Tag Archives: the great british bake off

Great British Bake Off

Week 9 – Patisserie Week – SEMI FINAL

Leave a comment

This blog contains spoilers of who has left, who won Star Baker, who received a Hollywood Handshake and what necklace Prue was wearing…

gbbo-tieFirstly can I pay tribute to the bakers and Sandi wearing ties in memory of Henry who left last week…. but the bakers didn’t wear them for very long as it was too hot in the tent.

Joke Alert: Two silk worms got in a fight, it ended in a tie.

Signature Dish

As this week is the semi-final, you can be sure that Paul and Prue haven’t set easy baking challenges this week, and you’d be right, the Signature Dish this week is eight domed tartlettes.

David makes an Italian Spritz tart which Prue thinks is lovely. Paul suggests that the nuts that are around the bottom should be smaller.

Rosie’s tartlettes are gin, lemon and raspberry which the judges remark are a lovely colour and the perfect size but the creme pat is too soft, it should have been cooked longer.

boobsSteph chooses lemon, raspberry and white chocolate, Paul says that the tartlettes aren’t up to her usual standards as they’re not very neat. She is a bit despondent saying that her’s look like boobs…

Alice’s ingredients are mocha, orange and hazelnut and Paul tells her that he loves hazelnuts and chocolate, has he never heard of Nutella? The only thing that lets Alice’s tartlettes down is her piping, but she’ll take that, as she says later.

Technical Challenge

This week set by Prue and it’s called, gateau St-Honore, who happens to be the French patron saint of bakers. So no pressure then.

Rosie has the nightmare of all nightmares, and it’s not even Halloween yet, she redoes three of the five elements and after muttering, “I’m going home,” yet again, she manages to pick herself up and somehow, even if she did place her choux buns on upside down, manages to win this challenge!

Technical Challenge Positions

4th – Alice (burnt caramel); 3rd – Steph (untidy, too much caramel); 2nd – David (not bad, chantilly cream is like scrambled eggs); 1st – Rosie (perfect, although choux buns upside down).

jamieDuring the advert break, we discover that there is soon going to be a Junior Bake Off competiton, would Jamie be eligible to enter for this I wonder?

Showstopper

This Showstopper seems like a monstrous task, make a sugar glass display case with an edible depiction of something they hold dear…

There was a lot of fuss on social media about Alice and her chocolate starfish, but I think i’ll just leave it there…

Steph’s Night At The Opera – The glass was pretty clear, the Opera Cake under the glass was neat and pretty, “Very Steph, a good job,” was Paul’s verdict.

David’s Greenhouse – Neat, clear glass, but the cake wasn’t very delicate and wasn’t level.

Rosie’s Time With The Family – Paul described it as a simplistic concept and the cakes were very dry and boring.

Alice’s Save Our Oceans – the glass wasn’t completely clear, but the cake had lovely flavours.

I am always amazed at how much the bakers get done when the last minute is called,  I think this Tweet from Meanwhile, Darren sums it up:

gbbo-tweet

So the nail biting results are here, but first Star Baker, which this weeks goes to Alice, perhaps she’s timing her run to the final to perfection? And the person who leaves is Rosie.

InkedInkedInkedInkedInkedbakersdoen-rosie

I will miss the conversations between Rosie and Noel, but look forward to their new spin-off show called The Baking Vets….

So this is it, next week is THE FINAL, my choice David is still there, but who will win?

See you next week for the final time…

Great British Bake Off

WEEK 8 – Pastry Week

2 Comments

This blog contains spoilers of who has left, who won Star Baker, who received a Hollywood Handshake and what necklace Prue was wearing…

Signature Dish

This week we have the Tarte Tatin (named after the hotel which first served it as its signature dish created in 1989) which is usually a fruit based dish, but our bakers have to make a savoury version.

soggy-bottom-no-oneSo for this dish, it’s “All about the lamination,” as David put it and we also have a soggy bottom alert!

Henry reinforces this saying that, “No-one wants a soggy tart.”

Henry does a crab tarte tatin, which Paul says needs more caramelization, but it did have a nice colour and good lamination.

Steph decides on the more traditional pairing of cheese and shallots. Paul didn’t like the fact that the cheese was just plonked on top of the tarte tatin, but it was agreed that it had a nice flavour.

Alice uses leeks with an apple, but Paul suggests that the leeks needed more caramelisation and it was too wet, but it tasted delicious.

David is using carrots for his tarte tatin, his layers were excellent but it was a bit dry and not very attractivet to look at.

