The tension is really ramping up now in The Great British Bake Off as the contestants scraped through quarter-final week.
Patisserie week's challenges are always monumental, and BBC One's favourite baking contest took delight in keeping Coventry and Warwickshire residents on the edge of their seats last night.
Contestants were tasked with creating Cream horns, Mokatines, and a remarkably tough Éclairs tower.
Below are some recipes in case you wanted to get involved with the action. Do you have what it takes to impress Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry?
Send us your pictures at james.rodger@trinitymirror.com, or tweet us via @covtelegraph using the hashtag #GBBO.
Cream horns
Ingredients: Puff pastry, 1 egg, 1 teaspoon water, Powdered sugar, 1 cup of cream, whipped OR custard, 1 tablespoon sugar, Fresh fruit (clementine segments, kiwi, strawberries, blueberries)
Method:
- Grease 8 cream horn metal cones.
- Roll out the puff pastry and cut into 1/2-inch wide strips.
- Wind the pastry around the cone from the point and overlap slightly to cover the cone with a spiral of pastry.
- Freeze in an airtight container.
- Preheat oven to 200C
- Whisk the egg with the water and lightly brush pastry with the egg wash.
- Shake powdered sugar over the cones ans place them seam side down on a baking tray lined with parchment paper.
- Bake 20 minutes or until golden brown.
- Let the pastry cool on the cones completely and then remove.
- Whip the cream with the 1 tablespoon sugar until stiff, then chill.
- Cut up the fruit.
- Pipe whipped cream (or custard if you prefer) into the pastry to fill them and place on a dessert plate.
- Garnish the cornucopia with the fruit and dust with powdered sugar.
Mokatines
Ingredients: 40g butter, three large eggs, 75g of caster sugar, 65g of self-raising flour, 1 level tablespoon of cornflour
For the crème au beurre moka: 40g caster sugar, 2 tablespoons of water, 1 large egg yolk, 75g softened butter, 1 tablespoon coffee essence
For the soft coffee icing: 3 tablespoons of apricot jam, 50g butter, 3 tablespoons of milk, 1 level tablespoon instant coffee granules, 225g sifted icing sugar
Method:
- Pre-heat the oven to 180C/Fan 160C/Gas 4. Grease an 18cm (7in) shallow square cake tin then line the base with baking parchment
- To make the sponge, gently melt the butter in a pan, then set to one side to cool slightly. Measure the eggs and sugar into a large bowl and whisk at full speed until the mixture is pale and mousse-like, and thick enough so that a trail is left when the whisk is lifted from the mixture
- Sift the flours together in a bowl. Carefully fold half the flour into the egg mixture, gently pour half the cooled butter around the edge of the mixture and then fold in. Repeat with the remaining flour and butter. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin
- Bake in the pre-heated oven for about 35-40 minutes or until well risen and the top of the cake springs back when lightly pressed with a finger. Leave to cool in the tin for a few minutes then turn out, peel off the parchment and finish cooling on a wire rack
- To make the crème au buerre moke (coffee butter cream), measure the sugar and water into a small heavy-based pan. Heat very gently until the sugar has dissolved. Bring to the boil then boil steadily 2-3 minutes until the syrup is still clear and forms a slim thread when pulled apart between 2 teaspoons
- Put the egg yolks into a bowl and give them a quick stir to break them up. Pour the syrup in a thin stream over the yolks, whisking all the time. Continue to whisk until the mixture is thick and cold. In another bowl, cream the butter until very soft and gradually beat in the egg yolk mixture. Stir in the coffee essence to flavour
- Cut the cold cake in half horizontally and sandwich the slices together with a thin layer of the coffee butter cream. Trim the cake edges and then neatly cut in half, and then cut each half into 4 to 8 oblongs. Sieve the apricot jam into a small pan and warm gently. Brush the top and sides of the cake with the hot apricot jam
- To make the coffee icing, measure the butter, milk and coffee into a small pan and heat gently until the butter has melted. Add the sifted icing sugar and beat until smooth and glossy. Leave to thicken slightly, then use most of the cream to pour over each cake, smoothing the sides quickly if necessary. Leave to set and then decorate with the remaining piped coffee butter cream.
Éclairs
Ingredients: 2 large eggs, 1 large egg white, 70g of butter, 30g of whole milk, 90g of water, 6g of sugar, half a teaspoon of salt, 70g of flour
Method:
- Preheat the oven to 230°C/gas mark 8
- Beat the eggs in a small bowl and set aside. Measure the flour so you have it on hand when you need it
- In a medium saucepan, bring the butter, milk, water, sugar and salt to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally. When the liquid is boiling, remove from the heat and tip in the flour. Stir until combined, then return to the heat, stirring constantly, until the dough is slightly shiny
- Add the dough to a food processor or stand mixer and mix for a few seconds to bring down the temperature. With the machine still on, add the eggs a little at a time until they have all been absorbed and the dough is smooth and sticky. Scrape the dough into a disposable piping bag and twist the open plastic end to close.
- Line a baking sheet with greaseproof paper. Cut a 2cm wide piece off the piping end of the bag
- Pipe eight 2.5cm x 10cm strips (the dough will pipe a little wider than the cut end) onto the baking paper, leaving a gap of at least 3cm between each éclair. You may need more than one baking sheet
Put the éclairs in the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Turn the oven down to 190°C/gas mark 5 and continue to bake until they are golden brown, about 8-10 minutes more. To check if they are done, press one of the éclairs – it shouldn’t be squishy, rather firm to the touch.
- Remove the éclairs from the oven and use a sharp knife to poke a hole in the side of each tube – this is to allow the steam to escape.
- Turn off the oven and return the éclairs to the cooling oven. Prop the door open with a wooden spoon or similar tool and leave the shells to dry out – about 45 minutes. They should be very slightly moist when they are ready, but not at all soft. Cool completely on a cake rack
