caitmcg

I believe the xmas special is the one episode that's not edited down.

There is a separate thread for the Christmas episode...

Interesting. Usually, the Christmas specials are 90 minutes, so I wonder if they decided to do two one-hour episodes for the BBC broadcast instead.

The CtM social media accounts have confirmed that there will be a two-part Christmas special this year, with the first episode broadcast on Christmas as usual, and the second on Boxing Day, December 26. I presume PBS will also have part two the next day, so make sure your DVRs are primed.

They dropped on Netflix yesterday. And both the Christmas and New Year specials feature past contestants, rather than British celebrities.

After all the discussion about Noel's sweater/jumper in the final, I just want to say that I approve of his Fairytale of New York sweater in the Christmas episode. Two moments that made me laugh: When, during the technical, on shaping the snowflake bread, Amelia said, "If it looks like a vagina, you're doing it right," and When Alison was playing at being a matchmaker for Sophie and said they have some nice cameramen, and Sophie turned and hit a pose while looking straight at the camera/cameraman.

Mascarpone, with the 'r' in the second syllable. Re macaroons, there are also almond macaroons, which have a chewy texture and no flour, and are not like macarons, which I know it takes skill to get right, but which I've never really cared for.

Here's an interview with Dylan in the New York Times (gift link).

A while back, I looked at a digital preview of this book, and I took a screenshot of the recipe for Birnen-Kuchen mit Guss, or pear tart with sour cream. I made a bit of a riff on it for a family dinner this week, adding a layer of almond frangipane under the pears, and it was excellent and the recipe worked great.

For a day-after-Thanksgiving dinner with local and visiting family, I baked this tart with chocolate pâte sucrée (aka cookie crust), almond frangipane, sliced pears, and sour cream custard, mostly based on a recipe from GBBO finalist Jurgen Krauss.

Various internet sources suggest the Dutch pronunciation is Chris-tee-ahn, so closer to the Bake Off pronunciation. It may be the case that they are basing it on his own procunciation of his name, but presumably he's not bothered by his British partner's English procunciation.

They can't say anything in advance about how they do, they sign NDAs, and I assume so do their families who take part.

It may not have been his very first kitchen job, either.

From this story in the Guardian, it's clear that Bake Off didn't land him the job, as he was already working there when it was airing.

I thought it was obvious from the feedback on the showstoppers that Georgie was a shoo-in for the winner despite Christiaan's clearly coming out on top on day one. Yes, her flavors were classic and more basic, but they raved about them nonetheless, and her cake was perfectly baked, while Christiaan's was overbaked and Dylan's was compacted and his layers uneven. Plus, her decoration was flawless, and the other two were not. Dylan's tea flavors were complimented, though his cake came in for more criticism than Christiaan's, but I definitely got the sense they were essentially saying Christiaan's flavors were interesting, where "interesting" is a polite way of saying, "yeah, no." i didn't understand what "hanging cakes" were until they were actually hanging them, and the illustrations didn't help since they didn't show the supports. I felt badly for Dylan falling apart in the final. It does seem to happen every so often. But it was uncharacteristic for him to present such sloppy-looking, unfinished bakes, when all through his were so beautifully done, even when technically less than perfect.