The Great Australian Bake Off - General Discussion

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Quote

The Great Australian Bake Off returns for its highly anticipated third season and will see 12 home baking enthusiasts put through a series of grueling elimination challenges, baking a mouth-watering selection of cakes, pies, tarts, pastries, bread, biscuits and desserts, all in the hope of being crowned Australia's Best Home Baker.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I was out of town so I didn't have a chance to watch this episode until tonight. It made me so happy to have this sweet little show back!

I wasn't sure how much the bakers could make their marble cakes unique/different because I always assumed that marble cake was chocolate and vanilla. These bakers definitely went way off the beaten path with some of their marble cakes!

Dave the accountant cracked me up with his "baking made me wild!" His matcha and red bean marble cake was the best looking of the bunch. It fit the brief and looked so professional. As someone who has endured multiple seasons of Paul Hollywood complaining about unfamiliar flavors as weird (or acting like he'd never heard of them), I love that Matt and Maggie said nothing about the matcha and red bean being unusual or different. Instead they just ate it. Take note, Paul Hollywood!

Robert the ginger IT guy who likes to ballroom dance seems like a fun IT guy. His tiger cake with chocolate and orange looked so good. Loved how bright the orange was. Matt, shut your mouth! Lave the ganache alone!

Emma the science girl's vanilla, chocolate, and orange cake as a tribute to her one eyed cat was a fun idea, so it's too bad that the cake was overbaked.

Claudia the psychiatrist's pink marble cake with lemon and raspberry was a little worrisome because when I saw her mixing the two together, it looked like the colors were too light/not distinctive enough. If she had punched up one of the colors with just a drop or two of food coloring, her marbling would have looked better.

Jessica the soccer player's lime, coconut, and chocolate marble cake was very pretty with the flowers and frosting. I had to agree that the marbling was very minimal. Was the coconut cake pink?

Raessa's lime and coconut peacock marble cake was nicely marbled inside and I like that she wasn't afraid to use bright colors.

Max the French plasterer's chocolate and matcha marble cake with mascarpone and strawberries was marbled but the green was too dark so it didn't appear very marbled. He could have used a tiny bit of food coloring to make the green a little brighter and more distinct in the marbling.

Chris aka the mohawk guy's chocolate and orange marble cake with orange toffee looked nice on the inside and the outside.

Barb the finance officer's vanilla and coffee marble bundt cake looked great but I want more chocolate in that marble!

Alex the building materials importer's lemon and pistachio marble cake with pomegranate was very autumnal, but man, he had no marbling at all because the pistachio batter was so heavy and sank to the bottom. Maggie clearly loved the flavor!

Marcus the dentist's chocolate and vanilla marble cake with sour cherry jam sounded interesting, similar to black forest cake. I didn't get to see the marbling inside but I'm going to assume it was fine since the judges didn't say anything about it.

Michelle aka Maggie's (alleged) twin's lemon and raspberry marble bundt cake was so pretty. Loved all the fresh raspberries on top. It was nicely marbled and I liked that she readily admitted to the judges that she covered up some of the cracks. No point in lying!

Hee, I loved when Max said he wasn't allowed to fail the technical challenge since madeleines are French. Marcus's unabashedly dorky dancing was hilarious but I was cringing when he start smashing his batter and knocking all the air out. I had to laugh when he said that the important thing when making madeleines was consistent piping and then the camera cut to his very different sized madeleines. Yay for Raessa winning the technical challenge! But Max, come on, NEVER deviate from the recipe in the technical challenge!

Michelle's chocolate volcano cake with chocolate ganache, rice bubbles, and dinosaur fossils was a fun idea. Kids would love the smoke and finding the fossil cookies.

Marcus's chocolate volcano cake with blood orange curd and sesame buttercream wasn't much to look at until Maggie poured the orange curd in, but I can imagine the oohs and aahs that would get from kids.

Max's seven layer chocolate monster cake with mascarpone frosting was simple, but I think kids would love it.

Jessica's teapot with white chocolate mud cake. I was surprised that Maggie specifically came back and told her to put lemon zest in her cake batter. Too bad her batter was already in the oven. She really took a risk to remake her cake. I liked that she was not going to let Maggie's advice go to waste AND that she found a way to problem solve when her new cake wasn't cooking fast enough. Cutting it in half to make a teacup was a great solution.

Robert's Dolly Varden red velvet cake with sour cream white chocolate ganache was not my favorite visually. I know he spent a lot of time on the face, which I appreciate, but the anatomy of the arms was so lacking in comparison. I loved seeing everyone laugh as the judges sliced up the doll.

Emma's bear cake with fairy floss and bubble gum batter was very traditional looking. The meringues hidden inside were something a kid would love.

Chris' Neapolitan princess cake with strawberry, vanilla, and chocolate cake was super girlie. I love when people make strawberry cake because what you find more often is vanilla cake with strawberry frosting.

Barb's unicorn cake with four layers of rainbow vanilla cake was pretty. The colors she used for her layers were nice.

Dave's unicorn cake was the winner in my book for sheer effort. Not only did he have more layers, but each one was a different color and flavor (strawberry, mango, lemon, apple, blackberry, and blueberry). And he used fruit purees and freeze dried powders instead of using those fake flavoring drops! Such a bummer that it was a little lopsided.

Raeesa's jungle cake with hidden candy, leopard print vanilla cake, and layered chocolate cake was really cute. Kids would definitely love that!

Claudia's pony cake with vanilla cake, strawberry curd, custard buttercream, and almond meringue did kind of look like a bird. She gets bonus points for making marshmallow fondant. Her cake was so light and fluffy and I LOVE strawberry so I was all for her cake.

Alex's mermaid cake with vanilla sponge, raspberry jam, French buttercream, and macaron clamshells was not the prettiest. I thought the judges were very generous with their appraisal. I thought the decorations were a little too clumsy/amateur, especially the mermaid tail which is the only thing that tells you it's a mermaid cake.

I'm shocked that Robert's doll won him star baker. It was not as surprising that Jessica was the first one eliminated. She just didn't have a good week. It sucks when that happens the first week of the competition. Sometimes I wish they wouldn't eliminate anyone the first week, just because they're all nervous and getting used to the equipment, etc.

So excited for next week!

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I LOVE that The Great Australian Bake Off publishes every recipe made in each episode! Why don't the other shows do this?! The forum has a limit on the number of links you can insert into one post so I have to break the recipes up into separate posts.

ETA: Apparently I spoke too soon because the GABO website is missing a few recipes. But this is still better than the GBBO giving us a whopping four recipes for the S8 premiere!

