Let's Get Technical - Great British Bake Off 2015 Cake Week

As we head into the fifth technical challenge of this year's Great British Bake Off I remember that I hadn't posted the challenge here for anyone who hasn't been following along on Twitter.

This year there is also the option of Facebook and Instagram and even a bit of periscope.

The challenge kicks off at 3pm AEST 

Week one was cake week and I managed to complete Mary Berry's Frosted Walnut Layer Cake with time to spare, though in hindsight that time could have gone into more cooling of the sponges and decoration.

Given that it's the Great British Bake Off I thought I should dress for the occasion, thankfully I did have this left over from a royal guard production of Dreamgirls.  

Ok a frosted walnut cake, sure why not? #lets_get_technical #GBBO #extraslice pic.twitter.com/OGNqpqJTLX

— dontboilthesauce (@dbtsauce) August 9, 2015

On your mark, get set, BAKE!!!!! #lets_get_technical #GBBO #extraslice pic.twitter.com/028g62qAAh

— dontboilthesauce (@dbtsauce) August 9, 2015

So that's the walnuts, fine, not mighty fine just fine #lets_get_technical #GBBO #extraslice pic.twitter.com/MFnSO7aq10

— dontboilthesauce (@dbtsauce) August 9, 2015

Cakes are in, now onto the caramel... #lets_get_technical #GBBO #extraslice pic.twitter.com/CVfahdS0T9

— dontboilthesauce (@dbtsauce) August 9, 2015

Cakes out now just to cool in time to stack! #lets_get_technical #GBBO #extraslice pic.twitter.com/yUg4Urs4Md

— dontboilthesauce (@dbtsauce) August 9, 2015

The fifty shades of caramel 

Ok stop taking photo's or it will be burnt! 

Walnuts done, I'm worried we have a bit of foot going on!! #lets_get_technical #GBBO #extraslice pic.twitter.com/NaBjkSx2VF

— dontboilthesauce (@dbtsauce) August 9, 2015

25 to go, come on icing! #lets_get_technical #GBBO #extraslice pic.twitter.com/23avplvRXy

— dontboilthesauce (@dbtsauce) August 9, 2015

Stacked and ready to get frosty! #lets_get_technical #GBBO #extraslice pic.twitter.com/jItv7OEYv5

— dontboilthesauce (@dbtsauce) August 9, 2015

So that's #lets_get_technical number one done & frosted with time to spare? What have I done wrong? #GBBO #extraslice pic.twitter.com/ja2QYhW9eE

— dontboilthesauce (@dbtsauce) August 9, 2015

Almost forgot my cut shot! #lets_get_technical #GBBO #extraslice pic.twitter.com/6trlVMZVL0

— dontboilthesauce (@dbtsauce) August 9, 2015

I must remember more time cooling = much prettier layers  

If you're a @BritishBakeOff fan and you don't follow @dbtsauce you're doing twitter wrong #lets_get_technical https://t.co/mVHAg3tJQp

— Lucy (@tea4lucy) August 9, 2015

It's lovely having fans, thanks Lucy!  

Chow Down to Eurovision 2015 - Georgia

Welcome to Georgia the final country in semi final one for Chow Down to Eurovision 2015. 

You will be able to start voting for your favourite dishes so that the top ten will proceed to the final.

But how long till semi final 2 starts, I hear you ask.  Well, One More Day, which also happens to be to 2011 entry from Georgia performed by Eldrine and placing 9th. 

I'm sure a warrior will need a lot of energy!

Walnut and Almond Gozinaki

Ingredients

• 400g walnuts
• 100g almonds
• 150g honey
• 50g sugar
• Icing sugar to dust

Method

• Toast nuts in a fry pan over medium heat
• Chop nuts or put through food processor with slicer attachment about 3mm setting
• Add the honey to a fry pan and stir over love heat for 10 minutes till thickened
• Add the sugar and stir till dissolved
• Let cook for another couple of minutes
• Add the nuts and stir to combine well
• Let cool for a minute because it will be very hot
• Press onto a lined tray with the back of a spoon or wet hands (remember I said VERY HOT!!!!)
• Allow to cool to set
• Slice diagonally to create diamond or odd triangles as I have
• Dust with icing sugar

In 2015 there are two songs call Warrior but sadly we did manage to get a third called worrier!

