How to 'Celebrate' with Paul Hollywood

Summary

Podcast Summary: All Of It with Alison Stewart

Episode Title: How to 'Celebrate' with Paul Hollywood
Date: September 29, 2025
Guest: Paul Hollywood, judge on The Great British Baking Show
Host: Alison Stewart, WNYC

---

Episode Overview

This episode of All Of It centers on the enduring cultural power of baking as both tradition and celebration, through a lively conversation with Paul Hollywood—renowned judge on The Great British Baking Show and author of Celebrate: Joyful Baking All Year Round. The discussion explores the connections between food, family, memory, and festivity, structured around Hollywood’s new cookbook, which organizes recipes and reflections by the seasons. Listeners also call in with a range of baking questions, making for an interactive and deeply practical hour.

---

Main Discussion Points & Insights

1. Baking as Celebration and Family Tradition

• Paul’s Culinary Background: Hollywood shares how family is at the heart of his approach. His father (a baker) focused on savory baking and breads, while his mother specialized in cakes and pastries, shaping his broad skill set.

  “Because it started with the family, I think it's where it's remained really. ...baking again. And obviously now I get asked a lot to do cakes for people…” (03:11)

• Growing Up in a Bakery: Rather than spending his nights out, a young Hollywood gravitated to early bakery mornings, anchoring friendships and family connections in the ritual of sharing baked goods.

2. The Great British Baking Show: Origins and Legacy

• Cautious Beginnings: Hollywood recounts the uncertain start of GBBO, with original co-hosts doubting it would run past a single season.

  “I remember having a talk to Sue and I said, what do you think? She goes, 'I can't see it going to a second series.' ...We peaked at 22 and a half million people.” (03:17–03:49)

• Cultural Phenomenon: The show's astronomical ratings highlight Britain's love for baking—and celebrations.

3. On Cakes and Chocolate: The Art and Science

• Significance of Cake:

  “A celebration isn't a proper celebration without a cake.” – Alison Stewart (03:54)
  Hollywood agrees, promoting his signature chocolate cake, which he ties to career milestones and personal nostalgia.

• Chocolate Cake Secrets:

  • American chocolate cakes often use oil, producing a moist, open crumb.
  • Key tip:

    “Not enough good quality chocolate. That's the secret.” – Paul Hollywood (05:39–06:03)

  • He stresses using high-cocoa chocolate and balancing ganache versus buttercream.

• Marbling Technique:
  Hollywood cautions against over-mixing batters for marble cakes.

  “What you want is distinctive colors in a sponge...a nice gentle sweep—done. Leave it.” (06:17–06:45)

4. Fall Baking: Comfort and Connection

• Autumn Flavors:
  Apples and toffee dominate Hollywood’s imagination for fall recipes, with a nod to American traditions like Thanksgiving—which he views as “alien” but endearing.
• Hygge & Baking:

  “That's what a good cake or any baking does in the fall. It's Hygge. It's the comfort, it's the blanket, it's the warmth of being around people you love and eating great food.” (08:13)

• Donuts:
  Hollywood admits his weakness for donuts, humorously confessing to demolishing a hotel-provided box the night prior.

5. Baking Advice: Answers to Listener Questions

Notable call-ins and Hollywood’s actionable responses:

• Simple Holiday Cookie?
  Go for a chocolate chip cookie; underbake it for chewiness.

  “You want that goo when you break it…” (09:54–10:19)

• Why Such a Citrus Fan?

  “If you're going to put a flavor in, put it in and make it dance on the palate.” (10:30–10:57)

• What is Wheat Sheaf?
  A decorative bread made for UK harvest festivals, requiring patience but teaching dough skills.
  Mouse decoration anecdote: “It’s a cutesy thing...I had to cut miniature bits of sultana…” (11:36–11:48)

• Top Bread-Baking Tip:

  “It's all about the water content in a loaf. ...If it's too dry, it's too dense and it's too cake-like, so you want to open it up a little bit more.” (12:52–13:29)

• Sugar Choices:
  Baker’s sugar, icing sugar, superfine—generally interchangeable, but start with less. Hollywood prefers less sugar overall, often subbing in honey for flavor and cutting sweetness—especially compared to American recipes.

