S06.E09: Chocolate

[Kohola3]

With all of his ranting against peanut butter, seeing Paul give Nadiya the handshake for her Signature was unbelievable.

And I think he was downright mean to mock Flora's horse cutter especially since she made it. Poor thing had enough angst already.  Not necessary to make her even more insecure!

[deepfriedcake]

I knew it was going to be a rough night for me when Flora was finally eliminated, and I was right. I'd become a complete mother hen concerning her. I know the writing's been on the wall for weeks regarding her, and her inability to edit was pulling her down, but I still adored her. I can't believe yet that she was only 19 and so skilled as a baker. She seems like a doll and I wish her well. I also think that Paul constantly heckling her and pooh-poohing her achievements each week ruffled my mom-feathers but good. I really wanted to set him straight on several occasions! However, Flora always seemed to accept his criticisms with a good-natured smile. Maybe in person his attitude towards her was more like that of a gruff uncle instead of a sourpuss, but he certainly didn't endear himself to me!

Souffles - I really can't believe that none of the four of them had made one! These are people who read cookbooks for fun! You really think they all would have had more insight in how to put one together. They all looked like they needed a backrub after it was all over. You could feel their tension through the TV!

As for the showstopper - They needed to clarify what they were looking for in greater detail. Tamal and Flora made creations that seemed to exactly represent what they wanted. They baked, they constructed, they used chocolate in multiple ways. Ian's was very clever, but it was largely plastic, and it wasn't excessively decorated. Nadiya's was stunning, but it was based on Rice Krispie Treats! Rice Krispie Treats, people! Sorry, but if it's something I can make, I'm not overly impressed! I know Flora used them too, but then she baked a covering for it and decorated it. I'm not saying Nadiya didn't deserve Star Baker, only that I believe the rules for the showstopper needed to be more thorough, so that everyone was on the same page.

I love this show and I love all of the contestants. I love Mel and Sue and I adore Mary. (I even like Paul, truth be told.) But I think what I like the most is coming here after the show and reading what everyone has to say about it. Everything connected with this show is a joy - even the forum!

[Zahdii]

THE GREAT BRITISH BAKING SHOW

Season 3, Episode 9: Chocolate

The semifinalists face the pressure of one of the most difficult ingredients: chocolate. For the first challenge, the bakers make a chocolate tart. For the technical challenge, the bakers face a staggered start, and each must make a chocolate soufflé. A chocolate centerpiece is set as the showstopper.

http://www.pbs.org/video/2365777870/

[Amethyst]

15 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

When it comes to the technical, I thought Nadiya's reaction to coming in last made it more dramatic than it neeed to be.  She did have the most obvious mistake with the spotted egg whites but the flavor was good. 

I thought that, too.  I'm probably being too hard on her, but Nadiya has been doing so well, so the weepy "I'm probably going home" just felt like unnecessary dramatics.  Unless she totally bombed her signature, I figured she was in the clear.

[Rinaldo]

But they all have their moments like that (which the camera loves, of course) -- at the moment you have done badly, now that we're in the semifinals, it can feel like doom for a moment, something you can't come back from. ("You can't afford mistakes at this stage" is the slogan they all repeat.) With time to gain some distance, they might say something different.

[Kohola3]

I can only imagine the incredible tension.  Any little thing is liable to cause a dramatic reaction.  Ian was quite teary-eyed knowing he'd been spared.  Lots of high emotions.

[justmehere]

I've got to defend Nadiya's peacock. I'm looking at a still on my TV screen, and there really are quite a few elements. Whatever the stump was that the bird sat on, she covered it in chocolate made to look like bark with layers and rough edges. The nest is intricate, and along with the biscuit eggs, there are some feathers, presumably out of chocolate, that look hand-fashioned - not from a mold. The tail looks like it has a tempered chocolate base (sitting on top of whatever the green thing was), and on that, she placed the individual feathers, each of which had its own chocolate base (they showed her making them) with the colored elements on top - and everything was the same size. The bird itself also had extra decorations for the eye, the beak, and top feathers - piped or crafted - and there was color shading on the bird as well. Though made of rice-treat mix, it held together, which Flora's did not. It also had more shaping involved than the cone that Flora used. There's white chocolate around the base, and something crumbled to look like dirt around the nest. It held together, it looked beautiful, and they liked the tastes.

