S07.E07: Dessert Week

[RealityCheck]

7 hours ago, swimmyfish said:

I also realized this week what it is that irritates me about Paul's comments while the bakers are working, is that there's really nothing they can do about it at that point. Piping the mousse may have been a very bad idea, but Tom was locked into it - he didn't have any molds, he didn't have other ingredients, he didn't have an alternate way to display his final product. There's no opportunity to incorporate Paul's feedback, so his skepticism or critiques ultimately serve no purpose other than to rattle the bakers.

But that's the point.  Paul is not a mentor, he's a judge.  Paul isn't suppose to help the bakers although he did in the earlier seasons that have not aired in the US.  I read somewhere the producers admonished him about it.  Mary also was told not to help the bakers.  That's why she will ask the pointed question accompanied by the laser look as a hint of where they may be going wrong.  And both Mary and Paul will tell them at the judging what they were trying to hint at during the initial visit.

[Sharpie66]

It took Tom's second sponge cake in the first challenge to make me realize that wasn't a hand-cranked fan, but a hand-cranked grinder to spritz the nutmeg over the cake before he rolled it.

[Rinaldo]

12 hours ago, mjc570 said:

I had never heard of a Marjolaine, but that looked amazing.  I love nuts, so that is exactly my kind of cake. 

It was Julia Child's favorite kind too. (Though she doesn't use that name for it -- maybe her different choices for filling and topping deny it the official French name? -- so the nomenclature was new to me.) One of her JC & Company books begins with a chapter describing her ideal birthday party for herself, which would include this sort of rectangular cake with meringue layers. 

[Mabinogia]

1 hour ago, Sharpie66 said:

It took Tom's second sponge cake in the first challenge to make me realize that wasn't a hand-cranked fan, but a hand-cranked grinder to spritz the nutmeg over the cake before he rolled it.

OMG is that what he was doing? I'll have to watch again. It makes a LOT more sense than a hand cranked fan which I really couldn't figure out why such a thing would even be invented.

[chaifan]

I have never heard of a marjolaine.  I was surprised they were able to make that in 4 hours.  I always thought meringue took much longer to bake.  I'd love to see the directions they received, because they all came out looking so very similar.  Very pretty presentations.

I wasn't a fan of Candice's prop for the showstopper.  I thought it was too busy, and distracted from her roulade, which I thought looked very good.  They all did.  Except Tom's.  Which, as noted above, looked like a giant turd.  I do think she's having an effect on the others, since more props are showing up.  Tom's picnic table (I thought that was cute, even if the desserts didn't look great), Selasi's use of a curved picture frame, the ferris wheel (though that was probably planned out far in advance). 

Does anyone know when the bakers have to commit to their recipes?  I'm just wondering if they have to submit what they'll be doing at the beginning of filming, or can they make changes up to each individual weekend shot? 

As much as I like Jane, I'm cheering for Benjamina, Candice and Andrew for the final 3. 

[ABay]

There's a high-end bakery here called Marjolaine. Until this episode, I thought marjolaine was a portmanteau of the owners' names or something.

[LuciaMia]

Quote

 and the douchy hipster picnic was tossed in the bin where it belongs

I don't think you meant that literally. Considering the large technical staff that must be working behind the scenes, I doubt theres any baked goods that go to waste.

[GaT]

On 7/22/2017 at 10:44 AM, J-Man said:

As interesting as Tom could sometimes be, I'm glad he's gone.

They always have one baker who comes up with strange flavor combinations. They always seem really clever & get a lot of praise, but they eventually overstep their abilities, & they never make it to the finals. Tom was this season's version.

[maywatch]

I was holding my breath and hoping that it would be Tom that went home - I feel like he has been so overrated for a few episodes now.

I think that Selasi is a consistently good baker who is often - but not consistently - a great baker. However I'm prepared to admit that I may be blinded by the hotness and fantasies of Selasi feeding me delicious baked goods and smiling at me while wearing tight t-shirts. To be clear, in case I'm being to subtle,  Selasi CAN. GET. IT. 

That being said, I think that Jane and Candace are the best all around and one of them should win. 

[Athena]

12 hours ago, chaifan said:

Does anyone know when the bakers have to commit to their recipes?  I'm just wondering if they have to submit what they'll be doing at the beginning of filming, or can they make changes up to each individual weekend shot?

