Win a 6 cup bun baking tray 

We've reached the Bake Off semi-final! Does anyone else feel like it's gone far too quickly? We're still not certain of who the winner will be, but we're looking forward to seeing the bakers tackle the challenges of Patisserie Week on our screens tonight!

As you probably know by now, we've been giving away a great Bakeware prize to coincide with each week of Bake Off this series, and this week, we've got another cracker for you! To tie in with Patisserie Week, we're giving away:

If you're an avid fan of Bake Off, or simply a keen baker, you'll know that the art of producing a perfectly crafted patisserie is difficult to master! This is especially true of delicate items, such as the iconically light and fluffy choux buns, which can easily turn out to be every bakers worst nightmare. It can be especially difficult to divide your mixture evenly, in order to achieve the much sought-after uniformity which gives these dishes their impact. Luckily, our bun baking tray makes it easy for bakers to evenly divide their mixture into the shallow ridges, for an evenly proportioned selection of pastries.

How to Enter

NOTE: You'll need a Twitter account!

  1. Follow @BakewareUK on Twitter
  2. Retweet our competition tweet - you should be able to see it at the top of our profile page.
  3. Keep your eyes peeled for the winner announcement at 12 noon on Tuesday the 25th of October!

This week is the Great British Bake Off semi-final, which means that there's no room for mistakes in the tent, if the bakers want to make it to the final! The theme itself is also set to be particularly tricky, even for the most experienced bakers, as they take on the challenges of Patisserie Week!

To tie-in with this new challenge, we've decided to feature a recipe for a quintessentially French pastry, created for BBC Good Food by a Previous Bake Off winner! If you've been watching the show since the beginning, then you may remember Edd Kimber, who became the first ever baking champion back in 2010 (oh the good old days). Since his victory he's been busy writing cookbooks, making appearances, and blogging over at The Boy Who Bakes, which you should definitely check out!

He also creates content for the Good Food magazine and website, including this heavenly recipe for Salted Caramel & Popcorn Crumble Choux Buns 

Ingredients:

For the crumble topping

  • 50g of flour
  • 50g golden caster sugar
  • 40g of unsalted butter, cold and chopped into small pieces

For the salted caramel

  • 150g of granulated sugar
  • 125ml of double cream
  • 10g unsalted butter
  • Large pinch of flaked sea salt

For the popcorn cream

  • 600ml of double cream, plus a little extra
  • 125g toffee popcorn (save additional popcorn for later)
  • large pinch of flaked sea salt

For the choux pastry 

  • 60g of unsalted butter, chopped into small cubes
  • 1/4tsp of golden caster sugar
  • 1/4tsp salt
  • 85g of plain flour
  • 2-3 large eggs
  • 140ml water

Method:

Step 1 -  Begin by making the crumble topping, mixing the sugar and flour together in a medium bowl.

Step 2 -  Add the butter, and rub until you have a breadcrumb texture, then press together with your hands to form a uniform dough.

Step 3 -  Place this dough between 2 sheets of baking parchment, and roll it out until it is a few millimetres thick. Pop it into the feezer on a baking tray until needed.

Step 4 - To make the salted caramel, put the sugar into a medium saucepan over a medium heat, allowing the sugar to melt and caramelise, stirring occasionally.

Step 5 - Once the sugar is a dark copper colour, add half the double cream. Once the bubbling has subsided, and the remaining cream, butter and salt, stirring to combine.

Step 6 - Return to the heat if there are any remaining lumps, then remove, and transfer into a small bowl. Cover with cling film, and chill until required.

Step 7 - For the popcorn cream, put everything into a medium saucepan over a medium-high heat, and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat, cover, and allow to infuse for an hour. 

Step 8 -  Strain the cream through a sieve into a measuring jug, pressing down on the popcorn to get as much of the mixture out as possible. Top up the cream so you still have 600ml.

Step 9 - Press cling film onto the surface of the cream, and chill until needed (this can be prepared the day before).

Step 10 - For the choux, heat your oven to 180C/160 fan/gas mark 4, and line your baking tray with parchment. 

Step 11 - Using a 5cm cookie cutter as a guide, draw 5 circles onto the parchment and turn over. If you're using our bun tray, you can skip these steps.

Step 12 - Put the water, butter, sugar and salt into a medium saucepan, over a medium-high heat, and bring to a rolling boil.

Step 13 -  Once boiling, remover from the heat and tip in the flour, mixing with a wooden spoon until a smooth paste forms. Return to the heat for a minute or two, to allow the mix to dry out a little. Tip paste into a large bowl and beat for a few mins, to cool down slightly.

Step 14 - Add the eggs in one at a time, beating until fully combined each time. Add the last in gradually, as you may not need it all. Stop when the mixture is smooth, and drops off the  spoon in a V shape.

Step 15 - Using a piping bag with a large round nozzle, pipe the pastry into the circles. Remove crumble topping from the freezer and peel off the parchment, before cutting out round discs to fit on top of each round of dough.

Step 16 - Bake for 40 mins until the choux is well risen and crumble is golden. Turn off the oven, but leave the choux in until fully cooled.

Step 17 - Use a serrated knife to carefully slice each bun in half. Place a few pieces of popcorn in each, and spoon in some caramel too (you may have to loosen over a bowl of hot water if you have prepared it in advance).

