Tent Ready

The syllabus

All ten weeks are planned. The details for each one come out the Sunday before it starts.

1. Week 1 · Skills · Sep 22

   Cake

   The Victoria sponge: even rise, level layers, clean crumb

   The tent has opened with a sponge for years, so that is where I start. One recipe, baked until it is second nature, then baked once more for Jana, who judges it the way the show would: cut in half, crumb checked, no hiding a dip under the jam.

   Everything from week 1

2. Week 2 · Skills · Sep 29

   Biscuits

   Even batches, the snap, consistent size and bake

   Identical biscuits are harder than they look. This week is about rolling to an even thickness, cutting shapes that hold their edges in the oven, and royal icing that pipes and floods cleanly: the skills every biscuit week leans on.

   Everything from week 2

3. Week 3 · Skills · Oct 6

   Bread

   Kneading, shaping, proving, and knowing when it is done

   Sourdough pizza is home turf. Yeasted tin loaves and shaped rolls are not. This week is kneading, shaping and proving a basic white loaf until I can read the dough instead of following the clock.

   Everything from week 3

4. Week 4 · Skills · Oct 13

   Pastry

   Laminated dough: a butter block, letter folds, keeping everything cold, shaping croissants

   Pastry week, the hard way: croissants, one batch split two ways, ham and cheese and almond. A butter block folded into yeasted dough until there are dozens of layers, kept cold the whole time, then shaped, proved and baked until they shatter. The tent only asks for croissants in semi-finals and finals, so this is done at home pace over two days, to learn what the dough should feel like.

   Everything from week 4

5. Week 5 · Signature · Oct 20

   Caramel

   Wet and dry caramel, salted caramel, praline, and writing my own recipe

   The first signature week, the show’s way of asking what kind of baker you are. A bake of my own with caramel at its heart, which means writing my own recipe instead of following someone else’s. Sugar work is where a few degrees decide everything, so this week is a thermometer, nerve, and not walking away from the pan.

   Everything from week 5

6. Week 6 · Signature · Oct 27

   Chocolate

   Ganache, tempering, a clean shine

   Second signature: a chocolate bake that starts from a classic and ends up mine. Ganache that sets glossy, and chocolate tempered so it snaps.

   Everything from week 6

7. Week 7 · Signature · Nov 3

   Patisserie

   Choux, crème pâtissière, piping, a neat finish

   The last signature: choux in my own flavours. Piped even, baked dry and hollow, filled with crème pât and finished neatly, every one the same. It is also practice for the final.

   Everything from week 7

8. Week 8 · Showstopper · Nov 10

   Showstopper: Cake

   Back to where it started, but bigger.

   Details Nov 8

9. Week 9 · Showstopper · Nov 17

   Showstopper: Bread

   Bread that has to stand up for itself.

   Details Nov 15

10. Week 10 · Showstopper · Nov 24

    The Final

    Everything, one last time.

    Details Nov 22