S07.E02: Biscuit Week

[NewGranny]

On 6/17/2017 at 10:07 PM, Kohola3 said:

I think a bunch of the stations had difficulty - I'm in northern MI and mine went out as did my sister's in southwest IN.  I think Paul did chop up one of the bridal couple, though.

 

I am in Mississippi and had a conniption when the station started messing up.

[dubbel zout]

I now have a reason to be glad the stupid NYC PBS station airs the shows one at a time on Sunday afternoon. Hee.

[Eliz]

Hey Adam and Danny--
Re: Candice's jewelry box and last time's mirror. All the contestants bring their own serving pieces every time for their plan-ahead items. In the past I have definitely thought that some of the showstopper ones have gotten crazy, much crazier than these ones from Candice.

[Quilt Fairy]

I've seen packages of Amish butter in my grocery store.  Just wrapped up in butcher paper from the look of it.  I wonder how it compares to European butter?

I'm always surprised at the criterion that the biscuits have to be absolutely crisp.  If I was Mary, I'd be worrying about breaking a tooth on one of those things.

Edited June 19, 2017 by Quilt Fairy

[dubbel zout]

18 minutes ago, Quilt Fairy said:

I'm always surprised at the criterion that the biscuits have to be absolutely crisp.  If I was Mary, I'd be worrying about breaking a tooth on one of those things.

That's one reason she always takes a bite from the side of her mouth. 

Are chewy cookies more American than anything else?

[Rinaldo]

2 hours ago, dubbel zout said:

Are chewy cookies more American than anything else?

I think so, yes. And as I understand it, to the extent that they have infiltrated the UK, they're specifically called "cookies" rather than biscuits and thought of as something foreign that's been absorbed.

[Deirdre]

As an American who has lived in London for about 15 years I can say the cultural differences between the UK and American baking and baking products is huge. Biscuits, which the British each all the time and most of time from shop bought packages, are on the crispy and dry side. Every British child grows up on digestive biscuits, which is a large, dry, low sugar content (relatively) biscuit with a thin smear of commercial chocolate on it. It tastes like a stale bread with a melted hershey bar on it .. My kids love it and I can't stand digestives. But for the English there is no ultimate cookie eating experience of coming home to hot gooey chewey chocolate bars. Their biscuits are meant to be eaten while wearing fingerless gloves and dipping into tea. They have a variety of biscuits that go on that theme but truly they can't be swallowed without tea. The "cookie," the American one, is viewed with suspicion and a view that they seem over the top and indulgent-as they view most Americans.

[AZChristian]

2 hours ago, Deirdre said:

As an American who has lived in London for about 15 years . . .

Their biscuits are meant to be eaten while wearing fingerless gloves and dipping into tea. They have a variety of biscuits that go on that theme but truly they can't be swallowed without tea. 

Point 1:  London is my favorite city, and I am completely envious of you.

Point 2:  I just see Mary in my mind, gazing aghast at Paul when he dipped his biscuit into his tea.  As she said, "We don't DO that in the south."  LOL.

[2727]

2 hours ago, Deirdre said:

Their biscuits are meant to be eaten while wearing fingerless gloves and dipping into tea.

Never milk? The only crispy cookies I like are Pepperidge Farm gingersnaps, which naturally I eat with milk. (I will fight for this!)

The phrase "digestive biscuits" was always enough to turn me against them, so thanks for the confirmation.

Edited June 20, 2017 by 2727

[dubbel zout]

Very interesting! Thanks, Rinaldo and Deirdre. I love diggie biscuits, though I totally get why people don't. I usually buy the plain ones, as the chocolate ones use such terrible chocolate.

3 hours ago, AZChristian said:

"We don't DO that in the south."  LOL.

That might have been my favorite Mary burn. Hee.

Edited June 20, 2017 by dubbel zout
spelling

[Mabinogia]

1 hour ago, dubbel zout said:

That might have been my favorite Mary burn. Hee.

The horror on her face as she watched him made me love her even more, as if that were possible. I could really just watch a show of Mary and Paul sitting around eating various baked goods and chatting about life, love and baking.

