S15.E05: Pastry Week

[Michichick]

We’ve reached the point where I’ll feel sad no matter who goes home. I liked Andy a lot, but it just wasn’t his week. Well done to Gill.

I’ve never heard of a Paris-Brest before, but it looks delicious. Building the edible stands was just more of the construction work that I’d prefer not to see on the show.

[dleighg]

So mean to make them make filo by hand. I find the bought stuff hard enough to handle! (I love Ina Garten's version of spanokopita). What was that sauce they served along side that they never mentioned, or apparently even tasted? I assume it was some sort of yogurt-dill thing.

Noel has the WEIRDEST sweaters. I imagine they are not cheap.

[Dirge]

4 hours ago, Michichick said:

Building the edible stands was just more of the construction work that I’d prefer not to see on the show.

Yeah, I'm not a fan of it either. 

I thought Andy's departure was easy to predict this week. I really like him. 

[Straycat80]

I’m glad Gill won star baker, she’s a good baker, her caramel cake last week was amazing. I feel she’s been overshadowed by Dylan and Nelly. 
Noel needs to learn when to back off, I don’t blame Sumiyah for telling him to get out of her way. It’s got to be stressful being in a baking competition and then having someone breaking your concentration. 

Too bad for Andy. I’ll miss him. I fear Illiyiana is next. 

Edited October 25 by Straycat80

[caitmcg]

4 hours ago, dleighg said:

So mean to make them make filo by hand.

They've had several technicals that included making filo over the years. But they basically never allow store-bought elements (witness how everyone must cook their own jams). I think that, other than the typical issue of not baking long enough in the technical challenges, the main issue a lot of them had was not squeezing enough water out of the spinach, which seems like a 101 kind of issue.

4 hours ago, dleighg said:

I find the bought stuff hard enough to handle!

I find it's a lot more forgiving than people assume. Yeah, you need to keep it from drying out too much as you work, but if it tears, you just carry on with the layering and painting with butter or oil, and once it's baked, you can't even tell.

[sharifa70]

My northwestern American ears laughed at Christiaan thinking his pronunciation of “pecan” was cheeky. That’s exactly my normal, unironic pronunciation. “puhKAHN.” 😂

I adored Nelly’s look! 

I felt so sorry for Andy. He just didn’t have a good couple of days. I’m sorry to see him go, but I’m sorry to see any of this group go. Also, with all of the attention the bakers usually show to Paul, I am loving Dylan’s open respect and admiration for Prue.

[dgpolo]

Did anyone see what Dylan's hat said? Just when they were going for a frontal shot it disappeared. Was it a copyright issue?

[sugarbaker design]

8 minutes ago, dgpolo said:

Did anyone see what Dylan's hat said? Just when they were going for a frontal shot it disappeared. Was it a copyright issue?

Bleachers.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bleachers_(band)

[Orcinus orca]

I thought Nelly looked downright adorable in her getup. Andy was fine but not one of my favorites.  Glad that Gill had a great week; I think it's great when Star Baker is spread around a bit rather than going to one person over and over.

The construction project stuff is tiresome; just bake something beautiful and tasty. Some of the Paris Brest fillings sounded scrummy!

[libgirl2]

1 hour ago, Orcinus orca said:

I thought Nelly looked downright adorable in her getup. Andy was fine but not one of my favorites.  Glad that Gill had a great week; I think it's great when Star Baker is spread around a bit rather than going to one person over and over.

The construction project stuff is tiresome; just bake something beautiful and tasty. Some of the Paris Brest fillings sounded scrummy!

They did not need the stands.  Just bake something good. 

[MerBearHou]

Awww, Andy was one of my absolute favorites.  I just loved his humor and smile plus his sensitive side about his daughter and getting a little teary when he hadn’t done well.  Plus I think he’s cute.  

But there was not a shred of doubt on who needed to go this week.  Andy, I wish you well!  

