The Great British Bake Off is one my favorite shows, inspiring new bakes, new flavors, and new techniques! Join me on my journey to bake through all the Season 13 Challenges.
Since replicating Season 8 of the Great British Bake Off wasn’t enough, I decided to try my hand at a different season! This time, I am working on season 13 which is the most recent season! This season had some great bake ideas as well as some not-so-great ones (but we’ll get there when we get there).
So, I figured, let’s do this all again! One of the big challenges I wanted to attempt this time around was coming up with original ideas for the signature and showstopper challenges instead of doing a recreation. On your mark… Get set… Bake!
THIS IS IT! The final week of challenges and of course, they are a little difficult and full of so many components. The signature challenge is effectively three different bakes which I found to be rather challenging.
The bakes themselves were easy, but time management is a killer. And then figuring out how to post them was additional fun. The signature challenge was to make a mini picnic consisting of 6 finger sandwiches, 6 savory pies, and 6 mini cakes. And putting those into one recipe did not make a whole lot of sense. So this time, I am splitting this signature challenge up over three different posts.
And the figure recipe I am going to highlight is the savory pie! I wanted to have a little Indian inspired flare for this pie, so I did a mushroom and lentil, curry-inspired dish. And I am legitimately hooked. This is one of my new favorite savory recipes.
Check out the Season 13 Great British Bake Off Page to see other bakes from this series or the Make section for more recipes! Leave a comment below and let me know what you think and how the recipe works for you!
Check out Part Two (Strawberry & Cream Cake) and Part Three (Cucumber Sandwiches)!
Ingredients
While I decided to post all the of the signature dishes as separate recipes, I forgot to take separate photos for the ingredients. So instead, I have a photo of all the components needed for all the dishes. It was an overwhelming amount. I felt like I was about to lose all of my counter space since the ingredients took up so much space.
For my savory pies, I needed flour, salt, and butter for my pastry. Then I used onion, garlic, mushrooms, lentils, corn, veg stock, and an assortment of spices to make that delicious filling.
Process
This was an interesting process because I made the filling and pastry in the reverse order than I am used to. I need the filling to be fully cooled before filling the pastry. And last time I used hot water crust pastry, I put it in the fridge which was a terrible idea. The pastry is better worked while hot.
Mushroom Curry
The filling was a mushroom and lentil curry which I cooked over a stovetop. I prefer to do a mise en place approach for stovetop cooks. Especially ones that have short cook times (i.e., add in ingredient one, cook for one minute, add in ingredient 2). It’s just easier to have everything prepped and measured out beforehand.
I started by cooking the onions and garlic. They should a softer, and a little browned, before adding in the mushrooms. I did use a mix of mushrooms because I like having that extra depth in the dish. But only one type of mushroom is fine too! There is no need to get fancy. I cooked the mushrooms until they were soft and there was still some water in the pot.
Cooking mushrooms is interesting because there is so much water inside of them. And I like to cook them uncovered because I wanted some of the water to evaporate. The end goal is to have a gravy-like consistency so the extra water will need to be cooked off.
Then I added in all my spices and some flour. I really like spices. All the spices. I think combining ground cumin, coriander, garam masala, and paprika. It’s just one of my favorite combinations. The flour will act as a thickener to make a more curry-like texture.
Finally, I added the vegetable stock, lentils and corn. I precooked the lentils so they didn’t need much more cooking. The main goal for the remainder of cooking was just to thicken up the stock and get the flavor distributed. Then it was time to let the mixture cool and move onto the pastry.
Hot Water Crust Pastry
I really love working with hot water crust pastry. It is strong and durable and can be very forgiving. And it is a very simple pastry to make! It only really needs 4 ingredients and can give a crumbly and flaky crust.
I started by sifting together flour and salt. The flour should not have any lumps or clumps because no one wanted to get a mouth full of uncooked flour. And clumped flour is less likely to cook properly.
Then it was over to the stovetop. I combined the water and butter and began to cook them over low heat. The goal is to get the butter to fully melt before bringing the water to a boil. I sometimes use vegetable shortening instead of butter which is great for a vegan option.
