S06.E02: Biscuits

[Rinaldo]

1 hour ago, Psychobunny said:

Meanwhile, can anyone point me to the controversy about Marie having a professional baking history? 

Here is an article about it. Assuming the BBC is being forthright about it, she attended a weeklong course at Escoffier 30 years ago and got a certificate ("diploma") for it, and has taught a bit and sold her wares online but never worked as a chef.

[Cyranetta]

Quote

but I really didn't get the baby. That was...odd.

Babies and various parts thereof are an unfortunate trend in baby-shower cakes from what one can see on the CakeWrecks blog. I've often wondered how shower goers can slice into a child's diapered hind end with gleeful abandon. At least Ugne's use of it might have kept the carnage at a minimum, since one could hope that people would fill up on the box contents first.

[Quilt Fairy]

Quote

There isn't any manufactured rivalry or trash talking, only reaction shots of the other bakers, which makes it look like they actually feel for each other (which may just be because British people are nicer).

It's my understanding that they spend the entire weekend together from Friday night dinner to Sunday tea-time., so I'm not surprised at how close they become over the course of the show.

[Mabinogia]

And they are not competing for a job or a butt load of money, I think they get some kind of trophy and some applause, so the stakes being lower means the cut throatedness is not there. It really is like a friendly rivalry at a country fair. I love how they all seem to thoroughly enjoy seeing each other, and seeing them genuinely happy for the star baker and gutted for the person who isn't returning next week.

It must be a lot of fun getting together every weekend with a bunch of new friends who enjoy the same thing you do and having a little healthy competition with them. I think that's what I like so much about the show. As stressed as they may get they all really do seem to be enjoying being there. Judges, hosts and contestants alike.

[Mumbles]

Cottage cheese cookies sound revolting, but Paul loved them, so what do I know?

[Portia]

I was really surprised at how poor most everyone's piping skills were. For example, the fire engine was an adorable  idea, but the finished product looked sloppy as hell to me. The construction elements of several boxes were impressive, but I personally know several amateur bakers who are far more artistically gifted. 

As a newcomer, I'm  surprised to find that so many people find Sue annoying. She doesn't  strike me as show-offy, just sincerely silly. I dunno, maybe I have a little crush on her. Despite having been pretty solidly  heterosexual for the last several decades, I  decided a few  years ago that if given the opportunity I'd  switch teams for Rachel Maddow. And now Sue has come along...I think I think I just realized I have a type. 

Edited July 11, 2016 by Portia
Butterfingers!

[Rick Kitchen]

5 minutes ago, Portia said:

I was really surprised at how poor most everyone's piping skills were. For example, the fire engine was an adorable   idea, but the finished product looked sloppy as hell to me.

Yeah, I said the same thing, the piping looked amateurish.

[snarktini]

I'm often surprised by what they respond to, stylistically. Quite a few times I've thought designs looked childish or poorly constructed, and they're highly praised. Others, I like and they don't. I find Mary and Paul's judgments difficult to predict!

On another note entirely: Why do they almost always say macaroon when they mean macaron?! Drives me crazy! What is the British name for a coconut macaroon, then? (I understand they come from the same root word and origin, so it makes sense they share a similar name. But they're so very different.)

Edited July 11, 2016 by snarktini

[Portia]

Forgot to say...no offense to you wonderful Brits, but the biscuit episode made me thankful I'm American. I'd  gladly trade a plate of crispy biscuits for a single underdone chocolate  chip  cookie. U-S-A! U-S-A!   :-D

[Clanstarling]

I never realized liking soft cookies was an American thing. I'm feeling kind of un-American in my preference for crisp cookies, especially chocolate chip except, of course, when they're hot out of the oven. Who can wait for crisp at that point?

[stillshimpy]

I think it's pretty individual, clanstarling.  My husband likes super crisp cookies.  He also likes soft.  Essentially, he'd be a cookieivore if he could.   

Quote

Cottage cheese cookies sound revolting, but Paul loved them, so what do I know?

I think that they would likely end up being a lot like ricotta cookies.  Once you mix everything up, the texture would by smooth and the flavor would be like ricotta or cream cheese.  I agree though, does not sound appealing.  

Quote

Yeah, I said the same thing, the piping looked amateurish.

I think that's from the time crunch, vs. not having the skills.  People were scrambling so much to finish and people like Alvin didn't have time to finish.  Nadiya didn't have time to decorate hers either.  So it might just simply have been that they were rushed?  It did look pretty sloppy in several instances, but part of what makes me think that it had to do with time vs. skills is that no one's piping seemed to look good. 

Edited July 11, 2016 by stillshimpy

[Athena]

11 hours ago, snarktini said:

I'm often surprised by what they respond to, stylistically. Quite a few times I've thought designs looked childish or poorly constructed, and they're highly praised. Others, I like and they don't. I find Mary and Paul's judgments difficult to predict!

On another note entirely: Why do they almost always say macaroon when they mean macaron?! Drives me crazy! What is the British name for a coconut macaroon, then? (I understand they come from the same root word and origin, so it makes sense they share a similar name. But they're so very different.)

Coconut macaroons are not that common in the UK and they are called... coconut macaroons. It's one of those cases where the original French macaron made it to the UK before the coconut one and they decided to call it macaroon. I have heard Brits say macaron more now, but it's historically macaroon for them.

Overall, I don't think some of the piping skills on GBBO are the same calibre as some food competition shows in the USA and definitely not when compared to the French version of GBBO. Cake decorating techniques are not as popular as they are over on this side of the pond. They exist, but the style stuff is made up for the cake they have more variety in what they bake and more pastry focus as well.

