Great British Bake Off: Batter Week inspiration and tips
For the first time on Bake Off the remaining contestants will have to don their whisks and make batter. Find out what treats they’ll be asked to create and how you can beat them to it at home.
Great British Bake Off: Batter Week inspiration and tips
For the first time on Bake Off the remaining contestants will have to don their whisks and make batter. Find out what treats they’ll be asked to create and how you can beat them to it at home.
Whether or not you think it has any place in a baking competition, the Bake Off execs have decided to throw batter in the mix for the first time in the show’s history. There are only nine contestants left, and the coveted star baker (batterer?) award is up for grabs once again – it’s anyone’s guess as to who will clinch the title.
Yorkshire puddings are a key element to any Sunday roast worth its salt, but their tricky nature means we often rely on a certain Aunt invented by advertising companies for a pre-prepared option. The Bessie dynasty won’t be around to help our bakers, so they’ll have to make their identical, individual filled puddings from scratch. Hopefully they’ve had a browse through our Yorkshire pudding recipe collection, which is a treasure trove of inspiration. From Galton Blackiston’s Ultimate Yorkshire puddings to Frances Atkins’ Mini Yorkshire puddings with meatballs, there are all sorts of recipes that’ll ensure you’re not left with a soggy mess of batter and oil. GBBO’s own Howard Middleton even shows how to make a dairy- and gluten-free Yorkshire pud.
Pancakes are a British institution and, despite going nowhere near an oven, the Bake Off contestants will be asked to make a stack of the things for a very hungry Mary and Paul. While we’re expecting some pretty impressive piping work to help create intricate designs, lattices and pictures instead of the standard round shape, getting the consistency of the batter right is vital – as is a flavour combination that goes beyond the norm.
Dominic Chapman’s Pancakes with sugar and lemon might be a bit too safe for the Bake Off tent, but his batter recipe is spot on. Deena Kakaya pushes the boat out a little further, using buckwheat instead of plain flour and including banana and passion fruit for an exotic flavour. Marcello Tully’s Banana and toffee pancakes sound delicious, as does Paul Heathcote’s classic Crêpes Suzette, but Jacqueline Meldrum really ramps up the decadence with her incredibly popular Crème Egg pancake stack.
The third treat on the menu for this week is churros – the Spanish take on a doughnut. Usually piped with a star-shaped nozzle into short lengths, deep fried, dusted with sugar and served with a chocolate sauce, they’re a real crowd-pleaser. However, we expect Mary and Paul will be after something a little more unique from the bakers.
Kate Doran serves traditional Churros with chocolate orange sauce and offers some helpful tips. The batter should be piped directly into the hot oil so it can retain its shape, and leaving the mixture for ten minutes to rest results in a smoother, lump-free texture. The addition of cinnamon to the dusting sugar also adds another dimension of flavour.
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