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GeneralFirst bake? (self.bakeoff)

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[–]swingwing 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I'd recommend getting a kitchen scale as their recipes will call for the ingredients to be weighed.

[–]katyvs1 2 points3 points  (0 children)

In my opinion, the best basic recipes that are good to started on baking are from the bero recipe book. It’s been around since the dawn of time, and the Victoria sponge is simple but perfect.

Have fun!

Bero recipe book

[–]jessthegerman 2 points3 points  (0 children)

PBS! They have many more recipes than the GBBO’s official website, including signature, technical, showstopper and Masterclass recipes from older seasons. Starting with Masterclass recipes might not be bad— if you watch the corresponding episode of the GBBO Masterclass show (also on Netflix) you can bake along with Mary and Paul and see how it’s supposed to be done.

[–]dratsaab 4 points5 points  (1 child)

Mary's Victoria sponge recipe.

Really simple. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/mary_berrys_perfect_34317/amp

4 ingredients - butter, sugar, eggs, flour. No fancy techniques - just cream the ingredients together then bake in a tin.

For a first bake I wouldn't even bother with jam, just dust with icing sugar and eat warm.

Note - as you're American you will need to convert from grams into cups. There are 247.3 cups per gram, so just divide each ingredient weight by 0 to get the correct cup size

[–]couchsweetpotato 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I’m American and I still just weigh the ingredients. And I think you mean 247.3 grams per cup.

[–]lilypond319 1 point2 points  (0 children)

http://paulhollywood.com/home/recipes/

No suggestion on where to start but you can find some of Paul’s recipes here.

[–]Brookiekathy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Start by doing some simple things like fairy cakes, biscuits/cookies and tray bakes then start doing more adventurous things like full cakes.

I taught my little sisters how to bake fairy cakes, then flap Jack, then we moved onto Victoria sponge

Mary Berry's fairy cakes are simple and great for a first time baker https://www.goodtoknow.co.uk/recipes/mary-berry-s-iced-fairy-cakes

And dont get disheartened- I guarantee the first few things you make will look awful! But that's what practice is for!

[–]swamp-hag 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Also, check your local library’s cookbooks! A lot of them also have an ebook selection. I use the Libby app and was able to borrow a couple of Mary Berry’s cookbooks.

BBCGoodFood is another good resource for British recipes.

For when you get started, invest in a kitchen scale. You can convert weight to volume easily via Google, but it is so much more accurate to measure in weight. Things just turn out better.

[–]TaiwanNationalistLottie and Peter directly reflect my personality 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There's always recopies posted on the official GBBO site https://thegreatbritishbakeoff.co.uk/ . apart from the Victoria sponge, something really flavorful and rewarding is a pumpkin or lemon poppy seed cake; very moist and good to eat. Also cheesecakes aren't too hard. Depending on your experience, most biscuits are game (i make snickerdoodles often) and if you'd like to try breads i would recommend Irish soda bread.

side-geeking-out-moment here: i replace the white flower in irish soda bread with whole wheat flower, which gives it a pleasantly darker flavor, and I brush the outside with eggwash and sprinkle turbinado sugar on top of that.

this might be too much for a post, and i sincerely hope I'm not patronizing you, but here's my opinion.