S12.E05: German Week

[Athena]

Quote

It's a Bake Off first, as the bakers make traditional German biscuits and a torte fit for a Prince, before rising to the challenge with a showstopping tiered cake using yeast.

Original UK Airing: October 19, 2021.

[libgirl2]

I am half German and really looking forward to this! 

[illdoc]

First, we had Bread week, which had a lot of Italian breads (playing to Guiseppe's strength) and now German week (presumably playing to Jurgen's strengths)? Are the people at the show playing favorites???

[AZChristian]

1 hour ago, illdoc said:

First, we had Bread week, which had a lot of Italian breads (playing to Guiseppe's strength) and now German week (presumably playing to Jurgen's strengths)? Are the people at the show playing favorites???

Challenges are decided by production BEFORE any contestants are selected.  According to one interview:

"The bakers are told every single challenge — save for the technicals — right when they’re cast on the show, The Guardian reported."

Looks more like luck than favoritism.

[Rickster]

1 hour ago, AZChristian said:

Challenges are decided by production BEFORE any contestants are selected.  According to one interview:

"The bakers are told every single challenge — save for the technicals — right when they’re cast on the show, The Guardian reported."

Looks more like luck than favoritism.

Does that rule out casting a German (or Italian) baker when the production staff knows what the challenges are in advance, and might think watching a German baker competing in a German challenge would make for good TV? Of course he would still have to be well qualified in other aspects of baking.

The only way to have blind casting is for the people in charge of casting to have no idea what the challenges will be.

[AZChristian]

1 hour ago, Rickster said:

Does that rule out casting a German (or Italian) baker when the production staff knows what the challenges are in advance, and might think watching a German baker competing in a German challenge would make for good TV? Of course he would still have to be well qualified in other aspects of baking.

The only way to have blind casting is for the people in charge of casting to have no idea what the challenges will be.

From what I've been able to find online, the judges set the challenges before the season starts . . . and the choice of participants is a lengthy process including baking knowledge and demonstrated abilities, topped off by a psychological evaluation.  There are also usually two "stand-by" contestants in case one or two of the actual chosen participants have to drop off at the last minute.  

I don't have a feeling that there's any collusion.  If that were the case, we'd be hearing about suspicions that the British bakers would have an advantage over anyone not born and raised in the UK.  I find it interesting that if a baker DOES come from a part of the country where a particular style of baking is popular, that baker doesn't always excel on that episode.

[CatLover74]

It will be interesting to see if Jurgen is successful this week, or if he succumbs to the pressure of being expected to do well in baking food from his country of origin.  I can't see too much crumbling - he doesn't seem the sort to crumble and fall to pieces when the going gets a bit tough.

 

[Ceindreadh]

I think that the only advantage Jurgen had over the other bakers was being able to pronounce the German words correctly!

[Corgi-ears]

"It's time to get fingers dirty." 

 

[Aulty]

Amanda really saved herself with her showstopper, didn't she? I was surprised that they kicked Freya out and not George, but it was pretty tight between them and George did decent biscuits.

Whoever edited that episode should've cut down the bits where everyone was trying to pronounce the German terms and then cutting to Juergen saying it properly to two at the most. That got annoying really fast.
I liked the signature challenge with the cookies - speaking as someone who has eaten their fair share of Christmas biscuits - because there was a nice variety and the decorations weren't over the top. One thing about Christmas cookies though is that you'd usually make them well in advance and let them sit for a few weeks to develop the crumble.

The showstopper was a bit stupid in my opinion. Make yeasted cake, but make it 3 layers because non-German reasons? It didn't add anything visually, just increased the of toppling bakes.
Giuseppe, bless him, basically made 3 basic Guglhupf cakes in simple Guglhupf tins and piped custard down the middle. Keep it simple, get star baker. Extra points for the small cake that Matt caught looking like a Skyrim sweet roll.
Chrystelle's looked very tempting, both visually and from the flavour description.

I tried to google the most popular traditional cakes and bakes in Germany and I am not surprised they went with the Prinzregententorte because that seems to be one of the few things that's reasonably compliated and hasn't been done on the show before.