[Sesquipedalia]

9 hours ago, caitmcg said:

the main issue a lot of them had was not squeezing enough water out of the spinach, which seems like a 101 kind of issue.

Yes, I'm no baker, but just from experience cooking with spinach, this is the one thing I know I would have done correctly in this challenge.

 

7 hours ago, sharifa70 said:

My northwestern American ears laughed at Christiaan thinking his pronunciation of “pecan” was cheeky. That’s exactly my normal, unironic pronunciation. “puhKAHN.” 😂

This is also how it's pronounced in the south, and the pecan is native down here, so I consider it the correct pronunciation.

[kirklandia]

What was the deal with that tzatziki? Why did they not mention it during the intro, during the baking time, or the judging? Why did they not show any of the bakers making it?  Why didn't any of the judges dip their spanakopita into it?

it is not unusual for them to require a side sauce during a savory bake - and when they do, they taste it.

 

 

[Sesquipedalia]

48 minutes ago, kirklandia said:

What was the deal with that tzatziki? Why did they not mention it during the intro, during the baking time, or the judging? Why did they not show any of the bakers making it?  Why didn't any of the judges dip their spanakopita into it?

it is not unusual for them to require a side sauce during a savory bake - and when they do, they taste it.

 

 

🤔Mysterious!

 

[sugarbaker design]

8 hours ago, kirklandia said:

What was the deal with that tzatziki? Why did they not mention it during the intro, during the baking time, or the judging? Why did they not show any of the bakers making it? 

 

 

Probably because the contestants didn't have to make it from scratch. It may have been provided.

[iMonrey]

I'm with everyone else on this, they need to stop this construction nonsense. We don't need to be wowed by these massive builds, this is a baking competition not a construction competition. It's enough just to see something elegant and appetizing. Some of the actual Paris-Brests looked wonderful, they didn't need the stupid stands.

I had assumed frangipane was almond based so I was surprised to see so many coconut, pistachio and blackberry frangipanes. Were they still almond based but just with those added flavors?

I enjoyed Andy but if I'm honest I was lucky to understand what he was saying 50% of the time. His accent is so thick.

[dgpolo]

3 hours ago, sugarbaker design said:

Probably because the contestants didn't have to make it from scratch. It may have been provided.

Not too sure about this, if it was provided why not just have a one bowl at the judges table for their use, why have individual bowls? I don't think they've ever been just provided with a side element like that.

[caitmcg]

13 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

I had assumed frangipane was almond based so I was surprised to see so many coconut, pistachio and blackberry frangipanes. Were they still almond based but just with those added flavors?

Frangipane can be made with any kind of nut, so the pistachio, hazelnut, and cashew frangipanes that various contestants made were just versions made with those instead of almonds. I assume the coconut ones were just riffs on the classic using coconut in place of nuts, and I'm pretty sure the description of the blackberry one also included a nut, but I don't remember which kind. (Here's a TikTok of cookbook author Samantha Seneviratne demonstrating her "any nut frangipane.")

[kirklandia]

3 hours ago, sugarbaker design said:

Probably because the contestants didn't have to make it from scratch. It may have been provided.

I don't think they ever do that.
As a tzatziki lover, I did look at each bowl, and they did not look alike.

[dgpolo]

9 minutes ago, kirklandia said:

I don't think they ever do that.
As a tzatziki lover, I did look at each bowl, and they did not look alike.

After a little googling I found this:

First this site: https://www.eatyourbooks.com/blog/2024/10/26/the-great-british-bake-off-baking-show-week-5-pastry-2024 says: I didn’t hear them say anything about tzatziki but the GBBO site includes tzatziki with the spanakopita recipe and the bakers had little bowls of what I assume to be tzatziki next to their bakes.

So then I looked at the GBBO site: https://thegreatbritishbakeoff.co.uk/recipes/all/paul-hollywoods-spanakopita/ and it does have a tzatziki recipe with the spanakopita. Of course this is the whole recipe and not the abridged version they give to the bakers but I'm inclined to believe they were told to make some and for some reason they edited it all out.

