Hi All - it is with mixed emotions that I am announcing that this is the last episode of Scrummy Handshakes - at least for now. Alison can't return and doing this withougt her makes me ... well... sad. Maybe the future will bring a different path, but for now, this is what I need to do. I hope you enjoy this last episode where we tear through the rest of Juniors! We see: Amazing builds of meringue, illusion cakes, mirrors, jellies, and much more. Floor cookies and the worst floor cake in...

Still traveling a lot so baking limited - but did make some brown butter CC cookies! And then had some my employee made - hers were better so I got her recipe :-) Ellie Jean Taylor is having a baby! Bake off starts in UK on Tuesday sept 26... still no confirmation from Netflix on their having episodes 3 days later. Last round for Heat B before recombining the groups. Pastry - the differentiator in my book. A lot can go wrong and the options are wide. In the technical they ere asked to...

Sheldon talks about making Christina Tosi's (Milk Bar) Cornflake Marshmallow Chocolate Chip Cookie - - one word "yum" and talks about the next step of making his own recipe. Where are they now with Nancy Birtwhistle - Season 5 winner. Rav's dress looked amazing! No new bake off news yet...was hoping for contestants. Technical "Rainbow baked Alaska". Banana ice cream... eww. Biggest challenge was getting ice cream to set. Gabriel's forgot butter and flour in the cake... so added it after....

Episode 50!!! Very excited to bring the show to you - it’s fun and I love talking about this topic. Tell your baking friends to come along for the ride!  Follow us on IG @scrummyhandshakes So I made a little investment in my baking journey.  Alison turned me on to Christina Tosi of Milk Bar fame - she also does a show on Netflix called Bake Squad - 10 out of 10 must watch if you love GBBO. I kept seeing a “masterclass” kind of thing for her on a platform called Studio.  She teaches 3 of Milk...

Episode reviewed:  Juniors S7E7 - Heat B Biscuit Week Start off with bakes - It was Ghirardelli baking week for Sheldon. Brownies, White chocolate macadamia / cashew cookies, and straight up chocolate chip.  Oh and Ovens are the devil. 11:37: where are they now.  S12 finalist - Crystelle Pereira IG: @crystellepereira has been doing great it appears since her finalist appearance on season 12 of GBBO whee she, Giuseppe, and Chigs battled for the win. Her instagram is full of fun and tips -...

Episode reviewed:  Juniors S7E6 - Heat B Cake Week Start off with bakes - Sheldon takes on Bundt and the return of Choux - hear how it turned out. 12:35: where are they now.  Former host Sandi Tosvig. So many interesting things I learned about her - I spend more time than I normally would on this segment, but she is fascinating and up to some very cool things. 19:30 - Covering of the episode. 8 new kids in the tent from 9 year old Olivia to 15 year old Fraser and Mia. The have a good mix...

It’s Juniors S7E5 - pastry day for Heat A! For bakes this week I took on some oatmeal butterscotch cookies - but with a little twist of my own in how I prepped them.  I had two delicious desserts from local bakers, a cinnamon chop oatmeal cream pie and a chocolate chocolate chip bunny cake with cream cheese icing. Where are they Now:  This week we take a ride to Season 10. We look at one of the finalists  - Steph (Steph) Blackwell.  Steph struggled in the tent for confidence, but she was an...

It’s Juniors S7E4 - dessert day for Heat A! Baking was limited to making some homemade pancakes and discovering the multitude of recipes for self rising flour.It was maddening! Where are they Now:  Season 11 winner Peter Sawkins. From Edinburgh Scotland, Peter was the youngest winner in Bake Off history. He was known for his big smile and gluten free ability. Has continued to bake a lot post GBBO and can frequently see him posting about it on IG: Peter_bakes He approaches his social media...

It’s Juniors S7E3 - Bread day for Heat A! Kick off with some GBBO news - our friend Giesseppe Dell’Anno from Season 12 has a new book - Giessupe’s Easy Bakes available for Pre-order.  This is his 2nd book - the first was from about a year ago. I’m tempted to get it  Where are they Now:  Hermine Dossou - Season 11. From west Africa and moved to London in 2001 for education. Has been baking her own things since age 8 and kept on rolling. She loves high end French baking, and it showed in her...

Juniors S7E2 - Heat A Biscuit week! Been a quiet week for the hosts - no baking, but a shoutout for a local to Richmond biscuit maker: Cafe Warshafsky - https://www.cafewarshafsky.com/ We do a quick where are they now with one of the "controversial" bakers - Ruby Tandoh. Two bakes this week: Liam's Peanut Butter Millionaire shortbread, and a "biscuit Piniata" Spoilers below: In the Shortbreads, the issues came mostly to getting a good bake on the shortbread (several underbaked), or...

Cupcake win! Had a great result using Bob's Red Mill buttermilk for my cakes. Nice buttercream color as well from the Ann Clark food coloring I picked up and the 1M piping tip! Nice to finally report on a triumph hahah! Couple of news stories - Network ITV has given new GBBO host Alison Hammond a very nice contract to lock her into the network. In another article (both of these from the Irish Mirror) Prue talks about how nice it is to have another woman on the show and that she didn't get a...

Food coloring is the kick off topic - imagine wanting patriotic red and Blue and ending up with Baby blue and pink?! So Sheldon invested in some of the "good stuff". Details coming forth! Also - it was finally time to "harvest" the homemade vanilla started last November. This looks to be delightful - hope to test some out soon. We do a quick "where are they now" with Jurgen (or is it Juergen?) Krauss from season 12. In a recent interview he stated had it not been for the "fully sequestered"...