Edited October 20, 2021 by Aulty

[Danny Franks]

Not a bad week, as concepts go. German baking is definitely distinct and recognisable. I'm a little hazy on what "German biscuits" are, because that was an incredibly vague descriptor. I assumed they would be lebkuchen, which are amazing, spicy, Christmas biscuits that come in crunchy and chewy varieties, but a lot of the biscuits produced looked nothing like them. Still, I love biscuits that are flavoured with all those warming spices, so I'd eat any of them.

The Prinzregentorte looked amazing. I've had Sachertorte and käsekuchen and plenty of other German(ic, because Sachetorte is Austrian) cakes, and they're all amazing, but haven't had that one.

Not sure about the yeasted cakes, none of them appealed that much. But I did find it amusing that Juergen made that faintly disapproving comment about them having to do three layers.

I was sad for Freya, especially when she was so clearly upset. It was a close call between her and George, but she seemed to be struggling more by the week so it's not too surprising to see her go. Paul was quite kind when pointing out that she was only nineteen and had chosen to use vegan ingredients and had still been able to get as far as she did.

I do think there are three or four bakers who are clearly, clearly better and there won't be any surprises as to who makes the final. It's surely going to be Giuseppe, Juergen, Chigs and Crystelle as the final four.

Loved the moment at the start, where Juergen offered a German good luck sentiment, and Crystelle's response was, "oh, good god!" She saved herself with a good showstopper again, and really needs to improve on the technical.

[oldCJ]

Jürgen made challah as his “yeasted cake” and you cannot convince me otherwise. It looked identical to a Guinness (or other stout) challah with a filling, right down to the egg wash. Who egg washes a cake? When the judges described the taste, they described challah. 

I found it strange the different tiers of the cakes that the judges chose to cut into. For George, they picked the one they knew would be raw, for Freya, one they knew would be drier, etc. 

Any idea what illness Noel came down with before final judging? Matt should have done it alone without saying Noel was sick. They provided only enough information to make it mysterious and make everyone curious. 

[TVbitch]

I'm surprised only one baker got a cookie handshake. It seemed like a couple deserved it. 

They tasted Jurgen last in all three challenges. What the heck was up with that? I thought the order was supposed to be random. Especially during the technical! Did they think he was going to blow every challenge out of the water or something? I also thought his showstopper cake was Challah bread, but then I thought maybe something like that IS considered cake in Germany. 

FYI: New Zealand Bake Off has started. I haven't watched yet but I'm pretty sure Matt is not a host. ; D If anyone wants to watch and needs help finding the episodes, just shoot me a PM. Canadian Bake Off has started as well. 

[Aulty]

58 minutes ago, TVbitch said:

They tasted Jurgen last in all three challenges. What the heck was up with that? I thought the order was supposed to be random.

He wasn't the last to be judged in the signature, they switched it around in the editing. You can catch a glimpse of his already cut cake in the background while Guiseppe is being judged. They probably edited it for some drama.
Exhibit A:

Edited October 21, 2021 by Aulty

[xfuse]

4 hours ago, TVbitch said:

FYI: New Zealand Bake Off has started.

I will have to give that one a try. I already watch the Canadian one. For me it is about the host and judges. I couldn't get into the Australian one because I didn't like the judge. I don't really like the hosts of both British and Canadian versions but I can tolerate them.

Bruno is my favourite.

[Rammchick]

On 10/21/2021 at 12:47 AM, oldCJ said:

Jürgen made challah as his “yeasted cake” and you cannot convince me otherwise. It looked identical to a Guinness (or other stout) challah with a filling, right down to the egg wash. Who egg washes a cake? When the judges described the taste, they described challah. 

There are different types of danishes and danish-style cakes available here in the US that are also similar (Entenmann's pecan danish ring comes to mind).  But no, none of them are eggwashed.  They typically aren't sweet and have a light, sugary glaze.  Pannetone was what I thought too, and Paul said as much.  

