S11.E12: The Great New Year Bake Off

[Athena]

Quote

Seeing in the New Year with an epic baking session will be Helena Garcia and Henry Bird from the 2019 series and not one but TWO winners from previous seasons. Nancy Birtwhistle, who won the 2014 Bake Off, and 2018’s Rahul Mandal complete the line-up. Following a no doubt close bake, the quartet will join the hosts and judges for a sing-along round the piano.

Original UK Air Date: January 3, 2021.

[Aulty]

Rahul eating butter from the block like chocolate was oddly fascinating.

It was by and large a very good episode, not a lot of cock ups and just all around charming. Very good mix of contestants. I felt they really wanted Rahul to win. I didn't like all the artificial colour and spraywork on Rahul's cake and preferred Henry's natural decoration. Helena and Nancy are a hoot.

Loved Noel asking Nancy how many sugars she will take (in her tea) and her replying that she doesn't take sugar with her Gin and Tonic. Her comment on sandy beaches / tropical crumble was really quick witted.

[rhys]

Loved Henry's rhubarb etc cake. I'm a rhubarb fan so was delighted to see that. I would like to know how he made those edible rhubarb strips.

That was a fun show.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

It was driving me crazy that they kept saying "bao buns" during the technical. Bao means bun so it was like hearing someone talk about making carrot vegetables or spaghetti pasta.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Recipes

Signature challenge: fruit crumbles
Nancy's Caribbean crumble with lime crusted coconut ice cream
Rahul's spiced apple, plum, and nut crumble with orange ginger ice cream

Technical challenge
steamed bao with crispy duck

Showstopper challenge: illusion cakes
Henry's three tier raspberry, thyme, and roasted rhubarb cake
Helena's altar candle cake
 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Yum, fruit crumbles! And ice cream! Finally a holiday challenge I can get behind!

Ha, I had to laugh that Henry said he was making ginger ice cream because Paul said he likes it. I don't, so Henry's plum, blackberry, ginger, and hazelnut crumble sounded good minus the ginger. Same goes for his ginger and honey ice cream.

Helena's graveyard peach crumble sounded good until she said that she was adding sugar to canned peaches. GIRL, there's already sugar in the syrup! The salted butter and pecan ice cream had me intrigued.

Rahul cracked me up when he said he just learned that apple corers exist and he was talking about what a great invention they were. I feel you, man. When I learned that lemon juicers exist and that they're way more efficient than squeezing lemons by hand, I was like WHY DID I NOT KNOW ABOUT THIS BEFORE? I always feel bad when Rahul explains why he's making something and then Paul acts like it's this seventeen hour lecture. He was especially rude this time because it was clear that Rahul was almost done explaining that his colleague's mom used to freeze apples from their trees to give to people as treats whenever they came over when Paul interrupted to ask if he should get a chair. STFU. Anyway, Rahul's spiced apple, rhubarb, and plum crumble with orange and ginger ice cream was so pretty. I loved the apple flowers and the honeycomb toppings. I felt bad for Rahul when Paul found a piece of cinnamon in his piece, but I still laughed.

Nancy's crumble sounded delicious when she said it had pineapple and mango, but then she lost me with the banana. I get that they're all tropical fruits but I am super picky about bananas. I only like to eat them on their own. I don't like smoothies or desserts with banana because it adds a very specific taste and it always seems like filler. Her lime crusted coconut ice cream sounded good. I cracked up when Paul said that the crumble was too sandy and she said it was Caribbean. I loved the little pineapple flowers.

I've mostly said my piece about the bao technical challenge, but I rolled my eyes when the hosts specifically said "bao buns" when introducing the technical but two seconds later, Nancy looked at the recipe and pronounced it "bay-o buns." They JUST said it so why are you pronouncing it phonetically?

I know the roasted duck was added to give them something to put in the bao but it was such a non issue. They were given a half duck already cut in half and just told to roast it in the oven. They didn't have to do anything but put it on a sheet pan and shove it in the oven which requires no skill whatsoever. Yet somehow Henry managed to screw that up!

