(S3E1) Cake Week

The Show Stopper

Just as a reminder, I had to skip the rest of season 1 and skip all of season 2 because it is unavailable now. So, instead of stressing about working on these two seasons, I am just moving to season 3 (aired in 2012). If you want to follow along, you can find this season on Netflix: "The Great British Baking Show: The Beginnings".

Signature Challenge: Pineapple and Raspberry Upside Down Cake

Upside Down Cake: Simple sponge with fruit baked on the "top" of the cake. Really, the fruit is placed on the bottom of the pan with the cake batter spread over it, and then when the cake is done and flipped, the fruit becomes the top.

Rule: You can use any fruits, but the fruit is the most important part, it must not become mushy.

Rule: The bake is crucial: The top has to roast and the cake needs to cook properly creating a cake that is moist, light, and full of flavor.

Time Limit: 2 hours

Also, so you know, instead of me stressing about trying to get photos while doing my challenge my boyfriend, Michael, was able to take my photos for this bake. I know that does not sound like it would save me much time, but I promise, it does.

Ready. Set. Bake!

2 hours left -

When I think of an upside down cake I think of a pineapple upside down cake.

I have never made one and I can't even remember the last time I had one. But, we are going to make this one a little more exciting by adding some raspberries!

I start chopping my fresh pineapple and realize how irritating it is.

I don't know if I am doing it wrong, but wow!

Why would I choose fresh pineapple?

Oh yeah, because it seems better when you use all fresh ingredients.

Or is that just in my head?

Anyway...

1 hour and 40 minutes left -

The pineapple has been copped!

Finally...

Now I need to get my pan prepared for my fruit and batter.

I add my sugar into the cake pan, add a few pieces of pineapple, and then realize I screwed up.

1 hour and 30 minutes left -

I forgot to melt my butter and add it to the pan before adding the sugar and pineapple.

There is not a quick fix for this, so I need to just work fast.

I take the pineapple back out of the pan, thankfully I had only added a few pieces at this time, and take all the sugar back out too.

I melt my butter quickly, add it to the pan, and literally start tossing the sugar into the pan.

1 hour 15 minutes left -

I have finally added all the pineapple back into the pan and it looks awesome.

I decided that I didn't want to just add every day raspberries to this cake, but I wanted to add boozy raspberries.

I mash the raspberries, add a little rum, and mix.

Oh my goodness, it is absolutely delicious.

There is a part of me that just wants to grab a spoon and eat this tasty bowl of sour and sweet and boozy. However, I don't have enough raspberries to make a second batch and I really really want to taste the final product.

1 hour and 5 minutes left -

The pineapple and raspberries are finally added, now to prepare the cake batter!

1 hour left -

My butter is frozen.

No joke.

I knew I was going to be baking, so I pulled the butter out of the freezer and placed it in the fridge; however, I only pulled the butter out of the freezer just an hour ago. So, it is not just cold, but it's also still frozen.

50 minutes left -

I decide to get my dry ingredients mixed together while my butter sits out and that was truly the best choice I could have made, because my boyfriends apartment is so warm that the butter has softening pretty quickly.

Wooh!

47 minutes left -

The butter is still slightly cold in the middle, but I am able to warm it up with my hands enough to be able to cream it and start adding the eggs.

42 minutes left -

I need to get the batter in the oven quick because this cake still needs to bake for at least 30 minutes.

I spoon the dry ingredients together with the wet ingredients and add the milk until a nice thick batter is made.

I don't want to over mix it, so I use a spatula to mix everything together.

It is a lot better for the cake, but a lot harder form my arm.

We all know the cake is way more important.

35 minutes left -

Once my batter is mixed well enough, I am able to spoon it over top the pineapple and raspberries.

I need to smooth it out, so the cake will bake evenly.

However, I feel I have added too much booze to the raspberries because the red has oozed out around the batter...

30 minutes left -

Not much I can do about it now other then hope it bakes okay, so I toss it in the oven.

10 minutes left -

The cake is not yet done and I am supposed to let it rest for at least 15 minutes before turning it over.

I don't think I am going to get the chance to let it rest...

2 minutes left -

I have decided that I am not going to flip this cake, I am instead going to keep it in the pan. I know Paul and Mary would not be happy with this, but I don't want to risk the cake falling apart.

I am going to wait for the last 30 seconds to pull the cake out so I can give the cake the longest in the oven.

30 seconds left -

The cake is out and again, I am not going to flip it. Really not worth the risk for me.

I may have thought differently in the tent, but standing in this kitchen now, I really really really don't want to.

