Nadiya Bakes (2020–…): Season 1, Episode 1 - Classic Bakes with a Twist - full transcript

We all know life can be tough,
but when I bake,

somehow, it makes me
feel that little bit better.

A soothing slice of cake.

Double-layered deliciousness.

The smell of freshly made bread.

Oh!

The comforting crunch of a biscuit
straight out of the oven.

Sometimes, when you want
something really sweet,

you want it to hit the spot.

For me, baking really is
my happy place

and I want it to be yours too,



which is why I'm returning to
my first true love.

It's the little details that
make it look beautiful.

You're going to love it!

From easy, everyday treats...

Oh, gosh, that's good.

..to indulgent desserts to share...

Sometimes, you've got to just throw
ALL the chocolate at it.

..there will be bakes for
every occasion.

Oh, my goodness!

Plus, I'll be showcasing
some of the bakers and pastry chefs

I most admire from across the UK.

Once I've finished a cake, it's that
kid-in-a-sweet-shop moment.

I love that.

So, let's bake, eat and be happy.



This week,
classic bakes with a twist,

from the sweet to the savoury.

My blueberry scone pizza - a
modern mix-up of a teatime treat.

It's all delicious.

The lemon and the lavender,
they were meant to be together.

A spicy Asian cake transforms
a traditional toad-in-the-hole.

So it's like a meal all one,
and it's delicious.

And my epic mango coconut sponge,
packed with sunny flavours.

This makes me so happy!

# Little darling

# It's been a long, long,
lonely winter

# Little darling

# It seems like years since
it's been here

# Here comes the sun... #

I'm kicking off with the classic
cupcake, but not as you know it.

Baking cupcakes always puts
a smile on my face,

but we're not making any
old cupcakes,

we're making strawberry clotted
cream shortcake cupcakes.

Why have one thing
when you can have it all?

My strawberry shortcake cupcakes,

with a velvety ice cream frosting,

crunchy biscuit surprise

and a juicy strawberry centre,

will turn the classic cupcake
into a fun-filled treat.

Although I love the classics,

it's not something I grew up eating,

so I've kind of always gone in and
just thought, how can I twist this?

This is why I bake.

There's something in me that
so desperately wants to create.

I'm starting with the icing,

and this is where the fun begins.

It's flavoured with
melted strawberry ice cream.

So, our icing tastes like
buttercream

but also tastes like strawberry
ice cream.

Start off with
175g of salted butter.

350g of icing sugar.

Always sieve, you want to get all
of those clumps out.

Whenever I'm sieving icing sugar, my
kids come running in and they go...

..and can taste it.
It's really good.

Now, the magic ingredient that is
going to make the flavour pop.

I've got 100ml of strawberry
ice cream,

and it tastes - ah! - really good.

Whizz that up. Wait till you see
the colour on this, it's so cute!

To keep the buttercream cool,

chill in the fridge for an hour

while you make the cupcakes.

So, I'm going to do something
really fun with these cupcakes.

This is me adding the shortcake.

When you open up your cupcake,

you're going to have
a layer of buttery biscuit.

This is why I absolutely love them,

because you can turn your cupcakes

into something really special,

with all these little hidden gems.

And a strawberry shortcake
needs strawberries.

Chop the tops off and simply stand
the berries on the biscuits

to create the
sweet and juicy centre.

Let's get to our cupcake
cake batter.

Traditional recipes use butter,

but for my ultimate cupcake batter,

I'm using 110g of gorgeous
clotted cream.

Yes, we are making cake with
clotted cream.

I love the stuff.

Add 110g of caster sugar,

quick mix, then two eggs.

One at a time,
giving it a mix each time.

We're going to add some
vanilla bean paste.

110g of self-raising flour.

Mix that that till we have
a lovely, shiny, smooth batter.

Easy as that.

Our strawberries have been
waiting very patiently.

Very neatly, pipe my batter
around my strawberries.

It's moments like this,

when it's just me and my cupcakes,

and then I just pause.

I love that.

I don't know what it is,
if I'm anxious, I bake.

If I feel a little bit sad, I bake.

