S10.E07: Festival Week

[Athena]

Quote

The bakers draw inspiration from around the world, including something deep fried and Italian, and a spectacular Indonesian celebration cake

Channel 4 Air Date: October 8, 2019.

Netflix USA Streaming Date: Oct 11, 2019.

[zibnchy]

I've been trying to figure out what's off about this season and here's my 2 cents. In no particular order.

1) Prue - she's bitchy and mean and generally unhelpful unless the baker happens to be one of her pets. She's been a poor replacement for Mary Berry all along but this season she seems tired of it all.

2) Noel - I LOVE Noel but something is off in his interactions with the bakers. His remarks seem forced and the bakers seem annoyed with him. For this I blame the producers. I feel like the producers are trying to force the interactions to be risque (many mentions of buns). The past two years Noel has been great with the bakers but maybe the producers left him alone more. Now I imagine them telling him to "Make more buns and balls jokes even if you have to force them." and "Annoy the bakers when they're at the most critical phase of the bake. That's fun."

3) the bakers- I just don't think this group is very good at baking, with the obvious exception of Steph. (David's bakes look good but I never want to eat them.) There was no baker this year that won my heart (like a Kim-Joy or a Chetna) and I realized today that I don't care who wins (as long as it isn't prissy Alice.) Have to root for Steph at this point. (I feel like I would love Rosie more if I could play her at .75x speed.)

Bottom line I blame the producers and the casting department mostly but I blame Prue for her own shitty attitude.

It was past time for Michael to go.

[Aulty]

Slightly disappointed. I thought this  was going to be about colourful, whacky (music) festival food like bubble waffles and deep fried sparkly rainbow unicorn horns, not Christmas and Easter.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

When I think of festivals, there's no specific food that comes to mind, so I had no idea what they were going to have the bakers make. Buns? Really?

Steph's hot cross buns with cranberries, sultanas, and spice glaze looked very traditional. Loved Michael giving her an enthusiastic thumbs up when she got the Hollywood handshake.

Michael's figgy pudding hot cross buns with lemon and orange zest, brandy glaze, and marzipan holly berries were very festive. Heh, I would have hidden the cracks with the leaves too.

Alice's blueberry, and almond hot cross buns with lemon curd gaze looked good. Bonus points for using so much blueberry.

David's kozunak plaits with lemon, flaked almonds, and malted powder looked really nice.

Henry's chocolate kardemummabullar with cardamom glaze looked pretty uniform considering the technique that he used to make them.

Rosie's mardi gras semlor peacock buns with lemon white chocolate and raspberry jam were different, which I liked.

[Danny Franks]

I enjoyed this episode, even if the festival theme was a little thin. As soon as Paul mentioned hot cross buns, I knew that's what most of them would make. Why play it risky when there's one 'festival bun' that you know really well?

The Sarawak cakes were really cool looking, but sounded kind of boring to me. Just flavoured sponge without any filling? I'd pass on that, thanks. But they did give Alice a good opportunity to show why I think she'll make the final - she creates things that look great. And when she does, usually, they also taste pretty good.

I was pleased for Henry, who bounced back well after barely scraping through last week. He's a nice lad, and his reaction to Paul's handshake was great.

Michael, unsurprisingly, was left behind. He's been staggering along behind everyone else ever since he won star baker, and has been saved by other people having a worse week.

I feel fairly sure that the final will be Steph, David and, as I already mentioned, Alice. Those three are more consistent and less prone to disasters than both Henry and Rosie.

10 hours ago, zibnchy said:

1) Prue - she's bitchy and mean and generally unhelpful unless the baker happens to be one of her pets. She's been a poor replacement for Mary Berry all along but this season she seems tired of it all.

2) Noel - I LOVE Noel but something is off in his interactions with the bakers. His remarks seem forced and the bakers seem annoyed with him. For this I blame the producers. I feel like the producers are trying to force the interactions to be risque (many mentions of buns). The past two years Noel has been great with the bakers but maybe the producers left him alone more. Now I imagine them telling him to "Make more buns and balls jokes even if you have to force them." and "Annoy the bakers when they're at the most critical phase of the bake. That's fun."

