It’s fall, and with that comes the return of a major competition — along with games you can play from the sidelines. We’re not talking about fantasy football drafts or election debate bingo. It’s the “Great British Baking Show,” the much-loved baking competition returning this month for its 15th season.
Viewers praise it for the astonishing levels of camaraderie and civility seen between competitors, as well as the elaborate “showstopper” baking challenges. It’s a bake-off so beloved, fans rewatch previous seasons as they wait for the next.
For the uninitiated, each season starts with 12 amateur bakers selected from across the UK — people from all walks of life, from school teachers to deli workers and social workers. They gather in a tent in the British countryside to complete a series of three baking challenges each week, with each week representing a theme — bread, for example, or pastry.
The return of the “Great British Baking Show” provides ample inspiration for a little home baking of your own, whether you’re throwing a watch party or just puttering around your kitchen. And thanks to the show’s cookbooks, you can whip up, say, a Pistachio-Cranberry Shortbread or a White Chocolate Hazelnut Tart from season 14 or a Pumpkin Carrot Cake from the upcoming season.
White Chocolate, Pistachio and Cranberry Shortbread Cookies
This recipe for sweet, nutty shortbread cookies comes from Amos Lilley, a contestant on the 2023 season of the Great British Baking Show. “I remember reaching for the shortbreads as a cheeky little boy and being warned not to spoil my dinner,” Lilley writes.
Find the recipe in The Great British Baking Show’s “Kitchen Classics: Signature Bakes from the Heart of the Home with Recipes by Paul Hollywood, Prue Leith and The Bakers”
(Mobius, $35).
Makes 32
INGREDIENTS
125 g unsalted pistachios
225 g unsalted butter, cubed and softened
115 g granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
340 g plain flour
100 g dried cranberries, chopped into small pieces
100g white chocolate, chopped into 5 mm-1 cm pieces
To decorate
180 g white chocolate, chopped
25g pistachios, finely chopped
DIRECTIONS
Toast the pistachios: Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Tip the pistachios into a baking tray and toast them in the oven for 4 to 5 minutes, until slightly golden. Turn the oven off for the time being. Leave the pistachios to cool, then roughly chop.
Make the dough: Beat the butter, sugar and salt in a stand mixer, fitted with the beater, on medium speed for 3 to 4 minutes, scraping down the inside of the bowl from time to time, until smooth and creamy.
Sift in the flour and mix on a low speed until just incorporated. Increase the speed to medium and mix for a further 30 seconds, until the dough just starts to come together. Add the pistachios, cranberries and white chocolate and mix on low speed until thoroughly combined, and the mixture clumps together.
Tip the dough onto a large sheet of parchment paper and place another sheet on top.
Using your hands, flatten the dough into a disc, then switch to a rolling pin and roll the dough until it is 1cm thick.
Stamp out the shortbreads: Peel off the top sheet of parchment paper and, using a cutter, stamp out as many shortbread discs as you can. Place the discs on the lined baking sheets, leaving space between each one to allow for spreading during baking. Gather what’s left into a ball, re-roll and stamp out more discs. You should get about 32 in total.
Prick the shortbreads with a fork and chill for 20 minutes to firm up. Meanwhile, heat the oven to 340 degrees.
Bake the shortbreads: Transfer the baking sheets to the oven and bake the shortbreads for 20 to 25 minutes, until light golden.
Leave to cool on the tray for 2 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Decorate the shortbreads: Melt the white chocolate in a heatproof bowl either in the microwave in 30-second bursts or over a pan of gently simmering water. Stir the chocolate until smooth and remove from the heat.
Dip half of each cooled shortbread into the melted chocolate to coat. Place on a clean sheet of baking paper, scatter the chopped pistachios over the chocolate and leave to set before serving. The shortbreads will store for up to 3 days in an airtight box.
— Courtesy “The Great British Baking Show Kitchen Classics: Signature Bakes from the Heart of the Home with Recipes by Paul Hollywood, Prue Leith & The Bakers” (Mobius, $35)
Pear, Hazelnut and Chocolate Tart
Serves 8
INGREDIENTS
For the pears:
3 ripe pears, peeled
200 g sugar
1 vanilla pod, split lengthways
Juice of 1/2 lemon
For the crust:
200 g flour
Pinch of salt
125 g unsalted butter, cubed and chilled
40 g powdered sugar
1 egg, separated
2 tablespoons ice-cold water
2 teaspoons lemon juice
For the frangipane filling and to decorate
100 g blanched hazelnuts, divided use
50 g flour, divided use
125 g unsalted butter, cubed and softened
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon finely grated, unwaxed lemon zest
1 teaspoon vanilla paste
50 g ground almonds
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch of salt
75 g 70% dark chocolate, chopped
DIRECTIONS
Poach the pears: Put the pears, sugar, vanilla pod and lemon juice in a pan. Pour over about 700ml of water to cover the pears and bring the liquid to a gentle simmer on a low-medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Cover with parchment paper, turn the heat to low and simmer the pears for 10 minutes, until just tender when tested with the point of a sharp knife. Remove from the heat and leave the pears to cool in the syrup.
Make the tart crust: Meanwhile, tip the flour and salt into a large bowl. Using your fingertips, rub in the butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs with small, buttery flecks. Mix in the powdered sugar, egg yolk, water and lemon juice with a table knife, then use your hands to gather the pastry into a ball. Flatten it into a disc, then wrap and chill it for 1 hour, until firm.
Flour the work surface and roll out the dough into a neat disc, 2 to 3 mm thick. Use the disc to line the base and sides of the tart tin, trim any excess and chill for 20 minutes.
Heat the oven to 350 degrees with a heavy baking sheet on the middle shelf.
Prick the base of the crust with a fork, line it with baking paper then fill it with baking beans or weights. Place it on top of the hot baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes, until the edges are pale golden. Remove the lining and beans, brush with egg white and bake for a further 10 minutes to cook the base.
Remove from the oven (leave the baking sheet in place and the oven on) and leave to cool.
Make the frangipane: Finely grind 50g of the hazelnuts with 1 tablespoon of the flour in a mini food processor. Beat the butter and sugar in a stand mixer for about 3 minutes, until pale and creamy. A little at a time, beat in the eggs, scraping down the inside of the bowl occasionally. Mix in the lemon zest and vanilla. Beat in the ground hazelnuts, ground almonds, baking powder, salt and remaining flour until smooth. Spoon the frangipane into the crust and spread it level.
Assemble the tart: Remove the pears from the syrup. Cut them in half through the stalk and carefully scoop out the cores using a teaspoon. Pat the pear halves dry and cut them into roughly 2 to 3 cm-long wedges. Roughly chop the remaining 50g of hazelnuts and mix them with the chocolate.
Scatter half the chocolate mixture over the frangipane and top with the pears. Scatter the remaining chocolate mixture between the pear slices, then bake the tart on the hot baking sheet for 45 minutes, until golden.
Leave to cool.
— Courtesy “The Great British Baking Show Kitchen Classics: Signature Bakes from the Heart of the Home, with Recipes by Paul Hollywood, Prue Leith and The Bakers” (Mobius, $35).
TIP
Bakers on the “Great British Baking Show” weigh their ingredients using a simple kitchen scale.
That handy tool ($10 and up) is available at specialty shops, as well as online. If you do not have a scale, Southern Living magazine’s baking conversion table offers weight-to-volume conversions for flour, sugar, butter, et al, at https://www.southernliving.com/grams-to-cups-8401955.