Time to roll up the sleeves and work on something new in time for this week’s episode!

I only started watching Bake Off during season five (don’t worry, I’ve caught up on the entire back catalogue since) and I’m a huge fan. After every episode I’d find myself longing for a slice of really good cake, so last year I promised myself that for season 10 I’d make a special effort.

My own personal bake along, timed so that I’ve something (hopefully) delicious to eat as we watch.

Last week was cheaty, as the cinnamon rolls should have been for bread week. I did make up for it with two rounds of cupcakes though – all three were new recipes for me.

This week is biscuit week. Spoiler alert: not my finest hour.

Both of these recipes are from Mary Berry’s Baking Bible.

Chocolate and vanilla pinwheels. I make cookies a lot, but not a lot of rolle ones, and I’ve never made pinwheels.

Two simple doughs, and it doesn’t seem like much of either. A third of the flour is cornflour, so these should be light and crumbly.

Two pack of dough ready for chilling. It seems to be a very gooey dough so looking for some magic in the fridge!

Next up are some double chocolate cookies, while the other dough is doing it’s thing.

Chocolate and butter melted together.

No eggs or sugar in this one – both are replaced by a can of sweetened condensed milk.

Doesn’t that look gorgeous?

In with flour and chocolate chunks, and the upper body workout begins.

I’ve stirred plum puddings that were less work. Very stiff for a cookie. My 1 tablespoon scoop was a lifesaver in getting this out onto baking sheets.

This lot makes about 36 cookies, which spread only a little in the oven, unsurprisingly.

Back to pinwheels. On the “lightly floured surface” I attempt to roll the most temperamental cookie dough in history. It sticks to everything and I had to use clingwrap to help me get the job done.

Rolling it up was an ordeal, as it stuck to everything except the bit of itself I wanted it to stick to. My toddler has made better looking rolls from playdoh at creche. I didn’t even take a photo, as I was just going to throw the whole sodding lot in the bin. I re-read the recipe in case I totally messed up the measurements. Nope. The blurb stating that these are simple for children to make is particularly galling.

I wrap it and stick it in the fridge, and half an hour later try to roll-and-squish it into something vaguely sausage shaped, and chill again.

I slice it up and transfer to a baking sheet as it tries to simultaneously fall apart and stick to everything but itself.

A couple are passible looking – they were in the middle of the roll. I flick my eyes from the cooling rack to the photo in the book and back again. They look like mama was at the cooking Sherry again…

Little Bear scoffed a pinwheel, which is a vote of approval at least. Husbeast likes the chocolate ones, but thinks the pinwheels aren’t quite sweet enough. I’m very much “whelmed” by them both. I’m not a huge chocolate cookie fan – I’ve got much nicer recipes in the collection.

I need to work out what happened with that pinwheel dough though. That’ll drive me mad otherwise!