3) the bakers- I just don't think this group is very good at baking, with the obvious exception of Steph. (David's bakes look good but I never want to eat them.) There was no baker this year that won my heart (like a Kim-Joy or a Chetna) and I realized today that I don't care who wins (as long as it isn't prissy Alice.) Have to root for Steph at this point. (I feel like I would love Rosie more if I could play her at .75x speed.)

To answer these points:

1) The more I think on it, the more Prue seems to just be there so they have two judges. I'm fairly sure this is 90% the Paul Hollywood show now, and that may be why Prue never, ever has anything constructive to say to the bakers.

2) I think Noel found one or two people in previous seasons who he completely vibed with - Ruby last year and Kate, Liam and Yan the year before - and he's struggled to find the same comfort zone this year. There have been a few awkward interactions, but he seems to have found his level with Rosie and Steph, at least.

3) Thinking about this, I would say that a decline in the quality of bakers is inevitable. Because thousands apply each year, and they winnow them down to the twelve (or thirteen best). How many times would someone apply and be rejected, before they gave up? Once? Twice? So a lot of very talented bakers will be sitting at home, having failed to make it onto season six or seven and decided not to apply again.

I don't think it's a secret plan by Channel 4 to make the show more appealing, as some have suggested. I just think that these were judged to be the best of all those who applied. But this happens every year. When Nadiya won, some people accused the BBC of being PC and deliberately choosing a Muslim woman. Then when there were several foreign born bakers in one season, people played the xenophobia card, again accusing the producers of pushing an agenda.

[halopub]

Shut up! We got a theme week that wasn't a complete disaster.

I'm still waiting for David to fully break through, though the relative lack of non-factual interaction incline me to think he's not winning. (Henry, on the other hand, gets all those moments to show his personality, like treating his spare dough as a hacky sack. Even Rosie gets to joke about her eggy rubber practice bakes.) I feel like the producers are setting up a future storyline with all the comparisons between David's neat workstation with Alice's working chaos.

I'm glad Michael was able to do relatively well on the week he went.

I liked Rosie's sugar glass birds on her Sawarak layer cake. David's geometric approach was striking.

11 hours ago, zibnchy said:

 I feel like the producers are trying to force the interactions to be risque (many mentions of buns).

And they put in that shot of an oven framed by someone's behind.

[Lunula]

On 10/9/2019 at 11:09 AM, Danny Franks said:

2) I think Noel found one or two people in previous seasons who he completely vibed with - Ruby last year and Kate, Liam and Yan the year before - and he's struggled to find the same comfort zone this year. There have been a few awkward interactions, but he seems to have found his level with Rosie and Steph, at least.

I feel like this season it was Helena and has struggled to find his groove since she left.

[Lois Sandborne]

On 10/9/2019 at 1:13 AM, Aulty said:

Slightly disappointed. I thought this  was going to be about colourful, whacky (music) festival food like bubble waffles and deep fried sparkly rainbow unicorn horns, not Christmas and Easter.

Same. I really had in mind some of those storied, celebrated village fetes. Also, is "bubble waffle" a UK term for funnel cakes? If so, I move that we immediately adopt it stateside.

On 10/9/2019 at 1:53 AM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Alice's blueberry, and almond hot cross buns with lemon curd gaze looked good. Bonus points for using so much blueberry.

I thought so too, and I thought it was unfair of the judges ( ... Prue ... ) to call them homely. I didn't see where the color was any more uneven than Steph's batch of buns, for example. But I have admittedly lost perspective because I think Alice is adorable and want no harm to come to her.

On 10/9/2019 at 10:09 AM, Danny Franks said:

1) The more I think on it, the more Prue seems to just be there so they have two judges. I'm fairly sure this is 90% the Paul Hollywood show now, and that may be why Prue never, ever has anything constructive to say to the bakers.