Rosie’s tarte tatin was accused of having too much garlic and it looked burnt and unfortunately it had a soggy bottom…

Technical Challenge

The challenge was set by Paul and it was a Morrocan Pie using Walker or Brick pastry; Henry had never heard of it and rather rashly said, “If anyone has heard of it, I will get naked,” cut to David, “I’ve actually heard of this, I’ve seen it on a travel programme.”

adam
Adam Hills

The process of making this pastry reduced Steff to tears and saying, “This was my worst fear, not being able to present anything in a challenge,” but with a few comforting words from Noel, she managed to finish.

And for some reason, Adam Hills, Australian comedian appears in a link with Noel, where he mistakes Adam for Sandi???

Henry’s collapses, Rosie’s collapses and Steph’s collapses – not a good Technical for Henry and Steph, coming 5th and last, but Rosie makes it to second place.

Technical Challenge Positions

5th – Henry; 4th – Steph; 3rd – Alice; 2nd – Rosie; and 1st – David!!  At last, David’s won a technical!!  Channel 4’s Tweet summed it up perfectly.

david-technical

Showstopper

As everybody has had mixed results this week, as Paul put it, “A lot rests on the Showstopper.” This week it is a Vertical Pie, three pies stacked on top of each other.

Alice makes a Pie Treehouse, David is doing a nautical open pie, which Paul struggles with the concept of, Steph is making a carousel, Rosie’s has a dragon and Henry is making an upside down chandelier.

Tweet of the Week goes to Sam Atkins:

sam-atkins

Rosie’s pie creation is described as bitty and dry; Alice’s doens’t have enough sweetness; David’s is a good design but Paul doesn’t like the exposed vegetables; Steph’s carousel is neat and organised and delicious; Henry’s upside down chandelier is dry and as Paul said, “Not executed to the best of  his ability.”

So Steph is crowned Star Baker for the fourth time and the person who leaves is Henry. With David losing out again as Star Baker, will he be only the second person to win GBBO without having won this accolade?

InkedInkedInkedInkedbakersdoen-henry

So it is with a heavy heart that I cross out Henry from my contestant photo, I still have David in the running, but with the loss of Michael and Henry these past two weeks, the line-up seems quieter and more studious.

We head on to the semi-final, with next week being Patisserie Week, I wonder who’s going to make it to the final?

I will leave the last word with Henry…

shut-up

Great British Bake Off

Week Six – Dessert Week

Leave a comment

This blog contains spoilers of who has left, who won star baker, who received a Hollywood Handshake and what necklace Prue was wearing…

Before each episode begins, Alexa is asked, “Alexa, tell me a baking joke,” and Alexa replies, “I just entered a baking competition – the final was a piece of cake.”

piece-cakeThis always makes me smile because I used to have a small cake business called A Piece Of Cake and I would make celebration cakes. I stopped about two years ago, very occasionally making cakes for friends. Last year I was asked to make a wedding cake for one of my daughter’s best friends and this is happening in the next couple of days. Look out for my blog of how I got on…

Anway, this week was Dessert Week – not Desert as Noel got confused with… I did notice that Henry was wearing a spiderweb brooch and Michael had a bat pin, a tribute to Helena I think!

The Signature Bake

This week our Magnificent Seven (be prepared for more of these analogies over the coming weeks, Fab Four, Famous Five…) had to bake a layered meringue cake. As Paul and Prue went round the contestants Paul mentioned timing to Priya, does she have a problem with that? I hadn’t noticed!

Priya’s signature bake is criticised by Prue for being a horrible colour and an overbaked meringue, Henry’s was described as messy, Michael’s had too much chocolate, (not sure that could ever be true!) and Rosie’s chocolate was too thick (as was her ganache last week). Steph’s was described as neat and professional, but maybe too many nuts and David’s looked like a painting but wasn’t as tasty as it looked and Alice’s was charming but no big flavour.  So all in all, not a triumphant signature bake for anyone.

The Technical Challenge

Prue sets the Technical Challenge which is six verrines and we are told these are a layered dessert in a glass.  Perhaps the Knickerbockerglory is our English alternative to that?

This week we find out that it is Michael’s birthday (26), how cruel would it be to send him home on his birthday? Henry has started swearing a lot and the Bake Off guys have, “The least laddy’s lad club where we discuss gelatine.”

When the bakers carry their verrines to the judging table, it’s either in slow motion or this is the slowest walk ever!

Technical Challenge positions:

7th – Priya; 6th – Michael; 5th – Rosie; 4th – Henry; 3rd – Steph; 2nd – David and 1st – Alice.  David has come second in four of the technical challenges so far, the phrase, “Always the bridesmaid,” comes to mind.

The Showstopper

A Celebratory Bombe Dessert is this week’s Showstopper, “I feel like we’re saying a lot of bombes,” Sandi remarked, “Bom-diddly-bom-bom-bom-bom.”