  “I try and cut down the sugars a little bit in my bread. In most of my bread, I don’t put any sugar at all.” (14:39–15:17)

6. Winter Baking and Mince Pies

• Mince Pie Tradition:
  Short, rich pastry enveloping spiced dried fruit—often with a splash of cognac—served with tea.

  “From the oven. I start making them beginning in December for Christmas. I normally bang off about 50, 100 of them...” (17:10–17:29)

• Handshake Criteria:

  "Perfection...Something that's different, something that's special, something actually that looks...very professional." (17:44–18:12)

• Troubleshooting Doughs:
  For pizza or baguette doughs with clumps, mix thoroughly and sieve flour for uniformity.

  “If that's the case, sieve your flour and it should be fine.” (19:35–19:43)

• Best Recipe for Beginners:
  Try “quick fix” bakes like scones or pita—something rewarding within 45 minutes.

  “Do something that's gonna get a quick fix. So you make something, give it to someone, they go, wow, that's amazing.” (19:51–20:11)

7. Around the World: Macarons, Bread Types, and Cultural Bakes

• Macarons:
  Focus on the consistency and resting time, rather than hard-to-find ingredients like inverted sugar.

  “It's all to do with the dropping consistency and the resting time. That's the critical thing.” (21:25–21:32)

• US vs. UK Pies:
  Hollywood admires the fun and inventive pie shapes in America and appreciates the local twists (like pecan pie).

8. Spring & Summer Baking

• Custard Tarts:
  One of the first things he baked as a child, made with nutmeg and no blind-baking step.

• Pastry Fats – Modern vs. Wartime:
  Hollywood’s innovation is swapping traditional lard for butter to boost flavor, while learning from “old-school” methods about texture.

• Summer:
  The season for berries, color, and celebrating fresh fruit.
  Highlight: “Hot dog” bake—where the sausage and condiments are wrapped in bread and baked together.

9. Mixing by Hand vs. Mixer

• Certain doughs (like ciabatta) are best with a mixer, but Hollywood encourages hands-on baking for everything possible:

  “You get a feel; it sticks in your mind, and you never forget the texture. That's what it's all about.” (25:57–26:11)

• Authentic Banh Mi Baguette Tips:

  • Use a wet dough, let it ferment cold overnight, bake with steam for a crisp crust and open crumb.

---

Memorable Quotes & Moments

• On Cake:

  “Life's too short to eat candy. You need to have good quality...chocolate.” – Paul Hollywood (04:24)

• On Handshake Criteria:

  “Something that looks...very professional. That's my criteria, really.” – Paul Hollywood (17:44)

• On Baking and Culture:

  “It's the comfort, it's the blanket, it's the warmth of being around people you love and eating great food.” – Paul Hollywood (08:13)

---

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Opening / Paul’s family and origins: 01:15–03:11
• GBBO beginnings: 03:17–03:49
• On chocolate cake: 04:24–06:03
• Marbling advice: 06:03–06:45
• Hygge and fall baking: 07:16–08:32
• Cookies & holiday baking: 09:46–10:19
• Citrus flavors: 10:19–10:57
• Bread advice: 12:22–13:29
• On sugar: 13:46–15:17
• Mince pies & winter: 16:14–17:29
• GBBO handshake criteria: 17:34–18:12
• Pizza dough troubleshooting: 18:20–19:43
• Beginner recipe advice: 19:51–20:11
• Macaron troubleshooting: 20:18–21:32
• US vs. UK pies: 21:32–23:00
• Custard tarts & pastry: 23:00–24:58
• Mixing by hand vs. mixer: 25:08–26:11
• Banh mi baguettes: 26:16–27:29
• Summer baking & "hot dog" bake: 27:29–28:23

---

Conclusion

This episode is a cozy, insightful guide to baking and celebration, blending Paul Hollywood’s expert tips, cultural musings, and rye humor with audience curiosity. For fans new and old, it’s a reminder that baking—much like culture itself—is about sharing, memory, and the joy of creating something to savor together.

To hear more, pick up Paul Hollywood’s book or catch him at Symphony Space.