Nina Sublatti will be the first Warrior before Malta presents their Warrior in semi final two.

Georgia's Warrior is strong and there is no mixed message Nina is a Warrior and if have any doubt she will sing another chorus to let the message hit you right between the eyes.

The video clip shows the "zena type" warrior images and a snake, yes a bloody snake, we all know how much I hate them!

Siri has picked a team when it comes to Warrior....she mustn't have issues with the snake! 

Past Georgia Chow Down to Eurovision:

2014 Chicken with Walnut Sauce

2013 Khachapuri

Chow Down to Eurovision 2014 - Georgia

საღამო this is Georgia calling, our fourth port of call in Semi Final 2 on our culinary journey to Copenhagen.

If you joined us last year for Chow Down to Eurovision 2013 you may remember that Georgia brought us the scrumptious Khachapuri (cheese bread) which secured them a place in the final.

This year Georgia is offering a moreish walnut sauce to serve with a roast chicken, eggs or vegetables.

There are many variations of this sauce with ingredients that include dried marigolds, blue fenugreek, saffron, though I have made a version that doesn't require a trip to a spice bizarre. (even though I do love a trip to a spice bizarre or shop as they are commonly known)

Just like today's walnut sauce this act is great with the excitement added by the dancers but is just as great if it was pared back with Sopho just standing and singing.

 Georgia first joined Eurovision in 2007 with Sopho and Visionary Dream, she came 12th in the final.

 
 

Chicken with Walnut Sauce
Ingredients

• 12 chicken legs  (going on it serving 4-6)
• Cayenne pepper
• Salt & pepper
• Olive oil
• 120g walnuts
• 1 large brown onion
• 1 clove garlic
• 400ml chicken stock
• Pinch saffron threads
• 40g butter
• 60g plain flour
• 1/4 tsp. cloves ground
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon ground
• 1 tbs. red wine vinegar

Method

• Preheat oven to 180°C
• Lay chicken legs on a foil lined tray
• Splash with olive oil
• Rub with a good pinch of cayenne pepper, salt and pepper
• Bake for about 35-40 minutes
• To make the sauce
• Blend the walnuts into a paste (a tbs. of water can help it along)
• Add the saffron to the chicken stock to let it infuse
• Roughly dice onion and crush garlic
• In a medium sauce melt butter
• Add onion, garlic and cook on low heat till soft
• Add flour and stir to make a paste
• Add cloves and cinnamon to flour and cook for about 1 minute
• Slowly add the chicken stock, bit by bit, stirring continuously
• As the sauce thickens add more stock
• When the sauce has thickened add the walnuts and vinegar
• Mix well and cook for another minute or 2 to ensure it is the consistency you like
• Season to taste
• Serve over the roast chicken legs, my vegetable option is boiled potato with sauté kale (I'm a bit kale mad sorry)
• For a Eurovision party this could be converted to a great nibble with drinks using chicken wing drumettes and having a walnut dipping sauce....and 1 or 2 drinks

 

 

The Shin & Mariko will perform Three Minutes to Earth but will their three minutes being heard around the world get them a place in the final?

გისურვებთ წარმატებას! 

Chow Down to Eurovision 2014 - Latvia

Labvakar (Good Evening) Saucers, this is Latvia calling.

You may remember from Chow Down to Eurovision 2013 that I had my heart set on making Latvian liverwurst till disaster struck when my old oven broke!

So this year it was definitely going to be liverwurst until it was announced that Latvia would sing Cake to Bake in Copenhagen.

So when you are given inspiration like that naturally you have a Cake to Bake!

If anyone reading this is thinking of entering the Latvian national finals next year, just think liverwurst.

