practice bakes perfect

Yikes! What an episode… SO MANY DISASTERS tonight.

Quote of the night (yelled from couch) goes to ME. And to be honest I didn’t really say anything… it was just the sound I made when Alice dropped her cheesecake at the last minute. Oh man, there would have been tears if it was me.

The quick challenge tonight was interesting – is candy making baking? Does NZ’s hottest home baker need to be able to make Hokey Pokey? I think not BUT then again I make a brownie topped with Hokey Pokey so maybe maybe baby!

Fudge & Coconut Ice always seem like such easy things to make – I open up my edmonds cookbook and each time I seem to forget that I am terrible at it and valiantly try again. The ONLY time I’ve ever managed to make fudge was when I got a candy thermometer. Finally the guessing was taken away and no more bench tops covered in tiny puddles of “is it at soft ball stage yet” fudge crusting up all over the place. I know many people manage without a thermometer but I’m challenged :0(

Like the butter I left on the preheating oven (and then it dribbled all through the elements…) I softened towards Dean tonight. I’m hoping it wasn’t scripted or staged – he said really nice things to Mel. I wouldn’t have had the balls to get back in that kitchen with only 15 minutes!

I was sad to see Mel go tonight, but given her being saved from it last week and her fails tonight it seemed right. In response to the few tweeters and facebookians saying that Emily should have gone home because she had a 15 minute lesson and still failed – I disagree with you! I don’t think that a 15 min chat with a professional is going to fix what was essentially a time management fail. Despite it being undercooked and collapsing they still loved her idea and her flavours.

Much love to Mel and her Cheesecake Monsters

Mr OH THOSE EYES had a great night, happy to see him win an episode. He wins quote of the night with his “don’t show my crack on TV” line for sure. The judges quip about engineers having foundations cracks got a giggle too.

A few questions for those of you in viewer land:

1) Was that an induction cooker on Ben’s bench at one point? Or just a portable element?

2) Is that actually the Chelsea Sugar factory that they show shots of? The huge orange building?

and finally:

3) What would YOU add to fudge to prove your innovation? I was gutted there was no Peanut Butter & Bacon fudge…. (goes to google to see if that is already a thing..)

Until next week!

xxBakermelz

Holy Moly! The claws sure came out tonight! I can’t quite get my head around how mean and yet how confident Rose was on the show tonight. My blog is not quite the forum to repeat the things that were yelled from the couch at her… but Twitter and Facebook statuses seem to agree. And we have to accept that a shows producer can edit things together any way they want. I’m sure we haven’t got the full story.

Tonight’s ‘OUCH’ award definitely goes to Rose “Everyone loves a good stuff up, I think Hayley will do that well!” oh and then the laughing…

I’m sure everyone could hear their mothers in their ears “If you haven’t got anything nice to say…”

Ok, the cat fighting aside, I think Hayley did the right thing by totally owning that her decorating was a mare this time. I’m glad her cake stood up against scrutiny in the end.

The AMAZEBALLS award goes to Esme again, not because she won but for Deans comment ” almost as good as mine ” – woweee!

And the quote of the night from my couch award goes to this little gem – yelled out just after they described a cake as “Beautiful & Luscious” to which she-who-won’t-be-named yelled “JUST LIKE HIS EYES!”

There seems to be a lot of  ”I could do better” going on out there in comment land and I have to keep myself from saying that exact thing. But I don’t because I can’t imagine being in the scenario they are! Hello national telly! pressure much? Let alone 2 hours, again with those bright lights and then no control over the theme. I honestly think that even if I pulled a theme out of a hat at home, and timed myself, I don’t think I’d be able to pull it off… Sounds like another blog post to me.

In my experience, baking with raw sugar is OK as long as you’ve got a wet enough recipe. There didn’t seem to be too much trouble using the  Chelsea Raw Sugar though – I was expecting a few more non-decorating related disasters.

From my Judgey McJudgePants position on my couch, I managed to get 7 of the ingredients – how did you do? Man, water seems so obvious but I don’t think anyone got it.

This episode might not of had the most impressive baking but it certainly was drama filled!

What did you think? How would have you handled getting laughed at?

YAY! YAY! YAY!

NZHHB IS BACK! it makes me want to:

You can read all about the finalists here or catch up on the episode if you missed it here!

Tonight’s episode saw twenty chosen hopefuls battle it out for a spot in the top 8. Those on the couch with me tonight commented on the increase in males this season and with regards to one in particular… I should just get it out there now that I must have said “OH THOSE EYES” about 100 times – dreamy eyes. Right?

Ok, I’ll stop being a gushy 12 year old. On to my thoughts!

There was a lot more diversity this year and my impression was that it was on average a younger crowd too. Great to see the Vegans and Gluten free eaters being represented and even though she didn’t get through – Bex I would love your gluten free brownie recipe. Gluten free can be SO hard to get right.

I noticed there were a few of the top 20 that we didn’t get introduced to at all! That must be a bit of a downer for them but I can imagine it is not easy to cut several hours of footage down to just the best bits.

