Last time on The Big Bake-Off...
Tasting and Judgement
On the panel today we have eight mathematicians including The Shok, a physicist (PC) and the chairman M+M himself.
Cakes can be awarded a maximum of 100 points: 50 for taste, 25 for creativity and 25 for presentation.
And now for the verdict. In this chocolate, fruit and cream cake battle, we've seen both chefs go at it for hours to create M+M's dream dessertland. Will it be the defending champion, the express precision of the TGV, or does the food blogger steal a win from left field? Who takes it? Who's cuisine reigns supreme?
...
And the scores for YH are as follows:
Taste = 423/500
Creativity = 188/250
Presentation = 191/250
Total = 802/1000
Now for the TGV:
Taste = 452/500
Creativity = 233/250
Presentation = 216/250
Total = 901/1000
The winner is TGV with her amazing croquembouche!
The Twist
But wait, did I not say that there were 8 mathematicians on the panel, including one statistician? A quick t-test on Excel revealed that in fact the results were not statistically significant (p > 0.05).
Does this mean TGV didn't win/I didn't lose? Well, even if statistically there's more than 5% doubt about the result, it was quite clear to everyone that TGV definitely won the day, no doubt about it! Although clearly this calls for further experiments (ie. bakeoffs!) to increase the sample size and get a statistically significant result...
The Recipes
Alrighty, enough fooling around... here are the recipes for the different parts of the cakes, mostly adapted from a bunch of different food blogs!
1. Chocolate Cherry Cake based on Not Quite Nigella
Melt 180 g butter, 140 g dark chocolate, 1 cup water, 3/4 cup vegetable oil and 60 mL coffee in a pan until melted.
Mix 3 cups flour, 3 cups caster sugar and 3/4 cup cocoa. Add melted chocolate/butter mixture to this dry mixture.
Mix in 3 eggs, one at a time. Then add 3/4 cup buttermilk (I used regular milk + juice of half a lemon)
Fold in a splash of vanilla essence, 2 tsp cinnamon, 2 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper, pinch of salt and 20 chopped cherries.
Pour into baking tin and bake for ~50-60 minutes at 180 deg C.
(If I had 2 baking tins, it would be easier to split the batter into two tins rather than have to cut the cake into layers layer. Plus, the amount is too much for one tin - it overflowed in mine!)
2. Buttercream Frosting from Sweetapolita
Place 5 egg whites and 1 cup caster sugar into a very clean (any traces of grease will kill the egg whites) mixer bowl. Heat over a pot of boiling water whilst whisking until the sugar dissolves and the foam is hot. Keep whisking until thick and glossy.
Then with 450 g butter softened at room temp, add it in small chunks whilst whisking until a silky smooth texture is achieved. Add a splash of vanilla essence and pinch of salt. Refrigerate.
3. Candy Floss from Cooking Books
Add 400 g sugar, 1/2 cup water, and 1/4 cup honey in a saucepan and heat the bejeezus out of it.
Meanwhile, set up two skewers over the edge of a table, weighed down at one end. Place some newspaper or similar on the floor to catch the mess...
When it starts becoming thick and very bubbly, test it out by dipping a fork into the caramel. Bring it over the skewers and shake it back and forth. If the dripping liquid caramel forms strings which solidify over the skewers, all good!
4. Chocolate Cherries
Heat 125 mL cream in a saucepan until almost but not boiling. Pour over 250 g of chopped up dark chocolate. Mix with a fork until smooth. Leave in fridge to cool.
When cooled but still workable, take a spoonful of ganache, stud with a hazelnut, shape into a ball around the nut. Roll the ball in icing sugar. Stick a cherry stalk into the top.
Heat chopped cherries and sugar in a saucepan until reduced to a thick liquid. Use this liquid to coat the fake cherries.
5. Raspberry Jam
Heat raspberries and sugar in a saucepan with a squeeze of lemon juice until reduced to a jam consistency.
6. Ganache Drizzle
Same as the ganache in number 4, except use equal amounts of cream and chocolate (1 cup, 250 g).
7. Assembly
Cut the top off the baked cake so that it is flat. Then cut cake horizontally into 2 layers (difficult!). Coat the first layer with raspberry jam, then sandwich with second layer. Coat the whole thing with some of the frosting. Refrigerate for 10 minutes. Then use the rest of the frosting to do a second coat. Refrigerate again for 20 minutes.
Drizzle cake with ganache until it drips down the sides. Top with fruit, chocolate cherries, candy floss and some chocolate shavings (scrape a chocolate block with a knife).
Breathe a sigh of relief.
Tasting and Judgement
On the panel today we have eight mathematicians including The Shok, a physicist (PC) and the chairman M+M himself.
Cakes can be awarded a maximum of 100 points: 50 for taste, 25 for creativity and 25 for presentation.
