S09.E02: Cake Week

[Athena]

This the currently airing UK series 9 on Channel 4. This not Netflix USA Season 5. That is Series 8. Please see mod note.

Quote

The 11 remaining bakers face a tough test in Cake Week, including a crowd-pleasing signature challenge, Prue's first technical challenge, and a chocolate collared showstopper

Original air date: Sept 4, 2018.

[Occasional Hope]

Spinach icing sounds disgusting.

For all the complaints about the heat, some of those chocolate collars looked really good.

[halopub]

How much does it taste like spinach, though? Is it just enough spinach water to get the color? If I saw an unlabeled Gateaux Vert, I'd probably expect green tea flavors from the color.

One of the things I love about Bake Off this season is how they have yet to acknowledge Briony's left hand at all. It would have been a total sob story on the Food Network. Instead we get her fun commentary about the bakes. Don't let the show make you cry girl! 

Yay for Dan getting that first handshake for his childhood favorite. He makes great faces when he does better than he expects.

"Go like the clappers," was a new expression for me. 

Very happy for Rahul and Ruby with their showstoppers - I hope the value of the Hollywood handshake doesn't get too diluted, though. 

Edited September 5, 2018 by halopub
typo

[Kohola3]

58 minutes ago, halopub said:

One of the things I love about Bake Off this season is how they have yet to acknowledge Briony's left hand at all.

OK, I missed that entirely. What about her left hand?

58 minutes ago, halopub said:

I hope the value of the Hollywood handshake doesn't get too diluted, though. 

He's been quite liberal with those this season, hasn't he?  Seems like he only have out a handful over all of the previous seasons. Now it's several per episode.

2 hours ago, Occasional Hope said:

Spinach icing sounds disgusting.

I have never in my life heard of that and would avoid it like the plague despite the fact that I love spinach.  It just sounds all kinds of wrong.

[halopub]

56 minutes ago, Kohola3 said:

OK, I missed that entirely. What about her left hand?

I don’t know the backstory but she appears to have only one finger on that hand. Briony called it her little hand on Twitter. 

[Kohola3]

1 minute ago, halopub said:

I don’t know the backstory but she appears to have only one finger on that hand.

Well, color me unobservant. I never noticed.  And they have already taken down the video so guess I will have to wait until the next one if it exists.

[Athena]

I've read about Green Cakes and spinach icing before and I don't think the spinach flavour comes out strongly. The pistachio, marzipan, butter and sweet flavours would dominate it more. I thought John's cake looked great. He was so methodical and precise about the technical.

It did sound like it was a hot day in the tent, but not the hottest. I noticed that Sandi was wearing a sweater over a long sleeved button down and didn't appear to be warm. Ruby had a cardigan on for most of the show.

I remember Mel and Sue were adamant in S1 that they didn't like contestants being filmed while they cried. It's understandable when it happened once in awhile in the past, but in this episode we had at least three contestants cry on camera.

I do like that they haven't drawn attention Briony's hand either. I noticed it last week but it's good of the show not even to reference it.

Manon's bleeped comment to Noel and Sandi was surprising. I think she was genuinely feeling a bit under pressure and maybe even a bit ticked off; she forgot where she was. I'm glad she saved herself with the showstopper.

Rahul's showstopper looked incredible. That is a lot of work that he managed to do in that short amount of time. He deserved it.

Ruby still seems inconsistent over the weekend; she has moments of brilliance but seems plagued by other issues like a lot of over baking.

Still ambivalent to Karen.

[3 is enough]

I have yet to see this episode.  Sadly, finding a flight to England this year is next to impossible.

  I also did not notice Briony's hand last week.

[killer.noona]

I said something similar about Kate last season, but when you know you're going to be on Bake Off, there are some techniques you should learn if you don't know already: puff/rough puff pastry, and this season it's genoise sponge!

I was really expecting Dan to be Star Baker this week, but Rahul really knocked it out of the park at the end.

I'm going to try a pistachio cake and the pineapple sponge!

[Lois Sandborne]

I keep reading Rahul's name as Rupaul.

So far I'm still not rooting for anyone, which is weird. Usually by this time I have at least a couple of standouts in mind, or at least know who everyone is.  I swear they didn't show Luke at all last week.

Happy to learn what turron and burfi are from Briony's and Antony's signature bakes though.  I think I can handle trying burfi some time.