I agree with this, and I don't think anyone cares much about Prue at all. Can you imagine anyone flipping out because Prue Leith shook their hand as a sign of approval? I'm no big fan of Paul and the whole persona/mystique he's so invested in, but it's pretty plain each week that he's giving out what critique is being given, and Prue's just echoing him. You can even see it when she sets a technical and is purportedly the expert on whatever obscure 16th century pastry they're supposed to turn out. I also agree with those who say she's been straight up rude this series, which only makes her lack of concrit even worse.

1 hour ago, Lunula said:

I feel like this season it was Helena and has struggled to find his groove since she left.

This was my thought too. They clearly jibed, and Helena seemed to welcome Noel's interludes and take up a lot of his time, but he's at more of a loose end now, which comes across as doing way too much.

I'm sad to see Michael go, although I have no grounds for the feeling. I don't mind that the show is full of personalities. I really have enjoyed watching everyone this year, even the weaker/less consistent bakers, although I do think the standard has still been pretty high. I do find that I'm not so much watching for the competition anymore. I can't say it's beside the point, because I don't think I'd yet tune in to watch 12 congenial people have fun with recipes for 10 weeks, so we do need some tension, but I'm personally more excited to see who'll help Rosie pick her cake up off the ground than who will be star baker.

[akr]

Helena's shtick felt to me like a put-on to get on TV (and one copied from TV Network baking show contestants), so that Noel was able to engage with her just felt like more of the "let's put on an act" stuff that I've found so off-putting this season. (Rosie's wry, bemused responses to him work better for me, because her reaction seems entirely genuine).

I finally caught the first episode of this years' Great Australian Bake Off, & found it all much  more pleasant than this years' British one.  The contestants seem much stronger, only one or two people seem a bit phony (it may be career-related in the most obvious instance), there's a broader range of ages & backgrounds so they bring different strengths to the shed, and the judges' enthusiasm is catching. 

I don't mind Prue although  she did get on my nerves a few times in the last couple of episodes (& I certainly didn't find the mauve she called out one bake for to be particularly unattractive, or even different than a bunch of other similarly-hued creations on the very same episode). I don't think she's the problem - she's mostly a neutral factor for me. Noel & Sandy are fine, although Noel's pressing a bit much this year, & sometimes irritates me.

The problem is the casting & the artificial encouragement of antics for the cameras. I don't dislike anyone, but  they are too alike, and the lack of experience of most of the bakers really shows (& the lack of age variation creates a very different vibe - like watching a bunch of adolescents at summer camp).  It's been  a bit of a bummer & I'm probably only still watching out of habit.  I won't be interested in seeing any of them again after their run here is over, although a few of them have been endearing on the show, whereas in the past I've been interested in what people might do next - because I thought they were good at what they do, and interesting people to boot. 

[bybrandy]

4 hours ago, akr said:

I finally caught the first episode of this years' Great Australian Bake Off,

I didn't know this was back.  I'm pretty sure season 4 of the aussie bake off was one of my all time favorites.  Top 2 easily. 

 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

11 hours ago, Lois Sandborne said:

is "bubble waffle" a UK term for funnel cakes? If so, I move that we immediately adopt it stateside.

In the United States, bubble waffle is one of the names used for a dessert that originates from Hong Kong. It gets its name from the bubble shaped bumps:

They are rolled and then filled with ice cream and toppings.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

8 hours ago, akr said:

I finally caught the first episode of this years' Great Australian Bake Off, & found it all much  more pleasant than this years' British one.  The contestants seem much stronger, only one or two people seem a bit phony (it may be career-related in the most obvious instance), there's a broader range of ages & backgrounds so they bring different strengths to the shed, and the judges' enthusiasm is catching. 

4 hours ago, bybrandy said:

I didn't know this was back.  I'm pretty sure season 4 of the aussie bake off was one of my all time favorites.  Top 2 easily.

Yes, S5 just started last week - I love that we currently have three versions of the Bake Off airing simultaneously! We have a forum for it here so come discuss with us!

[dleighg]

I can't help but think that this toddler must be about old enough to compete in this show by now! 

