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I forgot the cream horns!

I won't say too much till you've caught up, but, Oh, my goodness! The tension! The tears! (And that was just me!).

Mission accepted! I went and did a little research for you guys. Well, whilst doing my shopping I 'investigated' the fridge signed "Fresh Cream Cakes" and there I found all manner of cakery and bakery filled with fresh whipped cream, or, here and there, creme patissiere/custard. There were meringues (filled with cream), American style muffins with the tops sliced off, (piped with cream and the tops put back on), chocolate eclairs and other choux pastries (filled with cream, obvs). (British) Scones, fruit and plain (with cream), torpedo shaped buns with a line of jam and a squirt of cream. On closer inspection, these were labelled 'cream doughnuts'. Individual tartlets (strawberry ones and banoffi pie) piped with the white stuff; vanilla slices (a top and bottom of iced puff pastry with a thick layer of custard in the middle). Also present was a selection of sponge cakes of various flavours, but layered with cream. Seems to me, the only common denominator was fresh whipped (dairy) cream or custard fillings/toppings in large squelchy quantities. Hope that helps!

Thank you - an interesting read.

Article about two of the series 6 finalists http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-3252807/I-like-bunting-cake-like-Muslim-Bake-favourite-Nadiya-Hussain-talks-British-reveals-common-Mary-Berry-think.html If you follow the link to the Radio Times, there's a little more on there.

Yes, that's what I understand by petit fours (selection of sweet or savoury mouthfuls). The little iced cubes you describe sound like 'fondant fancies' (which can be petit fours although bakeries and supermarkets sell bigger versions of them too. Too big to qualify as petit fours in my book).

Aha! Thank you.

The more I think about it, the less certain I am that I know the answer! What first came to mind was cream filled pastries - eclairs or millefeuille, for example - or a sponge bun filled with whipped cream. I think it might just mean any old cake or pastry filled with whipped cream (??). Perhaps they have to be presented as individual cakes? I associate them with Afternoon Tea.ETA: this pic says cream cakes to me. That torpedo shaped thing is what I mean by a cream filled bun! http://c8.alamy.com/comp/DX39AA/traditional-afternoon-tea-with-cream-cakes-and-vintage-tea-set-DX39AA.jpg ....and except for the custard tarts, these would all qualify as cream cakes http://www.picturescolourlibrary.co.uk/loreswithlogo/2319208.jpg

I've never heard of fairy floss. Do you mean candy floss? (That's what we call cotton candy, anyway). Makes my teeth hurt just thinking about it!

Cupcakes! The American word has taken over somewhere along the line.

Hope the gruesome twosome Chloe and Stevi don't win. Not keen on Bobby either. I think it will be James, although I prefer the other three.

Bit on the Side last night erupted into chaos with the panel removed from the set and then taken off air 10 minutes early. It probably wasn't the brightest move to have Aisleyne on the panel with Farrah (and Jenna and Janice). Apparently these dignified women got into a fight. Wine was thrown, then a glass, Janice tried to block Farrah with a chair and the other panellist, Vicky, was hit by flying glass and had to be checked out in hospital. The audience have been told not to speak about it, (presumably pending the police investigation and any court case that might follow).

A nice interview with Jamelia and Tristan. Hope it's viewable outside the UK. http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2015-09-20/meet-strictly-come-dancing-couple-jamelia-and-tristan-macmanus1

Ainsley and Nataliehttps://amp.twimg.com/v/025dff81-babc-4661-a160-430985712eac Katie and Anton https://amp.twimg.com/v/3d0229eb-3534-440b-9c31-cf28a61e365b Jay and Aliona https://amp.twimg.com/v/d0da3948-a39f-426e-b99a-8530a3b93c94 Georgia and Giovanni https://amp.twimg.com/v/a2e642fb-d480-44da-98b6-a77d10386e84 Jeremy and Karen https://amp.twimg.com/v/6a48b426-eeb1-420b-9aba-b61462268a3e Carole and Pasha https://amp.twimg.com/v/3d501a38-79a0-468e-ade5-b81ed013aaaf Iwan and Ola https://amp.twimg.com/v/b15832f5-bdc2-4f0e-8080-15bf95656cea Helen and Aljaž. https://amp.twimg.com/v/581bebf9-3a6f-445a-876d-049867941bb7 Kirsty and Brendan https://amp.twimg.com/v/01646a9a-67d3-4a85-aec7-e5544db192d6 Anthony and Oti https://amp.twimg.com/v/617402cd-83c8-45fb-8a06-e1b920a1a9a0 Compilation of all the first steps so far (some slightly different footage) http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p032qjf9/strictly-come-dancing-series-13-strictly-first-steps-part-1 Part 2: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p032vn37/strictly-come-dancing-series-13-strictly-first-steps-part-2

