The Great Australian Bake Off - General Discussion

[ElectricBoogaloo]

8 hours ago, oldCJ said:

I can’t help but root for Dave.

Same here! He has been so consistently awesome with his flavors, his presentation skills, and his dry but cheery sense of humor. I can't help wanting him to win.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

This week's recipes!

Signature challenge: hot cross buns
Barb's hot cross buns
Chris' hot cross buns
Claudia's boozy hot cross buns
Dave's matcha hot cross buns

Technical challenge:
Matt's mince pies

Showstopper challenge:
Barb's wedding cake
Chris' wedding cake
Claudia's feather love birds
Dave's floating elegance cake

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Awwww, you guys, I'm so sad that there's only one week left! 

Dave's matcha and red bean hot cross buns looked so fluffy! I loved that Matt said it was so different from a traditional hot cross bun but that he loved it. You know that Paul Hollywood would have said the first part of the section and left out the second part. Dave was so pleased that his baking method with the water worked. I'm glad it gave him so much confidence.

Barb's fig, walnut, and candied orange peel hot cross buns looked like textbook hot cross buns. I felt a little bad for her that she got dinged for not having an even distribution of fruit inside her buns. Sometimes that just happens.

Claudia's prunes, apricot, and orange zest boozy bunnies with chocolate rum ball centers sounded like such a fun idea. Adding chocolate inside always wins with me!

Chris' cranberry, white chocolate, and cinnamon hot cross buns looked a little flat, but mmmmm white chocolate.

I am not a fan of mince pies so thank goodness I didn't have to taste the technical challenge!

Yay, wedding cakes! I love wedding cakes so I was excited to see what the bakers would come up with. I also love hearing about other people's wedding cakes. I was more concerned with how mine tasted than how it looked so I opted for no fondant. I loved how even before Claudia was finished with her cake, she asked Barb if she needed help.

Chris' three tiered wedding cake with mixed berry and white chocolate ganache, orange and poppyseed with citrus buttercream, and chocolate with peppermint ganache was pretty but simple. I approve of the buttercream frosting. I thought one of the layers looked crooked. I agree that peppermint needs to be used sparingly or you get that toothpaste/mouthwash flavor.

Barb's four tiered cake with rum and date, chocolate and bourbon, caramelized ginger, and carrot cake with lemon filling was very dramatic, even with only half of the decorations on. Why didn't we get to hear what the judges thought of the top layer of carrot cake?

Claudia's three tiered feathered love birds wedding cake with two tiers of rum tree cakes and one tier of prince regent cake and vanilla custard buttercream, morello cherry jam, and hazelnut almond praline, and chambord ganache was pretty but I felt like the rice paper was going all the work.

Dave's three tiered floating elegance cake with raspberry, passionfruit, and lemon cakes was so cool! Aside from the magical floating aspect, the cake was so sleek and sophisticated. I loved that he had strong fruit flavors in his cakes. One of my pet peeves is when bakeries have fruit flavored cakes and the color is strong (due to the food coloring) but the flavor is mild.

I LOVE Dave's cake leveling tool and I totally cracked up when he said that if his house was on fire and he could only take one tool with him, it would be that one. In the last few weeks, I have randomly seen more than one cross section of a multi-tiered cake where you could clearly see that the cake had either not been leveled evenly or not leveled at all.

YAY!!!! Dave finally won star baker! I am so happy that his amazing work has finally been recognized. Now it's no longer Dave and His Star Baker Friends!

I'm sad to see Chris go but his hot cross buns were just okay and that peppermint in his wedding cake did him in.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Quote

It's the grand final of The Great Australian Bake Off and the top three bakers of the series have their eyes on the prize.

Edited March 15, 2018 by ElectricBoogaloo

[oldCJ]

Yay Dave!!

[TVbitch]

Dave is peaking at the right time, but I think one of the ladies might win out. 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Awwwww, I loved that after the "on your mark, get set, bake," the three finalists hugged before beginning to bake.

Dave's sunflower battenberg with lemon and chocolate sponges and Italian buttercream looked simple but pretty. He made so much extra work for himself by cutting every square individually instead of just using 15 logs of cake (even if he'd done logs instead of individual squares, he still made more work for himself since the other two bakers only had nine squares in their cakes). Dave, you crazy guy! I wish that the color of his sunflower decorations had been more intense. They were a little too pale for me. If the brown and yellow had been a little bit darker than they would have matched the yellow and brown sponge cake inside! Hush your mouth, Matt! There was not too much buttercream! I'm with Dave - who doesn't like buttercream?! MORE BUTTERCREAM! When Matt asked Dave TWICE during his walk around if Dave thought he had peaked too soon, I knew there was no way in hell they were going to crown him the winner.

Barb's citrus battenberg with lemon and lime sponges and orange jam was pretty on the outside and I loved the bright yellow and green colors inside. Barb's mini tins were a great idea. Science! Less surface area and mass = cake cools faster. Plus they're already uniformly sized. It's too bad that they judges said her sponges were too dense.

Claudia's citrus orchard battenberg with orange and lemon sponges with finger lime buttercream was also pretty. The marzipan fruits on top were bright and fun. Based on the judges' comments, Claudia seemed to be the winner of the signature bake.

Hee, I had to laugh when Dave and Barb said that the last technical challenge was named after her. I've never had a rum baba so I was looking forward to seeing Maggie and Matt show us the examples. They looked like upside down muffins. Mmmm, and cream filling!