Signature: marble cake
Alex's lemon and pistachio marble cake
Barb's vanilla and coffee marble bundt cake
Chris' chocolate orange marble cake
Claudia's lemon and raspberry marble cake
Dave's matcha and red bean marble cake
Jessica's chocolate, coconut, and lime marble cake
Marcus' chocolate and cherry marble cake
Max's chocolate and matcha marble cake
Michelle's lemon and raspberry bundt cake
Raeesa's lime and coconut peacock marble cake
Robert's chocolate and orange tiger marble cake

Edited January 23, 2018 by ElectricBoogaloo

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Technical challenge:
Maggie's chocolate dipped hazelnut madeleines

Showstopper: children's birthday cakes
Alex's mermaid cake
Barb's unicorn cake
Chris' Neapolitan princess cake
Dave's rainbow unicorn cake
Claudia's pony cake
Emma's teddy bear cake
Jessica's teapot cake
Marcus' volcano cake
Michelle's volcanic island mud cake
Robert's red velvet Dolly Varden cake

Missing: Emma's marble cake and showstopper recipes from Max and Raeesa.

Edited February 5, 2018 by ElectricBoogaloo

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Mmmmm, I love focaccia!

Max's olive oil and rosemary focaccia with figs, walnuts, and prosciutto looked like something you'd see in a fancy food magazine. I totally agreed with the judges - you need to have enough toppings spread around so that everyone gets some of the fig on their piece. Or maybe he was only planning to let four people share that one focaccia? I love focaccia so I could easily eat 1/4 of one!

Robert's rosemary focaccia with tomatoes, feta, and black olives looked nice. Thank goodness he was smart enough to listen to Maggie when she told him to use the fresh kalamata olives instead of the canned ones.

Chris' garlic and thyme focaccia with red onion, feta, and zucchini was very visually appealing. I loved all the diagonal lines he made with his toppings.

Alex's Spanish focaccia with chorizo, tomatoes, and goat cheese looked a bit messy. Using whole tomatoes gave him the same problem as Max. I don't want to be looking at my neighbor's piece and wishing that I had whatever topping they had on their piece.

Marcus' goat cheese focaccia with glazed walnuts, herbs, and smoked beer root looked great. The beet root added such great color. I had to laugh a little bit when he said the focaccia was stuck to the pizza stone.

Raeesa's eggplant and caramelised onion focaccia with cherry tomatoes, herbs, and dukkah sounded good in theory, but I agree that it looked like there was just too much on top. I RARELY say that about focaccia, pizza, or toppings in general but I agreed with the judges when they said that everything was obscuring the top of the bread. I had to laugh when they showed Raeesa eating a piece afterward and declaring, "It's awful."

Barb's olive oil focaccia with rosemary and olives looked gorgeously rustic.

Emma's spelt focaccia with cherry tomatoes and anchovies looked a little boring and amateur compared to everyone else's.

Michelle's quattro formaggi focaccia with parmesan, fontina, ricotta, and gorgonzola looked wonderfully cheesy so it's too bad it was a tiny bit underbaked.

Claudia's kitchenette focaccia with German beer, orange glazed onions, and pear looked really nice. I forgot what toppings she said she was using and thought that she had put thin slices of potato on top.

Dave's pinenut and grape focaccia with rosemary and sea salt was insanely gorgeous. His precise decorations were so great. I'm glad that the judges said the flavors were great. I hope that made up a little bit for the bread being a little undercooked.

Yay for Robert winning the technical challenge! Loved his smooth dome of butter - and of course you should add salt to the butter! I'm not a huge fan of scones. I don't hate them but there are a lot of other bread things I'd rather eat. Poor Alex - I'm glad he was able to scrape together enough pumpkin from the other bakers so that he could make a second batch after realizing that he'd used butter instead of buttermilk in the first batch. And he managed not to place last! Poor Emma. She was having a terrible week. Love that Max came in second even though he didn't know what a scone was.

I know everyone raves about Paul's bread lion from GBBO, but I usually don't love the showstoppers during bread week. I feel like it's a bit more limiting due to the color palate.

Chris' apple pie pull apart with cinnamon scrolls and custard scrolls did a great job coming up with something that looked like a showstopper. It looked like a pretty three layer cake. I wanted to try one of the custard ones!

Raessa's baklava pull apart looked very nice. Having the exposed filling made it look even fancier. Love that it merited the Maggie nudge.

Emma's pull apart atom with light and dark rye, caramelised onions, and caraway seeds looked better than I thought it would. Loved that both Matt and Maggie said the dough smelled delicious.

Marcus' French onion pull apart with caramelised onions, garlic, thyme, and cheese was a fun idea. Loved that he made a bread bowl for the French onion soup.

Robert's cheesy pull apart with cheese, garlic, and chives looked delicious. Ha, loved when he said that he panicked and threw a lot of bacon on it.

Alex's tsoureki with chocolate and almond paste sounded good but I agree with Matt that it looked a bit plain for a showstopper. Awww and it was undercooked.

Michelle's Christmas tree pull apart with sage and spec bread was totally recognizable (sometimes the bread showstoppers just look like blobs to me). The brioche star with orange and rhubarb jam was beautiful. Loved all the twists in the star.

Max was really ambitious to make four different breads. The garlic and butter one sounded so simple and delicious, as did the olive oil focaccia. The fig and walnut and the sundried tomato and chili looked good too.

Claudia's edelweiss pull apart was such a sweet idea. And now I will have "Edelweiss" stuck in my head all day! The poppy seed stolen didn't sound nearly as good as the apple, pear, lemon, and orange sweet rolls - yum! It looked impressive because it was so large and so precisely made.

Barb's pumpkin pull apart roses with spinach and cheese were so pretty. I loved how intricate it looked.

Dave's center rose was ridiculously beautiful and detailed. The dome gave it a very Beauty and the Beast look.

If this were GBBO, I would be annoyed that Dave wasn't star baker because on that show, it's clearly awarded to whoever had the best show stopper. On GABO, I feel like they take the overall performance into account. I think if Robert had done a little better in the showstopper, he would have won star baker. I was still pretty surprised that Claudia was named star baker.

I was even more shocked that Alex was eliminated instead of Emma. She did dismally this week so I was sure she was going home.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Quote

It's biscuit week for our 10 bakers with biscotti, jamdrops and a tricky jigsaw made from biscuits on the menu.

