I mentioned earlier that we traveled for the holidays. It was my younger sister’s turn to host, so while we were actually in the same place (instead of doing it in our own kitchens) we decided to tackle one of the Great British Bake Off challenge recipes together (yes, at this point we’re both a little behind on those).
For the 70’s week, the challenges were three things that were apparently a big deal in that decade: profiterole stacks (aka croquembouche), banoffee pie, and gateau cake. Of those, both of us have done profiteroles multiple times before (they are actually not as difficult as they are often made out to be, but maybe that’s because I’ve been making them for as long as I can remember, and they weren’t ever that big a deal, who knows), and the gateaux cake was a bit more than either of us wanted to handle.
Originally, I was going to swap out the banana for some cooked apple discs in mine, because I eat approximately one banana a year, usually only when offered as a dipper for chocolate fondue, and otherwise avoid them because the smell is *obnoxious*. But since this was going to be for the whole family we decided to do follow Paul Hollywood’s recipe (it was the Technical bake), and just see what happened.
I’ve heard people gushing over banoffee pie for years, and….okay? It’s a pie crust filled with caramel, topped with banana slices, then a layer of whipped cream. It’s….not that exciting, actually. Maybe my distaste for bananas makes me miss the point?
Anyway. The caramel layer was quite tasty, and the crust was perfectly flakey. I might still try it with apples instead, or else maybe make just the caramel and eat that directly out of the pan using apples as a spoon, since that would be quicker anyway.
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We were very pleased that we needed no extra clues to figure out today’s Escape Room advent calendar puzzle, and today’s tiny jigsaw puzzle made me giggle.
‘Tis the season for Holidailies.