From cookies ‘n’ cream ice cream to layered cake – here’s how to create stand-out Bake Off recipes for £1 per serving
THE Great British Bake Off starts on Tuesday with Cake Week, culminating in a challenge to create a sponge showstopper.
While the contestants will sweat over their bakes, keen to bag one of judge Paul Hollywood’s coveted handshakes, food author and blogger Jane Dunn says creating a stand-out cake can be easy.
Having started her blog, Jane’s Patisserie, in 2014, she has amassed more than a million followers, including Stacey Solomon and Mrs Hinch.
Her legion of fans love the crafty ways to make baking easy and affordable.
Jane, 29, from Portsmouth, right, says: “You don’t need to spend loads of time and money creating star-worthy bakes when mine are Hollywood Handshake-worthy.
“Sometimes, Bake Off can make things look very complicated. But you’ll have lots more time baking at home – and you won’t have judges watching so there’s less pressure. Even if the last time you baked, you burnt it, you can still create something fabulous if you follow my tips.”
READ MORE ON BAKE OFF
Here, Jane shares nifty versions of six Bake Off themes – each for less than £1 per serving – and offers handy hints on them.
- Jane’s Patisserie Celebrate! by Jane Dunn (£20, Ebury Press) is out now.
CAKE WEEK: Funfetti cake
Serves 12+
Total cost: £11.55
Cost per serving: 96p
Most read in The Sun
MAKE sure the butter is at room temperature so it is easy for you to mix.
And save money on fancy piping bags by using the back of a warm spoon to swirl the butter icing on top of the cake.
You could also replace the sprinkles with chocolate chips, or frozen, fresh or even freeze-dried fruit to create great colours in the sponge.
Prep: 30 minutes
Bake: 30–35 minutes
Cool: 2 hours
Decorate: 1 hour
Lasts: 2–3+ days, in the fridge
YOU NEED:
- 400g unsalted butter
- 400g caster sugar
- 400g self-raising flour
- 8 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 100–120g funfetti sprinkles (supermarket sprinkles won’t hold their colour as well when baked, I use good-quality sprinkles from specialist cake decorating suppliers.)
To decorate:
- 300g unsalted butter
- 600g icing sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
METHOD: Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan and line three 20cm springform cake tins with parchment paper. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
Add the flour, eggs and vanilla extract to the mix, and beat again until smooth.
Add the funfetti sprinkles and fold through with a spatula.
Divide the mixture evenly between the three tins and bake in the oven for 30-35 minutes, or until a cocktail stick or skewer inserted into the middle of the cakes comes out clean.
Leave to cool in the tins for 10-15 mins, then turn out on to a wire rack to cool fully. For the decoration, in a large bowl, beat the butter for a couple of minutes to loosen it and make it lighter.
Add the icing sugar a little at a time and mix well to combine. Add the vanilla extract and beat again. If the mixture feels really stiff, add 1-2 tbsp of boiling water.
Transfer the mixture to a piping bag with a jumbo round piping tip fitted. Pipe buttercream on to one of the sponge layers, stack the second sponge layer on top and repeat.
Finally, add the third sponge layer and pipe over the remaining buttercream. Scatter funfetti sprinkles over the cake and enjoy.
BREAD WEEK: Homemade crumpets
Makes 8
Total cost: 48p
Cost per serving: 6p
IF you don’t have crumpet rings, you can replace them with something like cookie cutters or egg poachers.
Just make sure they can contain the mixture, and that you grease them the same. It will work.
Prep: 30 minutes
Prove: 20 minutes
Cook: 15 minutes
Cool: 30 minutes
Lasts: 2-3 days
YOU NEED:
- 175g plain flour
- 225ml warm water
- ½ tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- Pinch of caster sugar
- 5g dried yeast
- 25g unsalted butter, at room temperature, for greasing
METHOD: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, warm water and salt for 1-2 minutes.
Add the baking powder, sugar and yeast and whisk for another minute.
Cover the bowl with cling film and leave the mixture to sit in a warm place for 20 minutes. Put a large, flat frying pan over a medium-high heat.
Grease three or four 9cm crumpet rings with the butter and place the rings on to the pan. Ladle crumpet batter into the rings so they are half full.
Heat at medium-high heat (level 7/9 on my hob) for 1½ minutes, and then reduce the heat to medium-low (level 4/9) and cook for a further 3-4 minutes.
During the cooking time, bubbles should appear on the surface of the crumpets and they should start to come away from the edges of the rings.
Remove the rings carefully, flip the crumpets over and cook for another 30 seconds before removing from the pan. Leave to cool.
To serve, toast the crumpets for 2-3 minutes, spread on some butter and enjoy.
CHOCOLATE WEEK: Chocolate bark
Makes 15
Total cost: £5.66
Cost per serving: 38p
THEY love to “temper” (heating and then cooling) chocolate on Bake Off. But while it might be fancy, I think mine tastes just as good.
You can change the ingredients to suit a theme like Christmas, or choose somebody’s favourite colours.
