With viewing figures for this first episode beating the most watched moments of the Rio Olympics (GBBO 11.2 million viewers versus Olympics which peaked at 11.1 million), it shows that judges Mary and Paul with hosts Mel & Sue still have a special place in our hearts.

This first week saw the bakers try drizzle cakes, genoise sponge and Jaffa Cakes! (We won’t talk about Paul Hollywood dunking what is clearly a cake into a hot drink…)

Jaffa Cakes, and all things chocolate orange are a firm favourite of mine. So, in a break with the norm I have decided to try my hand at the technical challenge and make Mary Berry’s Jaffa Cakes! I used Mary’s own recipe and recreated it at home. Only doing a couple of things slightly differently than instructed!

On your marks, get set… BAKE!

Firstly, as instructed, I made the jelly. I was stirring those cubes for what felt like FOREVER. Poured into the tray and left to set.

Now, I have a fear of cakes sticking to the inside of tins, which I think formed when I first started baking and everything stuck! So, for my actual cakes, I’m using my muffin tray but I am lining each hole with greaseproof paper and cake release. Some may say excessive, but it’s quite therapeutic for me sitting and cutting out the circles!

I measured out the ingredients for the cakes and was surprised at how little was actually needed. This is no more than a large spoonful of each element and it seemed just too small! However I, of course, put my trust in Mary! Haha! (I wonder if you can buy a t-shirt that says In Mary Berry We Trust?).

Then, I made the cakes following Mary’s recipe to the letter. Filling my wells and then baking at 160°C fan for 10 minutes.

I cooled them on a cooling rack and as I was placing them on, Tim came downstairs and said ‘Ooh! They look like Jaffa Cakes!’ – A good sign.

The instruction was to ‘turn out the jelly onto some greaseproof paper’. This was the hardest part of this. Jelly doesn’t really ‘turn out’. I peeled it off and as you can clearly see, it remained intact. Haha! I ate that bit on the corner just after I took this photo. I love jelly.

Let’s get jaffa-ing!

Circles cut and places and they resemble fried eggs. Haha! Seriously though, it was quite tricky getting the jelly rounds to stay, well… round once places onto the sponge!

Now for the chocolate! I did try to pick them up and spoon them on individually but it was a very hot day and I was getting covered in chocolate, so I decided to pour the chocolate on to make Jaffa Drip Cakes. Ha!

And there we have it – Jaffa Cakes!

They got Tim’s seal of approval and I quote; “They taste like Jaffa Cakes!” Hallelujah!

It took me about 2 hours and was rather fiddly! I don’t think I would do too well in the tent! Haha!

If you want to try these beauties, you can find Mary Berry’s recipe that I used here. Give it a try and let me know how you get on either on Facebook or Twitter or Instagram.

If you want to turn your baking hobby into a career, check out my book Cakes, Bakes & Business for everything you need to know about running a successful baking business, including pricing, marketing, insurance and much more!

Happy baking!

Britt xo

The post Jaffa Cakes – The Great British Bake Off appeared first on She Who Bakes.

Cupcakes! Sometimes a tasty treat and sometimes, the bane of a baker’s life! Over the years I’ve been asked lots and lots of cupcake conundrums. Below, I’ve answered some of the most popular questions.

I wanted to start with a few hints and tips to baking the perfect cupcake;

• Use good quality tins. The shallow tin you use for Yorkshire puddings and fairy cakes unfortunately isn’t cut out for the job of a big, sturdy cupcake. I have two Wilton 12 Hole Muffin Tins that I swear by. They are nice and deep and ensure an even bake to your cupcakes. You can pick them up on Amazon here.
• Use good quality cases. It sounds obvious, but you get what you pay for. If you buy 100 fairy cases for 50p it will be difficult to get a professional finished cupcake. I love the super cute Baking Cups you can buy from Iced Jems here and have always had success with them!
• Cupcakes are not Fairy Cakes. Cupcakes are usually 1 ½” deep and can be any flavour or colour and usually topped with sugarpaste (icing) or a swirl of buttercream. Fairy Cakes are small, (as in, a cake for a fairy…) vanilla sponge and topped with a blob of glacé icing (icing sugar and water).
• You don’t need to put cupcakes in a fridge (Or most cakes for that matter). It will only cause your tasty baked goods to dry out, and no one wants that.
• Buy an oven thermometer. You really don’t know what’s going on inside there until you have a proper look and that can really affect how your cupcakes bake. I’ll talk more about temperature below and you can read more about this subject on my previous post What Temperature Should I Bake At?
• If you’re baking in advance, you can freeze your cupcakes! Check out my article How To Freeze Cakes for more information.