I think the final 12 have their travel expenses paid*, plus the cost of ingredients used on camera (but nothing for the practice bakes they need to do). They pay their own costs at the audition stage though. There might be a nominal contribution for travel - it wasn't entirely clear from the blog I read. If I can find it, I'll post it - interesting reading. The process sounded pretty gruelling.*pretty sure that's true from series 2 anyway. I have no recollection of series 1. Apparently they filmed in a different location each week! ETA: Danny's series 2 blog https://bakingastherapy.wordpress.com/2012/10/21/bake-off-confidential-bittersweet-adventures-in-a-tv-show/ And because Danny's is a bit of a downer, here's Brendan's more upbeat thoughts: http://brendanbakes.co.uk/2012/10/ten-things-ive-learned-from-the-great-british-bake-off/

Just to add to Athena's post, I assumed when Mary said make a pie with or without jelly, she meant inside the pie, so I was taken aback when Ian served it separately (but Mary and Paul were unfazed, so it must be what she meant). The most common hot water crust pie is pork pie (and the best known of those is the Melton Mowbray pie). These are eaten cold and are very common, especially as picnic food. They would always have meat jelly inside. I think it serves two purposes. The meat will shrink as it cooks (steam through the hole in the lid and fat melting, some of which may escape). The jelly fills the gaps, stopping the meat rattling around once it sets, making it easier to cut without collapsing the pastry and, probably more importantly, it excludes air from the meat helping it keep longer. That probably mattered more before fridges and preservatives, but the tradition survives. If you were making a pork pie at home, you'd poke two holes in the lid and pour hot, liquid jelly through a funnel down one hole until it overflows out of the other to fully fill the crust. As a student I worked in a pork pie factory in the holidays (despite being a veggie) and the best job on the line was filling the pies with jelly. It came down a tube into a gun that you quickly stabbed twice through the lids and pulled the trigger releasing the very hot liquid jelly. Plenty of scope for scalding ourselves in jelly fights! None of the contestants' pies had gaps, so I wonder if that came from a combination of leaner meat (certainly not the rubbish that went into our factory pies!) and serving them hot. Afraid I don't have the answer to that.

I feel a lot of warmth for all the remaining bakers - even Ian has wheedled his way into my affections a little - but Tamal and Nadiya are my favourites, so I was chuffed to bits they both had a good week. Nadiya seems to have a real flair for flavours (even if she went overboard with her spice this week) and I loved the praise they heaped on her bavarois. I felt for Flora and her pie, but very happy she survived. Prison Paul just quietly gets on with things and I like him a little more each week. So sorry to see Mat go. There was no other choice in my mind but I'll miss his jokey-blokey cheerfulness. Loved the baked icing moment between Mat and Nadiya too.

That can only be Ian! ;-)

The talk about (English) muffins made me want to give them a go. Paul H's recipe includes an egg, whilst no one else's does. Have any of you bakers made them? To egg or not to egg? Anybody tried them with sourdough starter rather than yeast? In my recipe meanderings I found this interesting: (From http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2009/nov/14/crumpets-muffins-pikelets-farls)

A few 'first steps' videos: Kellie and Kevin https://amp.twimg.com/v/d961b7af-a209-43ad-bfdd-fd065768091b Daniel and Kristina. https://amp.twimg.com/v/0415cedc-8479-4900-a8dc-667f38a424f9 Peter and Janette https://amp.twimg.com/v/cecf4e73-b559-454d-af36-d25fd68129a7 Jamelia and Tristan. https://amp.twimg.com/v/a9599c3b-cacb-423e-8505-656b59b0d5a8 Anita and Gleb. https://amp.twimg.com/v/a563ca63-9a6b-4675-a4d7-f92f8b68b272

I think that's probably the answer, although I don't know why we don't say 'muffins' and 'American muffins'! It may be a fairly recent thing (to say 'English') and I wonder if it has to do with the Internet. I googled muffin and all the recipes that popped up were for American muffins. When you buy either from a shop though, they're each just labelled 'muffin'.I agree about toasting being essential, but then I've never made them at home and had them hot off a griddle (but I still imagine wanting the insides toasting).

I think gurning is much stronger than making faces - making grotesque faces, perhaps. It's used 'against' celebs on SCD when they overdo their facial expressions to the point it becomes distracting - a bit of forum hyperbole, perhaps.

Hi. It's been a while since the episode aired here (UK) and I couldn't remember anything about angel food cake, so had to google it. And still nothing! If the contestants are like me, they will never have come across - never mind baked - angel food cake, so that may explain the problem.

James Jordan tweeted that 'someone' told him they'd had difficulty getting male celebs this time. I think we had an uneven number for the last two years - so that isn't new - but announcing Jo and then not using her does sound like a change of plan.Re: Gleb - he seemed oddly disconnected on the launch show.

This is the article they're quoting: http://www.dailystar.co.uk/strictly/438758/Sex-factor-Strictly-secret-Russian-hunk-Gleb-Savchenko-beat-talent-show-rivals The Daily Star barely pretends to be a newspaper and is the sleaziest of a pretty low rent bunch of tabloids, so, although it's possible those are genuine quotes from Gleb, I wouldn't set any store by the paper's integrity!