Episode 20 Best Bakes Ever

The wonderful smell of bread, just out of the oven,

the perfect pie crust, the snap of a biscuit and, of course, cakes -

cakes of all shapes and sizes and for every occasion.

We've got something for all the senses here as we celebrate

some of the best bakes ever.

Hello and welcome to the show.

Let's have a look at just what we've got in our Best Bakes Ever today.

The Hairy Bikers brave the elements

-and show us how to make German potato bread...

-Let's wrap this up.

I don't want to eat it here, man. It's pouring! Come on, mate.

..there's a creme brulee from Lorraine Pascale, a quiche Lorraine

from Rachel Khoo and Mary Berry bakes with berries and meringue.

James Martin has a classic sponge with strawberries and cream...

The last time I entered this for a WI competition, I got banned!

They banned me on all fronts

because they said it shouldn't have double cream in it,

I filled it full of strawberry jam and I put icing sugar on the top.

Well, between me and you, it tasted the best.

..and Raymond Blanc is serving up a splendid tarte tatin.

It's going to take about five, seven minutes roughly.

According to the strength of the guys underneath,

according to the moon.

No, no, no, no! Not the moon! Not today!

But we're starting with a recipe that, to me, conjures up

images of Beatrix Potter and old McGregor's garden - rabbit pie.

It's a very old recipe but you don't come across it

so much nowadays, which means we're missing out.

Or, at least, that's according to Clarissa Dickson Wright.

And she's using some history to prove her point.

The Elizabethans loved rabbit.

They did really interesting things with it.

And quite honestly, if it was good enough for the elegant,

sophisticated Elizabethans, I'm sure it's good enough for you.

I'm going to take the meat off the bones.

You don't even have to be terribly careful about it.

I often make this pie when I have friends for supper.

It goes down a storm and helps convert people to my rabbit cause.

Right. There we are.

To begin, I take some rabbit fillets and dust in seasoned flour,

just as you would for an escalope of pork or chicken.

When I was at school, they used to serve you rabbit

and say it was chicken because, in those days,

chicken was the expensive option and there was lots of rabbit about.

It was very difficult to tell, really.

Nowadays, it's quite easy to tell

cos the rabbit has rather more flavour,

as you'll find out when you tuck into this pie.

'Gently fry the meat in butter...'

And so there we are. The rabbit's now browned beautifully.

'..before adding chopped onion and carrots, artichoke hearts,

'apple and raisins and, finally, some orange.'

You find a lot of citrus, orange and lemon, in Elizabethan recipes.

I finish by adding stock and a large splash of red wine before leaving to

simmer for two hours to amalgamate all the wonderful flavours.

When it is cooked, put it into a pie dish. Doesn't that look appetising?

And it smells appetising, too.

Lastly, I add a few hard-boiled eggs, which the Elizabethans loved.

They taste fantastic with rabbit.

Those of you who are members of the fluffy bunny brigade,

who oppose the eating of rabbit,

I simply find it completely incomprehensible why you

would want to not eat this delicious,

healthy, versatile meat.

Cover with a simple shortcrust pastry. What a treat!

Perfect for any occasion.

Just wash it with a bit of eggwash

so that you get a nice colour to the pastry when it's cooked.

There we are.

All you have to do is put that into the oven and bake it

until the pastry is cooked.

After 40 minutes, a feast awaits.

Those Elizabethans certainly knew how to make a good pie.

There.

I don't think we have anything one half as good as that these days.

My delicious Elizabethan rabbit pie.

If this doesn't have your family hopping round the dinner table,

I don't know what will.

Mm! It smells truly delicious.

Such a lovely combination of flavours.

And the richness of the rabbit cooked in the butter is quite

noticeably different.

I can't understand why people will eat any other type of meat

and yet scorn the humble and inexpensive rabbit.

Now, how about something a bit more straightforward?

You can't go wrong with a nice apple crumble.

And this one from Nigel Slater has an interesting ingredient - cheese.

I'm not the sort of cook who travels the world, trying to find

weird things to eat, but I do like to ring the changes.

And much more fun, to my mind,

is to take something I know very well, something familiar,

and give it a new lease of life, give it a surprise.

So I'm taking an unusual approach to one of my favourites -

apple crumble.