When Claudia said that when it's a Maggie recipe, you know to add an extra slosh, I was like yup, the bakers know Maggie so well. Barb passing out orange slices at halftime like she was a soccer mom totally cracked me up. But even better was Dave's mime act with his white gloves! But damn it, Dave, if there's one thing I have learned from watching multiple seasons of Bake Off shows in multiple countries, it's NEVER DEVIATE FROM THE DIRECTIONS IN THE TECHNICAL! If it says to soak for 20 minutes, do that. I knew it would bite him in the ass.

Barb's treasure chest was great because it was instantly recognizable. I felt so bad for her when she cracked one panel but she took a moment to get upset and then she pulled herself together and glued it back together. I loved the daughter who said that she didn't think Barb would make it past the first week. Ha! You can always count on kids to be honest.

Claudia's cockatoo was the best showstopper visually. She also had a lot of different components. Her daughter was cracking me up though, first when she told her dad to quit doing a drumroll on the table as Claudia was about to set her showstopper down. Then she never took her eyes off the interviewer as she reached out and grabbed her little brother to keep him from running off.

Dave's oriental garden had great flavors but because the finished piece was so small, I knew he wouldn't win. As annoying as the literal interpretation of "go big or go home" method is, the judges on the Bake Off shows tend to think bigger is better when it comes to the showstoppers.

I always love the updates on the bakers at the end of the finale. Love that Claudia now has two chickens named Matt and Maggie!

[ElectricBoogaloo]

This week's recipes:

Signature challenge: battenberg cake
Barb's citrus battenberg
Claudia's citrus orchard battenberg
Dave's lemon and chocolate battenberg

Technical challenge:
Maggie's kumquat rum babas

Showstopper challenge: pièce montée
Barb's treasure chest
Claudia's cockatoo
Dave's oriental garden (right now the website has a picture of his sunflower battenberg cake but the recipe is correct)

[oldCJ]

This episode should have been titled The Great Australian Hug Off. I have never contenstants be so affectionate. It was adorable.

I loved all three finalists, and it was a rare finale where any of them winning would have made me happy.  I think the right person won based on her showstopper. 

[TVbitch]

Claudia deserved it. I had high expectations and was a bit disappointed by Dave's showstopper. It was nice, but so diminuitive and subtle and it was not going to stop any shows as a centerpiece. I'm sad it's come to an end. Need to find some more high quality baking/cookery shows. Since this has ended, I'm down to Masterchef UK.  

[bybrandy]

On 1/27/2018 at 5:34 AM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

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.

I love roast grapes but not everybody does.  I don't know how it would go in focaccia but I totally wanted to try it just to see how it would go when I saw Dave give it a go.   Then after Matt raved, I doubled down on wanting it.  But I'll never get my rosemary in such lovely rows.  Just binged this season and so there may be a whole slew of out dated comments for me\.

I didn't see season 3 but the standard is so high in season 4 that I'm not sure I want to take the step back to season 3.  

[bybrandy]

On 2/5/2018 at 5:53 AM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

OMG, Marcus is such an unabashed dork which just makes me love him.

Legit!!!!

 

On 2/5/2018 at 5:53 AM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

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.

I totally laughed at this!

 

On 2/5/2018 at 5:53 AM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

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!

I was really, really worried for Robert when he talked about his puzzle.   However, once he started painting and it ws so beautiful I totally thought it deserved to stay!   It was gorgeous.  

I didn't mind Barb's sunflower because 3d puzzles, and also because of the traditional base.  Also because I like Barb and in the first two weeks she seemed like early, easy fodder and it is nice to see her come good.

But I would have given it to Chris because I loved the bear, and the flavors, but yeah, I really loved the bear.  

I loved the look of Dave's and still think he should have won bread week for that basket and that flower, but here they said the bake wasn't right on the cookies and you never win star beaker if your bake isn't right.

[bybrandy]

On 2/9/2018 at 8:00 AM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

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.

If I make something from this episode it will be these.

On 2/9/2018 at 8:00 AM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

That's when we get fun stuff like Robert teaching Claire to dance and Raessa watching Marcus dancing with himself.

Marcus dancing to himself will never not bring me joy.  

 

On 2/9/2018 at 8:00 AM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

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.

My American is showing but I don't get pavlovas.  they always look terrible on the baking shows and I don't feel like the texture/cream thing would be to my liking at all.  But I almost always make something if I'm not sure if I'd like it, so I really should give it a go.   One day I will... but they look so goopy.  

 

On 2/9/2018 at 8:00 AM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

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.

I'm pretty sure Dave is my favorite baker this season but he totally wasn't going to get star baker for the collapsing pavlova.  But mad, mad points for the acetate solution.  

 

Claudia is clearly the most consistent baker but I don't feel I know her as well as the other contestants.  Still, she makes gorgeous things.  

[bybrandy]

I don't remember much about this episode at all.   Bit I do remember being stunned that Dave was in the bottom when I didn't remember much commentary on Dave's dishes at all.   

[bybrandy]

On 2/23/2018 at 5:30 AM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

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?

Legitimately this made me want to buy a waffle iron.  

I have a heart shaped waffle iron for Norwegian waffles but I haven't made them in years.  I don't really love waffles because I don't really love sweet so all of these savory waffle treatments were like, "HELLO!"  But Barb's is the one I would have gone after and hard.

On 2/23/2018 at 5:30 AM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

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.

I was so intrigued by these!

 

On 2/23/2018 at 5:30 AM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

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.

I loved this crepe cake but it is the second week in a row, I think, that she did black forrest.   

 

On 2/23/2018 at 5:30 AM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

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!

I think this one was my favorite.   It just looked so simple and elegant.  Or it could be that I am super, super, super invested in blueberries!   It is the blueberries.  