In addition to Flora's excessive decorations, this wasn't the first time that her flavors didn't work, and they really didn't work for her showstopper, not to mention things falling apart, and the cake -- a basic thing -- being bad. Her signature also had problems in the passion-fruit layer and in her macarons, which she could have left out altogether, again. Ian's signature didn't have the flavor accent he was trying for, but otherwise it was good. While his showstopper didn't have a lot of chocolate work, they did praise it for innovation, and they liked his flavors. At this stage, I think that failing on flavors just isn't acceptable. They were right to send Flora home.

Re: star baker: Tamal did a good job on the signature, but it was fairly basic in design, and there wasn't great precision on his showstopper decoration (more than just the crooked lines; some other parts were sort of sloppy too). Nadiya had multiple flavor combinations and techniques that carried through a theme on her signature bake, and she had some chocolate work on the top as well. She was last in the technical, but they clearly thought she notably carried the other two elements. I think the decisions are a matter of a few degrees now, and I do agree with their choices.

Edited August 7, 2016 by justmehere

[MisterGlass]

I've never made a souffle, and I can understand why these competitors haven't either.  They are home bakers.  Souffles have to be served exactly on time and leftovers wouldn't save well.  They can't work for a potluck, and for a dinner party it's helpful to have something already completed so you aren't standing over the oven.  And if you make one and it fails, there's no time to recover because you are supposed to serve it at once.

[Kohola3]

Quote

I've never made a souffle, and I can understand why these competitors haven't either.

I have actually made them just for myself.  Even if they fall after a bit, they are still quite delicious.  And, honestly, they are not quite as daunting as depicted.  I am no fancy baker (cookies are about it) but I do manage OK. I don't bother with the paper collar, however,   Didn't even know it might be needed and mine turned out fine.

[Maya]

Everyone's angst over the soufflé seemed a little overly dramatic, especially considering they all turned out really well. It was hard to even tell who was in first or last place, since they all looked and tasted good. They did this challenge on the American version and it was a disaster. Flat ones, curdled ones, soupy ones, etc.

[stillshimpy]

Aw, poor Flora, but it seemed like a just elimination to me.  Imagine how good a baker that girl will be in ten years time.  She really has an incredible amount of skill and considering her age, Flora really has a tremendous amount of poise.  Her calm, "Does anyone have a free hand?" as her showstopper tumbled was aweseome.  What a great young woman.  She can go home and have a cup of tea by the Aga in that fabulous home kitchen, knowing that she kept up with and bested people who had decades worth of experience in some cases.  Well done, Flora.  I also loved her making a cookie-cutter (stuff a sock in it, Hollywood).  

I actually felt for Ian too, at the end.  It really could have gone either way as Ian's showstopper was more about engineering than it was about baking but one thing is entirely clear: being in the competition means a lot to him and I'm glad he got to stay.  He's a nice man (make me no pies, feed me no hares, obviously, but other than that) and he really has gone all out for this.   As internal as the man seems to be, the teary eyes at the end were made even more moving by how rare an emotional display of any kind is for him.  

I'm just not going to take anyone to task for having emotional reactions at this stage in the game.  It's the one area where the filming-on-the-weekend structure would really start to take a tremendous toll.  Everyone remaining hasn't really had a weekend in two months and has spent the weeks in between practicing like mad things.  They've all got to be worn and weary and a little high strung by now.  Plus, it is almost more difficult to be eliminated this late in the game, knowing you'd come so close.

What a darling cast this year.  I miss each one of them as they go.  

[dubbel zout]

Why did the bakers use a metal spoon to fold in the egg whites instead of a rubber spatula? I would think a lot of the mixing problems would have been solved by using the proper tool. 

This was a rough episode to watch. I think it was right that Flora went home, but it was so sad regardless.

[mlp]

I meant to ask this after the episode where they made fruitcakes.  What are those curious divided metal boxes they all used to bake in?  I noticed one of the bakers, Tamal I think, was using one again this episode.  I've never seen anything quite like those before.

