Like many, I have a deep love for The Great British Bake Off (or as it’s known in the States, The Great British Baking Show). There’s something so soothing about watching a group of Brits be incredibly supportive of one another during a baking competition. I often cross-stitch to it or just simply lie in bed at night with it playing on my computer.
Currently, there are seven completed series (or if, again, you’re in the States, seven seasons). I refuse to acknowledge the current series after the departure of the shows beloved hosts, Mel & Sue, along with Queen Judge Mary Berry.
In terms of my baking expertise, I’m what would you call a “stress baker,” meaning that I find baking to be a meditative activity to do while I’m very stressed. However, the extent of my baking skills is mainly just cakes, pies, and cookies. I’ve never made anything needing yeast and it’s always sweet, never savory.
Because I’m clearly off my rocker and have seen every episode of GBBO more than once, I’ve decided it would be a fun challenge to try and do all of the technical bakes from the show.
If you’re unfamiliar, technical bakes are supposed to be a blind test (the judges don’t know who made what). Each home baker makes the same item according to a very vague recipe. It’s mainly used to test one’s technique and baking knowledge.
I will note there are some differences between me and the GBBO’s contestants:
- I will know the recipe ahead of time. (Point 1 for me)
- I do not have an amazing standing mixer. (Point 1 for GBBO)
I am giving myself the same time constraints used for the specific bake. I will also freely admit that the contestants have much more experience than I do (see above re: yeast). However, I want to expand my baking repertoire and I think this is quite a fun albeit challenging way to do it.
In each post, there will always be the same breakdown:
- Name of bake
- Episode it’s from, since I won’t be going in order
- Whose recipe it is: Paul Hollywood vs. Mary Berry
- Time given to complete the bake
- Link to recipe I’m using
- Of course, thoughts on the process and final bake
- Lastly and most importantly, a book recommendation! Maybe it’s an audiobook I’m listening to while getting my mise en place situated or whatever I’m cracking open while a cake is in the oven.
Below is a list of all the technical bakes featured in series one through seven. There are some repeats, which I won’t duplicate. Once a bake is finished, I’ll hyperlink to the post and include the book recommendation, so feel free to bookmark this post, or bookmark the Soggy Bottoms tag.
Series 1
- Victoria Sponge
- Scones
- Cobs (Bread Roll)
- Hot Lemon Souffle
- Cornish Pasties
Series 2
- Coffee and Walnut Battenberg
- Tarte au Citron
- Focaccia
- Brandy Snaps
- Miniature Pork Pie
- Chocolate Roulade
- Iced Fingers
- Sachertorte
Series 3
- Rum Baba
- Plaited Loaf
- Treacle Tart
- Creme Caramel
- Hand-Raised Pie
- Queen of Puddings
- Jam Doughnut
- Chocolate Teacakes
- Fraisier Cake
- Fondant Fancies
Series 4
- Angel Food Cake with Lemon Curd
- English Muffin
- Floating Islands
- Egg Custard Tarts
- Tuiles with Chocolate Mousse
- Apricot Couronne
- Religieuses
- Hazelnut Dacquoise
- Charlotte Royale
- Pretzels
Series 5
- Cherry Cake
- Florentines
- Ciabatta
- Tiramisu Cake
- Mini Pear Pies
- Prinsesstårta (Princess Cake)
- Kouign-Aman
- Povitica
- Schichttorte
- Victoria Sandwiches, Tarte au Citron, Scones
Series 6
- Frosted Walnut Layer Cake
- Arlettes
- Baguettes
- Spanische Windtorte
- Gluten-Free Pita Bread
- Flaounes
- Tennis Cake
- Mokatines
- Chocolate Souffle
- Mille-Feuille
Series 7
- Jaffa Cakes
- Viennese Whirl
- Dampfnudel
- Heart-Shaped Lace Pancakes
- Bakewell Tart
- Herb Fougasse
- Marjolaine
- Jumbles
- Savarin
- Victoria Sandwich
All the recipes sound and look delicious, but there are some bakes that intimidate the hell out of me, such as the Charlotte Royale, the Tennis Cake, & every instance of a souffle.
Ideally, I’d like to ease into this little project, so which bake do you think I should attempt first? Have you attempted or made any of these, and can you offer any words of wisdom?
What are sold as scones in the US are different from British ones. The British scone resembles at American biscuit but somewhat sweeter and sometimes contains raisins. Everyone is right that they are easy.
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/4622/classic-scones-with-jam-and-clotted-cream
I love love love that you’ll be doing this. A combo of my beloved GBBO *and* the Hot Pink Palace here…perfect!
I’m so excited that you’re doing this! I’m not a baker at all, but I adore the show! I’d suggest starting with the Victoria Sponge, simply because it seems like most of the recipes start with a “good, basic sponge”…so that would be a good start. Also, it is just me (in USA) or are the UK terms mainly untranslatable? I can’t get the measurements, nor the difference between “icing sugar” (Is that confectioner’s sugar) – and they are asked to bake things I’ve never even heard of! Which also makes it fun. Good luck to you!
I don’t even know what most of those things are. 🙂 My baking doesn’t stretch past beer bread and pavlova. Must look up “dacquoise” just because I love the name …
I’ll echo others in saying not to fear souffles. They are shockingly easy to make, surprisingly forgiving, and only want you to feel intimidated by their reputation.
If you find that your souffle is underbaked in the center, you can pop it back in the oven with no ill effects. I know because I’ve done it myself. And don’t worry about it falling. That’s what it does, and there’s no getting around it, so no need to fret.
I can’t wait to hear how all of this goes for you!
What a great idea! I wanted to let you know that Netflix also has MasterClass, the show where Paul and Mary bake all the challenges themselves! I started watching just because I had seen all the seasons, but it’s actually pretty interesting.
Series 5 is one of my favorite things ever. The other serieses are good, too, but Series 5, man. I started watching after Alaskagate, and I think the first episode I saw was the one with the Schichttorte. Which I should make. I should really make one. GBBO is my happy place, but I refuse to watch the new one. I wasn’t there for Paul.
Oh, I can’t wait until you make prinsesstårta! Being swedish I watched that episode of GBBO with glee. It’s easy and sooooo good. Most swedes “cheat” in this cake, especially with the marzipan. We have prerolled marzipan ready to pop on your cake. And we usually use a pre-fab powder and milk to make the vanilla cream/custard (can’t remember the english word)
I made Mary Berry’s Tarte Au Citron for Easter this year. It was much easier than I imagined and tasted delicious! I also make Angel Food Cake from scratch. It’s also not difficult, just time consuming with separating all the eggs, but I think it’s worth it. Make sure you use a tube cake pan and don’t grease the sides, it needs to cling to them when rising.