Past contestants have said that once they are confirmed as being in the final 12, they are told about the challenges and they generally must submit their recipes before the season starts. This allows the kitchen and food staff to get all the necessary groceries and baking tools. I think they may tweak things before the individual challenges, but no one has admitted to actually dramatically changing what they submitted.

9 hours ago, LuciaMia said:

I don't think you meant that literally. Considering the large technical staff that must be working behind the scenes, I doubt theres any baked goods that go to waste.

The home economist on the show (she who basically organises all the food aspects of the show) says she and her staff will prepare a "lunch basket" for each baker after the judgings. This way contestants can take them home, eat them, or share with others. All other portions are divided (within reason and lining up) between the rest of the cast & crew. I don't think they waste much food on this show.

[dubbel zout]

13 hours ago, Athena said:

no one has admitted to actually dramatically changing what they submitted.

That would mess up those delightful drawings we see before everybody's bakes. I'm sure once the recipes are chosen, the bakers are locked in to them, unless there's some technical reason like the inability to find a crucial ingredient or something. And in that case, the baker is probably able to supply it.

13 hours ago, Athena said:

All other portions are divided (within reason and lining up) between the rest of the cast & crew.

During the pastry episode, Sue grabbed a bunch of someone's danishes to take home to her family. I think Paul busted her on it. Hee.

[sum]

45 minutes ago, dubbel zout said:

That would mess up those delightful drawings we see before everybody's bakes. I'm sure once the recipes are chosen, the bakers are locked in to them, unless there's some technical reason like the inability to find a crucial ingredient or something. And in that case, the baker is probably able to supply it.

According to the illustrator it shouldn't be an issue.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/4fr6jXM3XQpXG9sc8t0tQH/meet-the-great-british-bake-off-illustrator-tom-hovey

Q. What’s the process that you use for drawing a bake?

I receive a pack of photos of the finished bakes from the set after each episode has been filmed that I use for reference. I sketch out all the bakes quickly in pencil to get the details, form and shape I am after. I then work these up by hand drawing them all in ink, then they’re scanned and coloured digitally, and then I add the titles and ingredient arrows. It's a fairly well streamlined process now.

Q. How long does it take you to illustrate a bake?

It varies as we move through the series. At the beginning there is more time because there are more bakers and therefore more bakes to illustrate for each episode. In the later episodes there is less time and less bakes to illustrate so it's all relative. On average it takes about a week to illustrate and deliver an episode.

Q. Have you ever got it really wrong?

My illustrations are a representation of what the bakers hope to create. Even if the bakers don't produce what they’ve intended to I have a degree of artistic license to make them look good.

[dubbel zout]

Very interesting! Thanks, sum. It does make sense the drawings are done after the bakes happen. Duh.

[joanne3482]

15 hours ago, Athena said:

The home economist on the show (she who basically organises all the food aspects of the show) says she and her staff will prepare a "lunch basket" for each baker after the judgings. This way contestants can take them home, eat them, or share with others. All other portions are divided (within reason and lining up) between the rest of the cast & crew. I don't think they waste much food on this show.

That's fabulous to know. It bothers me that they bake so many (make 48 tarts) and I hoped the cast and crew got to eat them. I see so much food waste on the American cooking shows (Gordon Ramsey). I like that they are not wasting all that delicious looking food. 

I'm glad Benjamina's tasted so good. I really like her a lot and would like to see her win. I noticed Paul noted that it was the first time Bread Week winner was not in the top 3 or 4. 

[Rinaldo]

I don't understand the illustrator's explanation. If there are fewer bakers in a given week, wouldn't that give him more time for each one? 

[Athena]

18 minutes ago, Rinaldo said:

I don't understand the illustrator's explanation. If there are fewer bakers in a given week, wouldn't that give him more time for each one? 

I think he means that he has to produce most of these before the show premieres so that editors and other technical staff can have the most time incorporating the drawings. He worded it oddly. I think he meant that while in the beginning, he has lots to illustrate, he has more time because the show is like 2-3 months off from airing. Then as the weeks progress, there is less to illustrate, but the post-production deadlines are closer.

The show use to premiere within the same month or couple of weeks after the actual finale. He was probably 1-2 weeks behind the actual shooting of the show which doesn't account for the editing and direction time for other things.

