How good is GBBO? It’s one of our absolute favourites! Jam packed full of innuendo, witty one liners and hilarity. And most of it from the nation’s sweetheart herself! The Great British Bake Off would be nothing without the beautiful, talented and hilarious Mary Berry – who seems to get younger every year. The level of innuendo has reached such dizzying heights that the Daily Mail once ran the headline “Smut! The ingredient that’s made Back Off a turn-off!” The shock! Well, we love it.
Our favourite Mary Berry funny moments are all here (or are they – do let us know if we’ve missed any, we can’t get enough of her).
1. Mary Berry on whisking egg whites:
2. Mary: “Why shouldn’t a bun be round?”
Oh Mary, you cheeky one! You know precisely where this will lead…
Mel: “My buns are round. Always.”
3. Mary Berry on baked goods:
4. Being on Graham Norton and being utterly lovely…
It must get tiring being expected to bring a cake everywhere you go. Good for her not making one
5. Sue, dabbing Paul’s mouth with a tea towel:
“Let me just wipe you down.”
Mary: “No, we’ll do it with a hose later.”
6. Paul Hollywood: “I think it’s over-baked.”
Mary Berry: “It is over-baked but it isn’t bitter and it isn’t burnt.”
Paul: “It is burnt and it is bitter, thank you very much indeed.”
Sue: “I’ll tell you who’s bitter…”
7. Mary Berry’s cheeky reactions:
We just love her face here, what a great reaction. Just like Sarah Millican, we’re not exactly sure why this was such a shocking moment for her. But the cheeky wink at the end is just classic Mary Berry.
8. Mary Berry on Mat’s pitta pockets:
9. Mary Berry on biscuits:
10. Mary Berry on pies:
11. Mary Berry’s idea of criticism:
12. Mary Berry on a Victoria Sponge:
13. Mary Berry’s sage advice:
14. Mary Berry to GBBO winner, John:
15. Mary Berry on Paul:
16. Mary Berry about to embark on tasting Dame Edna Everage’s pastry during the Comic Relief Special:
“I think we’d better taste it,”
Paul Hollywood: “Do we have to?”
Mary’s verdict: “The cream is sort of informal.”
17. Mary Berry’s most funny moments:
Ah, we finished on a high there. We just love Mary. Have we mentioned that already? For more Mary recipes, click on the picture below or head over to our baking books page on the website for Mary Berry book bargains.
Great British Bake Off Recipes We Love
It’s almost time again. The most wonderful, delicious time of the year. When The Great British Bake Off graces our screens once more and everything seems well with the world again. In celebration of this wondrous time, we’ve collected some of our favourite Great British Bake Off recipes. Let us know if you try any of these. But please remember to send us a slice!
Mary Berry’s Coffee and Walnut Battenburg
Makes 1 small to medium cake | Preparation time: less than 30 mins | Cooking time: 1 to 2 hours
Ingredients
• 100g unsalted butter, softened
• 100g caster sugar
• 2 large free range eggs, at room temperature
• 100g self-raising flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 50g ground almonds
• few drops of vanilla extract
• 3tsps milk
• 1 1/2 tsps coffee granules
• 225g walnuts, chopped
For the coffee butter icing:
• 100g icing sugar
• 40g unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 tsp coffee granules
• 1 1/2 tsps milk
To finish:
• 225g white marzipan
• icing sugar for dusting
• about 5 small walnut pieces
You will also need: 1x 20cm square, shallow cake tin, greased; non-stick baking paper
Method
1. For the cake, preheat the oven to 170C/325F/Gas 3. Grease the bottom and sides of a 20cm/8in square, shallow cake tin.
2. Cut out a piece of greaseproof paper that is 7.5cm/3in longer than the length of the tin. Fold the paper in half widthways. Open out the paper and push up the centre fold to make a 4cm/1½in pleat. Line the base of the tin with this, making any adjustments to ensure the pleat runs down the centre of the tin making in effect two rectangular ‘tins’ within the tin.
3. Beat the margarine, sugar, eggs, flour, baking powder and ground almonds in a large bowl for about 2-3 minutes, or until smooth, slightly lighter in colour and glossy looking. (If you put a damp cloth under the bowl, it stops it from moving around.)
4. Spoon slightly more than half the mixture into a separate bowl and stir in the vanilla extract and 1½ teaspoons of the milk. Set aside.
5. Mix the coffee in the remaining 1½ teaspoons of milk, stirring until it has dissolved (you don’t need to heat the milk), then stir this into the other bowl of mixture along with the chopped walnuts. Spoon the vanilla mixture into one half of the tin and the coffee-walnut mixture into the other half. Level the surface of each half with a knife. Check the paper divider is still straight and in the middle.
6. Bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes or until the cake is well risen, springy to the touch and has shrunk slightly from the sides of the tin. Leave to cool in the tin for a few minutes, then loosen the cake from the sides with a round bladed knife, turn it out, peel off the parchment liner and finish cooling on a wire rack.
7. For the butter icing, sift the icing sugar into a medium bowl. Add the butter. Mix the coffee and milk together until the coffee has dissolved, and pour into the bowl. Beat everything together with a wooden spoon until soft and smooth. Set aside.
8. Trim the crispy outer edges off the cooled cake with a serrated knife, then cut and trim if necessary into 4 equal strips. Lay one vanilla and one coffee-walnut strip next to each other, then use a little of the butter icing to stick them together. Spread a bit more icing on the top. Stick the remaining two strips together with icing and place them on top to create a chequerboard effect.
9. Spread a little more icing over the top of the assembled cake.
10. Cut two pieces of string, one that is the length of the assembled cake and one that will wrap all around it.
11. Roll the marzipan out, on a work surface lightly dusted with sifted icing sugar, into an oblong the length of the cake and sufficiently wide to wrap around the cake, using the pieces of string as your measuring guide.
12. Lay the butter iced side of the cake on the marzipan, positioning it so that when you lift up one long side, it perfectly covers one side of the cake (this way the join will be neatly in the corner).
13. Reserve a teaspoonful of the icing and spread the rest over the remaining three sides of the cake (not the ends). Brush off any crumbs from the marzipan and work surface. Roll the cake over in the marzipan, pressing to neatly cover it, then brush the corner join lightly with water, pressing it to seal. (Try to avoid touching the marzipan with wet fingers as they will mark it.) Turn the cake over so that the join is underneath. Trim a slim slice from each end of the cake to neaten and show off the chequerboard effect. Smooth the marzipan over with your hands so their warmth will give it a smooth finish.
14. While the marzipan is still soft, crimp the edges by pinching the marzipan between your thumb and first finger at a slight angle and at regular intervals. Score the top of the cake with long diagonal lines using a sharp knife. Sift over some icing sugar to lightly dust the top, then lay the walnut pieces down the centre, securing with the reserved butter icing.
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Warm Cherry Crumble Pie
Enjoy this pie when English cherries are in season and good value in the markets. The dough is quickly made in a food-processor, then grated into the tin and pressed in place – it’s too rich to roll out. The cherries are added and the rest of the dough is grated on top to make a crunchy crumble topping.
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