If you’ve been following along with my Not So British Bake Off posts for the past few months, you will know that they were more than just your average recipe post. There was some set dressing, some costumes and a little bit of acting. And no matter how stressful it got because the bakes were complicated, I still loved it.
If you hadn’t already guessed it, my assistant, the lovely Sam, played Mary Berry. He also played Paul Hollywood twice, and a contestant having a meltdown over baked alaska one week. The lovely Lindsay also played Mary Berry and a contestant. Basically, I have amazing friends that let me bribe them into anything with the promise of food attached.
To recreate the Cath Kidston, twee English village feel that the Bake Off tent on the programme has, every weekend we’d tack up an old (very floral) duvet cover up on the wall as a backdrop, adding some bunting that’s usually in our bedroom. That’s the background to all of the shots, but it’s most prominently seen in the presentation photos.
I think on of the most fun afternoons was when I went outside in costume to take photos of Sam smashing an old cauliflower that had been roughly shaped to resemble a baked alaska. I’m sure our neighbours thought us mad that week!
To Summarise:
Week 1: Swiss Roll
Week 2: Florentines
Week 3: Ciabatta
Week 4: Sticky Toffee Pudding
Week 5: Cherry Pistachio Tart
Week 6: Dobos Torte
Week 7: Eclairs
Week 8: Baked Apple Cider Donuts
Week 9: Entremet
Week 10: Mini Scones, Mini Victoria Sponge Cake, Mini Tart au Citron
The bake I struggled with the most was the ciabatta. I just couldn’t get it to rise enough on the day. The entremet took up the most time to make, but was also the most delicious to eat!
Assembling the “tent”.
When it came to back off post days, I was a ball of concentration.
Greying Sam’s hair with flour during ciabatta week for his role as Paul Hollywood. Notice we also created chest hair with the use of the Mary Berry wig.
Some pretty intense taste testing went on behind the scenes.
A lot of diet coke was consumed during the process. And I mean, a lot! Like multiple cans per bake.
Some down time during entremet week.
Standing on stools: how I get my above shots. And now you know all my secrets.
But the true highlight of the whole process was the REAL LIFE, ACTUAL, NOT SAM IN A COSTUME PAUL HOLLYWOOD tweeting about my sticky toffee puddings. I’ll remember that day forever.
