The Great British Bake Off is Back!

The Great British Bake Off is back on our TV screens, returning Tuesday evening (September 21) – did you tune in?

The very first programme in the 2021 series introduced us to the brand new contestants. With three new challenges and a Star Baker crowned, the show was a great start to the series, giving us a taste of what’s to come over the coming weeks.

We won’t give too much away, in terms of who sadly had to leave the show and who bagged the coveted Star Baker title, but we will let you in on this week’s challenges. Read on…

Signature Bake

To kick off the first show, the Signature Bake task was to whip up a batch of mini rolls. Most of us know and love Cadbury’s famous mini rolls, but the bakers offered a fun and tasty twist on the classic after-dinner treat.

As ever, they used an array of delicious flavour combinations and decorated their bakes with all manner of tasty-looking toppings.

Want to make some mini rolls at home? Here’s the Bake Off’s Prue Leith’s version, as featured on the TV show’s website. If you’re going to tackle this chocolatey snack, you have to try Prue’s mini rolls.

Cocoa powder is the key ingredient in these mini rolls, which you’ll have lots of fun preparing and baking – why not try them for yourself this weekend?

Technical Challenge

So, that was the Signature Bake challenge, but what did the bakers have to tackle in the Technical round?

Malt loaf! It may not be everyone’s favourite but both Paul and Prue reminisced about the snack being one of their must-have sweet treats.

Again, if you want to try making malt loaf for yourself, go for it – there are plenty of recipes online to try. The BBC Good Food site has a recipe for sticky sweet malt loaf – give it a go and see how you get on. With a five-star rating on the BBC Good Food site, this recipe is bound to be a winner. Plus, you won’t have to follow a half-baked recipe like the Bake Off contestants do on the show.

So, get your pinnie on and see if you can make a malt loaf Paul Hollywood would be delighted to tuck into.

Showstopper

Now for the famous Showstopper Challenge – the baking challenge to end all baking challenges! In the first show, the bakers were tasked with taking on a gravity-defying cake. If you’re not sure what we mean by that, here’s an example, which features sweets cascading from an open sweetie bag onto a perfectly-baked cake.

Cakes like this may look impressive, but you may find they’re easier to create than they look – and the above recipe has a five-star rating too, so it can’t be bad.

As ever, the contestants wowed the judges with their show-stopping creations, with plenty of great handiwork on display. Will you be brave enough to make one yourself? If you do, let us know how you get on by commenting on this blog post, below. Plus, don’t forget to stay tuned on our blog for more great recipes over the coming weeks.

Until next time…