Episode 1 Paul Hollywood's Pies & Puds

Pies and puddings remind me of my childhood,

when my mum and dad inspired my love of baking.

Now I want to inspire you to enjoy the best of Britain's comfort food

as I celebrate some of my favourite pies and puds.

Hello, and welcome to Pies & Puds.

Today's all about my affection for simple,

hearty food that's easy to cook, but delicious to eat.

Sweet or savoury, there'll be something for everyone.

Here's what's coming up.

'I'm on the hunt for something artisan.'

-H-Hey!

-'Corned beef...'

-Look at that!

'..which I'll be baking in a shortcrust pastry

'to make my hearty corned beef plate pie.'

'I make a new discovery that grows in my adopted county of Kent.

'It's the delicious cobnut.

'Star of my cobnut, pear and sticky toffee tart.

'Master baker, or should I say konditormeister, Falko Burkert,

'shows me a German tradition that will never go out of fashion.

-'The apple strudel.'

-Try it.

Wow!

'I'll be returning the compliment

'by making a classic school dinner dessert.

'It's a gypsy tart, which I top with fresh strawberries.'

'And all of my recipes are on the BBC website.'

I've been cooking with corned beef for as long as I can remember.

It's one of those dependable ingredients

that feels like it'll never change.

But what does the great British public think about corned beef?

I took to the streets to find out.

Yorkshire, considered the home of great British grub.

And an ideal spot for a taste test.

Corned beef has a very special place in the heart of Britons.

But most of the time, it's stuck at the back of the cupboard,

out of date and used in case of emergencies only.

'But I'm not serving corned beef straight from the tin.

'I'm going to knock up an old favourite of mine, corned beef hash.

'It's a simple mix of corned beef, potatoes, onions and carrots

'cooked in vegetable oil

'with a dash of Worcestershire sauce for extra flavour.'

-It brings back memories, doesn't it?

-If you had a tin of corned beef, you were posh.

-What do you think of it?

-It's really nice.

-Do you like it?

I know there's great corned beef out there,

the quality of the meat is almost fillet steak-like.

And cooked properly, it would be great to bring something back

that's a very British dish.

'My quest for a freshly-made corned beef takes me to a farm butcher

'who, so the locals tell me, sells it.'

Welcome to Town End Farm Shop.

Now, you're a fifth generation butcher.

-That's it, yep.

-I'm here to actually check out corned beef.

-OK.

-Now, show me your corned beef.

Ha-ha! We've not got any here, but we've got some beef

and we can obviously corn it

and turn it into a cured beef, into a corned beef.

'I might not be getting a taste,

'but to see a fresh batch being made is an even better result.'

This is the brisket, so we're going to use that one.

And can I ask you a stupid question?

I'm talking to a butcher here, fifth generation butcher

who's made corned beef before. What is corned beef?

First of all, let's talk about the corned.

There's no corn in it, the corned is to do with salt,

so it's a salted beef.

Or, in this case, it's actually going to be a wet cure,

so it's going to be a brined beef.

-OK.

-And the corn's corns of salt.

'Chris still makes his corned beef with a traditional preservative.

'A mix of water, saltpetre and local beer.'

Do you want all this in there?

-Just half a bottle.

-Half a bottle.

-Yeah.

That's very good.

'Salt, pickle and spices go in.'

'Chris uses brisket, which makes his corned beef top quality.'

So that, literally, now...goes into our cure.

'Historically, corned beef was made of cheaper cuts,

'as a long-life, transportable meat.

'It was served on board navy shipping as far back as the 18th century.'

It would be used on sailing ships in the navy.

Then, through to more modern-day armies,

they would actually have bully beef. They'd have tinned rations.

'The beef is left to cure in a fridge for a minimum of seven days.

-'This one's already had a week in the brine.'

-There we go.

-There's a visual difference in the colour, isn't there?

-Yeah.

I think that'll be good.