I think the contestants that got us talking the most (apart from MR EYES) were the twins – Jazmine & Morgan. How kiwi were they! Entertainment value for sure. Loved that they were on the show.

I really felt for Rose. I would have given up for sure but she just persevered. Absolutely the right choice to edit her presentation down to just one slice. Some times the messes are still delish.

Great to have Dean back again. He seems to be the right mix of fun and professional. There was a moment I thought he was being a bit smarmy though?

We Googled Julia during an ad break as her company only rang a faint bell… and then I realised I had used her Bottled Chocolate Ganache before. Amazing stuff. You can check out her company here.

I’ll miss Jade Lipton though as she gave a great working with fondant tutorial last year and I was hoping to see more of her work.

Quick mention about Colin here, not much of him in this episode but love your work! I can’t actually picture anyone else hosting this show now. I think they should make him BAKE!

I was stoked to see them in what appeared to be an a training school or cooking institute. We commented on how plain the walls were and wondered if they would improve the set as the season went on and then we saw the preview for next week! Looks like they are back in the same warehouse set up as last year. Time will tell.

Quote of the night goes to Dean “I’ve had better” OUCH!

Quote from my couch goes to “Is that what vegan poo’s look like?” – all in good spirit of course…

The AMAZEBALLS award definitely goes to Esme for that flawless cake. Understated beauty!

Really looking forward to next weeks episode, as an early pic we’ve pegged Esme & Hamish as front runners but it really might be too soon to tell.

What did you think of the episode tonight? Would you have crumbled under the pressure? Do you blind bake your pastry? What would you have made?

Let me know! I’m off to figure out if I can make a Cherry Ripe Cake!

(P.S Don’t forget to go support the show on facebook)

When I first entered the Jam Off I was totally convinced that I was going to enter my Chilli Jam. When I say ‘my Chilli Jam’ I  actually mean Nigella’s. 100% not actually my invention. 100% based on her recipe. All credit to the sultry hot temptress that is Nigella Lawson: http://www.nigella.com/recipes/view/chilli-jam-2692

This recipe is a tried and true, sweet n spicy option that I had made a hundred times before. Safe. Easy. Delicious.

Then somebody tweeted about these shoes:

And I started to wonder – What Would Ron Swanson Do?

He’d make Bacon Jam. BACON JAM. But how?…

Google helped. The internet was already full of Bacon Jam recipes. It seems the idea was not my own! God Bless the internet.

After the first attempt (a miserable failure, that is a lot of wasted bacon people!) I tried  a few more times (cough THREE cough) and then finally mixed the successful batch of Bacon Jam with Nigella’s Chilli Jam recipe. Ta Dah!

It ended up being included as a wild card in the top five finalists in the Wellington Jam Off 2012! I was so stoked! It was such a fun morning, a HUGE thank you to the team that puts the Jam Off together!

SO after many requests – here are the recipes. Make each jam on their own and then mix the Chilli Jam recipe through the Bacon Jam recipe – proportions to taste. The Bacon Jam is amazing on its own though.  You could just make the Bacon Jam. And get nice & friendly with a tea-spoon!

Niether is a cheap jam to make and as far as we’ve been able to tell the Bacon Jam only had about a 2 week ‘in the fridge’ shelf life. We ate it too fast to figure out if you could keep it sealed in the pantry for a while before opening.

Chilli Jam (http://www.nigella.com/recipes/view/chilli-jam-2692)

• 150g red chillies - I sourced these from New World in 80g bags
• 150g peppers - Nigella’s recipe calls for Red Peppers but I use the bulk mini pepper packs – green, red & yellow
• 1kg jam sugar – shout out to Chelsea Sugar for their Jam Setting sugar!
• 600ml cider vinegar

1 ) Deseed and cut each chilli into about 4 pieces.

2 ) Pulse in a food processor until they are finely chopped. Repeat steps 1 & 2 with the peppers.

3) Over a low heat dissolve the sugar in vinegar.

4) Add the chilli & pepper mix to the pot and bring to boil. Leave boiling for ten minutes. Only stir if you need too.

5) After ten minutes, remove from heat and leave to cool.

6) Once cool and once the chilli flecks are suspended in the Jell you can ladle into jars.

Bacon Jam

I’m not sure how to credit this Jam recipe – I changed amounts and blended a few I stumbled across so I’ll link all the recipes I read initially and thank them all for their inspiration and instruction!

•  http://euphorhea.blogspot.co.nz/2012/02/bacon-whiskey-jam-what-wonderful-idea.html
•  http://eatlikeagirl.com/2011/12/22/recipe-whiskey-bacon-jam/
•  http://www.foodbuzz.com/recipes/3828272-make-your-own-whiskey-bacon-jam
•  http://cookingbylaptop.wordpress.com/2012/03/07/bacon-jam/
•  http://www.hungryandfrozen.com/2011/07/my-poor-heart-is-achin-to-bring-home.html

Whiskey Bacon Jam Recipe

Ingredients

• 500g bacon – Cured streaky bacon if you wallet can spare the coin!
• 70g brown sugar
• 50mls golden syrup
• 50ml cider vinegar
• 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 150ml fresh brewed coffee (for the record I slipped in Supreme single origin!)
• 250ml whiskey - Makers Mark was on hand at the time
• 6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 large onion, finely diced

Method

1) Dice & fry bacon until it just starts to crisp. You want it cooked but not crispified.

