GREAT BLOGGERS BAKE OFF 2016 – WEEK 10 – Royal Week

Last week the BBC aired the final Great British Bake Off,as we know it. In the past fans could look forward to another series the following year, but not so this time since The Great British Bake Off will move to channel 4  and only Paul Hollywood remains from the current presenters. Regulars to Recipes Made Easy will know that over the course of the last 10 weeks, I, together with a number of other bloggers, have been baking along with the series and sharing our bakes on the blog. This week it has taken me a whole week to get my post sorted, mainly because I wanted to do something special to mark the end, like the final show stopper.

Farewell Bake Off

Personally, I  have had mixed feelings about this series. In a way I have enjoyed the move back to it being more about the bakes and less about the decorative elements, especially  for the show stoppers. Having said that, some of the  themes have seen a bit odd - Tudor week and Batter, really?   But, thanks to the Great Blogger Bake Off, I have really enjoyed the series and am sad to see it end. After all, as  a baker's daughter any excuse to bake works for me.  It has been such fun baking along, and I hope you have enjoyed my Bake Off inspired bakes too. Along my Blogger Bake Off journey I have been delighted to get Star Baker two times but the real added bonus for me was  making some new blogging friends along the way. - Do  follow the link at the bottom to see what the others bloggers have done this week. Finally, a big thank you to Jenny at Mummy Mishaps for organising the Bake Off.

 

The Final show stopper

As I watched the final last week the question, what to make for my final Bloggers Bake Off was never far from my mind. At first I thought I should  go for the show stopper if at all possible as it was the final. But when we got to the final show stopper, it wasn't all about how artistic you are with your bakes but the fact that contestants had to make not one but 5 bakes in 5 hours! A picnic spread fit for the queen consisting of sweet and savoury tarts, scones, sausage rolls and a celebration chocolate cake (apparently she likes chocolate cake).  On second thought I wasn't so sure I wanted to do the show stopper after all!

The first challenge was to make a meringue crown, and that's more like it! I like meringues and I had an idea.  The second technical challenge was to make a Victoria sandwich which sounds easy enough, but the challenge was in the instructions which were - make a Victoria sandwich. Now I do like a Victoria sandwich and I will post a recipe for it on Recipes Made Easy someday for those who don't know how to make it, but it just didn't feel right for my final Bake Off bake.

For several days, I made up my mind only to change it again.  I really wanted to do the final show stopper but a picnic at this time of year just doesn't work for me!  Then it dawned on me that these picnic bakes would also make great party bakes and the festive season is not far off. And so  it was decided that it would be the final show stopper after all.

 

My Final Show Stopper Menu

Beetroot, Onion and Goats Cheese Tarts

Pork and Cranberry Sausage Rolls

Haloumi and Mint Scones

Mini Jeweled Filo Tartlets

Chocolate Celebration Cake

 

Since I can't possible fit all the recipes and pictures into one post and still do them justice, I shall be posting the  recipes over the next few weeks. This way you will still have all the recipes in time for Christmas. Starting with the chocolate cake today. I will pop back  and update this post with the links to the other recipe as I add them.

The chocolate celebration cake

Based on a cake from my What's Cooking Chocolate cookbook, I added an extra layer. Inspired by Candice's orange layer in her bake, but hazelnut instead.  Covered and filled with a rich chocolate ganache encased in a decorated dark chocolate collar.  This cake is seriously chocolaty. I mean there is a LOT of chocolate in it. Definitely a celebration cake!  Check out the recipe here.

Beetroot, onion and goats cheese tarts

These delicious savoury tarts not only make great party or picnic food, they would also make a pretty starter or a light vegetarian meal. We enjoyed these yesterday with a salad and some homemade oven roasted chips.

Pork and Cranberry Sausage rolls

If, like me, you think you don't like sausage rolls much as they tend to be tasteless, think again. I made the sausagemeat with mince pork flavoured with herbs and filled with my own homemade cranberry sauce. These are really good sausage rolls worth the effort of making. I used ready rolled puff pastry sheets to save time but you could use homemade shortcrust pastry if you prefer.

Haloumi and mint scones

Scones are really easy to make and this is a great flavour combination for a savoury scone with a difference.  Best eaten on the day they are made. Serve split and spread with butter. They would also be delicious with a bowl of soup.

Mini jewelled filo tartlets

For my fruit tartlets I used filo pastry and filled them with a lemon flavoured mascarpone cream and topped with fruit. I like to use seasonal fruit and think the pomegranate seeds on top look so pretty just like jewels.

and Finally

I hope you like my final show stopper spread and I just couldn't resist the temptation for some more baking. I made a meringue crown too

 

Thank you once again Jenny for hosting The Great Bloggers Bake Off and all the other bloggers who have taken part your bakes have been amazing.  It's been such fun!