The Great Canadian Baking Show - General Discussion

[welnoc]

5 hours ago, strippedhalo said:

I don't understand what is happening with Julia's styling this season. Maybe her unusual eye shadow choices look really good in person, and nobody thought to test them on camera?

She looks washed out. I didn't much care for the shirt dress either and was wondering if she's pregnant. 

[kalamac]

I'm not a makeup person, so don't keep up with the trends, but I've noticed in a lot of recent pictures of Emma Stone, she's also wearing unusual eye shadows colours that aren't always doing her any favours. Maybe they're a new trend.

I really do like the way the bakers will help each other out and give out ingredients if they have spares.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Recipes

Signature challenge - slab pie
Andrei's strawberry garden pie

Technical challenge
palmiers

Showstopper challenge - pastry baskets
Sachin's mushroom and cheddar danishes

 

[strippedhalo]

17 hours ago, welnoc said:

I didn't much care for the shirt dress either and was wondering if she's pregnant. 

I was googling "Is Julia Chan pregnant" by the end of the opening segment! (Google was not helpful.)

 

22 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

I know that in the first few episodes, they told us where each baker was from but I honestly don't remember where any of them are from (heh, aside from, you know, Canada).

I don't remember them all (I'm surprised every time Sachin mentions Halifax), but Megan being from Alberta stuck in my head for some reason. I can see how Saskatoon berries would throw you off - it's a very specific name for something that grows across most of Canada and into the States. :D

[ElectricBoogaloo]

19 minutes ago, strippedhalo said:

I don't remember them all (I'm surprised every time Sachin mentions Halifax), but Megan being from Alberta stuck in my head for some reason. I can see how Saskatoon berries would throw you off - it's a very specific name for something that grows across most of Canada and into the States. :D

I've never heard of them before! Maybe because I live in California? I'll have to keep an eye out for them!

The only instance I really remember of a baker's hometown was the guy from S1 who was from the east coast. They mentioned it a lot and how what he made was very representative of the east coast. As a non-Canadian, I didn't know what they meant by that because I had no idea what the east coast of Canada represents or is known for!

Edited October 19, 2018 by ElectricBoogaloo

[HighHopes]

On 10/18/2018 at 6:11 AM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Megan's Saskatoon berry farm slab pie with Amaretto and torched meringue was a sweet idea but I didn't like the way it looked. Similar to Devon's slab pie, the design ended up being messy and indistinct. While I understand Megan saying she wants to stay true to who she is and represent where she's from, she needs to make smarter choices. Don't use butter just because that's what your grandma used. Use it because it tastes better or gives you a better pie crust. Similarly, don't tell me that you're not going to blind bake your pie crust because you're "sticking true to how you were raised" and "represent where you come from." So no one in Saskatoon blind bakes their pie crusts? Everyone in Saskatoon likes soggy bottoms?

 

As mentioned above, Megan is from Alberta. But as someone actually from Saskatoon who also uses her grandmother's pie crust recipe -- no, I don't blind bake it. And I actually didn't really know that was a thing until recently (and I'm a few months shy of 30). Her recipe doesn't really have a soggy bottom but since it's the only one I grew up on (and I'm not a big pie eater) I can't compare it to anything else. 

[Machiabelly]

14 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

I've never heard of them before! Maybe because I live in California? I'll have to keep an eye out for them!

The only instance I really remember of a baker's hometown was the guy from S1 who was from the east coast. They mentioned it a lot and how what he made was very representative of the east coast. As a non-Canadian, I didn't know what they meant by that because I had no idea what the east coast of Canada represents or is known for!

Western serviceberry, Pacific serviceberry, also I think it was called pigeon berry.

I am from the east coast of Canada. Seafood would be the big thing. Also partying. I would say we may be thought of as a bit more welcoming. Kitchen parties are a staple.

Lot of British influences and French. 