When I'm just
concentrating on a recipe,

I feel like I don't
have to think about anything else.

The secret to the perfect cupcake
is to not overfill.

Always kind of halfway or
a little bit over, because you want

enough room for your icing
and you don't want a muffin top.

Bake until they are fluffy
and golden brown.

Look at them, look at them!

You can see the little strawberry
tops peeking through.

Look!

The strawberry will have cooked
and the little juices

will have popped and it's just,
whoo, how exciting!

Once cooled, they are ready
for a luxurious hit of our sweet

strawberry ice cream frosting.

Just give it a little slap, just get
some of that air out, because

occasionally, you get that little
pop of air which spoils your swirl.

If you know me,
you know I'm not finished.

Nobody wants a boring old cupcake
with nothing on top!

I'm going to dip these into some
freeze-dried strawberries

and that is going to give it that
last little strawberry hit.

I mean, just look at them!

Aren't they the prettiest
cupcakes ever?

My strawberry shortcake cupcakes,

with a velvety ice cream frosting,

crunchy biscuit surprise

and a juicy,
baked strawberry centre,

will turn the classic cupcake
into a fun-filled treat.

I can feel the biscuit under there.

Have a look, can you see it,
can you see it? There it is.

And that's such
a nice little surprise.

Look at that!

That is the mother
of all cupcakes, that is.

How much of it can I get
in my mouth?

SHE SPEAKS, MUFFLED

Crunchy biscuit, fresh strawberry

and that ice cream frosting is,

like, the frosting on the cake.

Why make simple cupcakes when they
can be as extraordinary as these?

Next, a blissful alternative
to a summery teatime temptation.

I love a cream tea

and I've got a playful twist
on this timeless classic.

My foolproof blueberry lavender
scone pizza,

with rippled jam
and clotted cream topping,

fresh blueberries
and a zesty lemon hit

will have you coming back for more.

I'm making a scone pizza. Yes,
that's exactly what you heard.

Blueberry and lavender scone pizza.

First, my trusty dough for
the perfect scones.

350g of self-raising flour.

85g of unsalted butter.

Using my fingertips, I'm just going
to rub the butter into the flour.

So, we've got a mixture that
resembles breadcrumbs.

Scones were one of the first things
I learned to bake at school.

When you rub it in and you're not
sure whether you've got any clumps

of butter left,
you just shake the bowl

and the clumps should come
to the top.

And then you just rub them in.

Thank you, Mrs Marshall.

She gave me this tip.

Next, add 45g of caster sugar,

one teaspoon of baking powder

and a zest of lemon.

So, traditional scones,
you wouldn't put lemon zest in.

But here's where I really throw
the rule book out of the window.

Then, some lavender.

Lavender is so strong
and it's just the weirdest

but most wonderful combination,

because lavender and lemon
somehow just...

..do this thing.

They just get all married and have
babies and it's wonderful.

One teaspoon, a little bit goes
a really, really long way.

Crush the lavender to a powder.

And that's going to just distribute

all its lavender love
into our scone.

Pour in 150ml of milk
and gently mix

till there are no more dry,
floury bits.

What you don't want to do is knead
the mixture, because when you

knead it, you develop the gluten
and it just gets stretchy and tough.

I just want to get my hands in and
just bring the whole thing together.

It doesn't take much work,
you just go like that,

turn it around, like that again,

that's it.

Simply flatten out the dough

and your scone is ready to cut

into 12 pizza-perfect triangles.

I love individual scones

but I really like sharing food,

I like the idea of putting
something in the middle

and then just everybody going in.

This is one of those things.

That's it.

So you can see where the
pizza comes from.

And into the oven. Easy!

# Oh, you to me are everything

# The sweetest song that
I could sing

# Oh, baby

# Oh, baby... #

The lemon and the lavender,
it smells incredible.

Before I even think about putting
a topping on,

what is with the cream
and jam debate?

Who cares which way you eat it?

It doesn't matter!

I've got clotted cream, I've got
jam, they're getting mixed together

with a teaspoon
of vanilla bean paste.

Traditionally, it'd be either
strawberry jam or raspberry jam.

But for me, it's got to
be my favourite - zesty blueberry.