And who the hell cuts their veggie accoutrements into matchsticks for duck? I don't think I've ever seen julienned carrots when I've ordered duck at Chinese restaurants (and definitely not julienned cucumbers!).

Nancy's road trip cake with black forest cake and coffee and walnut cake was very colorful and I liked the story behind it. I enjoyed hearing her discuss crop tops and bell bottoms with Prue.

Helena's witch altar birthday with a chocolate crystal ball cake, chocolate peanut butter buttercream, and edible tarot cards was so Helena. I thought the design was too simple for as much time as they had. It was a regular cake with a bunch of red frosting glopped on top. The crystal ball was just a sphere with plain white fondant (and it didn't even cover the entire cake - I could see the cake peeking out at the bottom). I did like the gold stand but I don't think that was cake.

Henry's lemon cake with raspberry and thyme jam, roasted rhubarb, and raspberry Italian meringue buttercream was very vivid. It sounded very summery.

Rahul's garden cake with chocolate orange sponge, hazelnut and chocolate swiss meringue buttercream, and chocolate sculpture was interesting. And I even spotted Noel eating a piece of the chocolate sculpture. We hardly ever see him eating anything! Awww, I loved that Rahul made a birthday cake for Noel's daughter!

On 1/4/2021 at 1:58 AM, Aulty said:

Rahul eating butter from the block like chocolate was oddly fascinating.

Hilariously, I just saw a video of chef Sean Brock's kid holding a stick of butter and just taking bites out of it. I couldn't eat a whole stick of it, but a tablespoon sized slice? Totally!

[TVbitch]

Great show, but I feel they unjustly gave the win to Rahul the first time, and I feel they unjustly gave it to him AGAIN! The must really really like him. Was rooting for Henry or Nancy.

To his credit, Rahul was not a total nervous wreck this time.

[Spunkygal]

On 1/14/2021 at 12:58 PM, TVbitch said:

Great show, but I feel they unjustly gave the win to Rahul the first time, and I feel they unjustly gave it to him AGAIN! The must really really like him. Was rooting for Henry or Nancy.

To his credit, Rahul was not a total nervous wreck this time.

I agree, especially when Noel said that Rahul made his daughter’s birthday cake. Should that have even been mentioned? I was rooting for Nancy, she turned 21 in 1975 and I turned 18 that same year and we are both bad asses! I’d happily share a gin and tonic with her. 

[ishcabibble]

Overall I really liked this mix of contestants. And can Nancy come back and host the show? I forgot how much I love her dry sense of humor!

Edited December 4, 2021 by ishcabibble

[Adiba]

It was a fun show, but I think winners of past seasons should have a competition unto themselves— an ultimate bake-off. No way was anyone going to win against Rahul unless he massively messed up. The judges just love him. Henry’s showstopper was impressive, but not enough to top Rahul. Nancy totally failed the technical and Helena is too “spooky”.
I love Nancy, though and the season that she won is one of my favorites. 

[caitmcg]

Ironically, the youngest person created the most sophisticated-looking showstopper by far, and also the one cake that both Paul and Prue said they’d want again. It wasn’t as complicated as Rahul's, but it was beautiful, and you can never go wrong pairing lemon and raspberries.

[sugarbaker design]

On 12/3/2021 at 7:35 PM, Spunkygal said:

Noel said that Rahul made his daughter’s birthday cake. Should that have even been mentioned? 

Why not?  Noel isn't a judge.  His job seems to be annoying the contestants.  I would've liked to have seen a picture of little Miss Fielding's birthday cake.

 

 

Edited December 5, 2021 by sugarbaker design

[laredhead]

The final scene with everyone singing Auld Lang Syne, while Henry played the piano was great.  I agree with a another commenter that a bake off between former winners would be fun to watch. 

[caitmcg]

2 hours ago, laredhead said:

The final scene with everyone singing Auld Lang Syne, while Henry played the piano was great.  I

I love that he put on a gold lamé blazer to do it, too.

