Team Baking Challenge | CM Does Something Different
Well, this is it, folks. The 2019 Great British Bake Off Final is upon us. It doesn't seem like 5 minutes since we all welcomed the return of Paul, Prue, Noel and Sandy to our screens.
Are you rooting for Alice, David or Steph?
Feeling inspired by the GBBO contestants and our 'Wise Words' card design featuring lots of quotes about 'baking', we held our second CM team bake-off challenge of the year.
Us lot - a bunch of amateur bakers - were clearly not put off by our first cake challenge (to our surprise) and thought we'd have a go at some other edible delights.
This time, we decided that the only rule would be 'no cakes'. We're on a mission to keep trying different things, after all.
Scroll down to see our selection of brownies, cookies, pastries & scones.
KASIA'S SPLENDID PASTRY SELECTION
Kasia was adamant that she disliked cooking and said that she'd never really baked. We think she was telling porkies. She absolutely blew us all away with a selection of not 1, not 2, but 3 different pastries. Including chocolate-filled croissants and 2 savoury variations with spinach and feta cheese. All delicious but we concluded that the spinach flavoured ones were our favourites.
HANNAH'S NUTTY REESE'S CUP COOKIES
What's better than Reese's peanut butter cups? Reese's cups in a cookie, of course. The cups in the middle made them bulge quite a bit. But no-one ever complained that their cookie was too big. Hannah despaired that they sort of looked like nipple cookies*. However, Mark's cow-pat ginger cake from the first baking challenge certainly proved that looks aren't everything.
*we may have fallen victim to the infamous Great British Bake Off innuendo.
MARK'S FENNEL & PARMESAN SAUSAGE ROLLS
Mark went for the savoury option which thankfully gave us an even split between savoury and super sweet creations. A simple yet absolutely delicious recipe. Perfectly flaky puff pastry as every great sausage roll should have. Seasoned with fennel seeds and stuffed with parmesan for a distinctive twist. Because cheese makes everything better.
NATALIE'S RASPBERRY BLONDIES
Some of us were new to the term 'Blondie' outside of it being 'that band with Debbie Harry'. A blondie is, in fact, a variant of a brownie made with white chocolate instead of milk or dark chocolate. Natalie's blondie squares were deliciously gooey. The sweet white chocolate was perfectly paired with tangy raspberries. Cut into little bitesize pieces. Very moreish.
SHELL'S SAVOURY CHEESE SCONES
Scone. Does it rhyme with 'gone' or 'cone'? Potato, potahto.
Whilst we may have disagreements over the proper pronunciation, we all agreed that Shell's savoury cheese creations were incredibly tasty. Shell even went to the trouble of producing a mouth-watering red onion chutney from scratch. We were very impressed! Unfortunately, she didn't have a dairy cow handy to whip up her own fresh cream.
DANIELLE'S CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
Danielle also had a go at baking cookies. She initially thought the recipe had an extraordinary amount of sugar. Even for a sweet bake. Yet, being new to baking, she decided to follow the instructions religiously. Of course, they turned out to be INCREDIBLY sweet. Tasty and chocolatey nonetheless.
To be enjoyed then washed down with one of Kasia's spinach and feta cheese pastries afterwards.
That was exactly how our day went in the CM studio. Sweet. Savoury. Sweet. Savoury. Until we were all in a food coma.
What's your favourite thing to bake?
Join us on our mission to try something different & send us your cake creations using the hashtag: #somethingdifferentcm
Whether you're a novice or pro, it's all about having fun. We'll share our favourites on our social media channels & pop a free sample card* in the post to you to say thank you!
If someone you know is a star baker, then our 'Wise Words' design featuring lots of quotes about baking was made just for them!
Available as an art print to hang on your wall, a mug for your favourite hot beverage, a greeting card or a ceramic storage pot for all of your measuring spoons and icing tools. Click here to take a closer look.
*Free sample card may not be the design shown in this post. The greeting card will be chosen at our discretion. A random design suitable for any occasion.
