S13.E08: Pastry Week

[Athena]

Quote

Each baker must show their vol-au-vent making skills, demonstrate a technical ability in creating a savoury snack and finally craft a showstopping 3D pie-scape depicting their favourite story from childhood. With only four places in the semi-final, who will be leaving the competition for good?

UK Air Date: November 1, 2022.

US Netflix Date: November 4, 2022.

[Lois Sandborne]

What the hell.

[zibnchy]

I actually gasped.

[AZChristian]

I'm going to be away from TV on Friday when it airs here.  What happened?????

[Danny Franks]

Well, this week wasn't very good. 

Pastry Week is usually enjoyable, but not when everyone keeps cocking up and half of them seem to be unable to make pastry. One, in fact, doesn't even know what sort of pastry he's making for his showstopper. It was so bad that Paul and Prue flat out said in the post-showstopper discussion that they were disappointed with the weekend.

Though I will say that there's an element of the time restrictions forcing drama, yet again. Did they have enough time to get the pastry cooked in the signature? Seems like they all had raw bits.

I like Sandro, and so do a lot of other people, but I think he's the one who should have gone, based on the feedback received in the episode. At least Maxy produced a showstopper that had elements which tasted good. Neither made good signatures either.

Janusz can't make custard? Like... at all? They really should have been more critical of his vol-au-vents having nothing more than strawberries and whipped cream as a filling.

None of these vol-au-vents looked a patch on the amazing ones Flora made a few years ago, which looked like they could go straight into a high-end patisserie.

Syabira is looking more and more like the final winner, because she's showing growth while the others seem to be reaching their limits. Although Abdul has sneakily done some really good stuff, but his personality clearly doesn't pop like the others.

[Aulty]

They completely lost me with that ridiculous showstopper challenge. Making a bake pretty, elaborate even, - thats fine, but the trend of turning everything into some 3D sculpture or toy and the overuse of food colouring needs to stop.

[jpgr]

I was really surprised that no one pricked the middle bottom of their vol-au-vents to keep it from puffing up while the rest puffed around it. I'm sure I've seen that technique before, and thought it odd to see them all tearing out the puffed-up middles so they could be filled.

I am in the minority camp of not liking Sandro at all, and this episode really reinforced that for me. Style over substance on so many levels.

And how does Janusz not know how to make custard? So last week was not an anomaly for him, he thought it was supposed to be that gloopy?

The Great Canadian Baking Show is blowing GBBO out of the water this season.

[TVbitch]

...um ...er ...uh. Well, my mother never actually ever told me, "If you don't have something nice to say....", but I'm gonna go with that anyway. ...Oof.  😊

[dleighg]

On 11/2/2022 at 9:39 AM, Danny Franks said:

Did they have enough time to get the pastry cooked in the signature? Seems like they all had raw bits.

That certainly seemed to be true. Give them enough time so that they can actually produce something that is baked properly.

For the technical, I thought those were egg rolls, not spring rolls. Maybe that's a British vs American thing, but in my experience spring rolls are with rice paper, and are a raw dish (with perhaps cooked, cold shrimp inside). And did anyone catch why they rolled out two, put them together, then cooked them in a pan, and then separated them? Seems rather elaborate.

Maxy, Maxy, Maxy. Why the filo? You could predict that would be a disaster. Syabira had the sense to use a dough that can be built into something. I liked what she did this week. 

I was surprised that Janusz wasn't in line for going home today. I thought he did the worst of the three.

Edited November 4, 2022 by dleighg

[Ms.Lulu]

52 minutes ago, dleighg said:

For the technical, I thought those were egg rolls, not spring rolls. Maybe that's a British vs American thing, but in my experience spring rolls are with rice paper, and are a raw dish (with perhaps cooked, cold shrimp inside). And did anyone catch why they rolled out two, put them together, then cooked them in a pan, and then separated them? Seems rather elaborate.