This is pretty disappointing.

But, the good news, I am positive the cake will be delicious.

The Tasting

Sadly, what I would have presented to Paul and Mary is an upside down cake, upside down because I was unable to flip it.

If you were unable to understand that the first time, reread it slower. I typed it and it was a little weird for me to read as well.

However, because I am eating this with my boyfriend and don't want to cut this cake in the pan, so I am serving it right side up.

Now that I have flipped the cake, I know it was the right choice not to flip it right out of the oven because the top is not stable.

The good thing is is I know what I would do differently.

Instead of filling all of the gaps with the raspberries, I would have left some of the edges free and tapped the cake on the counter to force some cake batter in-between the pineapple and raspberries. This would have caused the pineapples and raspberries to bake into the cake instead of just being a layer on top.

After cutting it up, I am a little worried that the cake may not be baked through...

A little more disappointed, the cake is not baked through. It needed maybe about 5 more minutes.

However, the flavor is really good. The raspberries with rum and the pineapple match perfectly together. It has to be one of the best upside down cakes I have ever had.

However, I don't know if I can say that because like I said before, I don't remember the last time I had an upside down cake...

But, no matter, it tastes awesome.

Too bad I didn't have the time to flip the cake over and it was not baked through. I know Paul and Mary would have not been happy with the outcome of the cake, but I don't know who would have not been happy with the pineapple and raspberry mixture on top.

Now to the next bake!

Technical Bake: Paul Hollywood's Rum Baba

Rule: Make 4 Rum Baba's with cream in the middle and perfectly sliced fruit on the top.

Rule: Same recipe and same ingredients as the bakers on the show.

Exception: I don't have double cream, so I will be using heavy whipping cream and mascarpone.

Instructions:

1. Mix eggs, flour, sugar, yeast, and butter until they come together.

2. Knead

3. Proof until doubled

4. Line the forms with butter and sugar

5. Pipe into forms and then proof again

6. Bake in a hot oven

7. Make syrup - sugar, water, and rum

8. Make cream and chop the fruit

8. Soak Rum Baba and then fill with cream and topped with fruit

Time Limit: 3 hours

Ready. Set. Bake!

What the hell is a rum baba?

This time around, I decided I was not going to watch the episode through to the end, I instead skipped through it because I wanted to see how I was going to do on a technical challenge without knowing what the outcome should be.

Lets get started!

Thankfully I have some helpful instructions.

3 hours left -

Step 1, mix all the ingredients together. Easy enough.

The dough looks a little weird, but I add the butter and start on step 2. Knead.

2 hours 45 minutes left -

So sticky. So so so sticky.

Unbelievable sticky.

I can not say sticky enough.

I have never experienced such a sticky dough and kneading it is like playing with glue.

2 hours and 30 minutes left -

I can't knead this dough anymore. I don't know if it is supposed to stiffen, but the texture is not changing at all and it is just too sticky.

I'm just going to move on to step 3 and cover and hope this lovely sticky beast rises.

2 hours left -

Not even close to doubling.

I think...

I am not really sure.

It is such a weird dough that the only reason I notice the yeast has been working was a giant air bumbles in the dough.

But I am not going to lie, I was not sure if I put the air bubble in there when I first put the dough in the bowl...

I'll let is sit for 10 or 15 minutes longer to see if anything else changes.

While I let the batter sit, I start on step 4, prepare the bake-ware to move onto step 5, pipe the batter into them.

But, before we continue with the bake, I want to tell you a little story.

My boyfriend and I don't own a Rum Baba pan. Neither of us know what a Rum Baba pan is.

So, we went on a little adventure.

I looked online to see what a Rum Baba looked like.

I know, I am not supposed to go looking for answers, but because I do all this on my own, I need to figure out some details; like what pan I should be using.

What I found, it looks like a muffin cup, but deeper.

So, we are standing in Kaufland, a large German grocery store that also has a bunch of other household items, and we find these flan cups. Not Rum Baba cups because I don't even know if those are real.

However, these are not exactly what we are looking for, but it is our best option. That is all we can do.

However, as I flip through the show, I realize I have the wrong bake-ware. Instead of deep muffin cups, I need pans that look like bundt pans, but much smaller.

As you can tell, I don't know the names of these pans..

But, back to our original problem, I need new bake-ware, again.

We decide to go to Ikea and while there, we looked around to see if we could find the right pan. A real Rum Baba pan first.

Unfortunately, no luck.

However, we did find some small round cake pans where we could put the flan cups in the middle to create our own Rum Baba pan.

