Fondant Fancies

 

Since Fondant Fancies appeared on the Great British Bake Off they've been all the rage. On the show John, Brendan and James found them somewhat trickier than you would imagine and ended up with some rather sad looking fancies.

Home bakers have since taken up the challenge, and recipes and how-to guides have appeared in magazines and on TV. I've also seen a number of courses teaching the secrets of a perfect fondant fancy. One such course is run by Cakes 4 Fun which I attended this weekend.

On the course we learnt how to cut our squares evenly and add the marzipan on top, adhering it with a layer of apricot jam. These fancies don't have buttercream but you could add it if you wanted to.

The secret to preventing the fancies breaking up upon covering is to freeze them for at least an hour and a half beforehand. To cover the fancies, each one was speared with a chocolate dipping fork, usually used for covering truffles, before being dipped in runny fondant icing. You can use Squires Kitchen Fondant Icing Mix which works perfectly. As we discovered there is quite a knack to dipping and covering which takes quite a bit of practise.

To add a little something extra to our fancies we used decorative moulds such as these from Squires Kitchen to make the pretty little cakes, teacups and teapots on top. We also used a mould to make the style of rose on the right below, however you can also hand roll roses, such as the one on the left below.

As always with Cakes 4 Fun, this was a fabulous class which has given me the confidence to try fondant fancies at home. The staff are extremely knowledgeable and are happy to help. Above is only a taster of what we learnt on the course as I don't want to share too much. If you'd like to learn more I'd thoroughly recommend attending!

 



In the video below you can see Mary Berry explaining how to make Fondant Fancies, however she used a different method to the one we used. She covers her sides in buttercream and adds the little blob of buttercream on the top. In addition, Mary's fancies are refrigerated and not frozen. She also melts down sugarpaste to make her fondant for covering.

Finally, I'm going to try and sneak these into this month's Calendar Cakes Challenge. Rachel over at Dolly Bakes is hosting in April and you'll find the latest challenge posted here at Laura Loves Cakes on May 1st. The theme this month is The Great Village Show and British baking institutions. I know, I know...I can already hear the outcry...fondant fancies didn't originate in Britain. But I rather think of them as a bit of a British institution, admittedly I'm probably thinking of the Mr. Kipling kind, however since they were first introduced in 1967 they have quietly infilrated society and can be found in many a fine establishment purveying that most British of traditions...afternoon tea.

 

In addition, fondant fancies were voted as one of the top foods Britain's miss when they move abroad and furthermore during the Queen's jubilee someone even made a portrait of her using these sweet treats. I for one would be delighted if I found fancies gracing my local village show. I hope I've convinced you but if you think otherwise, feel free to leave a comment! ;-)

Swan Lake - Choux Swans from the GBBO

I've had my eye on making Choux Pastry Swans for a little while. I first saw them in Le Cordon Bleu Patisserie Foundations Classic Recipes and they seemed quite daunting, however I recently bought the Great British Bake Off - How to turn eveyday bakes into Showstoppers book which also features Choux Swans so I thought I would give them a go as I'm determined to master choux!

I have to say the GBBO didn't let me down, it was a really clear recipe to follow and the choux turned out successfully! The idea for the almond beaks came from the Le Cordon Bleu recipe book and I think they're a great addition to make the swans look even more realistic!

To make the swans I followed the Choux recipe below. In order to make my swans a uniform size I marked out the specifications on the back of the greaseproof paper and used it as a guide. If you wish to make choux swans, then to make the necks you need to pipe out 10 'S' shaped necks about 9cm long. To do this use a round piping nozzle about 6-7mm wide (or a Wilton 2A). You can either gently push in the almond beak just before cooking or alternatively when baked, cut a little notch and slide in the flaked almond. Gently glaze with beaten egg before baking.

For the body I marked out ten 8 x 4cm shape on the paper. Use two spoons to make an oval of choux this size. It should be roughly 2.5cm high. I didn't spoon the choux pastry terribly neatly which means any lumps and bumps are exacerbated during baking. Try and get a smooth oval, maybe by trying more of a quinelle action with the spoons to create the oval. Finally, brush with beaten egg before baking.

To construct the swans you will need to make a raspberry coulis (instructions available on the internet), this is just raspberries, icing sugar and a squeeze of lemon juice blitzed in a food processor and then passed through a sieve to remove the seeds. Also make up some Chantilly cream which is whipping cream and icing sugar. You will also need 1-2 strawberries per swan thinly sliced.

So once you have all the components in place spoon some of the raspberry coulis onto your serving plates to form a lake. Then cut your choux bun body in half horizontally, the top half can then be cut in half lengthways to create the wings.

The recipe suggests arranging the strawberries in the base of each swan but mine seemed to disappear down the sides. So I piped a bed of chantilly cream first and then arranged the strawberries before adding another layer of cream. The cream should be piped with a star nozzle. Next insert the neck before placing on the wings, these should be angled so they tilt upwards, allowing you to see the cream and strawberries. Et voila...serve immediately and enjoy!