Transcript

[A]

This is all of it. I'm Alison Stewart live from the WNYC studios in soho. Thank you for spending part of your day with us. I'm really grateful that you're here. On today's show, we'll hear selections from our recent get lit with all of it book club event featuring Michael Chabon, the author of the Amazing Adventures of Cavalier and Clay, as well as cast members from the Metropolitan Operas at adaptation of the novel. And we'll also talk about the New York Film Festival, which is currently underway at Lincoln Center. That's our plan. So let's get this started with Paul Hollywood. Paul Hollywood has been a judge on the great British breaking show for the last 15 years and that is a milestone worth six celebrating. Luckily, Hollywood has written a book on the subject. Celebrate Joyful Baking All Year Round is exactly what the title suggests, Recipes for Cakes, Pies, tarts. Paul Hollywood will be at Symphony Space tomorrow night. But first, he joins us now in studio. It is really nice to meet you.

[B]

Hello, Alison. Nice to meet you too.

[A]

You open the book by saying a good celebration is about, first of all, good company.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

What is it about good company that inspires you as a chef?

[B]

I think growing up, my father was, was a baker, but my dad tended to do more the pies, the savory side of things and the breads. My mom was more cakes and pastries and laminated doughs. So I became a hybrid of both. So because it started with the family, I think it's where it's remained really. I mean, I love bacon. I mean, I remember my friends used to go out and they go out clubbing or go to a bar or a restaurant. And I was going to work. So I used to you early morning. So they used to come into the bakery and then hang around and wait for a sausage roll or something, something to come fresh to come out the oven. And again it became it was all to do with friends, family baking again. And obviously now I get asked a lot to do cakes for people for birthdays especially. I tend not to, to be honest, because the problem is if I say yes to one person, I gotta say yes to everybody. And then I'm stuck. Then I did someone actually made their own birthday cake, which is a bit sad a few years ago and show and actually showed me that cake in front of 20 of their friends. They said, what do you think of this cake? I said, did you bake it? And they said yes and explained how they baked it. I then said it was beautiful. It looked very good. And they went, no, no, no, no, no. Do it like you do on the Bake Off. So I sort of tore into it a little bit. It was a lot, actually. And then she never spoke to me for three months. So be careful what you wish. I, I, I think baking has become so much part of my DNA from professionally, but obviously in this regard, with the baking show and the Bake off, it's become, it's become over quarter of my life I've been spent on this show, which is incredible. That's incredible to think about in TV world.

[A]

Yes, and TV world for sure. Actually, when you first start, when you first went on the Bake off, what did you think?

[B]

The first year I was with Su and Mel, I remember having a talked to sue and I said, what do you think? She goes, I can't see it going to a second series. I remember Mary, Mary was having a glass of white wine and I joined her. So what do you think, Mary? She goes, I don't know, I can't see. I mean, we're in a tent. It's really odd. And this was back in 2010 and in the end we ended up getting three and a half million, I think. And then the second series we got five and a half, then seven and a half. We peaked at 22 and a half million people.

[C]

Wow.

[B]

Which is the biggest in the UK for 30 odd years, which is crazy.

[A]

My guest is Paul Hollywood. His new book is called Celebrate Joyful Baking All Year Round. Now, before you, it's made up in seasons, but first, before you even get there, you have a whole chapter about cakes and I am so with you. You write, a celebration isn't a proper celebration without a cake. Those are perfect words, in my opinion. And you have in here your chocolate cake, Paul's chocolate cake. First of all, why is that cake so special?

[B]

There's a fudge cake in there as well, which I group together because a good chocolate cake is very difficult to beat. Having judged a lot of American baking in the last eight years, a lot of the American baking, they use a lot of oils, which makes the cakes quite wet, which actually in turn creates a very open, structured, very well rounded chocolate cake. But there's something about some of the chocolate cakes I remember as a child. And when you think of the beginning of Bake off or the baking show and you see the raspberry going on top of that cake, that cake looks delicious straight away, but it looks like you're missing a raspberry, which we do play on people's psyche. A Little bit with that. But that chocolate cake represents my career and that's why I love the chocolate cake so much. A good chocolate fudge cake or any good chocolate cake with a chocolate buttercream with a good ganache inside it with a good valr and a chocolates is very, very difficult to beat. And I think good chocolate rather than candy, don't eat. Life's too short to eat candy. You need to have good quality, good high cocoa content chocolate, whether that's white milk or dark.