[Athena]

1 hour ago, dubbel zout said:

I love diggie biscuits, though I totally get why people don't. I usually by the plain ones, as the chocolate ones use such terrible chocolate.

I love digestive biscuits. I have lived in London and my partner grew up in England, we both love digestives particularly the McVitie's Dark Chocolate variety. I eat expensive dark chocolate bars and I honestly like the chocolate they use. Other brands do not use as good chocolate though. I use to have to stock up on trips or ask friends bring back some, but the McVitie's Dark Chocolate Digestive and Dark Chocolate Hobnobs are much more common on this side of the pond now.

Other than those two biscuits, I am not a big fan of any other packaged tea biscuit. I've had jaffa cakes. They are crispy but they are also sorta not because they are bit thicker than other biscuits. My first experience with them left me ambivalent, but this episode did make me want to try them again.

As a Canadian, I do prefer chewy cookies, but I will also enjoy baking British biscuits like short bread and other more traditional biscuits. Mary and Paul both have a lot of recipes

I am not a dunker and I do notice that lots of Brits like Mary don't dunk hehe.

[dubbel zout]

Ooooh, thanks for the recommendation, Athena! I'll look specifically for chocolate McVitie's.

Is dunking considered Something One Doesn't Do?

[Athena]

6 minutes ago, dubbel zout said:

Ooooh, thanks for the recommendation, Athena! I'll look specifically for chocolate McVitie's.

Is dunking considered Something One Doesn't Do?

As Mary implied, it's probably a regional thing as well as a generation and class thing as well. Kids generally love to do it and I think some people grow out of it. A lot of people do it but it's not everyone either nor all biscuits.

I personally find it a bit messy since you usually find bits of the biscuits in your tea. I'll do it with Tim Tams once in awhile, but I don't really like soggy digestives.

Honestly, you do you if you like it. No shade! ;)

[AllAboutMBTV]

I did my college junior year abroad in London and lived in Earl's Court. When a classmate and I would go to movies in the West End, we'd buy a package of McVities Chocolate Digestives to eat upstairs on the No. 14 bus on the way. Every time we'd promise to save some for the movie, but we'd always eat the entire package on the bus. One of my favorite memories of London.

And now I'm craving jaffa cakes. Thanks, show! (I can get McVities at a kinda spendy grocery store near where I live, but I don't think it sells jaffas.)

[dubbel zout]

47 minutes ago, Athena said:

class thing

This is really what I was wondering. Things like biscotti are supposed to be dunked, so no one would raise an eyebrow. But a more random biscuit? Does that signify someone is Not Our Kind?

[Athena]

10 minutes ago, dubbel zout said:

This is really what I was wondering. Things like biscotti are supposed to be dunked, so no one would raise an eyebrow. But a more random biscuit? Does that signify someone is Not Our Kind?

I think it's fairly antiquated in Britain now, but there was a time when Mary was growing up that dunking biscuits was only for children or the working class. Mary grew up in a very upper middle class family.

[Tara Ariano]

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

 

Two Spotted Dicks On The Great British Bake Off: Do You Want A Cookie?

Biscuits are their business and business is good!

[dubbel zout]

Thanks, Athena. *Reminds self never to dunk in front of Mary Berry.*

[chaifan]

While I wasn't a fan of the end product, I think Tom's gingerbread "mountain" was clever from a design standpoint.  The 4 sided pyramid is self supporting, so he didn't have to worry about a roof sliding off, walls caving in, etc.  But I thought the finishing of it could have been more elegant, less (as someone upthread said) childish.  I liked Andrews's punting scene, and also thought from a design standpoint doing a flat top roof was smart.  Kate's girl scout homage was lovely, but I wish they showed more of how she got it all to stand upright.

Don't Mary and Paul get into the whole "crisp not soft" thing every season when they do biscuits?  You'd think the bakers would know this by now. 

I do love Candice's presentation, both herself personally and her display props.  I sort of hope she has a signature lip color for each episode - that could lead to a whole other career in cosmetic product placement! 

I love love love gingersnaps, and years ago someone turned me on to spreading a blue cheese spread on a gingersnap.  It sounds awful, but those two flavors are amazing together! 

