Bake Off Recipe: How To Make Prue Leith’s Hobnobs

As is tradition, episode two of Bake Off saw the return of Biscuit Week. First of all the contestants were tasked with a ‘slice-and-bake’ signature challenge – but the real test came in the technical. The bakers had to try their hand at recreating Prue Leith’s take on a classic chocolate Hobnob, topped with a layer of caramel and two different feathered chocolate designs. Her only advice? ‘Use your temperature probe.’

Why the caramel, Prue? ‘Just to give them a bit more of a challenge,’ the judge revealed. ‘First they need to make the biscuits and they must cut the biscuits. They’re so crumbly, if you try to cut a sheet of hobnob, it will just fall to bits.’ One mistake to avoid, she added, will be overdoing it on the caramel. ‘You need just enough to cover the bottom of the mould. Then they much chew, if the caramel isn’t properly set, it won’t come out.’

Some bakers had little success – sorry Pui Man, we’re looking at you – but others impressed, particularly Toby, who secured the top spot for the second week running.

Reckon you could do better? We’ve nabbed Prue’s recipe below.

When Were Hobnobs Invented?

British company McVitie’s introduced Hobnobs to supermarkets in 1985, a kind of biscuit-flapjack hybrid made with rolled oats. They quickly became a bestseller, and in 1987 a chocolate version was introduced – with many more varieties to follow including chocolate orange and dark chocolate. 

Getty Images

Why the name? Pam Langworthy, who helped develop and market Hobnobs, shared some insight on the Channel 4 show The Secret World of Biscuits. When the biscuits were first trialled, testers were struck by their knobbly consistency. ‘[The focus groups] said [the biscuit] was knobbly, because, you know, it wasn’t a very smooth finish in the way, for instance, Digestive or Rich Tea are,’ Pam explained. ‘And they said it looked as if somebody had made it at home, maybe made it on a hob.’ 

She decided to take this feedback and use it to pick the name: Hobnob. ‘I wanted a name that was very easy to say and just rolled off the tongue. And so, “Hobnob”.’ The word ‘hobnob’ is also a verb meaning to spend time with someone important or famous.

Bake Off Season 16 Episode 2 Technical Challenge: Prue Leith’s Hobnobs

Ingredients:

For the biscuits

• 100g unsalted butter
• 35g caster sugar
• 40g light soft brown sugar
• 1 tbsp golden syrup
• 50g plain flour
• 50g wholemeal flour
• 100g jumbo oats
• ¾ tsp bicarbonate of soda
• ¼ tsp salt

For the caramel

• 100g caster sugar
• 100ml double cream
• 100g unsalted butter, cubed
• For the chocolate coating
• 300g dark chocolate, 54%
• 100g white chocolate
• 200g caramel chocolate

Equipment

• 7cm round cutter
• 7cm round silicon moulds

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/350°F/Gas 4.
2. For the biscuits, in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a beater, beat the butter, caster sugar and light soft brown sugar together until light and creamy. Add the golden syrup and mix together.
3. Tip the plain flour, wholemeal flour, jumbo porridge oats and bicarbonate of soda into a large bowl and whisk together with a balloon whisk until the bicarbonate of soda and salt are evenly distributed.
4. Add the flour and oat mixture to the butter and mix on low speed to form a dough.
5. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and roll out to a rectangle measuring 35cm x 25cm. Using a 7cm cutter, stamp out 12 rounds. Place on a lined baking sheet, evenly spaced apart.
6. Bake for 12 – 15 minutes until golden, then remove from the oven and if the biscuits have spread, manipulate or cut them while they are still warm to 7cm rounds, to fit the silicone mould. Leave to crisp up on the baking trays for 5 mins, then transfer to a wire rack and leave to cool completely.
7. For the caramel, tip the caster sugar into a pan and heat over a low heat until the sugar begins to melt, shaking the pan from time to time (do not stir). Bring to the boil, then cook to a dark amber caramel colour. Meanwhile warm the cream in a small pan.
8. Carefully remove the pan from the heat and stir in the warm (not boiling) cream. Return the pan to the heat and boil to 120°C/248°F. Remove from the heat and carefully stir in the butter until emulsified.
9. Spoon ½ tablespoon of the caramel into each of the silicon moulds and place a biscuit (base side down) on top of the caramel. Press down gently until the biscuit is touching the caramel then repeat with the remaining 11 biscuits. Leave to cool for 10 minutes, then freeze until firm. Pop the caramel biscuit out of the moulds.
10. For the chocolate coating, melt the dark, white and caramel chocolate either in the microwave or in bowls set over pans of gently simmering water until smooth. Spoon the white chocolate into a piping bag and one third of the dark chocolate into a separate piping bag. Carefully snip the tips off the piping bags to a fine writing point.
11. Using the remaining dark chocolate, coat 6 of the biscuits in the chocolate, then pipe 5 lines of white chocolate across each biscuit evenly spaced apart. Using a cocktail stick, feather the white chocolate.
12. Use the caramel chocolate to coat the remaining 6 biscuits, then pipe 5 lines of dark chocolate across each biscuit, evenly spaced apart. Using a cocktail stick, feather the dark chocolate.
13. Leave to set, then serve.

Recipe from thegreatbritishbakeoff.co.uk