Edited February 5, 2018 by ElectricBoogaloo

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Signature bake: focaccia

Alex's Spanish focaccia
Barb's olive oil focaccia
Chris' garlic and thyme focaccia
Claudia's kitchenette focaccia
Dave's pinenut and grape focaccia
Emma's spelt focaccia
Marcus' goat cheese focaccia
Max's olive oil and rosemary focaccia
Michelle's quattro formaggi focaccia
Raessa's eggplant and caramelised onion focaccia
Robert's rosemary focaccia

Edited January 26, 2018 by ElectricBoogaloo

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Technical challenge
Maggie's pumpkin scones

Showstoppers
Alex's tsoureki bread
Barb's pumpkin pull apart
Chris' apple pie pull apart
Claudia's edelweiss pull apart
Dave's rose pull apart
Emma's atomic pull apart
Marcus' French onion pull apart
Max's Tour de France pull apart
Michelle's Christmas tree pull apart
Raeesa's baklava pull apart
Robert's cheesy pull apart

 

[TVbitch]

Wow, tons of great bakers this season. Bread week is usually my least favorite week, but some of those focaccias and show stoppers were amazing, just like last week. Glad to have this on since the US version got pulled. 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

If Dave had made that focaccia on GBBO, Paul Hollywood would have said, "GRAPES? Who puts grapes in focaccia? I've never heard of that! Are you sure you want to do that?" Instead we got both judges commenting on how great the focaccia was without harping on the fact that someone was using an ingredient other than rosemary, thyme, garlic, or salt.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Quote

As the bakers enter their fourth week in the shed, their thoughts turn to home with Matt and Maggie asking them to bake their family favourites.

Edited February 5, 2018 by ElectricBoogaloo

[ElectricBoogaloo]

This week's recipes!
Signature challenge: biscotti

Barb's cranberry, pistachio, and white chocolate biscotti
Chris' pistachio and almond biscotti
Claudia's hazelnut, sour cherry, and cocoa nib biscotti
Dave's chocolate coated cranberry and walnut biscotti
Emma's swotty biscotti
Marcus' Roman biscotti
Max's almond, fennel, and apricot biscotti
Michelle's sour cherry and pistachio biscotti
Raeesa's date, walnut, and orange biscotti
Robert's chocolate dipped biscotti

Technical challenge:
Matt Moran's jam drop biscuits
 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Showstopper recipes:

Barb's sunflower biscuit puzzle
Chris' grizzly bear biscuit puzzle
Claudia's Pieces of Sydney biscuit puzzle
Dave's Chinese tangram biscuit puzzle
Emma's periodic table biscuit puzzle
Marcus' From Another Planet biscuit puzzle
Max's Eiffel Tower biscuit puzzle
Michelle's Blooming Marvelous biscuit puzzle
Raeesa's tree of life biscuit puzzle
Robert's sunflower biscuit puzzle
 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

official recap

[ElectricBoogaloo]

official recap

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I am not a huge fan of biscotti. I don't hate it but there are so many things I'd rather eat (crispy cookies, crackers, toast).

Emma's swotty biscotti with sour cherries, pistachios, and chocolate did look a bit small but they looked nice.

Max's French biscotti with almonds, apricot, and fennel were still a little warm when he started putting them in the jar. I was afraid that the jar would steam up and then soften the biscotti. Apparently my concerns were unwarranted since Maggie couldn't even bite it.

I loved that Chris' manly biscotti with almonds and pistachios had so many large pieces of nuts visible.

Claudia's scientific biscotti with hazelnut praline, sour cherries, and cocoa nibs had such a fun presentation! Loved the dark chocolate and kirsch fondue in the test tubes. I also liked her Jenga-esque stack of biscotti.

Raeesa's date, walnut, and orange biscotti looked a bit dark, so I don't blame Maggie for thinking they might be overbaked. Glad they weren't!

Marcus' Roman biscotti with apricot, almond, and fennel was so fun with the coliseum presentation and the rosemary inside.

Michelle's sour cherry, pistachio biscotti dipped in white chocolate were pretty. Loved the dark chocolate at the end with the white drizzle on top.

Barb's cranberrry and pistachio biscotti dipped in white chocolate looked so nice with the white and dark chocolate swirls at the end.

Dave's cranberry and walnut biscotti coated in chocolate and nuts. Awww, loved seeing Robert and Chris help Dave try to get his biscotti finished a the last minute. Loved that bright pop of purple spinkled on top of the chocolate, but I couldn't tell what it was. I heard him tell one of the guys they were petals - rose petals?

I totally get what Robert was saying about cutting his biscotti thinner. Sometimes biscotti is so thick that it's difficult to bite through it, so a thinner piece of biscotti solves that problem. I wasn't sure how the judges would feel about it though. Visually the problem I had with his almond, cranberry, and pistachio biscotti dipped in chocolate is that he didn't temper the chocolate very well. When I saw a closeup shot of him dipping his biscotti into it, I could tell that it was too thick and gloppy. He said he put a lot of orange into the chocolate so maybe that threw off his timeline for tempering it?

Mr. EB loooooooves jam drop cookies.

OMG, Marcus is such an unabashed dork which just makes me love him. I also loved that Dave made a second batch of jam, not because he ruined his first batch, but because he enjoyed making jam. Maybe not the best thing to do when you have less than two hours, but I can appreciate that. Claudia, on the other hand, should have made a second batch of jam. Hers was so thick and pasty. Awwwww, loved seeing three of the bakers run over to help Raeesa get all of her jam drops on the plate. I think it was Robert, Chris, and Marcus this time.

Barb's were so great. Raeesa made such tiny holes for her jam. Chris's jam drops looked perfect. Hahaha, it's only the third week and already the judges know that Claudia's haphazardly placed cookies couldn't possibly be Dave's because he's so precise. Marcus' looked pretty good but when I saw him add all that sugar at the end, I knew the judges would say he had used too much. When Robert said that he couldn't add more jam, I thought noooooo, you can always add more jam! Just ask Chris and Dave who piped more on top after theirs came out of the oven! Michelle's looked great with that light dusting of powdered sugar and the fig jam was so bright! Emma's looked a tad darker. Dave's looked perfect. They were exactly the same size, lots of bright jam, and a nice sprinkle of sugar on top. Max's needed a lot more jam. Yay for Chris and Barb coming in third and second. And YAAAAAY for Dave coming in first!  I laughed so hard when he said, "Drop the jam," and then dropped some jam.

I would like to know how the judges defined a puzzle for the show stopper. To me, that means the pieces should fit together.

Chris's grizzly bear sounded delicious! Coffee and chocolate, peanut butter, and buttercream - yum!

Claudia's pieces of Sydney puzzle with passionfruit coconut biscuits, salted chocolate, lemon myrtle, and orange and wattleseed looked like a beautiful stained glass window. I liked that she cut the pieces so that the squares were standing on their points. Same shape (square) but such a different effect.

Marcus' solar system puzzle with vanilla biscuits, white chocolate glaze, black sesame macarons, and coconut macaroons was very colorful but I agreed with Matt that the glaze covered the cuts that showed the jigsaw pieces. I loved the bluish purple color of his glaze though!

Emma's periodic table puzzle with banana, kumquat, lemon, and chocolate orange biscuits was a fun idea. Loved all the tetris-like pieces that she created. I've never had a kumquat flavored biscuit, so she definitely gets bonus points for going beyond the usual vanilla and chocolate flavors.

Barb's lemon and lime sunflower puzzle was very bright and cheerful. I thought she had a different take on a puzzle. Technically the petals weren't a puzzle because she layered them on top of each other and they didn't fit together, but I liked it. And she did have jigsaw pieces for the stem.

