S08.E04: Caramel Week

[Athena]

Quote

For the very first time on the show, it's caramel week, with three sticky challenges for the bakers, including a super sweet signature and a double Dutch technical.

[Occasional Hope]

I didn't much like the look of the technical wafers.  they looked kind of dry.

Kate's appale caramel cake looked delicious, and Liam did well this week too.

[Rinaldo]

I like Liam, was kind of hoping he'd done enough for Star Baker this week (he's usually so uneven), but Kate's apple cake must have tasted miraculous, the way Prue went on about it.

[Charlesman]

OK, now I need to know her apple cake recipe too. Please tell me it's available somewhere lol! 

[sum]

2 hours ago, Charlesman said:

OK, now I need to know her apple cake recipe too. Please tell me it's available somewhere lol! 

Here it is. http://thegreatbritishbakeoff.co.uk/kates-sticky-toffee-apple-caramel-cake/

[ElectricBoogaloo]

4 hours ago, Charlesman said:

OK, now I need to know her apple cake recipe too. Please tell me it's available somewhere lol! 

 

1 hour ago, sum said:

Here it is. http://thegreatbritishbakeoff.co.uk/kates-sticky-toffee-apple-caramel-cake/

I've been checking the channel 4 website each week and I haven't seen any recipes posted. Thanks for posting a link to the recipe on the GBBO website, @sum!

Mmmmm, caramel. This might be my new favorite week! What's not to love about millionaire shortbread? Chocolate, caramel, and shortbread - yum! (I've noticed that I get very exclamatory when watching GBBO because I get so excited about the food).

Julia's pecan and salted caramel millionaire shortbread sounded great! I love salted caramel and I think the pecans will add a nice crunch. I liked the white chocolate design on the top. I have to be honest - I wouldn't mind caramel oozing out!

James' maple syrup and chopped pecan millionaires sounded yummy. I was waiting to see Paul's reaction to maple syrup because I still remember he wasn't very fond of a lot of run of the mill American flavors. It's too bad that the texture of his shortbread let him down.

Tom's ginger and almond millionaire shortbreads aren't my cup of tea (I don't like ginger) but I thought that his might stand out for having different flavors. I think he made the right decision to leave them in two giant blocks. If he had tried to cut them into 18 pieces, it would have been a mess.

Steven's macademia nut, coffee, and orange millionaires sounded very tropical/Hawaiian. They all looked so uniform and the layers looked great. I agree that the biscuit was too thick.

Sophie's four layer Jaffa millionaire shortbreads with orange zest sounded very labor intensive, but I agree that the acetate sleeves were a great way to see exactly how much was in each layer. It's unfortunate that she ran out of time, but once again her flavors saved her.

Stacey's heart shaped rum, lime, chili, and salted caramel millionaire shortbreads sounded like way too many flavors. They looked very uniform and the layers were very clean. Hush, Paul! I didn't think her chocolate layer was too thick. Who complains about more chocolate?

Liam's peanut butter and honey millionaire shortbreads sounded delicious! His little signs were so cute too. The Tetris theme was fun and I loved that the peanut butter helped the caramel set. I LOVE how everyone applauded when Liam got the Hollywood handshake.

Yan cracked me up when she talked about playing a "game of caramel chicken - sounds delicious!" Although she didn't use a thermometer to know when her caramel was done, I liked that she explained about the steam and the moisture and how that told her when it was ready. Her crystalized ginger, orange, and hazelnut millionaire shortbreads were pretty with the gold spray painted royal cameo on top. What is Prue complaining about? I'm all for more chocolate on top!

Kate's walnut, bay leaf, and salted caramel millionaire shortbreads had a pretty pattern on top with the white chocolate and gold leaf. I liked that she chose bay as her extra flavor for its meaning, but I wasn't sure how strong it would be with the other flavors.