 

On 2/23/2018 at 5:30 AM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

. But it was sweet to see everyone dance with him before he left!

Seriously that might be my favorite bakeoff moment ever.  

[bybrandy]

On 3/1/2018 at 7:18 AM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

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.

This was totally a funny moment and a funny showstopper, but I thought it looked a mess and was completely impractical to eat.  I love Chris but I was seriously eyeballing this whole bit.   

[bybrandy]

On 3/8/2018 at 7:23 AM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

How did she manage to cut uneven pieces even with a ruler?

I thought this was Claudia.... but anyway... yeah, I can't use a ruler.  This has been an issue for me since elementary school.   It is sort of embarrassing and I don't like admitting to it in public.  But in order to make straight lines with the ruler you have to be able to hold the ruler straight... and I cannot do that.   I mean the line won't end up curvy but I can't make parallel lines with a ruler one of those lines (or really more.... way more) is totally going to end up at an angle.  So when they pulled out the ruler I literally said out loud, "that so wouldn't help me" and kind of chuckled when it didn't help them.   

[bybrandy]

On 3/15/2018 at 8:15 AM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Dave's matcha and red bean hot cross buns looked so fluffy! I loved that Matt said it was so different from a traditional hot cross bun but that he loved it. You know that Paul Hollywood would have said the first part of the section and left out the second part. Dave was so pleased that his baking method with the water worked. I'm glad it gave him so much confidence.

I was all over this one!

 

On 3/15/2018 at 8:15 AM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Claudia's three tiered feathered love birds wedding cake with two tiers of rum tree cakes and one tier of prince regent cake and vanilla custard buttercream, morello cherry jam, and hazelnut almond praline, and chambord ganache was pretty but I felt like the rice paper was going all the work.

Seriusly, I didn't get why this was getting so much praise for looks because OMG, it was just so much rice paper!

On 3/15/2018 at 8:15 AM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Dave's three tiered floating elegance cake with raspberry, passionfruit, and lemon cakes was so cool! Aside from the magical floating aspect, the cake was so sleek and sophisticated. I loved that he had strong fruit flavors in his cakes. One of my pet peeves is when bakeries have fruit flavored cakes and the color is strong (due to the food coloring) but the flavor is mild.

This cake was so far and away above anything else.  It was so good.

I really wanted them to take all 4.  If this was the Br show they would have taken all four when Barb and Chris were so close and it had been such a good season... or not.  But man I didn't want to say goodbye to anybody.

And while Claudia didn't deserve to go if I had to root against anybody it would have been Claudia because she's the most consistent baker so I suspect she has the easiest time pulling this off and I'm rooting for Dave and then Barb. So....   

But Alas.  I will miss Chris.

[bybrandy]

On 3/22/2018 at 11:44 AM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Dave, if there's one thing I have learned from watching multiple seasons of Bake Off shows in multiple countries, it's NEVER DEVIATE FROM THE DIRECTIONS IN THE TECHNICAL! If it says to soak for 20 minutes, do that. I knew it would bite him in the ass.

THIS!!!!!!  I was like "NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

On 3/22/2018 at 11:44 AM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

who doesn't like buttercream?! MORE BUTTERCREAM!

Me.   Too sweet.  But that said?   I thought he used a pretty light touch on the buttercream even though he was using it in lots of locations.  It did't look like overkill to me.  

Dave's showstopper was beautiful, but I agree it was small.

Barb was really hurt by the crack in her showstopper but I thought it looked great.  She could have used some more colors in her treasure chest, though.  It was a very brown showstopper.  

Claudia's was just SUPURB.  I mean it looked so, so, so good.   I have no beef at all with her win.   

Plus she totally didn't make those flowers she had planned because she thought she had done enough to win and Barb was seriously in the weeds so she ran over to help.  There has always been a good spirit like this in bakeoff but this was a really nice moment for a really, really nice group of contestants.

I can't think of anybody I didn't enjoy this season and I think the bakes in general have been fantastic.   

[Amarsir]

On 1/23/2018 at 8:46 AM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

I'm shocked that Robert's doll won him star baker.

Just getting into this now so forgive me being late. My instinct is that they don't get a lot of modeling chocolate on this show so that made them an easy audience for it. On another show, say a Food Network endless parade of season baking, I think the decision would have gone a different way.

[NotRedRobyn]

Monica’s Charlotte looked like a hot mess. It was so over the top, I imagined what Paul and Mary would be saying. I don’t know why she drives me crazy, I’m sure she’s lovely but she’s my least favorite. She reminds me of a crazy cat lady. 

I loved the way the other showstoppers looked, they were more elegant and the decor complimented the bake. 

I love watching!

[Annetteboardman]

Is there any plan to have a fifth season ? -- By this point last year the fourth season was almost over.  

ab

[luvapickle]

On 3/22/2019 at 6:32 PM, Annetteboardman said:

Is there any plan to have a fifth season ? -- By this point last year the fourth season was almost over.  

ab

I just finished watching all 4 seasons online. This is by far my favorite. Mainly because the judges, do so enjoy tasting & you can see it in their faces. I keep checking, but there's nothing that says there will be another season. However the years listed for the judges has it open ended(2015-).

[RealityCheck]

THE GREAT AUSTRALIAN BAKE OFF Returns Thursday, October 3.

Yah!

Interview With Maggie Beer

[ElectricBoogaloo]

28 minutes ago, RealityCheck said:

THE GREAT AUSTRALIAN BAKE OFF Returns Thursday, October 3.

Yah!

Interview With Maggie Beer

YAY! I am so excited that for a few weeks, we get THREE bake off shows running at the same time!