[Tara Ariano]

In case you missed it, here's the Previously.TV post on the episode!

 

Weird French Cookies Delight Mary And Paul On The Great British Bake Off

The bakers, though, are less excited.

[paramitch]

Every season, watching this show is oddly like the Olympics for me. In the first episode, I'm, like, "Oooh, what with the chocolate-hazelnut-what?" And then by the end I'm sitting there going, "Ooh, that lamination looks off and there's not going to be enough creme-pat.."

(It's exactly the same way I start watching ice skating again and think "Pretty!" and by the end am like, "That triple axel double salchow combination was just not good enough...")

23 hours ago, stillshimpy said:

I think Nadiya is awesome, but man, she must have never gotten away with even one tiny thing as a kid.  

The other night I was on the phone with a friend talking about this show and why it is that it just makes us feel better.   There's just something that is like balm to the soul about this show.  As if people are entering that tent through the back of a wardrobe or passing through A Very Nice Looking Glass world to get there.  It just seems removed from the turmoil and upset our current world in a way that strikes an awesome balance between completely wholesome, without tipping over into twee or being precious and being an actual competition that is really interesting to watch.  

On Friday night, at dinner my husband leaned over the table and said, "Guess what tonight is? On your mark....get set...bake!"  and he was clearly really looking forward to it.  It was a crushing week and news cycle here and I have never been so happy to see that tent at the end of a week.  

All of this! I love Nadiya. Her expressions are priceless (also, as a fellow Human Mood Ring, I sympathize completely). I remember one recap of "Hannibal" that was just a series of Mads Mikkelson's expressions, and I would adore it if a recap of this show at some point was just a series of Nadiya's expressions (thrilled! nervous! terrified!). I think she's simply adorable.

And I so second your thoughts on this show. (Each year, I keep checking my listings to see when it's coming back...) It's Cooking Narnia! Every time this show starts up again, just the sight of those beautiful white tents on the lovely green lawns lowers my blood pressure exponentially. I always adore the bakers every year and this year is no exception. They always seem to pick such lovely, kind, calm people and I'm fascinated by that.

It seems like a small miracle to me, watching the show this week, that in the light of our crazy world we can simply sit back and watch these sweet, kind, capable people make beautiful pretty tasty things (with Paul, Mary, Mel and Sue adding suspense, tartness, and humor to the proceedings).

22 hours ago, Mabinogia said:

This is quite possibly the only reality show where I like every single person on the show. Even Sue has grown on me! (I've always preferred Mel, I like her slightly lower key humor to Sue's desperate "look at me! I'm funny!" personality). And I adore Mary Berry more than anything. And the camera people who take those beautiful country shots, and the illustrator who makes those beautiful pictures and just...everything about this show.

It was really interesting that two bakers did the exact same biscuits, the earl grey teabags. Is that a common biscuit design in the UK? I get it in the Earl Grey tea box, but it was an odd filling for the fire truck (which was adorable!)

I love Sue! She's my favorite. And Mary is so lovely and kind -- you can see her wanting everyone to do as well as possible.

I love tea and I keep seeing contestants make beautiful cookies and cakes using tea flavors on this show and am dying to taste them. It just sounds like such a nice, almost floral delicate taste. I thought the little teabag cookies were so cute, but I liked Flora's better than Matt's because of her little tea-tin design -- I agree that the teabags were odd for the fire truck.

22 hours ago, stillshimpy said:

I like Dorret also, but unlike Nadiya's adorably comedic looks of what appears to be stark terror on occasion, Dorret seems to fret in a more wearing sort of way.  Something about Nadiya's naked anxiety invites empathy because, let's face it, she looks like the personification of emotions we've all felt.  "I. AM. ALARMED."  "I. AM. RELIEVED."  and then what makes it so winning as a trait, "I. AM. OVERJOYED!"  she's emotionally accessible in a way that I just really like, but she doesn't seem on edge.  Dorret seems apprehensive in a way that brings to mind looming root canals vs.  Nadiya's "We've all felt that way before a public speaking, or big test".

ETA (yes, again, it's that sort of day for my brain, apologies):  Paul, the Prison Administrator also delights me.  First we meet him in a veritable greenhouse full of sugar-paste-flowers he apparently renders as a hobby and now he's dying cookies pink and making romantic cookie gestures to his wife.  It's this fabulous contrast to his exterior because he seems a man of few words and since I interpret the mark on his forehead as a scar, that also sort of gives him a tough-guy-vibe, even as he's making romantic confections and sugar bouquets. 

For me with Dorret versus Nadiya I think it comes down to a sense of humor. Dorret seems perfectly lovely but rather tense and humorless, while Nadiya is not only utterly transparent with every expression, I suspect that she's also a genuinely funny person (and has a good sense of humor about herself). 

I like Paul a lot too -- it's absolutely fascinating to juxtapose what he does for a living with these delightful and delicate interests of his -- flower-making! Baking! And thank goodness he doesn't seem to feel the need to reaffirm his masculinity or anything either (which I think would be more likely here in the U.S.). He simply enjoys doing those things and people seem delighted that he shares them. I do think it's a scar (versus a birthmark) -- there's a visible indentation there.

21 hours ago, Psychobunny said:

There isn't any manufactured rivalry or trash talking, only reaction shots of the other bakers, which makes it look like they actually feel for each other (which may just be because British people are nicer). Finally, there are no commercial breaks which means that they don't have to manufacture drama every ten minutes. It just seems like the show has more respect for the audience than American shows. I am looking forward to two shows a week coming up.