Croissants. It's been on Sheldon's list to try. Well, he did. we discuss this and the lessons learned. There were many. The experience required a cupcake recovery bake. I find a nice buttercream recipe from natashaskitchen.com We also talk "mixers". We dive into the Masterclasses of season 4 with the first one today. Five bakes: Spiced orange cake with orange buttercream. Mary boiled a whole orange. Victoria sponge with self rising flour AND baking powder - why both? Key - keep oven...

Follow us on Instagram: Scrummyhandshakes Lots of baking - cookies 3 ways and an 8 egg yolk vanilla cake with swiss buttercream... Sheldon gives himself a B to B- New Season of The Professionals! No Tom! New host is Ellie Jane Taylor - a comedian, TV host, and author joins Liam, Cherish and Benoit. I am not familiar with her, but she looks like she could be a lot of fun! Follow her on IG: @elliejanetaylor In this episode the three finalists from Season 1 take on a wedding cake challenge....

Follow us on Instagram: Scrummyhandshakes Houston's tortillas, Cookie madness, and Sheldon tackles puff pastry! Where are they now: Season 1 winner - Edd Kimber (Theboywhobakes) Season 3 E15 - Christmas Masterclass Christmas cake: like a fruitcake. Tips on treacle. Mary Origami. So much TIME. Want more visuals when discussing the "crossroads" of a bake. Mince Pie: UK eat 70MM a year! Sweet short crust pastry - looks fun! No blind bake needed. Paul swears it's more robust because he uses...

Follow us on Instagram: Scrummyhandshakes ! Roku app messing with my head! Tackling Tuiles - a tale of 2 recipes. Sheldon tries one from a book... result is spotty... then recognizes some MAJOR differences from Mary's Where are they now - Brendan Lynch Season 3 Easter Masterclass - SIX recipes! Easter Simnel Cake - it's all about the marzipan! Crystalizing flower that are edible - it's pretty EASY! WHY Slather with butter AND line with parchment?? Hot Cross Buns - Paul's dad had a bake shop...

Sheldon dives into S3E12 - Masterclass where they take on the signature bakes. But first, a little baking! It’s cookies galore - some successes … but also a big fail involving getting confused about whether baking soda was added.  Pro tip: too much baking soda can reallllllly toss a hand grenade on a bake. Redemption came in the form of an old standby chocolate chip. FIVE bakes in this one, all were Paul and Mary’s takes on some of the signature challenges in the season and lots of...

Baking adventures - Cookies galore, trying some local GIANT macarons. Sheldon gets a new work surface! 5 bakes: Queens Pudding, Jam donuts, chocolate tea cakes, Fraisier cake, and fondant fancies Couple ongoing themes: using the "Bain Marie water bath cooking seems to be a recurring theme. Caster sugar also seems to be used an awful lot - I mean it's the "same" but will it impact regular bakes? Queens pudding key lessons: Make sure you pan fits in the Bain Marie bath before you butter...

Sheldon dives into S3E10 - the first of 2 Masterclasses. But first, a little baking! I had a whole lot of extra coconut lying around… it’s a long story… and then remembered I had a loaf over pie crust in the freezer! Coconut cream pie it is. Had a little issue with my crust sagging down the sides of my pie plate… might have been that this crust was maybe the “runt” of my batch fro before so I had to roll it a bit thin. Overall, my count cream seems delightful and I got to use my homemade...

Another Sheldon solo - the next several weeks are going to be hit or miss for Alison as her work is needing her to focus on some things - but no fear! Sheldon will do his best to keep the squad entertained. This week we dive back into Season 2 for the second Master class episode - S2E10. Four bakes in this one, all were technical challenges in the season and lots of lessons. Pork Pies using Paul's hot water crust - key tips: lessons in the power of flour. Lard and butter - a match made in...

Well - I lied. It's just Sheldon again this week - Alison had a last minute conflict so, with that Sheldon tackles some more learning! First, the bakes. Sheldon went back to the well for the chocolate chunk salted shortbreads he made a couple weeks back. This time it was for a purpose though. A wedding "cookie table". He was a nervous, these would be eaten by strangers and taken home by folks. He adjusted a few things to make enough cookies and the like... but the result was pretty...

This episode is exactly as described - Sheldon takes on a technical challenge selected by Alison and you get to cheer (and laugh) with him as he tackles it! It's on call week for Alison so Sheldon flies solo - so it's a good time for a technical! Starting off with a couple of other bakes - Sheldon got a new bundt pan. We get into the pan and the first bake in it. Results - tasty... but ... successful? You be the judge. More macaroon madness as well! Then we get into the bake. This was from...

In this episode we review the Great British Baking Show (GBBO) "Stand Up to Cancer" Celebrities edition Season 7, E1. The contestants are John Lithgow (actor), Jon Richardson (comedian), Russell Brand (activist and actor), and Hannah Cockroft (paralympian). We start off with our own antics. Sheldon's salted butter shortbreads were a hit, and this week he tackles macarOOns - this is a super easy cookie that is great for family time. He went "chocolate" variety and had a little trick to make...

We are back! A few bakes on the books - Sheldon with some "funfetti" cupcakes with vanilla buttercream. Alison does a great job explaining why butter isn't used in them. Sheldon also tackles some popular cookies from Alison Roman (she was at Milk bar with our Alison's favorite Christina Tosi). They came out reallllly well. Alison also made some of her well tuned recipe for chocolate chip cookies, but made a slight modification that was a real crowd pleaser at her work. We have a date! Great...