[theatremouse]

On 1/6/2021 at 6:38 AM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

And who the hell cuts their veggie accoutrements into matchsticks for duck? I don't think I've ever seen julienned carrots when I've ordered duck at Chinese restaurants (and definitely not julienned cucumbers!).

To me the cut on the veg was not about doing it that way for duck, but for the bao. They've been sliced like that every time I've seen bao.

[Straycat80]

Loved this episode and what a fun bunch of contestants. I agree Rahul seemed more relaxed this time. I was rooting for Nancy, she was so good with the clap backs to Paul, so funny. I would have loved to have seen a picture of the birthday cake Rahul made for Noel’s daughter. 
An episode of past winners competing would great. 

[TimothyQ]

Really enjoyed seeing these bakers again (some of my favorites). Everyone did a great job but Henry’s showstopper was absolutely beautiful. I just wasn’t excited about the look of Rahul’s but maybe it was more impressive in person. Overall, fun episode!

[MisterGlass]

This was a lot of fun.  I liked all these contestants and it was fun to see them together.

I was delighted that Nancy, truly one of the bake off old guard, was there to bake and take no guff.  Good for her and her gin and tonic.

Rahul was a lot calmer than in his original season.  It felt like he got the quirky edit this time rather than the anxious edit.  His unabashed fandom of Nancy was sweet.

Henry's rhubarb was so clever.

[PrincessPurrsALot]

Okay, I really disliked Rahul in his first run of the show.  Just did not like him at all.  This time he was more upbeat.  At the same time, I found him a bit much.  It was nice that he wasn't Mr. Mopey the whole time, but now he came off like he was trying so hard.  I do believe that he had respect for Nancy's skills.  At the same time, he was so full of himself. 

Nancy is one of my all time favorites.  I agree with everyone that she would be a great host.  I love that she doesn't bow and scrape to Paul.  Her humor adds so much to the show.  I still think of Paul as "the male judge".  It's great because Paul seems to respect her also and takes it all in good fun. 

As far as the bao go, I have always thoughts of bao as the sealed buns.  Not sure I have a name for the open ones that you puck Peking duck into so I guess they are bao.  Locally they are referred to as pancakes in English.  Now I'll need to check the Chinese characters to see if they are listed as bao. 包 As far as garnish, I would expect hoisin sauce and julienned scallions.  I have also had julienned carrots which add crunch.  I have never had cucumbers other than on the side as a plate decoration. 

Henry continues to be wonderful.  HIs showstopper = must have.  It was beautiful and sounded delicious. 

[sugarbaker design]

55 minutes ago, PrincessPurrsALot said:

I still think of Paul as "the male judge".

One of my favorite GBBO moments.  Makes me miss Nancy, and Sue.

[MisterGlass]

12 hours ago, PrincessPurrsALot said:

As far as the bao go, I have always thoughts of bao as the sealed buns.  Not sure I have a name for the open ones that you puck Peking duck into so I guess they are bao.

I had the same reaction.  After some googling 'bao' is applied to some different steamed buns.  These seem to be a version of a pork bun called gua bao.

It occurred to me later that I had watched an episode of Simply Ming where Ming Tsai and his parents made a similar bun.  The episode is here, and the bun making is at the 14:30 mark.

[MartyQui]

On 1/5/2021 at 3:22 AM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

It was driving me crazy that they kept saying "bao buns" during the technical. Bao means bun so it was like hearing someone talk about making carrot vegetables or spaghetti pasta.

Haha...I feel the same way about shrimp scampi.  

[caitmcg]

How about chai tea. 

[blueray]

First I loved this episode! What a great and fun group to bring back. I do wonder as this was obviously filmed in 2020, did they bubble? They seemed to actually know each other (despite being in different seasons in some cases). I was nice to see as they were all clapping for each other.

Also I was wonder if in England, 21 is a special birthday? In the states of course it's when we can legally drink. So my cake would have been based of a strawberry daiquiri as that was my drink of choice on my 21st birthday. I was in college and had an English exam the next day :(, so my friends just came over and we made daiquiri's at home. But I bought the rum ;).