Why do my cupcake cases peel away?

This is quite a common one and one with a few different answers. Cupcakes are temperamental little things. Moisture and steam are your enemies when making cupcakes. When you bake a batch up cupcakes and take them out of the oven, they start creating steam due to their heat. If you take them out of the tin straight away, the sudden change in temperature can cause quick condensation which causes the cases to peel BUT by leaving them in the tin too long, condensation quickly forms and the cases peel then too!

The way I do it is to take the tin out of the oven and leave it on the side for about a minute. Then I take the cupcakes out and transfer to a wire rack. I then leave them alone until they have gone completely cool. Messing around too much with the cupcakes can also cause the cases to come away but this is more down to force.

Too much moisture in the mix will also make the cases peel. If you are using fresh fruit, too much liquid etc. You need to make sure your mix is nicely balanced. Also, if you store your cupcakes in an airtight container when they haven’t cooled properly, this will again, cause condensation which makes the cases peel.

Storage of your cupcakes can cause an issue too. Don’t store your cupcakes in an airtight tupperware box or plastic container, you are better off storing them in a card cupcake/cake box in a cool, dry place. Finally, bad quality cases will also have an effect on the peeling.

Also, make sure you are using greaseproof cupcake cases or baking cups (available from Iced Jems) which don’t peel and are fantastic!

Why do my cupcake cases go transparent?

This one is SO annoying. You purchase lovely, patterned cases specifically for an occasion, or you manage to get an exact match on the colour for your theme, you bake your cupcakes, take them out of the oven and… oh. Where has the pattern gone?

The main reason for this is grease. When baking, grease will form around the cupcake and settle at the bottom. You need to make sure any cupcake cases you buy have ‘greaseproof‘ written on them, or use baking cups. That will ensure your pattern stays nice and bright.

A tip for this, is to pour a teaspoon of dry rice into each well of your cupcake tin before lining with cases. The rice absorbs any grease on the soggy bottom leaving your cupcakes nice and dry!

Why do my cupcakes have a sticky top once the cupcakes cools down?

The sticky top on the cupcake is due to the sugar in the cake attracting moisture (See, it really is the enemy!). You must make sure that if you are storing your cupcakes, not to do so in a completely airtight tin if there is even a chance they might be a little bit warm. Even if they feel cool to the touch, the very middle of the cupcake may not be. The slightest heat in an airtight environment will cause condensation which, as we already know, can cause the cases to peel away, but can also cause a dreaded sticky top.

Moisture in the air doesn’t help, either. On a really hot day in a steamy kitchen, cupcakes can very quickly form a sticky top. (This happened to me in the summer when I couldn’t have my window open to let air in as the gardener next door was mowing very loudly!)

A helpful tip, is to sprinkle a little icing sugar (powdered sugar) onto sticky topped cupcakes, this will absorb any moisture without too much fuss. If it’s super sticky but your cases are staying put and it isn’t causing much of an issue, I wouldn’t worry. It can be covered with a buttercream/sugarpaste (icing) topping and still be enjoyed. No one will know!

Why do my cupcakes have a ‘muffin top’?

Ah. The dreaded muffin top. We don’t want it in our jeans and we don’t want it in our cupcakes! A common cause for this is too much mixture. You want to fill your cases between 2/3 and 3/4 full. I find an easy way to do this is with a large ice cream scoop. Like this one. Any more than this and the rising mixture will just explode! Another reason for muffin tops is too much raising agent, like baking powder.

What temperature should I bake my cupcakes at?

I bake my cupcakes low and slow. I bake for 140C (fan assisted electric, Gas Mark 1) for about 45 minutes. If you bake hotter than this, you can cause your cupcakes to dry out, peak, crack and burn. By baking using the low and slow method, it ensures an even rise, an even bake and a tasty cupcake!