[Cattoy]

On 10/25/2024 at 8:14 AM, Michichick said:

We’ve reached the point where I’ll feel sad no matter who goes home. I liked Andy a lot, but it just wasn’t his week. Well done to Gill.

I’ve never heard of a Paris-Brest before, but it looks delicious. Building the edible stands was just more of the construction work that I’d prefer not to see on the show.

The show did Paris-Brest in Season 3, I think? James tried to make a choux bicycle since it's named after a bike race.

The construction challenges get tiring. It's supposed to be a competition of home bakers. I get that we can't taste what they're making, but the construction side isn't interesting.

When Christiaan described his black sesame and fruit filling, I thought it sounded horrible. Not surprised it looked horrible, too, or that Prue and Paul didn't care for it. Some flavors are versatile enough to fit a wide variety of uses. I'm not sure I'd put black sesame in that group.

[peeayebee]

Was that what Prue said looked like sardine paté? Before that she said something else that it looked like. I thought both descriptions were accurate.

[janie jones]

16 hours ago, kirklandia said:

What was the deal with that tzatziki? Why did they not mention it during the intro, during the baking time, or the judging? Why did they not show any of the bakers making it?  Why didn't any of the judges dip their spanakopita into it?

What was also weird was that they did include a shot of Paul pointing at someone's tzatziki, although the audio was him talking about the spanakopita.

[caitmcg]

I wonder if any references/video regarding the tzatziki were simply edited out for time, because they decided they needed to devote more to the showstopper or something.

[Sesquipedalia]

1 hour ago, caitmcg said:

I wonder if any references/video regarding the tzatziki were simply edited out for time, because they decided they needed to devote more to the showstopper or something.

Yes, it could be that simple. Maybe everyone's tzatziki was good, so it didn't play a big part in the judging. It's quite easy to make.

[AnnaBaptist]

8 hours ago, iMonrey said:

I enjoyed Andy but if I'm honest I was lucky to understand what he was saying 50% of the time. His accent is so thick.

I'm surprised to learn that he's from Essex. It sounds like a Midlands sort of accent to me, maybe Leicester? Perhaps he grew up in the Midlands and moved to Essex.

Until this season, there has never been a group where I have liked everyone. It's so sad to see any of them leave!

[oliviabenson]

On 10/25/2024 at 9:22 AM, dleighg said:

So mean to make them make filo by hand. I find the bought stuff hard enough to handle! (I love Ina Garten's version of spanokopita). What was that sauce they served along side that they never mentioned, or apparently even tasted? I assume it was some sort of yogurt-dill thing.

Noel has the WEIRDEST sweaters. I imagine they are not cheap.

Someone on Reddit found the site for his sweaters. Like $200 or something per sweater.

6 hours ago, peeayebee said:

Was that what Prue said looked like sardine paté? Before that she said something else that it looked like. I thought both descriptions were accurate.

Baked mushrooms or something.

[oliviabenson]

I’m going to miss Andy. Even though I didn’t understand most of his comments. And Nelly looked great!

[blueray]

On 10/26/2024 at 12:06 AM, kirklandia said:

What was the deal with that tzatziki? Why did they not mention it during the intro, during the baking time, or the judging? Why did they not show any of the bakers making it?  Why didn't any of the judges dip their spanakopita into it?

it is not unusual for them to require a side sauce during a savory bake - and when they do, they taste it.

 

 

At first I thought did they all get the same sauce to use or something. But then I realized they were all different. So they did make them. It's weird that it wasn't mentioned at all.

[Rahul]

16 hours ago, AnnaBaptist said:

I'm surprised to learn that he's from Essex. It sounds like a Midlands sort of accent to me, maybe Leicester? Perhaps he grew up in the Midlands and moved to Essex.