[The Crazed Spruce]

4 hours ago, Machiabelly said:

I am from the east coast of Canada. Seafood would be the big thing. Also partying. I would say we may be thought of as a bit more welcoming. Kitchen parties are a staple.

Fellow East Coaster here, and I can confirm this. 'Specially the parties. :)

[ElectricBoogaloo]

4 hours ago, Machiabelly said:

Western serviceberry, Pacific serviceberry, also I think it was called pigeon berry.

My google search also turned up a story about how they're also marketed as juneberries in the United States and that there is a brand of Saskatoon berries called Prairie Berries (Mr. EB just informed me that he thought prairie berries sounded like a euphemism for deer poop). I'll be checking the frozen fruit section for them!

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Ha, I loved when Sachin was talking about how much he loves chocolate and then finished up with "body by chocolate." Same here, Sachin!

I'm glad the judges specified that any chocolate decorations on the signature challenge chocolate tarts had to be tempered. I know it's an aesthetic thing, but I hate seeing dull chocolate.

Andrei's nautical themed chocolate tart with dark chocolate cookie crust, dark chocolate sails, chocolate passionfruit ganache, and mascarpone quenelles was very sophisticated and professional looking. The sails added some height and drama, and I love mascarpone. His chocolate was tempered well so it was nice and shiny.

Sachin's Lakshmi mocha tart with mocha ganache, almond crust, feuilletine flakes, and a white chocolate lotus flower was so simple and elegant.

Mengling's tea and toffee tart with dark chocolate ganache, pâté sucrée crust, toffee, Thai tea, and blond chocolate flowers looked fun and sweet without being too cutesy. I really liked the feathering on the glaze too. I liked that she used a variety of decorating skills too.

Timothy's chocolate tart with Earl Grey chocolate ganache, lemon curd, dark chocolate crust, and chocolate curls looked great. Using lemon was smart because it added a light contrasting color as well as a bright flavor. I also liked that his tart was rectangular which made it different from everyone else's round tarts.

Megan's chocolate crunch tart with white and dark chocolate stars, dark chocolate ganache, and sponge toffee candy looked a little too lumpy for my taste due to all the toffee on top. The stars were very pretty though. She mentioned also having espresso, orange, and salted caramel flavors in her tart but the official description of her dish didn't mention any of them. Haha, I loved how Julia and Dan gasped and immediately grabbed for whatever Megan said was extra at her work station.

As soon as Julia said that the technical challenge was time sensitive, I knew it would be a soufflé. I loved Dan reading the instruction: "Make chocolate pastry cream. Make meringue. Make soufflé. Would you call these instructions?" I've never made a soufflé but even I know not to open the oven door once you put it in so I was really worried when Mengling took hers out to tie the string around the parchment paper. I knew her soufflé would be heavy just from watching the way she was mixing the meringue into the pastry cream (rather than delicately folding it in). Timothy had the same problem. I thought Sachin would do better since he seemed to know what he was doing. Megan and Andrei did really well though. I totally laughed watching Bruno and Rochelle taking their pieces of soufflé from the middle. My husband always threatens to do that with cakes and pies. Congratulations to Megan for placing first, which is even more impressive since she's never made a soufflé before!

I wasn't sure exactly how the bakers would update black forest cakes since they had to keep all the traditional elements.

Mengling's four layer chocolate miso pink cherry cake with mascarpone cream, citrus lace cookies, and sweet miso caramel looked impressive because it was so tall and all the layers were really even. I liked the pink decorations too. Aesthetically, it was definitely a showstopper. i wasn't sure about the miso flavor combined with chocolate and cherry so maybe it's good that it didn't come through?

Sachin's marbled black forest entremet with cherry gelée, vanilla mousse, and a marbled mirror glaze was gorgeous. That marbled glaze looked so beautiful. The layers inside were nice and even.

Megan's giant cherry cake was such a fun idea and visually was great showstopper.