I think it is regional. Where I grew up (Northeast US) spring rolls were rice paper, filled with veggies. Egg rolls were wheat, filled with cabbage and pork. Egg rolls were always fried, spring rolls could be fried or not.

[Rammchick]

1 hour ago, Ms.Lulu said:

I think it is regional. Where I grew up (Northeast US) spring rolls were rice paper, filled with veggies. Egg rolls were wheat, filled with cabbage and pork. Egg rolls were always fried, spring rolls could be fried or not.

I'm also from the Northeast originally, and when I saw what Prue called a spring roll, I immediately said, "That's an egg roll."  I'm not exactly sure that's regional, though, because the egg roll is made with a wonton wrapper (which is what they made), although that filling is what generally goes in a (fried) spring roll, so it was kind of a mish mash of the two things.  I also didn't get that step of putting the dough sheets together, putting them in the pan, etc.

I was kind of disappointed that after all the talk about Maxy making phyllo pastry, we never saw her actually make it.  And oh my but wasn't Noel weird this week!  I suppose it was fitting, given how many of the bakers stumbled this late in the game.

[Ellaria]

Disappointing week but not necessarily for the same reasons as Paul and Prue stated.

On 11/2/2022 at 12:38 PM, Aulty said:

They completely lost me with that ridiculous showstopper challenge. Making a bake pretty, elaborate even, - thats fine, but the trend of turning everything into some 3D sculpture or toy and the overuse of food colouring needs to stop.

Agree. The structural bakes are going too far this season. IMO, most of them don’t look appetizing. Since we can’t taste any of it, looks are important.

Also, the time constraints work against the bakers’ ability to deliver tasty, attractive bakes on a consistent basis.

Spring rolls? Sigh…

[dleighg]

45 minutes ago, Rammchick said:

I was kind of disappointed that after all the talk about Maxy making phyllo pastry, we never saw her actually make it. 

oh yes! I forgot to mention that! I have trouble with the packaged stuff (keeping it from drying out and cracking); I'd have loved to see her (try to) make it. Hers looked very thick.

[Lisapooh]

heart. broken.

If everyone's bake was so disappointing, maybe it's because the challenges weren't realistic. I'm a pretty avid home baker. I really enjoy trying to decide what I would do for each of the challenges. And most weeks I attempt to do the the signature to see if/how I can. Never made vol-au-vents....excited to try.

But that showstopper....I would have just quit. I admit, pies are my least favorite and least successful thing to bake, but good Lord. Make a 3D fairy tale out of 8 separate pies in four hours? No. Just no. 

Edited November 4, 2022 by Lisapooh
monumental typos

[rlc]

Many questionable decisions were made by the bakers this week. It looked like Maxy made more mistakes this week than Sandro did, so it was probably the correct decision, but I will be (mildly) upset if Sandro wines this overall. I hope they all step it up next week (and are given enough time to complete their bakes).

[Straycat80]

Tough week for the bakers. Everything looked very difficult to make maybe? 
Where I live spring rolls are made of rice paper. And was that baking? 
I was rooting for Maxy but she made the most mistakes out of everyone. So sad to see her go. 
Sybira won star baker because the judges liked her showstopper. Starting to think she might win the finale unless the guys step it up. 

[Kiddvideo]

I felt no one deserved star baker for another week. Janusz, especially, and Sybira peaked Week 1. Sandro W2. For any of them to have a weakness in something like laminated breads (let alone custards??) should be enough to get then DQ’d from the show let alone let them scoot through to the quarters. And their cameras didn’t show what happened to the 8th roll or did it fall on the floor the editors decided to make fun of it after last season’s scandal?

[SuprSuprElevated]

2 minutes ago, Kiddvideo said:

I felt no one deserved star baker for another week. Janusz, especially, and Sybira peaked Week 1. Sandro W2. For any of them to have a weakness in something like laminated breads (let alone custards??) should be enough to get then DQ’d from the show let alone let them scoot through to the quarters. And their cameras didn’t show what happened to the 8th roll or did it fall on the floor the editors decided to make fun of it after last season’s scandal?

