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Cookie time, my friends. Sugar Cookies for Signature and Macarons for Showstopper. Macarons are my favorite thing to bake, but of course they had to make us build them into a tower using two different flavors (sigh). You may not believe me, but that episode had me very worried. It is true that I had issues with the oven and all the preparation was incredibly rushed, but independent of that I never felt confident about the tower thing. First, it required us to bake quite a large number of shells, because since there is always some proportion that might crack, or bake with irregular shape, I had decided to bake at least 20% more shells of each color than needed. I am also not that good at spacing things artistically around a cone and Phil had to give me a lot of input and help. Without him around, the outcome could be grim.

Signature Bake

Snowy Tree Sugar Cookies

For my cookies, I chose the flavors of Fiori di Sicilia and cardamon. The timing for this assignment was pretty cruel, if you ask me.  Two and a half hours to make the dough, roll it out, cut, bake, cool (the cookies, you will stay pretty hot throughout the challenge), and decorate them?  I knew I had to keep the decoration very simple or I would never finish them. And since consistency is important, simpler is once more better.  So I went with a wet-on-wet design that I could do without having to wait for one layer to dry before applying the details. I was pretty comfortable with the taste and texture of the cookies, but the consistency of my Royal icing in practice was slightly off. I had no chance to re-visit that challenge before leaving the US, and was already planning to practice in the hotel in case I advanced that far. Well, as we all know, that never materialized… Having watched the show, I realize my cookies would probably be ranked last, everyone else had much more daring bakes. Did you see Marissa’s paintings? Wow. Just wow.

Showstopper

Opposites Attract Macaron Tower

My two flavors would be pretty contrasting, and the decoration also. The light green ones would be filled with coconut and lime, pretty sharp and refreshing flavors, and after a drizzle of white chocolate colorful sprinkles would be added (I did not do it in practice rounds). The other flavor was more austere, a chocolate ganache with a touch of cinnamon, the decoration just a simple stroke with a fan brush of copper-color pearl dust.  Because it can be done very quickly, it would be perfect in case I ran into trouble with timing.  The photo shows a work in progress, I was trying to figure out the size of the shells, the size of the cone (I ended up opting for a smaller one to take with me), and it was all pretty stressful. I had that lingering thought in my mind that macarons would be the task bringing me down. Well, I wish. Would be so nice if I had stayed until then…

I was definitely not ready for the showstopper when I packed my things and left our home, but I’ve learned a few things while practicing. Slightly smaller macarons are easier to negotiate (we had a minimum diameter required, and mine were for the most part a bit bigger); glueing them with toothpicks is a total mess, much better to use melted chocolate (or candy melts) and a freezing spray as you go; the drizzled ones look better if you lay the decoration in similar angle throughout the tower; and finally, the stroke with luster paint should be done after they are in the tower, so you can have them with a similar angle very easily. Or so I hope.

That episode was probably the most dramatic of the whole season. I was at the edge of my seat, even though I knew the outcome, of course. Witnessing it all develop is a different story, brings back that “tent-feeling.” A lot of trouble for my buddies, but Star Baker was Marissa, who beautifully surfed through the challenges with a pretty clever take on sugar cookies (she used meringue powder that dries harder and quicker), a good performance on the technical (Fortune cookies, I so want to bake them!), and a Macaron tower that was beautiful and tasted great too. CONGRATS, MARISSA!!!! Speaking of Marissa, please visit the gofund page set up by Tanya, and if you can contribute, you would make this bunch of bakers very happy…

As the episodes go by, leaving the tent gets more and more painful. Sarita was eliminated. She showed a very good performance in the technical, but had problems to finish decorating her super cute sugar cookies (adorable mittens) and to stick the macarons to the cone with Royal icing. I do believe that the different behavior of powdered sugar from the US versus UK played a big role in my gingerbread sculpture fiasco and also on Sarita’s issues. At any rate, it’s the kind of stuff I should have considered and practiced when I had a chance in the hotel.