Here's a head start "without you my world is cursed, I'll never forget your tasty liverwurst".
I'm sure it would sound much better in Latvian.

Latvia pulled off a win in 2002 with only their 3rd entry to the contest, I Wanna by Marie N.
Sadly since Intars Busulis with Probka (2009) they have been unable to qualify for the finals.

I've pick this song as today's hit from Eurovision's past as I enjoy the changing rhythms and I love an act that has a BYO projector screen.

 

Latvia also failed to qualify for the final of Chow Down to Eurovision in 2013 so I'm hoping this honey and walnut cake will put them over the line.
 

The glucose was added when I had run out of honey while doing another test batch, AB without knowing said it had more of a honey taste, plus it is so much easier to spread so it stayed.
 

 

Latvian Honey and Walnut Cake

Ingredients

• 200g honey
• 100g glucose
• 2 large eggs
• 250g plain flour
• 1 tsps. bi carb soda
• 600ml sour cream
• 250g mascarpone
• 150g caster sugar
• 125g walnut crumbs
• plus extra walnuts and honey to garnish

Method

• Preheat oven to 180°C
• In a mixing bowl combine honey, glucose and eggs
• Sift in flour and bi carb soda
• Fold through till well combined
• Spread thin layers on 5 lined baking trays (or repeat 5 times if you have 1 tray)
• Bake at 180°C for about 3-4 minutes
• They should be golden, risen a little and not crispy
• Lay on a lined wire rack to cool, slowly removing the baking paper while still warm
• Allow to cool completely
• In a mixing bowl beat the sour cream, mascarpone, and caster sugar till smooth
• Place 1 layer of cake onto a board or serving plate
• Cover with a thickish layer of filling and sprinkle with 1/5 of the walnut crumbs
• Repeat with remaining cake and filling
• Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight
• To serve either trim up the edges of the cake or leave it rustic
• Garnish with extra walnuts and a drizzle of honey
• Figs would also be a very welcomed guest artist  

 

 So moist and addictive reminiscent of a caramel chocolate ripple cake (or scallywag cake depending on where you grew up) 

 

This year Latvia will be represented by Aarzemnieki who have a Cake to Bake but hopefully after reading this they will definitely know how.

 

Could 2014 be the year to break the 5 year drought of Latvia not qualifying for the finals?

 

A song about cake has to have a good chance, who doesn't like cake???

 lai jums veicas!

 

Feed the Birds, Tuppence a Slice

While on an excursion doing research for the upcoming Chow Down to Eurovision 2014,  the group was offered some stone age bread.

Bread with no flour? What is this crazy talk??

It was like a scene from my Big Fat Greek Wedding come to life, What you mean you don't put no flour in the bread?.........ok I use spelt?

I'd never heard of it, but loved the nutty deliciousness.

So no flour, just seeds and nuts, which makes it fit into the Paleo diet (if that kind of thing floats your boat)

The chef's reply when asked for the recipe was "Google it!"

So after some Googeling, recipe comparison and testing, this is my take on the Nordic nut bread.

There are more seeds than what I found traditionally which I think gives a better firm multigrain bread texture rather than one of crispy seeds.

I'm not one for trendy diets but for me this bread is a perfect breakfast as 1 slice will keep you going for hours....and that's just the chewing! (kidding)

The only down side is it's best not to quickly grab a piece before meeting people unless you like the blacked out tooth look.

Nordic Nut Bread aka Stone Age Bread

• 100g slivered almonds
• 100g walnuts
• 100g linseeds
• 100g sunflower seeds (kernels)
• 100g pumpkin seeds (pepitas)
• 50g sesame seeds
• 50g black sesame seeds
• 50g poppy seeds
• 50g black and white chia seeds (or just 1 or the other)
• 2 1/2 tsps. sea salt flakes
• 5 eggs
• 100ml olive oil