[Omeletsmom]

20 hours ago, Lois Sandborne said:

I thought so too, and I thought it was unfair of the judges ( ... Prue ... ) to call them homely. I didn't see where the color was any more uneven than Steph's batch of buns, for example. But I have admittedly lost perspective because I think Alice is adorable and want no harm to come to her.

How are you interpreting "homely"?  The UK version means homey,  as in comfortable and cozy, not ugly or unattractive as in the US. 

[Deskisamess]

How many times have the various bakers needed to make a filled & fried or a filled & boiled or baked item? Shouldn't these bakers know that sealing them well is very important?

Festival buns? Are these a thing?

This was a ho-hum episode.

[Athena]

6 hours ago, Deskisamess said:

How many times have the various bakers needed to make a filled & fried or a filled & boiled or baked item? Shouldn't these bakers know that sealing them well is very important?

Festival buns? Are these a thing?

I think Alice's pastries were the worse in terms of not being sealed correctly. If the dough is slightly too thick, it is very easy to open up when fried. I find that frying tends to open sealed things more easily and is less forgiving than baking or boiling. It's one of the reasons I don't like frying. 

Festival was just another way of saying holiday or holy day. Specialty buns and breads are popular across many cultures for holidays.  

[TVbitch]

I agree there are not a lot of standouts this year talent-wise or personailty-wise. 

Noel was really excited and energetic his first year, but I can imagine after a couple years you have made all the baking jokes you can think off and it all starts to seem a bit repetitive. I mean really, if we have to endure the Sandy in a burlap sack bit one more time... 

Thanks for alert that Australian Bake Off is back on. I will have to find it!

I am just saving Canadian Bake Off for later, cuz I can barely keep track of one batch of contestants, let alone 3!

[peeayebee]

On 10/8/2019 at 9:21 PM, zibnchy said:

2) Noel - I LOVE Noel but something is off in his interactions with the bakers. His remarks seem forced and the bakers seem annoyed with him. For this I blame the producers. I feel like the producers are trying to force the interactions to be risque (many mentions of buns). The past two years Noel has been great with the bakers but maybe the producers left him alone more. Now I imagine them telling him to "Make more buns and balls jokes even if you have to force them." and "Annoy the bakers when they're at the most critical phase of the bake. That's fun."

I don't know if the producers are pushing him to be more risqué, but I agree that his remarks seem forced or practiced. I'm sure that the bakers often wish he would leave them alone, esp when they're really pressed for time or trying to do something tricky. I'm not amused by him when he's getting in their way.

In the Signature Challenge, I didn't like how Rosie's peacock buns looked. 

I want to try a Sicilian cassatelle. The filling sounds delicious.

I've never heard of kek lapis Sarawak. What a pain to make. I was confused by their saying that the cake layers needed to be grilled, but it soon became clear what that meant. Some of the results were decent. Steph's was pretty, particularly the top decoration. I loved the colors in David's "Prue necklace" cake.

Henry is probably my favorite. I love his sense of humor.

[krankydoodle]

Have I not been paying close enough attention, or was Alice's distress at Michael's leaving a complete surprise? Apart from calling out to one another during this episode's technical, I don't remember seeing them interact. Maybe I'm just losing interest in the show, which saddens me because it used to be one of my favorite things.

[dleighg]

Did one of them (Alice or Rosie) say that the cross on her hot cross buns was made with ..... flour and water....????  I would have thought it would be a thick sugar concoction.

[SG429]

7 hours ago, Omeletsmom said:

How are you interpreting "homely"?  The UK version means homey,  as in comfortable and cozy, not ugly or unattractive as in the US. 

Did she actually say "homely"? I thought I heard "they look home-baked," not any less of a withering comment esp. as voiced in a posh British accent.

[AZChristian]

37 minutes ago, SG429 said:

Did she actually say "homely"? I thought I heard "they look home-baked," not any less of a withering comment esp. as voiced in a posh British accent.

I thought she might have said homemade.

[Mabinogia]

What is with the "Sandy in a bag" running gag they seem to be doing? It's been at least three eps I can think of this season where Noel had pretended to carry Sandy around in a bag. It is very strange and not remotely funny. Is it because he's tall and she's short? I just don't get it. 