[ElectricBoogaloo]

S5.E1: Cake Week

Quote

Twelve new bakers take on their first challenges in the Bake Off shed in the hope of impressing Maggie and Matt and being named Star Baker. This week, the bakers' cake-making skills will be put to the test.

Original air date: 10/3/19

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Meet the bakers (warning: whoever wrote these bios has only the most tenuous grasp of basic grammar so if you are a grammar nazi, these may be painful for you to read).

Normally the shows list the bakers in alphabetical order (either by first name or last name) but I could find no rhyme or reason to the order they are listed on the official website.

Sue Dahman
Don Hackett
David Hills
Zee Scott
Wynn Visser
Angela Navacchi
Dan Pasquali
Subha (Sunny) Nasir Ahmad
Anston Ratnayake
Laura Peters
Dennis Mews
Annette Peffers
 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Yay, I'm so excited that this show is back! Ha, it's kind of funny to see the difference in the job titles that people list.

OF COURSE Maggie loved Don the superannuation consultant's brightly colored shirt. I know that not everyone's hobbies translate well to baking themes, but I still like when the contestants have some little tidbit that helps me remember them. Don is the car guy! His coconut lime butter cake with lime curd, Swiss meringue buttercream, and marzipan limes looked a bit simple (I am also not a fan of the naked frosting look so I'm biased). I had to laugh when Matt said the marzipan decorations didn't look like limes because a second earlier, I thought to myself, "Why are there pickles on this cake?"

I was excited to see Annette's strawberry and matcha butter cake with strawberry buttercream because I LOVE strawberry cake (and too often, things that are described as strawberry cake are just yellow cake with strawberry frosting). All of the flowers on top gave her cake a delicate look.

Laura the cafe manager's chocolate orange butter cake with stout and mayonnaise cake and avocado and cauliflower icing sounds weird at first glance but it's not. I've definitely seen cakes made with mayonnaise before and it's supposed to add moistness. Avocado is used to make chocolate pudding and smoothies so that's not too unusual to me either. I've had cauliflower "mashed potatoes" and cauliflower pizza crust, so I was interested to see how the frosting would turn out. Her cake looked pretty so I'm glad that both the judges liked it.

Wynn the South African disability services manager’s coconut lime butter cake with lime curd, Italian meringue buttercream, and spun sugar was pretty. Just the right amount of lightly torched meringue on the outside.

Zee the Britlish marriage celebrant's vanilla butter cake with salted caramel looked a bit homemade. But I disagree with the judges about it being too rich or needing acidity to balance it out. Sometimes it's fine to have a really rich dessert!

Dennis the British retired math(s) teacher and children’s author amused me with his dollar shop gloves ("I got them at the two dollar store but they cost fifteen dollars!"). His rhubarb and ginger butter bundt cake with egg custard, raspberries, and lime zest looked a bit of a mess. I love egg custard, but the way he piped it on the sides of the bundt cake reminded me of those elementary school volcanoes.

Sunny the Pakistani PhD student's butter cake with sudachi curd, Swiss meringue, matcha, and raspberries had A LOT on top. But the judges liked it so I guess it was fine.

Anston the vegan criminal justice tutor from Dubai sounds like he will bring a lot of interesting flavors to his creations. I like when people stray outside of the regular chocolate/vanilla flavors (not that there's anything wrong with chocolate or vanilla - I love them both!). His Sri Lankan inspired butter cake with date, pomegranate, and flowers was so colorful and festive looking.

Sue the Lebanese bank manager's carrot butter cake with pineapple, lemon cream cheese icing, caramelized carrots, and blanched almonds looked very warm and homey.

David the project manager's apple butter cake with caramelized apples, crème pâtissière, toasted coconut, and white chocolate buttercream looked simple but neat.

Angela the American homemaker's spiced apple pie butter cake with cinnamon buttercream and brown sugar crumble looked so pretty with the apple roses. Wow, she got a huge compliment when Matt asked for another slice to take home!

Dan the Italian social influencer's Sicilian cassata butter cake with chocolate and candied peel ricotta cream, marzipan, and royal icing glaze looked almost plastic because of all the candied fruit on top.

I'm one of those weird people who doesn't like chocolate and orange together, so I'm all for these raffa cakes with raspberries instead of orange! There was definitely a lot of variation/interpretation of what a zigzag pattern is supposed to look like. I'm glad that instead of saying it was wrong, Matt just said that some of them didn't look the same as the way he does his zigzags and was fine with it (unlike Paul Hollywood who thinks it's a crime if the bakers didn't know how to decorate the technical bakes the same way he does) Almost everyone did well, which was nice to see.

Ooh, illusion cake showstoppers! I loved seeing how excited everyone was to look at each other's cakes. Interesting that they were allowed to use premade fondant (instead of having to make their own). I remember one season on GBBO someone got reamed for using premade fondant.

Angela's pancake stack with lemon cream cheese poundcake, blueberry jam, and maple syrup buttercream sounded kind of basic when she described it but wow, she did an amazing job. It really looked like a stack of pancakes (not a cake trying to look like pancakes). She definitely deserved star baker for that.

Dennis' cake of cheese with banana, dried apricots, buttercream, and fondant mice was way too similar to a cake shape. The mice were cute though.

Sue's chicken with orange sponge cake, lemon custard, and buttercream was cute and it was clearly a lot of work. And Maggie went back for seconds!

Laura's vegan planter box with coconut cake, spiced rum buttercream, and Swiss meringue buttercream flowers looked amazing. The barrel looked so realistic and I loved all the flowers on top. I love that Matt and Maggie are open to her alternative stuff. I hate when people automatically turn up their noses at less than traditional ingredients before they’ve even given them a chance  

David's moon with white chocolate mud cake, raspberry jam, and buttercream was not my favorite. In terms of challenging himself with the illusion, this seemed a bit too easy. It was a round cake with frosting. The cake itself and the flavors sounded good though.

