I can catch up with The Great British Bake Off contestants, I can do this! Biscuit week here we go!
The theme of week two on The Great British Bake Off was biscuits. With three very different challenges, the bakers presented a wide range of flavours and styles, particularly on the showstopper. This meant there were lots of options when it came to picking a bake for the blog this week.
The technical challenge of Paul Hollywood’s arlettes was an immediate no-no for me. As delicious as arlettes sound, puff pastry is difficult, let alone reverse puff pastry. I did have a go at Bake Off inspired puff pastry before with these palmiers. I was left to pick between either biscotti, or a biscuit box. I should have picked biscotti.
I made a serious school girl error in only getting the exact amount of ingredients specified in the recipe, leaving no room for mistakes (or needing those ingredients for anything else in my life). My intention was to make a gingerbread box, as many of the bakers did, filled with macarons like Ian and Paul made. However, the gingerbread box was not to be.
I followed the recipe from Secrets of Macarons by Jose Marechal for lemon macarons. These were considered classic, and I assumed simple, compared with the specialty hazelnut macarons from the book I made last year. It is a really good book with a detailed break down of all the most important elements of macaron making. If you want the recipe I followed, buy the book!
French meringue is fool-proof they said. No, they lied. There were cracks everywhere, and occasionally a hole all the way through! My first batch were entirely hollow so you can imagine my excitement when I pulled off this beauty.
My homemade lemon curd was delicious, also from Secrets of Macarons.
Despite them being pretty far from aesthetically perfect, I’m pretty sure I was to blame. But on the bright side, Mary Berry would have had no problems getting her teeth through them as they literally melt in the mouth. I will try again, macarons will not beat me.
