It’s been quite a while since either Em or I updated anything on here and the Great British Bake Off being back on has kicked me into action again! It’s not because we haven’t been baking, just that we have both been so busy we have struggled with finding the time. So this week having watched the first episode in this weeks series of GBBO I thought it was about time I wrote something. Emily was super excited to be allowed to watch the bake off when she got back from school last week and even more excited to actually have a go at making the technical challenge. This year Chloe is joining in too as she just wants to do everything her big sister does. It’s going to be a messy few months in our house! Click here to see how we all got on with the first technical.
I think one of the main challenges this year will be making sure we have the right ingredients without having to make loads of extra supermarket trips, something I am keen to avoid. I generally have a well stocked baking cupboard, so hopefully we can get by. The recipe can be found here. The recipe was pretty easy to follow, although I did take my eye off the sugar and burnt the first batch of caramel. Emily loves cracking eggs into the bowl and Chloe is enjoying helping to hold the bags of flour and sugar as we weigh things out and generally causing havoc by pressing the buttons on the scales half way through weighing things out!
Luckily we managed to weigh things out correctly and even made the custard too. Although the timing wasn’t great and I found myself juggling stirring custard, caramel and the girls tea all at the same time! By the time they were cooked and cooled down enough for the girls to try them unfortunately neither of them ate more than a couple of mouthfuls as both were too full up and tired to want any more! Although the following day Emily demolishing a whole one for pudding!
It’s that time of year again – ready… steady… bake! As with previous years we’re going to attempt all the technical challenges (assuming that they don’t involve buying random equipment/ingredients). This week was cake week and I was really pleased to see that the technical challenge was exactly that – a technical challenge which tested the bakers ability to make a Genoise sponge and Italian meringue buttercream. 
I was really pleased when I saw what the technical challenge was last week – it’s been ages since I’ve made something like that and I couldn’t wait to try it! The only downside was that it’s pretty big (it’s huge!) and I was on my own for the weekend. Luckily I had a cross-country race and my team mates were more than happy to help me eat it up!
So this is a slight change to the normal ‘Technical Challenge’ which we do each week, and that’s because the last technical challenge was a bit odd. I don’t mind trying something new but I didn’t want to have to buy random spices and moulds which I probably wouldn’t use again, just for the sake of a challenge. The other option was improvise, but given it was spice week, not having the right spices seemed to defeat the purpose. I also didn’t really agree with the challenge – I couldn’t work out what techniques it was testing. So… 
Before I watched last weeks episode of The Great British Bake Off I was worried that the technical challenge was going to be a bit strange – I’d seen the trailer with a bright green purée! However, after hearing what was in the cake I was excited to make it since I love pistachios.
We are both very excited that the Great British Bake Off has started again! And despite the move to Channel 4 we were pleased to see that the format is exactly the same and although we miss Mary Berry, Mel and Sue, the new presenters did a great job. So it’s now time to start trying all the technical bakes again! It has got off to a good start, chocolate mini rolls looked like a great challenge and something I haven’t made before. Click 
Gloverly Cupcakes 