I have only ever baked with an electric oven, fan assisted so unfortunately I’m not sure how to get the best results from a gas oven but low and slow won’t let you down!

Why do my cupcakes have a peak on top?

As above. A peak is usually caused by an oven that’s too hot! The cake surface is baking quicker than the batter in the middle. This causes it to burst out of the top like a mini volcano. Turn your oven down and try the method above.

Why do my cupcakes sink in the middle?

The main reason for this is that your cupcakes aren’t baked completely. Make sure to keep them in for the time stated on the recipe you are using or until a cocktail stick has come out clean. This one will take practice. Cupcakes can look done but five minutes out of the oven and they start to sink and collapse.

A well baked cupcake should be nicely risen, golden in colour and springy to touch.

Remember…

If cupcakes go wrong, that’s fine. It doesn’t mean you’ve failed. Baking is a science and it only takes the slightest imbalance to mess up a good batch of cupcakes. Try, try, try again. Baking fails are what make us human, we should never be ashamed of them. They show we’ve learnt something. I’m learning every day.

If you want to turn your baking hobby into a career, check out my book Cakes, Bakes & Business for everything you need to know about running a successful baking business, including pricing, marketing, insurance and much more!

Happy baking!

Britt xo

Foolproof Cupcake Recipe

For 12 cupcakes.

• 200g self raising flour
• 200g caster sugar
• 200g Stork/butter
• 50g plain flour
• 4 medium eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla

1. Cream together the Stork and caster sugar.
2. Add in your eggs.
3. Add in your flour.
4. Add the vanilla.
5. Mix for 4-6 minutes on a high speed.
6. Use a large ice cream scoop to put the mixture in the cases.
7. Bake at 140C for 45 minutes or until golden brown.

Buttercream Recipe

This recipe is great for piping onto cupcakes with!

• 250g unsalted butter
• 500g icing sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla

1. Cream the butter on it’s own first
2. Add in the icing sugar and mix well
3. Finally add the vanilla

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I was asked to bake and bring along a cake fitting to the theme of the Great British Bake Off main show. This week, it was European Cakes! I made a triple layered Ferrero Rocher cake. And here it is;

(You have to excuse the naked cake board. A cardinal sin in my eyes, however, it was purely for transport purposes and was transferred to a posh looking cake stand in the studio!)

Being in the studio was very surreal. For those who know me, will know when I was younger I appeared on all manner of TV programmes for one thing or another. I was frequently on CD:UK and SM:TV (for those of you born in the 90’s and after, google it.) and Extra Slice was filmed in the same studio! So being there brought out my inner teenager I’ll be honest.

Colin and I were treated so well by all the studio staff and production people. We got to hang out in one of the dressing rooms until the studio was ready for us, then as part of the ‘Bakers Area’ we got to sit on the cute little tables right at the front. Being front and centre was pretty awesome. We met Jo Brand first who was so lovely and hilarious. Also on the show panel was Richard Corrigan, Fay Ripley and Romesh Ranganthan. And the guests on the show were Diane from this series of Great British Bake Off, Francis Quinn and Glenn Cosby from last years series.

I think the hardest part of the filming was keeping the secrets. Colin and I knew the outcome of Great British Bake Off from Wednesday since Sunday 7th when the show was recorded and after signing an NDA, couldn’t tell a soul! The pressure!! I have no idea how the 12 bakers do it so easily!

We didn’t finish filming until quite late, so the sensible thing to do was have a slice of my cake on the last train home!

The recipe for the cake was adapted from this recipe on Let The Baking Begin.

For the filling, I used a Nutella buttercream rather than fresh cream as I was travelling to London with it! I decorated it with piped swirls of chocolate Nutella buttercream, topped with Ferrero Rocher chocolates and 24ct gold leaf.