Any back to the show. I liked how they all did good and agree that Rouhl was the winner as he won the technical did well in the other two.  But I would have been okay with any one of them wining :). 

 

Edited December 8, 2021 by blueray
grammar

[caitmcg]

12 minutes ago, blueray said:

First I loved this episode! What a great and fun group to bring back. I do wonder as this was obviously filmed in 2020, did they bubble? They seemed to actually know each other (despite being in different seasons in same cases). I was nice to see as they were all clapping for each other.

Also I was wonder if in England, 21 is a special birthday? In the states of course it's when we can legally drink. So my cake would have been based of a strawberry daiquiri as that was my drink of choice on my 21st birthday. I was in college and had an English exam the next day :(, so my friends just came over and we made daiquiri's at home. But I bought the rum ;).

Any back to the show. I liked how they all did good and agree that Rouhl was the winner as he won the technical did well in the other two.  

 

It sounds as if they filmed the holiday. specials for 2020 and 2021 right after the regular seasons wrapped, so they would presumably have bubbled, but they’d only be there a few days.

I think it was 21 for the new year of 2021, rather than it being a birthday of note as it is in the US, for national legal drinking age.

[chaifan]

8 hours ago, caitmcg said:

How about chai tea. 

Hey, I was going to say that!  😁  Though, I will admit, I'm guilty of saying chai tea on occasion.

This may sound really weird, but Rahul reminds me of Juergen. 

OK, judges.  You can't bring on Helena, who you know will only produce spooky, gothy, night of the living dead-y creations, and then ding her for doing exactly that!  I do love her back and forth with Noel. 

I need to go back and watch Nancy's season.  I don't remember her strongly, and I just loved how she sparred with Paul here. 

I think Rahul fairly won this one.  He really did do better in all 3 bakes.  Henry's showstopper looked amazing, but they said his cake was dry.  I did like Helena's, and I really liked the melty wax candle.  I loved Nancy's 21st birthday story, but didn't care for the cake itself.

I love a crumble!  I don't consider them hard at all, but maybe I'm just really not that picky.  I disagree with Helena about more crumble than fruit - you need a good balance.  All of them sounded delicious to me.

The weather really sucked both for this shoot and for the Holiday bake.  You could really hear the rain coming down when they were in the tent. 

[blueray]

1 hour ago, chaifan said:

This may sound really weird, but Rahul reminds me of Juergen. 

Omg, I thought it was just me. I think it was because they both kind of mumble what they are planning on doing and then second guessing it while they are in mid-sentence. 

Edited December 8, 2021 by blueray

[Cotypubby]

Aw I really liked Helena. That fudgey chocolate crystal ball cake had me drooling. (I can’t get over how much she sounds and looks like Nadja from What We Do In the Shadows. It’s uncanny!)

[SuprSuprElevated]

Nancy looked fantastic!  That haircut took years off of her.  

Edited December 8, 2021 by SuprSuprElevated

[iMonrey]

Quote

Great show, but I feel they unjustly gave the win to Rahul the first time, and I feel they unjustly gave it to him AGAIN! The must really really like him. Was rooting for Henry or Nancy.

I remember the controversy when he won. A lot of people thought Kim-Joy was robbed. There almost seemed to be a bias in favor of Rahul his whole season long, when he was such a drama queen about everything. It was as though the show thought he'd make a better surprise winner because of his attitude. Surely the show is aware of that now, so I'm not sure how I feel about them doubling down by giving him a second win. It could be construed as an effort to legitimize his first win. I actually thought his showstopper looked like a mess. 

[Irlandesa]

13 hours ago, iMonrey said:

Surely the show is aware of that now, so I'm not sure how I feel about them doubling down by giving him a second win. It could be construed as an effort to legitimize his first win. I actually thought his showstopper looked like a mess. 

I think they just genuinely like Rahul and probably always did.  If anything, this episode made me think they wanted to better highlight the reasons why they love Rahul than they did last time.  I do not think the intent was to legitimize his past win.

 

[RoxiP]

I think Nancy might have won except for her disaster of a technical.  