Ha, I knew from last week's preview that the technical would be stroopwafels! I've never made them, but I love eating them. Mmmmmm. If yours aren't freshly made, put them on top of a hot cup of coffee or tea to warm the caramel and waffle slightly. When Yan made a third batch of caramel and said she had already tried high heat so she was going to try low heat, I thought that someone had finally figured it out. I was hoping that the judges would disregard the results of the technical challenge this week since everyone failed at making caramel.

James' butterceam, peanut praline, and amaretto cake looked a little plain. I agree with Prue that he spent a lot of time on the other stuff (all the pralines). Luckily his flavors were good.

Liam's ginger and cinnamon cake with macademia praline. Ha, I totally laughed when Paul asked what a spiced caramel drip is and Liam said it was a trendy thing. To be honest, Liam didn't do a great job with the dripping effect (I've seen it much better) but I'm going to give him partial credit since it was so hot and I think that affected the caramel when he was trying to get it to drip off the sides.

Kate's toffee apple cake looked very pretty and was so colorful. It seemed very small when it was on the judging table but it may have just been the angle. Love that she left some big chunks of apple in the cake.

Tom's hummingbird cake with lime cream cheese frosting, passionfruit cream, and pecan praline only had a nest and some nut brittle so I guess the judges were right to criticize him for not having enough caramel.

Yan's tiger striped cake with orange curd looked a little messy but I liked taht she was very ambitious with all of her decorations. I loved the orange and brown swirled cake inside. So simple but effective.

Sophie's bird's nest cake with salted caramel ganache and roasted hazelnuts looked a bit dark from a distance, but up close I liked the caramel shard on the side. I'm glad that Paul saw how much her nest had shrunk due to the humidity. The eggs filled with caramel looked great too.

Stacey's chocolate and coffee caramel butterfly cake was very pretty on top. She was very ambitious with that huge sugar decoration with so many pieces. I agree that the glaze made the cake look slimy though.

Julia's poppyseed cake with walnuts and prunes looked very neat but still slightly fancy due to the large dramatic caramel shards. Bonus: you know where to slice the cake!

Steven's raspberry red velvet crown cake looked great. It's too bad the inside of the cake was "stodgy."

I love how pleased everyone looked when Kate was named star baker. I knew Tom was a goner but I will miss having him in the tent because he seemed like such a nice guy.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Signature bake recipes:
Liam's saled peanut millionaire's shortbread
Sophie's Jaffa millionaire's shortbread
Steven's macademia, orange, and coffee millionaire's shortbread

Technical challenge recipe:
Prue's stroopwafels

Showstopper recipes:
Julia's caramel shard poppyseed cake
Yan's animals of the rainforest cake
 

[halopub]

9 hours ago, Rinaldo said:

I like Liam, was kind of hoping he'd done enough for Star Baker this week (he's usually so uneven), but Kate's apple cake must have tasted miraculous, the way Prue went on about it.

Especially since she proclaimed it the best cake she's ever had in her life.

On Twitter Yan compared the technical to the Kobayashi Maru scenario. Heh.

[Corgi-ears]

So I watched that episode, and now I have diabetes.

Nice Sneaker Pimps reference, Noel / writers. 

[Rinaldo]

1 hour ago, halopub said:

Especially since [Prue] proclaimed [Kate's apple cake] the best cake she's ever had in her life.

Indeed. Although Prue has mentioned more than once that she (unlike Mary) doesn't have a particularly sweet tooth, and prefers a contrasting touch (like bitterness, in one case) in her sweet creations. So her taste in this might not match everyone's. I'd still like to try it, if someone else would bake it for me.

[Athena]

The cake must have been fantastic because Paul even called the flavours in it "masterful" so Kate was able to do some professional level baking. Prue does have extensive judging and industry experience so the cake must have been amazing. It doesn't make me think Kate will win and her inability to tie her hair back has bothered me too.

I'm glad Liam is exhibiting some decent technical ability after his last couple of weeks. I think he's similar to Martha in that he'll probably be in the top 6 or so but I'm skeptical if he can last to the finals or the top 4.

I like the return of the historical segments.

