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INTRODUCTION
This book provides the definitive celebration of cake. Featuring amazing cakes in all their guises (from well-loved classics to vegan bakes and from cupcakes to fondant fancies), we have brought together the ultimate The Great British Baking Show collection, aiming to excite and inspire, as well as—of course—to introduce you to our Season 10 bakers. As Baking Show celebrates its tenth birthday, we’ve also included a selection of the amazing cakes from the previous seasons, and you’ll also find plenty of new cake recipes that will capture your attention.
Chapters on classic, chocolate, fruit & nut and free-from cakes each open with a perfect example of a cake in that category (the Victoria Sponge in Classics, the Ultimate Chocolate Cake in Chocolate, the Traditional Fruitcake in Fruit & Nut, and the Vegan Lemon Drizzle in Free-From). Each of these recipes is followed by a table that gives you recipe quantities for alternate sizes and shapes of that cake, so that you can adapt and experiment to create something that’s just right for you. Then, every chapter features page after delicious page of other cake delights, each presented with clear, step-by-step instructions that leave nothing to chance.
An additional chapter, sitting at the very heart of the book, is a personal glimpse into the worlds of the Season 10 bakers, featuring their own family favorites and including some of the cakes that inspired them to start baking themselves.
Icons at the top of each recipe show how many people each cake serves, and hands-on times to give you a sense of how long you can expect to spend gathering your ingredients, and then mixing, and decorating your cake. The baking time is an instant guide to how long the baked elements of each cake will need in the oven (always follow the precise baking times given in the method).
Before you get started, read our guide to the chemistry of baking, which includes information on the role of each key ingredient, and how to use your oven to get the best results every time. And, because we want to inspire you not only to create the amazing cakes in the book but also to invent your own, information on the key methods of making cakes will help you to grow in confidence and experiment in your own kitchen. The storage information on page 20 will help you to keep your cake for longer should you have any left over, or if you are saving your bake for a particular day. Finally, throughout the book, key techniques (piping cupcakes, decorating with chocolate, and creating a showstopping naked effect) provide you with simple, step-by-step guidance on how to make the very most of your own amazing cakes.
On your marks, get set, bake!
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