S07.E13: The Great Christmas Bake Off Part 2

[Athena]

Part 2 of the The Great Christmas Bake Off.

[halopub]

In fairness to James, Chetna spied on his work first. Heh. I'm glad he acknowledged the other contestants after the technical and joked on Twitter about getting brought before the medical ethics board for his kanellängd.

I was disappointed that James didn't do better in the showstopper but he and Chetna are two of my favorite contestants of all time. So happy to have them in the same episode. Now if James could just switch out those old timey glasses....

And yay for Howard finally getting to present his own custard to Mary and Paul.

The editors went out of their way to cut together flashbacks and comments for hyped up tension:

• James stating what not to do with ganache and cutting to Janet's bowl
• past issues with baked Alaskas, gingerbread structures
• the infamous custard incident, then cutting to James in the present making his own
• Sue's past infractions with the elbow

I so was relieved that Chetna's baked Alaskas came out okay after that crazy drop in the freezer.  "Obviously the freezer knows it's me!"

I actually thought the innuendo was a bit much this time - stop fondling the phallic horseradish Mary - but hey, it's the last episode on the Beebs.

[krankydoodle]

Quote

In fairness to James, Chetna spied on his work first.

I thought Chetna was joking when she first mentioned cheating, so was surprised when she brought it up again during her one-on-one. From what I recall, it wasn't unusual for bakers to check out what others were doing during the technical challenges, though I'm not sure if it was ever done as openly--by both Chetna and James--as it was here. She seemed to be taking the competition a lot more seriously than the others.

Anyway, I was just happy to see everyone again. Janet still seemed delightfully surprised whenever the judges liked her bakes, Howard was as upbeat as ever, and James had another late-in-the-game disaster that he didn't panic about but wasn't able to salvage. And after watching the American version these past few weeks (which is decent), it's become even more apparent how special the chemistry is on this show. I know Paul isn't the most popular, but I like how he acts as a contrast to the others and enjoy it when they poke fun at him and he takes it in stride. I'm sad this is the end of the show--at least in its current form, but at least it had a great run.

[halopub]

I'm sure she was prompted by the producers during her one-on-one. But yes, Chetna was much more serious about the competition than the others.

I agree that Paul often provided needed counterbalance to the other three.

On rewatch, I laughed at James asking if he could also taste the canapes he made.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I'm glad that we got a brief recap about each baker to remind me how chill Howard was during his season when someone else accidentally used his cream.

I really enjoyed the signature challenge. I wanted to eat them all! Not at all surprising that James had great flavors, but Mary was obviously very put off by not being able to pick them up easily without having them fall apart. At first I was surprised that he was the first one who has ever asked to try his creations with the judges, but I think that this Christmas episode was less pressure than the regular competition. I love that Howard marches to the beat of his own drum. I loved the idea of tree shaped canapes using pea flour. I also thought his other ones would have looked so nice if he'd had time to tie them all with chive. And his partridge and pear theme was so fun! Ha, OF COURSE the judges thought that Chetna's were spicy. I loved that when Janet described what she was going to make, Paul's first reaction was, "I've missed you!" I totally approve of Mary saying that Janet's huge canapes were for hungry people.

The showstoppers seemed to be a disaster for everyone in one way or another. Janet's ganache split twice, James's gingerbread structure was too soft and collapsed, Chetna had the freezer shelf squash her whipped cream toppings, and Howard's undecorated desserts looked like uncooked sausage (according to Mel). Did Sue make that icing with flour on purpose?

Janet's showstopper ended up being better than I thought it would. I agree with Mary that kids would love the red and green petits fours. I'm glad she went all out with the food coloring because I agree with her that half assing the color on something like that weakens the effect. It's too bad that the orange one ended up without ganache, but at least the judges liked the taste.

Although I felt bad for Chetna when the freezer shelf fell on top of her desserts, I had to laugh when she said, "The freezer must have known it was me." I agreed with Mary about all three of Chetna's desserts lacking color, which made them seem less festive. The mini baked Alaska looked delicious. The texture of her cheesecake looked so creamy and smooth. The chocolate roulade looked the messiest of the three, but I would still eat it.

Oh, James. I cracked up when he said there were still tiers in his pile of desserts. Again, I agreed with Mary about how monochromatic his brown presentation was. Mmmm, donuts and macarons!

Howard's was the most visually appealing, due in large part to the trifle which added color and height to the presentation. I'm sad that the cheesecake was bland because again, fun idea with the gingerbread house and garden.

[Writing Wrongs]

On 12/27/2016 at 11:59 AM, halopub said:

I actually thought the innuendo was a bit much this time - stop fondling the phallic horseradish Mary - but hey, it's the last episode on the Beebs.

That part cracked me up. I loved Paul turning his head away and Sue with her head down. I'm gonna miss this show.

[Rinaldo]

On 12/27/2016 at 8:22 PM, krankydoodle said:

I thought Chetna was joking when she first mentioned cheating, so was surprised when she brought it up again during her one-on-one

I'm pretty sure she was still joking in her one-on-one -- she was all mock-solemn at first but dissolved in laughter by the end of her speech. In all the seasons, they all watch and take visual hints from each other during technicals, and often simultaneously joke about it being "cheating." It's inherent in the situation: like a test, but everyone's work is openly on display with no prohibition against looking.

Howard just can't restrain himself from the oddball flours, can he? That's OK, Howard -- you be yourself.

On 12/27/2016 at 0:59 PM, halopub said:

[James] and Chetna are two of my favorite contestants of all time

Mine too! It was such a kick to be able to see them together. And just as in his original season, James seemed to have it all sewn up and then fell in the home stretch through overambition. (I'm pretty sure his "forgot to bring a tiered structure" was one of his dry jokes, but his gingerbread plan just didn't seem workable, even had it been stiffer.) Plus, as they rightly pointed out, the whole array was the same narrow color range. Almost everyone was overambitious in the showstopper, actually.

Except Chetna, who really pulled it off -- I loved James for saying he absolutely agreed with the judging and she won it by a mile. Really, hers was the only showstopper in which all three elements were even acceptable, and hers were way more than that.

I guess this is our farewell to the old format, so three cheers for bringing back some of the most charitable bakers for it.

Edited December 30, 2016 by Rinaldo

[Athena]

9 hours ago, Rinaldo said:

Almost everyone was overambitious in the showstopper, actually.

Yes. There was discussion on the overambition in the most recent series of the GBBO, but I think this is a natural result of the show being both popular and long running enough. As prospective contestants and former contestants watch more episodes, they feel increased pressure and creative to produce things. I definitely saw it with this special. You wouldn't really have seen that kind of Showstopper in the first couple of series unless it was the finale.

All in all, I really enjoyed the specials as I love all the contestants. This second part was lovely as I adore Howard and Chetna especially. I like Janet and James too. Who am I kidding... I like them all!

Mary was touching that horseradish too much.