The Guernsey Press Bake Off - Round 2
Last week the Guernsey Press launched a bake off competition, in association with Tim Langlois from Cobo Bakes to challenge readers' baking skills with the chance of winning £50.
This week is brownie week. And here’s how to take part:
1. Have a go at recreating Tim’s simple gooey chocolate brownies (below), or use your own brownie recipe if you’d rather. Feel free to channel your creativity to find a way to make them stand out.
2. Send in pictures of your brownie creations to features@guernseypress.com by 9am on Thursday 4 March. You can also post on social media with the tag #GSYBAKEOFF.
3. Tim will select the best brownies out of all the entries and the winner will receive a £50 prize.
All your culinary delights will be featured in print and online next week.
Good luck!
Tim's simple gooey chocolate brownies
110g plain flour
0.5tsp baking powder
225g caster sugar
110g plain chocolate (or milk chocolate if preferred)
110g unsalted butter
2 eggs
1tsp vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease and then line a 20cm x 25cm dish (or similar size) with greaseproof paper.
Sieve the flour, sugar and baking powder into a mixing bowl and stir with a fork to make sure all are mixed together, then set to one side.
In a saucepan on a medium heat mix the butter and chocolate until all melted and silky. Keep stirring so that it does not stick or burn.
Once melted remove from the heat and pour the flour mix and then add the eggs and vanilla extract into the saucepan. Mix together with a spoon until all combined and silky.
Pour your mixture into your lined dish and smooth out on top. Bake on the middle shelf of the oven for 35 minutes at 180C.
As ovens differ keep an eye out towards the end as you may want to take a few minutes earlier. Set to one side and allow to cool in the dish for 30 minutes.
Remove from the dish and take off the greaseproof paper. Cut into 16 squares, and enjoy.
Get creative and add chocolate bars, biscuits etc. into your bake by placing on top of the mix before you bake. Or decorate once cooled.
Enjoy!
Star Baker
BAKERS of Guernsey were cooking up a storm this week for our new Bake Off competition.
The Guernsey Press joined forces with Tim Langlois of Cobo Bakes to launch the series last week by challenging readers to make and decorate their own cupcakes for the chance to win £50.
We were overwhelmed by the response, with an amazing 64 entries, and Tim was given the tough task of judging the culinary creations.
‘The overall quality and effort from everyone was amazing,’ said Tim.
‘I am so impressed with how many people got involved. There are some awesome bakers out there. It made it really hard to choose a winner. I just wish I could try them all.’
In the end he chose Vikki Stacey’s colourful cakes as the overall winner.
‘Her rainbow cupcakes had a perfect colour to them and a lovely rise. The piping work was beautiful and clean with good height and consistency. She did a great job of making a mixed rainbow icing which made the overall cupcakes look delicious and eye catching,’ he said.
Vikki was delighted to discover she had won.
‘Wow! I did not expect that,’ she said.
‘I decided to enter the competition because I really enjoy baking. I’ve recently started baking for friends and family and I saw this as a great opportunity to get some practice in and help perfect my bakes.
‘I love that you can be creative when it comes to baking, experimenting with different flavours and then of course the decoration. I also love that my four-year-old daughter loves to get involved too.
‘I was shocked when I found out I had won but also very proud of myself. It’s given me a boost in confidence.’
The standard of entries was so high that Tim decided to award two runner-up prizes too, who will both receive a voucher for a free box of cupcakes from Cobo Bakes.
He picked out Kerry Renouf’s biscuit-topped creations as the first runner-up. ‘I just wanted to pick these up and eat them, they looked so tasty and lovely and creative,’ he said.
And Victoria Symes’s beautifully made pink and sparkly bakes impressed him too. ‘These cupcakes just looked too good to eat – they were beautiful and looked like pieces of artwork.’
