Cooking, Baking and "The Extra Slice"
The week-end was anything but restful.
Saturday was spent baking and cooking, and Sunday at a TV studio.
On Wednesday "The Great British Bake-Off" will return to our TV screens for a 5th series, promoted from BBC2 to BBC1.
They say that it is more than just a mere programme: a cultural phenomenon.
The GBBO stands apart from other TV cookery programmes because it is done with a certain sense of humour and the people in it (presenters, judges and contestants) are really nice. In a way it is quintessentially British (I do wonder how and if the format works in other countries where it has been exported to).
This year they decided to produce an ancillary programme "The Great British Bake Off - An Extra Slice" , where a "celebrity" panel led by comedian Jo Brand discusses what happened on that week's GBBO episode, interviews the contestant kicked out that week and looks at bakes brought in by the audience.
We had decided a while ago never to go again to a TV recording but as we both love the GBBO we succumbed to the temptation.
When we got the confirmation e-mail for the tickets, we had to submit a questionnaire with pictures of some of our previous bakes and tell them what we would bring along.
On Friday I got a phone call from a researcher on the programme asking us to go earlier (12 pm instead of 2 pm) so that he could inspect our bakes. Then we would have time to go out for lunch and go back at 2:30 pm, without having to join the general queue.
So on Saturday we baked.
Adrian baked a beautiful lemon Victoria sponge decorated with dolly mixture.
I decided for a rather ambitious (and new to me!) Italian recipe: a chocolate Genoise sponge, cut in 3 layers, filled with a cream made of Italian meringue, hazelnut praline paste and Italian hazelnut wafers. Then covered in chocolate ganache and hazelnut praline.
As I couldn't find any hazelnut paste, I made the praline on Friday night, put some aside to sprinkle on the ganache and reduced the rest to paste.
I took me about 3 hours on Saturday to make the cake. The Genoise sponge doesn't have any raising agent so you need to incorporate as much air as possible to make it rise (there's no butter either; only 3 whole eggs and 8 yolks plus sugar, some flour, cornflour and cocoa powder).
I was very pleased with the result as it all worked out. The sponge rose beautifully and it was well cooked, the cream was fluffy and delicious and even the ganache turned out OK.
Yesterday we managed to get to the TV studios with the cakes intact.
We - and another 30 people or so - talked to the researcher about our cakes, and after quite a a wait to - I think - a producer who was running late.
By the time all this was done it was already 2:30 pm - no time for lunch on the South Bank.
We managed to get a couple of sandwiches before getting back in the building and going to watch this week's episode of the GBBO. By this time all the general audience was in and there were no seats left for us who had been there since 12 pm.
Adrian got a bit crossed as he was worried about my knee (we had been standing for the most of the time) and managed to get a stool for me, while he squeezed on a bench. Bless him!
We were very pleased that the show still has exactly the same format, and we loved it.
After that - and another long wait, a few people got picked and were whisked downstairs to the studio in the "bakers' area". Then it was everybody else who had been there since 12 pm and their guest; we got 2 of the last seats in the bakers' area but some of the people who had been there since the beginning ended up in the audience. I am sure that there were not pleased at all about it, as we had been promised that there were enough seats for us all!
Anyway, the recording started at around 6 pm and was quite fun.
I am sure we were not in any shots because we were sitting on the edge, partially obscured by a piece of furniture.
I would be lying if I said that I didn't mind that my cake wasn't picked.
There were some fantastic cakes and fellow bakers has put lot of time and effort in them, but at the end of the day the choice that the producers made was really all about appearances: cakes with unusual ingredients or that look like something else (or someone), and on the other end of the spectre disastrous bakes.
The taste didn't come into it at all.
We would have stood a better chance if we had decorated a cactus with black icing to resemble a (spiked) dildo!
The recording ended at about 8:30 pm (by that time we had lost the will to live!) and we got back to Penge at around 9:45 pm, went for a McDonald's on the High Street and then home, exhausted and to some extent rather disappointed.
Does anyone fancy a slice of cake? (Luckily the air con was rather icy at the studios, so our cakes were still OK when we got home. I had a big slice)
---
On Saturday apart from baking, we also hosted a dinner party.
It was a menu with a 'retro' feel.
We started with Campari cocktails (Negroni for Adrian, Michael and Christopher, and Campari Orange for lightweight me).
We had Prawn Cocktail to start with, followed by Mary Berry's Chardonnay Chicken with Artichokes.
Then a palate cleanser: a mango sorbet with lime, red chilli and an ingredient from our garden - electric daises!
(Glasses decorated with nasturtiums)
I've grown these daisies from seed. They are not beautiful flowers to look at but when you eat them, your tongue and mouth tingles and numbs (they contain a mild anaesthetic!)
For dessert we had Cherry Meringue Pots:
It was a lovely evening and Michael and Christopher were very appreciative of the food, which is always really nice.