Just kind of ripple the jam

through the cream.

Every pizza has a topping, and this
is as luxurious as they come.

Add a sprinkling of fresh
blueberries.

And then,
just to finish it off, I'm going

to grate a little bit of lemon.

A little zing.

My light and crumbly blueberry
and lavender scone pizza,

topped with lush clotted cream
and sweet blueberry jam.

You might never go back
to the classic cream tea.

That's the best scone ever.
That's it.

It's all delicious
and the lemon and the lavender work

so well together, they were meant to
be together in a scone pizza!

In this series, I want to shine
a light on some incredible bakers

who I really admire.

And in Carlisle, pastry maestro
Julie Jones

is turning classic pies and fruit
tarts into edible works of art.

And to me,
they are simply breathtaking.

I think pastry, it's almost magical.

These simple ingredients,
put together,

you can create
such wondrous things.

With a global Instagram following
and two cook books to her name,

Julie's been hailed as one of the
UK's most influential bakers,

and I love that she's leading this
pastry revival

from her home kitchen.

I'm making a persimmon
and grape frangipane tart,

which is very beautiful, very
visual, but also very delicious.

It's a sweet shortcrust pastry,

the egg yolk for a bit of richness

and milk for a bit of creaminess.

Mix until it just comes together.

It's really important to stop
the moment it does.

The core of it all is baking
your pastry properly,

packing it full of flavour.

OK, so, the pastry's been chilled.

I'm going to roll it out.

With rolling in between the paper,

you can kind of judge how thick
it is, you see your hand.

Five years ago, Julie turned
to baking to connect with her mum,

who was diagnosed with dementia.

So, we would bake things,
simple things,

like Victoria sponge cakes,
crumpets.

You know, she was relaxed and free
while she was baking

and baking provided us
this peaceful time

and I just cherish those
memories of baking with her.

Leave a 2cm edge,
this is to help prevent shrinkage,

so it can't fall back in.

It'll look like a really
professional

and beautiful pastry case
when we're finished.

I continued to bake after she got
taken into care

and my pies and tarts have probably
become more elaborate.

Creating these beautiful bakes
and it would just help me work it

all out in my own head and come to
terms with what's happened, really.

The case is baked, nice and golden.

This is a really,
really cool and nifty trick,

just using a vegetable peeler to get
the edge taken away.

No shrinkage. I'm always chuffed
when that happens.

This is the persimmon butter,

and it's got quite a honey,
vanilla-y flavour.

I never have a plan, I just
kind of start laying in swirls

and curls and just be free
and see what comes.

Julie's signature persimmon
and frangipane tart shows off her

artful designs,
that never cease to amaze me.

I think I found my style.

I've always liked elaborate things.

I like elaborate clothing
or bejewelled things

and, funnily enough, my mum did.

Oh, yeah, this is where I get
carried away.

I start faffing on!

I'll add the grapes and then I'll
add pastry leaves and balls.

It's, like, more is more, for me.

OK, so this is the final tart.

It's looking lovely.

That old saying of,
if you bake with love,

or you make food with love,
you can taste it, and it's so true.

I'm truly inspired by Julie's
incredible creations.

They are not only
made from the heart

but they are the most beautiful pies
I've ever seen.

Classic bakes don't have
to be sweet.

My next recipe is
a savoury indulgence.

Toad-in-the-hole
is a comfort food classic,

and my version has a spicy,
Asian kick.

I'm making my heartwarming
toad-in-the-hole

with minced lamb seekh kebabs,

sweet roasted vegetables in a light
and crispy batter,

like you've never tasted before.

We're taking the sausages out and
we're putting the seekh kebabs in.

First thing I'm going to start
with is the seekh kebab.

I've got 500g of lamb mince.

Add my onions.

We want to pack loads
of flavour into our mince.

Then I'm going to add all
the coriander.

If you go to an Indian restaurant
and you tell them,

can you make it desi style for me?

That basically means, can you make
it the way they make it at home.

They'll add more coriander,
more chillies

and probably a lot more onions.

So, this is my desi style
version of toad-in-the-hole.