I counted 7 when he had them in the fryer, and commnted on it to my husband.  Can't say with absolute certainty, but I don't think he had 8.

[dleighg]

14 minutes ago, SuprSuprElevated said:

I counted 7 when he had them in the fryer, and commnted on it to my husband.  Can't say with absolute certainty, but I don't think he had 8.

I also counted 7 when he made that comment (and I think that's why they aired that bit). It's *possible* that the 8th was out of sight right along the close side of the fryer, but I don't think there was room for it there.

[blueray]

On 11/2/2022 at 9:39 AM, Danny Franks said:

Syabira is looking more and more like the final winner, because she's showing growth while the others seem to be reaching their limits. Although Abdul has sneakily done some really good stuff, but his personality clearly doesn't pop like the others.

For a while I kept forgetting Abdul was either there. Which is surprising so far in to the show. But then I realized that he has a "normal" personality that doesn't stand out. And they weren't really focusing on him until this episode. I honestly was hoping he'd get star baker. They liked his show stopper even though it was simple. And he did fine in the other categories. 

Though I will say this far along and none of them did great on pastries. The signature was bad for everyone. 

I agree with the Maxy decision as Sandro won technical which should be worth something.

[Jodithgrace]

That was a truly sad competition this week. I’ve watched countless cooking shows and while I have never made puff pastry cups like that, I’m sure I could have told them all what they were doing wrong. If they’d only had me to backseat drive! 
And for heavens sake, turn on your &@#$ oven! Was it Sandro who forgot? Arggh!

Yeah, I didn’t get the story told in pies thing, either. Sybira was lucky her pies turned out well, because she is the worst artist. She shouldn’t  be penalized for that, but that’s why I don’t like those kinds of challenges.

Janusz turns out works of art every week, but the baking isn’t always up to snuff. How many people told him to add cream to his pastry cream, when it was stodgy? If he had folded whipped cream into his pastry cream, it would have lightened up and he could have used it.

Maxy started off really well, but every week she got worse and worse, it seemed. 
 

I remember another week a few years ago when everybody did so poorly that they almost didn’t have a star baker. I remember Paul reading them all the riot act. I didn’t see anything like that this week. Maybe he yelled at them off camera. (Unless, of course, I am just imagining the whole thing)   

[MsMalin]

6 hours ago, Lisapooh said:

Make a 3D fairy tale out of 8 separate pies in four hours?

it sounds so ridiculous when I read that in black and white.

My biggest pet peeve with all of these food competition shows is not enough time.

[iMonrey]

Quote

If everyone's bake was so disappointing, maybe it's because the challenges weren't realistic

This. If they are expected to fashion elaborate fairy tale scenes they need more time to do it. Even a professional baker wouldn't have been able to pull something like that off. They would have needed a whole day or maybe even two. This was ridiculous.

What's interesting is that Syabira's Showstopper looked a hot mess (IMO) and Abdul had the simplest presentation but the judges ranked them highest because the bakes and flavors were good. It seems like there's a fine line and/or entirely inconsistent criteria between making something "too simple" or "too stodgy" and trying something really eye-popping and elaborate that fails because there isn't enough time.

And for Pete's sake - I wish Sandro would finally get a clue and figure out less is more, but instead he keeps doubling down. It's like he's convinced he needs to stand out by doing more than anyone else. He runs into the same exact problem every week.

(I can't believe it's taken me this long to notice that the stripes shaved into the right side of Sandro's head extend all the way into his eyebrow.)

It's Syabira's cake stand to lose, but we've seen plenty of sure bets steamroll their way to the final and then fall apart. (I'm thinking it was Steph in Season 10 that everyone was sure would win and then she had three disastrous bakes in the finale.) 