Saturday was spent baking and cooking, and Sunday at a TV studio.
On Wednesday "The Great British Bake-Off" will return to our TV screens for a 5th series, promoted from BBC2 to BBC1.
They say that it is more than just a mere programme: a cultural phenomenon.
The GBBO stands apart from other TV cookery programmes because it is done with a certain sense of humour and the people in it (presenters, judges and contestants) are really nice. In a way it is quintessentially British (I do wonder how and if the format works in other countries where it has been exported to).
This year they decided to produce an ancillary programme "The Great British Bake Off - An Extra Slice" , where a "celebrity" panel led by comedian Jo Brand discusses what happened on that week's GBBO episode, interviews the contestant kicked out that week and looks at bakes brought in by the audience.
We had decided a while ago never to go again to a TV recording but as we both love the GBBO we succumbed to the temptation.
When we got the confirmation e-mail for the tickets, we had to submit a questionnaire with pictures of some of our previous bakes and tell them what we would bring along.
On Friday I got a phone call from a researcher on the programme asking us to go earlier (12 pm instead of 2 pm) so that he could inspect our bakes. Then we would have time to go out for lunch and go back at 2:30 pm, without having to join the general queue.
So on Saturday we baked.
Adrian baked a beautiful lemon Victoria sponge decorated with dolly mixture.
I decided for a rather ambitious (and new to me!) Italian recipe: a chocolate Genoise sponge, cut in 3 layers, filled with a cream made of Italian meringue, hazelnut praline paste and Italian hazelnut wafers. Then covered in chocolate ganache and hazelnut praline.
As I couldn't find any hazelnut paste, I made the praline on Friday night, put some aside to sprinkle on the ganache and reduced the rest to paste.
I took me about 3 hours on Saturday to make the cake. The Genoise sponge doesn't have any raising agent so you need to incorporate as much air as possible to make it rise (there's no butter either; only 3 whole eggs and 8 yolks plus sugar, some flour, cornflour and cocoa powder).
I was very pleased with the result as it all worked out. The sponge rose beautifully and it was well cooked, the cream was fluffy and delicious and even the ganache turned out OK.
Yesterday we managed to get to the TV studios with the cakes intact.
We - and another 30 people or so - talked to the researcher about our cakes, and after quite a a wait to - I think - a producer who was running late.
By the time all this was done it was already 2:30 pm - no time for lunch on the South Bank.
We managed to get a couple of sandwiches before getting back in the building and going to watch this week's episode of the GBBO. By this time all the general audience was in and there were no seats left for us who had been there since 12 pm.
Adrian got a bit crossed as he was worried about my knee (we had been standing for the most of the time) and managed to get a stool for me, while he squeezed on a bench. Bless him!
We were very pleased that the show still has exactly the same format, and we loved it.
After that - and another long wait, a few people got picked and were whisked downstairs to the studio in the "bakers' area". Then it was everybody else who had been there since 12 pm and their guest; we got 2 of the last seats in the bakers' area but some of the people who had been there since the beginning ended up in the audience. I am sure that there were not pleased at all about it, as we had been promised that there were enough seats for us all!
Anyway, the recording started at around 6 pm and was quite fun.
I am sure we were not in any shots because we were sitting on the edge, partially obscured by a piece of furniture.
I would be lying if I said that I didn't mind that my cake wasn't picked.
There were some fantastic cakes and fellow bakers has put lot of time and effort in them, but at the end of the day the choice that the producers made was really all about appearances: cakes with unusual ingredients or that look like something else (or someone), and on the other end of the spectre disastrous bakes.
The taste didn't come into it at all.
We would have stood a better chance if we had decorated a cactus with black icing to resemble a (spiked) dildo!
The recording ended at about 8:30 pm (by that time we had lost the will to live!) and we got back to Penge at around 9:45 pm, went for a McDonald's on the High Street and then home, exhausted and to some extent rather disappointed.
Does anyone fancy a slice of cake? (Luckily the air con was rather icy at the studios, so our cakes were still OK when we got home. I had a big slice)
---
On Saturday apart from baking, we also hosted a dinner party.
It was a menu with a 'retro' feel.
We started with Campari cocktails (Negroni for Adrian, Michael and Christopher, and Campari Orange for lightweight me).
We had Prawn Cocktail to start with, followed by Mary Berry's Chardonnay Chicken with Artichokes.
Then a palate cleanser: a mango sorbet with lime, red chilli and an ingredient from our garden - electric daises!
(Glasses decorated with nasturtiums)
I've grown these daisies from seed. They are not beautiful flowers to look at but when you eat them, your tongue and mouth tingles and numbs (they contain a mild anaesthetic!)
For dessert we had Cherry Meringue Pots:
It was a lovely evening and Michael and Christopher were very appreciative of the food, which is always really nice.