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This is the sixth month of the Bake Off Box and this month’s recipe was for Strawberry & Vanilla Sandwich Biscuits.
For those of you who haven´t heard, the Great British Bake Off has released the concept of the Bake Off Box, which is available for monthly subscription and contains the dry ingredients for a special recipe, as well as a bespoke piece of baking equipment!
I thought a lot of you might be interested in finding out more about the Bake Off Box content, the recipe and the equipment that comes with it, so I thought I would film the “experience” and write up a review each month for you!
*Just a quick disclaimer before we start: This post isn´t sponsored (I wish!) and I am not getting paid for anything I have said. It´s just my own personal opinion and experience.*
Check out the unboxing, baking and review video here:
This Month´s Bake Off Box Content
In the July Bake Off Box, I received the ingredients to make 12 Strawberry & Vanilla Sandwich Biscuits!
The Bake Off Box Baking Equipment
The July Bake Off Box’s “bespoke piece of baking equipment” was a set of 7 fluted cookie cutters. They are the typical Bake Off Box teal colour and have the Bake Off Box logo printed on the side of them. The smallest one is 3cm in diameter and the largest 9cm in diameter. Initially, I was worried that they might have been made of silicone making them slightly floppy! But luckily they are made of plastic making them more ridged and easier to clean!
I already own a similar set of cookie cutters, but I am a very keen baker and already own a lot of baking equipment. So it can only be expected that I might already have something similar. These cookie cutters are extremely versatile though, and I use them a lot to make biscuits and scones. Some of my other that use these cutters include my Homemade Chocolate Digestives, Cheese and Chive Scones and Fruit Scones with Orange Zest. If you are wanting to invest in your own set, check the baking aisle in the supermarket or get the same one that I have here.
The Strawberry & Vanilla Sandwich Biscuits Ingredients
This Bake Off Box came with 4 sachets of dry ingredients for the recipe: Caster sugar, flour, icing sugar and white chocolate. In addition, the box contained a jar of strawberry jam and some vanilla extract. However, there was only 5ml of vanilla extract, just enough to make these biscuits. Still, I thought it was very good that it was included, as pure vanilla extract is becoming increasingly expensive to buy.
The fresh ingredients you had to supply yourself this month were a large egg and some butter, so probably something that everyone already has in the house.
Check out the recipe here to give them a try!
The Recipe
This month’s recipe was another easy one that I think would be suitable for baking beginners. The two main elements that you had to tackle were the biscuit dough and buttercream. Both of which are very easy to master! The recipe could have been made a little more challenging by making your own strawberry jam. So if you want to increase the difficulty, why not give that a go?
Personally, from a flavour point of view, these biscuits weren’t my favourite as I am not a great fan of buttercream or strawberry jam. You could of course change the type of jam you use to tailor it to your own personal preference, I just stuck with strawberry jam as this was what was in the box. But raspberry jam might be a good shout, just like I used in this Viennese Whirl recipe.
Pros and Cons of June´s Bake Off Box
Cons
I don’t really have any complaints on a “higher level”, the only comments would be on a more personal note. For one, unfortunately again I already had the equipment (fluted cookie cutters) that was provided in this box. But I know that I am an experienced baker with a lot of stuff, so that is bound to happen… Second, the recipe was also very easy for me, I prefer something a little more complex. But again I understand that the boxes need to vary in difficulty to please everybody, and the last two have been a little more technically challenging. And then on a final note, I really don’t like buttercream or strawberry jam, haha – but that’s just tough luck for me!
Pros
This month’s box was a pretty good all-rounder! First of all, it arrived without any delays which was already an improvement on last month! I think the recipe was good and suitable for every baker, whether they are a complete novice or an expert! What was also quite cool, was that this month’s box also came with an additional recipe for Strawberries and Cream Sandwich Biscuits. They are made with a cream cheese filling, which sounds much more up my street. So I can’t wait to try them!
In addition, I think this month’s piece of equipment, the 7 fluted and round cookie cutters were great. Every baker needs to have these kind of things in their baking cupboard as they are useful to have for so many recipes! Click here if you want to get the same ones I have.
Finally, I enjoyed the addition of vanilla extract to this month’s box. Especially as last month, the almond extract was not provided and you had to get it yourself. Also, it was great that the only things you needed to provide yourself were butter and an egg, which I had in the house already.
Cost of the Bake Off Box and Where to Get It
The Bake Off Box is available from their website here and costs about 20£/month. That covers the ingredients, equipment and packaging/postage. You will also have to bear in mind that you might have to buy some additional ingredients. This month, all you needed was a pack of butter and a large egg, so you could probably get that for under £2.
I hope you enjoyed this post about the content of the third Bake Off Box! Make sure to check out my previous Bake Off Box posts, and stay tuned for these posts at the start of the next few months! If you have any other questions in the meantime, just leave a comment under this post!
- Bake Off Box #1 | February 2021 | Review
- Bake Off Box #1 | Signature Chocolate Cake Recipe
- Bake Off Box #1 | Unboxing and Baking Video
- Bake Off Box #2 | March 2021 | Review
- Bake Off Box #2 | Mini Walnut and Banana Loaf Cakes Recipe
- Bake Off Box #2 | Unboxing and Baking Video
- Bake Off Box #3 | April 2021 | Review
- Bake Off Box #3 | Lemony Lemon Slices Recipe
- Bake Off Box #3 | Unboxing and Baking Video
- Bake Off Box #4 | May 2021 | Review
- Bake Off Box #4 | Chocolate and Hazelnut Babka Recipe
- Bake Off Box #4 | Unboxing and Baking Video
- Bake Off Box #5 | June 2021 | Review
- Bake Off Box #5 | Bakewell Tart with Feathered Icing
- Bake Off Box #5 | Unboxing and Baking Video
- Bake Off Box #6 | July 2021 | Review
- Bake Off Box #6 | Strawberry and Vanilla Sandwich Biscuits
- Bake Off Box #6 | Unboxing and Baking Video
- Bake Off Box #7 | August 2021 | Review
- Bake Off Box #7 | Passion Fruit Éclairs (with Meringue Kisses)
- Bake Off Box #7 | Unboxing and Baking Video
- Bake Off Box #8 | September 2021 | Review
- Bake Off Box #8 | Salted Caramel and Chocolate Mini Rolls
- Bake Off Box #8 | Unboxing and Baking Video
- Bake Off Box #9 | October 2021 | Review
- Bake Off Box #9 | Focaccia with Olives, Garlic & Rosemary
- Bake Off Box #9 | Unboxing and Baking Video
- Bake Off Box #10 | November 2021 | Review
- Bake Off Box #10 | Sticky Toffee Pudding with Vanilla Custard
- Bake Off Box #10 | Unboxing and Baking Video