[Jane Tuesday]

Where I live, what they made would definitely be called spring rolls, and also egg rolls.  LOL

Sorry Maxy is gone, but she legit seemed like she was about to have a full panic attack, so maybe it's for the best.  I actually really like Noel, but he really needs to learn how to read the room and leave them be.  For some people a little distraction helps relieve stress, but Maxy is not one of those people.

[jabRI]

I saw the headline for the 'shock elimination during pastry week' before I watched the episode, and have no idea who would be shocked.  She did bad all week, she even admitted it herself.

[Deskisamess]

Boy do I miss baking on the Bake Off. What a disappointing season it's been.

Spring rolls/egg rolls are not baking. You don't buy them in a bakery. Neither are tacos.

An article in The Guardian says it well, https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2022/nov/03/great-british-bake-off-baking-show-lost-its-charm

[Salacious Kitty]

10 minutes ago, Deskisamess said:

Boy do I miss baking on the Bake Off. What a disappointing season it's been.

Spring rolls/egg rolls are not baking. You don't buy them in a bakery. Neither are tacos.

An article in The Guardian says it well, https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2022/nov/03/great-british-bake-off-baking-show-lost-its-charm

Dare I say it's jumped the shark? 😢

[MartyQui]

Here in Massachusetts, egg rolls have bubbles, spring rolls are smaller with no bubbles, and summer rolls are wrapped in rice paper.  That was not a pastry challenge.

[Cetacean]

What fresh hell was that?  Impossible time constraints for added drama and stress on the contestants.  Stupid techicals that have nothing whatsoever to do with baking (and they are egg rolls in my neck of the woods).  And the insistence on Showstoppers that only stop the show because they are so pathetic.  Who sees bland looking fairy tale displays in the window of a high end bakery?  Or any bakery for that matter.  I've seem better displays at Walmart.

Is Noel off his meds.....or taking too many?  He was in lala land this week, his comments made no sense whatsover.  And he and Matt pestering the contestants is not funny, it's annoying as all hell.

This once charming show has really jumped the shark.  Thank heavens I have the Canadian version to give me my feel good viewing.

[Rahul]

6 hours ago, SuprSuprElevated said:

I counted 7 when he had them in the fryer, and commnted on it to my husband.  Can't say with absolute certainty, but I don't think he had 8.

Janus flat out lied about having eight “spring rolls.” I’m surprised he made it this far into the competition because he seems to really only excel at drip cakes and cannot even make a proper custard or crème pat. I felt he deserved to be eliminated last week instead of Kevin and was really perturbed the judges seemed to give him a stay of execution based on some previous wins, whereas Kevin’s flavors were deemed superior.

I’m really sad to see Maxy go. Pastry week really just wasn’t her week.

[bugsmum]

Once again the technical is cooking, not baking.  Ridiculous and annoying.  So sorry to see Maxy go, she's been one of my favorites.  As has a Sandro but he was a bit much this week.  It's pastry week, dude, you have to know what kind of pastry you're making for that stupid showstopper.  And then you have to do it well.  He's so focused on getting that handshake he's forgetting to actually bake well enough to get it.

3 minutes ago, Rahul said:

 Pastry week really just wasn’t her week.

Pastry week wasn't any of their weeks.

[Ellaria]

2 hours ago, Deskisamess said:

Boy do I miss baking on the Bake Off. What a disappointing season it's been.

Spring rolls/egg rolls are not baking. You don't buy them in a bakery. Neither are tacos.

An article in The Guardian says it well, https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2022/nov/03/great-british-bake-off-baking-show-lost-its-charm

Excellent article!

This season has been a disaster for so many reasons. It’s a shame because the bakers are a likable group. It’s hard to know if they are as talented as previous bakers because the challenges have, for the most part, have not given them a chance to shine.

I hope that the show runners - and judges - take the criticism into account and get back to what made this show so delightful. I believe that Paul and Prue are part of the problem this season; much of the criticisms have been brutal and not constructive.

In past seasons, the challenges were interesting and fun. As an inexperienced baker, I have always been tempted to buy something in a bakery (chocolate babka) or to follow a baker’s recipe and try to make it at home (soda bread). This year, I have not been tempted by any of it.