[DHDancer]

1 hour ago, dubbel zout said:

Why did the bakers use a metal spoon to fold in the egg whites instead of a rubber spatula? I would think a lot of the mixing problems would have been solved by using the proper tool. 

This was a rough episode to watch. I think it was right that Flora went home, but it was so sad regardless.

Using a metal spoon to fold egg whites into a batter is a classical technique.  Normally souffles don't have to be thoroughly mixed but in the case of chocolate (or any dark mixture) it is an aesthetic thing.  BTW, if you look closely Flora's winning souffle had white spots in it -- difference in the judging must have come down to the size of the white blobs.  BTW, you can make the souffle mixture hours in advance, keep it in the fridge then bake right when you are ready to serve.  Remember the fashion for lava cakes?  Restaurants make them way ahead of time and just pull them out of the fridge as needed.

 

20 minutes ago, mlp said:

I meant to ask this after the episode where they made fruitcakes.  What are those curious divided metal boxes they all used to bake in?  I noticed one of the bakers, Tamal I think, was using one again this episode.  I've never seen anything quite like those before.

Those are "one size fits all" square baking pans!  Pretty neat eh?  You just fill the part of the pan that matches your recipe.

[dleighg]

Discussion of tools reminded me; at the very beginning of the episode it showed Nadiya (I think) "caressing" a bar of butter with a spatula. Anyone know what that was about?

[dubbel zout]

23 minutes ago, DHDancer said:

Normally souffles don't have to be thoroughly mixed

They don't? I get it's an aesthetic thing, but I'd also think you wouldn't want pockets of egg whites in any flavor of soufflé.

[DHDancer]

The egg whites should not be stiff and dry and should fold in pretty easily (the first third is folded in to soften and lighten the "roux" (or pat) base), then the rest are folded in with the aim of not losing too much volume -- it's probably the hardest part of making a souffle.  You really don't see the egg whites in cooked souffles as a general rule because the cooking melds everything together. And frankly it's not considered a crime if you do see some egg white :)

I haven't personally made a chocolate souffle (not a chocolate person.  I have made cheese ones) but I admit I scratched my head a bit when the technical challenge instructions said to make a meringue with the egg whites and sugar: that to me would have made the egg whites too stiff to really incorporate well.  I guess I was right :)  Normally the egg whites are just whipped by themselves with a little cream of tartar then incorporated.  Any sugar would have been incorporated into the base roux/pat.

[Lady Iris]

I did not know that Flora was only 19. My goodness, no wonder why her anguish and worry read so easily. It was painful to watch her get so stressed. I hoped she'd go through to the end but for 19 she acquitted herself quite nicely. I'm trying terribly hard not to look and read the finale show thread. I wish the USA would do another season of this. I enjoyed our version what was it a summer or two ago? Plus Paul is quite easy on the eyes.

[dubbel zout]

I thought the method the soufflé recipe asked for was weird, too. It's really not a difficult dish. It doesn't keep, so you have to make it at the last minute, as the show properly arranged for the challenge. I think that's what makes it intimidating for most people.

[Rinaldo]

17 hours ago, dubbel zout said:

Why did the bakers use a metal spoon to fold in the egg whites instead of a rubber spatula? I would think a lot of the mixing problems would have been solved by using the proper tool. 

I wondered the same thing when I saw my first episode of the series that involved folding, but they mean it: they all (including Mary when she demonstrates it on the Masterclasses) use the big metal spoon, not a spatula in sight. What's the advantage supposed to be?

That's one of the biggest transatlantic differences I see, along with making sure there's not a bit of unfolded egg white visible in recipes like soufflés where beaten egg white is folded into a batter: the US cooking teachers (even French-trained ones) will advise, "Don't over-fold, you don't want to take out any more air than you have to and any unmixed specks will cook out."

Edited August 8, 2016 by Rinaldo

[justmehere]

5 hours ago, Rinaldo said:

"Don't over-fold, you don't want to take out any more air than you have to and any unmixed specks will cook out."

Yes, and Ian is an example. They praised him for not having any egg white showing, but then told him he over-mixed and so it didn't rise properly. Damned if you do and damned if you don't.

