Fan-Tested Hairy Bikers Recipes
Crumbly almond pastry holds Hairy Bikers Linzer torte together, with 200g of raspberry jam spread under a cinnamon-scented lattice top. And in the Big Book of Baking it serves 8 to 10, with my estimate of 1¾ hours including cooling and 375 calories a slice. Dating back to at least 1653, it’s “often said to …
These Hairy Bikers mincemeat and marzipan twists sandwich mincemeat and grated marzipan between two halves of puff pastry, then cut and twist it. From one 320g pack, the Brilliant Bakes recipe makes about 28, and I’d estimate 80 minutes plus cooling and 100 calories a twist. They pitch them as “a fun twist on the …
Under the lattice of Hairy Bikers mincemeat tart, 500g of mincemeat hides a disc of marzipan, all in an almond pastry case. So the British Classics version serves 6 to 8 in about 1½ hours by my timings, at near 700 calories a slice for 8. They love a mince pie but call this lattice …
Prunes and sour cherries fill Hairy Bikers mincemeat, along with sherry, brandy, cardamom and an optional splash of orange blossom water. From Brilliant Bakes, one batch makes about three 450g jars in 110 minutes, or 45 servings of 30g at roughly 95 calories by my reckoning. Their promise is that it “keeps for ages, so …
In this Hairy Bikers cranberry sauce, the sherry or port goes in last, once most of the 250g of berries have burst. So by my timings, the Veggie Feasts batch takes 15 minutes on the hob and 30 to cool, giving roughly 8 servings of 45 calories. They can’t agree with themselves on sugar, using …
Ginger runs right through Hairy Bikers roast goose, from the stuffing balls and the glaze to the ginger wine in the gravy. From the official website, a 5.5 to 6kg bird takes about 4 hours all told, at a rough 1,335 calories a plate by my guess. One goose gives “six good portions”, as they …
For Hairy Bikers roast beef, a topside joint is rubbed with pepper, mustard powder and thyme, then blasted in a very hot oven. Once rested, their Meat Feasts 1.5kg joint serves 6 to 8 after about 1½ hours, and I’d put each portion near 295 calories. They rate rib as “the emperor of roasts”, yet …
For Hairy Bikers Viennese whirls, a dough of butter, icing sugar, flour and cornflour is piped into swirls, then filled with buttercream and cherry jam. With their Brilliant Bakes recipe you get about 16 sandwiches in 1 hour 35 minutes plus cooling, and my estimate is 305 calories a sandwich. Two of their books carry …
For a Hairy Bikers roast turkey, you stuff a 6kg bird with sausage meat, chestnuts and grated apple, then butter it all over. That British Classics bird feeds 8 to 10, and I’d allow about 5 hours all told, at around 895 calories a head by my estimate. Their first piece of advice is about …
The trick in Hairy Bikers roast potatoes is two tablespoons of semolina, shaken over parboiled Maris Pipers before they go into hot goose fat. In British Classics, 1.5kg feeds 4 to 6, and I work it out at about 80 minutes and roughly 350 calories a portion for six. They picked up the semolina idea …