Edited November 5, 2022 by Ellaria Sand

[roseslg]

I noted that there was an error/forecasting in the voiceover when Matt said Sabirya had won 3 star bakers in a row.  This was before the signature bake was even half-way through. Three weeks ago she was in the bottom, then she won two in a row. This is her third one in a row.

[buttersister]

Hot mess. And I'm old enough to remember when this was called Patisserie Week. Hardly.

[Salacious Kitty]

I think Patisserie Week is always week 9. Next week. 😊

[pH-factor]

Spring rolls required no baking just like ice  cream didn't.  If the wanted a baked element laet week they could had them have a go at baked Alaskas.  Though I  got that from my grandma's cookbook that was from 1950s or 60s.  Surely Pru would be familiar with them.

The cookbook also had a lot of unique alcoholic beverages for your dinner parties too. What ever happen to having the boss over for dinner?😉

[J-Man]

10 hours ago, Ellaria Sand said:

In past seasons, the challenges were interesting and fun. As an inexperienced baker, I have always been tempted to buy something in a bakery (chocolate babka) or to follow a baker’s recipe and try to make it at home (soda bread). This year, I have not been tempted by any of it.

What? You mean you don't want to run down to your bakery and check out their selection of tacos and spring rolls? 

[Lois Sandborne]

On 11/2/2022 at 9:24 PM, jpgr said:

The Great Canadian Baking Show is blowing GBBO out of the water this season.

I didn't realize they were into a new season. I'm going to have to dig that up!

14 hours ago, iMonrey said:

What's interesting is that Syabira's Showstopper looked a hot mess (IMO) and Abdul had the simplest presentation but the judges ranked them highest because the bakes and flavors were good. It seems like there's a fine line and/or entirely inconsistent criteria between making something "too simple" or "too stodgy" and trying something really eye-popping and elaborate that fails because there isn't enough time.

THIS. The judging is so goofy. One week someone can have terrible execution and great flavors, and win through, and some other time it'll taste great and look appalling, and it's "you can't just lean on your flavors." In past seasons people have been dinged and eliminated for presenting incomplete bakes, but Janusz is missing a whole spring roll and still comes in first or second in the technical.  Bake Off always talks that good game that anyone can go at any time, but they definitely take past performance into consideration when they feel like it, and it also often seems like they change the weight and significance of each challenge on a whim as well. Sometimes a great technical or a remarkable signature matters more than the showstopper, and sometimes not. For me, that makes it really hard to understand why Maxy of all people got the chop this week, when everyone was more wretched than not. Top Chef makes a big deal too about their judging being week to week, but they're much more consistent with it.

That Guardian article nailed it: "The solution appears simple enough: straightforward challenges (you can even repeat them from earlier episodes, we don’t care!), kinder judging and a bit more time. After all, Bake Off is supposed to be a show that encourages you to try it yourself. But with everything these bakers have been subjected to, no one would want to be in their shoes." Enough said.

[Johnny Dollar]

This has to be the worst “quarter-finals” episode ever. Even the “winners” of each round were a disaster. None of these people could hold a candle to last year’s final five. 

[MisterGlass]

I was actually interested in spring rolls as a technical challenge.  I've never thought of those as pastry, but from a certain angle it is a fried pie.  This is another one where it would have been more pastry focused if it had been a challenge of multiple doughs.  A fried roll, a fresh roll, and a steamed roll, maybe.

Have they ever done a dumpling week?

[ABay]

The showstopper was supposed to be fairy tales. Sybira's the only one who used an actual fairy tale; Very Hungry Caterpillar, Treasure Island, and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star are not fairy tales. The challenge was bad enough--although at least some of it included actual baking--without also being inaccurate.

And, yeah, Noel was especially bizarre this week.

[dleighg]

11 minutes ago, ABay said:

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

So that's what that was. I must have missed it when she said what she was doing, and when it was presented I could not for the life of me figure out what story it was supposed to be.

