It’s that time of year again, The Great British Bake Off is back to entertain us. If you are like me, you will have been waiting patiently for the new series, since the last one finished. I cannot hide my passion for baking, and religiously watch every episode. I won’t lie, it is the season of weekly cakes on the sofa, because I cannot come to the party empty handed! I often imagine myself in the famous white tent, baking alongside everyone and wondering how I would handle each technical bake. This year I thought it would be a good idea to replicate some recipes. Don’t worry – we won’t attempt the showstoppers.
I hope you have been inspired already by the talented bakers. This year there is a vegan baker in the tent, Freya. She aspires to make vegan versions of dishes so no one can tell the difference. I’m sure you are looking forward to being impressed with her vegan baking skills as much as I am. Unfortunately, the technical challenges must be the same for all the contestants and she is not able to use alternatives, otherwise it might be deemed unfair. Fingers crossed she goes far. Who is your favourite baker so far?
If you want to join in the fun at home, you’ll recognise these bakes from the first week. They’ve been tweaked to make them vegan. There are many egg replacements if you fancy trying to replicate some recipes yourself. You can check our virtual Baking Guide here for more inspiration. On your marks. Get set. Bake!
Jammy Dodgers
Ingredients
- 120g/generous 4oz vegan butter or margarine
- 55g/scant 2oz caster sugar
- 180g/generous 6oz cups plain flour
- Seedless raspberry jam
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4. Line a flat tray with greaseproof paper.
- In a bowl, beat together the vegan butter and sugar until smooth.
- Add the flour, a little at the time and continue to mix until completely smooth and it sticks together. Make sure it’s not crumbly.
- Briefly knead the dough and roll into a ball.
- Place dough in the bowl, and transfer to the fridge for 30 minutes.
- After the dough has chilled for 30 minutes, dust your table surface with flour and roll the dough out to about 0.5cm thickness.
- Cut out your biscuit shapes. Use a smaller cutter or a knife to make a cut-out centre on half of the cookies.
- Transfer to the baking sheet and bake for 10–15 minutes, or until golden brown at the edges.
- Leave to cool at room temperature.
- Meanwhile, place some raspberry jam in a ramekin and beat it until it’s lump-free and spreadable.
- Once cooled, add the raspberry jam to each full half of the biscuits. Then place the cut-out centre biscuit on top to create a jam sandwich.
Malt Loaf
Ingredients
- 220ml Earl Grey or breakfast brewed tea
- 150g/generous 5oz blackstrap molasses
- 100g/3½oz light brown muscovado sugar
- 150g/generous 5oz raisins, chopped
- 75g/generous 2½ oz prunes, chopped
- 2 tbsp ground chia seeds
- 100g/3½oz wholemeal plain flour
- 150g/generous 5oz plain flour
- ½ tbsp baking powder
Instructions
- Preheat the oven 180°C/350°F /gas mark 4. Line a 20 × 10cm loaf with greaseproof paper.
- Place the tea, malt extract and sugar in a small pan. Heat gently until the sugar has dissolved. Set aside.
- Chop all the fruit into small pieces.
- Add the chopped fruit and ground chia seeds to the tea and leave to soak for 30 minutes.
- Sift the flour and baking powder together into a large bowl. Gently fold in the fruit mixture.
- Pour the batter into the loaf tin and smooth it out. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, then remove the loaf from the oven, and cover the top with foil to prevent burning.
- Return to the oven and bake for another 20 minutes, or until firm.
- Leave to cool in the baking tin.
