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The Great Canadian Baking Show - General Discussion

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Cetacean
Cetacean

Nope, didn't get that vibe at all.  The way she held steady when things went wrong, the way she stepped in to comfort or help didn't seem at all artificial to me.  And the shock and tears seemed genui

Aulty
Aulty

Glad this show is back too. Bruno is the best Bake Off judge in the whole franchise at the moment. Honest and pleasant at all times.

SophiaD
SophiaD

I absolutely agree.  I also think that Bruno and Kyla are really terrific judges, managing to work in genuinely complimentary comments, along with constructive criticism.  It's going to be hard to top

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dkb

dkb

I thought for sure Meghan had it in the bag, until they commented multiple times that there wasn't enough filling in her owl pastries.

I didn't think Sachin would win because his wasn't as creative as the other two, even though I would love to eat it! His was basically a regular tower.

Congrats to Andrei, and can't wait till the next season.

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TVbitch

TVbitch

Hope Andrei gets some rest cuz he seemed exhausted. 

I don't know who I'm rooting for, but I did notice them giving Megan a lot of camera time tonight. I just want whomever does the best on the day to win it. 

Agree about the charcoal, I just took it the other day to counteract a new medication that caused immediate stomach upset. 

TVbitch

TVbitch

(edited)

Who I wanted to win fluctuated throughout the show, which is a good sign in a finale. But Andrei's tower was impressive, and it seems to have had the best flavor, so it is only fitting that whoever was best on the day take it. Good job, show! 

Is there a nicer guy than Sachin? My goodness he is a positive, graceful man. I think the loss hit Megan harder cuz she really wanted to win, but now she is getting orders for cakes! Good on her! 

Okay, still got to finish The Great Kiwi Bake Off, and the U.S. holiday version is starting this week. YAY! 

Edited by TVbitch
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hula-la

hula-la

I've had my class watching the second season of this show, and they are totally hooked. My class of normally chatting, off-task Gr. 12's were silent--cheering when their favourites won, and audibly gasping when baked goods fell. They were super excited to see that chocolate souffle was a technical challenge, as they had recently made one.  We'll finish up the semester with the final. I had them predict at the beginning who they thought would win, and now they'll see whether or not they were right.  Looking forward to next season!

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strippedhalo

strippedhalo

7 hours ago, hula-la said:

New season begins Sept. 18! Looks like there might be some new hosts. https://www.cbc.ca/mediacentre/program/the-great-canadian-baking-show

I knew that Dan and Julia were unavailable so we would have new hosts, but it looks like there is a new judge, too!

Judges: https://www.cbc.ca/life/greatcanadianbakingshow/about/bruno-feldeisen-and-kyla-kennaley-judges-1.5147335

Hosts: https://www.cbc.ca/life/greatcanadianbakingshow/about/welcome-to-the-tent-aurora-browne-and-carolyn-taylor-1.5145600

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ElectricBoogaloo

ElectricBoogaloo

I really liked Dan and Julia so I am reserving judgment on the new hosts for now. One of them was wearing so much color (purple top, turquoise jacket, pink pants).

I kind of wish the signature challenge hadn't included the number requirement. I would have been fine with just having them make a cake that represents who they are. It's the first week so I'm totally fine with broad requirements.

Chris the doctor's chocolate piano cake was a little messy. I think a large part of that was due to the frosting which looked a little too thick and chunky instead of smooth.

Jodi's apple spice tree cake was a fun idea. I liked that she used the number four to create a tree. I want to hear more about her husband being a wrestler! I mean, how many people have a ring in their backyard?

Colin the boy band's matcha cake with strawberries was one of my favorites. It had fun, colorful decorations and it showed his personality.

Betty's carrot cake with pomegranate, chocolate coins, and cream cheese frosting was a little messy. I think if she had been a bit more restrained with the pomegranate seeds on top, it would have looked more elegant.

Nataliia's Ukranian honey cake with white chocolate buttercream was beautiful and elegant. Her frosting dollops (I'm sure there's a more technical term for those) wer uniform and well defined (unlike Jasmine's) and the three different types of flowers she piped added just the right amount of color.

Andrea's lemon mermaid cake with Earl Grey buttercream looked great. I liked the bright blue frosting which contrasted well with the sand. I know I shouldn't judge someone's personality based on just one thing, but Andrea's voice is already driving me crazy.