[Ms Lark]

Interesting. The Prinzregententorte is a dead ringer for Smith Island Cake (Chesapeake Bay, Maryland also MD's state cake), without the fou-fou decor. The bakers compete to see who can get the most layers! I did a little research and it seems it probably came from the Prinzregententorte.

It's a nice day trip and pick up a cake on your way home. Sadly, Smith Island and Tangier Island are both sinking. Young folks don't tend to stay on the islands anymore, but head for the mainland for better opportunities.

 

[Straycat80]

The pressure Juergen must have felt in this segment! At least he got a handshake on the biscuits. The chocolate cakes looked heavenly, even the messy ones! 
I’m not going to miss Freya’s vocal fry, I hear her saying ‘cappuccinA’ in my dreams, but I felt sorry for her, she was so upset. Plus she was only 19 and it took guts to attempt to try baking vegan. 
I don’t think George will last much longer, he almost didn’t make it this week and Amanda was saved by her show stopper. 
Guiseppe is still the one to beat IMO. 

[caitmcg]

1 hour ago, Rammchick said:

Pannetone was what I thought too, and Paul said as much.  

That comment was about Giuseppe's showstopper, although Giuseppe said he was basing it on pandoro, which is close enough.

[krankydoodle]

I like George, but don't understand why he made things more difficult for himself by choosing the type of biscuits he did in the signature challenge.

There were some funny moments (Amanda wanting to take a victim statement from the dough Jürgen was slapping around, Lizzie poking fun at Noel's inability to keep quiet and her observations about the other bakers), but I didn't enjoy the German accent bits and was annoyed that Jürgen was judged last. And I felt terrible for Freya, but it was lovely to see everyone rally around her.

Happy for Giuseppe, my favorite, though unless I missed it we didn't get to see his star baker phone call at the end.

Edited October 22, 2021 by krankydoodle

[Rickster]

Given some of the disasters we’ve seen in the technicals, I was a bit amazed they all did so well on something a bit more complicated than a toffee pudding. I thought all the cakes looked good.

[Cetacean]

At this point it seems like George is the only truly weak link. Lizzy is iffy at times but is coming stronger than I thought. It will be an interesting few weeks.

I did not appreciate the opening bit with the two idiots in Hitler hairstyles. I thought that was totally tasteless. At least they left off the mustache.

[blueray]

I thought the whole thing with Jürgen was a bit over done. Yes, we know he's German but that doesn't mean he'll be the best. I think he did a good job (which is good as I am rooting for him) but I was glad that they gave it to Giuseppe as he did better.

I must of zoned out as I missed what Amanda did to save herself. But I was surprised it was Freya, I thought George would have been gone. 

[Cetacean]

6 minutes ago, blueray said:

But I was surprised it was Freya, I thought George would have been gone. 

Unless he has an amazing week, I think George is next.

[iMonrey]

I wasn't sorry to see Freya go. I understand taking pride in your work, but did she really want her showstopper to look like exactly that? Really? It looked terrible, all lopsided and leaning. Plus she was crying before they even said her name. She just wasn't cut out for this. 

I don't think Jurgen cares much for Noel or Matt. The other bakers play along with their lame jokes regardless of how they might feel about them, but you could tell Jurgen just wasn't having it with either one of them. Granted, it might just be that he's too laser-focused on the task at hand to play along, but he was visibly disengaged. 

Lizzie cracked me up (along with the cooperative editing) describing what Crystelle and Chigs were doing.

A lot of those yeast cakes really did look like bread to me. It seems like it would be a fine line between the two.

[caitmcg]

1 hour ago, blueray said:

I must of zoned out as I missed what Amanda did to save herself. 

She did great in the showstopper. They complimented both the flavor and the quality of the bake, and liked the appearance. 

[emmawoodhouse]

4 minutes ago, caitmcg said:

She did great in the showstopper. They complimented both the flavor and the quality of the bake, and liked the appearance. 

Paul REALLY loved it. Said something to the effect of it being the best thing he'd had in a while.

