5 of our most challenging baking showstoppers

Whoever thought that the world of competitive baking could take the UK by such storm? The Great British Bake Off seems like part of our national identity these days, and whenever we post a picture of something we’ve baked online there’s always a slight air of outdoing one another. While some are bursting with pride over their first ever loaf of soda bread, others are putting the finishing touches to gargantuan gateaux, intricately decorated with piped creams and homemade praline dust.

Whether you just like looking at beautiful pictures of pâtisserie and marvelling at the amount of work required or feel confident enough to give them a go yourself, the following five recipes will test the skills of even the professional baker or pastry chef. If you do happen to give them a go, please send us a picture on social media!

This is one of those desserts that doesn’t really let on what it actually is until you take a bite. It certainly looks like a campfire, with its edible chocolate kindling and toasted marshmallows, but there’s much more than meets the eye. Crisp sticks of meringue dotted with freeze-dried strawberries, a raspberry compote and a vanilla cream – which is set alight in a glass thanks to a generous spray of 98% ABV alcohol – complete the picture. It may take four hours to prepare (although if you’re clever you can create some elements in advance), but the result is truly astonishing – and perfect for autumn.

You can leave your apple crumble and custard to the local bake sale – we’re way beyond that with Mark Jordan’s exquisite take on the classic. Ice cream flavoured with black butter – a preserve from Jersey made of local apples – sits alongside perfect sphered of poached spiced apple, a crisp opaline made from caramel and mint, a calvados-spiked cream, apple jelly and an apple crisp. All those incredible elements come together to create a beautiful dessert that’s crisp, creamy, flavourful and very indulgent.