David's showstopper was stunning, even if it was teeny tiny. lol The layers were perfect and the presentation was gorgeous.

I wish Rosie's had been a bit neater because I like that she was so ambitious with the triangles. If she had executed it better it would have been stunning. 

I love Henry. I just adore him to bits. I'm happy he can check "Hollywood Handshake" and "Star Baker" off his to do list. 

I am sad to see Michael go because he seems like such a lovely person but it was his time and I can't help but think it might be a relief for him. He always seemed so stressed. 

I really love every person left. This is going to be hard now, watching them get picked off one by one. 

[Athena]

3 hours ago, dleighg said:

Did one of them (Alice or Rosie) say that the cross on her hot cross buns was made with ..... flour and water....????  I would have thought it would be a thick sugar concoction.

I think it was actually Steph. I caught that too because I make hot cross buns every year based on a Paul Hollywood recipe. It also only uses flour and water for the crosses. It's a bit less forgiving when piped but I prefer it. The buns last longer and we don't really like them too sweet. 

[MisterGlass]

I understood the choices for star baker and sent home this week, so that made me feel better about the episode.

In the opening when Noel was talking about a festival I was trying to guess what baking term he was punning.  When it turned out to be festival I was confused, and couldn't guess what they would make.  I was thinking of fairs and funnel cake, not holidays.

I thought hot cross buns had either cut crosses or iced crosses.  I didn't realize there was a separate dough.

The showstoppers were pretty, and I liked Rosie's concept and the guide her father made.  However, the colors looked very artificial to me, a bit like play-doh.  Henry's looked the most appetizing with its soft green and yellow.

2 hours ago, Mabinogia said:

What is with the "Sandy in a bag" running gag they seem to be doing? It's been at least three eps I can think of this season where Noel had pretended to carry Sandy around in a bag.

^This.  It seems the only jokes they can think of for Sandy are about being short and/or being stuffed in something.  I like Sandy in her spontaneous moments, like when she assured an over-explaining Henry that she knew what clockwise meant.  The scripted bits are just not that good at the moment.

On 10/9/2019 at 11:09 AM, Danny Franks said:

So a lot of very talented bakers will be sitting at home, having failed to make it onto season six or seven and decided not to apply again

That's an interesting thought.  I wonder if they have a call back list.

[Nidratime]

The festival buns challenge was strange. Do we have a festival bun in the U.S.? I know we have hamburger and hot dog buns and we have sticky buns but none of them suggest a particular holiday or occasion.

When Paul mentioned that Rosie may be in danger of going home after the showstopper, I was scratching my head. Didn't she just win the technical? Does that mean nothing?

[SHD]

I agree with the posters who said they seem to be leaning on slightly risqué remarks or double-entendres this season. It cheapens the show for me. 

I was kind of surprised at the exchange with Noel and Alice (I think?) where she gave her conversations with Noel an 11 on a scale of 1 to 10 and he kissed her. I don’t know if he liked the compliment or appreciated a kind of Spinal Tap reference, but that host-unexpectedly-kissing-a-contestant thing isn’t something you’d see on a U.S. cooking competition show. 

[Corgi-ears]

"This show used to be so classy."

This show:

[CatLover74]

10 hours ago, dleighg said:

Did one of them (Alice or Rosie) say that the cross on her hot cross buns was made with ..... flour and water....????  I would have thought it would be a thick sugar concoction.

Whenever I make hot cross buns, I just make the cross out of a paste of flour and water, and pipe that onto the top.

[Danny Franks]

6 hours ago, SHD said:

I agree with the posters who said they seem to be leaning on slightly risqué remarks or double-entendres this season. It cheapens the show for me. 

I was kind of surprised at the exchange with Noel and Alice (I think?) where she gave her conversations with Noel an 11 on a scale of 1 to 10 and he kissed her. I don’t know if he liked the compliment or appreciated a kind of Spinal Tap reference, but that host-unexpectedly-kissing-a-contestant thing isn’t something you’d see on a U.S. cooking competition show. 