[meep.meep]

On 7/23/2017 at 5:24 AM, Sharpie66 said:

It took Tom's second sponge cake in the first challenge to make me realize that wasn't a hand-cranked fan, but a hand-cranked grinder to spritz the nutmeg over the cake before he rolled it.

You are a genius!

I take back my previous snarky comment aimed at Tom.  However, wouldn't a tea strainer or shaker can accomplish the same thing?  Or am I hopelessly behind nutmeg distribution trends?

[Quilt Fairy]

On ‎7‎/‎22‎/‎2017 at 0:44 PM, J-Man said:

So what's the difference between a roulade and a Swiss roll (what we'd call a jelly roll)? Is it it the specific kind of filling in a Swiss roll?

The closed-captioning on this show drives me crazy sometimes. When Mel or Sue was explaining what a marjolaine was, she said it was (according to the CC) a kind of "gatto." At first I thought this was some unfamiliar Britishism, but then I figured out what she actually must have said was "gâteau."

I'd like to know the difference between a roulade and a Swiss Roll as well. ( As a side note, when I hear 'roulade' my mind immediately goes to 'rouladen' (in my mother's Americanized version we called it 'rolled round steak') which is a beef steak rolled up with onions and bacon inside.  And now I've got to try and find a recipe for it, as my mother sadly left me none.)

Totally agree that the closed-captioning failed on "gatto" vs. "gâteau".  I don't know how that happened, as "gatto" isn't even a real word.

[Mondrianyone]

13 minutes ago, Quilt Fairy said:

I'd like to know the difference between a roulade and a Swiss Roll as well. ( As a side note, when I hear 'roulade' my mind immediately goes to 'rouladen' (in my mother's Americanized version we called it 'rolled round steak') which is a beef steak rolled up with onions and bacon inside.  And now I've got to try and find a recipe for it, as my mother sadly left me none.)

Totally agree that the closed-captioning failed on "gatto" vs. "gâteau".  I don't know how that happened, as "gatto" isn't even a real word.

Rouladen sounds very delicious!  I may go hunting for a recipe as well.

Actually, gatto is a real word, just not in French.  It means "cat" in Italian, which would make for an interesting cake.  I wouldn't give the closed-captioning robot that much culinary credit, though.

[illdoc]

From Wikipedia: A Swiss roll, jelly roll, or cream roll is a type of sponge cake roll filled with whipped cream, jam, or icing

This article is about the savory dish. For the sweet dish, see Swiss roll. A roulade is a dish of filled rolled meat or pastry.

So...maybe as far as GBBO is concerned, if it just has jam or whipped cream, it's a swiss roll, but if it has other stuff (I saw some actual fruit in at least one), it's a roulade???

[rhys]

9 hours ago, meep.meep said:

You are a genius!

I take back my previous snarky comment aimed at Tom.  However, wouldn't a tea strainer or shaker can accomplish the same thing?  Or am I hopelessly behind nutmeg distribution trends?

Crikey! "Nutmeg distribution trends" is the winningest term I've read today. You win the internet.

I feel so bad for the bakers in that hot tent. There should be something that could be done about the heat.

[starri]

7 hours ago, rhys said:

I feel so bad for the bakers in that hot tent. There should be something that could be done about the heat.

I spent a month in Edinburgh in what was at the time their hottest summer on record (this was 20+ years ago).  AC and ice in drinks do not seem to be part of the Scottish constitution, and I assume that extends down to the rest of Britain.  Then factor in multiple ovens going at the same time...

Edited July 25, 2017 by starri

[Clanstarling]

On 7/21/2017 at 8:23 PM, Amethyst said:

I noticed that, too!  I felt bad laughing because it was also zooming in on sadTom's face, but it was so randomly hilarious.

My daughter described his general demeanor on the show as "kicked puppy." 

 

16 hours ago, Mondrianyone said:

Rouladen sounds very delicious!  I may go hunting for a recipe as well.

It is! It was my Mom's signature dish, but she didn't leave me the recipe, so I've no idea how to make it.

Did anyone else notice Mary's uncharacteristic, loud growly "nom nom" when she took a bite of Andrew's...roulade, I think? We played it back a couple of times, laughing hysterically.

[AZChristian]

2 hours ago, starri said:

I spent a month in Edinburgh in what was at the time their hottest summer on record (this was 20+ years ago).  AC and ice in drinks do not seem to be part of the Scottish constitution, and I assume that extends down to the rest of Britain.  Then factor in multiple ovens going at the same time...

