Join me as I bake through the Great British Bake Off.
Closely associated with English country life, the cottage loaf was among the most popular types of bread before World War II. Its distinguishing feature is its shape — a small round loaf on top of a larger loaf. With only 5 ingredients, it's not a difficult bread to bake.
In most of England, teacakes are round yeasted buns filled with dried fruit. Something like a cross between a bagel and a hot cross bun, they're usually served sliced in half and toasted. My orange-scented teacakes are studded with dried cranberries and warmed with cardamom and cinnamon.
Dampfnudel, literally translated "steam noodle," is more like a dumpling than a noodle. They can be sweet or savory, but these are made with an enriched dough scented with lemon zest and served with two sauces, créme anglaise and a sweetened plum sauce.
After a 1994 Seinfeld episode catapulted babka to stardom, modern bakers began to put their own twist on this traditional twisted loaf. Here's my take — a decadent chocolate, orange and cardamom braid that will satisfy your biggest chocolate craving.
Who can forget the famous lion bread sculpture from the 2015 season of The Great British Bake Off? That's what inspired me to make this sun-moon medallion bread sculpture, featuring a dark rye moon and turmeric-basil bread for the sun, surrounded by pesto and mozzarella stuffed rolls for the sun's rays.
These iconic loaves are synonymous with France. Tearing into the crisp, golden crust to reveal the chewy open-textured interior is an almost sensual experience.
This Rye & Stout Soda Bread is an homage to Irish foods and flavors. A thick slice of one of these rustic loaves goes just as easily slathered with butter and preserves with a mug of tea as it does with a bowl of Irish stew.
Ciabatta is Italian for slipper, which these long, flat loaves resemble. The recipe for this technical challenge is, of course, Paul Hollywood’s. He specified that he was looking for a strong crust with a crisp, floury surface and an irregular crumb structure with big, visible air holes. Designed as a sandwich bread, ciabatta will hold up to the hardiest fillings as well as the heat of a panini press.
Hot cross buns are not as sweet as sweet rolls, but the added fruits and spices give them a flavor profile on par with any holiday bread. I’ve used cardamom in mine to add warmth, while the orange zest and cranberries lend their sweetness. The orange-and-honey glaze gives them just the right finishing touch with both its tangy sweetness and glossy sheen.
This challenge for the bakers in the Great White Tent was to make 24 petits fours: 12 sponge-based and 12 biscuit-based. I decided to make mini Bakewell tarts and tiny tiramisu cakes.
Here's the Dish 