Liam's pistachio lemon cake with rosemary buttercream did look very forest-y. I guess he's going to be the rustic baker of the season.

Mary Lou's chocolate cake with chocolate dipped strawberries was a bit simple in the flavors and design, but it sounded delicous.

Jasmine's blood orange ginger spice cake with spiced cream cheese was a little sloppy looking. The frosting she piped on the top of the cake was too blobby which made it look messy. I also didn't like the color she used. It looked like a greyish lavender that was too blah.

Jay's salted caramel banana rugby cake was not the most attractive cake. I wasn't a huge fan of the light brown frosting, but bless him for having so much of it. I totally cracked up when the new judge looked at the cross section of the slice and said, "Mr. Jay, do you love icing?" Half of the height was the frosting which I am all for. More frosting!

Ooh, strawberry roulade! I LOVE strawberry cake but too often it's made of yellow cake with a packet of strawberry jello and/or food coloring added. It's so rare to find a bakery that makes strawberry cake with actual strawberries in the cake batter. Whenever I find a strawberry cake recipe, I try it!

Mary Lou seems to have a lot of baking knowledge, but she should know not to deviate from the recipe in the technical challenge. As much as I think adding sliced strawberries would make this cake even yummier, don't do that here! Same goes for Andrea, Liam, and Nataliia. And oh, Nataliia - forgetting to put sugar in the cake batter makes a big difference in the flavor. SHUT YOUR MOUTH, BRUNO! Jasmine's did not have too much buttercream because there's no such thing! She still managed to roll it tightly and have a nice spiral so I think the amount of buttercream she had was fine. Man, Chris and Liam had roulades that were almost flat. Poor Colin - when his cake fell apart, I didn't think he would be able to salvage enough to roll together. I was surprised that Jay came in first, mostly because I thought the judges would downgrade him for having visible chunks of strawberry in the cake batter.

I wasn't sure about the province inspired cakes for the showstopper challenge, but it ended up being interesting.

Colin's ginger molasses cake with whiskey buttercream was one of the more literal flag interpretations, but it looked like a good representation.

Jodi's raspberry lemonade cake was simple in design but very effective. She gets points for making her own fondant.

Chris's canola cake with wheatgrass buttercream was an interesting idea. The naked sides was a risk because it meant all the layers had to look really clean.

Liam's coconut cake with mango curd looked messy an homemade.

Andrea's chocolate cake with cookies and cream icing looked good. The flavor combination seemed very simple, but hey, stick with what you know.

Jay's maple cake with blueberry jam was too messy for my taste. I'm guessing those droopy white crosses were supposed to be fleurs de lis? When you do that drip technique, it has to look random but actually be precise. They were just too sloppy for my taste. The blue frosting on the top layer was not smooth enough either. On top of all that, the cake was definitely leaning.

Nataliia's poppy seed cake with sour cherry jelly was very colorful and was decorated well. The sour cherry jelly sounded delicious!

Betty's genoise cake with fruit looked very homemade. I don't understand why she made a genoise if she's not good at it. This is the showstopper so she could have chosen ANY kind of cake!

Jasmine's flapper pie inspired brown butter cake didn't look great. Once again I didn't like her color choices and overall the decorating looked very sloppy and unfinished.

Mary Lou's lemon chiffon iceberg cake with blueberry was a really lovely idea and she chose great shades of blue. I thought the piping was a little bit messy, but I'm willing to chalk it up to a choice.

Ha, I've never seen such an enthusiastic reaction to being named star baker. Nataliia was so cute about it.

I felt bad that Betty said cakes are not her thing and then she ended up getting eliminated. She seemed very chipper about her elimination though, so I think she'll be okay.

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Tabbygirl521

Tabbygirl521

(edited)

I was puzzled and impressed by the shots of everyone’s mangled cakes that later mostly turned out really well after being iced and decorated. Somehow I cannot pull that off!😂

So glad this is back. I know I’ll miss Dan but I felt the same way about Sue, Mel, and Mary Berry yet am enjoying the new crew there. Hoping this goes the same way. 