And now for the verdict. In this chocolate, fruit and cream cake battle, we've seen both chefs go at it for hours to create M+M's dream dessertland. Will it be the defending champion, the express precision of the TGV, or does the food blogger steal a win from left field? Who takes it? Who's cuisine reigns supreme?
...
And the scores for YH are as follows:
Taste = 423/500
Creativity = 188/250
Presentation = 191/250
Total = 802/1000
Now for the TGV:
Taste = 452/500
Creativity = 233/250
Presentation = 216/250
Total = 901/1000
The winner is TGV with her amazing croquembouche!
The Twist
But wait, did I not say that there were 8 mathematicians on the panel, including one statistician? A quick t-test on Excel revealed that in fact the results were not statistically significant (p > 0.05).
Does this mean TGV didn't win/I didn't lose? Well, even if statistically there's more than 5% doubt about the result, it was quite clear to everyone that TGV definitely won the day, no doubt about it! Although clearly this calls for further experiments (ie. bakeoffs!) to increase the sample size and get a statistically significant result...
The Recipes
Alrighty, enough fooling around... here are the recipes for the different parts of the cakes, mostly adapted from a bunch of different food blogs!
 |
| The Secret Picture [kinda like the Secret Sound on old radio shows]... What is it? (10 points) |
Melt 180 g butter, 140 g dark chocolate, 1 cup water, 3/4 cup vegetable oil and 60 mL coffee in a pan until melted.
Mix 3 cups flour, 3 cups caster sugar and 3/4 cup cocoa. Add melted chocolate/butter mixture to this dry mixture.
Mix in 3 eggs, one at a time. Then add 3/4 cup buttermilk (I used regular milk + juice of half a lemon)
Fold in a splash of vanilla essence, 2 tsp cinnamon, 2 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper, pinch of salt and 20 chopped cherries.
Pour into baking tin and bake for ~50-60 minutes at 180 deg C.
(If I had 2 baking tins, it would be easier to split the batter into two tins rather than have to cut the cake into layers layer. Plus, the amount is too much for one tin - it overflowed in mine!)
2. Buttercream Frosting from Sweetapolita
Place 5 egg whites and 1 cup caster sugar into a very clean (any traces of grease will kill the egg whites) mixer bowl. Heat over a pot of boiling water whilst whisking until the sugar dissolves and the foam is hot. Keep whisking until thick and glossy.
Then with 450 g butter softened at room temp, add it in small chunks whilst whisking until a silky smooth texture is achieved. Add a splash of vanilla essence and pinch of salt. Refrigerate.
3. Candy Floss from Cooking Books
Add 400 g sugar, 1/2 cup water, and 1/4 cup honey in a saucepan and heat the bejeezus out of it.
Meanwhile, set up two skewers over the edge of a table, weighed down at one end. Place some newspaper or similar on the floor to catch the mess...
When it starts becoming thick and very bubbly, test it out by dipping a fork into the caramel. Bring it over the skewers and shake it back and forth. If the dripping liquid caramel forms strings which solidify over the skewers, all good!
4. Chocolate Cherries
Heat 125 mL cream in a saucepan until almost but not boiling. Pour over 250 g of chopped up dark chocolate. Mix with a fork until smooth. Leave in fridge to cool.
When cooled but still workable, take a spoonful of ganache, stud with a hazelnut, shape into a ball around the nut. Roll the ball in icing sugar. Stick a cherry stalk into the top.
Heat chopped cherries and sugar in a saucepan until reduced to a thick liquid. Use this liquid to coat the fake cherries.
5. Raspberry Jam
Heat raspberries and sugar in a saucepan with a squeeze of lemon juice until reduced to a jam consistency.
6. Ganache Drizzle
Same as the ganache in number 4, except use equal amounts of cream and chocolate (1 cup, 250 g).
7. Assembly
Cut the top off the baked cake so that it is flat. Then cut cake horizontally into 2 layers (difficult!). Coat the first layer with raspberry jam, then sandwich with second layer. Coat the whole thing with some of the frosting. Refrigerate for 10 minutes. Then use the rest of the frosting to do a second coat. Refrigerate again for 20 minutes.
Drizzle cake with ganache until it drips down the sides. Top with fruit, chocolate cherries, candy floss and some chocolate shavings (scrape a chocolate block with a knife).
Breathe a sigh of relief.
-----
Hope you enjoyed this two-part Bake-Off series!
On a totally different note, I'm in the process of writing BA dinner menus for the Michaelmas term. If you have any ideas, let me know!
hmmm I thought I saw a whole bottle of oil being used, rather than 3/4 of a cup :) but maybe I am wrong^^
ReplyDelete3/4 cup, honest
ReplyDelete