I want to play with the flavours and make a savoury version,

something to try with a Sunday roast or even alongside some sausages.

Half a dozen apples should be enough.

There's two ways to approach the filling for a crumble.

You either cook the fruit from raw with the crumble topping on it

or you just give the fruit a few minutes in a pan with

a little bit of butter to start with.

So often, cooking is about getting something on the table

at the end of the day, it's about feeding the hungry horde,

but I think it also can be about having a little bit of fun -

a rainy afternoon, a few ingredients and just playing a bit.

These apples just need a few minutes to stew -

plenty of time to make my crumble topping.

It starts in the usual way - with butter and flour.

I'm just going to rub the butter into the flour,

which you can do in a food processor and it takes seconds.

But I like the feel of food in my hands, particularly baking.

I just end up with a good, rich, basic crumble.

Check the apples. See how they're coming on.

Now, they're looking good. They're looking nice and soft.

I'm going to put in a little bit of Madeira. You could use Marsala.

Just something to give it a grown-up flavour. So far, so traditional.

But I want my crumble to be a bit different.

Time for the savoury twist.

Apples and cheese - one of life's perfect marriages.

So I'm going to grate into that a little bit of Parmesan cheese.

A good, strong Parmesan will add real flavour to this.

Probably need three or four tablespoons.

Breadcrumbs will add to the savoury edge and crisp up beautifully.

I'm just thinking of something that will work with the apples.

Maybe a little bit of thyme. I've actually got some lemon thyme.

It just has that little extra bit of freshness.

Lemon thyme works well in stuffing and will add a delicate freshness.

So the apple's really quite soft

and it's soaked up a little bit of that alcohol.

And then it gets its crumble topping.

A final shower of Parmesan and into the oven it goes.

I'm grateful for the rain today.

It's a wonderful excuse to stay inside, pour myself a drink

and just enjoy the scent of baking.

It's deeply savoury from the cheese and thyme

but there's definitely the sweetness of apple in there, too.

It looks like a crumble.

Something very familiar and friendly about that.

I'm expecting pudding

but I'm actually getting something

that reminds me of an old-fashioned ploughman's lunch

with a big lump of cheese and an apple.

It would be a really nice thing to have on the side with some

cold roast meat.

Quite unusual but it's a success.

The cheese has made a classic apple crumble into something

intriguing for very little effort.

I'd happily eat this for supper any day of the week,

and especially with sausages.

Now time for a pudding full of colour.

If you've been making something like mayonnaise or hollandaise sauce,

what do you do with those leftover egg whites?

Make them into a meringue, of course.

And here's a very special one from Mary Berry, just right for a party.

When I'm cooking for a crowd,

I always like to serve a centrepiece pud.

And my meringue tranche with berries and cream really hits the spot.

Some people have a real difficulty with meringue

but I've got a foolproof way, so let me show you. Start with four eggs.

So separate the eggs carefully into a very clean bowl.

So there's the first egg.

Separate the eggs one at a time so if you break a yolk,

you won't ruin all the whites.

Then whisk the egg whites until they look like puffy clouds.

Now I add 225g of caster sugar, a little at a time.

The mixture will become thick and shiny.

That's it.

Now I need to just give it a little beat round.

I'm just going to show you that that has got the most wonderful

gloss to it.

Next, transfer the mixture to a piping bag with

a one-centimetre hole cut off the end.

Then pipe onto baking parchment laid out on an oven tray. Do you know?

I've been making meringue for years and enjoying every minute of it.

And if you stop in the middle, it gives you a breather,

and you can give it a twist before you get going. And off we go again.

You'll need two of these meringues for a party.

I've marked out two rectangles, 12 x 40cm long,

to ensure they're both the same size. I've made this many times.

I can't really claim that this is my recipe.

Lucy, who's helped me with all my books and all sorts of things,

it was her idea, and I think she made it for her 30th birthday.

Once you've lined each edge with a row of lovely little

peaks of meringue, it's into the oven at 100 degrees fan.

And after about two hours, it's ready for the finishing touches.

This piece of wood, just covered with foil,

makes a wonderful silver tray.

So I'm going to take the meringue and lift it onto there and join it.

Bit of a shake there. That's it.

So the next move is to put the lovely, rich,

decadent cream in the middle.