[dubbel zout]

It looked as if Ian didn't know what he was doing generally for that challenge.

[Rinaldo]

It may come down (in both cases) to whether they know the trick (which their instructions may not have spelled out) of first just-plain-stirring some of your egg white mixture (Mary says a third, I've generally heard more like a quarter) into the other batter to thin it ("slacken it" as she says) so that both are about the same density and a good folding is possible. If they don't do that, they're likely to end up with a result that's either too thoroughly mixed (and thus deflated) or too separate.

[Quilt Fairy]

I believe in the Washington Post review (linked to upthread) the professional baker who watched the episode was aghast at the use of metal spoons in the technical and said spatula was the way to go.

[Rinaldo]

Like I said, the spoon/spatula transatlantic divide is one of the biggest mysteries to me. I wish I could find an explanation somewhere why they think spoon is better. (I know it's traditional, but that's not enough.)

[Jodithgrace]

I watch many (American) cooking shows and have never seen a soufflé folded with anything other than a rubber spatula. Odd.

It occurs to me that now that we are down to so few contestants, the dreaded Technical challenge has lost its clout, so to speak. What I mean is,  Nadiya coming in last in a field of 4, isn't at all like coming in last in a field of 12, or 10 or 7. Since they are ranked, somebody had to be first and somebody last, but the differences weren't all that great. Nadiya's soufflé wasn't bad..it just had more merengue showing than the others. Of course, if she had come in with a chocolate pancake, that would have been a different story. But I think that's why her last place wasn't enough to keep her from being star baker. Likewise, Flora's first place wasn't enough to keep her from being eliminated.

I did like Flora, but she just would not learn not to embellish her bakes to death, at the expense of "the brief." So it was right that she went.

Next week should be fun.

[dubbel zout]

13 minutes ago, Jodithgrace said:

Since they are ranked, somebody had to be first and somebody last, but the differences weren't all that great.

That's probably why Mary and Paul take previous challenges into greater account.

16 minutes ago, Jodithgrace said:

I did like Flora, but she just would not learn not to embellish her bakes to death, at the expense of "the brief." So it was right that she went.

She just can't help herself, can she? It's endearing and exasperating at the same time.

[Tara Ariano]

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

Will Chocolate Melt Our Semi-Finalists On The Great British Bake Off?

A tricky soufflé gets them cowering by their ovens. Who'll keep their cool and come out ahead?

[rab01]

It's really hard to tell from watching the show how the bakers ranked in each round this episode. We are told that Nadiya was first in 2 rounds and last in the technical and that Flora was first in the technical but that's all I know for sure. 

From the comments, it looks like Flora was last in the other two rounds but it's possible that Ian was behind in her in either of those rounds; we just can't tell. For all I can tell, Tamal might even have been behind Ian in the signature or the showstopper. When you are down to 4 really good bakers, the judges are splitting hairs.

I don't see any favoritism towards Ian from the judges; at least not anymore. The only way I think it could be inferred is if you thought that they were lying about how his stuff tastes.

Edited August 8, 2016 by rab01

[Inscrutable1]

Modeling chocolate: Sounds like more work than I'm willing to do.

http://www.wickedgoodies.net/modeling-chocolate-recipe/

[riverheightsnancy]

I have been catching up with this show and I just love Nadiya. She has the most expressive eyes. She is a doll. 

[Rick Kitchen]

Dammit, Flora, back to the overdecorating again.  smh

Uhoh, peanut butter.  Paul won't approve.

Man, all of those chocolate tarts looked really delicious.

Tamal has the greatest smile.

Ooh, the handshake from Paul.  He liked the peanut butter.

Chocolate souffle seems easy enough. I'm surprised they haven't made souffles before.

There were specks in Flora's souffle, but they didn't mention them.

What was Nadiya doing, polishing her butter with a spatula?

Was Flora using marshmallow fluff?

What are cinder biscuits?

Tamal's tower was a mess.

Psh.  Ian should have made his bucket out of chocolate.  :D

Aw, Flora.  She was having problems towards the end.  It's too bad her showstopper didn't taste as good as it looked.