Dan's tree stump with chocolate butter cake, peanut butter buttercream, and fondant bark didn't sound like much when he described it to the judges but it looked very realistic.

Anston's weight set with raspberry vanilla cake dumb bell and chocolate chip and passionfruit cake kettle bell looked heavy but I felt the illusion was more about the shape than anything else.

Annette's turtle with chocolate mud cake and chocolate whiskey ganache looked really good. My only gripe was that somehow it ended up looking a bit flatter than it should have, but the way she painted the head and shell were great. I agree with Matt - I prefer cakes with alcohol to keep it on the mild side.

Wynn's pterodactyl with chocolate and coffee mud cake and dark chocolate ganache was so fun and had great details.

Don's antique vase with caramel cake and dark chocolate ganache was pretty but when he said he was spraying his flowers with canola oil, I thought ugh, that doesn’t sound like it will taste very good  

Zee's beach with chocolate sponge and dark chocolate ganache sand castle, vanilla sponge and strawberry white chocolate ganache bucket, and crumbled lemon poppyseed biscuit sand sounded like a good idea but I agree with Matt that the execution wasn't as good as it could have been. I still give her credit for not using a basic cake shape and slapping some fondant on top. My favorite part was the tilted bucket.

Sunny's succulent box with tiramisu sponge cake, mascarpone buttercream, and chocolate shortbread crumb was another one that seemed a bit simple on the illusion part of the challenge because it was just a rectangular cake with grey frosting. The best visual aspect was the succulents made of buttercream, but to me that's a decorating thing that could have been done on any cake.

Awww, farewell, Zee. I always hope that they'll skip an elimination the first week.

Edited October 10, 2019 by ElectricBoogaloo
Typos

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Recipes!

Signature challenge - butter cakes

Angela's spiced apple pie butter cake
Annette's strawberry and matcha butter cake
Anston's Arabic spiced butter cake
Dan's Sicilian cassata butter cake
David's apple butter cake
Dennis' rhubarb and ginger butter cake
Don's lime and coconut butter cake
Laura's chocolate and orange butter cake
Sue
Sunny's lemon scented butter cake
Wynn's lime and coconut cake
Zee's vanilla butter cake

Edited October 13, 2019 by ElectricBoogaloo

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Sorry, I had to break up the recipes into separate posts because the forum only allows a certain amount of links per post!

Technical challenge
Matt's raffa cakes

Signature challenge - illusion cakes
Angela's pancake stack
Annette's sea turtle
Anston's weight set
Dan's tree stump
David's moon
Dennis' cheese
Don's antique porcelain vase
Laura's wooden planter box
Sue's chicken
Sunny's succulent box
Wynn's pterodactyl
Zee's beach
 

Edited October 13, 2019 by ElectricBoogaloo

[ElectricBoogaloo]

S5.E2: Bread Week

Quote

It's bread week and our bakers must rise to the challenge. They'll take on a rye and beetroot bread and add their own twist to the pretzel show stopper challenge.

Original air date: 10/10/19

Edited October 10, 2019 by ElectricBoogaloo

[Bake Off AU fan]

Is there anywhere to watch this from the states? It used to be on Daily Motion, but the new season isn't up... I love GABO!

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Yay, bread week!

I loved that when Matt tried to scare Anston into thinking he might not have enough time for his pork, rhubarb, and caramelized onion scrolls, Anston didn't panic at all and just said he'd be able to do it. His rolls sounded like a delicious idea and they turned out really well. YUM!

Annette is a karate champ! I love finding out these tidbits about the bakers. I feel like some years we get a lot more bakers with interests outside of the kitchen. Her cinnamon scrolls with rum caramel drizzle and rum soaked raisins and walnuts sounded very boozy. Interesting that Matt said there was too much spice and Maggie said there was too much rum.

Don's dog is adorable. His French inspired scrolls with figs, chestnuts, white chocolate, and caramel, vanilla, and cream glaze looked great with that shiny glaze. His scrolls were nice and fluffy.

Ha, I love that Laura doesn't like pecans but she used them in her scrolls because they work well in this context. And she was right! Even Maggie ate those pecans. Her rum, raisin, and pecan scrolls with rum glaze, chocolate drizzle, and chopped pecans looked HUGE.

Wynn's cinnamon and apple scrolls with chopped walnuts, cream cheese frosting, and lemon zest sounded good. I like cinnamon rolls but the addition of the apples and lemon zest sounded like such a good balance to the sweetness.

I was worried as soon as Sue said that bread is her thing. don't jinx yourself, lady! Her tomato, paprika, chili, and shankleesh cheese scrolls looked nice (if not completely identical).

Dennis' chelsea bun scrolls with dates, cranberries, lemon icing, and orange zest had a nice splash of color from the orange zest, but I agreed with the judges that they didn't look dark enough to baked enough. I like my rolls to be light and fluffy and his didn't look to be either of those things.

I really want to hear more about Dan's scientist stuff (not his social influencer selfies). His gorgonzola and caramelized onion scrolls with chopped walnuts, burnt butter, and sage sounded pretty good, but Matt was right to point out that some of them weren't baked all the way through. Hee, I had to laugh when Dan's explanation was "some of them were naughty." But man, when you use caramelized onions, you have to make sure that they're well caramelized. The taste and texture is so different hen they're not properly caramelized.