So I'm going to put a few blobs along and then spread them.

So some there.

You can make this meringue a fortnight ahead

if you wrap it carefully but you only want to fill it a few

hours before you're actually serving it.

The creamy layer, made up of 300ml of whipped double cream mixed

with 200g of full-fat Greek yoghurt,

is spread evenly over the meringue to form a base for the next

layer - wonderful rows of fresh blueberries and raspberries.

It's quicker, as I go along, to just take a handful of blueberries

and drop them in that hole.

They go in a bit more neatly.

I think that looks pretty marvellous and I can't wait to carry

it in and everybody to think, "How did she get that in the oven?"

I bet they're still puzzling over that one, Mary!

And here's another mystery - when it's pouring with rain,

why on earth would you be cooking outside?

The answer is because you're the Hairy Bikers on a trip round

Germany and you've just got to park the bikes and show us

how to bake a German potato bread.

Well, you can't start an epic journey on an empty stomach,

so let's get baking.

And we're in Germany, so let's kick off with some Brot.

-Yeah, something really German, like Kartoffelbrot.

-Spot-on.

A comforting potato bread. Just the thing in this weather.

Ho-ho! Wow! What a place to cook!

Potato bread - a moist, tasty bread which doesn't dry out.

Perfect for a road trip.

Do you know what?

Sometimes, we've been in piping hot countries and we cook a stew

and you feel really stupid.

Or sometimes, you've been somewhere really cold and we do a salad.

This time, we've got it right. It's wonderful. It's German.

-It's Kartoffel bread.

-Kartoffelbrot!

-Kartoffelbrot.

-Brot of the Kartoffel!

-Potato bread.

-That's it.

-Traditional German.

Lots of cultures have potato bread, don't they?

Loads of cultures have got potato bread. Sometimes...

-Sorry...

-HE LAUGHS

I was trying to clean the table! I've got to knead on that!

HE LAUGHS

Right. Dry it off! Dry it off!

-Calm. Calm. Right. They'll cut that out.

-They won't.

-Oh, well.

Do you know? Potato bread, it's wonderful stuff.

It's soft and white. It's like a polar bear's paw.

And you know what it's got in it? Potatoes!

Not only do spuds add flavour and tenderness,

but potato bread stays moist and keeps really well.

Just the thing to pop in your pannier.

And just poach your spuds.

WATER GURGLES

-It's making a very odd noise, dude.

-I've got water in me jets!

HE BLOWS

Si? What?

I have an honest and fervently-held belief that this will now work.

HE LAUGHS

Yes! Myers!

And simply poach the potatoes, 15-20 minutes, until they're soft.

-We'll reserve the liquor.

-Rrrrr!

These potatoes are nicely soft. And the water, it's just warm.

-It's boiled. We've left it to cool.

-Because?

We want to activate the yeast with the potato water.

-So what we're going to do now is strain the potatoes, like so.

-Oh!

-Kartoffel pan.

-The leavening process.

The warm potato water goes in here.

Now, remember, if that was too hot and boiling,

-you'd kill the yeast. You would not create life.

-Take the yeast.

Sprinkle it over the top.

Then, to speed up the fermentation, we add some sugar, or Zucker,

as they call it here.

Give it a mix.

And then what you want to do is you want to wait

until that has a bubbling scum on the top of it.

It's going to be nice and it's going to smell very nice.

Because it's going to smell like beer, it's going to smell yeasty.

While that's kind of coming to life, we need to mash the potatoes.

In potato bread, it's mashed potatoes. Look at that.

It looks like Wotsits!

To make it even more moist,

I'm adding a tablespoon of sunflower oil and then some salt.

Look at this. It's a bubbling, lovely mass of gorgeousness.

The yeast goes into the potatoes.

Nice.

You can do this recipe with all white flour but we've found that

-a third wholemeal gives it a nicer texture.

-Yes.

Put the yeasty potatoes into the flour and stir it all into a bowl.

A little at a time,

just to make sure that you get it all the way through.

Do you think you're going to get down to that or shall we put some more water in?

No, I tell you what, mate. I'm going to get me hands in it, just to have a feel of it,

-which is a key thing to baking as well, isn't it?

-It is.

-Ooh, yes, I am.