[Little Eddie]

The opening skit was a spoof on the iconic, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame German techno-band Kraftwerk. Their incredible album, Man-Machine cover art, featured the band members in red shirts and black ties. It had absolutely nothing to do with Hitler. You either love or hate Kraftwerk (and I LOVE them), and that Prue walked out and unplugged the instruments was totally appreciated by us Kraftwerk fans out there. 

[JBurg58]

3 hours ago, blueray said:

I thought the whole thing with Jürgen was a bit over done. Yes, we know he's German but that doesn't mean he'll be the best. I think he did a good job (which is good as I am rooting for him) but I was glad that they gave it to Giuseppe as he did better.

I must of zoned out as I missed what Amanda did to save herself. But I was surprised it was Freya, I thought George would have been gone. 

Absolutely agree. If I moved to Great Britain and wound up on GBBO (as if), I wouldn't want everyone to assume I'd be a shoo-in for an American Week. I mean, there are tons of American desserts I've never made. For example, if they had a lemon chess pie challenge, I'd come in last because I've never made one. Same with Juergen. On top of that, he clearly stated that a real German yeasted bread wouldn't have three tiers. Paul even said they Anglicized (sp?) it, so everyone should've stopped assuming that Juergen would win the day, so to speak.

 

This entire episode was annoying to me from start to finish for these reasons. 

[sugarbaker design]

4 hours ago, iMonrey said:

Lizzie cracked me up (along with the cooperative editing) describing what Crystelle and Chigs were doing.

And Jurgen too, it's just another day for him, innit?

Can we have Lizzie commentary every week?

[dgpolo]

11 hours ago, Ms Lark said:

Interesting. The Prinzregententorte is a dead ringer for Smith Island Cake (Chesapeake Bay, Maryland also MD's state cake), without the fou-fou decor. The bakers compete to see who can get the most layers! I did a little research and it seems it probably came from the Prinzregententorte.

When I saw what the cake was supposed to look like, I told my daughter it looked like the one they had to do a few seasons ago where the layers were so thin they were grilled not baked and had a lot of layers.

Looked it up, it was a Schichttorte, 20 layers. And it's German too.

[Quilt Fairy]

53 minutes ago, dgpolo said:

When I saw what the cake was supposed to look like, I told my daughter it looked like the one they had to do a few seasons ago where the layers were so thin they were grilled not baked and had a lot of layers.

Looked it up, it was a Schichttorte, 20 layers. And it's German too.

We Germans don't do things by half!  😉

And Paul counted every one of those 20 layers on each cake, IIRC. 

[SemiCharmedLife]

Giuseppe is proving himself a real contender for the champion, even out baking Jürgen on German week!  I was so happy for Amanda, receiving that wonderful critique from Paul on her showstopper.  Crystelle's showstopper looked beautiful...she makes everything look so appealing and perfect.  I'm enjoying Lizzie and glad she's still hanging in there.  It was great that Freya received so many positive comments from everyone...she took on the challenge of vegan baking and was the youngest one in the tent. She has a lot to be proud of.

[Irlandesa]

5 hours ago, JBurg58 said:

Absolutely agree. If I moved to Great Britain and wound up on GBBO (as if), I wouldn't want everyone to assume I'd be a shoo-in for an American Week. I mean, there are tons of American desserts I've never made. For example, if they had a lemon chess pie challenge, I'd come in last because I've never made one. Same with Juergen. On top of that, he clearly stated that a real German yeasted bread wouldn't have three tiers. Paul even said they Anglicized (sp?) it, so everyone should've stopped assuming that Juergen would win the day, so to speak.

Yep. I remember an American Pie challenge in an earlier season but American Pie for GBBO was an open top pie like lemon chiffon, key lime or pumpkin.  Traditional double crusted fruit pies were out.  I too would struggle with this definition of an "American pie."

[GaT]

I won't be sad not to hear Freya's vocal fry again.

[Danny Franks]

11 hours ago, Cetacean said:

I did not appreciate the opening bit with the two idiots in Hitler hairstyles. I thought that was totally tasteless. At least they left off the mustache.

They were doing a skit of Kraftwerk. Nothing to do with Hitler at all.

