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!

I have made it to the week 10 technical: a summer bombe. All I have to say is, why? WHY?! What is this even? I was very distraught when I first went to find the recipe for this dessert. Paul did not post it on the GBBO site. And I got nothing from google. And I was like… what am I going to do?

I solved the problem by going frame by frame on the last episode until I got a list of ingredients. Then I did my best to recreate the recipe based off of what the contestants were describing as the instructions. It actually felt like a technical challenge because I felt like I was going in completely blind.

This summer bombe is a weird dessert. The flavor is good but the textures are strange. I do not particularly like soaking bread in a sweet syrup. It just feels wrong.

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!

Ingredients

There was a varied amount of ingredients that go into making a summer bombe. The weirdest one being a loaf of bread. I used the extra loaf that I made when I was doing the signature. But I don’t typically see bread in desserts (aside from bread pudding which is not my favorite).

The other interesting ingredient is vegetarian gelatin. This was a big part of the challenge as it blooms while boiling. This is my first time working with vegetarian gelatin and I have to say that I was quite intrigued.

Process

Raspberry Simple Syrup

The first step of this process is the one I thought was absolutely strange. I had to make a raspberry simply syrup and used that to soak slices of bread. Yea… not something I have ever done or heard of before. But hey… when in Rome…

The whole process was simple enough. To make the simple syrup, I added raspberries sugar and a bit of water into a saucepan. Then I brought the mixture to a boil over medium heat while ensuring that the sugar had been fully dissolved. This is to make sure that the final syrup is smooth and does not have any small, hard particles in it.

Then I removed the mixture from the heat and mashed all the raspberries. This is to make sure that all the juices get out of the raspberries. I did not want to lose any of that flavor. Especially since it would soak into bread. I feel like the raspberry flavor needs to be strong.

Lastly, I strained the syrup mixture because the I wanted to remove all the raspberry seeds. The syrup was still relatively hot at this point, so I set it aside to cool while I cut up the bread into square strips. I decided that the strip shape would be the best to recreate the semi-circle shape with overlapping edges.

Soaking the Bread

Once the syrup was cooled and the bread was cut, it was time to put together. First, I lined a bowl with plastic wrap to help prevent the dessert from sticking when it was turned out. I used a glass bowl that was a bit wide. In retrospect, I should have used my metal bowl because it was tall rather than wide. This would have given me a better final shape.

Anyway, I then soaked each bread strip individually and built up the strips around the rim of bowl. I should have tried to get the end of the strips into the center of the bowl, but I was more focused on covering the side.

I used a dipping method to soak the bread in the raspberry simply syrup. But I do not thing that was the right approach. If I ever made another summer bombe, I would use a brush to brush the raspberry syrup into the bread. This is more about control.

The method that I used cause the bread to be inconsistently soaked. Some was so soaked that the bread was falling apart. While others did not enough raspberry syrup. I know that Paul said to just soak but I think brushing would be a better technique.

Strawberry, Raspberry, and Elderflower Jelly

The only reason I made the Jelly second and not first is because I needed some raspberry simple syrup to put into the jelly to give it a raspberry flavor. I was nervous about using vegetarian gelatin. Yes, I know… I am vegetarian… I should be using this gelatin more often, but I have always stuck to normal gelatin.

Vegetarian gelatin is interesting because it does not bloom in cold water like normal gelatin. Instead, you need boiling liquid. I used the raspberry syrup since the recipe called for it and it was already quite hot. I brought the syrup and gelatin together and boiled the mixture. Since I was using a large pot, everything worked relatively quickly.

Then I added what felt like a massive number of strawberries. It was not massive in terns or quantity but in relation the other ingredients… I felt like the jelly was actually just strawberries with a slight jelly coating.

The last step was adding a splash of elderflower cordial. And I added too much. Can’t say that I’m really surprised I went a little overboard on the flavor. I tend to have a heavy hand. And I was not expecting the cordial to be as flavorful as it was.

Then I put everything into a small bowl and set aside to set. This jelly will be the core of the summer bombe so it needs to set before I can add it into the bowl. And I need to make the cream that will help keep the jelly in place.