-That is coming together.

It is coming together with a little bit of pressure. That's interesting.

Now, you put on a nice, clean, dry surface and knead it.

And that needs to be kneaded for about ten minutes.

You begin to smell the bread

and smell what it's going to be like when it's cooking. That's fabulous!

-Lush! There we are.

-Cover that with clingfilm.

We need to put this somewhere out of the draught for an hour to

an hour and a half until doubled in size.

# Wonderful, wonderful potato bread

# Going in the top box

# Duh-duh duh-duh-duh. #

-There's worse views.

-Oh, you could sit here for hours, couldn't you?

-Oh, you could.

-Aye.

That yeast has got to be ready, dude. Let's check it out.

If it's not ready now, we're going to have to start again.

-Yes!

-Oh, yes!

-Look at that.

So that needs to be knocked back.

And now we commence the German potato bread plait.

This is one of those young ladies from the Bierkeller.

She's getting ready for a night out. "I will plait my locks!"

Making a plait rather than a plain loaf creates more surface area,

and that means more crust.

-Top tip, that.

-Oh!

Look at that - done with the dexterity of a ballerina! Fantastic!

We're adding onion seeds here but you could use poppy,

sesame or anything that takes your fancy.

So this needs to rest for about half an hour, and it will indeed...

..rise back again.

'Just enough time for us to swot up on Germany.'

'Would it surprise you to know, Kingy, that they

'have over 10,000 bakeries here?'

'No, not in the least, actually.'

'But, yeah, you're not on Mastermind now, you know!'

Look at that. It's a very, very soft bread. It's a chewy bread.

It's lovely.

I'm just going to dust this with wholemeal flour so it's got,

like, a nice little rusticky feel to it.

Don't need to be frugal with this thing. Me holes have blocked up in the rain.

Oh, that's looking great, isn't it?

And so we pop this into a preheated oven,

round about 200 degrees Celsius, and bake for 30-35 minutes

-until golden and cooked through.

-Oh...

-Oh, isn't it?

-Oh, it is.

I don't really mind the rain

when I know there's a slice of warm potato bread coming my way.

How fabulous! The smell of freshly baked bread,

-drifting across the Mosel in the rain.

-Look at this, Dave.

-That's a hell of a handsome loaf. Oh, man!

-It's beautiful, isn't it?

-Isn't that beautiful?

-It's soft. It's how it should be.

-That's potato bread.

-Let's wrap this up.

I don't want to eat it here, man. It's pouring! Come on, mate.

Because the great thing about potato bread is that it keeps.

Which is fantastisch!

We're going from Germany to France now - Paris, in fact,

where Rachel Khoo is sensibly indoors, baking a quiche Lorraine.

In the UK, most people go to the supermarket,

buy a quiche Lorraine, it's got a soggy crust,

the bacon's not particularly nice, the filling's like... Eurgh!

My quiche Lorraine is the exact opposite.

My first job is making the shortcrust pastry base.

Most busy Parisians would usually buy this.

I'm going to start off with 90g of soft butter, unsalted.

Add a teaspoon of sugar and a pinch of salt

and cream it all together. OK. I'm going to add my flour.

I've got 180g plain flour. Two egg yolks.

They give a lovely yellow colour and a richness to the pastry.

Then add a couple of tablespoons of cold water.

Just want to mix everything together

and what will happen is that it will get this kind of sandy texture.

At this point, you can use your hand to bring the dough together.

It's coming together. Clingfilm.

Put your pastry in the fridge. Best is overnight.

If you haven't got the time, half an hour to an hour.

Chilling the dough makes it more pliable.

Remember to take it out of the fridge about half

an hour before you use it. It'll be easier to work.

I use two sheets of baking paper to roll out my dough because,

that way, you don't need to use any flour, you don't

make any mess, and also, your pastry won't stick to the board.

It's a bit hard at the beginning to roll it out,

so if you bash it, it softens it up, makes it easier and it's fun, too.

It's a bit therapeutic.

If you have anger issues, this is what you need to do.

Roll out your pastry base so that it overlaps the top of the tin

by a few inches all round, and don't forget to flour and butter your tin.

OK. Peel off your paper.

And then you want to gently push it in the tin.

Once the pastry's firmly in, you can get rid of the excess

and fill in any cracks.