I agree with everything you pinpoint here that makes this show so special. The delicacy and sweetness of the music, the illustrations, the set design, and the gorgeous camerawork all combine with a bunch of really nice people to create a happier nicer little world.

13 hours ago, Mabinogia said:

And they are not competing for a job or a butt load of money, I think they get some kind of trophy and some applause, so the stakes being lower means the cut throatedness is not there. It really is like a friendly rivalry at a country fair. I love how they all seem to thoroughly enjoy seeing each other, and seeing them genuinely happy for the star baker and gutted for the person who isn't returning next week.

It must be a lot of fun getting together every weekend with a bunch of new friends who enjoy the same thing you do and having a little healthy competition with them. I think that's what I like so much about the show. As stressed as they may get they all really do seem to be enjoying being there. Judges, hosts and contestants alike.

I so agree! I always like watching the bakers become friendlier week after week each year, and you can see Mel and Sue (and Paul and Mary) getting palpably closer with them as well.

I do think some past finalists and winners have been able to use the show to actually bake or speak full-time, but it's much-deserved. I am glad there isn't a money prize though. We don't have to listen to endless "I really need this because..." talking heads (I'm looking at you, every US food competition show EVER...).

11 hours ago, Portia said:

I was really surprised at how poor most everyone's piping skills were. For example, the fire engine was an adorable  idea, but the finished product looked sloppy as hell to me. The  construction elements of several boxes were impressive, but I know several amateur bakers who are far more artistically gifted. 

As a newcomer, I'm  surprised to find that so many people find Sue so annoying. She doesn't  strike me as show-offy, just sincerely silly. I dunno, maybe I have a little crush on her. Despite having been pretty solidly  heterosexual for the last several decades, I  decided a few  years ago that if given the opportunity I'd  switch teams for Rachel Maddow. And now Sue has come along...I think I think I just realized I have a type. 

I suspect that the bad and wobbly piping we're seeing is a combination of nerves (shaky hands) and time issues. Most of them are probably far more capable of piping more steadily than we're seeing -- although I did think Flora did beautifully here on her biscuit tin.

And I'm with you on Sue -- I absolutely adore her, and have a bit of a girlcrush on her too. I think she's so naturally witty and funny, and she pairs that with real warmth and kindness on a constant basis.

1 hour ago, stillshimpy said:

I think it's pretty individual, clanstarling.  My husband likes super crisp cookies.  He also likes soft.  Essentially, he'd be a cookieivore if he could.   

I think that they would likely end up being a lot like ricotta cookies.  Once you mix everything up, the texture would by smooth and the flavor would be like ricotta or cream cheese.  I agree though, does not sound appealing.   

Cookievore! That's the best word ever. I am only a cookievore when it comes to Fall (every autumn, I steel myself against Cougar Mountain's pumpkin cookies and eggnog cookies, which are the best things ever).

In a perfect universe (where cheese is the base of the food pyramid, is calorie-free, cholesterol-free, and possessing all the wonderful nutritional qualities of kale) I would totally eat those cheese biscuits all day long! The parmesan ones too! Sigh. Cheese.

[Lovecat]

21 hours ago, ABay said:

So glad others couldn't figure out Ugne's baby either! It was just a big yellow and white blob stuck to the side of the box.

The larger yellow blob in the center was the baby's bum, the only part visible with the baby head-down rummaging in the cookie box.  The smaller white blobs near the bottom, to either side of the bum blob, were the baby's feet.  Odd concept to start with, slack execution.

[stillshimpy]

Odd concept to start with, slack execution.

Pretty much whenever the words "bum blob" are accurately brought into play as a description, failure is in the wind.  

I do think some past finalists and winners have been able to use the show to actually bake or speak full-time, but it's much-deserved. I am glad there isn't a money prize though. We don't have to listen to endless "I really need this because..." talking heads (I'm looking at you, every US food competition show EVER...).

There's also no attempt to root interest in a person by describing their tragedies either, which is another hallmark of US competitions, even in the food world.  None of that "Growing up poor on the streets of _______ and losing my family at ______ was when I got into cooking...." .  No talk of being a cancer survivor, or tearfully remembering lost loved ones and wanting to win for the sake of the children left at home, to teach some life lesson.  

Nope, just stuff like "Gary is a ventriloquist from Manchester, who learned to bake because he likes to eat cake" , very straightforward, minimal drama.  No attempts to wring emotion from anyone.  

There's actually a person in this year's cast who is pretty much the perfect example of how a US show would choose to present their experience: There's a social worker in the cast.  Sandy is a Child Welfare Officer in Leeds. Sincerely, Sandy must have stories that could cause a stone to weep, but the show didn't go anywhere near that.  Just Sue's cheerful voice announcing what she does and footage of Sandy bustling down a hall, holding a file.  

If that was going down on a U.S.  show there would be a talking head, where leading questions were asked until she dissolved into tears and talked about learning to make crumpets to try and comfort children who knew no other love in their lives and whether or not that's the truth of why Sandy bakes, every single Talking Head with her would feature some truly heart-rending clip about the horrors she faces daily, until all of us turned into stones and started thinking things like, "Please shut up about the children" .....and then have the delightful sensation of feeling like a terrible person, because you'd like to stop hearing about the woe and horror, while trying to watch someone back cupcakes.  

[Rinaldo]

3 hours ago, stillshimpy said:

I think it's pretty individual, clanstarling.  My husband likes super crisp cookies.  