[A]

So what would you say is the biggest mistake people make with making a chocolate cake?

[B]

I'm not putting enough chocolate in there.

[A]

I mean more chocolate, More chocolate, more chocolate.

[B]

I don't, I don't mind. I don't mind buttercream. I don't mind buttercream. I prefer a good ganache. So the way you make a ganache is basically equal amounts of chocolate to cream and you melt it. And then you can introduce orange in there as well, which is delicious, or lemon, a little kick of citrus in there, but not enough chocolate. Not enough good quality chocolate. That's the secret.

[A]

I want to keep talking about cakes a little bit. You have cherry marble cake bars in here and it's really interesting because you put in the note that when it comes to marble marbling, less is more. Why?

[B]

What people tend to do in the marbling, whether they've got a white chocolate sponge or a white, a white sponge or a chocolate sponge, when you're bringing the two together, they tend to overstay. And that extra stir, it discolors it all so it goes gray rather than black and white. What you want is distinctive colors in a sponge, whether you're doing the cherry or a chocolate and a white sponge. And it's all to do with little is more. So a nice gentle sweep done. Leave it.

[A]

Just take your hand out.

[B]

Yes, absolutely. Don't do it. Don't be tempted to go in there again. Leave it alone.

[A]

Do you have a question for Paul Hollywood about what to serve at your next celebration or do you want to ask him a question about baking? We're going to open our phone lines. 2124-3396-9221-2433. WNYC. You can text that number or you can call us and join us on air. All right, we're gonna start with fall. Even though your book starts in spring, we're gonna start in fall because that is where we are. What comes to your mind when you think of fall? Baking? What words?

[B]

Apples and toffee. I always Think Halloween, I always think the end of. And obviously in the States it's Thanksgiving as well. So you've got, you've got. You see Thanksgiving for us is alien Thanksgiving. When I watch it, I only see Thanksgiving on movies. So I go, what is Thanksgiving? We have Harvest Sunday, which is something which happens normally in September time. Thanksgiving comes a bit later and I think it's that line between. It's the warm up, it's the precursor. Precursor for Christmas. And so for me it's a sweater versus a coat. It is in Denmark they say Hygge and Hygge is basically almost what it says. It's a hug. So what you think of with on that you can't really do it in New York today because it's a little bit muggy. But if you're freezing cold and you're really cold and all you're doing is you want to get back to. I live in the countryside in. Yeah, I'll get this. I live in the countryside in, in the uk, right. In Kent, which is the garden of England. I have an open fireplace. So in the winter I look forward to getting home, putting the fire on with my apple logs, getting it going and then just sitting around the fire with it with a mug of tea. That's hygge. And that's what a good cake or any baking does in the fall. It's Hygge. It's the comfort, it's the blanket, it's the warmth of being around people you love and eating great food.

[A]

It makes me think of apple donuts which you have a recipe for.

[B]

Yeah. Apple donuts are grace.

[A]

They are good. They are good.

[B]

You know what? I arrived at the hotel yesterday, last night and the. The PR team had left a load of donuts. I'm a big fan of donuts and there was a load of donuts in my room last night and I couldn't sleep until at least destroyed three of them.

[A]

It's good farmer's market season. If you have a chance this week, I'm just telling you I will.

[B]

I'll look.

[A]

When you're thinking about the balance between donut sweetness and the filling, like the. How do you decide how to get the right balance there?

[B]

Obviously we have recipes to follow. My advice is when you, when you're following a recipe, follow it to the rules till you get the basics and how you bake in the first place. Whether that's fried, baked or whatever. Once you've mastered it, then tweak it to how you like it. If you like more cinnamon and it's very Scandinavian, very northern European, then add more cinnamon. If you want less sugar, then pull the sugar out up the cinnamon. So whatever you take away, add with something else to find that balance again.

[A]

Let's take a call. This is Diane who is calling in from Union, New Jersey. Hi, Diane. Thanks for making the time to call all of it. You are on the air with Paul Hollywood.

[C]

Hey, Paul, this is Diane from Union. Quick question for you. What's the best simple cookie to make for the holidays?