[snarktini]

3 hours ago, rab01 said:

I don't see any favoritism towards Ian from the judges; at least not anymore. The only way I think it could be inferred is if you thought that they were lying about how his stuff tastes.

I'm always a little bothered by assertions of favoritism (on any show) -- how can we insist someone was robbed when we didn't taste any of it? Sure, bias is possible, consciously or unconsciously. Judging is by its very nature subjective. But it's equally possible there is no significant bias, the kind that changes outcomes. They have so much more information than we do: They know all the rules & instructions. They know their grading rubric. They are experts in their field. They are privy to all the moments and comments, not only the edited 10% we are shown. They get to taste, touch, and see the food up close. I can disagree with them, but I can't honestly assert I'm right and they're wrong.

In the end I choose to believe they are fair to the best of their ability, and that they know more than I do about who did well. Both Ian and Flora were clearly at risk. From the comments, I assumed Flora would go, and that was correct. I figured the Technical win was the only thing that could save her.

[Spunkygal]

On August 7, 2016 at 8:10 AM, Kohola3 said:

I have actually made them just for myself.  Even if they fall after a bit, they are still quite delicious.  And, honestly, they are not quite as daunting as depicted.  I am no fancy baker (cookies are about it) but I do manage OK. I don't bother with the paper collar, however,   Didn't even know it might be needed and mine turned out fine.

I am so NOT a baker and I have made chocolate soufflés...got the recipe out of one of my Southern Living cookbooks. I did not use a collar, incorporated the egg whites perfectly and it was delicious. It was not difficult. So I was surprised that none of them had ever made one.

I held my breath during the showstopper...just didn't want any of them to go home. I care too much. And I probably would have wept if Tamal or Nadiya had been eliminated, although I love them all.

Please tell me that someone..anyone...also saw the two knots on either side of Paul's overly tanned forehead (right above each eye near his hairline)! It looked like recent Botox injection sites but his forehead did move. My neighbor said she thought his horns were about to pop out. She doesn't like him much! 

[Rick Kitchen]

8 hours ago, Rinaldo said:

Like I said, the spoon/spatula transatlantic divide is one of the biggest mysteries to me. I wish I could find an explanation somewhere why they think spoon is better. (I know it's traditional, but that's not enough.)

Nadiya had a plastic spatula that she was using, oddly, to polish her butter in the tart, it seemed to me.

[stillshimpy]

What was Nadiya doing, polishing her butter with a spatula?

In theory, I suppose it should help remove excess moisture from it.  Kind of like extra churning for European butter?  I am completely freaking guessing because for real, what the heck was that?  I know European butter that is not cultured, tends to be churned to a lower moisture content (which equals a higher butterfat content) but as I highly friggin' doubt they are making the contestants churn their own flippin' butter, I was also at a loss.  However, truly, in theory, it should help remove excess moisture.  

[dleighg]

10 hours ago, Rick Kitchen said:

Nadiya had a plastic spatula that she was using, oddly, to polish her butter in the tart, it seemed to me.

I was wondering what on earth she was doing there.

[rab01]

I thought she was greasing her spatula

[Organized8]

15 hours ago, Rick Kitchen said:

Nadiya had a plastic spatula that she was using, oddly, to polish her butter in the tart, it seemed to me.

I thought she was buttering it up to stir the rice krispie treats...I do the same thing.

[Kohola3]

My goodness, we do have quite a range of ideas on spatulagate!

[Christina]

20 hours ago, Inscrutable1 said:

Modeling chocolate: Sounds like more work than I'm willing to do.

http://www.wickedgoodies.net/modeling-chocolate-recipe/

Practically everything on this show is more work than I'm willing to do.

[dubbel zout]

10 minutes ago, Christina said:

Practically everything on this show is more work than I'm willing to do.

Which is why, as much as I love baking, I'll never want to be on a show like this. The showstoppers would be the death of me.

[Trini]

So after this episode I just really want to make a chocolate soufflé. I have a book with a recipe and instructions, and I thought it was weird that everyone thought that technical was very difficult. Finding people to eat it with might be problem, though....