ETA:  I tried watching this on PBS.com, and the streaming kept freezing.  I thought it was just my connection, but I wonder if the problems that occurred on the regular air date also interfered with streaming.

Edited June 20, 2017 by chaifan

[theatremouse]

I'm so puzzled how bakers have trouble with a "must stand up on its own" gingerbread/biscuit challenge. Have they ever watched the show before? If you're going the "icing is all that's holding it up" route, you better have practiced and be sure that stuff will hold. Otherwise, man oh man, use cutouts so it is self-supporting. Even if they hadn't seen contestants on this very show do that, you'd think they'd have prepared some research for methods of ensuring it doesn't succumb to gravity. Other than accidentally breaking the thing, which I get, happens during assembly, oops, there's just no excuse for one that plain keels over.

[awaken]

All this time I thought sue was Mel, and vice versa!   I only realized halfway through the episode that we were missing a host! I hope everything is all right with her family and we see her back soon. 

The double entendres this ep were hilarious!  There was one masterclass ep where Mary kept telling Paul "dip your nuts in it"!  So funny. 

[AZChristian]

I have been in search of Jaffa since this episode aired - with no luck so far.  However, I did find digestive cookies today, and I love them!

[AZChristian]

My daughter found us a place in Phoenix that serves Jaffa cakes . . . and they have a restaurant that serves mushy peas with their fish and chips.  Tomorrow's dinner has been decided upon!!!!

[dubbel zout]

You'd think by now the bakers would know not to apologize before the judges try the finished product. I know they're trying to get ahead of any criticism, but it often just points out something the judges might not have cared about otherwise.

I like that everyone seems to be at roughly the same level of ability. It makes it less predictable.

Poor Louise! She was kind of doomed from the start. Val dodged a bullet this week.

[dgpolo]

6 minutes ago, dubbel zout said:

You'd think by now the bakers would know not to apologize before the judges try the finished product. I know they're trying to get ahead of any criticism, but it often just points out something the judges might not have cared about otherwise.

I so agree with this! Ruby used to do it all the time. On some shows (Top Chef) something like that would get you eliminated in a heartbeat.

[Spunkygal]

20 hours ago, AZChristian said:

My daughter found us a place in Phoenix that serves Jaffa cakes . . . and they have a restaurant that serves mushy peas with their fish and chips.  Tomorrow's dinner has been decided upon!!!!

Please report back to us on how it was!

[Koalagirl]

On 9/1/2016 at 4:10 AM, ceebee said:

An innuendo-laden episode!

I never really enjoy the gingerbread challenge.  It just doesn't strike me as a 'real world' thing, but I guess it's televisual and suitably dramatic.

We had Sue doing a history bit about dunking biscuits and then they didn't really make anything dunkable. Tsk!

Mmmm. Viennese Whirls. Yummity, scrummity! I prefer them as they come, though, without a filling (which also makes them dunkable for the daring!)

Jam's easy and fun to make, though I would never rustle some up just to fill some bickies.  It's a store cupboard item made when the fruit's in glut. 

And of course, child that I am, I tee-heed when Paul told Louise that her sister Susan tasted good (remembering his Lothario reputation).

[Clanstarling]

On 9/1/2016 at 6:24 AM, Schweedie said:

I really did cackle at Mel's offer of her warm hands on Rav's bag and Mary's "I'll eat some carpet". Love me a good Bake Off innuendo.

My grown daughter and I snickered pretty hard at that one. We are not a delicate flower household.

On 9/1/2016 at 0:27 PM, shandy said:

Paul's priest of gingerbread act was getting old super fast - German gingerbread can be soft or hard and they invented Witch-house gingerbread masonry - Paul wanted hard british style ginger biscuit base, with that touch of heat, and that's not really most types of  Lebkuchen.

I hate gingerbread and Lebkuchen, though oddly, I like gingersnaps. I made gingerbread with my girls when they were young, and that just reinforced the hatred. Not only was it messy, but it seemed to be a never ending gobstopper of dough. I seemed to always have enough left for another batch. But I do like seeing gingerbread houses.