Robert's sunflower puzzle with chai biscuits and vanilla fondant looked like a Van Gogh painting. I know that he said it was simple because it was only twelve pieces and only one flavor, but I thought it was great. I was so glad that the judges thought so too!

Dave's five virtues tangram with vanilla lemon biscuits and vanilla fondant was a really lovely piece of art.

Michelle's orange blossom flowers and vanilla vase was HUGE. I loved how colorful her presentation was.

Raeesa's tree of life puzzle with chocolate hazelnut, vanilla bean, and gingerbread biscuits was a little simple for me in terms of an actual puzzle. Those were squares put next to each other.

I liked that Max's Eiffel Tower puzzle was so unique. I liked the dark background with the bright fireworks and the yellow moon. I also liked that his was a circular shape. I love the Max/Chris bromance.

Interesting that Robert and Claudia made their own fondant but Michelle did not.

I'm happy for Barb for turning things around, but this is the third week in a row that I thought Dave had one of the top show stoppers and was overlooked again. He did five different flavors in his unicorn cake the first week, he created that beautiful Beauty and the Beast rose for bread week, and his tangram this week was so pretty (and he won the technical challenge). I'm beginning to feel like they aren't going to give him star baker no matter what he does.

So sad that the Max/Chris bromance will no longer be on my tv! Max just didn't have a good week.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

official recap

[RealityCheck]

10 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

I thought Dave had one of the top show stoppers and was overlooked again. He did five different flavors in his unicorn cake the first week, he created that beautiful Beauty and the Beast rose for bread week, and his tangram this week was so pretty (and he won the technical challenge). I'm beginning to feel like they aren't going to give him star baker no matter what he does.

I agree. And don't forget his signature matcha tea cake that was so beautifully decorated with a bi-color rose.  I hope Dave lasts because his artistic sensibilities appeal to me.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Quote

The bakers must fulfill Matt's mantra that patisserie is perfection by piling pastries on the judges' plates.

Edited February 9, 2018 by ElectricBoogaloo

[ElectricBoogaloo]

This week's recipes!

Signature challenge - muffins:
Barb's apple, carrot, and raisin muffins
Chris' banana, blueberry, and walnut muffins
Claudia's custard stuffed cinnamon and oat muffins
Dave's bacon and egg breakfast muffins
Emma's hummingbird muffins
Marcus' apple and plum muffins
Michelle's pumpkin, sage, and goat cheese muffins
Raeesa's tropical muffins
Robert's coconut lumberjack muffins

Edited February 9, 2018 by ElectricBoogaloo

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Technical challenge:
Maggie's chicken, leek, and mushroom pie

Showstoppers - pavlovas:

Barb's black forest chocolate pavlova
Chris' lemon, passionfruit, and raspberry rectangular pavlova
Claudia's pina pavlova
Dave's rainbow pavlova
Emma's pineapple pavlova
Marcus' caramel coconut pavlova
Michelle's fig and pomegranate pavlova
Raeesa's tropical pavlova
Robert's cherry hazelnut pavlova

Edited February 16, 2018 by ElectricBoogaloo

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Family favourites definitely gave the show a lot of leeway for this week's challenges.

I'm not a huge fan of hummingbird cake, so I wasn't super excited about Emma's hummingbird muffins with pineapple, banana, walnut, and cream cheese frosting. Did she use fresh pineapple?

Dave's bacon, egg, and cheese breakfast muffins with maple syrup sounded delicious. He can come over to my house and make those for me any time. YUM!

Michelle's pumpkin, sage, and goat cheese muffins with walnuts and burnt butter sage leaves didn't sound like something I would like (I don't like anything pumpkin flavored). She must have overmixed her batter because Matt said the muffin was too dense. And Mel was right when she questioned the vanilla in the goat cheese topping because Matt and Maggie both disliked it.

Chris' banana, blueberry, and walnut muffins with cream cheese frosting and chocolate dipped banana chips looked nice. I agree with Matt - I like seeing everything inside the muffin as sa topping.

Marcus' apple and plum muffins with cinnamon, walnut praline, and apple caramel sauce looked good. Loved those giant pieces of plum inside. And that caramel sauce was a great addition.

Barb's apple, carrot, and raisin muffins with coconut, cinnamon, walnuts, lemon zest, and cream cheese frosting looked nice. I loved that Matt and Maggie both said, "WOW!" simultaneously.

Claudia's custard filled plum muffins with cinnamon and mandarin mascarpone cream sounded delicious. Mmmmm, custard.

Robert's lumberjack muffins with apples, dates, and caramel coconut sounded interesting but they definitely looked dense when Matt broke his open.

Raeesa's carrot, pineapple, and pecan muffins with brown butter cream frosting looked nice but I knew the judges were going to complain about the canned pineapple. I know that the bakers submit their recipes ahead of time so that production can provide all the ingredients. I wonder if they couldn't get fresh pineapple. I live in California so there are always fresh pineapples in the grocery stores, but I don't know what the produce situation is like in Australia.

Yum, chicken pie! I always find it really amusing when they have a challenge like this where everyone is waiting for their stuff to bake at the same time. That's when we get fun stuff like Robert teaching Claire to dance and Raessa watching Marcus dancing with himself.

I felt so bad for Robert and Barb when their pies fell apart. On the plus, both of them had good pastry and filling. Once again, taste is more important than appearance. Poor Marcus, Chris, and Emma was on the other end of the spectrum - their pies didn't fall apart but the judges didn't like the way they tasted. Raeesa, Michelle, and Dave did pretty well though. Michelle did really well - the judges said the pastry was almost perfect!

Heh, and more goofing around during showstopper preparation. Between Michelle saying, "Shiny balls," and Dave realizing that the time he was trying to turn off wasn't the one beeping, I just love watching the bakers during their non-baking moments. I always feel bad when the weather is uncooperative and the bakers have to bake when it's really hot or wet.

I think that pavlovas often look very simple or even sloppy so I was pretty sure there wouldn't be anything super impressive looking for this week's showstoppers.

Emma's pineapple pavlova with bananas, strawberies, and passionfruit curd was colorful but simple looking.

Dave's rainbow pavlova with strawberry, mango, blueberry, kiwi, and passionfruit looked so pretty. I guess I'm a sucker for his rainbow creations. Such a shame that all the cream caused the pavlova to start collapsing, but at least he found a way to keep it from completely falling apart by wrapping acetate sheets around it. It still collapsed when he removed it for the judges, but it wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been. Matt's comments back in the judging tent between the technical and the showstopper confirmed my belief that they are NEVER going to recognize Dave. Matt and Maggie RAVED about his bacon and egg muffins earlier and Dave placed fourth in the technical, yet Matt described his performance as middle of the road. He always get compliments on his flavors and I think that he has done some very professional looking bakes, but Matt is convinced that he isn't star baker material.

