The Great British Bake Off 2018 kicked off in style this week on Channel 4. 12 new bakers entered the tent, all ready to vie for the much coveted title of Star Baker. The inaugural show of the series was biscuit week – a classic for GBBO fans. Contestants, as ever, tackled three challenges: regional biscuit bakes, recreating their own likenesses in a 3D biscuit selfie showstopper, and of course, the time-honoured technical. The first technical of the series saw the bakers tasked with making their own, homemade wagon wheel biscuits, according to “instructions” provided by judge Paul Hollywood.
Image courtesy of bestrecipes.com
Wagon wheels have been a favourite for generations. Consisting of two layers of biscuit sandwiching marshmallow and jam and all smothered in chocolate, we consume 125 million of the delectable morsels every year in the UK alone! And, they’re surprisingly easy to replicate at home. Our recipe for homemade wagon wheel biscuits comes in at just £0.68 a serving thanks to a few handy shortcuts the Bakers weren’t afforded. Give them a try and see how simple they are for yourself!
How to make homemade wagon wheel biscuits
What you’ll need
16 rich tea or “Marie” biscuits, or make your own from your favourite recipe!
6 tablespoons of marshmallow fluff
4 teaspoons of raspberry jam
300g milk chocolate
1 tablespoon of golden syrup
How to make it
First things first, find a heatproof mixing bowl (like a glass or pyrex one) and choose a saucepan big enough that the bowl can rest in the top of the pan without touching the bottom.
Half-fill the saucepan with water and heat it gently until it comes to a boil, then turn the heat down.
While the water is heating, break the chocolate up into chunks and drop them into a heatproof bowl with the golden syrup and 130ml of cold water.
Place the heatproof bowl into the top of the saucepan of water. It’s OK if the bottom of the bowl just touches the water, but it shouldn’t cause the pan to overflow. Leave the chocolate to melt, stirring occasionally.
While the chocolate is melting, prepare a wire cooling rack ready to put the completed biscuits on. We recommend placing some greaseproof paper or an old tea towel underneath to catch any drips.
Now you’re ready to start making your biscuit sandwiches! Take 8 of your biscuits and lay them out on a flat surface in front of you. Spoon around half a teaspoon of jam into the centre of each biscuit.
Then, snip the end of a disposable piping bag so you have a narrow nozzle, and fill the bag with marshmallow fluff. Carefully pipe the fluff onto each biscuit in circles around the jam, leaving about a centimetre round the edge. Leave in a cool place for 10 minutes, then gently place the remaining 8 biscuits on top to make a sandwich!
By now, your chocolate should be well melted, so you’re ready to coat your sandwich biscuits. Lay your sandwiches out on the wire rack you prepared earlier. Pour around 2 tablespoons of chocolate mix onto each biscuit sandwich, making sure you spread to the edges and cover the sides. If you have extra chocolate mixture, you can go back and add to each sandwich to make them extra chocolate-y!
Leave somewhere cool to set (ideally in the fridge), then enjoy your homemade wagon wheel biscuits!
