Join me as I bake through the Great British Bake Off.
Viennese whirls, though not Viennese, were probably inspired by Spritzgebäck, a German butter cookie that's extruded through a cookie press. But Viennese whirls take butter cookies to the next level, with a swirl of buttercream and a spoonful of jam sandwiched between two melt-in-your-mouth cookies!
What could be better than homemade, Biscoff-style cookies? The same cookies decorated for Valentine's Day! The warm spices of these speculoos cookies are enhanced with a light coating of tangy, lemon-flavored icing and decorated with tiny red hearts. What better way to say I love you?
The brief for this showstopper challenge was a 3D biscuit scene, so I decided to make something reminiscent of my own childhood, The Sledding Hill. Using gingerbread for the base, I covered it with fondant and meringue "snow," then added gingerbread people and nut-shortbread trees.
This delicate, lacy cookie is traditionally made with almonds and orange flavors, reminiscent of Italian baking, but the use of butter and cream is evidence of its French origins. Mary Berry's version uses a variety of dried fruits and nuts and then, after baking, is brushed with a decadent layer of dark chocolate.
Biscuits in the U.K. are what Americans normally call cookies, but what Americans call crackers, Britons would call savory biscuits. The inspiration for my dill-and-onion biscuits came from a bread recipe of my mom's that we called Dilly Bread.
The challenge for this episode of The Great British Bake Off was to make a decorative loaf of any shape or flavor. For my decorative loaf, I decided to make star bread. To twist things up a bit (pun intended), I chose to use two different fillings, raspberry jam and a chocolate almond cream cheese.
While English muffins are fairly simple to make, they do take time. The key to a good flavor and lots of little holes inside is a long, slow rise. Unlike most yeast breads, English muffins are "baked" on the stove, usually on a hot griddle or cast iron frying pan. This makes them nice and toasty on each side, but still slightly squidgy in the middle.
The popularity of grissini spread throughout Italy and even as far away as France, where Napoleon, in the early 1800s, established a stagecoach courier service between Turin and Paris to provide him with a regular supply of what he dubbed “les petits bâtons de Turin” (the small sticks of Turin). For my grissini, I chose a basic recipe, adding my own touch by using a homemade “everything bagel” seasoning mix to flavor the breadsticks.
For my sweet bagels, I went with one of the more complicated recipes I found, but it gives very detailed instructions with lots of photos, so those of us who are novice bagel bakers can tell if we’re doing it right! I did alter the recipe from plain bagels into cranberry orange spice bagels, but I’ll note all the ingredients I added as “optional” so you can vary it to your own tastes.
This technical challenge proved difficult (See what I did there?) for many of the contestants on The Great British Baking Show. But it was the plaiting that had them tied up in knots. Outside of that, it’s a pretty basic dough, and if you understand the pattern, you should be able to create a decent loaf.
Here's the Dish 