Pâté à Bombe – Meringue

And now for the newest of the weird components: a pâté à bombe. I could not find what this was online, so I do think it was specially made and named after the summer bombe.

The first step for making this pâté à bombe is to make a meringue. I whisked the eggs until they were foamy and then slowly added in a combination of sugar and powdered sugar. Typically, I don’t use powered sugar in meringue so I was curious what it would do.

I think it didn’t really allow the meringue to set. I am not sure why because that should not be the case. But my meringue was a little runnier than I like. The meringue was still useable, so I put it into a piping back and piped out little mounds.

The original recipe called to make the meringue into kisses. And when I hear that, my mind thinks about Hershey kisses. I attempted to make the mounds into the shape of Hershey kisses. The meringue was a little slack, so my mounds did not keep their shape and instead settled into macaron like shapes.

I baked off my meringue and let it cool while I made the rest of the pâté à bombe.

Pâté à Bombe

The core of a pâté à bombe is a custard. I started to make the custard by combining sugar and water in a saucepan and warming it over a medium heat. I wanted the sugar to melt completely. Once the liquid ran clear, I added some vegetarian gelatin and brought the whole mix to a boil.

Meanwhile, I whisk some egg yolks until they became light and fluffy. I was going for ribbon consistency because I think it produces the best custard. Then, while still whisking, I poured the gelatin mixture into the bowl. This immediately made a mess.

The gelatin and the sugar from the mixture wanted to harden. Especially when spread thin (like by a whisk). So any splatter that went onto the sides of the bowl became unsalvageable. But I had my custard!

Now, you might asked “but what are you doing to do with the meringue?” And that is a great question. I am going to do something I have never done before. I took twenty of the meringue mounds and put them directly into the custard. Then I did a little whisking just to break up the merengue a tiny bit.

Yea… not really something I have ever done before. But I am dealing with a lot of first while making this summer bombe.

Assembly

And now it’s time for assembly! The outside layer is already set so I just needed to fill the bowl with the other two mixtures. First, I put in the pâté à bombe. I thought it should have filled the bowl more than it did. This was the second indicator that I used a bowl that was too big. Should have gone with something smaller.

Finally, I turned out the jelly and placed it neat in the center, nestled into the pâté à bombe. I did have some bread and raspberry simple syrup left so I soaked the break and put it along the bottom to really seal up the summer bombe.

All that was left was to turn out the dessert. I thought this was going to be a nightmare, but it actually turned out fairly well. On the show, they decorated the top of the summer bombe with glazed fruit, but I forgot to keep any aside… So no topping for me… Paul would be so disappointed.

Reflections

This dessert is weird. There were several techniques I have never used before, and I think for good reason. The texture of the soaked bread was something completely new. It was soft and almost soggy in effect (again, a sign I might have soaked the bread too much). But I did like the way the outside looked even if the dome shape was squatter than the original recipe.

The pâté à bombe while unusual was my favorite part of the dish. I honestly could eat that straight out of the bowl. I loved the custard mixed with the crunchy meringue texture. This was the highlight of the dish even if the directions confused me. I still am not sure what I did was the right move.

It was a little too easy to add too much elderflower cordial into the jelly. It overpowered the whole thing and made it a little inedible. I think the jelly was overall good and the vegetarian gelatin set more than I expected it to. Working with vegetarian gelatin was a little weird but nothing too crazy. Something I definitely want to explore more in the future.

Lessons

A Reflection on Technicals

This is the last technical I am doing for this challenge, and it was the one that felt most like a technical. Mainly because I had the ingredients and a general outline for the recipe, but I did not have the recipe itself.

Doing a challenge like this made me realize how much knowledge I actually have in baking. It is something I was to replicate in the future somehow… I like the idea of being able to recreate a dessert using my bakers instincts rather than following a recipe. Maybe something I do going forward!

recipe

Summer Bombe

A summer bombe has a fruity and flowery jelly core, surrounded in a layer of pâté à bombe and encase in bread soaked with a raspberry syrup.

Course Dessert

Keyword Summer, Technical

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 45

Resting Time 30

Total Time 1 30

Equipment

1 Shallow Bowl
Plastic Wrap