20 September 2010

Great British Bake-Off 1

Well, I've been following the Great British Bake-Off in the past few weeks and have taken copious notes and saved recipes to try out. It's a great show and I hope it won't be a one-off.

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In fact when I spotted the first episode, I was a bit annoyed I'd not found out about it earlier, I would have signed up for it. However, having seen five of the six episodes, I'm glad I didn't. I'd have failed miserably. Although I bake, I don't really have something that I'd call my signature bake, I always try new things and make changes to old stuff I've done before.

But I've learned a lot and had even more ideas based on what I've seen, so my baking list has just grown immensely.

I had two egg whites left over from the rabbit fricassée I made the other day and thought meringues is just what I should do with them. And bearing in mind that Lundulph has been obsessing about passion fruit for some time, I decided to try out the Mango and Passion Fruit Meringues.

So, I wandered down to the shops to get canned mango, passion fruit and lime and then set to work.

I still have no confidence in making French meringue, but opted for my usual Swiss variant instead and piped small bowls, which I baked for 2 h, as they ended up a bit thicker than I'd intended. For some reason they bled through and had bubbles come out here and there. I suspect I didn't whisk the mixture long enough for the caster sugar to dissolve completely and bubbled through here and there. I made 18 from the mixture and if I make them thinner next time, I'll get even more.

I also put both passion fruits into the fruit purée and it was really tasty. As Lundulph said, mango and passion fruit do complement each other very well. I saved the syrup from the mango, it was very tasty and I think would be great for moisturising cakes.

So, Lundulph and I had two each with our afternoon tea yesterday and two after dinner. It's absolutely yummy! Though again, making the meringues thinner would allow more space for the fruit purée and the overall balance will be better. They were also a bit too big to eat in one bite, so perhaps reduce the size ever so slightly.

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