[B]

Now, I'm a big fan of chocolate chocolate chip all the way. And again, the secret is making sure that you don't over bake your cookie. I always go and say biscuit, but I forget I'm in the States. Don't over bake your cookie because that's a secret. You want that little bit of chewiness, add a little bit of extra chocolate into the mixture and you want that goo when you break it and it that unctuous that you want that beautiful flavor to come through.

[A]

Question for Paul. This is a text you're notorious on Bake off for being a sucker for citrus flavors. What is it about sharp citrus that specifically does it for you?

[B]

I think I've always been a big fan. I was in Miami. I had my probably the best key lime pie I've ever had. I'm a big fan of key limes, a big fan of lemon meringue. You know, a lemon curd is beautiful, a passion curd, beautiful. Because if you're going to put a flavor in, put it in and make it dance on the palate. And that's what it's all about for me. So I love those citrus flavors that really carry that punch with it.

[A]

In your book, you have a recipe for wheat sheaf. First of all, what is wheat sheaf?

[B]

A wheat sheaf is something that we celebrate during the fall just coming into it's the celebration of the harvest in the fields in the UK So in the church on a Sunday. I used to get asked by the vicar to make a wheat sheaf to celebrate basically the flower crop and to celebrate the artists and the baking skills. So the wheat sheaf, I used to do all the every year for the.

[A]

Kitchen skill to do that, it takes.

[B]

A little bit of skill. Yeah. It takes a little bit of patience. But once you know, and if you go through the recipe, you almost start with a keyhole and build it up, but it takes a little bit of time. And if you master that, you then learn to manipulate dough and that's a.

[A]

Good thing in your book. There's your wheat sheaf, but you also have a little mouse on it.

[B]

Oh, yeah.

[A]

What's, what's the significance of the mouse? Are you just having a good time?

[B]

It's a cutesy thing. I mean, it's a little mouse running up it. I mean, I had to cut miniature bits of sultana to get the eyes right and to get the shape of the body. But I used to do that when I remember King, now King Charles, then Prince Charles used to come into the hotel I was working in. And his, his flur, his fleur, his wheat sheaf was all part of his logo. And it was the same with the Duke of Westminster. So I used to do these. When they came into the hotel, I put these wheat cheese everywhere.

[A]

Let's talk to Yamile, who's calling from the Bronx. Hey, thanks for calling all of it. You are on the air.

[C]

Okay. Thank you so much for taking my call. I just want to know what is the best tip for making a really good quality bread? I've. I've kind of bake and make my own food. And I like the brioche. I know it's harder, but even when it doesn't come out right, I do like the brioche. But just generally speaking, like, what's the, you know, biggest thing that would give you a successful bread? If it's, if it's a good question.

[B]

It is a good question. It's a very, it's a very easy one to answer. Buy my book, Celebrate. There's some great recipes in there. But to be honest, the. It's all about the recipe. Follow a good recipe and you're 90% of the way there. It's all to do with the water content in a loaf. So if you can get more water into, it tends to open up the structure. If you open up the structure, then you get flavor and texture. So it's about water content you want to do. For instance, if you're, if you've got 500 grams of flour or a pound, you want over half in liquid represented in that to make sure your dough is nice and wet. If it's too dry, it's too dense and it's too cake, like, so you want to open it up a little bit more. That's the secret.

[A]

It's so interesting how much chemistry is involved.

[B]

It is. Baking is all about the balance between either yeast or the baking powder or the baking soda with alkalis and acids to create carbon dioxide.

[A]

Yeah, this is interesting. This Text says my market now sells quote baker sugar. How does that compare to regular sugar? And can you do a one on one swap?

[B]

You can do. Yes, you can. I mean the thing is with baker sugar, I think it's icing sugar we call it in the uk. So it's more powder. Yes, you can, you can use that. It's easier when you're doing things like icings to use baking sugar rather than conventional, you know, granulated sugar because you'll always get bits in it. But yeah, you can do it. Start with less first. So if Your recipe says 20 grams of castor and you want to put 20 grams of icing or baker's sugar, reduce it by half and then build up just to make sure because they can be a little bit more concentrated.

[A]

I did notice in your book you say use super fine sugar. Why is super fine sounds cool?

