Tent Ready
A hobbyist pizzaiolo training to be Bake Off tent ready.
I’ve never worked in a kitchen or been to culinary school. I cook on instinct and make most of it up as I go, which works great for pizza and not so great for cake. So I went through every challenge from 16 series of The Great British Bake Off (the tent is where it’s filmed) to figure out what it actually tests, and now I’m training for it one bake a week. My wife Jana is the judge, and she’s tough. Still waiting to find out what her version of a handshake is.
Latest from the blog
Read it from the startBasics · November 1, 2026
Vanilla Mascarpone Cream
Thick, creamy and full of vanilla seeds: mascarpone whipped with cream and powdered sugar. Holds its shape where whipped cream would deflate.
Cakes · November 1, 2026
Flourless Chocolate Cake
Four ingredients: butter, chocolate, eggs and sugar. Whipped egg whites make it rich but light, and it is naturally gluten free.
Desserts · October 20, 2026
Old-Fashioned Vanilla Ice Cream
A simple custard-base vanilla ice cream: four yolks, sugar, milk, cream and vanilla, chilled and churned. Makes about a quart.
Desserts · October 17, 2026
Marshmallow Caramel Scotch Kisses
Marshmallow halves dipped in homemade butterscotch caramel, left to set overnight and wrapped one by one. Makes about 100.
Pastry · October 17, 2026
Pear Tarte Tatin with Walnut Praline Ice Cream
Prue Leith’s pear tarte tatin: pears cooked in caramel under a cheat’s rough puff, turned out hot, with homemade vanilla ice cream full of salted walnut praline.
Bread · October 13, 2026
Hawaiian Sweet Rolls
Soft, fluffy, lightly sweet pull-apart rolls made with pineapple juice, like the ones in the orange bag, made from scratch.