2)Leave enough fat in the pan to fry the onion partially but drain off the rest of the fat. You really don’t want to leave too much dripping fatty goodness on the bacon. You’ll end up with greasy jam.

3) Once you’ve fried the onion gently (low, 5 mins-ish) add the garlic for another minute.

4) In a heavy (cast iron if you’ve got it) bottomed pot or dish mix together the bacon you’ve drained and the onion and garlic. Add all the remaining ingredients except for the vinegar.

5) Leave to simmer for an hour. You can add a little water every 30 minutes if you need to ( I did this just once) and then add the vinegar in the last 5-10 mins. One recipe suggested putting this in a slow cooker for 4 – 6 hours instead.

6) At the end of the hour you’ll have a heavenly smelling home and a sweet smoky pot of goodness. Let it cool slightly and the pulse in a food processor. It’s up to you how finely you process it. Take it too far and you end up with Bacon Paste. Still delish though!

7) Bottle up and find a million uses.

ENJOY!

Thanks again to the Wellington Jam Off 2012

xx

BakerMelz

Whittaker’s released a new range of mini slabs last week and to my utter delight one is Hokey Pokey!

Inspired, I present you this little beauty – Hokey Pokey Brownie

Brownie:

125g butter

250g sugar

2.5 eggs

vanilla

40g flour

62g cocoa (this time I used Valrhona coco for some extra luxury!)

1 tsp baking powder

1. Melt butter and mix together with sugar
2. Add eggs and vanilla (to taste), mix well
3. Add flour, cocoa and baking powder
4. Pour into a 9X9 inch square tin and spread evenly
5. Bake on 180 till set – about 20 minutes
6. Once cool, refrigerate. Do not start the Hokey Pokey until your brownie is cool and refrigerated!

Hokey Pokey:

5 Tbsp sugar

2 Tbsp golden syrup

(if you have a minute you should watch Nigella make Hokey Pokey here)

Melt half a packet of Whittaker’s hokey pokey mini slabs in a glass bowl in the microwave.

Spoon on top of refrigerated hokey pokey topped brownie and spread thinly.

Refrigerate until set.

To eat – I’ve devised this handy song to help you:

you put your left hand in

you take your left hand out

you put your left hand in and SHOVE IT IN YOUR MOUTH

xxBaker Melz

Just like last year…. the Mr & I are not big on Valentines Day.

But I just couldn’t help myself!

And everyone knows the way to a mans heart is through his stomach.

Take a pictorial journey of my gift to my love: BACON ROSES!

(Step 6: Pop into hot oven and bake till delicious. Get so overwhelmed by the smell of bacon wafting through your abode that you forget to take a photo of this step. And kind of mess up the whole point of a step by step blog…)

Finally, jam those little rosettes of bacon on to the tooth picks and TA DAH!

Love, Love, Love you ALL.

Bakermelz

America does everything bigger. And better. And sweeter.

We gave the world gumboots, they gave the world Oprah.

We gave the world fence wire, they gave the world Oprah.

We gave the world  the Nek Minnit guy, they gave the world Oprah.

Anyway, keeping to true American form – here is some popcorn.. bigger & better!
 

Caramel Popcorn

• 1 cup butter
• 2 cups brown sugar
• 1/2 cup corn syrup (OK, I can hear the haters already – Golden Syrup can be substituted but you can buy corn sryup in NZ Supermarkets now though…)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• Popped popcorn (salted if you are a lover of such things)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 150 Degrees
2. Make sure you have your pre popped popcorn in the biggest dish you own. I tend to split it between roasting dishes.
3. In a pot on a low – mid heat melt the butter.
4. Add: brown sugar & corn syrup/golden syrup.
5. Bring to a boil. DON’T stop believing stirring constantly. Seriously, don’t stop for 3-4 mins or until it is a nice dark brown colour.
6. Whip it off the stove and quickly add baking soda and salt. Watch out, it’s like making hokey pokey in high school science all over again. It starts to expand.
7.  Working quickly, pour over popcorn and stir to coat. You might like to enlist a helper to stir while you pour.
8. Eat a few bits, it is your bakers right.
9. Bake! Stirring every 15 minutes, for 1 hour. Remove from oven and let cool completely before breaking into pieces.

 

 
It is really important to bake the popcorn for the full amount of time. Unless, like me, you get interrupted halfway through baking by the biggest earth quake you’ve ever felt. In that case, turn off the oven, run out of the house and be a bit upset.

Then return to the kitchen, ignore the recommended cooking time and eat straight away. Feed it to your shaken flatmates also.

Then realise that you should have baked it the full time the next morning when all the left over popcorn is soggy. Sigh.

If you want to be truly American, one up this recipe by adding M&M’s. Everyone will love you.