Lez Get Baking!

It's Bread Week, which is essentially the High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) of baking. Essentially, it's time for me to get really buff arms and drink a lot of tea. My first bread week bake is supposed to be my "signature loaf", meaning that I should pick a recipe that I am known for. I don't usually repeat myself on bread recipes, so I figured that my "signature loaf" would be something that I'd never made before. Makes sense, right? I'm glad we're on the same page.

It's time for another showstopper!  This week, I have 4 hours to make three different kinds of petit fours (bite-sized french pastries): macarons, filled meringues, and choux pastry. Easy enough, right? Guys, I have been worrying about this challenge all week. I basically spent my whole week doing research and comparing techniques for these pastries.

This week's technical challenge is... scones! Good old, easy, plain, sweet scones.  The recipe used for this challenge is by Paul Hollywood, and the bakers were only given a list of ingredients, nothing else. No instructions, no temperatures, no times. So, to be as authentic as possible, Evie found the recipe and wrote out an ingredients list. She even assembled the ingredients under a cloth for me! I wasn't allowed to look at any scone recipe all week, not even at the ingredients list as she was writing it. 

Week two, and I am still on a high from that showstopping cake. Though, it might just be a sugar high.

I made it to my first showstopper challenge, and having come first in the technical (against myself) I'm feeling like my chances of moving on to next week are pretty high.

It's time for my first technical challenge !  For those of you who don't watch the show, the technical challenge is the only bake that the bakers cannot prepare for. They are told what they will be baking right before the clock starts, and the recipe that they are given is minimal, forcing them to rely on their skill and intuition to complete the bake. It's not really possible for me to replicate this challenge exactly, as I have to prepare for these challenges. No one assembles my ingredients under a gingham cloth for me. Therefore, it wasn't a shock that I would have to bake a Victoria Sandwich. 

Ready, Set, Bake!