The boiling liquid was then poured into the flour. It is too hot to work with using my hands so I used a wooden spoon instead. I wanted to mix the hot liquid into the flour while it was still hot. The flour does cool down the mixture enough that after a minute or so, I was able to work the dough directly with my hands.
The dough itself can be a little crumbly but becomes soft when worked.
Putting the Pies together
The last step of this project is putting the pie together. I used my 8-inch pastry rings to size the pies. I lined the bottom and the outside of the pastry rings. The thickness of the pastry was something I really wanted to pay attention to. Thin pastry seems to be more desired. Paul and Prue are always talking about having a good pastry to filling ratio.
Then I filled each pie with the filling. I put about three tablespoons of filling into each pie. I wanted the filling to come to the top but not overflow. After seeing the pies open, I realized that I wanted a top for each pie.
I used a pastry ring to get a perfect circle of pastry to put over the top. Crimping the edges was needed to help secure the pastry sides. I think I should have used an egg wash to help crimp the pastry together. The egg helps seal the pastry.
Finally, I poked a steam hole through the top of the pastry and removed the pastry rings. And all that’s left to do is bake!
Reflections
I love this recipe! I think the only thing I could have done to improve it is adding some more salt. But otherwise, I would not change a thing. This was my first time really working with lentils in this fashion. And I might be addicted. These are great mini pies although the recipe does make quite a few when I only needed six.
Lessons
The best Kitchen tool
What is the best kitchen tool? This has been the subject of great debate in my mind. I like a good whisk, but spatulas are pretty useful tool. But when it comes to pastry, there is no great tool than my hands! I really needed to use my hand to bring my dough together and for shaping the pastry. And feeling the dough is the best way to tell if it has the right texture.
recipe
Mushroom and Lentil Pies
Ingredients
Pastry
- 8 Cup All-Purpose Flour
- 2 Teaspoon Salt
- 2 Cup Water
- 1 Cup Unsalted Butter or vegetable shortening
- 1 egg beaten for brushing
Filling
- 1 Onion finely chopped
- 2 Cloves Garlic minced
- 7 Cup Mushrooms about 500g and use whatever mix of mushrooms you like!
- 1 ½ Tablespoon All-Purpose Flour
- 1 Tablespoon Ground Cumin
- ½ Teaspoon Coriander
- 1 Tablespoon Garam Masala
- 1 Teaspoon Paprika
- 1 Teaspoon Salt
- 4 Cup Vegetable Stock divided
- 2 Cup Lentils
- 2 Cup Corn
Instructions
Mushroom and Lentil Curry
- Place one cup of lentils on the stove with 2 ¾ cups Vegetable Stock and ¾ cup water. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Place a lid, tilted, over the top of keep some steam in and release some. Cook until lentil reaches desired texture (I like mine to be soft), about 30 minutes.
- Pre-heat oven to 400° Fahrenheit.
- In a large pan, heat the oil and then add onions and garlic. Cook for about 3 minutes. Add in mushrooms and cook for five minutes. Keep the pan uncovered and stir regularly.
- Add in ground cumin, coriander, garam masala, paprika, salt, and flour. Mix well and let cook for 1 minute.
- Add 1 ¼ Cup Vegetable stock, corn, and lentils. Bring to a boil and let simmer for about 15 minutes. The stock should thicken to a gravy-like consistency. Let cool.
Pastry Instructions
- Whisk together salt and flour, set aside.
- In a small pot, combine water and butter. Bring to a boil while making sure that the butter melts.
- Pour the butter mixture into the flour mixture. Using a wooden spoon, combine the ingredients until the dough is not hot to the touch. Knead to bring the dough together.
- Line 12 8-inch pie pans with the dough at 3mm thickness. Cover and set aside. There should be about half the dough remaining
- Spoon 2-3 tablespoons of filling into each pie dish. Use remaining dough, create lids for each pie. Pinch the lids and base together. Brush each pastry with egg,
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes.
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