I was going to say something like this myself, and add my impression (it's no more than that) that the US/UK difference is that in the US we seem to have a full range of preferences as to how crisp or soft we like cookies (my own preference, when I buy or bake them, is right in the middle, where the cookies have some crunch but also some chew in them). Whereas crispness is a single standard of quality for a proper biscuit in the UK. (With the proviso that we have, as usual, corrupted British culture in recent times, with the import of something they specifically call a "cookie" which is bigger and chewier/softer.)

2 hours ago, Athena said:

Coconut macaroons are not that common in the UK and they are called... coconut macaroons. It's one of those cases where the original French macaron made it to the UK before the coconut one and they decided to call it macaroon. I have heard Brits say macaron more now, but it's historically macaroon for them.

Yes, as it all derives from one foreign word, any differences one chooses to make between the usage of macaroon and macaron are going to be arbitrary and a matter of custom. My impression (which may well be wrong, and I'll yield to the knowledge of those with expertise here) is that the use of "macaron" in the US to describe those almond sandwich cookies is quite recent, only a few years. My very uninformed impression comes from never having heard the term until it was used on a web series by a pretentious character passing them out, and all the other characters were puzzled and kept asking "... macaroon?" only to be corrected. And that was all of 3 years ago.

1 hour ago, paramitch said:

... Nadiya is not only utterly transparent with every expression, I suspect that she's also a genuinely funny person (and has a good sense of humor about herself). 

I would say she established her expertise with humor (and yes, humor about herself) in the very first episode, when she reacted to coming last in the Technical with a humble, solemn "I was judged twelfth, and I came to be judged, so I'm OK with that." Followed immediately by a change of expression and "No, of COURSE I'm not OK with that! Who wants to be twelfth out of twelve?!?" That's someone with real expertise at setting up and delivering a punch line, and plenty of practice at doing it. I fell in love right then.

Edited July 11, 2016 by Rinaldo

[mspaul]

2 hours ago, Athena said:

compared to the French version of GBBO

THERE'S A FRENCH VERSION????!!!!!!!

[lucindabelle]

So if Ian never won best male baker in his tiny village... Best MALE baker... How many bakers are there?

seriously in my town of 50k or so if you had such a competition most of the guys would have brownie mix entries.

 

just a quick note that says so much about the English. God bless!

[Athena]

15 minutes ago, mspaul said:

THERE'S A FRENCH VERSION????!!!!!!!

Oh, yes. :)

It's called "Le Meilleur Pâtissier" with four seasons and a celeb edition coming out this year. I was lucky enough to see season one and bits of season two a couple years ago. The episodes are very long and there are no English subtitled versions available, but if you ever get the chance or find the way, the show is visually excellent. The level of skill is much closer to classical French pastry work so there is more of an emphasis on chocolate work, choux, pastry, etc. It is interesting to see how home bakers in France are almost professional level in certain areas.

You can also look for other Bake off versions and shows in the following thread (I don't think there are spoilers for GBBO):

[Mabinogia]

2 hours ago, paramitch said:

For me with Dorret versus Nadiya I think it comes down to a sense of humor. Dorret seems perfectly lovely but rather tense and humorless, while Nadiya is not only utterly transparent with every expression, I suspect that she's also a genuinely funny person (and has a good sense of humor about herself).

I think you nailed it. Nadiya seems to have more humor about her. Not that Dorritt is humorless, IDK, but she seems to be taking her failures more seriously, and the whole thing more seriously and that makes me tense. Nadiya basically shrugging off Sue's destruction of her dome with "well, you're coming home with me" showed a great sense of proportion. This isn't brain surgery after all and unless you accidentally pick up the rat poison instead of the sugar, it is unlikely that lives are at stake.

I chalk the shoddy piping to nerves and time pressure. Did you see, was it Marie's?, hands shaking as she was doing "the worst piping" of her life? I think they are all so amped up they can't do their best work.

[dubbel zout]

On July 9, 2016 at 5:59 PM, justmehere said:

One thing bothered me a little about them sending Marie home. Mary's comment about needing perfection with the basics makes sense, and Marie didn't execute her bakes to perfection. But this time, they also dinged her for lack of creativity.

This was regarding the showstopper, right? I think getting dinged for a lack of creativity is fair given the context.

[SirOsisOfLiver]

For those of you who might be interested, the music for the show is available for download from Amazon or iTunes. Look for Tom Howe, Great British Bake Off. There are 18 tracks, most of which are only a minute or two long, but fans of the show will be smiling in recognition.

[Muffyn]

17 hours ago, Mumbles said:

Cottage cheese cookies sound revolting, but Paul loved them, so what do I know?

I have made cottage cheese cookies.  I have a very old cookbook (I collect them) which uses cottage cheese as a base in a very soft cookie dough that is then filled with fruit before baking.  I have also used cottage cheese as a filling base.  In both cases, the cottage cheese is not recognizable.  It is beaten until smooth.  It adds moisture to dough.

I understood Marie going home.  She struggled with each of the stages.  For the show stopper,  her biscuits were the same base, shortbread, many people used to build their containers.   So she was in essence competing against multiple shortbreads and multiple gingerbreads.  She could have faired better if she did a more unique biscuit/cookie. 

[proserpina65]

How did I not know about this show until now????  It's like the anti-Chopped, and I loved every single second of it.  I didn't want anyone to do badly.

It did, however, make me very hungry, which is something I rarely say about Chopped.