We've been to the UK several times.  I once ordered ice water with lots of ice, and got TWO ice cubes instead of one.

[Rinaldo]

1 hour ago, AZChristian said:

We've been to the UK several times.  I once ordered ice water with lots of ice, and got TWO ice cubes instead of one.

On one of my trips to the UK (and I do adore being there), in order to be in place for my early-morning flight home, I found myself in a high-rise airport hotel the night before, where I got "peckish" as the evening wore on, and had my first encounter with the local vending machines. Most prices translated about to what you'd pay in a machine in the US, but if you wanted your can of soda cold, it cost 5 times as much. The message being, if you're going to have such decadent self-indulgent habits, you will damn well pay for them.

[Tara Ariano]

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

 

Two Spotted Dicks: The Mousse Is Loose On Dessert Week

The bakers indulge their sweet tooths (teeth?).

[EyewatchTV211]

When they described the Marjolaine to the bakers before us TV viewers got to see what it looked like, it sounded a little (very little) like one of my favorite desserts from a French/Belgium bakery somewhat near me in DC., Marveilleux. I'm having an issue attaching pictures here for some reason, but these are links to what the dessert looks like on the inside and out. Inside Glimpse and Chocolate Marveilleux  There are different flavors, but my favorite is dark chocolate. They all are layered with meringue and cream. It's probably more that I wanted it to be close since I love them so much, and now I'm wanting to go get one.

It seems like with this season's showstoppers, the bakers have created their "showstopper" aspect primarily from props and at the same time, the show has given less opportunities for the actual baking to visually wow based on the assignments. Candice has used props the most, but it seems to be common this season in general. While there were props used in the past at times (Ian [I think] and his chocolate well), there seemed to be more done with the actual bakes and their visual presentations. 

[Clanstarling]

It's been my impression that props were a big part of showstoppers from the get-go (at least since I've watched). But I haven't made a survey. It just doesn't seem unusual to me this season.

[Quilt Fairy]

On ‎7‎/‎24‎/‎2017 at 3:55 PM, Mondrianyone said:

Actually, gatto is a real word, just not in French.

Well, my Americanized version of Google couldn't find it, therefore it does not exist. ;)

As to showstoppers, the definition I have in the back of my mind is something you would find as the centerpiece on a banquet table or in a patisserie window.  Something that makes you stop and look.  I think back to some of the magnificent cakes and 3D biscuit or bread or gingerbread creations we've had in the past.  It's damn hard to stop the show with churros or mini mousse cakes.

[Florinaldo]

Regarding gatto: I think the subtitles rendered it closely to how it was pronounced, i.e with the double "t" instead of the French "gâteau".

When I saw Andrew's ferris wheel contraptions, I feared that for the second week in a row the engineer in the group would be hampered by technology, after the oven failing to turn itself on the previous week. I believe that one of his mousse cakes even fell off while he was putting things together, but either he had a spare one or he caught it and it did not get damaged. He well deserved to be star baker this week. Some episodes ago I said he seemed to lack a degree of finesse and that it might keep him out of the finals, but he certainly upped his game this time around and I saw the finesse finally coming into play. Perhaps his close shave during the botanical competition shocked him into taking things more seriously and it certainly paid off. Will he be able to keep it up until the end though?

I think Jane was the only one shown pre-rolling her roulade while still warm, to help prevent cracks and keep its shape; that is how I learned to do it, either in a clean tea towel or in the cooking parchment paper as she did.

I am grateful to those who posted a screen cap of Jane wearing a fake moustache in the background; when watching the episode I wasn't sure if I was  hallucinating or if that was a video or lightning artefact.

A marjolaine? I have seen these often but tasted it only once or twice. Despite it being one of the signature desserts in the bakery I tasted it, I did not feel the results warranted all the fuss and bother necessary to put it together. I suppose if you are a big fan of meringue and heaps of nuts, you have a better chance to appreciate it. I have seen at least one version with very little nuts on top, if any, just icing and chocolate ganache and shavings.

[Clanstarling]

12 hours ago, Florinaldo said:

I think Jane was the only one shown pre-rolling her roulade while still warm, to help prevent cracks and keep its shape; that is how I learned to do it, either in a clean tea towel or in the cooking parchment paper as she did.