[dleighg]

11 hours ago, blueray said:

I thought the whole thing with Jürgen was a bit over done. Yes, we know he's German but that doesn't mean he'll be the best.

I generally like him, but he seemed a bit prickly at the end, trying to explain away why he didn't "win" by saying "I don't really eat chocolate much. I much prefer (naming two other kinds of cakes)."

That's not terribly sporting. You didn't win. So what.

[libgirl2]

15 hours ago, Cetacean said:

At this point it seems like George is the only truly weak link. Lizzy is iffy at times but is coming stronger than I thought. It will be an interesting few weeks.

I did not appreciate the opening bit with the two idiots in Hitler hairstyles. I thought that was totally tasteless. At least they left off the mustache.

Apparently, you don't know Kraftwerk. Google them. 

Lizzy has been a pleasant surprise. 

Edited October 23, 2021 by libgirl2

[Cetacean]

3 minutes ago, libgirl2 said:

Apparently, you don't know Kraftwerk. Google them. 

You are correct, I don't;  I have never heard of them.  But I bet a lot of people haven't either so the skit may have been offensive to more than just me.

[chaifan]

I'm sort of sad to see Freya go.  Yeah, the vocal fry annoyed me, but she was a good baker and a good person to watch.  Strangely, though, did anyone else notice that in her short clip at the beginning of the episode the vocal fry wasn't there?  It came back during the bakes.  I'm so glad all the other bakers were so supportive of her.  I think if she wants to make vegan baking a career she has a shot at it.

I think in the end Giuseppe will beat out Juergen.  I think he's more talented, but to be fair, his dad is a professional baker so he has a little leg up in this competition.  I do enjoy Juergen, though.  I can't tell what emotion is behind his words, if he's being snippy, or just snarky sometimes.  Everything is so dry with him.  I did love Giuseppe's Einstein imitation, though. 

Opening bit - I'll admit that even all of Mel & Sue's opening bits didn't work for me, but I can't think of one since they left that I thought was worth the airtime.  I don't know Kraftwerk, but I didn't go to Hitler.  It was obvious to me they were imitating some (I assumed German) band, with the lipstick and red shirts and ties.  Made me think of Devo or other weird 80's bands.  I did like Prue coming out and unplugging them, though.  No acting required for that!  😁

 

 

[blueray]

First of all I am Jewish (feel like I should start with that) and wasn't offended at all by the opening. I have heard of Kraftwerk (though didn't remember the name) and thought they were mimicking any German 80's rock band and thought it was funny. I liked the part when Prue pulled out the cord lol.

4 hours ago, dleighg said:

I generally like him, but he seemed a bit prickly at the end, trying to explain away why he didn't "win" by saying "I don't really eat chocolate much. I much prefer (naming two other kinds of cakes)."

That's not terribly sporting. You didn't win. So what.

To be fair almost everyone does that. A lot of people say something like "I am never making x again". It's a defense mechanism that wasn't necessary but common. 

[Danny Franks]

51 minutes ago, chaifan said:

Opening bit - I'll admit that even all of Mel & Sue's opening bits didn't work for me, but I can't think of one since they left that I thought was worth the airtime.  I don't know Kraftwerk, but I didn't go to Hitler.  It was obvious to me they were imitating some (I assumed German) band, with the lipstick and red shirts and ties.  Made me think of Devo or other weird 80's bands.  I did like Prue coming out and unplugging them, though.  No acting required for that!  😁

 

The opening bits have always only been funny in a groaning, predictable kind of way. The differences with Noel and Matt are that they go more for skits than the corny puns that Mel and Sue employed, and that Paul and Prue are more game to join in (Paul is noticeably more comfortable with Noel than he was with Mel and Sue, but I like that Matt makes jokes that deliberately poke at Paul's macho image).

I couldn't name a Kraftwerk song, but they're just in my cultural subconsciousness as a seminal German electronica band, thanks to the sheer amount of parodies and affectionate skits I've seen over the years. Bill Bailey's bit on Kraftwerk performing the Hokey Cokey is fantastic.

Both Noel and Matt are musicians as well, so it's no surprise they went straight for Kraftwerk. If not them, perhaps it would have been Nena and 99 Luftballons, or even Rammstein.