[cardigirl]

I started watching this show a couple of summers ago and have to say, it is something I look forward to every summer.  I don't know why it works, but it does.  I love Paul and Mary and I love Mel and Sue and the relationship between the four of them.  It's a treat to watch them with the bakers and I would love to be there with them in that tent in that lovely place.

The show definitely wouldn't work in the U.S.  They tried a version of it here over Christmas and Mary Berry was a part of it and it was... abysmal.  So let's hope there is no more tinkering with the formula and we can watch this show for years to come. 

Edited July 11, 2016 by cardigirl

[Rickster]

Regarding piping skills, or the lack thereof, in addition to the reasons already mentioned, I also wonder the extent to which those amateur bakers with good piping skills are good all-round bakers? Do they bake equally good bread, pastries, pies, tarts, etc., or do they focus on cakes and cookies that lend themselves to decoration?

My thought is that the show looks for good  all rounders rather than particularly good decorators. I also wonder if there is a somewhat hidden motive to present contestants who are more relatable, of whom the audience can say, "I might be able to make that on a good day", that than someone whose skills are completely on another level.

[sugarbaker design]

Quote

 I love Paul and Mary and I love Mel and Sue and the relationship between the four of them.

Same here.  I loved it when after hearing about the golden berry, Mel put her arm around Mary and said "Here's our golden Berry."

[Portia]

Quote

And I'm with you on Sue -- I absolutely adore her, and have a bit of a girlcrush on her too. 

With respect, paramitch, I called dibs on Sue. ;-)  Here's how weird I am...I researched her and when I confirmed that she is indeed gay, there was a part of me that thought, "Ah, so I do have a chance with her."  Let me reiterate that I am straight. Been married to a dude for 28 years.

Edited July 11, 2016 by Portia

[Clanstarling]

1 hour ago, proserpina65 said:

How did I not know about this show until now????  It's like the anti-Chopped, and I loved every single second of it.  I didn't want anyone to do badly.

It did, however, make me very hungry, which is something I rarely say about Chopped.

I know! I watch Chopped with sort of a sick fascination, amazed at what people will actually eat. I wouldn't touch most of it with a ten foot fork.

The reliance on sad, sad stories on American cooking shows have pretty much dissolved my interest in them. I still watch, but I tend to mute. Somehow when I first started watching Chopped I missed the sob stories (I never tuned in at the start). I don't really want to know someone's desperate story. If I wanted to hear about tragedy, I'd tune in the news.

Which is why this one is so lovely. It's the Bob Ross of cooking shows.

[lucindabelle]

1 hour ago, cardigirl said:

I started watching this show a couple of summers ago and have to say, it is something I look forward to every summer.  I don't know why it works, but it does.  I love Paul and Mary and I love Mel and Sue and the relationship between the four of them.  It's a treat to watch them with the bakers and I would love to be there with them in that tent in that lovely place.

The show definitely wouldn't work in the U.S.  They tried a version of it here over Christmas and Mary Berry was a part of it and it was... abysmal.  So let's hope there is no more tinkering with the formula and we can watch this show for years to come. 

Haha I didn't think it was abysmal but the difference in skill sets was quite something. Only one woman knew what brandy snaps were. And when they had to do something architectural it was kind of sad.

i am proud to be an American tra la and British biscuits will never replace a soft snd chewy or thin and crispy chicken chocolate chip (though you couldnt do a technical because tweaking a chip generallt doesn't make it better) and I remember with sorrow how back in the 80s British bakeries sold shortbread cookies with chips in them. As if,

 

HOWEVER. What passes for "likes to bake" over here is not what it means there. There, a decent home baker can pipe, make sugar flowers, do crusts and choux pastry.

 

here you make muffins once a week from a recipe and people call it a hobby. I was in the latter category until GBBO. Now I can make a good Swiss roll (ok, jelly roll!) thanks to Mary Berry and  jane hornby et al. Though I do not share her love of self-rising flour...

[Rick Kitchen]

16 hours ago, Portia said:

Forgot to say...no offense to you wonderful Brits, but the biscuit episode made me thankful I'm American. I'd  gladly trade a plate of crispy biscuits for a single underdone chocolate  chip  cookie. U-S-A! U-S-A!   :-D

As Erin can attest to on last night's Food Network Star.

[snarktini]

57 minutes ago, clanstarling said:

It's the Bob Ross of cooking shows.

Yes, this! Happy little baked goods. (Recently with happy little trees, even, on the black forest gateaux.)

[DocTerv]

While I had no idea what an arlette was either, I can say that those "goats outside the tent" are actually sheep. Herbridean sheep to be exact. I now feel compelled to to check in with my own sheep and their opinions on the palatability of biscotti.

[Christina]

Back during the original airing, I read an article where Nadiya said that she had no idea how many facial expressions she made, and while watching with her family, her husband would point it out and say, "See, I told you that you did that." I hope she didn't play poker with them.

[rab01]

This is such a lovely show. In the vein of wishing well for all the bakers, I hope that before Dorrett is eliminated, she hears Paul say just once "the flavor's good on that one" or Mary say "what a lovely flavor" because she seems to be technically very sound but her tastes do not match the judges' tastes at all.

[Mabinogia]

I agree rab01. Even when I think someone should go I still want them to go with something nice being said about their work. Like, as sad as I was to see Marie go, at least she got Star Baker before she left. I am not even close to being a "participation trophy" type, but I want each one of these people to get some kind of recognition and praise for their work before they go. This show makes me such a softy.