Timothy took a huge risk with his black forest St. Honoré with chocolate cream puffs, vanilla cream puffs, and choux pastry swans. The assignment was black forest CAKE and there was no cake in his showstopper anywhere, not even a tiny little cupcake on top so I was afraid that the judges would ding him for having no cake. It was a creative idea but his execution let him down. He had problems with the chocolate choux, one cream puff had no filling, his cherry flavor wasn't strong enough in the mousse, etc. He took all the criticism really well though.

Andrei's winter wonderland entremet with cherry kirsch mousse, white chocolate mirror glaze, and dark chocolate trees was a great idea. The layers inside were beautifully defined and I liked the big trees to create a forest.

Congratulation to Sachin for winning star baker! I knew it would be between Mengling and Timothy for elimination. Neither did great in the technical, but I think the fact that his flavors weren't very strong in the signature challenge or the showstopper challenge were what really got him eliminated.

I really enjoyed chocolate week - so many shiny chocolatey creations! I'm excited for next week but I'm also sad that the season is almost over. Only two more episodes left!

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Quote

The four remaining bakers must face French Patisserie Week, one of the most demanding weeks in the tent.

Original air date: 10/31/18

[shok]

Pretty obvious elimination this week. Timothy is lucky he made it this far - he was botching his creations from week one. Mengling will probably go next week - she's just too inconsistent, and the semi-finalists will be the three that have been head and shoulders above the field all season. The final should be very interesting because Andrei and Sachin and Megan are all excellent and creative bakers.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I agree that the final three will probably be Andrei, Sachin, and Megan. They've been pretty consistent in their flavors, their baking skills, and their presentations. When Mengling gets it right, she can make some great stuff but she's definitely been less consistent than the others. I love her positive attitude (and her dog - can see more of Nimbus next week?).

[Bunnyette]

I have a feeling Meghan will win...CBC is practically broadcasting it.  I would love Andrei to win...

[shok]

How do you feel CBC is broadcasting a win for Megan? I think the editing has been pretty even for all of them this season. Andrei is probably a slight favourite but I'd be happy with any of them winning - I like them all.

[babydollbrat]

Sachin's mirror glaze was stunning! I know Timothy needed to go and this is an unpopular opinion around here but I need Mengling to get off my screen! I have gotten to the point I fast forward through her segments :(

I will be very happy with Megan, Sachin or Andrei winning as they all have been pretty consistant throughout and produce some beautiful work.

[strippedhalo]

I think the final three will probably be Megan, Andrei, and Sachin, but there is an outside chance that Mengling could make it in if Sachin has an off day. I would guess Megan or Andrei for the ultimate win - probably Megan?

Mengling is still my favourite, but I've mostly come around to liking Megan and Sachin pretty well. I want to like Andrei, but I have no sense of him other than someone who thinks highly of his own baking skills (as he obviously should, but I need additional information).

[ElectricBoogaloo]

34 minutes ago, strippedhalo said:

want to like Andrei, but I have no sense of him other than someone who thinks highly of his own baking skills (as he obviously should, but I need additional information).

The only thing I know about him outside of baking is that he loves sailing, and I only learned that this week because of the signature challenge with the sail boats!

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Recipes:

Signature challenge - chocolate tart
Mengling's Thai tea toffee chocolate tart

Technical challenge
Bruno's chocolate soufflé

Showstopper challenge - black forest cake
Sachin's black forest mousse gâteau

[Bunnyette]

Phew despite some struggles Andrei got through.  Farewell Mengling.

[shok]

Those crepe cakes looked yummy. I love crepes. Final three were as expected, and deservedly so. It's going to be awfully difficult to pick a winner as all three of them are great bakers.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Mille crêpe cakes are not my favorite thing. I don't hate them or anything but it's not something I seek out because there are a lot of other things I'd rather have instead. I totally understand using it as a challenge on the show though because it takes a lot of work. I do love seeing rainbow mille crêpe cakes every year during pride month though!