[B]

Yeah, it's basically I try not to use huge amounts of unrefined sugars. I try and I judge the American Baking show. And one of the things which I found difference with generally European bacon and American bacon. There's more sugar in American bacon. So what I try to do is avoid the sugar, cut that down and replace sit with natural sugar like honey. And honey will bring its own natural flavor with it as well. So it's all about I try and cut down the sugars a little bit in my bread. I in most of my bread, I don't put any sugar at all.

[A]

My guest is Paul Hollywood. His new book is called Celebrate Joyful Baking All Year Round. Paul Hollywood, be at Symphony Space tomorrow night. Do you have a question for him about what to serve at your next celebration or do you want to ask him a question about baking? Give us a call. 2124-3396-9221-2433. WNYC. We'll be right back. I'm speaking with the great British Bake off show and chef Paul Hollywood about his new book Celebrate Joyful Baking All Year Round. By the way, Paul Hollywood would be at Symphony Space tomorrow night. Paul, your book is separated in two seasons. So now we're onto the winter. This is question is from our British American producer, Simon, who you met on your way. I didn't know if you knew that or not. He loves mince pies.

[B]

Oh, yeah. So do I. Yeah.

[A]

Can you describe to our audience what the tradition of mince pie is for our Americans who are listening?

[B]

Mince pie essentially used to have literally just mince in it years ago. Over the years it's been Replaced with sultanas and spices and fruits and cloves and nutmegs. So what you've got is a pastry, a very crispy pastry filled with beautiful fruits, often cognac, a little bit of alcohol in there as well. And you serve that. I like to put mandarins and fruit in there as well, and cognac. But also serve that with a good scoop of whipped cream, heavy cream and that. Honestly, from the oven. I start making them beginning in December for Christmas. I normally bang off about 50, 100 of them. So people come around, Want a cup of tea? So we have a cup of tea and then a mince pie. A mince pie with cream and a cup of tea. Simon, I mean, I can look across. You're nodding. This is the thing, isn't it?

[A]

His dad. Your dad will be very proud of you, Simon. Is it a regular pie crust or is there something special about the.

[B]

It's quite short. It is quite short. I tend to lean towards shortbread because shortbread makes a beautiful pastry. And cocooning this sultanas and fruits, it's just delicious. Very, very festive.

[A]

Let's talk to Julie, who's calling in from Brooklyn. Hi, Julie, thanks for calling, all of it.

[C]

Hi, thank you for taking my call. I wanted to ask, on the Great British Bake Off, Paul, what is your criteria for a handshake?

[B]

Perfection, I would say. I mean, it hasn't really changed over the years. First handshake I gave out was series three, and we're on series 16 at the moment. But it's basically something I love or enjoy. Something that's different, something that's special, something actually that looks. You could sell in a shop and it would sell really well. Something that looks very professional. That's my criteria, really.

[A]

Let's talk to Meg, who's also calling in. Hi, Meg, thanks for calling, all of it. You are on the air with Paul Hollywood.

[D]

Hi, thanks for taking my call. I wondered. I make a pizza dough and I don't know if it's my water to oil. The way I mix it. I'm not sure what's happening, but I get like. Sometimes I get like these little hard parts in the dough that are like maybe the size of a chocolate chip. And I don't really know what's causing it. Like, should I mix the water and oil together before putting it on top of the flour? Like something's going wrong.

[B]

Yeah, I think your dough is probably. You're not mixing it enough initially. So you need to. If you're. For instance, if you've got 500 gram. I'm sorry, I'll talk in gram. If you took it in, 500 grams is great because if you've got a set of scales, you could do anything. But if you've got got a set of scales which you can weigh, make sure that all the liquid goes in in the first two minutes of mixing. So stir it initially and then start throwing all your water in all the rest of the ingredients and then work that dough. If you've got a dough hook, use a dough hook and just mix it well. And it's right at the beginning that you end up getting clumps of flour. Was your flour quite dry or did it have any water attached to that flour and you created little lumps? Was it pretty dry?

[C]

I don't know.

[B]

I can't remember, honestly. Just if that's the case, sieve your flour and it should be fine.

[A]

If you are a new baker, you're inspired by this conversation. I'm gonna go get the book. What recipe should you try first?