[dubbel zout]

38 minutes ago, Mabinogia said:

I want each one of these people to get some kind of recognition and praise for their work before they go

Paul said in the first episode that they had to be very good to get into the tent in the first place, and he probably mentions something like that when he tells them goodbye. What I really like is the criticism is never cruel, and the bakers usually know what the problem is before Paul or Mary say something.

[candall]

On ‎7‎/‎11‎/‎2016 at 3:32 PM, Portia said:

With respect, paramitch, I called dibs on Sue. ;-)  Here's how weird I am...I researched her and when I confirmed that she is indeed gay, there was a part of me that thought, "Ah, so I do have a chance with her."  Let me reiterate that I am straight. Been married to a dude for 28 years.

Now see, I don't think that's weird at all.  If only everyone could recognize feeling an attraction to an individual, and never mind the bits that don't even show, like chromosomes and genitals.

(And Rachel Maddow is sizzling.  I think she's sexiest when she's all kicked back and wearing her glasses.)

**************

GBBO:  The allure of the concrete composite biscotti escapes me.  Mary Berry's crunching off to the side because her enamel's thinned a bit and she doesn't want to snap those front two right off.  I wouldn't risk it either.

[theatremouse]

On 7/10/2016 at 8:28 PM, Portia said:

As a newcomer, I'm  surprised to find that so many people find Sue annoying. She doesn't  strike me as show-offy, just sincerely silly. I dunno, maybe I have a little crush on her. Despite having been pretty solidly  heterosexual for the last several decades, I  decided a few  years ago that if given the opportunity I'd  switch teams for Rachel Maddow. And now Sue has come along...I think I think I just realized I have a type. 

You mos def have a type (and excellent taste). Sue is one of my favourite things about the show. Every time they try an American one and it doesn't work I can't help but think "if they had Sue, maybe..."

[TomServo]

I interpreted Nadiya's reaction to the dome disaster as relief. Baking it hadn't been going well, and she'd been making excuses to tell herself it was going to be okay (proclaiming it "rustic"). As soon as Sue cracked it, Nadiya knew she had scored a pass on the container portion of the brief.

[Quilt Fairy]

What I love about the backstories of the contestants is not only they are not typical American "sob-stories" but they are told in 10 seconds or less. You get just enough to get an understanding of the person and their baking background, and then you're back to the show. It's not like shows over here where I have to record them and then fast forward through all the crap because I don't have the patience to watch them live.

Edited July 13, 2016 by Quilt Fairy

[lucindabelle]

5 hours ago, candall said:

Now see, I don't think that's weird at all.  If only everyone could recognize feeling an attraction to an individual, and never mind the bits that don't even show, like chromosomes and genitals.

(And Rachel Maddow is sizzling.  I think she's sexiest when she's all kicked back and wearing her glasses.)

**************

GBBO:  The allure of the concrete composite biscotti escapes me.  Mary Berry's crunching off to the side because her enamel's thinned a bit and she doesn't want to snap those front two right off.  I wouldn't risk it either.

Now when you out it that way, I'm in! I definitely get girl crushes and it remember the day my best friend and I "fell in love" ( we were in the same class together and went to run an errand, then get coffee, then go to a bookstore, then...)

Sexual attraction not so much. I remember the day in college I understood for hhe first time that the type I thought I liked (handsome, effete, blonde) was not my type at all.

Rachel rocks. As does sue.

[Lamb18]

On ‎7‎/‎11‎/‎2016 at 7:02 PM, DocTerv said:

While I had no idea what an arlette was either, I can say that those "goats outside the tent" are actually sheep. Herbridean sheep to be exact. I now feel compelled to to check in with my own sheep and their opinions on the palatability of biscotti.

DocterV, are your sheep Icelandics?

Regarding arlettes, they reminded me of these cookies I would buy the first time I was in Paris 30 years ago. They were called Petits Coeurs. They were small and heart-shaped, but they had thin crisp layers with a very thin glaze - I guess lamination would be more accurate because it was more of a shine than any type of icing.

[paramitch]

Apologies in advance to everyone, since I basically like and quote everything I see, ever.

On 7/11/2016 at 0:27 PM, proserpina65 said:

How did I not know about this show until now????  It's like the anti-Chopped, and I loved every single second of it.  I didn't want anyone to do badly.

It did, however, make me very hungry, which is something I rarely say about Chopped.

I am a slightly embarrassed fan of "Chopped" (she said sheepishly, pointing to pictures of actual beautiful English sheep) and will watch it until the day the Earth dries into a burnt little kernel (I'm a sucker for Ted and most of the judges, and I like the mental challenges posed by the disparate basket ingredients. Also, I am a sad, shallow little person). But I do get very very very tired of the poormouthing and "I deserve it because..." I cannot STAND any sentence about someone "deserving" something. Sheesh. We all deserve good things. Not everyone gets them. Unfortunately reality television producers too-often distill a person's story into simplistic Shakespearean tragedy. But I've also seen eps of "Chopped" that I thoroughly loved too (Lance and Madison's epic battle, for instance, among others).

But "Chopped" episodes are basically supermarket tabloids compared to the gentle perfection of this show. Where "Chopped" is an exclamation point, this show is a heart emote.

On 7/11/2016 at 0:49 PM, cardigirl said:

The show definitely wouldn't work in the U.S.  They tried a version of it here over Christmas and Mary Berry was a part of it and it was... abysmal.  So let's hope there is no more tinkering with the formula and we can watch this show for years to come. 

I actually liked the U.S. version and thought Foxworthy was a really charming, likable host, before it got mired down in regrettable gossip and unfortunate, er, host relationships, ahem. But I totally agree that it was absolutely nothing as good as what they have here. Its very Englishness is part of the show's charm.