Sarita is a dynamo of energy, and there is simply never a dull moment when she’s around! The personal side of this type of adventure is one that most people have no idea. Sarita is a stay-at-home Mom of two adorable young daughters (the oldest looks like her clone!) and that is a full-time job that only those who face it, day in, day out know how tough it can be. So leaving for the UK for such an extended period of time leaving her kids behind was not easy for her. She missed things like their first ride on the school bus early one morning, but the producers were on top of it, and allowed a break in the filming so she could get in touch by phone and wish them a nice ride and good luck on that special day. She also had to deal with health issues that affected her Mom, to add to the stress of the tent-experience. She dealt with them all with that big open smile she always carries with her. After she was eliminated we did some sightseeing together in London, like a tour of the Tower of London, a place I’ve always wanted to see. Interestingly enough, the Tower of Macarons led to the Tower of London. Silver linings… once again.

(disclaimer: I do own more than one shirt)
😉

You can follow Sarita’s cooking and baking adventures through her blog Ritzymom.com. Pay her a visit to say hello!

By the way look at the tower I made after coming back home…

WHAAAT? I did not fool you for a second?  You are hurting my feelings now. Seriously, that was a beautiful tower that brought a sad smile to me and Tanya as we entered Laduree… 

ONE YEAR AGO: Brazilian Chicken and Heart of Palm Pie

TWO YEARS AGO: Roasted Butternut Squash with Walnuts and Tahini Sauce

THREE YEARS AGO: The Complicit Conspiracy of Alcohol

FOUR YEARS AGO: Candy Cane Cookies

FIVE YEARS AGO: Macarons: Much better with a friend

SIX YEARS AGO: Our Mexican Holiday Dinner 

SPOILER INSIDE!
If you have not watched the show,
save this post to read later

Maybe you already guessed what I’m talking about. DESSERT: Episode 4 of the Great American Baking Show.  The first one that had me waving goodbye at my buddies as they got into the bus for the tent early in the morning.  I stayed behind, alone and broken inside, it was one tough day for me. In part because that was the episode I was most excited about. I was quite happy with my madeleines, but over the moon with my cheesecake tower. As you know, I am not wild about sculptures (to put it mildly). I guess a cheesecake tower, of all the assembled desserts, is probably the simplest, like a three-tier cake, you just have to make sure they are secured in place. Of course, even though it sounds doable at home, the tent is a place that often generates its own gravitational anomalies.

MADELEINES

They had to present 24 madeleines, 12 of each kind, made from genoise, and iced. The thing about madeleines is the famous “bump.” If they are flat, they are never going to be handshake-worthy, no matter how tasty they are. Many factors affect the bump formation, the amount of leavening agent, the way you handle the batter, but from my madeleine adventures, I think the key is to cool the batter after piping. Five to ten minutes in the freezer gave me the best outcome. We had 1 hour and 45 minutes to present them. I practiced and practiced, and was able to keep the piped tray in the freezer for both batters for 7 minutes without having to pull my hair out to have them done in time.

Same batter, left was baked straight from room temperature. Right was baked after 7 minutes in the freezer.  Amazing, isn’t it?  Chill your batter, my friends!

Here are the two kinds I designed for the tent…

JAMAICAN DREAM MADELEINES

They had coconut in the batter and were iced with Hibiscus tea glaze, decorated with sweetened, toasted coconut. My friend Dana had hibiscus madeleines also, proving that great minds madeleine alike.  I was looking forward to trying hers and comparing notes. Sadly, it was not to be.

SHE WORE RED VELVET MADELEINES

I wanted to explore different takes on holiday season, and chose hibiscus because in Jamaica it is used in  the most popular drink to celebrate the New Year.  Coconut closes the tropical deal.  As to Red Velvet, what can be more festive, no matter where you are?  I know Sherry is not too wild about red velvet cake, but I was hoping red madeleines dressed up for party would win her nod of approval.