[B]

I think go down something that's quick, something that takes 45 minutes. Do a pita bread, do a scone, do something that's gonna be very quick. You don't wanna do something that's gonna spend four or five hours. So you want something that's gon quick fix. So you make something, give it to someone, they go, wow, that's amazing. You go, I'm really, I'm gifted. And then you start going through the book. So do something that's going to get a quick fix.

[A]

Let's talk to Jill, who's calling in from Neuroshell. Hi, Jill, thanks for calling all of it. You're on the air with Paul Hollywood.

[C]

Hi there.

[B]

Hello.

[C]

I'm very excited to talk to you. I've tried miserably to make macarons. Yeah, I used a whole lot of sugar and a whole lot of eggs and they just kept falling. One of the recipes I asked for, inverted sugar. And I had never heard of inverted sugar before.

[B]

I would avoid inverted sugar. It's difficult to get hold of. But I would use ground almonds is the critical thing in this. And the relaxing of the macaron paste is absolutely integral to this. When you've made the mix, it tends to drop. What they call is a reluctant drop. So what you want to do is get your ground almonds and then mix it all together and then leave that to rest for about five minutes before piping into templates on a. On a piece of paper. Once you've piped it Onto the templates, rest it and you need to rest it. Minimum half an hour, maximum three, four hours. You can actually put it in the fridge. What you're trying to do is create a skin which gives you the shine and then gives you the foot. Don't worry if it flows. They always do, to be honest. But it's all to do with the dropping consistency and the resting time. That's the critical thing.

[A]

This is a question for you. Does Paul know why US Pies and British pie sweet bakes are such different shapes? What does he think of U.S. pies?

[B]

I think U.S. pies are very good, I think because you have more fun with some of your tins. Tin shapes, basically. I mean, I went down to Georgia once. I was traveling from New York to LA on a big, big dog chopper thing and it was incredible. They broke my spine because it had no suspension. But I ended up going to Georgia and I pulled in at this restaurant and they said, what would you like to eat? And I said, I mean Georgia, I need to have an apple pie place. And what came was a. Not just a one family sized pie. I would say it's three or four family size pie. And it was just one single portion. For me, I thought, I'm never gonna get through that. I've never seen it like it. And for me it's all about, I think when you're making pies in the States, it's all about flavor because you're celebrating something. Because most of the recipes did actually come from Europe, it came from Scandinavia, came from Ireland, it came from somewhere in Europe over to the States. And then the products were grown in this country that weren't available in Europe. So what they did was they adapted the recipes. Like the pecan pie classic example came from the US and you've just mastered pecan pie is now the best thing in the world. And so the idea, the base recipe came over and was adapted over here. This is why the state pies are so, so good.

[A]

Let's move on to spring from your book. Custard tarts are one of the very first things you ever learned to make in your dad's bakery.

[B]

It was, yeah, it was that little bit of nutmeg on the top. It was always something that was a skill. I remember watching my dad when I was a kid and he used to have a little good handful and it was a huge tray of these beautiful custard tarts. And he just dust the top of all them. And as they bake, they dome slightly. And when they dome they're just about ready to come out the oven, so you need to put them on a cool surface to find the level and leave them to cool for about 10 minutes and then prise them out of their shells and then eat them. They are amazing. Not quite like the pasta stenata, which is the Portuguese tart. That's slightly different. This is more of a liquid. So you bake everything together. It's not blind baked. It's baked together for about 25 minutes and they are delicious.

[A]

Have you been able to improve upon the tart recipe? I know you described it with such resonance and mystery as a childhood, the dusting and all that, but when you sit down and you think, I'm a professional baker, I'm going to improve this. How were you able to improve it?

[B]

You see, my nan, during the war always used to say she used to have some of these really strange recipes and I remember going through some of her recipes. She used to do. Used lard a lot. Lard everywhere, not butter, lard. And I'd be saying, nan, why are you using lard? I mean, where the war finished 50 years ago, you can actually use butter now. So the whole thing is butter adds flavor, margarine is not bad, which is akin to a lard, and it creates a flake. And what I quickly realized is lard was actually great for some pastries, butter was great for flavour, lard was great for that flakiness. So it's adapting some of the ideas from the past. And what I do is update it slightly by introducing butter, which then gives it more flavor and takes that core recipe to something much, much nicer.