Edited August 10, 2016 by Trini

[Rick Kitchen]

24 minutes ago, Trini said:

So after this episode I just really want to make a chocolate soufflé. I have a book with a recipe and instructions, and I thought it was weird that everyone thought that technical very difficult. Finding people to eat it with might be problem, though....

Why is that a problem?  :D

[paramitch]

I love this show -- I can't believe we're already almost at the end! Darn it!

The pieces that really stuck out for me this time were Flora's little carousel, Nadiya's peacock (as well as her gorgeous tart), as well as Tamal's beautiful tart. I wasn't as thrilled with Tamal's showstopper, which looked clumsy to me, and while I liked Ian's showstopper, I thought the plastic cylinder detracted hugely from the wonderful design of the piece. He should have simply done a short chocolate cylinder for the well itself -- the white chocolate would still have been visible when the bucket was brought up.

Also, as my kryptonite is soft custards and pudding-like substances, I am a total fiend for a souffle, although I've rarely had them, and although I don't always like chocolate (a little goes a long way), I thought all these looked scrumptious.

My favorite moments as always are all the little moments of humor and camaraderie among the bakers -- Flora's ever-present "oh-lord" hand-on-face moments, Nadiya's hilarious and adorable faces over her souffle failure, Ian's tears at making the final, and adorable Tamal's sheepishness over his wobbly piping on the showstopper.

On 8/6/2016 at 2:23 PM, deepfriedcake said:

<Edited for Space>

I knew it was going to be a rough night for me when Flora was finally eliminated, and I was right. I'd become a complete mother hen concerning her. I know the writing's been on the wall for weeks regarding her, and her inability to edit was pulling her down, but I still adored her. I can't believe yet that she was only 19 and so skilled as a baker. She seems like a doll and I wish her well. I also think that Paul constantly heckling her and pooh-poohing her achievements each week ruffled my mom-feathers but good.

I love this show and I love all of the contestants. I love Mel and Sue and I adore Mary. (I even like Paul, truth be told.) But I think what I like the most is coming here after the show and reading what everyone has to say about it. Everything connected with this show is a joy - even the forum!

I agree that Paul was being a bit of a d-bag here when he kidded that Flora's horses looked like dogs (no they didn't!), but overall I've thought Paul was actually really nice and supportive with Flora throughout the competition to date. He managed to seem kind even when critical, and to be supportive without seeming creepy about it.

I'm totally with you on the forums and discussions here, and I just love all these contestants so much. They always manage to find the most delightful, humble, funny people for this show, and they are a quiet respite for me from the craziness of our current world. I would watch this show forever. And Sue and Mel make me laugh, and I love it when they comfort the competitors at tough moments, too (and evidently they support the contestants off-camera as well), and Mary and Paul are a great judging team -- the perfect balance of sweet and acidic.

On 8/7/2016 at 3:28 AM, justmehere said:

I've got to defend Nadiya's peacock. I'm looking at a still on my TV screen, and there really are quite a few elements. Whatever the stump was that the bird sat on, she covered it in chocolate made to look like bark with layers and rough edges. The nest is intricate, and along with the biscuit eggs, there are some feathers, presumably out of chocolate, that look hand-fashioned - not from a mold. The tail looks like it has a tempered chocolate base (sitting on top of whatever the green thing was), and on that, she placed the individual feathers, each of which had its own chocolate base (they showed her making them) with the colored elements on top - and everything was the same size. The bird itself also had extra decorations for the eye, the beak, and top feathers - piped or crafted - and there was color shading on the bird as well. Though made of rice-treat mix, it held together, which Flora's did not. It also had more shaping involved than the cone that Flora used. There's white chocolate around the base, and something crumbled to look like dirt around the nest. It held together, it looked beautiful, and they liked the tastes.

Great post on Nadiya's peacock, which I thought was pretty amazing, especially all of the tiny components necessary for each peacock feather. I also loved the visibly different textures and flavors of the chocolate coating on the tree trunk, the nest, the "dirt," the eggs, etc. There was also a ton of precise piping involved -- I was so surprised she was able to get it all done.