Megan's orange crêpe-sicle cake with orange crêpes, vanilla crêpes, orange liqueur cream, and kumquat candies was pretty but refined. I liked that it had a theme and she had several different elements but she didn't go overboard decorating it. Ha, the look on Dan's face when he tried the kumquat on her table was hilarious.

Sachin's mille crêpe cake with almond crêpes, raspberry cream, blackberry cream, and caramelized almonds was a good idea but I think that in order for the two colors of alternating berry creams to be more distinct, he might have done better choosing colors that had more contrast. It was still pretty, but it would have been more striking once it was sliced if they hadn't been as close in the color family. The flower on top was so pretty. I liked that instead of stopping at 25 crêpes, he just kept adding crêpes until he ran out.

Mengling's Mont Blanc mille crêpe cake with brown butter vanilla crêpes, chestnut cream, white chocolate filling, and chestnut puree was a good idea but it was really obvious even from a distance that her crêpes were not cooked consistently. As Rochelle pointed out, there were some very dark ones and some very pale ones. While I understand why she cut the crêpes after cooking them so that the cake would look neat, but if she had used the same amount of batter for each one and cooked them evenly, she wouldn't have needed to do that.

Andrei's breakfast for dessert mille crêpe cake with maple crêpes, coffee cream, sugar maple leaves, and maple keys was simple but still looked nice. He was smart to use a measuring spoon so that each crêpe had the same amount of batter.

The raspberry mousse jaconde technical sounded delicious. I loved the genuine looks of horror on Julia's face when she saw that Andrei's were collapsing and that Mengling hadn't even taken the rings off yet. Megan was the clear winner. The pattern in her jaconde was very clear, and she was the only one who managed to create 12 that were able to stand on their own without oozing or breaking. I wasn't sure if Mengling or Andrei would be last because they had similar issues.

Although the showstopper components required a lot of work, I always think of a showstopper as something that's visually impressive. Is a plate with 12 puff pastries, 12 tartlets, and 12 finger sandwiches really showstopper material?

Minor rant: I do not like the trend of using activated charcoal in food because that's not its intended use. This is the same thing that's used to absorb the contents of your stomach for drug overdoses, which is great in that particular situation, but not most others. It WILL absorb whatever is in your stomach, meaning if you eat something with activated charcoal within a few hours of taking prescription medications, vitamins, etc. it's essentially wiped out whatever those drugs were supposed to do.

Megan's beet and goat cheese charcoal crostini sounded like a great bite. Her bacon mushroom tartlets with cream cheese filling sounded good. Her prosciutto and brie vols au vent sounded tasty. I loved that the judges invited her to try one to see how her pastry turned out.

I knew that Mengling would be in trouble. She didn't do well in the first two challenges so her only chance at making it another week was to blow everyone away in the showstopper challenge. Her rice tarts with tofu noodle and mushrooms were the biggest risk because there was no French pâtisserie there. I get what she was going for. My little sister LOVED hard/crunchy rice. She used to beg my mom to overcook or burn the rice a little so that she could eat the layer at the bottom. Mengling's mini banh mi with sausage sounded pretty good but it's too bad that her bread was overbaked. Her bacon and pineapple puff pastry skewers sounded good (but I'm one of those weird people who likes Hawaiian pizza). I was worried that the judges wouldn't like that she put her puff pastry on skewers but then I remembered that the judges on this show tend not to have such a big stick up their arses.

Sachin's presentation definitely looked very neat, colorful, and professional. His butter chicken vols au vent sounded good. Loved that Bruno said to use more chicken because it's so delicious. His gruyere, onion, and bacon tartlets sounded really good. I liked that Bruno pointed out the sweet cherries on top. His havarti and chutney mini baguettes looked great.

Andrei's prawn ceviche tartlets with cornmeal pastry sounded delicious. His star shaped apple and cheddar plowman's sandwiches looked more like something you'd feed kindergarten kids. His beef wellington vols au vent looked nice and sounded yummy.