On 9/2/2016 at 3:32 AM, Margo Leadbetter said:

I prefer European butter and use it for most of my baking. I just can't bake anything where butter is a main ingredient in the summer though because I DON'T have central air and the window of opportunity for optimum butter temperature is almost non-existent. It's gotten up to 88°F (30° or so C?) in my kitchen so fall can't come soon enough. All I'm missing for the complete Bake-Off experience is a downpour and a tent.

I have the opposite problem (well at least in the winter), our house is rarely at anything the recipes call "room temperature." But European butter is the best. My husband claims he can't taste the difference, but my daughter and I occasionally treat ourselves to some. 

On 6/17/2017 at 8:37 PM, Amethyst said:

Yeah, I thought that pool table looked pretty gross.  Unfinished and runny.  And visually, the only bright spots in the interior were the pub stools, but everything else was so dark.  Points for pulling off the whole thing, but Andrew would have won by a hair.

I'm no expert on pubs - never having been in one (Brit version, in any case), but from what I read and watch on TV, they do seem to be a bit dark. Doesn't make for an attractive interior on a gingerbread house, of course. And some of the others did seem more attractive to me.

On 6/19/2017 at 4:00 PM, Quilt Fairy said:

I've seen packages of Amish butter in my grocery store.  Just wrapped up in butcher paper from the look of it.  I wonder how it compares to European butter?

I'd bet it's pretty close.

On 6/20/2017 at 10:59 AM, dubbel zout said:

This is really what I was wondering. Things like biscotti are supposed to be dunked, so no one would raise an eyebrow. But a more random biscuit? Does that signify someone is Not Our Kind?

To me it just signifies a biscuit too tasteless or stale to eat on its own. (including biscotti).

Edited June 26, 2017 by Clanstarling

[howiveaddict]

You can get Jaffa Cakes and Digestive Biscuits from Amazon.

[Unusual Suspect]

My sibling returned from England with Jaffa Cakes. I found them quite lovely. The chocolate wasn't overly sweet. I did not dip mine in tea.

[AZChristian]

10 hours ago, howiveaddict said:

You can get Jaffa Cakes and Digestive Biscuits from Amazon.

Yes, but it's over 115 this week in Phoenix.  Not a good idea to order something with chocolate that might sit in a truck or on an unshaded front patio until we get home.  And as much as we wanted to go to the local place that sells them, we got on the scale the other day and decided that Jaffa cakes would have to wait for the foreseeable future.  :-(

[Kohola3]

4 minutes ago, AZChristian said:

 Not a good idea to order something with chocolate that might sit in a truck or on an unshaded front patio until we get home.

Yeah, they's be more chocolate infused than chocolate topped!

[howiveaddict]

Maybe have to wait to winter to order. Or look for them at a specialty store.  Thing is, I would eat every single one myself.

Edited June 28, 2017 by howiveaddict

[EyewatchTV211]

On 10/3/2016 at 1:18 PM, PaulaO said:

Paul said at the beginning that the biscuits must be crispy.  I could tell Louise was a goner when she produced soft sheep.  And Selasi looks like Idris Elba, which makes me happy.

Late to this because I didn't realize the show was back/new. Anyway - I don't think Selasi looks anything like Idris Elba. Who he does look like is probably someone no one else here knows. To me, he looks like Michael Robinson, who was the quarterback for Penn State's football team when I was a student.

 

[Lura]

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this show! The Mary-Paul biscuit moment was one of the biggest laughs I've seen on this show.  Those two know each other so well that they can and do come right out with it.  On shows done with just the two of them baking something, they don't always seem to get along very well.  Interesting.  I've only seen two or three of them, done as specials, I think.  Those two help to make the show more fun for me.  I think it might be an entirely different show with two different people.  Their chemistry works well.

[Rinaldo]

10 hours ago, Lura said:

On shows done with just the two of them baking something, they don't always seem to get along very well. 

I don't recall any evidence of this, but they certainly do rib each other incessantly, and both seem to enjoy it.

[theodyssey]

In Britain, we call traditional American-style chocolate-chip cookies "cookies". Is a cookie a type of biscuit? Probably, but if I was talking about a cookie I'd always call it a cookie. Biscuits cover a load of different types.