On 9/4/2018 at 7:19 PM, halopub said:

Very happy for Rahul and Ruby with their showstoppers - I hope the value of the Hollywood handshake doesn't get too diluted, though. 

 

On 9/4/2018 at 8:20 PM, Kohola3 said:

He's been quite liberal with those this season, hasn't he?  Seems like he only have out a handful over all of the previous seasons. Now it's several per episode.

I remember him giving out two handshakes last year in the premiere, but he backed off of them for the rest of the series.

I'm not sold on spinach being necessary or tasty in that technical challenge bake. Maybe back in the late 1800s that was the only way to get that shade of green, but yeah, if I ever get the notion to make a gateau vert one of these days, I'll deploy some trusty food coloring.

[Rinaldo]

On 9/4/2018 at 9:20 PM, Kohola3 said:

On 9/4/2018 at 8:19 PM, halopub said:

I hope the value of the Hollywood handshake doesn't get too diluted, though. 

He's been quite liberal with those this season, hasn't he?  

I think that he felt he had trapped himself into the last one, and even started to explain but the editing cut away in mid-sentence. What I mean is, he genuinely found Rahul's showstopper outstanding and wanted to recognize him for that, figuring it would surely be the best of the lot. But then he unexpectedly found Ruby's to be even better, and couldn't let it go unrecognized. Or so it seems to me.

[halopub]

I just rewatched the judging and I think you're right. He was specific when praising Ruby's showstopper and did try to explain himself in the judge's tent.

Watching the episode back I found some of Manon's expressions a bit off-putting this week. I don't know. Cute that her family farm has a random wallaby, though.

1 hour ago, Lois Sandborne said:

So far I'm still not rooting for anyone, which is weird. Usually by this time I have at least a couple of standouts in mind, or at least know who everyone is.  I swear they didn't show Luke at all last week.

This has been the case for me the last couple of seasons. I've been slow to remember everyone, let alone pick a favorite baker. I find it helps when contestants have very distinct fashion styles (e.g. James Morton & his sweaters) or almost cartoonish reaction shots (Nadiya). Or if they get cool intros like Selasi riding to his finance job on a motorcycle. Showing clips of Luke walking his dogs or Rahul swimming at his local gym don't help them make an impression.

[Charlesman]

On 9/4/2018 at 7:34 PM, Kohola3 said:

Well, color me unobservant. I never noticed.  And they have already taken down the video so guess I will have to wait until the next one if it exists.

 

I totally missed it the first episode, too, and only saw it for the first time in this one. I must have looked at my phone when they showed the closeup.

 

On 9/8/2018 at 3:24 PM, Rinaldo said:

I think that he felt he had trapped himself into the last one, and even started to explain but the editing cut away in mid-sentence. What I mean is, he genuinely found Rahul's showstopper outstanding and wanted to recognize him for that, figuring it would surely be the best of the lot. But then he unexpectedly found Ruby's to be even better, and couldn't let it go unrecognized. Or so it seems to me.

 

Agreed, I wish they'd let him finish that sentence! He was going to explain the two handshakes and instead they just left us hanging on a joke.

 

Also, did I correctly hear Noel say that one of the ingredients 'reminded him of bong water'?

Edited September 10, 2018 by Charlesman

[Danny Franks]

I still like Manon, but am sure that a lot of people won't, and will accuse her of flirting with Paul or trying to be cute to get away with stuff (I imagine twitter has already had a field day with this stuff). But her tears felt real, even if the distress over not being able to take the plastic collar off ended up being unnecessary. Antony is the other baker I'm really starting to like. A big, charismatic bloke, similar to Selasi.

Paul, as I've said before, has definitely moderated his attitude to blend with Prue's more critical style. He's almost the good guy of the judges, now, and the more liberal use of handshakes is a part of that. But he's being consistent with them, which I like. He's giving them to people who he feels deserve them, not just to fill some quota.

Luke deserved to go, really. He's not been at all memorable, but that's usually the case with early eliminations. There are too many people in there for everyone to get a fair shake. And I guess editors naturally have a tendency to focus more on the bakers who will be around for a while.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Recipes

Signature challenge: traybakes
Terry's srum and raisin traybake
Dan's black forest slice
Rahul's lemon traybake with lemon cardamom drizzle
 

Technical challenge:
Prue's gâteau vert

Showstopper challenge: chocolate collar cake
Karen's strawberry fair chocolate cake
Ruby's chocolate orange Jackson Pollock cake
 

Edited September 12, 2018 by ElectricBoogaloo

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Luke's exit interview

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Mmm, cake! How did NO ONE use a ruler to cut their traybakes?