No surprise that Megan won. She did well in all three challenges. Similarly Mengling being eliminated was not a shock since she didn't have a great week. I'm excited to see what they make in the finale! But I'm also sad that the season is almost over. I've gotten spoiled getting to watch three different bake off shows every week!

[Aulty]

5 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Mille crêpe cakes are not my favorite thing. I don't hate them or anything but it's not something I seek out because there are a lot of other things I'd rather have instead. I totally understand using it as a challenge on the show though because it takes a lot of work. I do love seeing rainbow mille crêpe cakes every year during pride month though!

I would not categorize crepe cakes as patisserie and in general don't understand why they are a thing. My favourite cake, an Esterhazy cake, which also has a lot of layers, but the ratio of sponge to cream is balanced, whereas all I see when I look at those crepe towers is a stodgy pile with hardly anything between the layers. I'd rather have two or three crepes or pancakes with an inapropriate amount of maple syrup.

I am also with you on the charcoal trend and have wondered before if charcoal pregnancies, due to the coal absoring contraceptives, are a thing. I have to admit that it looks cool and I'd rather eat something with charcoal than tons of artificial colours.

The showstopper on a grander scale is a perfect task for the final (and iirc the final of the very first Bake Off was along those lines, an afternoon tea cake stand), because there is something from all the mayor categories.

I think this will be a cracking final with Megan, Sachin and Andrei!

Edited November 1, 2018 by Aulty

[Kohola3]

The loss of Mengling didn't come as much of a surprise.  As soon as I saw her pouring the crepe batter rather than measuring it precisely I knew that cake would be a fail.  And I don't think I'd care for it - crepes have virtually no taste so you'd be eating a lot of flavored filling and not much else. I haven't had one so I guess I shouldn't assume but I have absolutely no desire to put that much work into making one, either.

57 minutes ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Minor rant: I do not like the trend of using activated charcoal in food because that's not its intended use.

When I saw that I had a flashback to my ER days when one of the bottles blew off the NG tube and covered two of us with charcoal.  Had to throw away the scrubs, there is no hope for getting those things clean.  It's just nasty stuff and no way in hell I'd willingly eat anything with charcoal in it.

Showstoppers that are essentially deli trays?  That was a disappointment although they did look scrummy.

The three remaining are going to have a neck-and-neck finish unless there is some unexpected disaster such as Andrei's melting jaconde.  Wow, that was some difficult challenge.

Only one more week....boo!

[ElectricBoogaloo]

42 minutes ago, Kohola3 said:

When I saw that I had a flashback to my ER days when one of the bottles blew off the NG tube and covered two of us with charcoal.  Had to throw away the scrubs, there is no hope for getting those things clean.  It's just nasty stuff and no way in hell I'd willingly eat anything with charcoal in it.

Yes, it clings like crazy and is so hard to remove!

 

43 minutes ago, Kohola3 said:

Showstoppers that are essentially deli trays?

Ha, perfect description. I really hope the showstoppers for the finale are visually over the top and exciting!

[ProphecyGrrl]

I made Sachin's cake with pretty decent results... I skipped the mirror glaze as it isn't my thing but the rest of the cake was super yummy.  Definitely double up on the jelly and the vanilla bean cream. 

[Rammchick]

I was in Vancouver a few weeks ago (I'm from the Seattle area) and saw an advert for the show on a bus.  So glad I did!  We get CBUT here, and I'm able to watch.  Too bad I came in half-way through the season, but I've really enjoyed the three episodes I've seen so far.  I think this' going to be a great final.  

[rhys]

I know this is shallow of me but I can't stand Mengling's voice. I hate her laugh & I'm with the poster above who wants her off my screen. She's talented but, urg, I just hate listening to her. Get some voice modulation lessons, woman!

[ElectricBoogaloo]

10 hours ago, rhys said:

I know this is shallow of me but I can't stand Mengling's voice. I hate her laugh & I'm with the poster above who wants her off my screen. She's talented but, urg, I just hate listening to her. Get some voice modulation lessons, woman!