In goes some garam masala,

a spicy blend with coriander
and cumin, packed with flavour.

Gram flour, which is chickpea flour,

which again, you can
find in most supermarkets.

But if you can't find it,
you can just use plain flour,

but this adds
a nuttiness which is lovely.

Salt.

One egg to bind.

We are going to give this
a good mix.

And hands, always hands.

I love that squishiness.

The onions, the coriander,
the garam masala -

I wish you could smell this.

We want 12 seekh kebabs.

Press them tight,

and this will just mean that they
will hold their shape.

Pop the spicy meatballs in
the fridge to chill.

This is, like, a whole meal.

I want to add some vegetables
to my toad-in-the-hole

and I'm going to start them
off on the hob.

Clarified butter, ghee,
I love this stuff.

It's got a really high
smoking point,

so it means you can cook things at a
really high heat, it's delicious.

It's just like butter, but better.

Add crushed whole coriander seeds
to the hot ghee

to release those aromatic flavours.

Then you add spices.
I love the sizzly sizzle.

Throw in a colourful combo
of chopped vegetables -

red peppers, onions and tomatoes.

Just want to get them a
little bit soft, little bit golden,

a bit of colour.

The reason why I love baking
so much is because,

up until the age of 20,
we never used the oven.

I know people who have grown up
with parents who bake,

and I didn't have that.

Great cooks, but they didn't bake,

so the oven wasn't
a thing in our house.

So, yeah, I think I'm still
at the honeymoon stage

of my oven love, I love it.

I would take the oven over
the hob any day.

Now it's time to
put the seekh kebabs in.

OK, so I'm going to leave those
just to fry on one side.

Flip the meatballs over, look,

and you can see, they're golden.

While they sizzle away,
time for my foolproof batter.

So, the first thing I've done is
turn the oven up,

because what this needs is heat,
like, instant heat.

So I want the oven to be
really nice and hot.

Got 140g of plain flour.

Pinch of salt.

Two eggs. Straight in.

And people are afraid of making

Yorkshire pudding or
Yorkshire batter.

There's this myth that it's
really difficult.

The trick is to get that really hot

and just use very cold milk
out of the fridge.

I'm using 175ml of milk, and
when the cold batter hits the heat,

it will expand to give you
the perfect rise.

And give it all a really good whisk

till we have a lovely,
smooth batter.

It should be the same
consistency as double cream.

That's sizzling away and this is
when the two worlds collide!

Weave the silky batter
around the pan,

making sure to hug
each of the juicy seekh kebabs.

Get that into the hot oven
and don't mess around.

Military operation. In, in, in!

That's going to go in there
for 20 minutes

and whatever you do,
don't be tempted to look inside,

because we want it to rise
and come up

and we don't want it to go,
pfft, flat.

Look at it, look at it, look at it!

The Yorkshire, we poured it around
the seekh kebabs.

It's just held it in its little
Yorkshire hands.

Succulent lamb seekh kebabs,

sweet roasted veggies,

in a perfect Yorkshire batter.

Finished off a traditional onion
gravy and a cheeky bit of hot sauce.

Just a little bit, just there.

Tiny little bit.

I'm going in.

Just the subtle flavour of the
garam masala in the seekh kebab

and then the Yorkshire,
and it's delicious.

When I serve this up for dinner,
I can't help but smile

on the inside, because I know how
happy it makes my kids.

It's heartwarming.

We're finishing off with a twist on
the most classic bake of all -

the Victoria sponge.

There is nothing more comforting
than a slice of cake and my take

on a traditional sponge is beautiful
and guaranteed to brighten your day.

# Everybody, do what you're doing

# Smile will
bring a sunshine day... #

I've taken the classic
Victoria sponge up a notch.

Filled with fruity mango,

nutty coconut, layered with a rich,

custardy buttercream, it's quite

simply sunshine in a cake.

There's nothing nicer than baking
and being able to add flavours

and change it to the way
you want to.

And mango and coconut, for me,

those are the flavours that we
grew up with.

And so, to put the two together,

it just takes a simple old cake to
somewhere completely new.

Bangladesh, even.