[3 is enough]

I really hate to say this but Julia is beginning to get on my nerves ever so slightly.  She is bringing back memories of Ruby with the manufactured drama, sitting there with her face in her hands and all.  Everyone struggled with the caramel, but she has been pretty strong overall.  I read her bio and evidently she quit her job to concentrate on baking so I guess she is very serious about winning, but still...

I thought Russians were supposed to be tough and stoic, especially if they come from Siberia...  ;P

Edited September 20, 2017 by 3 is enough

[2727]

What did everyone do wrong in the technical to make their caramel gritty? They did okay with it in the signature round and knew to slowly warm the sugar.

Even though I could buy a bag of caramels, I never have. I like it in my Milky Way but agree with Prue about enough being enough.

[ae2]

1 hour ago, 2727 said:

What did everyone do wrong in the technical to make their caramel gritty? They did okay with it in the signature round and knew to slowly warm the sugar.

Even though I could buy a bag of caramels, I never have. I like it in my Milky Way but agree with Prue about enough being enough.

The caramel in the technical was a little different than your typical caramel. It used brown sugar, which was melted with butter, then a sugar syrup was added. Most of the other caramel they made used granulated sugar, which is caramelized by itself or maybe with a little water, then any butter or cream added if needed.

I have no idea if this explains why everyone failed or not. I'll let you know after I make stroopwafels. 

My opinion is that if everyone fails at the exact same place then it's a problem with the instructions and not the bakers.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

2 hours ago, 2727 said:

What did everyone do wrong in the technical to make their caramel gritty? They did okay with it in the signature round and knew to slowly warm the sugar.

In addition to what @ae2 said, Prue told Paul that the key with this particular caramel is that you must heat it very slowly over low heat to avoid the graininess/crystallization. 

[Primetimer]

Prue wanted a tough challenge for Caramel Week. Well, she got it.

View the full article

[theodyssey]

I do wonder if they didn't do "millionaire shortbread" as the technical because it's such an obvious choice of technical.

If the bakers hadn't been told millionaire shortbread was a signature/showstopper, I think they'd all have practised making them just in case.

Also - not sure about Yan, but I do appreciate the constant geekery. I realised she was quoting Galaxy Quest verbatim at one point this week: "never give up, never surrender"

[Athena]

3 hours ago, theodyssey said:

I do wonder if they didn't do "millionaire shortbread" as the technical because it's such an obvious choice of technical.

If the bakers hadn't been told millionaire shortbread was a signature/showstopper, I think they'd all have practised making them just in case.

Yes and millionaire shortbread is common enough in the UK that most of the bakers would know what it looked like and probably most of them had made it before. The technical has been consistently about items that only a couple of the bakers have made or even think about making. 

I agree that Prue's technical was actually too challenging in the sense that no one even got close to getting the actual caramel correct. 

[Rinaldo]

3 hours ago, Athena said:

I agree that Prue's technical was actually too challenging in the sense that no one even got close to getting the actual caramel correct. 

I've been trying to decide how I feel about that. It's possible to argue, I guess, that someone who really knows sugar-work and caramel in particular should know that a specific order of operations and combinations is necessary to produce a good result, and they should be able to apply that knowledge even when the instructions are shorthand-ed ("make a caramel using these ingredients"). But that's a very narrowly focused subset of skills, and a situation where apparently only one series of choices produces an acceptable result; so on the whole I do think Prue miscalculated this one.

[EllieH]

On 9/22/2017 at 10:13 AM, Athena said:

I agree that Prue's technical was actually too challenging in the sense that no one even got close to getting the actual caramel correct. 

I wonder if the instruction sheet had any details besides "make caramel" -- a little more direction in terms of combining everything at once or adding the sugar syrup later might have been helpful in getting one or more bakers to do it correctly!

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Tom's exit interview

[movingtargetgal]

On 9/20/2017 at 7:02 AM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Ha, I knew from last week's preview that the technical would be stroopwafels! I've never made them, but I love eating them. Mmmmmm. If yours aren't freshly made, put them on top of a hot cup of coffee or tea to warm the caramel and waffle slightly.

