his journey to where he is today.
 

During the show he did let on that the filming had begun for this year's Great British Bake Off. He asked if anyone in the audience had applied. My hand shot up, yes I did apply, I had an interview but obviously got no further. He looked straight at me and said

"Now I've seen you, you won't be here next year!"

He saw me and spoke to me!

During the show Paul showed us 4 of his bakes, all of which are shown in the tour programme. He gave us his step by step tips to make

• Classic Apple Pie
• Multiseed Loaf
• Orange and Almond Couronne
• Black Forest Gateaux

As I was watching the master at work I was planning when I could make each bake.

The show ended with four extremely lucky members of the audience face one of Paul's challenges, unfortunately I was not lucky enough.

Despite the disappointment that I was not picked, I had an amazing night and my passion has been fuelled even more after seeing him and watching him do what he does best, baking and charming his audience!

I would love to see the show again and see what else he has to offer as I am sure that he has even more to give! I am extremely tempted to ask my mum if she would like to go to the show in Grimsby!

Paul Hollywood's Get Your Bake On Live is a treat for any bake-a-holic and seeing Paul do his thing is an honour for any baking fanatic!

Thank you Paul for sharing the evening with us!

This is Paul Hollywood's picture that he shared on
Twitter of the York audience. I am sat right in the
middle with the cream top on with my arms in the air!

Over the next few weeks I am going to bake each of the bakes that were demonstrated during the show and I will share with you how I got on and if I changed anything!

Today I am making the Classic Apple Pie but have added a couple of extras, I will let you know how I get on!