TROPICAL CHEESECAKE TOWER

Once again, I wanted to show what the end of the year is like for those living in places like Brazil. They are ready for the sun, the beach, for a true Summer break, and my cheesecakes tried to bring a ray of sunshine to the American holiday season.  I chose Açaí and Mango as basic flavors, and dressed them up with a layer of thin genoise with contrasting color designs.  Timing was a big, big issue and I knew I had to work non-stop and very efficiently. But I was really looking forward to it.  My pictures do not reflect the final product, which would end up as a mixture of them.  I had to play with the mango component quite a bit to maximize the flavor, and my first decoration with the toasted meringue did not please me very much.  So the “tent-version” would have the mango-agar decorations on top.

I was also going to change the color pattern, and use the purple cake around the mango ones, the orange around the açaí. Finally, the top cheesecake would be a tad smaller in diameter, so that the concentric pattern of the middle tier would be more visible.

I loved the flavors and in my opinion they went together well, açaí with that unique flavor that was mellowed down by some blueberries added to the party. Of all episodes, maybe this one was my favorite. I cannot tell you how sad it makes me that I was not able to do any of it in the tent. I think both Paul and Sherry would like  my Tropical Cheesecake Tower. Of course, there are plenty of uncertainties when you bake in the tent. Would the big cheesecake set? Would I be able to bake all the cake sides and have them nicely arranged? Would they enjoy the agar components or frown their noses at them?

I cannot give you a handshake, but I will wag my tail anytime for you, Mom!

So that was the end of another episode, in which Marissa got Star Baker with her madeleines and cheesecake combination, plus a good performance on a very tricky technical. The Queen of Puddings!  I need to make that at some point, very curious about it.

Sadly, another baker had to leave the tent….

Bianca was eliminated, and I am sure it was very sad in that tent. If I had to pick ONE adjective to describe her,  it would be SWEET. Just LOOK at her picture, and if you saw her on the show, you’ll know it is the perfect adjective. Adorable could go well also. Sweet and adorable. I am good with that now. Her mind works at 120mph, as she thinks about her next bake, about tweaks she could do here and there.  We would be sitting in our “green room” for hours, and Bianca would be sketching things on her notebook, lost in her thoughts, then all of a sudden would go “hey guys, what do you think about this?” – and the ideas would pour, her creativity is unparalleled. Did I mention she is adorable? And drop-dead gorgeous.

I need to talk a bit about her Cake episode. Here we have a person who SHINES at cakes. Cake is her thing, all the way. And she has the incredibly bad luck of cutting her finger on a mandolin. Badly, I must add. They did not show the extent of the stress she was subjected to, and we all thought that it would be almost impossible for her to come up with a cake with the time that she had left. So all her amazing decorations had to be forgotten. Can you imagine her frustration? I mean, I could say that macarons are my thing. The idea that I would bake a batch in front of the cameras that would somehow explode and I would have to start all over and be unable to decorate them…. leaves me paralyzed. That’s pretty much what happened to sweet-adorable Bianca.  And it broke my heart. She is a fighter though, and showed such resilience and ability to perform under pressure.  She baked a cake, decorated as much as time allowed, and proudly showed it to Paul and Sherry. I am sure they were as impressed as everyone around.

Since the show ended, she got engaged to her lovely boyfriend, whom we had a chance to meet in the UK. She is happy and full of goals and dreams for the future. I wish her all the luck and will be following her adventures. You can do it too, here is the address of her blog.

ONE YEAR AGO: Dominique Ansel’s Chocolate Mousse Cake

TWO YEARS AGO: Slow-Roasted Eye of the Round Beef

THREE YEARS AGO: Steam-Roasted Indian-Spiced Cauliflower

FOUR YEARS AGO: Creamy Zucchini-Mushroom Soup

FIVE YEARS AGO: Ken Forkish’s Pain au Bacon

SIX YEARS AGO: Carrot and Cumin Hamburger Buns

SEVEN YEARS AGO: Potato Galettes a l’Alsacienne & Book Review

EIGHT YEARS AGO: Caramelized Carrot Soup

NINE YEARS AGO: Miso-Grilled Shrimp

TEN YEARS AGO: Pain Poilane