'So that's the secret to making corned beef.

'The meat is preserved, spiced, minced and then cooked in a press

'for three hours.'

'The corned beef is then chilled for eight days, but I can't wait

'and pop back to see Chris to see how he's doing.'

Moment of truth, really. Let's get in there.

-It better be worth it, Chris.

-Well, hopefully, hopefully.

There we go.

-Looks very similar to it.

-Not quite as pink, is it?

No. It smells more aromatic than the tinned stuff.

-Pickling spice.

-OK, mate, the proof of the pudding.

Oooh! Oooh! Oooh!

H-Hey!

And Chris's corned beef is going to be perfect for my first dish -

a traditional pie, full of flavour.

Chris, our corned beef producer, has joined me in the kitchen.

-Welcome, Chris.

-Hiya.

I see you've brought another corned beef with you.

-Can we open it up, so we can have a look?

-We can try.

Get in here.

There we go.

Yay!

-Look at that!

-Look at that! That's all right, that!

-That looks like corned beef.

-It does.

You've got a nice shine on there as well.

Let me just see what it looks like inside.

Cut this piece off here...

-Now that actually looks like corned beef.

-It does.

That's better, Chris.

-That's more like it!

-Good.

And Chris's corned beef is going to be perfect for my first dish -

a traditional pie, full of flavour.

What I'm going to do is make a very basic pie,

Over here, I've got a pan that's heating up nicely.

A little bit of oil in there. I'm going to chop up my celery.

-Is this the sort of food you go for, Chris?

-Yeah, very much.

Casseroles, pies... That kind of stuff. Traditional.

-Especially up in Yorkshire.

-Up in Yorkshire. Absolutely.

So the main difference really, as far as you're concerned, between

the shop-bought stuff, the stuff you normally get in tins, and yours...

For a start, it's what goes in.

None of the cheap cuts or the bits, not even any cut-offs or anything.

It was literally just brisket.

So it comes down to the quality, what goes in.

The quality of the ingredients going in.

Then you know exactly what's going to come out.

'To the carrot, celery and onion, add potato, beef stock

'and Worcestershire sauce.

'Then, I add the star of this recipe, Chris' corned beef.'

You want some big chunky pieces of this, as you would do

if you were doing a hash.

Get your meat, chuck that in there as well.

This is going to be your base filling for this pie.

Over here, I have my enamel plate.

I'm just going to put a layer underneath,

before I put the filling on.

'Roll out the pastry to the size of the plate.'

Take your pastry right to the edge and roll it out.

Push it all down, so it gets deep down because you're going to put

some filling in there as well.

And then you need to get the filling from the fridge, which has chilled.

'Then add some freshly chopped parsley,

'mix and pour into the pastry.'

Ram it all in there as much as you can. I want it to be a bulbous pie.

No, I'm happy with that.

You don't trim that bit off, then? I'd have trimmed that off already.

I'm going to!

No, I mean, with the lid.

I'm going to put the lid on and then trim it off.

'Once the lid's on, it's trimmed and ready for the finishing touch.'

Now, obviously, crimping.

I tend to push in the bottom

and the top together, so it looks like that.

Now, a little cross on the top. One, two.

Used to call that letting the devil out.

'Glaze with a beaten egg to finish.'

And there you have it, a beautiful corned beef plate pie.

Now that's going to go in the oven for 20-25 minutes

at 200 degrees C and it'll be beautiful, golden brown

and filled with that gorgeous artisanal corned beef.

'My corned beef plate pie is perfect for the whole family.

'The kids will love it.'

Chris, you're going to have to wait a little bit longer to try

-this baby.

-I'll look forward to it.

The ultimate accolade for a baker in Germany is to become

a konditormeister, which means master pastry chef.

If you think winning the Bake Off is tough, you ain't seen nothing.

It takes years of arduous training

and my next guest is a master pastry chef of some distinction.

-Falko, welcome to my kitchen.