That was a bit surprising, for sure. I figure that the bakers, Noel and the judges get to know each other better than we ever see on the show. Assuming they all spend two days a week together in a hotel, for however many weeks they're on the show. So I'd like to assume that Noel and Alice have  a friendly enough relationship for that.

I did like the moment when she teased him about not thinking she seemed like an Essex girl.... which she definitely doesn't.

[dleighg]

47 minutes ago, Danny Franks said:

I did like the moment when she teased him about not thinking she seemed like an Essex girl.... which she definitely doesn't.

what *is* an Essex girl like? And why?

[Lois Sandborne]

On 10/11/2019 at 3:16 AM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

In the United States, bubble waffle is one of the names used for a dessert that originates from Hong Kong. It gets its name from the bubble shaped bumps

Wow. Yeah, those can be their own thing then.

19 hours ago, Omeletsmom said:

How are you interpreting "homely"?  The UK version means homey,  as in comfortable and cozy, not ugly or unattractive as in the US. 

True, but her tone, and coming as it did in the middle of criticism led me to think it was an insult. She might've said homemade though, as someone else suggested, which too, is no compliment. 

I was trying to think of a regional  US comparison for the Essex stereotype, but I can't pinpoint anywhere quite the same. Sort of like New Jersey's image, but add in more new money/social climbing. I definitely can't speak to the "why," but I imagine it's a bit like all stereotypes develop; some lazy observations that are easy to blow up into generalities,  and thrive because the larger group not being maligned gets to have a good time with it without thinking too much.

I usually don't watch Extra Slice, but I did this week especially to see Michael's interview. He was delightful, and handled the dinging over his cheesecake with grace. Apparently he "thoroughly" greased his Bundt pan, but in hindsight thought if he'd tried tapping the top it might've come out. (I still think the middle was too hot and needed to cool down more.)  And bonus, as many random bits as they show of Henry being adorable, many more go unseen.

[PaulaO]

I heard Prue say homemade.  To me, that’s a compliment because isn’t the show about finding the best home baker?  But she made it sound like an insult.

[TimothyQ]

21 minutes ago, PaulaO said:

I heard Prue say homemade.  To me, that’s a compliment because isn’t the show about finding the best home baker?  But she made it sound like an insult.

I heard 'homemade' as well but totally took that she meant it as a sting and Alice's face confirmed that she certainly took it that way. All these bakers aspire to being better than "home bakers" even though that's what they are. Like how the judges always stress "perfection" in their bakes... and what home baker is going to do the showstopper they did this week? Definitely was an insult.

[sharifa70]

I’m enjoying this season, actually, and this episode was fun. I liked Rosie’s interactions with Noel, Henry’s “shut up” will never be lived down, and David’s “I repel first” made me laugh. We’ve reached the point where I’m rooting for all of them and it really is hard to see any of them get cut (though I do agree it was time for the one who left). 

My one gripe is actually with Steph. Don’t get me wrong: I love her, but for the love of Sweet Baby Jeebus, Steph: stop licking your fingers. Oh my lord I cringe every time they show her shoving her fingers in her mouth.

[Mabinogia]

11 hours ago, MisterGlass said:

I like Sandy in her spontaneous moments, like when she assured an over-explaining Henry that she knew what clockwise meant.  The scripted bits are just not that good at the moment.

Both Sandy and Noel are fun and charming in their spontaneous interactions with the bakers, but those scripted moments, YIKES! They are painfully unfunny. IDK if they are trying to capture the vibe of Mel and Sue, who could get far raunchier than anything these two have said or done, but the thing is, Mel and Sue have worked together for years. They were pals before coming on the show so they had a natural vibe that was well worn in by the time they hosted GBBO. They were just being them. 

As the new seasons go on I feel, more and more, that someone is trying to make Noel and Sandy be more like Mel and Sue and it isn't working. Even "BAKE" from Noel is becoming more and more Sue like. They need to stop trying to recapture the magic of a long term friendship they don't have and find their own vibe that works for Noel and Sandy. 

