There’s been very little baking mentions on this blog, but last weekend was the Labour Day long weekend, and we’ve been watching a LOT of the Great British Bake Off lately.  So we allocated the entire weekend to baking some of their recipes (and a wee bit of poker). It is unpossible to watch that show without wanting to get your hands covered in flour.

Our first target was the Apricot Couronne, a technical challenge from Season 4. As the telegraph says, “the French know that happiness is a circle of cake called a couronne”, and they are totally right. Just look at it.

JUST LOOK AT IT.

It was even more delicious than I had anticipated, with citrus tang from the oranges and apricot jam contrasting with the sweet icing. We pan-toasted the walnuts in the filling before adding them, and the flaked almonds for decoration on top. Both are winning strategies.

The other cake on the hit list was the Fraisier Cake from Season 3. Oh. My. It’s a gorgeous, rich cake that looks stunning, and is actually simpler to make than the couronne above. We feared that our creme patissiere wouldn’t stand up to the weight of the cake or strawberries inside, but it was fine. We could have built bricks with this thing. Our genoese sponge was a little flat, but that didn’t detract from the overall deliciousness. It’s decorated with the four suits from a deck of cards, a little tie-in with our poker night.

Thank goodness Christmas is coming up. Moar excuses for moar cake. 😉