Not perfect, but it is better than nothing.

Now, lets get back to the bake.

1 hour and 45 minutes left -

The batter has not changed at all, so I am just going to move forward and hope my yeast is happy and my dough is airy.

I fill the piping back with the dough and pipe a beautiful ring into the make-shift Rum Baba pans.

As you can tell, I only have 3, not 4. Unfortunately, my make-shift pans are a little bigger than normal Rum Baba pans, so we work with what we got. Right?

1 hour and 30 minutes left -

Now, to let them rest again!

I don't believe these would take very long to bake, so I am going to let them rest for at least another 30 minutes.

43 minutes left -

I got super distracted...

But these Rum Baba's look absolutely amazing!

I was not sure if they were rising before hand, but they definitely rose this time.

I move onto step 6 and I toss the Rum Baba's in the oven and move onto step 7 and 8; I start my syrup and my cream filling.

The great thing about the syrup is that I can let it boil while I work on the cream.

I toss the water, rum, and sugar into a pan and put it on the stove.

As I wait for the syrup to boil, I start mixing my cream.

Thankfully, it does not take long to make; however, I could not find double cream at the grocery store, so I had to make my own (heavy whipping cream and mascarpone).

Well, definitely makes the challenge more exciting, right?

Also more challenging...

31 minutes left -

Like I said, the cream does not take long to make, thankfully!

And the syrup is boiling!

But I am going to let the syrup boil a little longer and reduce some more before taking it off the stove.

18 minutes left -

Rum Baba's are done!

However, they are a mess!

The cups did not work out the way I had hoped.

However, they smell amazing and there is still a hole in the middle like I was aiming for, and that is all that matters.

Just not as pretty as they should be.

But again, they are light and fluffy, and smell of sweetness and absolute joy!

I got to get moving though, because I am running out of time...

11 minutes left -

(It took me some time to get the cakes out because the cups were baked into the Rum Baba's, that is where I lost those 7 minutes.)

I have to soak these beautiful baked goods and the only way I could think of doing that is putting the Rum Baba's back in the pan I baked them in and spooning the syrup over them.

As I let the Rum Baba's soak, I go through the fruit we have in the fridge and see that we only have leftover raspberries and pineapple from the first cake.

Definitely did not plan that out...

But, we have to use what we got!

4 minutes left -

The Rum Baba's feel soaked through and they seem pretty cooled down.

I want to make sure they are not warm at all because the cream would melt right through the Rum Baba and that would not be good.

I transfer them to a plate real fast.

I plop the cream into the middle of the Rum Baba's because I don't have the time to pipe the cream beautifully.

Once filled, I add the raspberries and pineapple to the top.

1 minute left-

They are filled and look great, but I decide I want to sprinkle a little powder sugar on the top.

I'm not sure if that is what we are supposed to do, but I made the executive decision.

15 seconds left -

Done.

I mean it.

I am actually done on time!

I think this is the first bake I have ever finished on time and have not questioned if I've missed something.

Woooh!

The Tasting:

Oh my gosh.

These are so fricken delicious.

(You can thank Michael for the photo above!)

I am going to go out to the store, or maybe online, to search for some Rum Baba pans because I want to be able to make these again. I want to be able to share these delicious beauties because they are so awesome and I want others people to experience the Rum Baba life.

However, as I explained before, I only have 3 and not 4.

So, if Paul was judging this, I know he would have said something about how I only made 3.

But, we all know, if I were actually baking this challenge in the tent, I would have been provided with the right tools.

But that is okay. Like I said before, it makes the challenge a little more exciting.

I do have to say, I am also a little excited for the time where I have the right tools to bake what I need to bake. That will be an extremely exciting day!

Now, to the last bake. The hidden design bake.

I have never done a bake like this.

And I am not practicing.

Wish me good luck!

Show Stopper:

Rule: Bake a hidden design cake

Rule: Must be something special and fun

Rule: Use any cake recipe.

Time Limit: 5 hours

I decided to take the easy way out and make the same cake recipe I did for the Pineapple upside down cake.

One of the bakers, John, says "Stress in baking tastes terrible", and I don't want it to taste terrible.

So...the only goal I have is, don't make a terrible cake.

Ready. Set. Bake!

5 hours left -

I have to figure out what I am going to do.

I want to do a checkerboard cake, but I need to make a pattern and I need to figure out how I am going to bake the cake.

I know, you just asked, what? What do you mean you have to figure out how to bake the cake?

Well, because I am in Germany, I don't have all the baking tools I normally do and my boyfriend is not really a baker.