[LeDucDiableBleu]

I believe Rahul fairly won as well. I'll be the first to say I'm not a fan of his over the top 70s-style decorating, but he does show a lot of skills in doing lots of different things in one bake. I liked that Helena, Nancy and Rahul's cakes told a story visually about their 21st birthday. Henry's looked amazing and probably tasted amazing too but I didn't really see a story element there, unless I missed.

[caitmcg]

1 hour ago, LeDucDiableBleu said:

I believe Rahul fairly won as well. I'll be the first to say I'm not a fan of his over the top 70s-style decorating, but he does show a lot of skills in doing lots of different things in one bake. I liked that Helena, Nancy and Rahul's cakes told a story visually about their 21st birthday. Henry's looked amazing and probably tasted amazing too but I didn't really see a story element there, unless I missed.

I guess Henry was at a disadvantage there, since his had been only a few months earlier, when Britain was locked down so he had to cancel his party. Not much of a story to map onto a design.

[LeDucDiableBleu]

He could have incorporated the idea of staying home, or celebrating the healthcare workers, or masks or anything to do with the event of his 21st birthday. Something like, putting a tiny sculpture of a home/cottage on top of the cake he made. Or making the cake into the shape of a house or his apartment building (staying home). He could have painted designs on it like two champagne glasses (or just one) representing that he wasn't out celebrating, or something whimsical like a TV or mask, or walking his dog. There's plenty of things he could have done.

[SemiCharmedLife]

On 12/7/2021 at 8:16 PM, Cotypubby said:

Aw I really liked Helena. That fudgey chocolate crystal ball cake had me drooling. (I can’t get over how much she sounds and looks like Nadja from What We Do In the Shadows. It’s uncanny!)

Did you see her appearance in season 2 of WWDITS?  

[kirklandia]

During the technical challenge, all I could think of was the adorable Bao baby in the Pixar short film.

[SemiCharmedLife]

11 hours ago, kirklandia said:

During the technical challenge, all I could think of was the adorable Bao baby in the Pixar short film.

Love this!

Too bad Jürgen was not in this challenge, he could have done this bao baby!

[Cotypubby]

On 12/11/2021 at 1:40 AM, SemiCharmedLife said:

Did you see her appearance in season 2 of WWDITS?  

I did!! I saw that when I was Googling to see if others thought they sounded alike. That is a hilarious and inspired bit of casting perfection!

[blueray]

On 12/11/2021 at 1:40 AM, SemiCharmedLife said:

Did you see her appearance in season 2 of WWDITS?  

My reaction was wait she is in the show. And looked it up. Wow good for her :)

[Darian]

On 12/7/2021 at 8:55 PM, chaifan said:

 Though, I will admit, I'm guilty of saying chai tea on occasion.

 

I have done it and will always do it in Starbucks only, because that's how it is on the menu and I cannot take the chance of a single sip of Starbucks coffee passing through my lips. Love a lot of their drinks, but their coffee is vile to me. 

What a gem. Loved all four bakers, as I did in their seasons, and was glad they all did pretty well. I was delighted that Noel was there with Helena again and she's just so herself. They all had fun and Rahul's speech at the end got me all emotional. Love Henry's gold blazers, loved the showstoppers, everything. 

And, ffs, Rahul wasn't that long-winded when Paul sniped. Plus, I find his thought processes interesting and always want to hear from competitors on any talent/skill-based competition about the why and how, etc. But the episode was still a nice, warm hug.  

[Sharpie66]

Just watched this. So much fun! Rahul was definitely more likeable here than in his winning season—I liked his appreciation of his fellow contestants, especially Nancy. Nancy’s season was my second favorite (after Nadiya’s, which was the first I watched), so seeing her again was just terrific.

[Crs97]

Twice they showed Rahul fiddling with his bake after they called time.  Did he do that during his season, or was that another contestant?  I was annoyed that he still needed Paul at the beginning to tell him how much he deserved to be there.  After awhile I just can’t keep giving the reassurance.