Edited by Tabbygirl521
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RealityCheck

RealityCheck

I thought the first episode was pretty good.  I like it when I understand the judge's explanation ... such as when Bruno was repeated pressing the sponge to show how bouncy the sponge was ... a good thing.  What I didn't like were the new hosts.  The new hosts are reminding me a lot of the hosts of the Great Kiwi Bake Off, which is not a compliment.

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Florinaldo

Florinaldo

Two BVS ladies as hosts? A single one would already have been more than enough. But it was only their first outing and perhaps they will settle into their roles and become less annoying. I hope so for my sake.

Some interesting bakers in this year's roster and it is a nice touch to have their name printed on their apron so we learn quickly which is which, and have a quick reminder in case we forget.

I still dislike showstoppers that go way overborard in piling on details, features and colours, like Nataliia's. It's as if they are trying to hide something terribly amiss under all the excess. I much prefer simplicity and clarity of design, which does not preclude some elaborate work. But I know that is often a losing position on shows like this one.

On 9/20/2019 at 6:46 PM, RealityCheck said:

I like it when I understand the judge's explanation ... such as when Bruno was repeated pressing the sponge to show how bouncy the sponge was ... a good thing.

That was indeed a nice little moment, which helps us understand some of their judging.

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Florinaldo

Florinaldo

(edited)

If Mary Lou had had more time, she might have transformed that wreck into something pleasantly supernatural, like a ghost ship floating in a haunted ice pack. But it looked as if she had simply scattered globs of white icing all over the place, with no real distinguishing features. Awful.

11 hours ago, Bunnyette said:

Natalia again?  I think others had much better results.

I think so too. I have to disagree with Bruno: her outerwordly confection did not really impress this "space nerd". I thought that others like Colin, Andrea and Jody, and even Liam, did a much better job of evoking a fantasy world. But Nataliia seems to be the favoured child at this point. Will it be a case of "the harder they fall" ?

The hosts were slightlty less annoying than last week; or am I developing an unfortunate immunity to them?

Edited by Florinaldo
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ElectricBoogaloo

ElectricBoogaloo

I could really do without these hosts. They are trying too hard and it's just coming off as really bad amateur improv.

I'm always confused when the Bake Off shows have biscuit week because I never know what is considered a biscuit.

Colin's ancho chili crackers with spicy bean dip sounded really good. I didn't love the presentation (the giant wooden trough), but more problematic was that the crackers were uneven. There is no shame in using those guides that make sure you roll your dough out evenly, man.

Jasmine's Jamaican jerk crackers with mango lime butter looked nice. I wish the yellow stripe she painted on was a little brighter/darker/more opaque because it didn't match the intensity of the black and green stripes. But wow, they were not crispy AT ALL. Bruno was able to bend one almost in half before it broke.

Liam's parsnip and thyme crackers with harissa eggplant dip looked very even. I loved how Chris whispered, "YES!" when the judges complimented the snap of Liam's crackers. I always find it adorable how much the bakers root for each other.

Nataliia's beet and dill twist crackers with smoked salmon looked nice with the alternating colors.

Jodi's beetroot crackers with asiago, cuttlefish ink, and cannellini bean dip sounded good but it was too bad that some of the burned so much.

Andrea's beetroot butterfly crackers with goat cheese, fig, and thyme dip looked pretty. I liked that she used a different shape, and the color worked well.

Jay's Scandinavian wheat and rye crackers with pink peppercorn and juniper berries did not sound like my cup of tea, but the shrimp and goat cheese dip sounded DELICIOUS.

Mary Lou's mustard, pickle and chili crackers with salt cod pâté were not even (some thicker than others) but Kyla liked them enough to take an extra one so they must have been really good!

Chris's green tea and chili crackers with pollock roe and artichoke dip sounded like a lot of flavors so I was happy to hear that the judges liked the combination.

Marshmallow puffs! Heh, I liked Jay's description - "they look like poop emojis!" Jay and Chris did really well. Congratulations to Chris for coming in first!

Cookie construction always has an element of danger so I was hoping there wouldn't be any mishaps. I loved that more than one baker made some kind of chocolate dough and I didn't have to deal with Paul Hollywood's requisite skepticism that the baker would know when it was done.

Liam's gnome showstopper with vanilla orange cookies, walnut cookies, and gingerbread was a little to messy for me, which is what I expect from him honestly. I don't think the forest setting is enough to justify that, despite what Liam said.