[JustDucky]

I did a bit of investigating, and turns out Noel has Gilbert's Syndrome.  It's called "harmless", but it still doesn't sound like a good time, and Noel probably had to bow out for a bit of self-care to make sure he didn't get to a point where recovery would take longer.

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/gilberts-syndrome/symptoms-causes/syc-20372811

[meep.meep]

No love for Giuseppe's wide stance?

This was an OK episode, no where near the offensive levels of Japanese week.

Bye Freya - she really took on a difficult task deciding to do all vegan in signatures and show stoppers, and did remarkably well.

[Suzn]

9 hours ago, dleighg said:

I generally like him, but he seemed a bit prickly at the end, trying to explain away why he didn't "win" by saying "I don't really eat chocolate much. I much prefer (naming two other kinds of cakes)."

That's not terribly sporting. You didn't win. So what.

I didn't blame him at all.  The expectation that he would excel because he's German put him on the defensive, which I think it would most people.  Essentially saying to him, "why didn't you win?" would tend to put your back up.

[libgirl2]

4 hours ago, Danny Franks said:

The opening bits have always only been funny in a groaning, predictable kind of way. The differences with Noel and Matt are that they go more for skits than the corny puns that Mel and Sue employed, and that Paul and Prue are more game to join in (Paul is noticeably more comfortable with Noel than he was with Mel and Sue, but I like that Matt makes jokes that deliberately poke at Paul's macho image).

I couldn't name a Kraftwerk song, but they're just in my cultural subconsciousness as a seminal German electronica band, thanks to the sheer amount of parodies and affectionate skits I've seen over the years. Bill Bailey's bit on Kraftwerk performing the Hokey Cokey is fantastic.

Both Noel and Matt are musicians as well, so it's no surprise they went straight for Kraftwerk. If not them, perhaps it would have been Nena and 99 Luftballons, or even Rammstein.

I couldn't name a song of their's either but I knew it had something to do with German music before I "got" it. Rammstein would have been fun! And I'm German, no offense but why does everyone have to throw Hitler into everything? We are known for more than that. 

[DietCokeJunkie]

I wonder if the foreshadowing was put in on purpose by the producers? Freya talks about her mother telling her they can come pick her up on Tuesday, and she’s the one eliminated this week. Juergen talks about only one host on the German Bake-off, and Matt is the only host during the final judging. I’ll have to start paying attention to what people say during this show. 
I also wondered if Lizzie’s direct conversation with Noel during the showstopper round had something to do with him sitting out the rest of the show. She was pretty harsh with him about being annoying and disruptive. I know many people don’t enjoy his sense of humor, but he is one of the main reasons I watch. I generally love Lizzie’s commentary, but this just seemed too much. 

[AZChristian]

I think this popped up on my FB . . . but I thought you folks would enjoy seeing "young Jurgen."  I think he looks a bit like John Travolta in this picture.

[Aulty]

1 hour ago, Suzn said:

I didn't blame him at all.  The expectation that he would excel because he's German put him on the defensive, which I think it would most people.  Essentially saying to him, "why didn't you win?" would tend to put your back up.

Have they mentioned which part of Germany Juergen is from? Germany is a decent sized country, bigger than the UK in fact, with several distinct areas. They wouldn't expect a Cornish baker to excel at black buns, why act as if Juergen is master of every tradtitional German bake?
At the same time, the biscuits are more or less variations of short crust with complicated German names and the yeasted dough is just a sweet bun dough that needs less kneading - the playing field really wasn't as uneven as the producers wanted us to think.

Edited October 23, 2021 by Aulty

[Cetacean]

1 hour ago, Aulty said:

They wouldn't expect a Cornish baker to excel at black buns, why act as if Juergen is master of every tradtitional German bake?

Excellent point, I never thought of that.

2 hours ago, libgirl2 said:

And I'm German, no offense but why does everyone have to throw Hitler into everything?

Sorry, it had nothing to do with being German. I would have made the same comment if they were Irish.  The haircuts were the same as his.