My niece, who now lived in London,  brought us stroopwafels for Christmas.  They did not look like much but they are unbelievably delicious and absolutely heavenly when you put them on top of a hot cup of coffee.  The caramel filling becomes soft and gooey without dripping all over the place.  My family and I are so excited that thanks to this show, we can now make our own "waffle cookies". whenever we want.   

[AmandaPanda]

I loved eating stroopwafels when I was in Denmark in college. This episode made me so hungry for them again. 

[aradia22]

I hate caramel. I mean, I don't mind it in a dish but I hate making it. It's never worked for me. I'm always freaked out by the amount of sugar required and something goes wrong. So I totally felt for them this week. Even though you'd think they would have handled it a bit better knowing the theme and being able to practice.

I was a bit surprised that so many of the bakers seemed unfamiliar with stroopwafels (to the point that they weren't sure how much they should be cooked). They're a lot closer to the source in England than we are here in America and I've heard of them. 

[Occasional Hope]

Quote

I was a bit surprised that so many of the bakers seemed unfamiliar with stroopwafels (to the point that they weren't sure how much they should be cooked). They're a lot closer to the source in England than we are here in America and I've heard of them. 

But that could be the result of Dutch immigrants bringing them over.

[aradia22]

@Occasional Hope I first encountered them in Germany. And in the past few years Trader Joe's has started carrying things like speculoos and stroopwafels. I think that's less to do with Dutch immigrants and more to do with things like Wafels and Dinges. 

[DHDancer]

On 1/3/2018 at 2:17 AM, aradia22 said:

@Occasional Hope I first encountered them in Germany. And in the past few years Trader Joe's has started carrying things like speculoos and stroopwafels. I think that's less to do with Dutch immigrants and more to do with things like Wafels and Dinges. 

Yes!  I was going to post this.  I've been buying Trader Joe's stroopwafels for a number of years.  They make a very nice not-too-sweet treat.

[kokapetl]

The way the stroopwafels turned out annoyed me. The technical recipes supplied by the judges are so often just too barebones. I also hate when the contestants often have to guess what the thing is supposed to look like, because the more upscale and well travelled contestants usually have the advantage of having seen shit like a windtorte before. 

[mjc570]

I've had (and liked) stoopwafels in the US.  I didn't know the coffee cup trick - might be a problem if you're using a French coffee bowl, though!
I'm not a  caramel fan (too sweet), so I didn't think this was an especially good episode, bake wise.  There were a lot of classics (apple cake), the only new thing I learned (besides how much trouble it is to make caramel) was using  bay leaves to cut the sweetness.

Ont he other hand, I'm really liking the new hosts and the new judge.  Noel has really grown on me, he is just so charming and low key.  I especially like his food themed shirts.  Prue completely won me over with her acknowledgment about the calories - which is the standard I use for baked goods, is it calorie-worthy.  After all, as the saying goes, a minute on the lips, a lifetime on the hips.  Or maybe that's just for older women like myself.

[amass]

On 9/20/2017 at 11:36 AM, 3 is enough said:

I really hate to say this but Julia is beginning to get on my nerves ever so slightly.  She is bringing back memories of Ruby with the manufactured drama, sitting there with her face in her hands and all.  Everyone struggled with the caramel, but she has been pretty strong overall.  I read her bio and evidently she quit her job to concentrate on baking so I guess she is very serious about winning, but still...

I thought Russians were supposed to be tough and stoic, especially if they come from Siberia...  ;P

I said the same thing, and she came as an adult right? (After she met her husband) I know that self effacing thing is very British but she should be a little more sure of her self

On 9/22/2017 at 7:19 AM, theodyssey said:

I realised she was quoting Galaxy Quest verbatim at one point this week: "never give up, never surrender"

My sons and I liked that too ?