I think Selassie was shown doing that too - I'm not really sure who it was, but it was shown sometime after Jane rolled hers.

[EyewatchTV211]

15 hours ago, Florinaldo said:

A marjolaine? I have seen these often but tasted it only once or twice. Despite it being one of the signature desserts in the bakery I tasted it, I did not feel the results warranted all the fuss and bother necessary to put it together. I suppose if you are a big fan of meringue and heaps of nuts, you have a better chance to appreciate it. I have seen at least one version with very little nuts on top, if any, just icing and chocolate ganache and shavings.

I had googled it earlier and noticed that none of the pictures showed nuts on the outside the way they had it on the show. I'm not a fan of nuts, so that's what turned me off after the initial yummy of meringue. 

I thought I saw a few people pre-rolling their roulades.

[Sandiscot]

On 7/24/2017 at 1:38 PM, Quilt Fairy said:

 As a side note, when I hear 'roulade' my mind immediately goes to 'rouladen' (in my mother's Americanized version we called it 'rolled round steak') which is a beef steak rolled up with onions and bacon inside

"Rouladen" is German and they are usually savory.

"Roulade" is based on the French  "rouler" meaning "to roll" and they can be either sweet or savory.

[Occasional Hope]

On 24/07/2017 at 9:38 PM, Quilt Fairy said:

I'd like to know the difference between a roulade and a Swiss Roll as well. ( As a side note, when I hear 'roulade' my mind immediately goes to 'rouladen' (in my mother's Americanized version we called it 'rolled round steak') which is a beef steak rolled up with onions and bacon inside.  And now I've got to try and find a recipe for it, as my mother sadly left me none.)

Totally agree that the closed-captioning failed on "gatto" vs. "gâteau".  I don't know how that happened, as "gatto" isn't even a real word.

A proper Swiss roll has to be a fatless sponge (with jam and/or buttercream or very occasionally real cream filling), and is quite tightly rolled, while a roulade can be any sort of cake base, has a wider choise of fillings, and can be rolled more loosely (especially if there's lots of cream or fruit in the filling).

 

Alternative definition: Swiss roll is for teatime, and a roulade is a dessert.

Edited July 28, 2017 by Occasional Hope

[dleighg]

On 7/25/2017 at 10:48 AM, AZChristian said:

We've been to the UK several times.  I once ordered ice water with lots of ice, and got TWO ice cubes instead of one.

Me too! I'm a typical American who likes my water COLD!

[dleighg]

On 7/23/2017 at 10:04 AM, Mabinogia said:

OMG is that what he was doing? I'll have to watch again. It makes a LOT more sense than a hand cranked fan which I really couldn't figure out why such a thing would even be invented.

but in the show stopper it absolutely was a hand-cranked fan he was using. He even said he was cooling the cake. I missed whatever he did in the first challenge.

[elle]

On 7/26/2017 at 4:40 PM, Quilt Fairy said:

Well, my Americanized version of Google couldn't find it, therefore it does not exist. ;)

Strange that it did not pull up any results to let you know that gatto is Italian for cat.

but in the show stopper it absolutely was a hand-cranked fan he was using. He even said he was cooling the cake. I missed whatever he did in the first challenge.

That is crazy!  I guess it would be handy to have if the batteries died, but a hand crank fan alone?

Edited August 1, 2017 by elle

[festivus]

So glad the cutie pie Andrew got star baker this week. I thought he deserved in at least one other episode over the person who got it but I can't remember which one it was. I guess Paul finally stopped fawning over Candice long enough to notice him.

[PaulaO]

Re watching this episode and cracked up when Sue said (regarding mousse) “I want to see more wobble than me on a truss free Sunday.”

[aradia22]

The quality of the bakes has improved since my last check in and there have been more impressive showstoppers but I'm still surprised at how up and down the individual bakers seem to be from challenge to challenge. I feel like in previous seasons, you'd get the person who was great at bread or the person who was bad at technicals and otherwise, they steadily improved. Maybe it's because I'm binge-watching it but this season feels very chaotic in terms of skill level/performance. My favorites from the remaining contestants are probably Benjamina followed up by Jane. Episode 5 was a push forward but surprisingly the weird theme of Botanicals in episode 6 inspired some more creativity. Desserts are a bit fussy so more something to look at than anything I really want to make myself.