Until this season, there has never been a group where I have liked everyone. It's so sad to see any of them leave!

I have family in Leicester (was just there for several weeks this summer) and Andy doesn’t sound like he has a Leicestershire accent to me at all. He’s so unintelligible I have to rewind and put the subtitles on every time he’s on screen. His accent sounds very Cockney to me.

[Ancaster]

On 10/26/2024 at 5:22 PM, AnnaBaptist said:

I'm surprised to learn that he's from Essex. It sounds like a Midlands sort of accent to me, maybe Leicester? Perhaps he grew up in the Midlands and moved to Essex.

Until this season, there has never been a group where I have liked everyone. It's so sad to see any of them leave!

 

8 hours ago, Rahul said:

I have family in Leicester (was just there for several weeks this summer) and Andy doesn’t sound like he has a Leicestershire accent to me at all. He’s so unintelligible I have to rewind and put the subtitles on every time he’s on screen. His accent sounds very Cockney to me.

He's totally Essex, innit?  🤣

 

Edited October 28 by Ancaster

[buttersister]

Noel can back all the way off. Is he high, stupid or a raging narcissist? (Who sympathizes with bakers because it makes him look good.)

[pasdetrois]

On 10/25/2024 at 4:36 PM, sharifa70 said:

That’s exactly my normal, unironic pronunciation. “puhKAHN.” 😂

In the deep American South, pronouncing it any other way is blasphemy.

[blueray]

8 hours ago, buttersister said:

Noel can back all the way off. Is he high, stupid or a raging narcissist? (Who sympathizes with bakers because it makes him look good.)

I feel like I'm missing context? He didn't do anything to show this at least in this episode.

[Deskisamess]

18 hours ago, Rahul said:

I have family in Leicester (was just there for several weeks this summer) and Andy doesn’t sound like he has a Leicestershire accent to me at all. He’s so unintelligible I have to rewind and put the subtitles on every time he’s on screen. His accent sounds very Cockney to me.

We turned on closed captioning for every episode this season. I can usually get what is being said, but the various accents and quick speech makes it tough for my husband.

[iMonrey]

13 hours ago, buttersister said:

Noel can back all the way off. Is he high, stupid or a raging narcissist? (Who sympathizes with bakers because it makes him look good.)

Aw, he's just doing his job. I get that approaching Sumayah when she was frantically trying to finish was ill-timed, but he did back off like she asked. Frankly she didn't come off very well in that interaction either.

I got a kick out of Noel trying to get Dylan to say he was his favorite. Dylan: "Ummm . . . . . "

I actually think the show has hit just the right balance with Noel and Alison. Noel and Matt never quite gelled, and Alison has the better personality for this. Assuming we're never going to get Mel and Sue back, I'd just as soon the show stuck with these two.

[peeayebee]

20 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

Aw, he's just doing his job. I get that approaching Sumayah when she was frantically trying to finish was ill-timed, but he did back off like she asked. Frankly she didn't come off very well in that interaction either.

I thought she came off fine. She needed to get it done, she was stressed, but she was just straightforward with him. Sometimes it's good to be direct.

[libgirl2]

31 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

Aw, he's just doing his job. I get that approaching Sumayah when she was frantically trying to finish was ill-timed, but he did back off like she asked. Frankly she didn't come off very well in that interaction either.

I got a kick out of Noel trying to get Dylan to say he was his favorite. Dylan: "Ummm . . . . . "

I actually think the show has hit just the right balance with Noel and Alison. Noel and Matt never quite gelled, and Alison has the better personality for this. Assuming we're never going to get Mel and Sue back, I'd just as soon the show stuck with these two.

People have told him (or others) to back off a bit nicer or at least with an edge of humor to it. She was very serious. I didn't care much for it, but I do understand that it wasn't the time for jokes. 

[Orcinus orca]

33 minutes ago, peeayebee said:

I thought she came off fine. She needed to get it done, she was stressed, but she was just straightforward with him. Sometimes it's good to be direct.