All you need to do is take your rolling pin...

..and then roll over the top.

As simple as that.

The base just needs a coating of egg white.

This acts like a barrier between the filling and the pastry

and stops the filling making pastry soggy.

Chill the base to stop it from shrinking when it bakes.

Now you can crack on with the traditional filling.

All you need for your quiche Lorraine is eggs, smoky bacon

and cream.

Any additional ingredients, it's not a quiche Lorraine any more.

To start, some smoky bacon.

Throw in your lardon, 150g, and you need four eggs and two egg yolks.

I'm going to add my double cream, 300ml,

or I sometimes use creme fraiche.

Salt.

Black pepper.

Most Parisians have their own little twist on this recipe

but, for once, I'm sticking to the classic.

Only three ingredients make up this filling,

so get the best quality you can.

When your lardons are crispy, drain them

and scatter into your pastry base.

Almost there. Just need to pour this creamy egg mix in.

So easy. Put it in the oven. Slowly.

Don't rush this part otherwise it will land on the floor.

Leave it for 40 minutes at 180 degrees.

For a veggie version, add roasted vegetables or, if you fancy

fish, asparagus and smoked salmon make a great combination.

The perfume of quiche Lorraine! Nothing more appetising.

I'm going to get it out of my little oven. Mm! Yum! A bit hot.

Take the whole tray. Ooh! That quiche looks perfect.

It's got the crust, which is crisp, golden top, it's set nicely.

The filling should set with a slight wobble. So cut yourself a slice.

Wow! I've cut myself a big slice.

So simple yet...really delicious.

# Je te garde dans mon coeur... #

I've got crumbs all over my mouth, it's so tasty!

In France, this quiche is traditionally served

warm for lunch or as a starter.

And who can resist when it tastes this good?

And we've another French classic coming up. Or is it?

Arguments have raged for years on whether the creme brulee

originated in France or England.

Whatever the answer, it's always delicious, and here's

Lorraine Pascale's favourite version using mascarpone and ginger.

So I've got six egg yolks here.

I'm going to add 60g of soft light brown sugar.

And I just love using light brown sugar rather than caster sugar

because it has a much nicer caramel flavour. Now I get my whisk.

It needs to be nice and stiff.

It won't go really fluffy, as if it was white sugar,

but it will thicken. So I'm not looking for volume.

It's not going to whisk up like meringues.

It will just go a little bit more bubbly.

So I've got my cream here,

which I've infused overnight with ginger and vanilla.

And this is how I made it.

I put 450ml of whipping cream into a pan with 100g of mascarpone and the

seeds of one vanilla pod,

then heated it until it was almost boiling.

Then I removed the pan from the heat.

Then I added a 10cm-long thumb-width piece of ginger which had

been peeled and very finely grated.

Now I'm going to start adding the cream.

So just keep whisking it gently, like this.

It just needs to be all incorporated.

Some people like to take out the bits of ginger

but I just love to leave them in.

So this needs to go into the dishes now.

The easiest way to do this is to take your bowl

and then just pour it into a jug.

Then it's much easier to put into the dishes.

Just fill them up, almost all the way. It's a lovely, creamy mixture.

Now, these are going to be really good.

Right. Those are done.

I'm going to put these in the oven for 30 minutes at 150 degrees

in a water bath.

Just get this hot water.

Right. So I'm going to pour this into the tin.

I'm using a tin with quite high sides.

Just pour it so it comes halfway up the sides of the dishes.

And then this will make sure that the creme brulee is cooked

lovely and evenly. There. And that's a water bath.

When they are cooked, get them out to cool

and chill them in the fridge for at least an hour.

Oh, um...

SHE LAUGHS

The reason these went in the fridge is because they get this

lovely skin over the top which is good for the next bit - bruleing.

I'm just going to sprinkle over some caster sugar,

just evenly over the top, not too thick.

And then use your finger to smooth it around if you need to.

Here comes the fun bit. So I've got a blowtorch.

You can use a grill to do this bit. It's not nearly as fun.

Just turn on the gas.

And then very gently over the sugar.

Be patient.

And gradually, it just starts to bubble. And now it's colouring.

See that? Gorgeous!