Michelle's hazelnut dacquoise pavlova with mascarpone crème fraîche, figs, and pomegranate wasn't the most beautiful thing, but Maggie loved the texture and flavor.

Claudia's pavlova with lemon mascapone, rum pineapple, mint lemon syrup, and chantilly vanilla cream looked nice. I was surprised that it was able to bear the weight of the pulled sugar on top.

Chris' rectangular pavlova with lemon, passionfruit, and raspberry definitely looked different, from the shape to all the decoration.

Robert's hazelnut, cherry, and chocolate ganache pavlova with coffee and almond creme, strawberries, cherries, and meringue was beautiful.

Raeesa's tropical picnic basket pavlova with passionfruit and orange curd, pistachios, mango compote, lime and coconut curd, mint, and almonds was so bright and cheery looking. It looked like the yellow room in a whimsical candy shop.

Marcus' passionfruit curd, vanilla coconut cream, lime zest, and banana pavlova with salted caramel sauce was too simple looking.

Barb's black forest chocolate pavlova with sour cherries, chantilly, coffee, and cream looked a little messy and smushy, but the flavors sounded great.

It was obvious that either Robert or Emma was going home this week. I thought Emma was a goner a few weeks ago so I think she slid by for a few extra weeks.

It didn't seem like anyone really kicked ass in all three challenges but they judges were correct about Claudia being consistently good this week so no surprise that she was star baker again.

Edited February 9, 2018 by ElectricBoogaloo

[TVbitch]

WTF? We didn't get to see them taste half the showstoppers! And no way did Dave belong on the bottom with the other two! 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Quote

This week the bakers get busy with batter, beating up wild waffles, an apple clafoutis and a 60 layer crepe cake.

Edited February 16, 2018 by ElectricBoogaloo

[ElectricBoogaloo]

The 13 year old in me snickered every time someone said "sausage roll." As always, I enjoyed seeing the bakers help each other plate for presentation.

Robert gets credit for being the only baker to make regular puff pastry instead of rough puff. He took a huge risk making sausage rolls without any, you know, sausage, but his pastry definitely made up for that. His spinach, ricotta, and feta rolls looked so crisp and puffed and perfect!

Marcus' pork, carrot, celery, and toasted fennel seed sausage rolls were a mess when he took them out of the oven. I liked that he thought to put some apples between them as they were collapsing. That's better than giving up! I don't know how he could be so cheerful when talking about how he stuck his face in the oven and burned his face!

"There's nothing more satisfying than getting your meat in your hands and working it real good." Chris' pork sausage rolls with zucchini, carrot, cheese, and bacon looked pretty good. He was smart to listen to Matt's advice about not putting the cheese on top. And it turned out even better when he put the cheese inside which gave it some extra moisture!

Dave's pork sausage rolls with soy, honey, charsiu, and sesame seeds looked so good, and the flavor combination sounded delicious. I'm glad the judges agreed with me. So is Matt asking for the recipe even better than the Hollywood handshake or the Maggie nudge? But based on the last four weeks, I knew that no matter how much they loved his signature bake, he wouldn't have a shot at star baker.

Claudia's pork, apple, and celeriac sausage rolls looked very uniform and golden on top. Of course Matt made sure to turn them over so we could see they were too light on the bottom.

Raeesa's chicken sausage rolls with feta and chili looked okay, but I know that okay isn't good enough for the judges. Matt's comment about the fat content in the chicken helped explain why sausage is used in sausage rolls! Interesting tip from her mom about putting frozen block of butter on top of the dough to help keep it cool, but I would take that a step further and just put a baking sheet in the freezer to cool beforehand and then put that on top so that ALL of the dough would stay cool, not just the sections with the blocks of butter on top.

Michelle's Moroccan sausage rolls with lamb, harissa, coriander, and fennel seeds. I appreciate Matt being able to pinpoint what specific problems the bakers have. This time it was that Michelle's dough got too warm before she baked it.

Barb's spicy lamb sausage rolls with chili tomato sauce looked pretty uniform. I liked her diagonal presentation. Ha, Maggie's reaction to the spicy tomato sauce during the walk around versus the tasting cracked me up.

I loooooooooove strawberries so I was excited about the fraisier cake technical challenge. Chris was smart to cut all of his strawberries to the same height. Poor Michelle put her strawberries upside down! Claudia's had the best distribution of strawberries in the mousseline. I thought Barb would win after the judges' compliments but good for Claudia!

Asking for three different fillings for the showstopper this week was a lot of work. But HELLO, that means we should get to see the judges' critiques of ALL of them

Chris's animal creatures apron was adorable. Hee, and loved that he shared the tip from his "Frenchman friend Max." Awwwww, he misses his bro! His raspberry jam croissants were so crunchy that I could hear it when Matt broke one open. Same with his pain au chocolat with pistachio praline. I wanted to hear about the cinnamon sugar palmier. His decision to use non-yeasted dough totally paid off!

How did Barb make only ten instead of twelve butter croissants? Girl, you have to count! It's too bad that the judges agreed the dough was good but that she just didn't let it proof long enough for the butter croissants or the almond croissants. If they're only going to show judges' comments for two of the three things each baker made, I wish they had tried her cream cheese danishes with raspberries instead of both croissants.

Loved the picnic basket that Dave used for his presentation. Disappointed that the judges said his chocolate croissants weren't crisp. I wanted to hear about his sour cherry danishes and apricot pinwheels. Why did we only get to hear comments for ONE thing that he made?

Michelle was ambitious to make three different doughs for her viennoiseries. I was curious as to why her butter croissants turned out so cakey. Her blackberry and lemon verbena broiche were HUGE, even after she trimmed some of it off. Heh, and I'm with Maggie - more butter! To be honest, I wasn't that interested in the fig and frangipane danishes but I still wanted to hear what the judges thought of them.

Awww, poor Robert. I'm glad that the judges said his orange and almond croissants tasted flakier and crispier than they looked. It's too bad that his orange and ricotta sfogliatelle was too tough. I LOVE pain au chocolat (what's not to love about pastry + chocolate?) so I wanted to hear how those turned out.

Claudia's chocolate and mandarin croissants looked nice, but Maggie wanted a lot more crispness. Her apple and lemon verbena danishes sounded great and the judges loved them. No word on the almond frangipane brioches.

Raeesa is always getting help from Chris so I'm beginning to suspect that her time management skills are not great. Loved that Maggie said her coconut, almond, and cardamom croissants were Frenched. That tiny bit of burning adds some texture and crunch. The judges LOVED her passionfruit and pistachio danishes. I wanted to hear what they thought of her cranberry cream cheese danish because to me, cream cheese danish is so classic.