Method

• Preheat oven to 150°C
• Line a medium loaf pan  (25.5 x 14.5 x 6cm)
• Add all the seeds and salt to a mixing bowl and combine well
• Add eggs and oil to a jug and whisk with a fork
• Pour egg mix into mixing bowl and stir till the seeds and liquid is very well combined
• Pack into the lined loaf tin
• Flatten the top of the loaf and make sure there is no excess liquid (it will just be cooked egg and not look great)
• Bake for about 1 hour and 15minutes.
• It will be oily at the bottom
• Remove from the tin and place on a wire rack over a tray to cool, and release any extra oils
• When cooled it isn't oily but moist with a nutty texture
• Enjoy with cheese, salmon, poached eggs, avocado or just on it's own for that long lasting breakfast
• Some recipes use whole almonds but I think the slivered give a better end result as the nuts cook all the way through
• It will make another appearance with a slight variation when the Chow Down to Eurovision 2014 heads to Copenhagen, so watch out for that! #eatus 

Heaven is a place on earth.....with blue cheese and quince paste.

Chow Down to Eurovision 2013 - F.Y.R. Macedonia

Hello this is  Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia calling. For the country with the longest name in the contest we have one of the shortest posts and easiest dishes of the Chow Down to Eurovision 2013.

I first discovered halva while watching Greek Come Dine With Me and then had some tutoring from a Macedonian colleague, she'd advise too pale, too dry, but I think I got it right in the end.
My all time favourite F.Y.R.M entry is 2002 Karolina singing Od Nas Zavisi musically this song is so interesting and I love the complex backing vocals, but really if you can rip off a ball gown to reveal gold chest armour you're OK in my book.

I've also added a special mention for another F.Y.R.M act I love for their theatricality, Toše Proeski with Life from 2004 who was tragically killed in a car accident in 2007.

Halva with walnuts
Ingredients

• 7 cups water
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup honey
• 1 orange zest and juice
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 10 cloves
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 3/4 cup sunflower oil (or vegetable)
• 3 1/4 cups coarse semolina
• 200g walnuts chopped coarsely

Optional topping

• 500g Greek yogurt
• 1 pear pealed and chopped
• Pomegranate seeds
• Honey to drizzle

Method

• In a large saucepan add the water, sugar, honey, orange zest and juice, cinnamon and cloves.
• Gently simmer and stir to dissolve sugar and infuse flavours for about 20 minutes the strain.
• In a large boiler add the oils and semolina and mix
• Toast over a high heat to darken the semolina, it should turn a nut brown colour
• Take semolina off the heat and add the walnuts and mix through
• Carefully add the syrup, this will be very dramatic and may spit so caution is advised
• Mix to absorb the liquid
• Spoon halva into an oiled Bundt tin, again carefully as it is super hot
• Let cool in the fridge for a few hours
• Remove from Bundt onto a serving plate
• Rather than filling the hole with a pot plant (you've all seen the movie...it's a cake) I combined the pear and yogurt then topped with pomegranate seeds and honey but this is optional

Gotta love an oozing reveal!

It also make a delicious breakfast while writing and if you cover up the halva you can try and claim you are just having healthy yogurt, it's worth a shot.

Will F.Y.R.M give us some drama again this year as Esma & Lozano sing Pred Da Se Razdeni?

Cо среќа!

Chow Down to Eurovision 2013 - Moldova

I hope everyone made it through customs without a starring role in border security and is ready for the delights of Moldova. If you are a long time reader (first time commenter) to my blog you will be aware of my obsessive love of all things purple and my inability to not tear up at the sight of a grandmother. No seriously people we have been through this, you only need to say the words Maggie Beer and I well up.

So today is a celebration of both. For the grandmother we have Grandma Boonika, reportedly a neighbour/cousin of the band Zdob şi Zdub who they just had to bring along to the 2005 contest. I find her a true inspiration proving that you're never too old for Eurovision, there is hope for me yet. If you need me I'll be out the back practicing my little turns.

Now for the purple I found a Moldovan beetroot salad, that is so delicious with just the right balance of creamy texture and hint of garlic. You need to boil the beetroots but I suppose if you are "time poor" and don't actually like the people you are cooking for you could always use beetroot from a can. (Insert disapproving glare here) 

They placed 6th and I'm sure most of it was due to Gran.