For the cake;

• 100g caster sugar
• 5 large free range eggs
• 200g finely ground hazelnuts
• 50g self raising flour
• 25g cocoa powder
• 3 tsp baking powder

For the buttercream;

• 200g Nutella
• 300g Icing sugar
• 150g Softened unsalted butter

Also;

• 100g crushed ice cream wafers
• 100g chopped hazelnuts
• Gold Leaf (optional)

Method;

1. Preheat the oven to 170C.
2. Line an 8″ tin with greaseproof paper.
3. Whisk together the eggs and sugar until they have tripled in volume.
4. Carefully fold in the flour, finely ground hazelnuts, baking powder and cocoa powder. (Be careful not to knock any air out!)
5. Pour the mixture into the tin and bake for 35 minutes.
6. Once cooled, use a cake leveller to split carefully into three layers.
7. Mix together the buttercream ingredients until you have a fluffy consistency.
8. Spread your buttercream over your first cake layer and then sprinkle over 1/3 of your crushed ice cream wafers.
9. Repat for the next two layers.
10. Stack your layers on top of each other and coat the sides and top with your Nutella buttercream.
11. Press the chopped hazelnuts onto the sides of your cake all the way around.
12. Pipe small circles onto the top of your cake. Place your Ferrero Rochers into your piped circles and, if desired, add on some gold leaf for effect!

We had a fabulous day and are so grateful to have been part of the whole experience! For good measure, here are a few screen shots of Colin and I on Extra Slice.

Happy baking,

Britt xo

The post Great British Bake Off – Extra Slice & Ferrero Rocher Cake appeared first on She Who Bakes.

This weekend, I was very proud to compere the live cooking stage at the Feast Festival of Food & Drink in Mote Park, Maidstone. On Saturday 23rd I was joined by Great British Bake Off finalist 2013 Kimberley Wilson and on the Sunday 24th I was joined by Masterchef 2013 winner Natalie Coleman.

Both ladies were absolutely brilliant. Kimberley baked a Lebanese-style Carrot Polenta cake which tasted amazing! The recipe for that bake can be found here. Natalie made two dishes, mussels with bacon, leek and cider and also a blueberry clafoutis. Both recipes can be found in Natalie’s upcoming book, details can be found here.

I also had another Natalie joining me on stage, from Easy Nuh. Natalie showed us how to make a caribbean classic of ackee and saltfish with sweet dumplings. Details of this recipe can be found in Natalie’s recipe book and you can find out more about it here.

As well as the chefs stage, there were pop up restaurants, street food vendors and stalls to satisfy a sweet tooth. There were also a few bars serving local beer and ale, champagne cocktails and alcoholic smoothies.

It was a fabulous foodie festival in my home town of Maidstone  that I am very pleased to say I was part of. Here are a few of my favourite pictures from the weekend.

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Joining me for todays Q&A is the lovely Claire Goodwin! Claire lives in Cheshire, where she works as a speech and language therapist. She has been baking since she was 11 years old. Both her mother and grandmother were wedding cake decorators and her father a chef.

Claire sadly left the tent in week one but left a fab impression with her sweet disposition and bright personality! 

How has life been since leaving the tent?

As I left on the first weekend, I had the summer to myself really. Previous to the tent you do lots of recipe development once you know you are in the final 12. Prior to that it is all auditions and interviews. A really hectic time really. Between leaving the tent and the press releases a week before the first transmission it was quite a lull really with the exception of filming the final at Welford Hall and the filming of my Extra Slice. During the summer I was able to plan and design my website with a lovely web company and gear myself up for what the production staff kept saying would be the ‘madness’. It was only when the press releases came out a week before that everything started to get really hectic and the realisation of how big all of this was hit me. Even though I went in the first week, I was so proud to have been part of it. 

What one memory from being on the Bake Off will stay with you?

I have so many, but one that stands out involves Sue Perkins. When I had finished my Swiss Roll (which did not look like that at home) I stood back and looked at it. I wasn’t happy. I had battled with my ganache splitting and going bitty (I made that ganache five times in the tent, desperately hoping the cocoa content of the chocolate would miraculously deplete each time) I split the bloody thing rolling it up roll and then I had manically started tried to decorate with fondant what I hoped would be a beautiful rustic orange tree and a few leaves and oranges, dusted with lustre dust. Anyway, Sue came over and said ‘Why is there a Claw on your Swiss Roll’, accompanied by Freddie Kruger type movements and a few horror movie noises. I started laughing and joined in with the claw movements. Then, every time I looked down at my horrifying Swiss Roll, I knew I was going home. I’ll send you a pic of it!

If you had stayed on GBBO, what week would you have rocked?