I'd rather hear her more high pitched voice than all of the women with vocal fry who seem to frequent my tv screen!

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Recipes:

Signature challenge - mille crêpe cake
Andrei's coffee maple crêpe cake

Technical challenge
Mini raspberry mousse cakes

Showstopper challenge
Megan's charcoal baguette, beet, and goat cheese canapés

Edited November 2, 2018 by ElectricBoogaloo

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Quote

The final three bakers return to the tent for the final showdown.

Original air date: 11/7/18

Edited November 8, 2018 by ElectricBoogaloo

[rhys]

6 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

I'd rather hear her more high pitched voice than all of the women with vocal fry who seem to frequent my tv screen!

Oh Mengling's voice is most definitely a fry. Hopefully she's gone soon & we won't be subjected to it much longer.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

47 minutes ago, rhys said:

Oh Mengling's voice is most definitely a fry. Hopefully she's gone soon & we won't be subjected to it much longer.

Vocal fry is at the bottom of the vocal range. Mengling's voice is high pitched with some upspeak which is different. Megan is the one this season with some vocal fry.

[Kohola3]

Mengling's voice is not unusual for someone speaking an Asian language.  Spend some time around native speakers of Japanese or Chinese dialects and you'll hear that it's almost always in  a high range and with up-speak.  Quite the opposite of vocal fry.

[rhys]

I thought vocal fry was any irritant.

[Aulty]

I am often very vocal about fries ;-)

[Kohola3]

13 minutes ago, rhys said:

I thought vocal fry was any irritant.

Merriam Webster defines it as "a vocal effect produced by very slow vibration of the vocal cords and characterized by a creaking sound and low pitch".

[rhys]

6 minutes ago, Aulty said:

I am often very vocal about fries ;-)

You & me both. Please pass the salt.

[Bunnyette]

Weird all about Megan’s family but nothing for Sachin or Andrei...at least Sachin had his wife and Andrei had his gal pals there...and of course HOORAY my fave Andrei won!

[shok]

5 hours ago, Bunnyette said:

Weird all about Megan’s family but nothing for Sachin or Andrei...at least Sachin had his wife and Andrei had his gal pals there...and of course HOORAY my fave Andrei won!

They had similar bios for both Sachin and Andrei, showing pictures of them when they were kids and how they got interested in baking. Maybe Megan's was more memorable because her sons were so cute.

I'm not surprised Andrei won as he was consistently excellent all through the season. I think he had a bit of an edge because he did French baking so well and thus Bruno was a wee bit partial to him. At the beginning I was ho hum about Megan with her piercings and tattoos but she really really impressed me with her creativity by the end and I think I was kind of pulling for her to win it all. I wouldn't have minded if Sachin won either. So, all in all, a very enjoyable season. It seemed to fly by and I'm going to miss them on Wednesday nights.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I was so excited to watch the finale and see who won, but I was also kind of dreading it because I didn't want the season to end!

On a shallow note, I really liked her gold necklace. I really disliked Julia's hair. I don't think that blonde color looks good on her but having her hair up in a bun like that was a terrible combination of showing me that hair color AND her roots. I hated Rochelle's black and white cold shoulder top with the long sleeves.

I liked that all of the three finalists came into the finale on even footing since they've all won star baker twice. But man, Megan won FIVE technical challenges this season!

Andrei's opera cake swiss rolls with joconde sponge and coffee buttercream sounded good and they looked really nice. His mango mascarpone swiss rolls with striped chiffon, rum, and mango boba were very pretty. I agree with Andrei that the cream is the best part of a swiss roll so I understand why he had a lot of it, but I also agree with the judges that his thick cream prevented the rolls from looking like they had defined swirls. His were definitely the roundest though. Hee, I loved seeing Dan reach over with his fork to taste each one while the judges were talking.