This is a good dessert for when friends come round because

you can do it ahead of time and then just finish it off when they arrive.

And if it starts to smoke, don't worry, all will be well!

They'll just go out. It will be fine.

So it's just a little bit there, a stubborn bit.

I'm just going to try and get him.

There. And now the rest.

Mm! Creme brulee.

Now, the absolute best part, of course, is the...

CRACK

Oh! So satisfying! And, of course, the eating.

Resistance is futile.

Now for a French favourite - tarte tatin.

Sticky, caramelised apples, gently baked

and upended onto a buttery puff pastry.

Totally delicious and irresistible from the master of puddings

to die for - Raymond Blanc.

I'm going to bring another wonderful,

huge French classic, which has been exported across the world

and it is no less than the tarte tatin.

First, Raymond prepares the caramel.

He adds a dash of water

and 100g of caster sugar to a heatproof baking dish.

So, I've got a syrup at the moment. That's called a syrup.

OK, and then that's going to take

about five to seven minutes, roughly,

according to the strength of the gas underneath,

according to the moon,... No, no, no! Not the moon.

-HE CHUCKLES

-Not today.

The caramel is cooked until it turns the right colour.

That's blond. It's sweet. What I want is to cook the caramel

to a beautiful auburn.

By cooking it, I'm bringing a bit of acidity in my caramel.

I remove some of the sugar.

Little undertones of bitterness.

Next, Raymond adds 60g of butter to make the caramel glossy and smooth.

If it's melted, it's going to burn into it.

If it's cold, it's going to stop the cooking

and get emulsified with the caramel, and that's perfect.

Look at that glorious, glorious caramel.

While the caramel cools a little,

Raymond prepares the main ingredient

and picking the right variety is key.

When you start thinking of apples, imagine, you've got 2,000 varieties.

So, you've got a lot of choice but, actually, the most...

All these apples, which are perfect for tarte tatin,

the best for me is Braeburn.

And why? Because their flesh is beautiful and yellow...

..and rich. You want that freshness.

Raymond peels, cores, and halves 12 Braeburn apples.

We have this lovely caramel, which I kept warm a little bit.

Make sure it is warm.

And, oh, what I'll do...

..I become Raymond the builder. OK, so, just press... Voila!

Against each other.

But imagine that thickness of apple,

that apple experience you are going to have. It's not about pretty.

You've got to think when it is cooked,

it has got to be tight. Otherwise, your apple will collapse.

It's easy, don't ruffle it up. Press.

You know when it's ready, when you press, they start to rise.

They go out to get out of the pan. I would, as well.

Raymond brushes the top of the apples with butter

to create a silky glaze during cooking.

The dish is then ready to go in the oven at 180 degrees.

Not much work, really. Apart the peeling, so far.

A bit of caramel.

Simple!

I didn't say voila!

After 30 minutes in the oven,

the tarte is ready for the puff pastry,

which will form the base of the dessert.

Raymond's is home made but ready-made will be fine.

Make sure your puff pastry is frozen.

It's a good guarantee.

So we place it, frozen, onto the apples and then after,

it's very easy to work with.

They are frozen now and I want it firm.

Cush! Adam!

The servants, they are never there!

Tom, can you please put that in the blast freezer, please?

-Of course, chef.

-Or in the freezer will do.

-Not a problem.

Thank you very much.

After a few minutes in the freezer, the buttery puff pastry is ready.

All done. Just warming it up a little bit with my hands.

I have got very warm hands. I'm very lucky.

Tres bien. That's it.

Now I'm going to cut it.

Good.

And I'm going to...

just, simply, wrap it up.

Raymond tucks the pastry around the apples -

piercing it allows steam to escape,

keeping the pastry crisp.

That will take between 40 minutes

at the same temperature, 180 degrees.

After 40 minutes in the oven,

the tarte can be left to cool before it's turned upside down for serving.

Ready to eat now. Absolutely.

I think, for many Frenchmen,

these desserts represent,

what is really good... really good about France!

-Hello.

-Hi, chef.

-Lovely.

I decided to invite you, OK, for a little bit of a break. OK?

-Oh, thank you.

-To celebrate the tarte tatin.

So, what do you think? Colour of the caramel? What does it tell you?

-It tells you how sweet the caramel is going to taste.

-Mm-hm.