Antony's cardamom and coconut burfi traybake with pineapple jam and frangipane looked a little messy but the judges seemed to like the flavor. I'm all for anything with pineapple jam!

Briony's turron and orange traybake with almond sponge and chocolate ganache looked horrible, like huge turds on a plate. Thank goodness her flavors saved her!

Dan's black forest slice looked nice. Loved the little chocolate swoosh he put on top of each. First handshake of the season!

Ruby's boozy black forest traybake with white chocolate drizzle looked better than I thought it would because she was so far behind, but they were still pretty messy.

Manon's rosemary and honey traybake with figs, honey, and pistachio nougatine looked so pretty, but her sponge was pronounced tough by Prue and bland by Paul. Ouch.

I'm glad that Terry's trick of adding applesauce to the batter worked out because Paul seemed pretty skeptical about that. I love whenever the bakers prove him wrong! Terry's rum and raisin traybake with candied walnuts, dates, and dark chocolate ganache weren't the prettiest (always be careful when adding a squirt of dark chocolate as decoration because it can end up looking like poop) but both judges enjoyed it.

Jon's lemon rosemary meringue traybake with white chocolate looked very neat, but I didn't understand why he just threw all 16 pieces on the plate all willynilly instead of organizing them into some kind of symmetric shape or more aesthetically pleasing configuration.

Kim-Joy's pandan and coconut chiffon traybake with palm sugar cream looked so uniform and pretty. Loved the pink diagonal stripe on each one and the delicate sugar curl. We're in the ninth season so by now I expect Paul to turn up his nose at anything that isn't totally mainstream, which is why I wasn't surprised by his reaction to pandan. I'm glad Prue liked it though.

Luke's lemon and poppyseed traybake with white chocolate mascarpone didn't look great, but I love mascarpone so I was rooting for him. "Tough as all boots"? Way harsh, Paul! Hee, but sloppy and tart?

Rahul's lemon and cardamom jaconde traybake with lemon curd and Italian meringue buttercream looked so fancy because of the two layers of sponge.

Karen's almond and marzipan traybake with rhubarb jam and custard royal icing were colorful but I thought the marzipan might be an issue because it doesn't always cut easily, which isn't a huge problem in real life when you're eating dessert but for GBBO, that's the kind of nitpicky thing the judges like to bring up.

The gâteau vert technical challenge was interesting because I'd never heard of it. Sorry, Monet. Sometimes when a baker is familiar with the technical challenge, they stubbornly stick to their own method of making it rather than following the directions given to them, so I was glad to see that Jon avoided that trap. So many people ended up making their cakes a second time. I'm glad they had time to start over and still have something to present.

Ooh, chocolate collar cakes. I fully support extra chocolate on a cake!

Jon's Hawaiian shirt pina colada cake with pineapple sponge, pineapple curd, and coconut buttercream was so Hawaiian with the hibiscus flowers and the grass skirt!

Antony's sari cake with pistachio and rosewater sponge and saffron Swiss meringue buttercream was very colorful both inside and out.

Terry's champagne and strawberry Eiffel Tower cake with white chocolate sponge and champagne buttercream was a lovely idea (and I loved the chocolate ironwork) so it's a shame that he only had the bottom layer.

Rahul's chocolate orange layer cake with white chocolate Swiss meringue was really impressive considering the heat. Not only did he have two collars plus the white fringe but all those huge chocolate shards standing up on the top layer! Loved the contrasting colors of the cake layers inside. Awwwww, the first showstopper handshake! He was so sweet when he went to see if Manon was okay and then hugged her.

Ruby's chocolate orange Jackson Pollock cake with chocolate mascarpone hazelnut cream wasn't much to look at from a distance and honestly, if I hadn't been told that it was Pollock inspired, I would have just thought the collar was a splattery mess. The cake itself must have been amazing to get the second ever showstopper handshake right after Rahul. Loved seeing everyone else's happy reactions.