Oh, Angela. You're from California so why are you pronouncing the Ls in tortilla? Please don't tell me you're one of those people who pronounces quesadilla as kwes-ah-dill-ah. Her American scrolls aka cinnamon rolls looked like typical Cinnabons.

Sunny makes pottery - how cool! Her za'atar scrolls with feta, mozzarella, labne drizzle, and mint looked so great. Unlike Matt, I didn't mind that they were small. Thee bakers were told they could make them any size so she was allowed to make them small. And Matt kept eating them!

When David said that getting his hands all red was worth getting the flavor into the dough, I wondered just how much beetroot flavor actually comes through. His caramelized onion and feta scrolls looked very uniform and I loved the color.

Rye and beetroot bread as the technical? I wasn't sure how challenging that would be. Ha, I loved when blonde host aske Wynn why he cut a star in the top of his loaf instead of a cross as instructed. When he said, "You have to make it your own in some way," I was yelling, "NOT IN THE TECHNICAL!" so I was glad when blonde host agreed with me. Awww, but I loved when Wynn and Sue were checking her bread while it was proofing and he said it was perfect and gave her a hug. I totally cracked up when Wynn and David told Annette that she had lost a raisin on the floor and said that Maggie would notice the missing 97 grams.

Anston and David did so well! Congratulations to David for winning first place!

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I don't know if pretzels are something I would consider a showstopper, but okay.

Sue's sweet pretzels with date, caradamom, and aniseed were a nice brown pretzel color. Her savory pretzels with sesame seed and molasses looked different but good.

Annette's savory chili and cheese pretzels dipped in dark chocolate had a lot of different flavors. Her sweet pretzels with cinnamon, ginger, white chocolate, licorice, and pistachios had even more flavors.

Dan's cannoli pretzels with ricotta, pistachio paste, and chocolate looked different but in a good way, as did his savory pretzels with squid ink, fig, and prosciutto. Maggie loved the fluffy dough so he must have done well!

Wynn's savory pretzels with shredded biltong sounded good but they were so flat. His sweet pretzels with chocolate and flaked almonds looked better

David's sweet pretzels with bananas and caramel sounded interesting - very desserty. His savory roasted garlic and parmesan pretzels sounded really good too.

Angela's savory pretzels with parmesan, rosemary, and garlic powder sounded like a classic but delicious flavor combination. I was worried that using garlic powder would not work well and sure enough, Maggie said it was too much Her sweet pretzels with cinnamon sugar and dark chocolate looked pretty good.

Don's savory German pretzels looked like the kind of pretzel you imagine when someone says "pretzel." His sweet raspberry and cream pretzels sounded good. Mmm, raspberry.

Sunny's savory garlic naan pretzels with nigella seeds sounded great. Her sweet orange and cardamom pretzels looked really good too.

Laura's savory pistachio pesto pretzels with mozzarella and ricotta sounded interesting so I was disappointed that the pesto kept the pretzel from baking all the way through. Her sweet orange and almond pretzels with frangipane looked nice.

Dennis' heart shaped sweet orange and poppyseed pretzels were a lovely tribute to his wife. His savory pretzels with streaky bacon and mozzarella sounded delicious.

Anston's sweet pretzels with marshmallow, toasted meringue, and dark chocolate ganache sounded like a really good flavor combination. His savory brie and camembert pretzels with rosemary burnt butter sauce did look really flat.

Congratulations to David for winning star baker! And bon voyage to Annette. I think Dennis got lucky that she did a little worse than he did this week.

[rhys]

Yep, I thought pretzels for a showstopper was an odd brief, too. Glad to see Annette go, tho. I was already tired of her hair (but that's a me issue). But I don't think Dennis will be around for long unless he steps it up next time.

And, good goddesses, what the he'll was with tor-till-a with the Ls by Angela? Gobsmacked.I

Dan being a scientist & an influencer--- all righty. Such nonsense!

[akr]

I wanted to try so many of these! Especially the offerings from Sunny, Anston, & Sue. The classic cinnamon roll recipe that Angela showed seemed simple to me, but that doesn't mean I don't want the recipe! I have an excellent one from my aunt, but I have no doubt that Angela's were superb.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Recipes
(Have I mentioned that one of the many reasons I love the Great Australian Bake Off is they provide everyone's recipes for each episode? I hate that the British and Canadian versions of the show only share a handful of the recipes on their websites! Now if only the GABO people could get their intern to post ALL the recipes for each episode right away instead of randomly leaving out a handful for a few days every week!)

Signature challenge - scrolls
Angela's American cinnamon scrolls
Annette's cinnamon scrolls
Anston's pork scrolls
Dan
David's beetroot, caramelized onion, and feta scrolls
Dennis' chelsea bun scrolls
Don's fig and chestnut scrolls
Laura's rum, raisin, and pecan scrolls
Sue's Lebanese scrolls
Sunny's za'atar scrolls
Wynn's cinnamon and apple scrolls
 

Edited October 20, 2019 by ElectricBoogaloo

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Technical challenge
Beetroot and rye bread

Showstopper challenge - sweet and savory pretzels
Angela's parmesan, rosemary and garlic pretzels & cinnamon and chocolate pretzels
Annette's chili and cheese pretzels & ginger, liquorice and chocolate pretzels
Anston's marshmallow and chocolate pretzels & cheese and rosemary pretzels
Dan's squid ink and fig pretzels & ricotta and pistachio pretzels
David's banana and caramel pretzels & roasted garlic pretzels
Dennis' bacon and mozzarella pretzels & orange and poppy seed pretzels
Don's German style pretzels & raspberry and cream pretzels
Laura's pistachio pesto and cheese pretzel & orange and almond pretzel
Sue
Sunny's garlic and nigella seed pretzels & orange and cardamom pretzels
Wynn's biltong pretzels & triple chocolate pretzels

Edited October 13, 2019 by ElectricBoogaloo

[bybrandy]

On 10/9/2019 at 6:04 PM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

I'm one of those weird people who doesn't like chocolate and orange together, so I'm all for these raffa cakes with raspberries instead of orange!