Matt and Maggie both seemed pretty excited about Marcus' custard and cointreau raisin snails during the walk around and then we didn't hear a thing about them. I'm with Matt on the butter croisants - I want them messy and flaky. His  cherry danishes did look a little messy. I know this doesn't even compare, but I used to love those little Hostess cherry pies so I was interested in hearing how the cherry danishes turned out.

@TVbitch, I totally agree with you on both counts. And it's even worse that they put Dave in the bottom three when we only heard comments about ONE thing that he made for the showstopper. Like seriously?

And how in the hell was he in the bottom three when he did so well in the signature? Michelle and Marcus were clearly in the bottom because they didn't do well in any of the three challenges, so I wasn't surprised that Michelle was finally sent home.

Chris had a good week but as usual, star baker is based mostly on the showstopper and the judges clearly loved his.

Edited February 16, 2018 by ElectricBoogaloo

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Signature challenge: sausage rolls
Barb's lamb sausage rolls with chili tomato sauce
Chris' pork sausager rolls
Claudia's pork and apple sausage rolls
Dave's char siu pork sausage rolls
Marcus' pork sausage rolls
Michelle's Moroccan lamb sausage rolls
Raeesa's spicy chicken sausage rolls
Robert's spinach, ricotta, and feta rolls
 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Technical challenge:
Matt's fraisier cake

Showstoppers: viennoiseries:
Barb's viennoiseries: butter croissants, almond croissants, and cream cheese danishes
Chris' yeast-free viennoiseries: praline pain au chocolat, raspberry croissants, and palmiers
Claudia's orchard viennoiseries: chocolate mandarin croissants, apple danishes, and almond brioches
Dave's breakfast basket viennoiseries: chocolate croissants, sour cherry danishes, and apricot pinwheels
Marcus' viennoiseries: butter croissants, cherry danishes, and snails
Michelle's viennoiseries: blackberry and lemon verbena brioches, croissants, and fig danishes
Raeesa's viennoiseries: croissants, passionfruit danishes, and cranberry danishes
Robert's viennoiseries: orange and almond croissants, pain au chocolat, and sfogliatelle
 

Edited February 23, 2018 by ElectricBoogaloo

[TVbitch]

@ElectricBoogaloo Yeah, that was weird, for some they tasted 1, for some 2, and I think for the guy who did only one pastry, they tasted all 3. Then the explanations for who was in the bottom, they just kind of threw Dave in there without any reasoning whereas they usually say something like... "well his signature was good but blah blah blah." 

In USA no way would they get away with all those "handling my meat" jokes. Especially right now!  

[ElectricBoogaloo]

1 hour ago, TVbitch said:

@ElectricBoogaloo Yeah, that was weird, for some they tasted 1, for some 2, and I think for the guy who did only one pastry, they tasted all 3. 

I went back and checked how many things they gave comments on. Dave and Marcus each got on-camera comments for only one item. Everyone else got on-camera comments for two items. No one got comments for all three items. As much as I love the flora and fauna shots, they could have shown us less flowers and animals so that Dave and Marcus could at least get the same number of items getting comments as everyone else. And I’d gladly take less goofing around from the hosts if we could get comments on all three of everyone’s items!

Edited February 16, 2018 by ElectricBoogaloo

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Quote

For the seventh week the bakers are asked to use cunning creativity to cook desserts free from gluten, sugar, and dairy.

Edited February 23, 2018 by ElectricBoogaloo

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Recipes from this week:

Signature challenge - waffles
Barb's corn waffles with avocado salsa
Chris' bacon and cheddar waffles
Claudia's chestnut and hazelnut waffles
Marcus' pineapple and macademia waffles
Raeesa's pear and walnut buttermilk waffles
Robert's Japanese okonomiyaki waffles

Missing Dave's waffle recipe
 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Technical challenge:
Matt Moran's apple clafoutis

Showstopper challenge - crêpe cakes
Chris' red velvet crêpe cake
Claudia's black forest crêpe cake
Dave's floral ombré crêpe cake
Marcus' orange and hazelnut crêpe cake
Raeesa's sweet and sour crêpe cake
Robert's chocolate crêpe cake

Missing Barb's crêpe recipe

[ElectricBoogaloo]

official recap

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I love waffles but it's so easy to make mediocre waffles. I was happily surprised that everyone did so well in the signature challenge. I never want to see anyone do poorly on this show. It was nice to see everyone get compliments and positive comments. I don't know if this has ever happened before!

Marcus' pineapple and macademia waffles with coconut ice cream and pineapple sounded very tropical. Matt was kind to recommend cooking the pineapples instead of serving them raw as he had originally planned. Roasted, grilled, or caramelized pineapples are sooooo good! I agree with Matt that some kind of syrup would have been nice too. I had to give Marcus some demerits for his extremely lackadaisical presentation.

Raeesa's buttermilk waffles with caramelized walnut ice cream and saffron infused pears sounded simple but delicious.

Robert's okonomiyaki waffles with bacon and cabbage, bonita flakes, Japanese mayonnaise and okonomiyaki sauce sounded really good. I was questioning the cabbage inside the waffles, but the judges didn't say anything negative about them (I thought the cabbage might get soggy).

Barb's breakfast corn waffles with poached eggs, avocado salsa, and hollandaise sauce sounded very traditional but delicious. I mean, who doesn't love some gooey egg and hollandaise sauce on a crispy waffle?

Chris' bacon and cheddar waffles with fried chicken, white pepper gravy, and tabasco maple gravy sounded good. I LOVE chicken and waffles though, so I may be biased.

Claudia's chestnut and hazelnut waffles with mushrooms, maple speck, quail egg, and herb cream looked like you would get at a fancy restaurant brunch. Maggie really loved the chestnut flour and hazelnut oil.

Dave's mochi waffles with cherry and sake ice cream looked great. I love that he introduced the judges to something new and that they were so enthusiastic about it. He was ambitious to make three different waffle flavors (rice, matcha, and cherry) but it was a great idea because it added so much color to his presentation. Maggie's description of Dave's "beautiful restrained elegance" was perfect.

Mmmmm, apple clafoutis. Good for Barb for listening to her instincts and leaving hers in the oven the longest (despite everyone warning her to take it out). Poor Dave. His was clearly the most underbaked.

The bakers were really kind and patient to let Mel and Claire try to cook and flip crêpes while they were in the middle of making 60+ crêpes! Loved seeing all the bakers hug after they finally finished their showstoppers.

Raeesa's crêpe cake sounded so fun. Her lemon crêpes with lemon curd, lime crêpes with cream, and orange crêpes with raspberry coulis all sounded delicious.

Claudia's black forest crêpe cake with lemon crêpes, chocolate crêpes, vanilla mascarpone cream, blackberry and black currant mascarpone cream, and chocolate cassis ganache sounded delicious! I love every flavor she incorporated (although I would have used raspberry crêpes instead of lemon for the top layer). Mmmm, mascarpone. I also love that she combined blackberry and black currant. Yum! Loved that she layered the different flavored crêpes together. It looked so pretty when they cut it open.