I think Noel and Sandy could work well as the hosts but Noel and Sandy trying to be Sue and Mel just isn't working. 

I am really loving the vibe Noel now has with Rosie. I think he appreciates her ability to come back at him quickly. He's a banter guy. He needs a Helena or a Rosie to work with, unscripted. It's probably a lot more fun for them, the unscripted moments, than those horrible scripted gags they are being forced to do. Neither of them, Noel and Sandy, are good enough actors to look like they are enjoying those bits. loo.

[bybrandy]

Yes, looking hommade is not a good thing on this show.  Like rustic.    Fine for my home bakes but not bake off standards.  

I will totally be making Henry's’ Chocolate Kardemummabullar!   Maybe tomorrow.   

[Mabinogia]

7 minutes ago, bybrandy said:

I will totally be making Henry's’ Chocolate Kardemummabullar!   Maybe tomorrow.   

What time should I be there? hahaha, seriously, those things looked and sounded delicious! Let us know how they turn out. 

[dleighg]

19 minutes ago, bybrandy said:

I will totally be making Henry's’ Chocolate Kardemummabullar!   Maybe tomorrow. 

Definitely something to try!  

ETA: in case you're wondering, as I did, cornflour in British recipes is what we in the US call cornstarch. I figured that, but wanted to verify.

https://thegreatbritishbakeoff.co.uk/recipes/all/henrys-chocolate-kardemummabullar/

Edited October 12, 2019 by dleighg

[peeayebee]

1 hour ago, Mabinogia said:

Both Sandy and Noel are fun and charming in their spontaneous interactions with the bakers, but those scripted moments, YIKES! They are painfully unfunny.

Fewer props, more wit.

[Danny Franks]

5 hours ago, dleighg said:

what *is* an Essex girl like? And why?

The Essex girl stereotype is very much the 'dumb, trashy blonde' cliche - fake tan, plastered on makeup, skimpy outfits. Loud, drunk and coarse. The British equivalent to the likes of Snookie from Jersey Shore.

So about as far from Alice as you can get.

2 hours ago, Mabinogia said:

I am really loving the vibe Noel now has with Rosie. I think he appreciates her ability to come back at him quickly. He's a banter guy. He needs a Helena or a Rosie to work with, unscripted. It's probably a lot more fun for them, the unscripted moments, than those horrible scripted gags they are being forced to do. Neither of them, Noel and Sandy, are good enough actors to look like they are enjoying those bits. loo.

I think Noel's real value to the show is that he has an amazing knack of using jokes to relieve stress on the bakers without distracting them. He did it with Steph in this episode, and took her from gritted teeth to laughing with just a few words.

He's just a very calm, centred presence, and he's not trying to grab attention like a lot of comedians would when they have a captive audience in that tent.

[Sharpie66]

I first became familiar with Sandy when watching old episodes of Time Team on YouTube—she filled in as an extra host when they did their live dig specials. Even 20 years ago, her go-to self-deprecating zinger was invariably about her height. 

[Writing Wrongs]

4 hours ago, sharifa70 said:

Steph: stop licking your fingers. Oh my lord I cringe every time they show her shoving her fingers in her mouth.

yes, i hope she washes her hands before continuing.

[theatremouse]

6 hours ago, PaulaO said:

I heard Prue say homemade.  To me, that’s a compliment because isn’t the show about finding the best home baker?  But she made it sound like an insult.

I don't think she meant it as an insult but she did mean it as a criticism. "Homemade" in contrast to "something you'd see in a shop window", which they said to someone else, although I forget who. They're home bakers but the show is asking for "shop window" quality not "homemade" quality.

[Rinaldo]

6 hours ago, theatremouse said:

I don't think she meant it as an insult but she did mean it as a criticism.

It seemed to me that she was trying to lessen their previous criticism -- saying that despite everything, it looked perfectly all right, just homemade. (Which admittedly isn't the highest point that they're aiming for, but far from bad.)

Once again, Anglophile though I may be, I'm reminded of the gulf between US and UK word usage. A "festival" in GBBO context means not an event (usually arts-related) that you travel to, but just one of the holidays in the year's calendar. I need a babel fish in my ear.