Timing is very much a factor in this challenge, they need to make sure that the bombe has set but also leave themselves enough time for decoration.  Alice has a nightmare trying to get her bombe out of the tin, she is panicking, but eventually it comes out and looks great.

choc-bombe
Steph’s Chocolate Bombe

Steph’s chocolate bombe is described by Paul as the best thing he has eaten for a long time. Rosie’s mousse is not smooth and it looks clumsy, David’s is pretty, elegant, Alice’s is beautiful with good layers, Priya’s is elegant and Henry’s is described as disappointing.

My favourite comparison was Paul’s when he judged Michael’s bombe, “It looks like it’s come from a 1970’s sweet trolley.” And it was also compared to the Queen Mother’s hat.

Which leads me nicely to the best Tweet from Amy Van Gar:

hat

Steph is crowned Star Baker for a third time, is this a record, I’m not sure? And Priya has finally succumed to the fate of going home.

InkedInkedbakersdoen-priya

Next week is Festival Week – another new week, so I’m not quite sure what to expect!

Keep baking!

 

 

Great British Bake Off

Week Five – Roaring Twenties Week

Leave a comment

This blog contains spoilers of who has left, who won star baker, who received a Hollywood Handshake and what necklace Prue was wearing….

Another week, another new idea – Roaring Twenties, no, I don’t know where that came from either – I just hope they don’t get in a flap about it!

I hope that the technical this week isn’t the train wreck that last week’s was, with Noel describing it as, “One of the most disastrous technicals in Bake Off history.”

The Signature Bake

pie-in-the-face-picThe signature bake was four individual highly decorated open topped custard pies.  I’m guessing custard pies as they were used as great slapstick humour in the 20s? Would anyone be brave enough to pick one up and plant it in Paul Hollywood’s face? No, probably not….

spilt-dessert

Rosie has a disaster when she moves one of her custard pies, it falls onto the floor, she has a little wobble of the bottom lip, says “Well I can’t really salvage that,” and sighs, “I’m going home.”

David has a very good signature dish as he receives the coveted Paul Hollywood handshake. Priya ran out of time, again, Alice overwhelms her pie with too much orange zest and extract and Helena’s Lemon and Lavander pies are criticised for having too much lavender in them. Rosie’s didn’t set completely and also she only had three.

The Technical Challenge

The technical challenge by Prue is 18 Beignets Souffles, (I think that’s how you spell it) which is met by blank faces and Prue chose this apparently because they were popular in the 20s.  I managed to get a screen shot of the instructions which were:

Method

Deep Fat fryer – 190c

  1. For the beignet batter, make pate a choux.
  2. Make the raspberry jam.
  3. Working in batches and piping directly onto an oiled dessert spoon, pipe 18 balls of choux and carefully drop into the oil and fry.
  4. Pipe a small amount of jam into the beignet souffles.
  5. Make the sabayon.
  6. Dust the beignet souffles with icing sugar and serve alongside the sabayon.

Well, that sounds easy, doesn’t it? From choux pastry being runny, to it being stodgy, the bakers are struggling. michael-walkMichael has a tough time with this technical, he tries to make the batter a couple of times, but it doesn’t work, he’s nearly in tears when Noel comes over and suggests he has a little quick walk for five minutes and then come back, to which Michael replies that if he did, he might not come back. Who hasn’t felt like that during a tough day at the office?

Technical Challenge positions:

9th – David; 8th – Michael; 7th – Michelle, 6th – Alice, 5th – Rosie, 4th – Steph, 3rd – Henry, 2nd – Priya and 1st is Helena.

The award for best Tweet goes to Scott Bryan:

fly

The Showstopper

vampire_kiss_martini
Vampire Kiss cocktail

Noel informs the bakers that it’s a two tier prohibition era cake they will be baking and they should use their favourite cocktail to flavour it. Of course, Helena’s favourite cocktail is called Vampire Kiss cocktail which is cherry vodka, Grand Marnier cherry liquor and cherry juice.

We found out that Henry shops at Waitrose and Priya talks in the third person…

Helena’s cake is described as sinister and pretty at the same time, Henry’s cake is a bit dry, Rosie’s cake is described as interesting with beautiful flavours, but the ganache was too thick. Alice’s decorations could have been better, Priya’s cake is ‘nice’. Steph’s pina colada cake is given the thumbs up. Prue says that Michelle’s cake has too many concepts and it is slightly dry.

Star Baker is Steph, for the second week running and we had to say goodbye to a double elimination, yes, this was the double elimination week, so we wave Michelle off into the sunset to travel back to Wales and Helena, on her broomstick into the night time sky, silhouetted by the moon.

Inkedbakersdozen-helena-michelle

So I have lost one of my bakers, Michelle, but I still have David and Henry! Priya lives to fight another week…

Next week is Dessert Week, who will not be trifled with and who hopes their luck doesn’t dessert them!