the bake off bake along, week 10 (finals)

you guys. it’s been a long road these past ten weeks, but the great british bake off bake along has come to an end. i went from a completely novice baker who only made cookies to a person who made biscotti, creme brulee, a frickin’ seven layer czech cake with no sugar in it, and so many more. i learned so many baking terms. i made custard at least three different times. i would say i am no longer afraid to attempt those recipes that seem a little out there; that this baking challenge has made me realize that i can do it. i mean, if i can do a marzipan topped fruit-cake and a flawless custard, i can probably make almost any normal baking recipe, and that’s a great feeling. not only that, i did it all without an electric mixer and an unpredictable fan oven. 

let’s take a look back to how bright, tanned, and happy i look starting this challenge at the beginning of august! awwww. and then some of the rougher moments along the way… (i don’t even want to think about victorian week ever again!)

this week, i had to go with the signature bake of iced buns, a concept fairly new to me. i mean, it looks sort of like an american donut. but was it the same? only a bake would tell. i followed paul’s recipe and, once again using pumpkin, i came out with some gorgeous cardamom iced buns with chia pumpkin jam.

the creation of the bread went well and everything rose just as it should, which made me remember how much i adore a loaf of fresh homemade bread! might have to make this bread recipe again. here are the buns during their final prove, or rise before i put them in the (fan) oven for nine minutes at 200C.

after cooling the buns, the recipe calls for you to ice them then cut them and add the filling, but i found it worked much better to do it the other way around. the few buns that i iced first ended up looking very slightly sloppier than the others. but really, they turned out beautifully. i found the rolls to be absolutely light, fluffy, and generally perfect with just the right amount of cardamom icing and the rest tasted like pure pumpkin pie with whipped cream: a wonderful combination!

after inviting alex in to the kitchen for tasting… (oh boy oh boy oh boy!)… then he just sat there and made “yummy” sounds while eating it.
i can’t tell which is better: the pumpkin brownie (tart) or this donut (iced bun). (it really did taste like a donut!) the flavor and texture is all there. 

i was thrilled to go out on a good note and feel good about the day. goodbye, bake off!  the final episode of the actual program was really sweet too… i definitely got teary eyed during nadiya’s speech. i was pleased that she ended up winning.

thank you for following along on this ten week baking journey of mine! happy autumn baking season. please enjoy this triumphant gif.