I don't hate chocolate and orange but I was much more interested in the chocolate and raspberry combo, as well.   

On 10/12/2019 at 5:43 PM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

I loved that when Matt tried to scare Anston into thinking he might not have enough time for his pork, rhubarb, and caramelized onion scrolls, Anston didn't panic at all and just said he'd be able to do it. His rolls sounded like a delicious idea and they turned out really well. YUM!

Anston's combination was the one that if I were to try something I would go for this.  

On 10/12/2019 at 5:43 PM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Sunny makes pottery - how cool! Her za'atar scrolls with feta, mozzarella, labne drizzle, and mint looked so great. Unlike Matt, I didn't mind that they were small. Thee bakers were told they could make them any size so she was allowed to make them small. And Matt kept eating them!

I'm saying Phd student Sunny with her amazing baking and pottery?  She's everything!  Seriously, my fave so far.

I really like Dennis.  I'd like to share a cup of tea with him.  But he's really so clearly at the bottom of the barrell.  I thought the first week that he should have gone home over Zee because I thought Zee had more potential to grow than he did.  But when Anette's flavors were so muddled I was sure it would be her.  Always make it taste nice.

I can't tell if most of the bakes have been really nice or if these judges are just incredibly nice and supportive.   

I was surprised when Don (? so many D names!) rolls were such a massive, massive hunk of roll that they didn't slice right down the middle to make sure they were baked through.  Paul Hollywood would have.    

But in general I love the Aussie eps and I like this crew.  I'm totally in for the rest of the season.

And YES about them posting all the recipes!   

[bybrandy]

21 hours ago, rhys said:

Dan being a scientist & an influencer--- all righty. Such nonsense!

Like I totally want to hate him, but his bakes have looked really good.

[rhys]

1 hour ago, bybrandy said:

Like I totally want to hate him, but his bakes have looked really good.

I don't want to hate him lol,  but I've been surprised as his talent so far. I also was surprised at his influencer following list of 20k. I dunno ---  I guess I thought the number would be in the 100s of thousands. I suppose the guy has to start somewhere to influence someone!

[bybrandy]

12 hours ago, rhys said:

I don't want to hate him lol,  but I've been surprised as his talent so far. I also was surprised at his influencer following list of 20k. I dunno ---  I guess I thought the number would be in the 100s of thousands. I suppose the guy has to start somewhere to influence someone!

Apparently 20,000 followers is a micro-influencer and they can make bank.   

"It depends on the influencer, and their follower numbers. A micro-influencer, which is someone that has 10,000 to 50,000 followers, is actually pretty valuable. They used to only pick up a couple hundred bucks, but today, they get a minimum of a few thousands dollars a post."
 

https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2018/11/28/18116875/influencer-marketing-social-media-engagement-instagram-youtube

[ElectricBoogaloo]

S5.E3: Biscuits

Quote

This week the bakers are having a barrel of fun with biscuits. Making a batch of chocolate biscuits, French Arlettes, and biscuit boxes full of surprises.

Original air date: 10/17/19

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Who writes the voiceovers for this?! "Last week David proved that boys really can bake"? The show has never been short on male bakers (and half of the remaining bakers are men) so it seemed weird for them to have the hosts say.

I don't think I've ever seen anyone but Matt wear a dressy vest over a henley before.

Ooh, chocolate biscuits! It was interesting to see all the different techniques that the bakers use to make all 24 of them uniform. I would have weighed them since that's the most precise way, but using a cookie cutter works too. When Sue just shrugged and said they don't all come out perfect, I was afraid she was jinxing herself and that she'd have a bunch of different sized cookies.

Sunny's miso chocolate chunk cookies with sea salt sounded so good.

Dennis' chocolate orange shortbread biscuits with lavender looked a bit messy due to the ganache he smeared on top. I'm sure that chocolate topping was tasty though!

Dan's American s'mores with Italian meringue and malt biscuit crumb didn't sound very much like s'mores to me (where was the marshmallow and graham crackers?).

Angela's chocolate chunk cookies with orange and white chocolate ganache were huge. I think I would have liked them without the ganache.

Don's French inspired chocolate sable biscuits with chestnut cream didn't appeal to me because chestnuts aren't my thing. It was interesting to hear Matt talk about the texture of a sable versus the brownie-like texture of what Don made. I would definitely prefer Don's brownie cookies to the crumble sable texture!

Sue's white chocolate ghraybeh with pistachio and rosewater weren't the fanciest looking biscuits, but they were pretty uniform.

Wynn's white chocolate shortbread with cherry jam, pistachios, and white chocolate drizzle sounded interesting. I love cherry jam - it's not as common as strawberry or raspberry jam, but it's so good!

David's melting moments with peanut butter and chili cream looked so great. Hee, I liked that he warned Maggie about the heat beforehand and that she ended up liking it!

Anston's chocolate chip peanut butter cookies with raspberry jelly sounded good. What a yummy flavor combination!

Laura's dark chocolate melting moments with raspberry buttercream were so pretty. Piping the buttercream really helped make them look fancy.