 

 

Moldovan Beetroot Salad

Ingredients

• 4 Medium beetroots
• 2 garlic cloves
• 90g walnut crumbs
• 4 tablespoons mayonnaise
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• salt

Method

• Put beetroot into a medium saucepan and cover with cold salted water
• Bring the water to the boil, then reduce heat and simmer for about 25-30 minutes till the beetroots are tender
• When tender, remove beetroot from the saucepan and allow to cool
• Peel beetroot (or leave skin on) and grate into a mixing bowl
• Mince the garlic in a garlic crusher and add to beetroot
• Add remaining ingredients to the beetroot and stir to combine
• Salt to taste
• Let sit for an hour or 2 before serving (or eat straight away it's still yum)
• You can also garnish with extra walnut crumbs if you wish

 

Moldova will present O Mie sung by Aliona Moon in 2013.

noroc!

 

 

 



Don't be livered it's only mushroom

Many years ago when I was at uni, (just turned 18) I had a vegetarian coming for dinner. It was my very first vegetarian ever, what would they eat? What would we talk about? What would I wear? And would I need to give them a bath before dinner just so the other guests wouldn't be sick from the smell? OK the last point may be been a little dramatic but a meal without meat that was unheard of, what was I going to do?  

I thought OK a salad, that's vegetables, but every salad I knew was coated in a fairly decent amount of crispy bacon. There was a split second where I thought of using a can of meat substitute, but that looked remarkably like a can of Pal dog food.

In the end I found a recipe for a Chinese vegetable soup, that had fried rice squares that when added to the serving bowl hissed and sizzled for theatrical effect. That was our winner, perfect!

I spent the good part of the day in the kitchen preparing the soup. The rice needed to be cooked and shaped in a tray and then cut to size. There were also some ultra exotic vegetables involved that were a bit pricey but this was a special occasion, bok choy, oh how times have changed.

After the, what seemed like hours of finely julienning vegetables, making sure the flavours were right, and even testing the rice for appropriate sizzle, my friend arrived. (no bath was required in the enjoyment of this meal)

My friend loved the soup, the rice block spectacle was a hit and she was really appreciative for all the effort I had made.

Then things took a turn for the worse.

She said "this is so delicious, what stock did you use?" I replied "oh just a chicken stock powder, it's only a powder so doesn't have meat in it"

She requested to see the packet and low and behold 8% chicken meat and fat.

I thought I had done so well but one little naive error scored me a lecture about the poor bloody little chickens. The fact she loved the other 92% should have counted for something, normally that is a great pass mark. Well that was dinner over, and I can't remember if I had a dessert or pretended there was none just to end the evening.

So naturally I am a little more skilled when it comes to vegetarian cooking now, let me tell you about that time I cooked for a vegan........!

After the recent accusation of my "hoity toityness", I have developed a strong allergy to the highfalutin so I can guarantee this recipe is 100% Falutin free. 

Mushroom Pate on Witlof

Ingredients

• 500g mixed mushrooms, (Portobello, Swiss Brown, button, the mix is up to you)
• 5 french shallots
• 1 clove garlic
• 2 tablespoons of white wine vinegar or verjuice
• 5 sprigs of thyme
• 100g walnut crumbs
• 3-4 witlof
• 150g feta crumbled
• Olive oil

Method

• Chop mushrooms into 1/2 cm pieces
• Finely chop the shallots and garlic
• Add 4 tablespoons of olive oil to a hot fry pan
• Add the shallots and garlic and cook to soften
• Add the mushrooms and stir to ensure they are coated in the oil
• Add the vinegar or verjuice.
• Lower the temperature and let the mushrooms cook down
• Add the thyme leaves and season to taste (remembering the feta will also add some salt)
• When the mushrooms have cooked down, take off the heat and stir through the walnuts
• Let cool in the fridge
• Separate the witlof into individual leaves
• Fill the witlof leaves with the mushroom mix and sprinkle with some feta.