Sachin's neapolitan swiss rolls with striped chocolate and vanilla cake, strawberry cream, and crushed sugar cones were a fun idea. His lemon ginger swiss rolls with white chocolate and ginger cream looked nice but I agree that when you go the minimalist route, you need to be very precise and pristine (and not leave fingerprints on the surface). They looked great from a distance though.

Megan's carrot cake swiss rolls with mascarpone and currant cream was very colorful thanks to the bright orange of the candied carrot swirls on top. I was impressed with how thin she made her sponge and how tight the spiral was inside. Her chocolate and strawberry swiss rolls sounded delicious but were a little messy looking. Having a full chocolate covered strawberry on top made them look very cumbersome to pick up and eat.

I like pastry cream, raspberry jam, and cake so you'd think I would love princess cake but I think it's the green marzipan that always put me off. I loved that the instructions said to pipe a layer of pastry cream around the edge of the cake and then fill with jam "like a kiddie pool."

Sachin's princess cake was definitely too pale and the marzipan was dry. You could definitely see spots where it looked patchy. Andrei's marzipan was so smooth but his filigree was a lot, bordering on messy. Megan's mandala filigree was a little messy looking but all the other elements looked good.

Ugh, I wish the showstopper challenge hadn't been a choux pastry sculpture. Choux presentations always look messy to me. Dan was so mean to say they only had 30 minutes! The look on Megan's WTF face was priceless.

Megan's vanilla choux owl, chocolate espresso éclair tree stump, and coconut lime profiterole grass was an interesting idea. I liked that it was different from the usual choux tower, which I liked.

Andrei's Paris brest with choux swans, gateau St. Honoré with crème chiboust, and croquembouche with raspberry liqueur cream looked very elegant particularly the giant sugar cage he created for the top.

Sachin's Indian wedding choux tower with strawberry champagne cream puffs and craquelin, pistachio kulfi éclairs, and coffee liqueur éclairs was colorful.

It was sweet to see Andrei start crying when he was announced the winner. Sachin and Megan were very gracious and I loved seeing all the hugs. They all did pretty well throughout the season as well as in the finale, so I would have been fine with any of them winning. I think they were splitting hairs to decide the winner and Andrei edged out the other two because, as Bruno said, he blew Bruno's little French mind.

[Iguana]

As all the finalists were worthy potential winners I was going to be okay with any one of them taking home the prize. But I admit that I was rooting a bit more for local lady Megan.  Andrew certainly deserved it though. He was very good throughout the show and his final showstopper was amazing. 

[Aulty]

This was such a great season and a lovely finale. All three contestants are super bakers and it could have gone either way and it would have been ok with me. Congratulations Andrei!

It felt like early GBBO,  especially after the GBBO finale last week. The producers in Britain have increasingly relied on casting characters to keep the show interesting - still all decent bakers, but with distinct personalities. Even though I liked shy, flustered Rahul, loud, bubbly Ruby and creative, manga-girl Kim-Joy, I felt that the Canadian version was a pleasant watch with just regular, authentic bakers in a competition without insane prizemoney, where missing out on first place is not the end of the world.

[GoldaVining]

I don't want it to be over! I will miss this show.

This has nothing to do with anything, but I just want to say that every week, host Julia Chan's hair and make-up and clothing choices have been very odd/unique. This week her hair and make-up and clothing for the finale were still very unusual but I literally gasped when I saw her because she looked so beautiful. I probably haven't worn a dress in 20 years and I generally walk around looking like I have spent the day shearing sheep but wow, even I can tell when something works. That dress is the most beautiful dress I have ever seen. I love it. I want it! Rochelle also had an unusual outfit and it looked a little more complicated/contrived with all the cut-outs but still stunning and very beautiful. I liked her hair pulled back. Dan and Bruno looked handsome as always. I love Dan's glasses and I enjoy his sense of humour. I love Bruno's kindness and his accent. I could listen to Bruno all day. Okay, enough with this.

