Bake Off Series 17 Bakers Struggle With Millionaire’s Shortbread

Bakers on The Great British Bake Off series 17 were asked to make millionaire’s shortbread, and most of them could not get all three layers right. Judge Paul Hollywood called the results a disaster, while Nigella Lawson said the round was not as bad as bread week, according to a clip the show posted on YouTube and a report by Primetimer.

The judges wanted equal layers of buttery shortbread and salted caramel under a thin layer of marbled chocolate, host Alison Hammond told the contestants. Each layer depended on the one below it, so a slow start on the biscuit left less time for the caramel to set.

Shortbread came first, and timing was tight

Hollywood told viewers the bakers would be pushed for time and said the biscuit needed about 20-25 minutes in the oven to get a proper snap. Mo started with 17 minutes. Tom expected his would take longer because the base was thick.

Hollywood summed up the challenge in one line: “This is all about the settings on every single layer.” The shortbread had to be firm enough to eat, and the caramel had to cool and set before the chocolate went on top.

Caramel at 112 degrees Celsius caused most of the trouble

Contestants were told to cook the caramel until it reached 112 degrees Celsius, which meant watching the heat closely. Gabe admitted to being impatient, a problem when sugar needs time. Connie burned her sugar, and Hammond tried to help by washing it out, which would make the sugar solidify, Primetimer reported.

Mo noticed the shortbread was still warm, so the caramel was unlikely to firm up on it. The show’s voiceover warned that caramel left too soft would let the layers run into one another.

How the judges scored each bake

Hollywood said he could not see any caramel in Mo’s bake unless the chocolate had mixed with caramel that never set. Lawson still praised the flavor of Mo’s shortbread.

Hollywood said Connie’s chocolate topping was a disaster. Tom got the warmest words: Lawson called his marbling beautiful, and Hollywood said all three layers were visible, though he wanted the biscuit to bake a little longer.

Gabe got mixed reviews. Hollywood could see a caramel layer, but Lawson found the shortbread very claggy, a British word for sticky and heavy. Hollywood said Moyin’s biscuits were underbaked.

What it means for home bakers

The episode put the weak points of this bar on screen. Hollywood tied a good snap to a long enough bake, the caramel had to reach its target temperature, and a warm base kept the caramel from setting, which in turn spoiled the chocolate on top. The bakers worked to two figures: a 20-25 minute bake for the shortbread and 112 degrees Celsius for the caramel. Bars with a filling over a baked base, such as these pecan pie bars on a shortbread crust, depend on the same sequence of baking, cooling and setting.

Source: PRIMETIMER