[dargosmydaddy]

On 12/7/2021 at 8:55 PM, chaifan said:

Henry's showstopper looked amazing, but they said his cake was dry.

Actually it was Rahul's cake that Paul said was dry. Prue and Paul both said Henry's cake tasted the best.

I like Rahul, but it would have been nice to see Henry win. Or Nancy. I had forgotten how much I loved Nancy. Overall it was a very pleasant episode, though.

[Crs97]

Yes, they all agreed that Henry’s tasted best, and the judges wanted to take it home for more.

[Cetacean]

1 hour ago, dargosmydaddy said:

I had forgotten how much I loved Nancy.

Me, too.  I loved how she stood up to Paul.

[la patineuse]

As someone already mentioned, calling something a bao bun is redundant (bun bun).  The folded steamed buns I think are more like the lotus leaf buns that are sometimes served with Peking duck.  I guess these are technically baos (buns), but when I think of a bao, I think of a filled savory (e.g. char sui bao) or a sweet paste bao.

[festivus]

I actually think Helena's showstopper would have been the best if she would have mirror glazed that globe. The witchy vibe works for me. I absolutely love Rahul so I'm good with his win although I did think it was going to Henry. I liked his final cake better. I wish they wouldn't do the thing where they ask Rahul a question then show all the quizzical looks. So what, he's long winded. Is not funny to me. Don't ask him shit designed in the way so you can get that "humorous" reaction. 

[Mabinogia]

2 hours ago, festivus said:

So what, he's long winded. Is not funny to me. Don't ask him shit designed in the way so you can get that "humorous" reaction. 

I found his story really interesting so it annoyed me that they were going for the gag of his being long winded. I don't like when they make fun of the bakers because I imagine the bakers are really on edge, it's never easy being judged on something you care about no matter how "trivial" it may seem, and they wouldn't be here if baking didn't matter to them, so it seems cruel to pick on them when they are vulnerable. 

[snarktini]

On 1/5/2021 at 12:22 AM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

It was driving me crazy that they kept saying "bao buns" during the technical. Bao means bun so it was like hearing someone talk about making carrot vegetables or spaghetti pasta.

In the SF Bay Area there is a bao vendor (mostly at farmers markets) called BunBao. Which is awfully nondescript for a brand name -- terrible for searching --  in addition to being repetitive! Great southern pork buns, though.

On 12/8/2021 at 8:13 AM, iMonrey said:

I remember the controversy when he won. A lot of people thought Kim-Joy was robbed. There almost seemed to be a bias in favor of Rahul his whole season long, when he was such a drama queen about everything. It was as though the show thought he'd make a better surprise winner because of his attitude. Surely the show is aware of that now, so I'm not sure how I feel about them doubling down by giving him a second win. It could be construed as an effort to legitimize his first win. I actually thought his showstopper looked like a mess. 

I just rewatched that season, and IMO after a stellar season Kim Joy lost it on her showstopper fair and square. The judges didn't like it and I don't think we've ever seen someone win after flat out losing the final showstopper. None of them knocked it out, however. It was a lousy challenge and not a great finale. She was an amazing competitor with incredible imagination and skill and very well could have won it -- and in my memory I actually thought she did win -- but they also called Rahul a genius for his flavors like a half dozen times. You could interpret that as bias, or validation that he was creating very special bakes.

On 1/1/2022 at 2:13 PM, festivus said:

I absolutely love Rahul so I'm good with his win although I did think it was going to Henry. I liked his final cake better. I wish they wouldn't do the thing where they ask Rahul a question then show all the quizzical looks. So what, he's long winded. Is not funny to me. Don't ask him shit designed in the way so you can get that "humorous" reaction. 

Lovely to see much less anxiety in Rahul. He made a couple of nervous/sheepish faces but no longer fears the worst at all times. Good for him! And I deeply appreciate how their teasing him about talking doesn't seem to make him feel bad -- he's just like, oh I do like to talk. As someone who is always trying to be less talkative, I would want to be swallowed by the earth if that happened to me. It's astonishing to me (in a great way) that someone can just accept that about themselves without shame.