Its now Great British Bake Off Season here in the UK, and in honor of that each week Betty's will be sharing a delicious recipe, plus a video and their baking tips to go with each recipe. The kind of thing you won't find in any cookery book! Here is week five of their delicious hints and tips, and week four on how to create a delicious Croquembouche.

NOTES IN THE MARGINS

Sparkling Spun Sugar, The Betty's Way 

 

Make a Mess

Create Spun Sugar in a friend's kitchen.
Why?  It's messy

Golden Syrup 

Temperature is important

It mix is too cold, the strands will be too thick.  If too hot, they will be too thin.

The ideal consistency is like warm Golden Syrup.

 

Stand Up Tall 

You'll need a little height to work with the sugar. (In the film, Lisa is stood on a kick stool!)

Don't make it too early, it will only last for an hour or so.

Cleaning Up 

Cleaning up can be tricky, but not if you do this:  Fill the pan with water, bring it to the boil, then tip it away.

Sparkling!

If only washing up was so easy.



This is the final part of our series about how to create a Croquembouche. Find out how to create spun sugar to decorate your masterpiece in next week's episode of Betty's Baking Secrets.

www.bettys.co.uk/bettysbakingsecrets

Its now Great British Bake Off Season here in the UK, and in honor of that each week Betty's will be sharing a delicious recipe, plus a video and their baking tips to go with each recipe. The kind of thing you won't find in any cookery book! Here is week four of their delicious hints and tips, and week three on how to create a delicious Croquembouche.
 
Cracking Caramel, the Bettys way

INGREDIENTS (makes approximately 300ml)
75ml water
145g caster sugar
60g glucose syrup

METHOD
1. Place the ingredients in a small, heavy base saucepan and set over a medium heat.

2. Stir with a wooden spoon until the sugar has dissolved and then increase the heat to bring up to the boil. Do not stir anymore.

3. Brush the sides of the pan using a wet pastry brush to prevent grains of sugar getting stuck to the side of the pan. The grains of sugar may crystallize the syrup.

4. Boil until the syrup turns a light golden colour and stop the cooking process by briefly plunging the pan into a bowl of very cold water. Do take care as this is a dangerous process. The caramel is ready to use. If the caramel cools down and sets, place over a gentle heat to melt. 




Notes in the Margins

Cracking Caramel

WET SAND
Your heavy base pan must be immaculately clean.
Keep some hanging water in the pan so the caramel doesn’t burn.
Use your finger to stir the sugar – create the texture of ‘wet sand’.

SWIRL
The glucose is a vital ingredient.
It keeps the spun sugar flexible later on.
 Pick up the glucose with a wet hand so it doesn’t stick. Do this off the heat.
Once you introduce the caramel to the heat, don’t stir it - swirl.

GOLDEN BLONDE
You’ll see it go to a blonde caramel with a hint of colour.
Watch for it turning to a honeycomb, golden blonde – then remove from the heat.
Be careful – caramel is red hot! Let the choux touch the sugar – not your finger.

This is part three of our series about how to create a Croquembouche. Find out how to create spun sugar to decorate your masterpiece in next week’s episode of Bettys Baking Secrets. www.bettys.co.uk/bettysbakingsecrets 


For nearly 100 years, people have been flocking to Yorkshire for a taste of Bettys. Bettys was founded by Frederick Belmont, a Swiss baker and confectioner who came to England in search of opportunities to develop his craft skills. He opened his first Café Tea Rooms in Harrogate in 1919 and named it 'Bettys'. The reason why remains a mystery to this day.

For nearly 100 years, people have been flocking to Yorkshire for a taste of Bettys. Bettys was founded by Frederick Belmont, a Swiss baker and confectioner who came to England in search of opportunities to develop his craft skills. He opened his first Café Tea Rooms in Harrogate in 1919 and named it 'Bettys'. The reason why remains a mystery to this day.


Lots of things have changed since then. They now have six Café Tea Rooms in Yorkshire and the Bettys name has become famous the world over. They have also added a mail order service which delivers deliciousness to homes from Tunbridge Wells to Tokyo, and they share their knowledge and passion for food through Bettys Cookery School.

But in other ways, they are unchanged. Still family-owned, they believe in doing business in a way that is fair to people and kind to the planet. And at their Craft Bakery in Harrogate they still practice the artisan skills that Frederick Belmont brought to Yorkshire from Switzerland nearly 100 years ago.

Its now Great British Bake Off Season here in the UK, and in honor of that each week Betty's will be sharing a delicious recipe, plus a video and their baking tips to go with each recipe. The kind of thing you won't find in any cookery book!

This week they are sharing their recipe for Classic Bread Rolls with us.   After watching the video, I think even I will be able to bake  us some lovely rolls!


11.The bread is baked when golden brown in colour and when tapped underneath they should sound hollow.  Place on a cooling wire.
 
NOTES IN THE MARGINS
~o~Beautiful Bread~o~

KNEADING
When kneading, always work the dough in the same direction. This will deveop the network of gluten strands.

To avoid sticking to your dough, use the one second contact rule - don't touch your dough for more than a second as you knead it

Imprint your dough with your thumb - if it springs back, its ready.

BALLLING OFF
This stage is really important - what you're trying to do is trap energy in the dough.

When Lisa holds up the underside of the balled off dough, you can see the swirls of the core - yet the top is smooth.

The  movement you're looking for is down and over.  Notice in our film how Lisa pushes slightly down and she rotates the dough in her palm, travelling in the same direction.

HOMEMADE PROVER
If you don't hav ea dedicated prover, few of us do, its easy to create one.

Simply take a bowl, turn it upside down in your sink, add hot water and your tray of dough, and cove rwith some cling fim.

Do you get tangled up in clingfilm?  Than fold it back on itself to double line it - it prevents it from misbehaving!

FINISHING THE RACE
Allow the dough a final 10% to finish the race.  In other words, remove the dough from the prover a little before it has completely risen.

This is because the yeast needs a last bit of energy to take into the oven for a perfect rice.

COOLING
When cooling your bread, make sure there's an airflor under the tray.

This prevents soggy bottoms!

Do check out the Betty's Baking Secrets Page, for a whole lot more baking secrets during the GBBO and beyond.   Also don't forget to check back next week to see what's baking next!  (With any luck I might even get it baked myself to show you my results!  There is no rest for the wicked!!)