I am entering these into Bookmarked Recipes as they've been on my 'to bake' list for about 6 months since seeing them in the Le Cordon Bleu recipe book. When I finally got round to making them, I used the GBBO book and Le Cordon Bleu for reference. Bookmarked recipes is hosted by Jac from Tinned Tomatoes and was originally founded by Ruth from Ruth's Kitchen Experiments.

Lottie from Lottie's World of Cakes and Bakes is hosting a GBBO blog challenge for the duration of the current series. If you have been inspired by the series and make any of the things you have seen or bake something related to the GBBO you can enter it into this challenge. It would seem appropriate to enter these swans as they are featured in the book accompanying the latest series.

Finally, I'm also entering my swans into Blue Kitchen Bakes 'Classic French Challenge' with the challenge this month being choux pastry.

 

Choux Pastry Recipe

100g plain flour
1/4 tsp salt
75g unsalted butter, diced
3 large free-range eggs beaten

It may depend on what you're making as to what oven temp you require but for this recipe it was 200c/180c fan/gas 6.

When making choux you need to be ready so start by sifting the flour onto a piece of greaseproof paper, this makes it quick and easy to tip into the saucepan. Put the butter and salt in a saucepan along with the butter. Melt the butter gently but do not allowed to boil. Once completely melted, turn up the heat to a boil and then immediately tip in the flour. Remove the pan from the heat and beat vigorously with a wooden spoon, this should give you a smooth dough. You should then return the pan to a low heat and continue beating a bit more gently. This cooks out the flour a little and you should end up with a smooth, shiny ball of dough which has come away from the sides of the pan completely.

At this stage, place the dough into a bowl and leave to cool, it will be ready to use when it is only slightly warm (this took a little while surprisingly). In the meantime break the eggs and beat them together. When the dough has cooled use an electric mixer and add the eggs a little at a time, mixing well after each addition. This should make the dough into a shiny paste which should fall off the spoon with a shake. You may not need all eggs, it doesn't want to be wet. Save the remainder of the egg as a glaze. If you do make the dough too wet it will not puff in the oven. It should be a pipeable consistencey.

You can pipe your choux pastry into swans, profiteroles, eclairs and many more. Follow the baking instructions from your recipe but for the this recipe the necks took 15 minutes and the bodies baked seperately took 30 minutes, then open and close the door quickly and reduce the oven temp to 180c/160c fan/gas 4 and leave fcr another 5 minutes. Finally, remove the bodies from the oven, make a small hole at the end of each one to let the steam escape and bake for a final 5 minutes, they should be crisp and dry.

* Adapted from The Great British Bake Off - How to Turn EveryDay Bakes into Showstoppers.

Iced Buns: Technical Challenge One

Well, as promised here is my first attempt at a technical challenge from the Great British Bake Off. I followed the exact recipe from the accompanying series cookbook and was rather pleased that they actually turned out quite well...which I was not expecting...obviously I should have more faith!!

Overall, the recipe was fairly easy to follow, however once you have mixed the ingredients you are then instructed to add water and if you add it all at once the dough can become very sticky, so if you are going to attempt these iced buns then I would advise adding the water slowly a bit at a time. When shaping the buns I didn't have a ruler to hand... the recipe stipulates that each should be 12cms long... turns out mine were only 10cms(!) but my theory is that my rounded buns gave more room for icing on top, although Paul Hollywood may not have approved!!

Once the cream was piped in I added the thin line of jam... I did cut little too much off the end of the piping bag so the lines ended up a little wonky but ultimately they actually looked quite tasty... and they tasted delicious!!! I'd definitely recommend having a go at iced buns and you can find the recipe here...definitely an old-fashioned favourite. I will be attempting another technical challenge next month and will post the results for you to see.

Jo wins the Great British Bake Off

Following the final of the Great British Bake Off this week, I'm not sure what I'm going to do with my Tuesday evenings. It was a great series for all budding bakers out there as it provides inspiration and fresh ideas... even Chris Evans is a fan! In the end mum of three Jo was a worthy winner. Along with finalists Mary Ann and Holly she produced Mille Feuille and a Sacher Torte but it was Jo's final trio of street party petits-fours that won the day. She produced mini Victoria sponges, Banoffee tartlets as well as raspberry and pistachio meringues...it just goes to show that simplicity sometimes is the best option. So despite eight weeks of largely impressive baking, the precision of Holly and experimentations of Mary-Anne were not enough to surpass Jo in the Great British Bake Off Final.

I've just treated myself to the accompanying Great British Bake off recipe book and there really are some lovely recipes, it includes the best recipes from the contestants, some baking classics as well as all the technical challenges. So in true Julie and Julia style I've decided to tackle the seven technical challenges...I'm aiming for one a month for the next seven months and I'll post the results here for you to see...good or bad! I may even attempt the croquembouche and even if it ends in disaster I can console myself with the fact that Jo's did too! Wish me luck.

If you fancy having a go yourself you can now apply for Series 3 of the Great British Bake Off which will be filming from March to May next year!!