-Thank you for the invitation.

'Falko has brought with him

'a German Black Forest gateau and a cake I've never seen before.

'A baumkuchen, or tree cake, as it's also known.'

'Falko's baumkuchen can only be made on a special machine,

'which looks like a kebab spit laid on its side.

'Cake batter is poured onto the rotating spit until, slowly,

'the layers build up and are shaped into ridges.

'The mixture browns all the way through the cake,

'giving it rings like a tree.

'Then, it's covered in icing and once it's set, it's ready to serve.'

-Right, we take this off.

-Yeah. So it's just the dough, is it?

-It's just the dough that makes that shape?

-Yeah.

-What's the icing?

-Is that water icing?

-It's a fondant.

Try it.

-Spicy.

-It has to be.

Wow! That tastes incredible! It's very complex on the tongue.

-It melts.

-That is exactly the art of baking this cake.

-And so this is part of the test, is it?

-Yes.

This is one third of the exam.

If you mess this one up, you can apply next year for a new course.

-Really?

-Yes.

-It's that hard.

-Yes, you will fail.

-Now, what dish are you going to show us today?

-Right.

Today, we make another classic, which is often tried to be reproduced,

but never succeeded, apple strudel.

Well, I'm happy for you to take over my kitchen. Please go ahead.

You do know what other role I do, don't you? As a judge?

Um...I was told, yes! THEY LAUGH

Do you mind, while you're cracking on, if I have a little slice?

-Please. Dig in.

-I'm dying to try what a proper Black Forest gateaux is.

So what do you have to do first, Falko?

First we do our dough, which is basically some flour.

It's very simple. Flour, a pinch of salt, a bit of oil and water.

And we mix that dough.

It needs to be strong flour, otherwise, we don't get enough gluten.

And now we work the dough, so it develops this gluten,

-which we need for bending it.

-Yes.

-It takes about 10-15 minutes.

Falko mixes his dough in a food processor until it comes together.

Then it's rested.

OK, so once you've chopped up the apples,

you end up with a huge bowl like this. What's the next stage?

-We have to melt butter.

-OK.

-Make a beurre noisette.

So it gives a sort of like nutty taste to it.

-How long have you actually been in the UK?

-I'm 15 years in the UK now.

So, what do you think of the baking standard in this country?

You can't compare an apple to a pear, really.

It's completely different. I like it. It's very traditional.

And the nice thing of it, it's coming back.

So what have you got in there? You've got your...

I'm basically making now my mix,

where the apples will rest on in the strudel.

It's breadcrumbs, it's cinnamon, sugar, it's a bit almonds.

Basically, when we cook the apples, the juice will come out

and these crumbs will soak it in.

It'll form a base, so it just soaks into that.

-Exactly.

-So, what next?

-That's our rested dough.

-Uh-huh.

-You see it's quite a bit sticky.

-But you will see it'll be fine.

-Yes.

-So, you see? It's becoming quite thin.

-Yeah.

And now it's the time for our... Either table cloth...

-We use today an apron to demonstrate. That works as well.

-OK.

So I have to put flour on this so the dough doesn't stick.

Got flour all over my apron.

You see? We start bending.

One of the things I love is watching other masters work.

I think it's great.

You can see, if you would have now a newspaper, we could read it through.

-Absolutely.

-Yeah?

-That is nice and thin.

That's a lovely dough, actually. That's British flour, that.

Probably!

THEY LAUGH

OK. Butter. Now, this is where the taste comes in.

-Don't be shy.

-Yup.

'Falko then lines the pastry with breadcrumbs

'and places his apples on top.

'The breadcrumbs beneath will soak up all the juice

'from the apples while they're cooking.'

-Rum raisins.

-Yeah. And that gets soaked overnight?

-Yes.

-I add a bit of rum as well for the apples. So, almonds.

-Toasted?

Yes, yes. Always.

If you use nuts, always toast it.