[theatremouse]

I think so many of them struggled with the stroopwaffle caramel because they're used to using color as an indicator of how done it is, but since it started with brown sugar, maybe their usual gut instincts were off? I don't know. I usually use brown sugar on the rare occasion I make caramel, not granulated and don't usually end up with grainy clumps, but the brown sugar factor is the only reason I can come up with that they seemed reasonably OK with all the other variations of caramel they made in the other two rounds, but everyone was a resounding fail on the technical. That or they had enough time in the other rounds to have a few goes at it, but didn't in the technical so everyone knew they had grainy caramel, but no time to do anything about it?

[Kohola3]

On 9/2/2018 at 6:02 PM, mjc570 said:

I'm not a  caramel fan (too sweet), so I didn't think this was an especially good episode, bake wise.  

Ont he other hand, I'm really liking the new hosts and the new judge.  Noel has really grown on me, he is just so charming and low key. 

I hate caramel and watching this made my teeth ache!  Not a good episode for me because of that.  I did feel that the technical must have really been over the top difficult since every single one of them failed.

I initially started watching on CBC from Canada (although I am in the US) which cut out the technical bakes so am re-watching to see what I missed.  Bless Netflix!  I was not sold on Noel or Sandy at the beginning but I like them very much now.  Some of the comments have been a bit risque this season (dipping the nuts) and good for a chuckle.

As for the other long haired contestants, I do wish they were required to tie it back.  Drives me nuts to see the women (and Noel) bending over bowls with their hair hanging down.

[dleighg]

Steven reminds me of "someone famous." Like an actor. Any ideas? Does anyone think he looks like Matt Smith from The Crown? Or am I crazy and it's someone else he's reminding me of?

[AZChristian]

34 minutes ago, dleighg said:

Steven reminds me of "someone famous." Like an actor. Any ideas? Does anyone think he looks like Matt Smith from The Crown? Or am I crazy and it's someone else he's reminding me of?

Daniel Craig?  Hubby and I commented on that last night while watching the last few episodes.

[dleighg]

16 minutes ago, AZChristian said:

Daniel Craig? 

That might be it. Next time I watch I'll see if that's it. Thanks!

[theatremouse]

He reminds me of a combination of Daniel Craig and Kevin McKidd.

[Sharpie66]

I love good caramel (as opposed to the Kraft crap), so I was looking forward to this ep. I have to agree with the podcast guys that it was a bit samey-samey. Definitely want to try that apple caramel cake. (There is an excellent candy shop in my hometown that specializes in caramels and sells caramel apples in September and October only. Looking forward to getting one my next trip there in a few weeks!)

[Clemency]

So. . . .am I the only one who can't stand Stacey?  She hasn't really done anything in particular that I can put my finger on, so I guess she's this season's BEC for me.  I find myself actively rooting for her to fail, and that usually doesn't happen to me with this show!

[Rickster]

I learned that Gouda is not pronounced the way I have pronounced it my entire life.

[dleighg]

4 minutes ago, Rickster said:

I learned that Gouda is not pronounced the way I have pronounced it my entire life.

it really depends on whether you want to do it the Dutch way or the "other"way. I refuse to do it the Dutch way. I'd feel like a poser.

[Rickster]

8 minutes ago, dleighg said:

it really depends on whether you want to do it the Dutch way or the "other"way. I refuse to do it the Dutch way. I'd feel like a poser.

It struck me as something similar to whether you pronounce Van Gogh like Van Go, or Van Gock.

[Rinaldo]

2 hours ago, Rickster said:

It struck me as something similar to whether you pronounce Van Gogh like Van Go, or Van Gock.

This reminds me of something related to that pronunciation issue -- I'll be quick, I promise. Many decades ago, I checked out a library book about names and their fashions and oddities, and it included a humorous poem about Van Gogh. It comprised a series of couplets, each indicating by rhyme a different way to say the name.

Quote

Today his paintings are the vogue
And all the world adores Van Gogh,
But others simply scorn and scoff
And say they do not like Van Gogh

.... and so on, including the German "ach" and the Scottish "och." I have tried and tried to find that book again, with no success (I of course never bothered to memorize its title or author). A partial quote turns up nothing online. Does anybody know the poem, and can tell me where to find the whole thing in print?