(Remember when I said, about 26 lines up, how exiting it would be to have all the tools I need?...)

Well, let's see what we can find.

4 hours left -

Ahhhh! I have wasted an hour. What am I doing?

Well, I found a small pan and we are going to work with what we got.

3 hours and 58 minutes left -

Thankfully, it is an extremely easy batter.

All I need to do is add the color!

3 hours and 35 minutes left -

The batter is beautifully yellow.

I spoon the batter into the baking dish and toss the cake into the oven.

Perfect! One down!

2 hours and 42 minutes left -

First cake out!

I have not started the second batter yet, but that is okay because I only have 1 baking dish and I need the first cake to cool before I can even pull it out.

2 hours and 38 minutes left -

Crap, I realized I put a cup of sugar in the first cake and I was only supposed to put 3/4th of a cup. I hope we can't taste it...

I need to finish the second cake though, so I am not going to worry about right now.

I keep reminding myself what John said, stress baking taste terrible.

I am not stressed.

I am not stressed.

I am not stressed...

2 hours and 33 minutes left -

Second batter done and colored!

I am so happy that I used the easier batter from my upside down cake.

I flip the first cake out of the pan onto a cooling rack (a round one because that is all Michael has) and spoon the next batter into the cake pan.

Wooh!

2 hours and 25 minutes left -

Second cake in the oven and first one cooling.

Perfect!

1 hour and 45 minutes left -

Second cake out of the oven and now cooling.

However, knowing that these cakes take about 40 minutes to bake, I don't feel confident in making more layers and having them cool in time, so this cake will only be two layers.

Bummer.

Thankfully I will still have a hidden design.

Now, I still need to make the frosting, cut the cake, build the cake, frost the cake, and serve.

We are almost there, but time is going by fast...

1 hour and 30 minutes left -

The second cake is still pretty hot.

I'm going to get the frosting completed and hopefully by the time I finish that, I can start cutting into the cakes.

1 hour and 10 minutes left -

Good news - the frosting is ready!

However, the cakes are still cooling.

55 minutes left -

I need to get this build started.

I chop off the tops of the cake to make them flat and I am so pleased with the color!

I also prepare the template to cut the cake.

45 minutes left -

The cakes seem to be cooled enough to cut, so time to get started!

Little by little things are coming apart.

But just so I can put them back together.

And make the other cake as well.

15 minutes left -

After putting everything together I realize I should have cut off the sides of the cake...

They are darker than the rest of the cake and they are harder.

Oh well, I don't want to create a weak structure for the cake, so I am going to have to leave it.

I slather the frosting along the bottom layer and transfer the top layer onto the frosted half.

7 minutes left -

I feel like I am running out of frosting...Hopefully I can cover the whole thing.

3 minutes left -

This cake does not look pretty

At all.

I have a little extra frosting, so I am going to try to beautify the cake.

30 seconds left -

I failed at beatifying this cake...

My new slogan for this challenge, "Oh well".

I hope it at least tastes alright.

Sure does look interesting!

(Photo credit: Michael!)

The Tasting:

As you probably noticed, this cake does not look like my original showstopper drawing.

I mean, I didn't have the round cake pan I thought I would. I was unable to make as many layers as I would have preferred. I also realized I should have put something in between the colors too in each layer to make them stick together, but it is too late for that.

But, to the real tasting; not too bad, but not perfect either.

The frosting is too sweet.

Unfortunately, I have a cold, so I don't know if the flavor tastes too sweet because of that or if it is actually too sweet.

The cake itself has a pretty good flavor. It is a simple cake, but it is fluffy and tasty.

I do have to admit, I am disappointed on the outside of the cake. I wish I would have removed the sides; it would have made this cake just a little better.

I do believe Paul and Mary would have not been happy with this outcome.

This was a very good learning experience though. I know exactly what I would do in the future if I were to make this cake again.

Too bad I didn't practice...

For next time:

I will definitely need to prepare my baking weeks a lot better. Especially because in just a few months I will be baking full time in Germany.

Yes, you read that right!

I will be moving to Germany in June.

However, I am sure we all have learned, no matter how sweet my boyfriend is, his apartment is not prepared for my baking and he does not currently have the bake-ware I need to do all my challenges. But that just means I need to prepare.

Thankfully I will be baking bread week at my apartment where I have all my tools and ingredients I will need.

Want to know something funny? I am not as excited about this bread week as I was for last bread week. Probably because I have realized how much work it is...

However, Michael reminded me of one thing; I am excited to eat the bread!