I received the latest book from the Great British Bake Off for Christmas, and naturally had to use it for my first bakes of 2022. Titled ‘A bake for all seasons’, I turned straight to the winter chapter, and found what appeared to be a fairly straightforward bake.
It was a very simple bake – blitz up some shortbread, bake, whisk eggs and citrus zest together, top the shortbread and bake again.
The bake had to cool completely and then set in the fridge before cutting. I think mine needed a few extra minutes in the oven, and a bit more time in the fridge as they were messy and tricky to cut neatly.
The taste was nice, although the citrus topping was quite bitter (even thought it had a LOT of sugar in!!). But, when eaten together with the shortbread base, the bitterness balanced out.
Let’s see what my colleagues think of this when they try it this week!
I am fully aware that presentation skills need work – hoping that as I continue to bake this year, I will be able to refine the finished products.
If I were to repeat, I might replace one of the lemons with an extra orange to reduce the bitterness. It would also be interesting to experiment with blood orange. I would also zest the fruit more finely, to avoid the large strips of peel that I ended up with.
Bakes by Jo 