Kim-Joy's yuzu and raspberry genoise cat cake with Italian meringue buttercream and yuzu curd was so playful looking with the cats chasing the ribbon on the chocolate collar. I loved that she added fondant cats too.

Manon's almond princess cake with almond crème diplomate was such a cute idea with the crown collar.

Broiny's chocolate fudge and salted caramel cake with salted caramel vodka buttercream looked messy.

Luke's raspberry and white chocolate cake with whipped double cream was a mess. Poor guy, apologizing as he presented it to the judges. Although I know the heat affected everyone (and it's not like they could change their recipes at the last minute), his traybakes were a mess this week too so I'm guessing that although the heat didn't help, it wasn't entirely to blame for how his showstopper turned out. I'm with Paul - I could eat raspberries and cream all day!

Karen's strawberry fayre chocolate cake with strawberry jam, strawberry jam, and strawberry liqueur was cute but writing words in such a plain printed style made it seem a little amateurish. Chocolate with strawberries is one of my favorite flavor combinations so I was hoping the judges would say it tasted great. I'm glad they liked it!

Dan's dark chocolate and raspberry birthday cake with raspberry jam and raspberry Italian meringue buttercream looked great with the diagonal chocolate/raspberry stripes on the collar. Raspberry/chocolate is a great flavor combination.

Luke seemed like a sweet guy (loved the way he tried to cheer Briony up while she was crying by telling her that his looked even worse and then laughing about it) but he really did have a bad week. Yay for Rahul winning star baker!

[Kohola3]

8 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

I love whenever the bakers prove him wrong!

Me, too.  When he gives them the side-eye it gets them all flustered so I cheer when that male judge has to admit he was wrong.

[Amarsir]

Not strictly true that Paul has never given a handshake on a showstopper. In this year's Stand Up 2 Cancer specials he gave one to Lee Mack for a lemon cake of his wife's recipe. But it's fair that he doesn't really count the celebrity specials, since he's pretty generous with handshakes there.

On 9/5/2018 at 1:06 PM, Athena said:

Manon's bleeped comment to Noel and Sandi was surprising. I think she was genuinely feeling a bit under pressure and maybe even a bit ticked off; she forgot where she was. 

She's from France, so my suspicion is that she didn't quite realize in the translation how it comes off.

I felt Dan had Star Baker in the bag this week, with a handshake in the Signature and a solid performance in the other challenges. But I can't say Rahul didn't earn it for himself. 

[Rinaldo]

19 hours ago, Amarsir said:

But it's fair that he doesn't really count the celebrity specials, since he's pretty generous with handshakes there.

Plus, whatever they may say about not giving any special breaks to the celebrity bakers, they clearly do and are not judging the same way they would in a regular competition.

[GaT]

I think it's ridiculous that this show can't figure out a way to keep the tent cool enough so that chocolate doesn't melt. 

[sharifa70]

On 9/10/2018 at 11:38 AM, Charlesman said:

Also, did I correctly hear Noel say that one of the ingredients 'reminded him of bong water'?

I’m pretty sure I heard “pond water.”

[OoogleEyes]

On 9/4/2018 at 8:19 PM, halopub said:

 

Very happy for Rahul and Ruby with their showstoppers - I hope the value of the Hollywood handshake doesn't get too diluted, though. 

He's handing (!) them out all willy nilly this season 

[theatremouse]

I was confused about the complaints about the heat. What time of year was this filmed? You could see their breath in interviews in the previous one, and people seemed dressed fairly warmly. I don't doubt it was warmer than ideal for chocolate work, but I doubt it was 90 degrees in there either.

[halopub]

I think filming starts sometime in April.

Radio Times: Bake Off judges reveal how the summer heatwave affected the contestants – and their bakes

Quote

Judge Paul Hollywood has described this as being the hottest ever series, while both he and Prue Leith have said that some of the contestants’ bakes inevitably suffered with the soaring temperatures in the tent.

[Johnny Dollar]

I don’t get GBBO weather patterns either. Each episode is filmed over two days, and the bakers can be bundled up in parkas and gloves on day one and covered in melting chocolate on day two. 

I’m a sucker for a French accent, and one with an English lilt is even more charming, so I hope Manon sticks around for a while.  But I think Ruhul takes it at the end.  

[cherrypj]

I'm a sucker for the Hollywood Shake! Love it. I stand by my belief that he only gives them out when really warranted (certainly not willy-nilly). 