We take mangoes for granted,

but when my nan first came to this
country, the one thing

she really craved was mango
and she couldn't find it anywhere.

So, whenever my nan eats a mango,
even now, she gets very excited.

We've got two eight-inch cake tins
that have been greased and lined.

And then, take my mango slices
and lay them on the base.

Once baked, it's, like, jammy
and yummy and delicious.

Next, some added nuttiness, with
a sprinkling of toasted coconut.

Have you ever tried desiccated
coconuts that haven't been toasted?

Well, it's no different to eating
the woodchips in my rabbit's hutch.

Please toast your coconuts, please.

This cake is going to be
spectacular,

but the batter couldn't be easier
with my all-in-one method.

We've got
400g of self-raising flour,

300g of caster sugar, seven eggs.

Remember, we're making two layers
and nobody wants a thin layer,

I'm just saying.

Thick.

So, instead of butter,
I'm using yoghurt.

And I love using yoghurt in baking

because it adds this delicious
sharpness to the cake.

Add a teaspoon of baking powder.

Pinch of salt.

Everything in one bowl, simple.

I would definitely recommend
giving it a go,

because you can get
delicious cakes faster.

Whizz it up. That's it.

And you can really smell
the yoghurt, which is really nice.

Mix to a smooth, shiny batter,

then divide evenly between
the two tins.

Quick, sharp tap,
just to level off the top.

And they're ready to bake.

So, now, onto the filling.

I'm making a German buttercream,
which is basically butter

and custard. It's delicious.

First, the custard.

Gently warm 150ml of milk

with 100g of caster sugar.

And for a quick cheat, you could
always use leftover custard.

And I'm going to separate my eggs.

My yolks in there and my whites in
there. Keep telling yourself that.

Two yolks,
some cornflour to thicken,

one teaspoon of vanilla extract

and whisk.

Now, combine the sweet milk with
the eggs, but this can be tricky.

If I throw that hot milk in there,
that's going to scramble.

So, what we're doing is
we're warming up the egg yolks

gently with the hot milk.

Little at a time.

Don't be tempted, just a little bit,
little bit, little bit.

Pop it back into the pan.

Turn the heat up, and this is where
it becomes custard.

Let the custard cool down.

Mix in 350g of soft butter,

vanilla extract.

Give it one last whoosh.

I absolutely love this buttercream.

It is, like, velvety.

It's so good!

They smell absolutely amazing,
and that's what I love about baking.

That smell, it just takes over.

Flip these over.

CAKE SETTLES

There's that sound.

Ooh, I can see the fruit,
I can see the fruit!

Not only does it look delicious,
you can smell the cooked mango

and the toasted coconut,
hence, tasty too.

Pipe on the velvety
buttercream for an even finish.

Oh, I love piping.

There's something quite
hypnotising about piping.

Offset spatula -
this is an absolute must.

If you are going to bake, get one.

I have one of these in my handbag

for spatula emergencies.

Spread the rich buttercream
to a flat, even finish

then decorate with pretty swirls.

I want people to be able to
look at the cake and know

what's inside the cake, so I have
got some sugary sweet mango puree.

This stuff is like liquid gold.

And a final sprinkle of
toasted coconut.

This makes me so happy!

My fresh mango and toasted coconut
layered cake,

with a glorious buttercream filling,

topped with sweet mango puree.

A classic sponge transformed

into a magnificent centrepiece.

Oh!

Oh, yes, look, look, look at
that double-layered deliciousness!

That's good cake.

The first thing you get is that
mango puree, it's amazing.

I mean, everything together,

this is a winning, winning,
perfect combination.

Sunshine on a plate.

Right, that's a lot of cake.

Do you guys want to get involved?

Yes, please. Yeah?

How do I safely pass this to you?

Two metres. There you go, Georgie.

That is delicious.

Hands-free!

Whoa!

Oh!

No!

Next time, my most indulgent ever
sweet treats...

That is everything you
want in a dessert.

..from my no-cheese cheesecake...

It's spectacular.

Almost too pretty to cut into,
but that never stopped me.

..to my picture-perfect Pavlova.

Kind of does its own thing,
but it makes it look so beautiful.