Chris' red velvet crêpe cake with cream cheese frosting and chocolate ganache was dainty, as Maggie said. Chris was right about how gorgeous it was when Matt cut a slice and the beautiful red layers were revealed. Normally I'm on the "why make red velvet when you could just make chocolate?" train, but in this case the color really paid off. It looked great with all 60 of those crêpes!

Barb's ombré crêpe cake with blueberry and lemon cream cheese and blueberry syrup was a bit plain for me. The flowers and blueberries sprinkled on top added some pretty color though. She went above and beyond with 75 layers of crêpes! Heh, I didn't know that there were 23 different varieties of blueberries in Australia so thanks, Matt. The more you know!

Marcus' crêpe cake with chocolate ganache, orange jam, praline, and star anise chantilly cream was a complete mess. I mean, seriously, dude. It was a bunch of uneven crêpes with chocolate slopped on. That looked terrible even for a signature, but for a showstopper?

Robert's chocolate crêpe cake with frangelico cream, white chocolate mousse, praline, and dark chocolate mouse looked like both messy and plain. Interesting that he made all of his crêpes the same size instead of making two or three different sizes like most of the other bakers. Honestly, it turned out slightly better than I thought it would, but I had pretty low expectations when I saw him manhandling his pile of crêpes and tryingto squash them together. I suspect that thick layer of frosting on the outside was to hold the crêpes together. The fact that Matt questioned whether he really had 60 crêpes made me wish that he had counted them.

Dave's ombré crêpe cake with watermelon slices, raspberry puree, and osmanthus cream was absolutely gorgeous. It was really noticeable how methodical he was while making his crêpes. He carefully poured the batter into the pan and then slowly swirled it around he pan so that each crêpe was perfectly round. I noticed several other bakers were just slopping their batter around which created uneven edges. Each layer looked like an actual cake because his crêpes were all so neat. The colors were very pretty too. Notice that once again, Matt rewrites history when it comes to Dave, saying that Dave had "a pretty bad week." No, he didn't have a pretty bad week. YOU loved his mochi waffles. He came in last in the technical, which is one challenge out of THREE. A terrible week is what we've seen other bakers have in previous weeks when they failed at the signature, the technical, AND the showstopper. That's not what happened to Dave this week. He did poorly at one thing. It's so frustrating to watch the same thing week after week - they praise Dave for his beautiful presentation and delicious flavors and then refuse to give him star baker.

Not surprised that Marcus was sent home. That showstopper was just awful looking. But it was sweet to see everyone dance with him before he left!

[ElectricBoogaloo]

official recap

[TVbitch]

So glad Dave saved himself! I don't see why Claudia deserved star baker over him. They were both at the bottom before the showstopper. And Dave's was the real showstopper. Maybe they prefered Claudia's flavors.  

Wow, this show loves its cheeky sexual inuendo. Today it was all about "balls." 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

This week's recipes!

Signature challenge: dairy-free fruit tarts
Barb's chocolate and raspberry tarts with avocado
Chris' zesty lemon tarts
Claudia's tropical tarts
Dave's raspberry and chocolate tarts
Raeesa's fig and frangipane tarts
Robert's lime and strawberry tarts

Edited March 1, 2018 by ElectricBoogaloo

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Technical challenge
Maggie's gluten-free tiramisu

Showstopper challenge: sugar-free trifles
Barb's alcohol-free Christmas trifle
Chris' black forest trifle
Claudia's fruit trifle
Dave's rose trifle
Raeesa's pineapple trifle
Robert's berry trifle
 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I'm not dairy/gluten/sugar free but I know several people who are (including my nephew who was born with several very severe food allergies, a friend with Celiac disease, and my sister's college roommate who inexplicably developed deadly food allergies as an adult). I know how difficult it can be to find good substitutes so I'm always interested to see how well you can recreate dishes without key ingredients. Sometimes the results are pretty good. Other times, they're terrible.

First up - dairy free fruit tarts! I have to be honest. I like pies and tarts but I am not a crust connoisseur. I can tell if it's very buttery and flake or if it's raw, burnt, or otherwise fucked up, but there's a vast middle ground where I can ignore the crust and concentrate on the delicious filling. Loved the tag team help with the bakers. First Barb helped Claudia and then Claudia helped Robert - awwww!

Raeesa's fig and frangipane tarts with honey lemon glaze and pomegranate were so pretty. I like coconut oil for a lot of things, but not for cooking or baking delicately flavored things like fruit because I find that the coconut flavor always comes through (unless you used refined coconut oil, which I am not a fan of).

Robert's strawberry tarts with lime and coconut custard were uniform but plain. Vegetable shortening is a pretty common substitute so I was sure that his crust would be fine, so it's too bad that it was undercooked. Even though I don't like residual coconut flavor from coconut oil, I love sweets made with coconut milk and coconut cream, both of which are commonly used substitutes for dairy.

Dave went above and beyond with substituting ingredients today! Almond flour, coconut powder, coconut oil, and maple syrup - he gets an A+ for effort. His raspberry and chocolate tarts looked so fancy and professional.

Chris' zesty lemon tarts with lard almond pastry, lemon curd, kiwi, strawberries, and blueberries were very colorful and cheery. The lard ended up making the pastry too biscuit-like, which was made worse by how thick he made the pastry.

Claudia's tropical tarts with guava coconut mousse and strawberries were pretty but still didn't have a wow factor for me. I liked what she did but visually it still looked underwhelming. Matt even warned her not to use too much gelatin and she did it anyway. Always listen to Matt!

Barb's chocolate avocado ganache and raspberry tarts with pork lard pastry looked great. Avocado is great to add to chocolate or smoothies. It adds a lovely smooth texture and thickness.

Mmmm, tiramisù. I looooooove mascarpone so I was like wait, a vino cotto mousse instead? Poor Dave. He gets so much teasing for his precision! Yay for Chris finally getting first in the technical!

Robert's berry trifle with berry sherry jelly, swiss rolls, cherries, and date sweetened custard was not visually as impressive as the others but I loved everyone's reaction to the wobbly jelly on top.

Claudia's fruit trifle with figs, orange and mandarin jelly, and honey sweetened custard was very pretty. Slicing the figs to show the pink made a big difference.

Barb's alcohol-free Christmas trifle with berry jelly, swiss rolls, crème anglaise, and blueberries was beautiful. Doing something as smiple as tipping her jar at an angle while letting the first layer set had such a great visual effect.

Raeesa went all out with her pineapple trifle - pineapple jelly, roasted pineapple, dried pineapple, and pineapple sugar work. Yum! What I really loved was that by incorporating different versions of pineapple, she created layers of pineapple flavor and a depth of flavor.