[meep.meep]

On 9/7/2018 at 12:09 PM, dleighg said:

Steven reminds me of "someone famous." Like an actor. Any ideas? Does anyone think he looks like Matt Smith from The Crown? Or am I crazy and it's someone else he's reminding me of?

He looks like Oliver Jackson-Cohen (Emerald City, Man in an Orange Shirt, The Great Fire)

 

[illdoc]

On 9/11/2018 at 8:05 PM, Rinaldo said:

This reminds me of something related to that pronunciation issue -- I'll be quick, I promise. Many decades ago, I checked out a library book about names and their fashions and oddities,

I did an acrostic once, which made no sense until I realized it was a poem (this one depended on different pronunciations of "behemoth") Unfortunately, I don't remember the name of that author (or his work, since it was an acrostic). 

[festivus]

Aww, I'm sad to lose my eye-candy Tom. It's too bad he didn't practice the hummingbird cake as a cake instead of muffins. That's a cake I make every year and it is a delicious cake. It's very rich though. I thought Kate's cake was very pretty with the fireworks and the flavors sound interesting. I'd like to try and make it. I've never heard of stroopwaffles but they looked good. Maybe someday I'll get to have a real Dutch one.

[Johnny Dollar]

Sorry Prue. But when you ask the bakers to make a caramel cake and expect them to include caramel in the sponge and in the filling and on the top and in the decorations you can’t complain that the result is too sweet. Thanks for making Paul seem like the nice one. 

[fib]

On 9/10/2018 at 12:08 PM, Clemency said:

So. . . .am I the only one who can't stand Stacey?  She hasn't really done anything in particular that I can put my finger on, so I guess she's this season's BEC for me.  I find myself actively rooting for her to fail, and that usually doesn't happen to me with this show!

She's my least favorite at this point.  She doesnt exude warmth, she exudes competitiveness, but then, doesn't really do anything awesome.  I've been rooting for her to leave for awhile.  

On 9/3/2018 at 7:43 AM, amass said:

I said the same thing, and she came as an adult right? (After she met her husband) I know that self effacing thing is very British but she should be a little more sure of her self

My sons and I liked that too ?

Yes, but she is only 21!!! (I was SHOCKED when I heard Prue say that.  I figured she must be much older to be an immigrant who came to be with her busband).  Apparently she met her hubby while she was on vacation in Turkey when she was 18, and moved to England sometime afterthat.  I felt a little better when I heard her hubby is like 26 or something, so it's an age appropriate pairing, though that is soooo young!

[Sew Sumi]

That's Julia, not Stacey.

[larapu2000]

On 9/20/2017 at 9:25 PM, ae2 said:

The caramel in the technical was a little different than your typical caramel. It used brown sugar, which was melted with butter, then a sugar syrup was added. Most of the other caramel they made used granulated sugar, which is caramelized by itself or maybe with a little water, then any butter or cream added if needed.

I have no idea if this explains why everyone failed or not. I'll let you know after I make stroopwafels. 

My opinion is that if everyone fails at the exact same place then it's a problem with the instructions and not the bakers.

I've attempted Stroopwafels before-United Airlines were serving them as their morning snack for over a year and I fell in LOVE!  The trick is finding the right recipe, actually.  I feel like the yeasted recipe I tried from King Arthur Flour (who usually has flawless recipes) wasn't quite chewy/crispy enough.  But yes-the caramel can be very grainy due to the brown sugar.  It took me a few tries with full and meaningful directions. 

I was also surprised that the contestants had never heard of them!

[lucindabelle]

I love to bake but am American so it has never occurred to me that caramel should be in my skillset. I do not think I own one single cookbook, including a few British ones (Jane Hornby is amazing) that have recipes including caramel... no wait, better homes and gardens includes it in the chapter on candymaking.

 

As a result I was bored with this. None of the items are things I see around here (and I'm in metropolitan NY area so not like the sticks) and don't appeal. Still love the show, but wasn't an exciting episode for me.