Ha, I laughed when Dennis said that arlettes were invented by Mr. Arlette. The thing I liked the most about this technical challenge was that no one had ever made them before or even knew what they were. I like when everyone is on even footing. Despite that, there was a wide range of results. On one end, we had Dennis and Sue with their raw biscuits. On the other end, we had Wynn and Anston making them almost perfectly. They both had such thin crispy biscuits.

I have mixed feelings whenever the bakers are asked to construct something for the showstopper. I feel like these are the kinds of challenges the producers love to have in the hopes that there will be some kind of dramatic collapse. I want the bakers to do well so I hate when that happens.

Anston's gingerbread Christmas house with peanut butter cookies was a cute idea. Ha, I had to laugh at Matt cutting Santa right down the middle.

Wynn's vanilla sugar biscuit matchbox with rooibos tea matchstick cookies was a fun idea and he executed it well. I loved the decoration on top of the box and the one burned match on top.

Angela's chocolate biscuit taco truck was okay. The concept was fun but the execution was mediocre. She just made a box and wrote a bunch of words on it which made it look very amateur. The taco cookies were the best part. For the record, when Mr. EB was applying to law school, my main concern was how I would live without good Mexican food for three years if we moved out of state, so I totally understand Angela missing taco trucks. Everyone I know who has moved out of California misses the same three things: the weather, the beaches, and the Mexican food.

Sunny's spiced biscuit suitcase with lemon myrtle and macademia cookies was a bit small and low, but she did a great job decorating it with all the little stickers.

Dan's gingerbread pirate chest with canastrelli biscuits was a fun idea. I liked that the height of the box too.

David's gingerbread checkboard with chocolate and vanilla macarons was a simple concept but it was executed well.

Dennis' gingerbread draughts set with almond lemon biscuits and cranberry vanilla biscuits. Everyone giggling after Dennis said his last two erections were disappointments totally cracked me up. What he made was just way too simple and plain. He did almost no decoration at all.

Sue's cinnamon, aniseed, and orange basket with orange biscotti, ma'amoul, and kaak was really simple and plain with almost no decoration. She's lucky that the judges loved the biscotti so much.

Don's gingerbread jewelry box with French butter biscuits was really colorful, but I knew the judges would penalize him for not having a lid (which is a bit unfair since many of the other bakers like Sue and Angela had open topped boxes).

Poor Laura - it's no fun doing anything when you're dizzy. I'm glad the medic and the judges told her to sit out the showstopper challenge. I didn't want to see her hurt herself trying to bake. I also thought that if what she had was contagious, they wouldn't want her making food for other people to eat.

Congratulations to Wynn for being crowned star baker this week! It was time for Dennis to go. He didn't have a great week. I laughed when Sue said she was going to tell his wife that he'd been eating junk.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Recipes

Signature challenge - chocolate biscuits
Angela's choc chunk cookies
Anston's choc chip peanut cookies
Dan's American choco smores
David's melting moments
Dennis' chocolate orange shortbreads
Don's chocolate sable biscuits
Laura's dark chocolate melting moments
Sue's white chocolate ghraybeh
Sunny's miso chocolate chunk cookies
Wynn's white chocolate shortbread

Edited October 20, 2019 by ElectricBoogaloo

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Technical challenge
arlettes

Showstopper challenge
Angela
Anston
Dan's pirate chest
David
Dennis
Don's jewelry box
Laura's biscuit tower
Sue
Sunny's suitcase
Wynn's matchbox

[bybrandy]

On 10/19/2019 at 6:08 AM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Dennis' gingerbread draughts set with almond lemon biscuits and cranberry vanilla biscuits. Everyone giggling after Dennis said his last two erections were disappointments totally cracked me up.

I laughed way too hard at this for way too long.  He clearly said it to get a rise out of the judges.   But it amused me.

 

On 10/19/2019 at 6:08 AM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Don's gingerbread jewelry box with French butter biscuits was really colorful, but I knew the judges would penalize him for not having a lid (which is a bit unfair since many of the other bakers like Sue and Angela had open topped boxes).

I think the problem was more with the messy drapery he did that made it obvious he was covering something up than the lack of the lid.  

I was really worried Dennis would survive an extra week due to Laura needing to tap out.  I figured this would be a non-elim and we'd lose two at some point to make up for it this week.   So I thought Dennis might survive and while I genuinely enjoy his sense of humor I am glad to see him go, he just wasn't living up to the same standard as the others and it was only going to get worse as the weeks go by.   

[ElectricBoogaloo]

S5.E4: Vegan Week

Quote

The Bake Off shed has gone vegan and our bakers are challenged to substitute butter, eggs and dairy to create some classic favourites and a tricky technical bake.

Original air date: 10/24/19

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Recipes

Showstopper challenge - cupcakes
Angela's sinner chocolate cupcakes/saint vanilla cupcakes
Anston's chocolate and lavender cupcakes/mojito cupcakes
Dan's vanilla and berry cupcakes/chocolate, caramel, and peanut butter cupcakes
David's carrot cake cupcakes/red velvet cupcakes
Don's chocolate and raspberry cupcakes/vanilla and chocolate cupcakes
Sue's turmeric and coconut cupcakes/red velvet cupcakes
Sunny's chocolate and raspberry cupcakes/coconut and passionfruit cupcakes
Wynn's ginger and pear cupcakes

Edited October 25, 2019 by ElectricBoogaloo

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Signature challenge
Angela's coconut, almond, and raspberry slice
Anston's black forest slice
Dan's cherry slice
David's peppermint slice
Don's chocolate caramel slice
Sue's ma'amoul slice
Sunny's peanut butter, chocolate, and date slice
Wynn's chocolate and raspberry slice

Technical challenge
vegan terrine
 

Edited November 1, 2019 by ElectricBoogaloo