Dave's rose trifle with lychee jelly, almond dacquoise, and rosewater cream was so pretty with those even layers and the colors. It's always weird when I hear people pronounce lychee as lie-chee.

Chris's black forest trifle with vanilla and chocolate ake, cherry jelly, cream, and custard looked impressive because of its height but I think tall trifles are not a great idea because you can't get realistically get a slice with all the layers from top to bottom. To me, that makes it impractical. But I loved that Maggie couldn't stop laughing at the sight of such a massive trifle. At least Mel and Claire came prepared with a soup ladle and that massive spoon.

Yay for Raeesa finally winning star baker! Why did I not know that Robert's nickname was the Ginger Ninja until he was eliminated?

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Quote

Cor blimey, guvnor. It's British Week. Our bakers must make sponges, bakewell slices, and a good old pudding fit for a queen.

Edited March 1, 2018 by ElectricBoogaloo

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Whenever the Bake Off shows have the contestants make trifles, I always think of Rachel's trifle on Friends:

 

[TVbitch]

Was worried about Dave this episode. I don't want to him go cuz his bakes always look so beautiful. I wish he could get his techical issues under control! 

Most of the showstoppers were truly gorgeous. And I don't even like fruit desserts! 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Quote

It's semi-final! Four fabulous bakers remain and to celebrate their achievement the theme is celebrations.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

This week's recipes!

Signature challenge:
Barb's tropical sponge cake
Chris' sponge cake
Claudia's sponge cake
Dave's Italian buttercream sponge cake
Raeesa's lemon and poppyseed sponge cake

Technical challenge:
Matt's Bakewell slice

Showstopper challenge:
Barb's Tower Bridge pudding
Chris' tower of pudding
Claudia's queen of puddings
Dave's queen of puddings
Raeesa's bread and butter pudding

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Ha, loved everyone trying their hand at British accents! Dave's royal wave was awesome too.

I was worried about Claudia and Raeesa not using butter in their sponge cakes after Matt and Maggie made such a big deal about how important the buttery flavor is to a sponge cake ("otherwise, it's just air").

Chris' cake with chocolate sponge, vanilla sponge, raspberry jam, and passionfruit buttercream was slightly crooked as Matt pointed out. With all the raspberries on top, it looked like the cake in the opening credits of the Great British Bake Off.

Claudia's cake with vanilla sponge, raspberry sponge, poached rhubarb, and custard cream was simple but pretty. And see, judges? A sponge doesn't need butter! Loved how she used the boiled rhubarb to decorate the top. And those rhubarb roses were a great idea!

Raeesa's cake with lemon and poppyseed sponge, lemon syrup, cream cheese, strawberries, and Union Jack jaconde sponge was so festive. The miniature bunting was cute. I'm glad that even though the jaconde didn't turn out well, she was still able to salvage a piece to decorate the top. I remember those grocery store box cake mixes that used oil (not butter) from when I was younger. I don't recall those cakes specifically not being buttery. They tasted like cake! I couldn't tell if Matt was being deliberately obtuse when he said he'd never heard of a sponge cake made with oil.

Barb's tropical cake with orange sponge, pineapple sponge, passionfruit curd, and mascarpone cream was very bright with the passionfruit on top.

Dave's royal sponge cake with Italian buttercream frosting, and strawberries poached in melon liqueur looked gorgeous. I know the color isn't something everyone likes but even if he had left the buttercream white, the cake and decorations still would have looked just as sophisticated. I think condensed milk makes everything better so I was interested to see how his sponge cake with condensed milk turned out. Interesting that Maggie said it tasted very buttery.

Bakewell tarts aren't my favorite dessert so I wasn't super excited about the Bakewell slice challenge. I loved that Raeesa told Dave she was using his trick of using a ruler to slice hers. I don't know why more bakers don't do use a ruler to make sure they cut things evenly! How did she manage to cut uneven pieces even with a ruler? Awwww, I was so happy for Dave because he has not done well at the technical challenges lately (he has finished 7/12, 4/11, 1/10, 4/9, 7/8, 7/7, 6/6). It was great to see him come in first!

Raeesa's bread and butter pudding with apple walnut pudding on the bottom, rhubarb blueberry pudding on the top, mini toffee apples, vanilla bean custard, and salted praline ice cream looked more like a bread pudding.

Barb's Tower Bridge pudding with sticky date towers, pecan praline bridge, candied pecan turrets, butterscotch sauce, and vanilla ice cream was a simple but fun idea. Heh, Maggie really wanted to smash that bridge.

Dave's queen of puddings with breadcrumbs, custard, raspberry jam, meringue, and whisky ice cream looked so British, so colorful, and so professional. Every berry was perfectly placed.

Claudia's queen of puddings with brioche crumbs, custard, raspberry jam, meringue, nougatine, and cinnamon ice cream looked like a trifle. I know this will show my California roots when I say that the nougatine triangles that made up the crown looked like tortilla chips to me.

Chris' tower of pudding with apple blackberry pudding, apple raspberry pudding, and vanilla custard sounded yummy but it looked far too plain and simple for a showstopper. On top of that it looked messy and raggedy. But I totally appreciate that he had an entire pitcher of custard on the side!

I was sure they wouldn't get rid of Chris so when they said that Raeesa was the other one in the bottom, I knew she was going home.

Of the remaining bakers, Dave is the only one who hasn't won star baker once so I fear he will be sent home next week. Claudia has won three times (weeks 2, 4, and 6). Barb has won twice (weeks 3 and 8). Chris has won once (week 5). Raeesa won once (week 7).

Edited March 10, 2018 by ElectricBoogaloo

[ElectricBoogaloo]

official recap

[ElectricBoogaloo]

official recap

[akr]

Yay, Barb!  There were a couple of times I thought she was going to win, but she didn't, so it was nice to see her take one (although her London Bridge probably wouldn't have been my favorite). I imagine it was Dave's to win if his showstopper had had the right consistency, and then when it didn't, it was probably pretty close between Claudia and Barb. (Claudia's showstopper looked tastier to me, but that's probably just personal preference).  Raeesa was kind of 0 for 3 this time, although none of them really failed with the Bakewell tarts, so no surprise there. She's a nice lady, but I found the mugging for the camera a little exhausting, so I won't miss her much.

Barb also has a great apron (birds) . . . tried to find a similar one a few weeks back, but no luck.  Plenty of bird aprons, but nothing that had quite the right balance to it.  Everybody else's is either boring or otherwise not to my taste.  The only other style choices I like are some of Maggie Beers'.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

7 hours ago, akr said:

Yay, Barb!  There were a couple of times I thought she was going to win, but she didn't, so it was nice to see her take one (although her London Bridge probably wouldn't have been my favorite).

She also won star baker in week 3 (biscuits).

Edited March 10, 2018 by ElectricBoogaloo

[oldCJ]

I can’t help but root for Dave.