So today marks the start of a new series on Princess Cupcake, one inspired by the best cooking program on TV at the moment The Great British Bake Off.
Given that I intend to apply to enter next year’s series of the show I have decided to set myself a challenge. I will attempt to complete as many of the technical challenge recipes from the current (and previous) series of the show. This is naturally dependent on my liking the recipe and having access to the correct equipment, so I won’t be making last year’s pork pies with quail’s eggs for example as I really don’t like boiled eggs. The plan is that by completing as many of these recipes as possible I’ll be able to substantially increase my skills.
With each entry in the series I’ll be discussing what I think make this recipe a challenge and providing links to the recipe so that you guys can have a go too. If you do try and complete these challenges I’d love to hear about your results!
So to start the ball rolling I present my first completed challenge, it comes from Bread Week in series 3. The eight strand plaited loaf
So to start the ball rolling I present my first completed challenge, it comes from Bread Week in series 3. The eight strand plaited loaf
Download the recipe here
So what’s the challenge?
Well it’s just a normal white loaf shaped differently, so since I’m pretty good at making white bread I didn’t find this element to be particularly hard, the challenge is defiantly is getting the plaiting right. But providing you concentrate and follow the instructions the plaiting isn’t too hard either, I think it helps to have some experience in plaiting though. Since I usually plait my hair I’m used to the numbering of stands and the movements required, which may be why I didn’t struggle too much, so if you are a plaiting newbie I’d suggest starting with a 3 strand loaf and getting the hang of that before attempting the 8 stand!
Getting the stands even was a little tricky, mine weren’t all the same thickness but I think that if they are all roughly the same it shouldn’t matter too much. Just weigh the dough and divide by 8 to work out how much each stand should weigh go from there that makes everything a lot easier!
Here's how mine looked
Well it’s just a normal white loaf shaped differently, so since I’m pretty good at making white bread I didn’t find this element to be particularly hard, the challenge is defiantly is getting the plaiting right. But providing you concentrate and follow the instructions the plaiting isn’t too hard either, I think it helps to have some experience in plaiting though. Since I usually plait my hair I’m used to the numbering of stands and the movements required, which may be why I didn’t struggle too much, so if you are a plaiting newbie I’d suggest starting with a 3 strand loaf and getting the hang of that before attempting the 8 stand!
Getting the stands even was a little tricky, mine weren’t all the same thickness but I think that if they are all roughly the same it shouldn’t matter too much. Just weigh the dough and divide by 8 to work out how much each stand should weigh go from there that makes everything a lot easier!
Here's how mine looked
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| Finished plait prior to baking |
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| The finished product! The end came undone slightly during the second rising and baking but it still looks pretty good! |
It’s not very hard, not really a recipe for the plaiting newbie but if you have some understanding of plaiting techniques it isn’t that hard to do. The bread part is easy because it’s just a plain white loaf, so if you are good at bread making that bit is no problem! I probably will make it again; it takes a bit of time though so I’m probably only going to make it for special occasions as it does look pretty impressive.