Henry tickles me to death. He just responds to things in funny ways, and he's just as ready to aim the humor at himself, or to take someone else's digs with a smile. He seems as if he'd be fun to know.

Edited October 13, 2019 by Rinaldo

[kittykat]

17 hours ago, Nidratime said:

The festival buns challenge was strange. Do we have a festival bun in the U.S.? I know we have hamburger and hot dog buns and we have sticky buns but none of them suggest a particular holiday or occasion.

When Paul mentioned that Rosie may be in danger of going home after the showstopper, I was scratching my head. Didn't she just win the technical? Does that mean nothing?

I got the impression Rosie was thrown in there as a red herring.  To me it was pretty obvious that Michael was going home especially after Alice had a great showstopper so I think Rosie was only mentioned to throw viewers off.  Overall I liked her design even if wasn't as refined as the others.

The showstopper reminded me of the Schtichttorte technical from season 5 but I liked all the designs.  I knew David would get dinged for the small cake but color wise I liked it.

I was happy to see Henry win SB, he had a great week.  I'm glad nobody pantsed it this week.  Michael had a good week but everyone else was slightly better, those are the challenge weeks I like.

[dleighg]

Just now, kittykat said:

The showstopper reminded me of the Schtichttorte technical fr

definitely. That was quite a labor intensive product! Even though I'm game for a lot of things, that's not one I have any interest in attempting.

[Rinaldo]

At least unlike the Schichttorte, this wasn't sprung on them as a Technical -- they had a week, or many weeks if they're superbly organized and have no other calls on their time, to practice it.

[MisterGlass]

Today my local station was replaying an episode from the 2014 season, the one with Richard, Nancy, and Luis.  It was the bread episode, and during the showstopper Mary Berry makes the same type of comment about a home bake vs. a showstopper, but she is more gentle about it:

"Norman, we're looking for something very spectacular.  Now to me, that looks like a very nice family pie."

Compared to this episode:

Paul: "I think you baked them well.  I just think there's a pretty irregular color going on in there.  And size."  Prue: "Well they look homemade."

[bybrandy]

14 hours ago, dleighg said:

ETA: in case you're wondering, as I did, cornflour in British recipes is what we in the US call cornstarch. I figured that, but wanted to verify.

Yes, and runny honey is regular honey vs set honey which is something that I guess we have here?  But runny honey is what I think of when you say the word honey.   

Also the milk was warmed to "blood temperature" which I assumed and google agreed was body temperature but I'd never heard that phrase and we had a lot of fun with that one. 

My nephew and his partner are visiting and when they got in the car when I picked them up from the airport before we got to the freeway he said, "have you seen the most recent bakeoff because Henry made this...."   And I said, "Yes, I have the recipe, I'm so going to make it."  And he said, "Send it to me!"   So as half our party wasn't feeling 100% today we made these together.   

I think the maple glaze which is delicious pushed it over the edge for me of being too sweet but I don't like things very sweet and they are seriously, seriously, seriously ridiculously delicious.   100 percent will make again.  Less certain I will ever again make a regular cinnamon roll when I could make these instead.  

The dough is pretty fluffy and light.  My family is part Finnish and I grew up eating "Pulla" which is a cardamom coffee bread and sometimes for a treat I make korvapuusti  which seems very similar to the kardamomabuller.  This dough used here is less dense than what I'm used to but I think that is a feature of this particular recipe more than the breads being inherently different.   The shape is unique though and the directions and for shaping it are a little like something out of a techical recipe but they turned out nice enough looking, I think.   WIth the next batch I think I could get much more consistant with how they looked. 

There is something off with the dimensions in the recipe, though.   They tell you once you've folded the dough over to roll it out to 20 x 18 cm and then to cut it into 12 sections each 2.5 cm wide.  I assumed the 12 rolls 1 inch wide (2.5 cm) was the important measurement and made the dough what I needed to make that work.

But that "huh?" moment on the math and the shaping were the only difficult bit and we got through them.   And the results, I will say again, were absurdly delicious.