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 5 minutes
Set: 2 hours
Lasts: 4-5+ days, in the fridge
YOU NEED:
- 300g white chocolate
- ¼ tsp oil-based food colouring
- 25g mini marshmallows
- 75g sugar-coated chocolate beans (I use Smarties)
- 10g freeze-dried raspberries
- 75g sweets (to decorate)
METHOD: Line a large rectangular baking tray (23 x 33cm) with parchment paper. In a small heatproof bowl, break the white chocolate into pieces and melt in the microwave in short bursts or over a pan of simmering water until smooth.
Pour 100g of the melted white chocolate into a separate bowl and mix in the oil-based food colouring until combined.
Pour the remaining melted white chocolate into the tray and spread out evenly to about 1cm thick.
Drizzle the coloured chocolate over the top and use the end of a cake skewer to swirl the chocolate together, creating a marbled pattern.
Scatter over the marshmallows, sugar-coated chocolate beans, freeze-dried raspberries and other sweets and chill in the fridge for 2 hours until set. Cut or break into around 15 shards and enjoy.
DESSERT WEEK: Cookies ’n’ cream ice cream
Serves 12
Total cost: £5.14
Cost per serving: 43p
YOU can use any biscuits with this, just pick your favourite. Even stale biscuits will work.
Or flavour it with a swirl of chocolate spread, jam, peanut butter . . . anything in the cupboards you need to use up. This ice cream keeps for months in the freezer.
Prep: 15 minutes
Freeze: 4 hours
Lasts: 3+ months, in the freezer
YOU NEED:
- 600ml double cream
- 397g tin condensed milk
- 150g cookies and cream biscuits, crushed to a fine crumb (I use Oreos)
- 150g cookies and cream biscuits, chopped/quartered
METHOD: In a large bowl, add the double cream and condensed milk.
Whisk until smooth and even.
Continue to whisk until the mixture starts to thicken – it doesn’t need to be extremely thick, it just needs to be smooth and starting to thicken. Add the finely crushed biscuits to the cream mixture.
Add a third of the mixture to a container – I use a 900g loaf tin – and swirl through a third of the chopped/quartered biscuits.
Repeat twice more so all the biscuits are used up. Put the tin in the freezer until frozen and firm.
PASTRY WEEK: Cheese pesto whirls
Makes 16
Total cost: £3.29
Cost per serving: 21p
MAKING puff pastry yourself could take 5-6 hours. It is more than anyone has to spare, so I use shop-bought pastry.
It is cheap, a fantastic shortcut and is just as good as you can make. With this recipe, you can also replace the pesto with whatever you have around – tomato puree works great, too.
Prep: 30 minutes
Bake: 12-14 minutes
Chill: 30 minutes
Cool: 15+ minutes
Lasts: 2-3+ days, in the fridge
YOU NEED:
- Plain flour (for dusting)
- 350g ready-made puff pastry
- 40g red pesto
- 50g Parmesan, finely grated
- 100g mature Cheddar, finely grated
METHOD: Preheat the oven to 220C/200C fan and line two large trays with parchment paper. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the pastry into a large rectangle until it is 3-4mm thick.
Spread the red pesto evenly on to the pastry. Sprinkle the Parmesan and Cheddar on to the pesto and press down slightly. From long side to long side, roll up the pastry tightly into a long sausage shape.
If the pastry is a bit soft by this point, chill in the fridge for 30 minutes. Remove and cut the pastry sausage into 1cm-wide slices with a sharp knife to form the cheese pesto whirls and lay on to the lined baking trays.
Bake in the oven for 12-14 minutes until golden brown. Leave to cool for 15 minutes and enjoy warm or cool fully and enjoy them cold.
BISCUIT WEEK: Shortbread hearts
Makes 15
Total cost: £3.50
Cost per serving: 25p
SHORTBREAD is much easier than people think, so don’t be scared of it. You can freeze half the batch to save for another occasion.
And use whatever you like to decorate – butter icing, chocolate spread – whatever you have to smother all over it.
Prep: 15 minutes
Chill: 30 minutes
Bake: 15-20 minutes
Cool: 1 hour
Decorate: 30 minutes
Lasts: 3-4+ days, at room temperature
YOU NEED:
- 200g unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 100g caster sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
- 300g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
- To decorate (optional):
- 125g white chocolate
- 125g milk chocolate
- Sprinkles
TO MAKE: Line two baking trays with parchment paper. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the flour and beat until a smooth dough is formed.
Turn out on to a lightly floured work surface and roll out the dough until 1cm thick. Using a 7cm heart cutter, cut out the cookies and carefully transfer them to the lined trays using a thin spatula.
Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan. Sprinkle a little extra caster sugar over the chilled shortbread hearts and bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes, or until light golden.
Leave to cool fully on the trays. To decorate, melt the white chocolate in one heatproof bowl and the milk chocolate in another in short bursts in the microwave, or set the bowls over a pan of simmering water.
Read More on The Sun
Dip one half of each shortbread into either the melted white chocolate or milk chocolate. Once dipped, lay the shortbread hearts back on to the baking trays and drizzle over any leftover chocolate.
Scatter over some sprinkles and return them to the fridge to set.