Now, this is the tricky part.

We have to flip the dough over and this is why we need the cloth.

We just flip it once over and shape it.

-It looks a bit like a sausage now.

-Yes, absolutely.

I'm German. We like our sausages!

So, we use as well the butter as glue.

Put on the end, a strip.

Flip that over.

'Now, this is a top tip,

'Falko's using my apron to carefully roll the strudel

'on to the tray.'

'See, easy.'

The next trick is, as well at home, you make a crease

and put a baking tin against it.

This dough wouldn't hold, so it would run flat, so basically, keep it.

I remember when I first made one of these, I had that problem.

It basically flattened out like this.

So that's the way to strengthen it, to give it its structure.

-Give it a nice shape.

-Yeah, yeah.

-Then we put butter on top.

It looks a bit messy at the moment,

but you will see when it comes out of the oven, it all disappears.

Would you, when this is baking off,

would you normally bring it out and brush it again with more butter?

I would do it half baking time and then when it comes out again.

Yes, OK.

So you are layering up the butter. More butter, more butter.

And this is what gives it its distinctive colour.

Correct. You should taste the butter.

-And it's not slimline stuff.

-Fantastic.

-OK.

-Good. In the oven it goes.

-How long will that bake for?

-About 35-40 minutes.

Now, I think you've got one down here. This looks beautiful.

I can smell it, actually.

This is exactly how it should look. You see inside.

The dough is only on the outside.

The apples are nice and moist.

The only thing we need now is to dust the icing sugar on,

maybe whip a bit of cream, ice cream or vanilla sauce.

-And that's your apple strudel.

-Fantastic.

And the ratio of apples to the pastry...

-It's huge. All apple.

-Correct.

-It's called an apple strudel, not a dough strudel.

-Exactly right!

'Falko certainly knows his German puddings

'and I'll be making a British classic for him later,

'a gypsy tart.'

I grew up in the north of England, but my adopted home is Kent,

where I've lived and baked for many years.

It's a county rich in orchards, soft fruit,

hops and this little fella, the Kentish cobnut.

'Which happens to be the star in my next recipe, a cobnut,

'pear and sticky toffee tart.

'The little known cobnut is actually a cultivated hazelnut,

'which grows in orchards, or platts, as they're known.

'In Kent, they're a much-loved part of the local food heritage.'

The flavour of the cobnut is distinctively nutty.

It's a little bit sweet

and it's a very soft, gentle nut.

It lends itself very well to being added with other ingredients.

'Cobnuts are usually eaten fresh, rather than dried, like most nuts,

'and are in season from mid-August to mid-October.

'They're rich in vitamin E and calcium and go great

'with other ingredients, which is good news

'because I want to add their nutty flavour to my cobnut, pear

'and sticky toffee tart.'

'That's how cobnuts are grown in Kent.

'But how are they eaten?

'Two local cooks show me how.

'Emma Jayne Eames lives in Kent

'and loves the taste of cobnuts in pesto.

'And Debbie Carter runs a local chocolate company

'and uses cobnuts in some of her chocolates.'

I've been working with cobnuts about eight months or so.

I first came across them when I moved home from Italy

and wanted to find a substitute for their traditional pine nuts

to use in a pesto.

'Emma's pesto recipe is garlic, basil,

'those all-important cobnuts,

'some local cheese and a dash of olive oil.'

A nice hot bread will absorb all the garlic and the basil.

There you have some simple mushroom and pesto bruschetta.

'From kitchen savoury to wholesale chocolate,

'the humble cobnut is an extremely versatile ingredient.

'Debbie Carter runs a business making chocolates

'which she sells to a wide range of customers,

'from farmers' markets to five-star hotels.'

I love the flavour of nuts and chocolate together.

I just think it's a fabulous combination

and because I do believe in using

good quality local products, where I can, cobnuts fits the bill.

