My 2015 Great British Bake Off Bakes in Review

I can’t wait for Great British Bake Off to come back on in a couple of weeks! How about you? Last year I baked along with the show every week, and joined in with the Great Bloggers Bake Off with Mummy Mishaps. I’m not sure I will manage to bake along every week this year though, but I’ll try to bake along with some of the challenges that catch my eye.

I wanted to bring together all my 2015 GBBO bakes in one place so I can look back at them. Always useful to look back at earlier recipes and see what techniques you’ve used! Read on for a rundown of the recipes I baked last year for GBBO, from week to week.

Week 1 – Cakes

On the show they made Madeira cake, frosted walnut layer cake and Black Forest gateau. My bake was these Mini damson Madeira loaves – the perfect bite-sized treat.

Week 2 – Biscuits

My Mango, lime and pistachio biscotti, full of tropical flavours. On the show they made biscotti in various flavours, arlettes and an edible biscuit box.

Week 3 – Bread

Roasted pepper and thyme soda bread, a great recipe to use up bits and pieces in the fridge. In the show they made quick breads as well as baguettes and a 3D bread sculpture – remember the lion?!

Week 4 – Desserts

My Layered meringue cake, inspired by the Spanische Windtorte on this episode. They also made creme brûlée and a three tier cheesecake.

Week 5 – Alternative ingredients

On this episode they made sugar-free cakes, gluten-free pittas and dairy-free ice cream rolls. My bake was these Gluten-free pitta breads with Olive houmous. Mine didn’t have pockets but tasted good!

Week 6 – Pastry

This week involved frangipane tarts, flaounes (Cypriot cheese pastries) and vol-au-vents. I chose this rustic gooseberry frangipane tart I had made earlier in the summer.

Week 7 – Victorian

This week’s bakes included raised game pies, tennis court fruit cakes and Charlotte Russe. My bake was this Cherry and vanilla Charlotte Russe.

Week 8 – Pâtisserie

The bakers made cream horns, mokatines and religieuse à l’ancienne. My bake was these Marshmallow fluff chocolatines based on the mokatines.

Week 9 – Chocolate Week

The challenges this week were chocolate tarts, chocolate soufflés and chocolate centrepieces. I made this very chocolatey tart with mirror glaze, chocolate pastry and chocolate decorations.

Week 10 – Final

For the final week, the challenges were iced  buns, millefeuilles and a trio of classic English cakes. I chose to make a Lemon drizzle layer cake with white chocolate ganache, lemon Chantilly cream, lemon zest and lime zest curls.

So there you have it, all my 2015 GBBO bakes. I think if I had to choose a favourite, it would be the Charlotte Russe. It uses so many different techniques, even if you use a few cheats as I did. I can’t wait to see what the bakers will make this year, and try out some new recipes! Looking forward to Cake week very soon.