Step 18 - For the filling, remove the cream from the fridge and whip until it forms soft peaks. For precision, use a new piping bag with a star nozzle, and swirl onto each bun  base. To finish, place the top of the bun back on, and dust lightly with icing sugar. 

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Once again, Bake Off have shown us their fondness for shaking things up, by planning another unusual set of tasks for this week's episode. After checking out the preview for Tudor Week, apart from plaits and pies, we were rather confused about what the contestants would be making, which is why we turned to the experts at Hampton Court Palace for guidance.

To bring you a recipe which ties in nicely with the Tudor theme of this week's episode, we checked out Hampton Court's website, for some recipes that even King Henry himself would have been happy to eat. Amongst their foodie resources, was a video tutorial for Tarte owte of Lent, which is essentially a baked cheese tart.

It's likely that the name for this tart, derived from the fact that it contains cheese, cream and all that other good stuff, which you wouldn't have been able to eat during lent. This makes it a real treat for any time of year, and in addition to this, it's also incredibly easy to make!

Ingredients:

For the Filling

  • 100g of Cheshire cheese
  • 150ml of cream
  • 1 medium egg
  • 30g of butter
  • Salt and pepper

For the Pastry Case

  • High butter pastry, such as shortcrust
  • Egg yolks for glazing

Method:

Step 1 - Preheat your oven to 220°C/200 Fan/Gas Mark 6.

Step 2 - Chop up the cheese and pound in a mortar (use an alternative mashing method if you don't have one).

Step 3 - Add cream egg and butter to the cheese, and mix it together. This should make a thick cream-like texture, like Cottage cheese. 

Step 4 - If the mixture is too dry, add in more cream, if it is too wet, do the same with more cheese.

Step 5 - Season the mixture with salt and pepper to taste.

Step 6 - Either make a freestanding pastry tart case (about 25cm/10inches), or use a tart tin. Also, make a thin pastry lid.

Step 7 - Fill the casing with the cheese mixture, before placing on the pastry lid.

Step 8 -  Seal the lid, and glaze with egg yolks.

Step 9 - Place in the oven, and bake for around 40mins, or until the pastry is golden.

Step 10 - Allow some time to cool before serving.

 

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Win a Baking Tray! 

It's that time of week once again: time for a new episode of The Great British Bake Off! It's Dessert Week this week, which means that the six remaining bakers will be making mousses, roulades, and all kinds of other sweet treats for Mary and Paul to critique.

We've been giving away a great bakeware prize to coincide with each week of Bake Off this series, and for Dessert Week, we're giving away the following:

These two items would be perfect for making swiss rolls and roulades of the type you'll be seeing on Bake Off when it's broadcast this evening, but the extra-large baking is ideal for all kinds of other things, too, from pastries to Sunday lunches!

If you fancy winning our baking tray / cooling rack combo for your kitchen, here's what you need to do...

How to Enter

NOTE: You'll need a Twitter account!

  1. Follow @BakewareUK on Twitter
  2. Retweet our competition tweet - you should be able to see it at the top of our profile page.
  3. Keep your eyes peeled for the winner announcement at 12 noon on Tuesday the 11th of October!

More Dessert Week Fun: Did you see the pumpkin roulade recipe we posted yesterday? 

Pumpkin Roulade

Bake Off is on its way, with a brand new episode for Dessert Week, which will see the bakers tackle the somewhat tricky roulade in their quest for baking perfection. To tie in with this week's signature challenge, our featured recipe is a tasty, autumnal twist on the classic Swiss roll, from the lovely Ramona over at Monalouge.

To celebrate the arrival of Autumn, and this being our first featured recipe of October, we thought it was only right that the bake should be suitably seasonal. With cinnamon and pumpkin, Ramona's roulade delivers the iconic taste of the season, using healthier ingredients to alleviate guilt, while preserving the sweet, comforting flavour.

You can find details of how to make this delicious cake below, but be sure to visit Monalouge for full details, including nutritional break-downs! 

Ingredients:

For the Roll

  • 100g plain flour
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 100g Vitafiber syrup
  • 1/3 cup almond milk
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 5 tsp egg whites 
  • 200g pumkin puree
  • 1/2 cup granulated sweetener

For the Filling

  • 1 container low fat cream cheese
  • 1 tsp vanilla essence
  • 1 scoop vanilla whey protein
  • 1/2 cup granulated sweetener

Method:

Step 1 - Preheat the oven to 180C.

Step 2 - Line a baking tray with oil spray, baking paper and more oil spray.

Step 3 - Mix the flour, baking soda and cinnamon in a bowl.

Step 4 - Next, add the vitafiber and almond milk and mix well.

Step 5 - Then, add the egg whites and mix.

Step 6 - Lastly, add the pumpkin and granulated sweetener and mix again.

Step 7 - Pour the mixture onto baking tray, and bake for 10 minutes.

Step 8 - Remove from the oven, and tip the cake onto a sheet of baking paper.

Step 9 - Peel off the baking paper that was used to bake the cake, and use the new baking paper to roll the cake, as you would for a Swiss roll.

Step 10 - Leave to cool for 20 mins.

Step 11 - Mix the filling ingredients together in a clean bowl.

Step 12 -  Once cooled, unwrap the cake and cover with the filling.

Step 13 - Reroll the cake so it forms a Swiss roll, and then refrigerate until firm.

Step 14 - Enjoy!

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