Edited November 5, 2022 by dleighg

[dgpolo]

1 hour ago, ABay said:

The showstopper was supposed to be fairy tales.

Actually the challenge was "bake a 3D pie scene inspired by their favorite childhood story or nursery rhyme." so everyone was within the brief, even Janusz who used The Very Hungry Caterpillar as a basis for his very hungry dog since it was 'inspired' by the other story. I knew when I heard the brief it would not be what I would consider 'childhood stories' they are much too young to have the same favorite stories as me.

[Nidratime]

I remember last week, they said they couldn't taste Maxy's custard in her showstopper -- which was the key ingredient of the episode. So, I was actually surprised she wasn't up for elimination last week. This time, it could've been any of three people - Janusz, Sandro, and Maxy. Because of last week's results, I wasn't too upset about this week.

[Suzn]

I agree that the word for this season is disaster. I don't understand why so many challenges are not BAKING!  If you can't buy it in a bakery, it's not baking. 

S'more are not a bakery item and should not be a thick wad of marshmallow on a biscuit - they are not meant to be identical items on a tray.  Each one should be individual - toasted or a little burnt and melty with a piece of chocolate.  

Tacos have nothing to do with baking.  They are probably the most common Mexican food and yet they couldn't even tell everyone the proper pronunciation.

Spring rolls are not baking either.

Paul is a bigger PITA than ever and Prue is not balancing his nastiness enough.

As others have said, they need to get back to true baked goods (repetition would be fine) and allow adequate time to excel.  I could go on and on but others have covered many things I would say.  I don't know if I want to suffer through another season.

[Cetacean]

5 hours ago, Lois Sandborne said:

I didn't realize they were into a new season. I'm going to have to dig that up!

20 hours ago, iMonrey said:

Episode 6 airs tomorrow night.

[pH-factor]

I thought recently the show stopper has become the British version of "Nailed It".  At least a contestant on that show with the least horrid 3D bake gets $10,000.  If you are going to give me an impossible task that TPTB set me up to fail I'll do the one where   I might at least get a reward and everyone is in on the joke.

[theatremouse]

On 11/2/2022 at 7:24 PM, jpgr said:

And how does Janusz not know how to make custard? So last week was not an anomaly for him, he thought it was supposed to be that gloopy?

I sort of enjoyed/appreciated the moment he had Maxy taste his custard, and sort of, realized live in the moment that he had thought he knew how to make custard, but based on last week + that moment, he actually...doesn't. Or perhaps, what he thinks is good custard texture is actually very wrong. It was sort of refreshing.

18 hours ago, Rahul said:

Janus flat out lied about having eight “spring rolls.”

I think the implication is he miscounted. That's why they showed him counting in the fryer, saying 8, when we could see in the shot it was 7.

[ZeeEnnui]

On 11/4/2022 at 1:49 PM, Jodithgrace said:

I remember another week a few years ago when everybody did so poorly that they almost didn’t have a star baker. I remember Paul reading them all the riot act. I didn’t see anything like that this week. Maybe he yelled at them off camera. (Unless, of course, I am just imagining the whole thing)   

I remember that week (just not the season), and frankly this week they should have asked Hannah Waddingham to reprise her "shame, SHAME" role from Game of Thrones and ring her bell in front of the bakers truly terrible pastries. Honestly, I'm surprised that Paul didn't push for a "no win week." He loves a little fuck you with his flaky crust. 

I've noticed this season that there are less comments on the boards, which says a lot. Past seasons, I was posting after each episode but this year, meh....it's almost not worth taking the time to snark. 

[DkNNy79]

Syabira was the obvious star baker because she was the only one who did well on the signature and was decent on the show stopper.  Maxy seemed very nervous and was kind of going with the flow, so maybe she didn’t get to practice as much as she would’ve liked.

Janusz seems to be slipping after starting so strong and I was nervous for him last week.