If it's very, very dark it can be quite bitter.

The apples are cooked through but they still have a nice shape,

they are not falling everywhere.

Mm-hm.

So, marks out of ten?

I'll have to give it a ten, chef.

Oh-ho!

We've reached our final bake of the day now.

It's a very well known British classic.

This time from James Martin.

The Victoria sandwich, filled with strawberries and cream.

Now, the base of this recipe is sugar, first of all.

And butter.

It has to be made with butter. It's very important.

You can't make this with margarine. You don't get the same taste.

This is what I love about baking cakes. These fantastic bowls.

It just reminds me of when my granny used to bake.

She used to use these stoneware bowls

and rub butter and flour together in her hands while watching Corrie.

I've actually still got the bowl that she baked with all those years.

At my home. They're lovely.

There's just a great feel and a shape to these things.

A little bit of vanilla.

Purely optional whether you want to put that in.

Then we whisk this up.

It's really important

when you're doing this that you use butter at room temperature.

All we're really doing is creaming the sugar and butter together

and it just slightly changes colour

and goes a little bit lighter.

Now we can add our duck eggs.

You'll need five in total.

The secret, just add one at a time.

Keep mixing all the time.

Add them too quickly and the mixture will split.

That looks good to me.

I've got some self-raising flour here.

I always mix this bit by hand.

Because if you do make it by machine it toughens up

the gluten in the flour...

..and your cake doesn't end up nice and light.

That's what we're looking for.

So, if you're going to replace a standard recipe for duck eggs...

..literally, you want a little bit less duck eggs

because they're much bigger...

..than hens eggs. So just drop the amount of eggs down

in a standard recipe,

then once everything's combined, divide the mixture between two tins.

If you put too much sponge in one tin,

and try and cut it in half after it's cooked,

the outside tends to be quite dry

before the inside is actually cooked.

Then spread this mixture down a little bit, not too much.

Place them in a medium-hot oven.

This needs to go in now for about 18-20 minutes,

until it's nicely cooked.

Now, with that,

this is where purists

would have a heart attack.

Because Victoria sponge, classically,

is served with raspberry jam.

I'm actually going to make a strawberry jam.

And this isn't a classic jam either.

It's quick and easy, ready in minutes.

I'm going to add less sugar, some lemon,

which will help it set...

..before I add the fruit.

You'll need about 500g.

Holed and halved, if they're big.

We cook this really rapidly, for about ten minutes.

What this will do is speed it up

but the offset from this is it won't last very long.

So, in the fridge, maximum of a week.

That's all it's going to last.

And while that's cooling, we can make our garnish.

Strawberries dipped in melted sugar caramel.

But this sugar's extremely hot.

So make sure you dip the strawberry and not your finger.

You'll only do it once!

And then you can see our jam, as it starts to thicken.

All we can do now is just transfer it

onto a tray.

Allow it to cool,

and there you have it - an instant, quick, strawberry jam,

the perfect filling for our duck-egg sponges, which have now cooled.

Traditionally, of course,

this would be filled with raspberry jam and just raspberry jam

and topped off with caster sugar.

However, if the WI are watching, I do apologise,

cos this is not a classic Victoria sponge.

This is my version.

The last time I entered this for a WI competition, I got banned.

They banned me on all fronts

because they said it shouldn't have double cream in it.

I filled it full of strawberry jam and I put icing sugar on the top.

Between me and you, it tasted the best

but it didn't win.

In fact, it didn't even come last.

It got disqualified.

No need to over-whip this, just leave it at that.

Just lightly whipped.

So, to assemble this, pick whichever top you like as the base.

And then we can spread it full of this jam.

Put plenty on, as well.

I guarantee people are going to dive into this.

Topped with lashings of double cream.

Oh-ho-ooh!

Look at this.

And I can grab the top part of the sponge...

..and then finish that off with some icing sugar.

And last but not least, our caramel-dipped strawberries.

There you have it - who could resist that?

My strawberry and cream cake, made with duck eggs.

But the real true test

to see whether these duck eggs are well worth it

is when you look inside.

A light, delicate sponge.

It really does make the difference in terms of colour

and, most importantly, flavour.

Oh-ho-ho!

If there's heaven, this is it.

It's right here, right now.