[A]

Let's talk to Lynn in Hartsdale. Hi, Lynn, thank you for calling, all of it. You're on the air with Paul Hollywood.

[C]

Yes, hi, can you hear me?

[A]

Yes, I hear you. Go for it.

[C]

Hello?

[B]

Hello.

[C]

Okay, good. First of all, I just want to say the many hours of pleasure I get from watching the Great British Baking Show.

[B]

Thank you.

[C]

The most wonderful thing. Yes. And I adore baking and I do a lot of things by hand. Like in your. I have a. I have your book. My daughter gave me a book. I also have a Star Baker apron. So I'm all set. So, anyway, yes, I do. There I am on my kitchen Star Baker. And so I'm at Collaborate for the holidays. I don't know if you. And it's all by hand. And I always think about feeling. I get. What do you feel should not be done by hand? You know what I mean?

[A]

When should you do by Hand. When should you do a mixer?

[B]

To be honest, the giabatta is something it'll take forever to do by hand, so use a mixer. But anything that can be done by hand, I encourage people to do that because you get a feel sticks in your mind, and you never forget the texture. That's what it's all about.

[A]

Let's talk to Neil, who's calling in from Fleetwood. Hi, Neil. Thanks for calling, all of it.

[E]

Oh, thank you very much, Paul. I'm a huge fan and I just want to say I love the energy of the show. It's very friendly, and I find it very soothing.

[B]

Thank you.

[E]

My question. I love Banh Mi sandwiches, the Vietnamese French baguette. And when I try to bake that baguette at home, I never get the lightness that I get in a great Vietnamese shop. I wondered if they used rice flour or. I wonder if you have any other tips to, you know, get us that great crispy crust, but also that incredibly light, fluffy interior.

[B]

It comes down to the mixing, it comes down to the relaxing, the fermentation, and finally the bakes. Your oven needs to be quite hot. You really want to sting those baguettes, so you want crispness on the outside, which comes from water being introduced, steam being introduced to an oven, which creates a beautiful shine on the outside. And then inside, it's. It's quite open, structured inside, like a traditional French baguette. So what you want to do is make the dough itself, reduce the salt, reduce the yeast down, and then prove that in a fridge overnight, and then roughly shape it, leave it to come up, and then bake it in a hot oven. And you should get something very akin to it. A good baguette.

[A]

You include summer in your book.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

All right. Make a pitch for summer baking. It gets hot around here.

[B]

Berries, berries all the way. And you're celebrating fruit, berries. And that's what it's all about. It's about that. It's about the tang coming from the berries. It's about the color that it's introduced in summer. And it's about parties and buffets and going around to people's houses when they're having barbecue and bringing something with you. I mean, I've actually got something in there which goes across all genres. It's my hot dog now. I don't know. You may have seen the picture of it. It's bizarre. I love him because you don't actually touch the sausage. You cook the sausage three quarters of the way, then you wrap the dough around the outside. Inside already. You have your onions, you can have your mustard, you can have your tomato ketchup. So what you do, and it's slightly warm when it's been out the oven, you bite into something that's looks like a roll, but inside it's actually the best hot dog you've ever had. It's perfect.

[A]

You have to read about it in his new book, Celebrate Joyful Baking All Year Round. My guest has been Paul Hollywood. He will be at Symphony Space tomorrow night. It was a pleasure having you on the show.

[B]

Thank you. It's been brilliant. Thank you.

[F]

Our state has changed a lot in the last 140 years. We know because MultiCare has been here guided by a single purpose, making our communities healthier. That comes from making courageous decisions, partnering with local communities to grow programs and services, and expanding healthcare access to those who need it most. Together, we're building a healthier future.

[G]

Learn [e-mail] this is Ira Flato, host of Science Friday. For over 30 years, the science Friday team has been reporting high quality science and technology news, making science fun for curious people by covering everything from the outer reaches of space to the rapidly changing world of AI to the tiniest microbes in our bodies. Audiences trust our show because they know we're driven by a mission to inform and serve listeners first and foremost with important news they won't get anywhere else. And our sponsors benefit from that halo effect. For more information on becoming a sponsor, visit sponsorship.wnyc.org.