A few of them. I had a cracker of a recipe for bread week, which involved stuffing a full English breakfast into a loaf and calling it The Great British Breakfast Loaf. It’s bread week this week so I’m making it. I’ll put it up on my website when I have taken some pics. I really thought my pies were great too. I did a recipe for self saucing puddings that I was particularly proud of which was sticky toffee pudding with a melting penuche centre. I’ll pop the recipe up on my site on pudding week. I felt so disappointed that I didn’t get to show the judges what I really could do! 

Do you still keep in touch with the other contestants?

We talk every day. We have our own little virtual chatroom. We also meet up when we can and are going to meet up in September. Also I will be seeing them for the final Extra Slice filming too. It’s been an awesome experience. I have met so many lovely people and all of the bakers I admire individually for differing reasons. I suppose without Bake Off we would be a bit of a Motley Crew but we are a little bit like a family now. 

Claire’s chocolate and cherry cakes.

What was the best thing that happened during your experience?

I think being able to have the opportunity to write has been awesome for me. The Bake Off has given me a little audience that likes to read my ramblings on my blog posts. There are only a few at the moment, but I am planning to expand my website as much as I can over the coming weeks. 

Take 5!

1. What is your favourite thing to bake?

A lovely fluffy white loaf

2. Define your baking style in three words.

Creative, inventive, therapeutic

3. What is the best advice you have been given?

Keep talking, no matter how small your problems may feel like they are to others, keep talking. 

4. Sweet or savoury?

A little from column A and a little from column B. Don’t restrict me!

5. Finish the sentence: “Baking, to me…”

Baking, to me, relaxes my brain and feeds my soul.”

Thank you so much for joining me Claire! You were awesome and I look forward to seeing what you get up to next!

You can keep up with Claire’s latest goings on at www.baketherapy.co.uk and on Twitter – @bake_therapist

Tonight is bread week on Great British Bake Off! I will be, as always, live tweeting throughout the show so join in the conversation with me here or on Facebook!

Britt xo

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Hello muffins!

As promised here is my article all about the #AOcooks first blogger event in partnership with Neff for a day of demos and baking at the Neff’s test kitchens in Milton Keynes with special guest John Whaite (off of Great British Bake Off! He won in 2012 and is one of the nicest guys I have ever met.)

When I got to the centre I was greeted by some familiar faces from Neff whom I have met before and some new guys an gals from ao.com. I was given my name badge and a coffee, which was much needed after the train journey from London! After all the tweeting, it was really nice to meet my fellow bloggers and writers in person too!

We were then given a tour around the showroom by the lovely Stephen who is the head trainer at Neff. Turns out, he’s a fellow Maidstonian! I fell in love with all of the Neff appliances. From the Slide & Hide oven which is one of my favourite things (Although, they seemed to forget to put one in my goody bag…) the Aqua Assist and all of the touchy hobs. (They were touch sensitive, not angry.)

We were then moved into the meeting room where we had a brief overview of the Neff brand and AO.com as a company. And we got to view the cool stop motion videos! (I will share links to these at the bottom of the page)

Carl Andreas Neff founded the company in 1877 and it was made originally and still to this day for people with a passion for cooking. He famously said;

“The heart of the kitchen isn’t the oven, it’s the people”

In 2013, one in five ovens sold in the UK was a Neff. They have also branched out into the ‘Bake it Yourself’ brand which is a great forum for bakers and cooks at all levels. There is a Facebook page, twitter page and free app that goes with this. I recommend you check this out!

AO.com was started in 1999 after a bet in a pub! This solidifies my beliefs that bets in pubs are a good thing for all those concerned! (See; Dave Gorman…) AO.com has 1.38 million ‘likes’ on Facebook – a million more than rival Currys PC World. The electricals specialist offers customers Eco Delivery whereby customers can choose to cut their carbon emissions by opting to receive their goods at a time when one of its lorries is in its area.

We then got to move into the test kitchen where John Whaite and Neff’s Home Economist, Lynn Williams were waiting. John was a delight as always. Very friendly and welcoming and it was great to see him again. Lynn once again showcased her talent as we watched her bake salmon and watercress tartlets and lemon and poppyseed muffins. Here’s the kicker though people, these two bakes were put in the SAME oven. Neff were proving that their CircoTherm technology means that the smells and flavours do not blend into one another when baking. These were put into the oven and left to bake whilst we all had some fun.

