It's September, which can only mean one thing – it's time for a new series of the Great British Bake Off. From fudgy cakes to fruity sausage rolls, here are eight delicious recipes to get you in the baking spirit while you wait.
It's September, which can only mean one thing – it's time for a new series of the Great British Bake Off. From fudgy cakes to fruity sausage rolls, here are eight delicious recipes to get you in the baking spirit while you wait.
The bunting is up and Paul Hollywood's fiendish technical challenges are ready and waiting – that's right, Great British Bake Off is back. The popular baking show returns for its fifteenth series this month, with another group of bakers gearing up to be put through their paces in the iconic white tent. From stunning showstoppers to baking mishaps, we're ready to feast our eyes on pies, pastries, cakes and bakes in the latest outing.
While we count down the days until its return, we've been working with Doves Farm, a family-owned organic grower, miller and producer, to bring you this collection of Bake Off-inspired treats – they'll get you in the mood for the new series and help you sharpen up those baking skills before it airs (no soggy bottoms here). And don't miss our guide to this year's show, with all your need-to-knows. Happy baking!
Work up an appetite for Bake Off's bread week with these savoury, gooey tear and share rolls, packed with a satisfying onion, tomato and mozzarella filling. Light and fluffy and impossible to resist, they're the perfect centrepiece for any dinner table – whip up a batch and let the gang dig in.
Custard creams, with their smooth, creamy filling, are arguably Britain's favourite biscuits – there's nothing better for dunking, as far as we're concerned. They proved a testing technical challenge in the most recent series, but these are straightforward enough to make at home, combining a maple-spiked filling with crumbly biscuits – decorate yours with a custard cream biscuit stamp for that finishing touch.
Chocolate fudge cake has been a Bake Off icon since we first spied it on the show's opening titles. Our picture perfect version, topped with strawberries, is an absolute stunner that will go down a storm whenever you make it, but is ideal for birthdays and special occasions.
Paul Hollywood boosted the profile of south-west staple Devonshire splits when he gave them a refined twist on Bake Off, topping them with thinly-sliced strawberries (they're usually more rustic, filled with cream and jam). Here, we've used a honeyed Chantilly cream instead and finished them with a sprinkle of toasted, flaked almonds.
Prue Leith put the bakers through their paces when they took on her classic lemon meringue pie recipe during a technical challenge. Sally Abé's version is equally as impressive and simple to make at home – the finished result is a gorgeous mix of rippling, light meringue and zesty lemon curd, in a sweet pastry case.
Roulades have popped up in various guises during Bake Off, including an early chocolate number from Mary Berry. Our version is filled with a hazelnut buttercream, coated in a chocolate ganache glaze and topped with a toasted hazelnut and cinnamon crumble – a tempting dessert which tastes as good as it looks.
Lemon drizzle and Bake Off are old friends – plenty of contestants have put their own spin on the citrusy treat down the years, Mary Berry's version proved to be one of her most loved recipes and Nadiya Hussain even won season six with her wedding cake-inspired take. Here, Elly McCausland adds matcha to the classic, giving it a lovely colour and subtle earthiness.
We'll wrap up with a previous party week technical challenge that Paul Hollywood called one of his favourites – the humble sausage roll. Easy to make and always satisfying, Georgina Fuggle's take is packed with pork, apricot and apple, and finished with an apple glaze and sprinkling of fennel seeds.
Apron on and oven ready? Our baking recipe collection is this way.