Colin's merpeople showstopper with coconut lime biscuits and chocolate mint cookies had a nice blue/green color scheme. Heh and I liked that he gave the mermen some nice pecs.

Jay's dog sanctuary with sugar cookies, lemon lavender dogs, and spiced chocolate gingerbread sounded like a fun idea. I loved that when one part of his biscuit broke off as he was assembling, he didn't even flinch. Later he cheerfully announced that since he broke his tree, it would have to become a bush, which I loved. The tree would have added some height and made it look more like a showstopper.

Mary Lou's Newfoundland ghost ship with coconut lime shortbread, gingerbread, and meringue waves was an interesting idea but it was a complete mess. I'm glad that she didn't give up and just tried to salvage as much as she could and put it together.

Andrea's fairy garden with orange sugar cookies and a gingerbread house was so colorful!  I liked the different textures she had in the decorating.

Nataliia's outer space showstopper with almond sugar cookies and honey gingerbread planets looked so pretty. Great colors.

Jodi's fire breathing dragon with pink peppercorn gingerbread cave with orange cranberry cookie coins was very pretty. Loved the purple color of the dragon and the red and orange pulled sugar fire. I know it was time consuming, but piping every tiny scale on the dragon paid off. It was really noticeable.

Chris's spiced ginger, wasabi, and black peppercorn vanilla dragon with mint chocolate sablé and caramel lava looked a little too simplistic. He was ambitious to make four different kinds of cookie dough but I think he would have done better if he had done one or two less and given him enough time to decorate properly.

Jasmine's shortbread superhero showstopper was a cute idea but not executed well. The two buildings looked very messy. The windows were haphazard and the huge white streaks of piping holding the pieces together was really distracting.

I was surprised that Nataliia won star baker again. Her show stopper was good but I didn't think it was the best one.

I'm okay with Mary Lou going home. Her show stopper was a disaster.

I'm excited for bread week!

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Florinaldo

Florinaldo

3 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

I loved that when one part of his biscuit broke off as he was assembling, he didn't even flinch.

A typically phlegmatic Canadian, from the Outaouais region. He just had a little side look at the camera as he pondered what to do while still holding the remaining pieces up the air.

The home segments can sometimes be awkward. Colin makes cupcakes with mommy; is that really supposed to be a habit of his? But the worst was Nataliia serving cake in the conference room, which looked so contrived; her co-workers seemed unsure of how to behave ("are we supposed to pretend this is a regular thing?").

Jasmine was lucky Mary Lou floundered so badly.

3 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

I liked that he gave the mermen some nice pecs.

Didn't he turn to someone as he was making the pecs and ask "too sexy?" with an unrepentant smile?

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Kohola3

Kohola3

10 hours ago, Florinaldo said:

The hosts were slightlty less annoying than last week; or am I developing an unfortunate immunity to them?

Are they supposed to be someone famous in Canada. I have never heard of either of them. I don't like or dislike them.  They are just fillers.

So in Britain, biscuits are what we call cookies in the US.  In Canada, biscuits are crackers?  And also cookies?  I'm confused.

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ElectricBoogaloo

ElectricBoogaloo

1 minute ago, Kohola3 said:

So in Britain, biscuits are what we call cookies in the US.  In Canada, biscuits are crackers?  And also cookies?  I'm confused.

Biscuit means multiple things in both the UK and Canada which is why every season, I just sit back and wait to see what else is considered a biscuit!

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Florinaldo

Florinaldo

(edited)
11 hours ago, Kohola3 said:

Are they supposed to be someone famous in Canada.

They are part of an all-female TV comedy show, The Baroness Von Sketch Show, that airs on the CBC.

On top of the teminological confusion in English, in the French-speaking regions of Canada cookies are called "biscuits" (pronounced "biss-kwi", the t being silent). They are not equivalent to the soft-dough small breads often used in the US to accompany savoury dishes or at breakfast and called biscuits also. Crackers would be "craquelins" in French.

Edited by Florinaldo
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grinchyheart

grinchyheart

7 hours ago, Kohola3 said:

So in Britain, biscuits are what we call cookies in the US.  In Canada, biscuits are crackers?  And also cookies?  I'm confused.