On 7/11/2016 at 1:15 PM, sugarbaker design said:

Same here.  I loved it when after hearing about the golden berry, Mel put her arm around Mary and said "Here's our golden Berry."

See, that right there! The palpable affection and ease the show's hosts have with each other! It's the sweetest thing. Which is why I think it's genius that Paul and Mary are the judges -- he is visibly respectful of her, and there's a little bit of a parental vibe between them, as she often gently teases him and he has absolutely no problem with that (whereas in the US show he was very stuffy and ill at ease).

On 7/11/2016 at 1:32 PM, Portia said:

With respect, paramitch, I called dibs on Sue. ;-)  Here's how weird I am...I researched her and when I confirmed that she is indeed gay, there was a part of me that thought, "Ah, so I do have a chance with her."  Let me reiterate that I am straight. Been married to a dude for 28 years.

Hee! Okay, okay, I give. Although I love that you researched her -- and kudos to Sue for being out and proud. And no worries, I don't like labels -- I identify as straight so far, but I'm also quite sure there's at least one woman somewhere on this planet I'd be attracted to. My favorite moments in life are when we shred those labels in some healthy wonderful way (for instance, a good friend of mine is straight and in a committed relationship but she has a huge abiding crush on the female character of Boo on "Orange is the New Black").

On 7/11/2016 at 5:02 PM, DocTerv said:

While I had no idea what an arlette was either, I can say that those "goats outside the tent" are actually sheep. Herbridean sheep to be exact. I now feel compelled to to check in with my own sheep and their opinions on the palatability of biscotti.

The sheep! <she cried sheepishly>  My other favorite thing about this show is, I swear to God, you can HEAR the sheep bleating outside the tent sometimes while they're cooking. Yeah, I'm weird. But I totally love that. It's so English. Fat chance in America that we'd be cooking something and listening to the sweet funny sounds of sheep.

(Segue: Which reminds me: My favorite movie commercial ever ever ever was a clever local station movie broadcast advertisement: Black screen. Lambs bleating bleating bleating louder and louder. Sudden cut to SILENCE. Voiceover: "Don't miss THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, Friday at 8." I mean, come on, that's amazing. Um, sorry.) 

On 7/11/2016 at 8:09 PM, Christina said:

Back during the original airing, I read an article where Nadiya said that she had no idea how many facial expressions she made, and while watching with her family, her husband would point it out and say, "See, I told you that you did that." I hope she didn't play poker with them.

That's fabulous. Especially since her eyebrows are not only perfect, they are also practically additional characters on the show already. I definitely do not see championship poker in her future.

22 hours ago, rab01 said:

This is such a lovely show. In the vein of wishing well for all the bakers, I hope that before Dorrett is eliminated, she hears Paul say just once "the flavor's good on that one" or Mary say "what a lovely flavor" because she seems to be technically very sound but her tastes do not match the judges' tastes at all.

Oh, so do I! That's a lovely thing to wish for. See, even the posts for this show are nicer and sweeter than they are for other shows. Sniffle. (Although on the plus side, Dorrett already gave me that really sweet moment with Sue, which I just thought was so funny and kind. I will definitely remember it as one of the big moments of this season.)

12 hours ago, candall said:

Now see, I don't think that's weird at all.  If only everyone could recognize feeling an attraction to an individual, and never mind the bits that don't even show, like chromosomes and genitals.

GBBO:  The allure of the concrete composite biscotti escapes me.  Mary Berry's crunching off to the side because her enamel's thinned a bit and she doesn't want to snap those front two right off.  I wouldn't risk it either.

Beautifully said! I also admit that while I am proud of any girlcrushes I may nurture, I simply cannot understand the allure of biscotti. Even if it's palatable when dunked, it's still not as good as other dunkable food items that (even better) do not threaten the well-being of my enamel. Ugh.

7 hours ago, Quilt Fairy said:

What I love about the backstories of the contestants is not only they are not typical American "sob-stories" but they are told in 10 seconds or less. You get just enough to get an understanding of the person and their baking background, and then you're back to the show. It's not like shows over here where I have to record them and then fast forward through all the crap because I don't have the patience to watch them live.

This is such a great point. We know so little about these contestants and all we can do is judge them week after week by how they respond to pressure, by how well they execute their skills, and by how they relate to one another under pressure. And yet it's all marvelous and real and quiet every season. And I never feel like the bonding is for show -- Sue and Mel especially always seem so increasingly adoring of the contestants as the weeks pile on and everyone bonds. It's really wonderful.

With all the turmoil in the world, I'm very happy this show is back.

[cardigirl]

10 minutes ago, paramitch said:

I actually liked the U.S. version and thought Foxworthy was a really charming, likable host, before it got mired down in regrettable gossip and unfortunate, er, host relationships, ahem. But I totally agree that it was absolutely nothing as good as what they have here. Its very Englishness is part of the show's charm.

See, that right there! The palpable affection and ease the show's hosts have with each other! It's the sweetest thing. Which is why I think it's genius that Paul and Mary are the judges -- he is visibly respectful of her, and there's a little bit of a parental vibe between them, as she often gently teases him and he has absolutely no problem with that (whereas in the US show he was very stuffy and ill at ease).