So fun to see a princess cake on this show for the technical challenge! My family is Norwegian and Swedish and my mother and grandmother both made princess cakes! We occasionally (not often) got these princess cakes for our birthdays or special occasions. Marzipan was quite common in Swedish baking (in my family anyway). My mother never did the fancy chocolate filigree on top. I loved Megan's chocolate work on the top. Beautiful! Sachin's chocolate work looked so pretty but the marzipan looked rather tragic. Kind of a dead zombie green colour. My mom also made it with a very pale green colour, but more of light bright spring green. We also often made Swedish Wafers (I just made them last weekend for a funeral) which are filled with an almond-flavoured icing and my mom always made the icing a very fresh spring green as well. Perhaps it was meant to match the Swedish princess cakes.

I have watched every episode of The Great British Baking Show as well as the American and Canadian versions and I don't think I have ever seen anything like Megan's Owl Showstopper. I am so impressed. Wow! The hibiscus (?) flower beside the owl was gorgeous.

Andrei's sugar cone was beautiful. His showstopper was so elegant. I loved all the colour Sachin added to his showstopper and I hate anything coffee flavour but I would love to try those pistachio eclairs he made. All of these showstoppers are wonderful. I certainly think Andrei deserved the win on pure execution but had Megan won because of her artistry and creative risk, I would have been very happy with that as well. I admire both execution and creativity equally. I think Bruno was crying at the end! I love him. So sweet.

I'm sorry this show is over for the year, but I hope it will inspire me to be more creative with my baking. I make cream puffs a lot but I usually fill mine with pistachio ice cream and just drizzle chocolate over the top. I have never iced the outside and sprinkled with chopped pistachios like Sachin did. I will next time! That looked so good. A few years ago I made a birthday cake for a friend called "Something Crown" (I can't remember what the "something" was, but it was a recipe from an old 1970's dessert book) and it was a big crown of cream puffs/choux pastry buns filled with ice cream and stuck together and put in the freezer. It looked great but it turned into a disaster when it came time to serve it. What a terrible mess to try and cut for guests. You could hardly taste the choux pastry because it was so cold and I felt freezing it changed the inner texture of the pastry. I was embarrassed. I had worked hard to make a special birthday crown cake for my friend and then it was impossible to serve -- we had to sort of tear at it and hack it apart and it looked like a plop on the plate. Never again! Ha!

Edited November 8, 2018 by GoldaVining
typo

[shok]

Great picture of Megan's owl in this article. Sachin's showstopper looks good too but I think the perspective of Megan's shows off her amazing creation better than the tv closeups did on the show.

The article itself is interesting as Sachin reveals some backstage information about what it's like to be on the show. https://www.dal.ca/news/2018/11/08/great-canadian-baking-show--a-slice--for-dr--sachin-seth.html

[shok]

Let's see if I can figure out how to post this video.

[La Dee Da]

My favourite kind of finale - three lovely and talented finalists who could each be great winners. I may have had some spun sugar in my eye when Andrei cried in disbelief and joy upon winning. How they overcame the humidity in that last challenge, I do not know.  I would have presented deconstructed choux in a warm pastry cream broth.

Overall, great challenges - I learned a lot - great hosting by Dan and Julia, and warm and well explained judging from Bruno and Raquel. This show is such a comfort to watch - I look forward to its return and hope the other GBBO seasons are shown here soon. 

[GoldaVining]

Thank you, Shok, for posting that video! Lovely!

[Kohola3]

It's rare that I love the contestants in the finale equally.  I would have been happy to see any of them win. 

I am not a pan of choux pastry concoctions so I kind of wished they had chosen something else.  Choux pastry is so, well, bland looking.  I thought the owl was really clever!

Not at all taken with Raquel's rather bizarre top or Julia's hair so those were a jarring note for me.

Always nice to see the previous contenders at the picnic!

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Recipes

Signature challenge - swiss rolls
Sachin's neapolitan swiss rolls

Technical challenge
princess cake

Showstopper challenge - choux pastry sculpture
Andrei's Paris-Brest