Joanna Farrow - Great British Bake Off – Bake it Better (No.8): Pastry & Patisserie

Would you like to learn to be a better baker?

We know that so many people watch The Great British Bake Off for the tips and techniques you pick up not only from the judges, but from watching the bakers too. We wanted to distil that knowledge into a library of cookbooks that are specifically designed to take you from novice to expert baker. Individually, each book covers the skills you will want to perfect so that you can master a particular area of baking everything from cakes to bread, sweet pastries to pies.

We have chosen recipes that are classics of each type, and grouped them together so that they take you on a progression from Easy does it through Needs a little skill to Up for a challenge. Put together, the full series of books will give you a comprehensive collection of the best recipes, along with all the advice you need to become a better baker.

The triumphs and lessons of the bakers in the tent show us that not everything works every time. But I hope that with these books as your guide, we have given you a head start towards baking it better every time!

Linda Collister

Series Editor

www.hodder.co.uk

First published in Great Britain in 2016
by Hodder & Stoughton
An Hachette UK company

Copyright Love Productions Limited 2016

Photography & Design Copyright Hodder & Stoughton 2016

The right of Joanna Farrow to be identified as the Author of the Work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

BBC and the BBC logo are trademarks of the British Broadcasting Corporation and are used under licence.
BBC logo BBC 1996.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

ISBN 9781473615472

Editorial Director: Nicky Ross
Editor: Sarah Hammond
Project Editor: Laura Herring
Series Editor: Linda Collister
Art Director: Alice Moore
Layouts: Alice Moore
Photographer: David Munns, Rita Platts
Food Stylist: Joanna Farrow
Props Stylist: Victoria Allen

Hodder & Stoughton Ltd
Carmelite House
50 Victoria Embankment
London EC4Y 0DZ

www.hodder.co.uk

Contents

BAKE IT BETTER
Bakers Guide

BAKE IT BETTER
Recipes

Easy does it

Needs a little skill

Up for a challenge

If your goal is to bake the sort of beautiful creations that wouldnt look out of place in a French patisserie window, then youll find Bake It Better: Pastry & Patisserie an invaluable guide to getting you there.

Even if youve never made pastry before, you can start with the Easy does it section and master simple but delicious recipes like Blueberry and Lemon Financiers and Vanilla Chouquettes. Some of the recipes in this section use bought pastry so you can learn key skills such as rolling out and shaping before taking on the more complex start from scratch recipes that follow in the section that Needs a little skill. These are slightly more complex dishes such as a beautiful French Apple Tart and irresistibly glazed Danish Pastries. The more you bake, the sooner youll be Up for a challenge, the final section of recipes that will put your newly acquired baking skills to the test.

The colour strip on the right-hand side of the page tells you at a glance the level of difficulty of the recipe (from one spoon for easy to three spoons for more of a challenge), and gives you a helpful checklist of the skills and special equipment you will use. Before you begin, have a look at the Bakers Guide at the beginning of the book. This will tell you what equipment you need to get started, introduce you to the most important ingredients and explain some terms and techniques for the pastries and skills in more detail.

Pastry and patisserie recipes can be made for any occasion, whether you simply want to serve your family a lovely treat with afternoon tea, or create a showstopping end to a special occasion. Perfect this extensive range of beautiful bakes that will take you well on the way to being a star baker!

HOW TO USE THIS BOOK

SECTION 1: BAKERS GUIDE

Read this section before you start baking.

The Bakers Guide contains key information on ingredients () relevant to the recipes in the book.

Refer back to the Bakers Guide when youre baking if you want a refresher on a particular skill. In the recipes the first mention of each skill is highlighted in bold.

SECTION 2: RECIPES

Colour strips on the right-hand side and 1, 2 or 3 spoons show the level of difficulty of the recipe. Within the colour strips youll find helpful information to help you decide what to bake: Hands-on time; Hands-off time; Baking time; Makes/Serves; Special equipment; Method used; Storage.

Refer back to the Bakers Guide when a skill is highlighted in bold in the recipe if you need a reminder.

Try Something Different options are given where the recipe lends itself to experimenting with other ingredients or decorations.

Easy does it

Needs a little skill

Up for a challenge

Pastry and patisserie recipes vary hugely in the amount of ingredients required. A simple bake might only require a handful of ingredients but a showstopping gateau will inevitably require more and sometimes less widely available items. Having the right ingredients to hand before you start baking will start you on the route to success, so do a checklist before you start. The following list will guide you through the key ingredients used in this book.