I agree.  Noel sometimes is obtuse and doesn't read the room at all.  Screwing around when things are tense is not kind and breaking that bowl of caramel could have been avoided with a little more thought about tossing things around in a crowded venue.   I would have slugged him.  Nelly let him off easy.

[buttersister]

Quote

feel like I'm missing context?

Yeah, it was approaching Sumayah, who no doubt had a picture of a broken bowl of caramel in her head. I’m not a fan, but YMMV. 

Thankful for Allison.

[blueray]

Oh. I didn't think it was that bad. He should have realized it was a bad time to try to talk to her or anyone for that matter, it was toward the end of time. But as other's have said, he backed of when she asked.

[AZChristian]

This week's farewell letter.

[sugarbaker design]

4 minutes ago, AZChristian said:

This week's farewell letter.

AKA Wonka! 😀

[SemiCharmedLife]

I was very impressed with Jill's signature bake and her showstopper.  She has elevated her presentation and the flavors looked so delicious.  

I'll miss good natured Andy and his smile, humor and the fun he brings to the tent.  He had some great bakes in his time there.  

[RoxiP]

I think Noel and Allison are a good pair.  The whole back and forth with Samiyah started out with Allison telling Noel she said Allison was his favorite and he was reacting - of course he didn't pick a good time.

This might be an unpopular opinion, but I went back and watched Matt's time on Bake Off and quite honestly his type of humor did not appeal to me by the end of his tenure. He was really sweet at the beginning but by the end of his time he was throwing in a lot of sexual remarks and innuendo and I just did not enjoy it in this show (again, this is just my opinion). 

[sugarbaker design]

8 minutes ago, RoxiP said:

This might be an unpopular opinion, but I went back and watched Matt's time on Bake Off and quite honestly his type of humor did not appeal to me by the end 

You are not alone. I loved Matt on Little Britain, but I loathed him on GBBO. Except for that one moment when a contestant (I forget her name) point blank asked him if he was really paid for this!

Noel and Allison are a great pair.

[Orcinus orca]

34 minutes ago, RoxiP said:

This might be an unpopular opinion, but I went back and watched Matt's time on Bake Off and quite honestly his type of humor did not appeal to me by the end of his tenure. 

Not alone at all. I loathed him.

On 10/28/2024 at 4:42 PM, blueray said:

But as other's have said, he backed of when she asked.

She shouldn't have had to ask.  Noel needs to read the room better and not just drop by to chat when someone is obviously in a hurry.

[caitmcg]

1 hour ago, Orcinus orca said:

She shouldn't have had to ask.  Noel needs to read the room better and not just drop by to chat when someone is obviously in a hurry.

Yeah, unfortunately, this wasn't the first time someone had to tell him to go away when he stopped to chat at crunch time.

[magdalene]

On 10/28/2024 at 9:25 AM, iMonrey said:

Aw, he's just doing his job. I get that approaching Sumayah when she was frantically trying to finish was ill-timed, but he did back off like she asked. Frankly she didn't come off very well in that interaction either.

I got a kick out of Noel trying to get Dylan to say he was his favorite. Dylan: "Ummm . . . . . "

I actually think the show has hit just the right balance with Noel and Alison. Noel and Matt never quite gelled, and Alison has the better personality for this. Assuming we're never going to get Mel and Sue back, I'd just as soon the show stuck with these two.

Yes. Noel and Alison do have lovely chemistry. I have always liked Noel. It is his job to interact with the bakers. He can be a bit of a klutz and his sense of humor is a taste that some may never aquire but I don't see any meanness in him. In this case Sumayah was a bit snappish with him - because hey stress.

[Deskisamess]

I adored Noel and Sandy together. Matt was never a good fit, he and Noel ended up acting like two 12 year old boys. Noel and Allison make a nice pair too.

Looking forward to the next episode.