[theodyssey]

In Britain, we call traditional American-style chocolate-chip cookies "cookies". Is a cookie a type of biscuit? Probably, but if I was talking about a cookie I'd always call it a cookie. Biscuits cover a load of different types.

Never mind - I got to the bit where Dave filled you in.

[theodyssey]

Oh and spoiler alert: yes Andrew is gay

[tljgator]

For those of you who have been searching for them here in the States, I was in ALDI this morning and they had Jaffa Cakes (orange and raspberry varieties). I bought a box out of sheer curiosity (since the basic composition doesn't really sound like my thing) and because I can't resist GBBO-related food stuffs, lol. Hope a store near you has them if you're on the hunt!

[AZChristian]

No Aldi's near us, but they are affiliated with Trader Joe's.  Might run up there and stock up on some "3-Buck Chuck" and see if they have Jaffa cakes.  Thanks for the heads-up.

[DHDancer]

Re dunking:  I would never dunk a chocolate covered biscuit, or a filled biscuit of any kind.  Nor would anyone dunk a jaffa cake (note, cake, not biscuit).  Dunking is reserved for plain biscuits like plain digestives, milk arrowroot, etc.

[AZChristian]

I finally found jaffa cakes in Phoenix!!!  Yesterday was our anniversary, so we went up to "Codfather Pub"; they have a small section of the restaurant with UK products.

Here's how I would describe commercially prepared jaffa cakes, as compared to what they made on the show.

• The cake was not smaller on the bottom and wider on the top; it was the same diameter all the way through.
• It was not as tall as the ones on GBBO.
• The cake part on the bottom was not sweet, but tasty nonetheless.
• The chocolate icing on top was also not sweet, but it was a very good chocolate flavor.
• The orange gelatin portion was stronger than I expected, and I really like it.  It accented the chocolate flavor.

No doubt - I liked it!  We also bought a canned spotted dick, but haven't opened it yet.  

Also on the menu - delicious English fish and chips and YUMMY, REAL mushy peas, and bread pudding with English custard for dessert.  The restaurant wasn't crowded because we go at off-peak times.  The owner/chef wasn't busy, so I asked if he could come out so I could compliment him on the mushy peas.  He was from Windsor, UK, so got to enjoy his wonderful accent.

[Rinaldo]

That sounds altogether fabulous, @AZChristian. I wish I could go there myself.

[DHDancer]

Check these out:  These are fairly widely available as far as I know and they're as close to a Jaffa cake as makes no difference:  LU Cookies Pim's Orange (you'll find them at Amazon, but for ridiculous high prices)

Edited August 3, 2017 by DHDancer

[dgpolo]

2 minutes ago, DHDancer said:

Check these out:  These are fairly widely available as far as I know and they're as close to a Jaffa cake as makes no difference:  LU Cookies Pim's Orange (you'll find them at Amazon, but for ridiculous high prices)

I found these a few weeks ago and because of this discussion bought some, loved them, went back for more and nothing there! Tried two different Jewel stores (where I first found them) and Target. Not there. :( I'll keep looking.

[Clanstarling]

2 hours ago, DHDancer said:

Check these out:  These are fairly widely available as far as I know and they're as close to a Jaffa cake as makes no difference:  LU Cookies Pim's Orange (you'll find them at Amazon, but for ridiculous high prices)

My daughter and I buy a pack to eat while we watch GBBO (ever since the Jaffa cake episode). They are pretty tasty. Both of our primary grocery stores carry them in the cookie section (where you can find Walker's Shortbread - the only store bought one worth eating)

[DHDancer]

On 8/3/2017 at 4:56 PM, dgpolo said:

I found these a few weeks ago and because of this discussion bought some, loved them, went back for more and nothing there! Tried two different Jewel stores (where I first found them) and Target. Not there. :( I'll keep looking.

Try Safeway or Kroghs (Fred Meyer in these parts).  LU various bikkies are really delicious and I think pretty reasonably priced compared to Pepperidge etc.

[Rilla-my-Rilla]

All I could think of was "I'm not serving Mary Berry green carpet!!" from back in the day.