Lol. For me, cracker/cookie type biscuits are store-bought, generally in a tin. At home, I bake what Americans would call biscuits & Brits would call scones. Also, I just did some quick research in my own cupboards & confirmed that all our store-bought cookies are called "biscuits" (pronounced biskwee) in the French portion of the label. So words mean whatever we're pointing to at the time. 

lidarose9

lidarose9

Put me down as "not a fan" for the new hosts. They are both trying too hard. When they do the 1-on-1 chat with the bakers, they interrupt and talk over them, so obviously trying to work in their dumb jokes. I want to hear what the bakers are saying! This is a case of less is more.

I have to say, I have laughed out loud at how awful some of these have looked -- and yet somehow finishing touches have saved them from being a complete disaster. (Like some of last week's roulades.) It really is impressive!

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ElectricBoogaloo

ElectricBoogaloo

Woo, bread week! Although I don't eat a ton of bread on a daily basis, I LOVE good bread and bread week always makes me want to run straight to the bakery near my house.

Chris was cracking me up this week. Between his lesson about moisturizer and his oven mitt puppets, he amused me. His coconut taro and toasted black sesame seed povitica looked great when they cut it open because of the colors.

Colin's chai, chocolate, and walnut povitica with cinnamon, cardamom, and nutmeg glaze looked nice. Bruno had me at "caramelized sugar."

Jasmine's spumoni inspired povitica with maraschino white chocolate, chocolate cinnamon, and pistachio paste was so colorful on the inside. That was a good idea - a classic flavor combination and great colors without needing dye.

Nataliia's mango, lemon, and toasted hazelnut povitica looked simple but elegant with the checkerboard pattern inside.

Hahaha, of course Liam has a starter named Petunia. I'm sorry, but I was not as impressed by him making butter as one of the hosts was. You just throw cream in a mixer and let it go. It's not like he did any work (in third grade, my class made homemade butter but putting cream in baby food jars and shaking the shit out of them for what felt like forever). His Ethiopian inspired povitica with berbere chicken sounded good, especially since he was the only one to make a savory povitica.

I was so worried that Jodi was jinxing herself every time she mentioned that bread was her thing. Her chocolate raspberry povitica with raspberry almond filling sounded delicious. She took a risk using a round pan and unfortunately it didn't work out the way that she thought it would.

Andrea's mocha coconut almond povitica looked a little plain (but to be fair, povitica doesn't have to be fancy looking on the outside since the magic is on the inside).

Jay's black forest povitica with chocolate, cherries, and pecans sounded good in theory, but raw dough will get you a thumbs down from the judges every time.

Ha, after what I said about Liam using a mixer to make his butter, I had to laugh when the technical challenge was to make brioche à tête without a mixer.

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Florinaldo

Florinaldo

When Jodi said she would use a round pan because the povitica would cook faster, I concluded that she obviously was not paying attention during her culinary thermodynamics class. With the larger diameter, it would of course take more time for the heat to work its way all through the dish, the slight difference in height not enough to compensate for it. Her mistake had been foreshadowed by her comments that bread is her thing. On these shows, editors seem to like using such statements that are eventually contradicted by the outcome.

Colin started to show his mettle this week. His showstopper struck what is the right balance for me: a relative simplicity of design, with still a lot of work (all those spikes!) to enhance the appearance of the result and really bring the concept to another level. He avoided the tendency to overload a showstopper with details, textures, colours, shapes, etc. which often turn out to be a mess (like Andrea's).

I find his apparent insecurity and him clinging to every positive comment as if it's a lifejacket that has been thrown to a drowning baker to be rather irritating; not as much as Nataliia's just a simple girl from Ukraine routine, but it would be better if he toned it down (although it's probably impossible for him).

Florinaldo

Florinaldo

Colin should have known that you can't do a straight substitution of olive oil for butter; you have to make some adjustments to account for the difference between those fats. I have a couple of cake recipes with olive oil that come out quite moist and tender, not dry like his. Same with vegetable oil. Perhaps he was overconfident following his triumph in the crème brûlée challenge.

I thought Chris' mushy banana mess would have sent him home, but I guess Jay's earlier misses last night were a deciding factor.

I really liked Jasmine's cake; again, a clear and simple concept, well executed and not overloaded. The tassles were just the right touch needed. The recipe is up and I might try it, without said tassles though and in a smaller size.

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