This post is part of my personal challenge to bake my way through all the challenges of the Great British Bake Off. The challenge below is the technical challenge for week seven (patisserie week) of series two: iced fingers.

As food personalities go, Paul Hollywood arouses some controversy. There are those who see him as a silver fox and melt in the intensity of his steely blue-eyed stare. His sometimes harsh criticism of the contestants’ bakes just fans the flames of their passion as they consider the challenge of pleasing him. Rightly, they point out that his praise is even more precious given how critical he can be, especially since he tends to judge contestants according to professional standards (even though it’s meant to be an amateur baking competition). Even in the ill-starred US version, The American Baking Competition, which was more or less a farcical parody of everything that makes the Great British Bake-Off, well, great (read into that what you will), the women contestants were going gooey over Paul. To others, Hollywood is a rude, callous, even bullying, blowhard who shot out of nowhere (it was a particular complaint with the first series) and sticks his fingers into people’s bakes for no real reason and likes to contradict Saint Mary of Berry just because. (If you’re in the latter camp, you should definitely listen to his Desert Island Discs interview, which shows a very different side to the picky judge of the competition).
But however you feel about Paul Hollywood, you definitely, definitely have to make his iced finger recipe, which he set as a technical challenge in series two of GBBO. Because they are absolutely nothing short of miraculously delicious.

I grew up in Singapore, and a particular feature of ice cream stalls was the selling of ice cream sandwiches: not scoops of ice cream nestled between two crunchy biscuits, which is usually how ice cream sandwiches are presented, but placed between a pastel rainbow-coloured slice of soft, almost crustless, bread. The idea of eating this never appealed to me and to be honest I was similarly put off by the concept of an iced finger. Cream and jam on a scone: yes. Between soft, slightly sweet enriched bread drizzled with water icing? I wasn’t sure. I was wrong.
The firm, yet pillowy bread contrasts beautifully with the softness of the cream and the jam cuts through the plainness of both. The icing adds a touch of additional sweetness to the bread which harmonises the whole thing and turns it into a teatime treat rather than a bread. You need to make this – it was hearty and substantial yet sweet and light: perfect. Given the time of year, could there be a better time to indulge than Christmas morning? Helpfully, no crazy or expensive ingredients or niche bakeware is required.
Call me if you make them. I’ll come over.
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