'Debbie's range of chocolates runs from dipped cobnuts

'to her favourite recipe, a praline.

'It's a hot mixture of glucose and cream poured over chocolate drops.'

And the heat from that

will just melt the chocolate.

'Then she adds the chopped cobnuts.

'Once they're set, they're ready.'

There we go.

'So, there we have it.

'The Kentish cobnut is equally at home in a savoury

'or sweet dish.

'I can't wait to see how it tastes with pears in my sticky toffee tart.'

So I've seen what the people of Kent do with their cobnuts

and I'm joined in the kitchen by Rachel and Debbie.

'With all that flavour,

'my final recipe, using cobnuts with pear and dates

'is one that will get you adding cobnuts to your shopping list.'

-You used cobnuts in chocolate?

-Yes.

I love the idea that it's Kentish cobnuts.

Can I just have a look at one of those in there?

-Do you mind if I try a little bit?

-No, do, go ahead.

-I like chocolate.

-Do you?

-Yeah, I do.

Mmm, that's gorgeous. I mean, really nice.

That's dangerous to me, that.

It's got the texture of a Brazil nut.

It seems to have that depth of flavour and slightly more chewiness

than you get with a hazelnut or a peanut.

What I'm going to do, I'm going to use pears, dates

and I'm going to use the cobnuts

and going to turn it into a tart.

'First, heat some dates and milk in a pan until the dates go soft.'

You then get a masher in there and give it a good bit of bashing,

just to really soften down those dates

and break them down a bit.

It's the dates that are the secret to creating an extra toffee flavour in this pie.

In a separate pan, heat some soft brown sugar and butter.

It will melt fairly quickly.

'Add butter to the softened dates and mix.'

This is going to be the melee that's going to be the basis for the dish.

'Keep an eye on your pan of butter and brown sugar.'

Now I'm going to add the cream to that.

'Once the sugar has melted, take the pan off the heat

'and allow the sugar to dissolve.'

That's your basic toffee sauce.

Going back to the mix...

'Fold in two eggs, add ground almonds and plain flour.'

You can see this mixture coming together.

'Add brown sugar and black treacle.'

You can see the colour instantly.

It's going to be quite a dark pudding this.

Look at the colour of that. It's fantastic.

-You can smell the treacle.

-You can.

-It's really inviting.

-You can.

Vanilla, a little bit of flavour.

Bicarb gives it a little bit of a kick in there as well

and it will grow a little bit around

what the pears are going to do inside the tart.

That's the basis of the tart.

'Line a tart shell with shortcrust pastry.'

Because we're filling this, we don't need to blind bake it.

'Then slice some ripe pears and put them in the tin.'

This will add a gorgeous flavour and you know you'll get one

in every bite. It doesn't really matter how it's laid out

because you are going to cover this in sauce.

'Now it's time for those all-important cobnuts.'

'Add them to the date mix and then pour the toffee sauce over the base

'before adding the rest of the filling.'

I can't wait for you to try it and tell me what you think.

I can't wait either!

PAUL CHUCKLES

'Cover with more cobnuts and it's ready for cooking.'

This is going to go into the oven at 180,

for 40-45 minutes and it will set

and you'll see visibly, it'll just draw back slightly

from the pastry. I'm going to pop that straight in.

And, over here...

..you can see this...

..is what you call a proper pudding.

I'll just take a little slice out of it so you can see it.

It's beautiful and soft.

Inside you have that gorgeous pear...

..heightened by the flavour of the cobnuts.

So you have cobnut, pear and sticky toffee tart.

You're going to have to wait a bit longer before you get a chance to try it.

'Earlier, konditormeister, Falko Burkert

'set the bar high with some spectacular German desserts,

'including his take on that '80s classic, apple strudel.'

When I was thinking of a pudding to make for Falko,

based on the fact that I'd just tried his certainly...

The Black Forest gateau was the best one I've ever had

and the strudel with the complicated pastry in the way that you stretch it out,

I thought I would make something of equal stature in the country.

