Tomorrow marks the start of the long-awaited Great British Bake Off 2015 and to celebrate, we have put together a list of the Great Bakers of Instagram! Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood, stand aside, the users of Instagram are the judges here...
Shortbread sandwiches by @whatjessicabakednext
We’re off to a summery start with these strawberries and cream shortbread! Food blogger Jess has a bit of a weakness for strawberries and cream, but who doesn’t?
Jess picked up these big red strawberries for £1 at a local market and felt inspired to use them a soon as she got home!
After her Wimbledon-inspired strawberry shortcake ice cream going down a treat with her readers, Jess posted the recipe for these shortbread sandwiches
here
Mini burger by @swaaannnn
This adorable macaroon burger was born out of a challenge for this food blogger from Toulouse. One of her followers gave her the idea to create a mini burger using a macaroon! Finding the ingredients inside that would resemble a burger was the fun part, as she had already
posted a recipe for macaroons on her blog.
The hamburger she created out of dark chocolate ganache, the cheese from a marzipan square, the tomato replaced with a strawberry and the tiny green flakes that resemble lettuce, well that’s finely chopped mint!
Baked Alaska created by @aninedk
You all knew it was coming. We are paying homage to Iain Watters and
that Baked Alaska fiasco in season 5.
Over 800 complaints were sent to the BBC after the episode was edited in such a way that blame was moved onto Diana Beard, who appeared to remove the baked Alaska from the freezer.
Luckily, this baked Alaska hasn’t been sabotaged and is made of raspberry and pistachio. Anine, who specialises in cold and frozen cakes and sweets, calls this an ‘ice bomb’ and her recipe can be found
here…‘bingate’ avoided.
Cheesecake by @julesfood
To celebrate National Cheesecake Day, Jules made this incredible cheesecake with salted caramel sauce, just to tempt us.
More interesting cheesecakes on
Jules’ blog include a lemon goat cheese cake, and a Japanese Cheesecake with Ginger White Chocolate Ganache... He's not one for the ordinary cheesecake!
More of a summery treat, the light goat’s cheese cake is fluffy and moist, unlike heavier cheesecakes. You can even learn how to make homemade goats cheese for the cake!
Pistachio cakes by @andybowdy
This is not just any pistachio cake, as you can see from the size of them! They look like baby elephant's legs!
Baker Andy, the ‘commander-in-chief’ of Andy Bowdy Pastry is one for going all out when it comes to flavour and presentation, and he refuses to hold back on the cream, too.
He created these cakes with malted milk crumb, salted caramel, lemon jam, pistachio praline, fresh strawberries, malted milk mousse and meringue.
Grill cake from @carlosbakery
I’m finding it really hard to believe that this is a cake. Look at the onions! And the pink around the outside of the burgers!
Carlo’s Bake Shop is famous for being the setting of TV show Cake Boss, which showed the staff making extravagant cakes for specific orders.
From a big model cake of a
Rubik’s cube, to a buttercream beer shaped cake, and tiny cupcakes with carrots on top.
Buddy Valastro, owner of the bakery, has even presented a birthday cake to
Britney Spears!
Flower cake by @ivenoven
From Jakarta, Idonesia, this ambitious baking team bake up to ten fresh cakes every day.
Starting at seven in the morning, the team start baking the cakes, then between 12pm and 3pm every day they mix colours to create new combinations for buttercream flowers.
The colours that are usually used on IvenOven are pastel blues, pinks, greens and whites and are made for special occasions, although occasionally a good chocolate espresso cake with baileys comes out of the home-style bakery!
Macaroon cake by @annapannalv
Latvian author and food enthusiast, Anna Birman is known for taking traditional recipes and putting a modern spin on them.
This honey cake is traditional in the appearance, eight layers with a cream filling. Anna has altered some of the ingredients for
her cake; instead of cream cheese, she has used mascarpone to create a richer taste and has substituted regular cream for sour cream to give her cake a bit of a twang.
Anna has just finished her first
‘cakebook’ (cookbook, to you and I) and is starting on another. Among other things, she specialises in cake baking, and has recently created a modern wedding cake, made with macaroons and blueberries.
Chocolate Mousse Cake @contentednesscooking
This is an Instagram food blogger with a difference, all of his recipes are vegan! Florian creates his dishes with innovative ingredients, steering away from traditional baking.
The cake is made up of gluten free flour, peanut butter, raw cocoa, maple and plant based chocolate milk. The chocolate mousse, interestingly, has been made from avocado to create the creamy texture, coconut oil and maple syrup.
Right down to the praline decoration,
this recipe is natural and plant based; making it perfect for any vegans to try a healthy indulgent treat!
Raspberry tarts by @_lucake_ 
Pastry chef Luca Perego celebrated his
20th birthday this week and already he has so much experience.
Using original combinations, Luca has created these small fruit tarts to be both light and colourful, using fresh mint to cool the desert down in the heat, making these tarts perfect for a summer treat.
Using fresh fruit wherever he can, this young chef works for a wedding catering company, but hopes to open his own bakery in the future. Luca puts his emotions into every dish, perfecting every detail and creating a masterpiece every time!
Who do you follow on social media that wows you with their creations?
By Katie Pathiaki
