Let's Get Technical - Great British Bake Off Series 5 Biscuit Week

Week two of the Great British Bake off and it's biscuit week.

This will be interesting as biscuits aren't something I make or eat regularly maybe a 3-4 times a year occasion, including gingerbread at Christmas. I don't dislike biscuits but would always opt for bread or cake or pastry instead.  

I won't be writing too much about the contents of the show, star baker or eliminated baker, purely to avoid spoilers for people that haven't seen it. Also the purpose of this challenge is really for my own learning's and review my own skills rather than the bakers in the tent.

Though this moment in the show had to be shared.

Photo BBC / Love Productions

The look you get when you don't make your own fondant!

 

The look you get when you add glacé cherries to a recipe!

 

That's 2 weeks in a row, not happy MARY!

 

Thankfully when I read the ingredient list I was relieved to find that the glacé cherries could be substituted for dried cranberries and luckily I had some left from Finland's entry to Chow Down to Eurovision 2014 (seamless cross promotion)

The technical challenge this week is Mary Berry's Florentines (recipe here)

 

 At first I started using a teaspoon measure to put them on but second guessed myself and went for a teaspoon which made the Florentines have inconsistent sizes.

Bigs or littles I call it catering for everyone

 

 No visible chocolate bleeding through, that's because they are upside down in the photo!

That is kinda a zig zag, maybe more a wave?

 

My chocolate tempering wasn't the best on this occasion, can we call that a zig zag??

 

 

 

On the back of this challenge I suspect I could eliminate myself, but as AB said "you're the only baker, you can't be eliminated" I like that logic!

 

The verdict is I won't be in a hurry to make Florentines again but I did learn about tray variations and the effect on cooking time and heat retention when tempering chocolate.

Having already made a loaf before starting the Florentines, bring on bread week I say!

What have you been baking this week? Have you given Florentines a whirl?