John then showed us how to bake cranberry and orange scones. I’d like to point out at this point that Mr Whaite loves a scone. He is full of handy tips and tricks to get the perfect one and I’m hoping he takes my advice and brings out a book that is exclusively scones!

Once the demo was complete we were then allowed to get stuck in! Everyone partnered off and I was with Stephen, the super cool head trainer I mentioned earlier! Under the counter were all the weighed out ingredients to make cheese scones. Some of the room also had cheese scones and some had the cranberry and orange ingredients the same as John. It all felt very Great British Bake Off – I loved it! 

Once the scones were mixed, cut and in the oven, we had time for a cup of tea and a taste test! The scones and tartlets that were baking in the same oven were now ready for us to try and, as promised, none of us could tell the difference! The amazing Neff CircoTherm technology was clearly demonstrated. The air is circulated around each rack and does not mix or mingle the flavours meaning the muffins weren’t unaffected by the salmon tartlets. I was super impressed and fell a little bit more in love with the Neff ovens than I already was! (Seriously guys, there WASN’T one in my goody bag…)

We were then told that tea was served and were brought into the beautifully decorated dining room where all of our scones were laid out as well as the salmon and watercress tartlets, lemon and poppyseed muffins, goats cheese tartlets, quiche and other tasty goodies! I found a seat, poured myself a cup of tea and got stuck in. Everything was so tasty! 

John and I had a discussion about which should go first on a scone, the jam or the clotted cream. We didn’t come to any sort of agreement I don’t think as we were too busy eating them!

Once we could not eat another bite, we finished off the day with a Q&A session with the guest of honour himself, John Whaite Bakes. (That’s actually how you have to say his name.) I will be posting the Q&A as a separate blog post with all the gossip soon!

After a fun and informative afternoon it was sadly time to leave. We were given our goody bags which contained all sorts of treats, including our scones, John’s cookbooks, a Neff recipe book, a selection of tea and AO tea towels! The books made for great reading on the train home and I can’t wait to try some of the recipes!

All in all it was a brilliant day. I want to thank AO.com for inviting me as a special guest, Neff for hosting in their fabulous kitchens and John Whaite for being a fountain of knowledge as always. I hope to see every one who went again very soon.

Until next time, happy baking.

Britt. xo

The post Afternoon Tea Blogger Event with #aocooks & Neff appeared first on She Who Bakes.

Hello Muffins!

The very lovely Cat Dresser from 2012’s Great British Bake Off has been kind enough to answer a few of my questions about her experience on GBBO. Cat is honestly, one of the nicest , most talented people I have ever met.

Thanks for this Cat! So what made you audition for GBBO?

I am a super mega GBBO fan and loved it from series 1. I looked at the application form for series 2, just out of curiosity, filled it in, sent it away and heard nothing at all (as expected). I watched and loved series 2, and did the same again…obviously knowing I would again not hear anything…but I did! I was SO shocked and never ever imagined that I would actually have been selected!

The audition process is top secret, but I can tell you that it is a long process and there’s lots involved but it was so much fun at every stage!

Baking in front if the cameras was initially terrifying but as you get to know the amazing crew you begin to relax and settle into it, plus the baking is the most important thing to you while you’re there and so this remains more of a focus than the cameras.

I am from a food obsessed family and my mum and three aunties are all incredible bakers (better than me…shhh!!!) so I have always been surrounded by wonderful things to eat, picking things up along the way.  Then I left home and had children and wanted to give them this love and experience too and so started to bake a lot more on my own, for and with them.

I loved making my Wellington (giant sausage roll) the most mainly as it was the thing that all my family loved best during practice and also it went well on the day too and Mary really liked and understood my recipe.

What advice would you give to someone wanting to audition?

My advice for someone wanting to audition is…. GO FOR IT, I can’t describe what a wonderful thing it is! Be Very honest with your application but also think of ways to really show and describe your skill and love!

Thank you again Cat for being part of She Who Bakes.

You can follow Cats adventures on twitter here;

https://twitter.com/cat_dresser

Happy baking!

Britt xo

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