Okay, I didn't watch the 7 episode version from 2013 and I'm a little glad I didn't.  I was referring to The Great Holiday Baking Show that was on this past winter:

Based on the hit UK series The Great British Bake Off and hosted by Nia Vardalos (My Big Fat Greek Wedding) and husband Ian Gomez (Cougar Town), the four-episode The Great Holiday Baking Show stars some of the nation’s best amateur bakers as they compete in a series of themed challenges and eliminations all hoping to be crowned Holiday Baking Champion. For four weeks, James Beard Award-Winning pastry chef and author, Johnny Iuzzini, joins England’s “Royal Queen of Baking,” author and television personality Mary Berry, as they judge the decadent and delicious holiday fare these bakers create as they throw down their best culinary skills.

It was very difficult for me to watch as the American bakers seemed to have been chosen less for their skills and more for possible personality pops. And I missed Sue and Mel and Paul.

[stillshimpy]

1 hour ago, cardigirl said:

Okay, I didn't watch the 7 episode version from 2013 and I'm a little glad I didn't.  I was referring to The Great Holiday Baking Show that was on this past winter:

 

The main problem with the American Show was....okay, it was just problematic from start to finish.  For starters, Jeff Foxworthy, who seems an entirely decent human being, wanted to throw a little bit of business towards his home state economy and the whole thing was filmed in Georgia.  In a tent in Georgia.  Yeah, let the "Holy Jesus, what about the humidity levels and what did that do to everything?" sink in for a second.   The short answer is:  Everything you would imagine and nothing good.  The longer answer involves using the exact same setup with the adorable dollhouse fridges and copious amounts of butter that needed to chill, mousse that needed to set and all the drama American TV Editors cannot resist playing up over people fighting over fridge space. 

Then, again, as an example, one of the contestants who made it all the way through to the final, lived in a manufactured home (not that there's a darned thing wrong with that, by the way) with her bedridden father stored in a hospital bed along the wall, where he would feebly and gamely wave to the cameras from flat on his back (seemed a perfectly nice older man) while voiceovers of this same contestant would play talking about how her family needed the money for X, Y, Z and her family's future was riding on this.  Then add to that that Paul Hollywood was one of the judges (more on that in a tick) and these were all County Fair type of baking champs, many of whom used a metric fuckton of sugar in everything, so Paul liked very little....except his cohost.  

However, Paul put his personal life back together on the UK side of the ocean and remains married so the only reason that part is worth mentioning is that the story broke while it was airing here in the US and the aforementioned Jeff Foxworthy kind of clearly was aware after a time that his fellow hosts were reacting to the Georgia humidity about as well as the various baked goods were (rather disastrously) and it became possible to spot the point at which the man was just uncomfortable and wishing it was over, which he compensated for by hanging out around the bakers a lot.  Only this isn't the sweet, "Winner gets a hearty handshake and the admiration of their village houses as well as a grateful nation" competition, there was some sort of serious money on the line, so most of the time he was there being thoroughly decent and charming, in amongst people who would have gladly had mortal combat with a spatula and cookie sheet shield to win. 

So basically it failed on multiple levels.  

Edited July 13, 2016 by stillshimpy

[candall]

16 minutes ago, paramitch said:

Apologies in advance to everyone, since I basically like and quote everything I see, ever.

You go ahead and work that multi-quote button, @paramitch!

Who doesn't love a "quote" notification and run right over to see? 

****************

This is my first GBBO and I truly enjoy how much you all relax and luxuriate in the warm bubblebath of its embrace.  The temperament of the agreeable personalities does make the American push for drama seem extra shrill. 

I guess my taste in baked goods isn't very British, though--so many with alcoholic flavors.  And the Mary Berry palate seems to require a require a real wallop.

I have no trouble knocking back a stiff one but I prefer to spend my pastry calories on warm spices and rich creamy butter flavors.  And the greater the quotient of butter to flour, the better.  Wrapping the dough INSIDE the butter was fabulous--why, I didn't even know such a thing was possible!

[rab01]

1 hour ago, cardigirl said:

Based on the hit UK series The Great British Bake Off and hosted by Nia Vardalos ...
It was very difficult for me to watch as the American bakers seemed to have been chosen less for their skills and more for possible personality pops. And I missed Sue and Mel and Paul.

Agreed that that show was just a little bit off, which made it difficult to watch if you were hoping for the real British show but I want to defend the bakers on that show. It seemed pretty clear that the show was shot on an American schedule with episodes happening back-to-back and no week off to prep recipes.  Give me a week to prepare two bakes and I might manage to imitate a passable baker (well, actually probably not) but tell me I need to do it by tomorrow and I'm going to give you burnt sludge.

[Christina]

I can't tell you which episode it was, but very early on in the American version I bailed. There was a challenge where the bakers were supposed to make cookies, or something, and were told they had to produce every one they made. So, if they had to make 12, but burned 3 and decided to make 3 more, they had to put forth the dozen good ones plus the 3 burned ones. That was the challenge. One baker didn't like his first 12, so he redid the batch and then shoved the others to the side and covered them with a towel. Paul called him on it, and as far as I was concerned, he was trying to cheat, yet he was saved and someone else went home.

I found him generally unpleasant and decided at that point he was saved for the drama of his unpleasant personality, or the production crew set up the plan for him to try and get away with hiding his cookies with the guarantee that he wouldn't go home for the drama and that was the end for me; it just wasn't enjoyable to watch. 

Also didn't care for the holiday challenge because it didn't seem like the bakers were that great, but watched every episode live, even though I'm not a Nielsen household just in case the network took cable viewer numbers into consideration when deciding to pick up a new season. I saw a theory that they selected Americans already in Britain, and that is what limited the pool for selection. I don't know that theory was confirmed, but if so, this next season should be better since they have a longer time to interview for finalists.