This particular dish comes from Kent,

my adopted county at the moment.

It is, of course, the ubiquitous gypsy tart.

'OK, so I'm teasing Falko a little bit there.

'He showed me exquisite German baking

'but a gypsy tart is a simple recipe and a school dinner classic.'

What I have got is flour,

into which I'm going to add my icing sugar,

straight in.

Then I'm going to add my butter, straight in.

Then get my hands straight in there.

I think I'm happy with that.

'Then add an egg yolk, lemon juice and water.'

OK, a spoon in there straightaway

and mix this together.

I'm not going to knead or pummel this thing together.

This tart originated from a story that was told

that a gypsy woman made it to fatten up her skinny kids.

So it's a very sweet...

It's a very, very sweet tart.

I've broken down this into breadcrumb,

just add a little splash of water,

mix that together.

There it is.

That whole pastry, you pop in a bit of wrap, pop it in the fridge,

chill that down, it solidifies the butter. Then bring it out.

Leave it to come back to temperature for two minutes and that will be perfect to line your tart.

To line the tart, I have chosen an eight-inch ring,

lined it all the way down. Leave it to overlap the sides

put some baking beans in there with some silicone paper

and bake it off for about 20 minutes at around 200,

quite high, and it will darken nicely.

Then, with a knife, trim it neatly all around the outside

and that's the basis for your tart.

Now this is the complicated bit.

You get some soft light brown sugar,

you get some evaporated milk, condensed milk

and then the next stage is you get your whizzer,

complicated word that, "whizzer".

-Do you get that in Germany as well, "whizzer"?

-Yeah.

-The thingy.

-FALKO LAUGHS

The thingy.

Then you blitz this altogether.

You can see it's beginning to froth up slowly,

dissolving the sugar at the same time.

Have a quick look at it.

That will do.

Now that pours straight into your tart shell.

Then you bake this off at 180 degrees for about 15 minutes.

It doesn't take very long and you pop that straight into...

You've got to keep an eye on it. It's pretty much pure sugar.

It will bake extremely quickly.

Once you've baked it off, it will come out of the oven,

looking like that. You can see the lightness has gone from it.

You've got that beautiful pastry on the outside.

To highlight it, I like to add a few little touches.

It's almost caramel-like this cake, which is pretty much all it is.

Get some strawberries around the outside.

To finish it off, just one whole strawberry...

..bunged on the top.

There you have it.

We've seen some pretty impressive cakes from you, to be honest.

There you have it, gypsy tart with a strawberry twist.

What do you reckon then, Falko?

Give me a fork, I'd like to try it.

-In a minute...

-FALKO CHUCKLES

'The gypsy tart.

'A British classic to match Falko's German masterpieces.'

'This is the moment I always enjoy, sharing food with my guests.'

Thank you, guys, for bringing all your ingredients

and for bringing this fantastic stuff to our table.

'First the corned beef plate pie with fresh home cured

'corned beef from Chris.'

-Looks good. I'm quite happy with that.

-Mmm.

-Yeah, I like that.

'Next, the Kentish cobnut pear and sticky toffee tart.'

If this doesn't work, it's your cobnuts' fault, not me!

See if it does the cobnut justice.

-I love the way the date complements the sponge filling.

-Mmm.

-Do you want some strudel?

-I'd love some.

'And, finally, Falko's strudel, full of flavour and packed with apples.'

-How is the strudel?

-Delicious.

It's the way the apples have still got a little bit of bite to them.

It's tart. That's delicious.

'My final desert is that British classic, gypsy tart,

'which I've topped with fresh strawberries.'

Falko, would you like to take that gypsy tart over to yourself?

Don't need to cut it up, that's just for you!

Have a big wedge, tell us what you think.

That's what it's all about really -

great food, great company, full stomach

and a bit of wine. See you again next time on Pies & Puds.