On 8/7/2016 at 8:48 AM, stillshimpy said:

Aw, poor Flora, but it seemed like a just elimination to me.  Imagine how good a baker that girl will be in ten years time.  She really has an incredible amount of skill and considering her age, Flora really has a tremendous amount of poise.  Her calm, "Does anyone have a free hand?" as her showstopper tumbled was aweseome.  What a great young woman.  She can go home and have a cup of tea by the Aga in that fabulous home kitchen, knowing that she kept up with and bested people who had decades worth of experience in some cases.  Well done, Flora.  I also loved her making a cookie-cutter (stuff a sock in it, Hollywood).  

I actually felt for Ian too, at the end.  It really could have gone either way as Ian's showstopper was more about engineering than it was about baking but one thing is entirely clear: being in the competition means a lot to him and I'm glad he got to stay.  He's a nice man (make me no pies, feed me no hares, obviously, but other than that) and he really has gone all out for this.   As internal as the man seems to be, the teary eyes at the end were made even more moving by how rare an emotional display of any kind is for him.  

I'm just not going to take anyone to task for having emotional reactions at this stage in the game.  It's the one area where the filming-on-the-weekend structure would really start to take a tremendous toll.  Everyone remaining hasn't really had a weekend in two months and has spent the weeks in between practicing like mad things.  They've all got to be worn and weary and a little high strung by now.  Plus, it is almost more difficult to be eliminated this late in the game, knowing you'd come so close.

What a darling cast this year.  I miss each one of them as they go.  

I love Flora -- she seems like such an old soul, with so much calmness and poise and humor at just 19! Amazing. And I loved her expressions almost as much as Nadiya's. She just seems absolutely lovely -- she's going to be a force to be reckoned with in adulthood, no matter what she chooses to do (but I kind of hope she opens the world's most amazing bakery ever).

I was really touched by Ian's tears too -- I may have let out a little sympathetic "awww..." there (and again when poor Nadiya cried over her souffle too). I'm with you on giving everyone a pass on their emotions running high here -- especially as they are all so close to getting to the final step. 

I'm so bummed we're near the end! I hate seeing yet another lovely, gentle, funny season of this show come to an end.

[Clanstarling]

I loved Nadiya's momentary outburst "file it under NEVER." I love her in general, but it was nice to see that she can get pissed (American sense) just like the rest of us. And that she called it her Jekyll/Hyde moment immediately was just icing on top.

I couldn't figure out why they said Flora's showstopper looked...wonky? I forget the term, but what I saw was a lovely carousel. I initially liked Ian's well, but after reading the comments here, I think he really didn't do his best.

I think Flora has a real future in fancy baking (yeah, not bothering to figure out the right word to use) - her ambitious bakes are lovely and complicated, and I would assume would sell for a pretty penny in a commercial establishment. She would have plenty of time to ensure the flavors are right.

Ian put me off a bit with the roadkill episode, but his emotion was genuine and sold me again. I don't care who wins - I like all the finalists. Okay, that's not true, I'm pulling for Nadiya, but would be okay with either of the guys as well.

Edited August 10, 2016 by Clanstarling

[dubbel zout]

37 minutes ago, Clanstarling said:

I couldn't figure out why they said Flora's showstopper looked...wonky? I forget the term, but what I saw was a lovely carousel.

I think Paul and Mary found it a little clumsily put together. The frosting on the horses was too heavy, for example. Was it her showstopper or Tamal's that they found a Monet, i.e., fine from afar but a bit of a mess up close?

[Clanstarling]

I think it was Tamal's.

[snarktini]

2 hours ago, Clanstarling said:

I couldn't figure out why they said Flora's showstopper looked...wonky? I forget the term, but what I saw was a lovely carousel.

What I saw as "wonky" was that a lot of the details were crooked and uneven. For example, the little white half-circle biscuits around the base were rather haphazard. In her voiceover, Flora said it was the messiest piping she'd done in her life. It was a beautiful and fun concept, but the execution was rushed (duh).

Yes, Tamal's was the Monet.

[paramitch]

I forgot to mention one thing that got me...

While I always cringe when the bakers' beautiful confections fall, or crumble, or are carved into mercilessly by the judges, watching poor Flora's lovely little carousel absolutely collapse into rubble was really especially painful. It was just so pretty one moment, and then the next it was just a forlorn little pile of broken bits.