The Great British Bake-Off is enthralling us all, with thousands from across Coventry and Warwickshire tuning in to see Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry critique cakes and sweet goods every Wednesday.
Now in its second week, the competition has already delivered plenty of thrills and spills as contestants succumb to tears, suffer kitchen meltdowns, and even become embroiled in a national controversy.
This week marked the return of biscuit week, with three great challenges for the eleven remaining budding bakers: biscotti in the technical, arlettes in the signature, and they were even tasked with constructing a biscuit box in the showstopper.
Below are recipes to make the goods, and we'd love to see some of your photos from your baking exploits this weekend.
Send us your pictures at james.rodger@trinitymirror.com, or tweet us via @covtelegraph using the hashtag #GBBO.
Biscotti
Ingredients for the biscotti base:
250g of plain flour, half a teaspoon of baking powder, 250g of caster sugar and 3 beaten eggs.
For variation 1: pistachio and cranberry biscotti
220g of chopped pistachios, 125g of dried cranberries, one lemon's zest
For variation 2: hazelnut and date biscotti
220g of chopped hazelnuts, 125g of dates, one lemon's zest
For variation 3: chocolate and orange biscotti
50g of melted dark chocolate, 25g of chocolate chips, 35g of chopped almonds, an orange's zest and a half teaspoon of vanilla essence
Method:
1. For the biscotti base, preheat the oven to 160C/325F/Gas 3 (do not use the fan on your oven).
2. Mix together the flour, baking powder and sugar in a bowl and add the eggs slowly to make a dough.
3. For the pistachio and cranberry biscotti, add the nuts, cranberries and lemon zest at this point.
4. For the hazelnut and date biscotti add the nuts, dates and lemon zest at this point.
5. For the chocolate, almond and orange biscotti, add the tepid melted chocolate to the base dough and mix in thoroughly before adding the chocolate chips, almonds, orange zest, and vanilla essence.
6. Knead the mixture gently and then separate and roll into two logs. Place on a lined baking tray and bake for 25 minutes in the preheated oven.
7. Cool slightly and cut into 1-2cm/½-¾in thick slices.
8. Return to the tray to the oven and bake for another 10-15 minutes, turn over and continue to bake for another 10-15 minutes until golden-brown.
Arlettes
Ingredients:
255g reversed puff pastry, sugar and cinnamon
Method:
1. Lay pastry on work surface
2. In a bowl mix the sugar and cinnamon together – 7g of cinnamon to every 300g sugar
3. Sprinkle a thin layer of sugar and cinnamon over one side of the dough
4. Flip it over and coat the other side
5. Roll the dough into a log – roll gently so dough is not too tight or loose
6. Cut into ¼ inch sections
7. Use a rolling pin to roll each section out to a large oval and sprinkle sugar and cinnamon on both sides as you roll. Constantly flip the dough over so it does not stick.
8. Rest on parchment paper for 1 hour
9. Place on baking tray and bake at 190C for 10 – 12 minutes
10. Leave to cool before removing from tray.
Sun-dried tomato cheese biscuit box
For the biscuit box:
750g of plain flour, 3 teaspoons of sea salt, 3 teaspoons of black pepper, four large eggs, two 80g tubes of sun-dried tomato puree, two teaspoons of dried oregano, and a medium beaten egg, one bottle of edible glue
Method:
1. For the biscuit box, put the flour, salt and pepper in a food processor and blend until ‘rubbed’ in.
2. In a bowl, beat the eggs with the tomato purée and oregano. Turn the processor onto a slow speed and pour in the egg mixture until combined to a dough.
3. Turn the mixture out and knead to bring together. Wrap in cling film and place in the fridge to chill for 20 minutes.
4. To construct the biscuit box, using the template, cut out four sides and two 20cm/8in squares (for the base and lid). Place on a lined baking tray. Gently crimp all the edges of the shapes and brush with beaten egg.
5. On the lid of the box, cut a small circle in the centre before baking (about 4cm/1½in wide). Bake all the box pieces for 20-30 minutes, or until golden-brown and shiny. If the biscuit shapes start to puff up, put on a sheet of parchment paper in top, followed by another baking tray to weigh down the biscuits.
6. Fit the box parts together using the edible glue and stand the box on a base or serving plate.
7. Place the lid on the top and put a bunch of parsley and chives in the hole on the lid.
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