I read (the CC is ALWAYS on) that Noel said, "bog water." Hmm, still not appealing.

I noticed Briony's hand in this episode, too. She adapts spectacularly. 

[Eliza422]

13 hours ago, cherrypj said:

I'm a sucker for the Hollywood Shake! Love it. I stand by my belief that he only gives them out when really warranted (certainly not willy-nilly). 

I read (the CC is ALWAYS on) that Noel said, "bog water." Hmm, still not appealing.

I noticed Briony's hand in this episode, too. She adapts spectacularly. 

I still think he said "bong" water. CC isn't always accurate.

[AZChristian]

1 minute ago, Eliza422 said:

I still think he said "bong" water. CC isn't always accurate.

I think he said "pond" water.

[dleighg]

1 minute ago, Eliza422 said:

CC isn't always accurate.

Yeah, I would never take CC as gospel. I usually notice at least a half dozen mistakes (easily heard by my ear) in any given episode of any show.

In this case I thought he said pond water. But "bong" is easily just as possible. 

[Eliza422]

1 minute ago, dleighg said:

Yeah, I would never take CC as gospel. I usually notice at least a half dozen mistakes (easily heard by my ear) in any given episode of any show.

In this case I thought he said pond water. But "bong" is easily just as possible. 

I wonder if we'll ever get a definitive answer!

[sum]

19 hours ago, cherrypj said:

I'm a sucker for the Hollywood Shake! Love it. I stand by my belief that he only gives them out when really warranted (certainly not willy-nilly). 

I read (the CC is ALWAYS on) that Noel said, "bog water." Hmm, still not appealing.

I noticed Briony's hand in this episode, too. She adapts spectacularly. 

According to C4 subtitles, it's 'pond water'.

As for Hollywood Handshake,

Quote

Paul has now responded to the furore surrounding his handshakes, telling Jonathan Ross on this week’s show: “I’ve taken a bit of flack over that. The handshake came from when they looked very professional and they almost cross that line from being amateur to professional. It started in series two, I just shook someone’s hand and said, ‘Well done.’ It was a ‘Well done.’ And every year the standard has got better and better and better and this year has been phenomenal, ...”

Okay Paul, you’ve explained yourself, but are you going to restrain the hand in future?

“You will see it happen [in a few weeks], the handshakes almost stop,” he reveals. “Because what I’ve done is I’ve realized they are all moving up in standard so I’ve got to move my barrier up, so that’s exactly what I do, I raise the bar and then no one gets over the top of it.”

I didn't mind either way though.

Someone did a serious research(?) on that subject... (*Spoiler alert* It was made post-Spice Week)
https://www.buzzfeed.com/scottybryan/paul-hollywood-handshakes-too-many 

[Adiba]

After watching the second episode, I noticed that the editing was a little quicker-paced/choppy than in previous seasons--or maybe I'm imagining it? It seems that the past seasons were slower-paced. Also, I don't have to see every baker put their bakes into the oven, I get the idea.

[meep.meep]

I don't understand why Briony used silicone pans to bake her show stopper cakes, and why she didn't put them on a sheet pan in the oven.  I have one of those - a loaf pan that I bake banana bread in.  For this, the edges wouldn't come out straight so the collars wouldn't go on properly.  Using a rigid metal pan was the way to go.

Congratulations to Rahul.  He did really well in all 3 bakes.

I think the reason they showed Manon crying was to include Rahul giving her a hug.

[Dots And Stripes]

On 9/5/2018 at 1:06 PM, Athena said:

It did sound like it was a hot day in the tent, but not the hottest. I noticed that Sandi was wearing a sweater over a long sleeved button down and didn't appear to be warm. Ruby had a cardigan on for most of the show.

I noticed this too! I loved the sweater, but why not wear something more comfortable for the temperature? 

[MisterGlass]

I wonder if the spinach flavor in the green cake would just be an herbal undertone, not unlike matcha.  If the sugar cancels out the bitterness then it probably wouldn't seem spinachy.

Some of chocolate collars did turn out very well, especially the hibiscus one and the pink and red striped one.

I'm having to look up more words this year.

[snarktini]

While it may have been impressive how much chocolate work Rahul did (and evidently it tasted great as well), I didn't actually find the cake attractive. I thought it looked messy and over-done. At least one idea too many.

I caught Briony's hand out of the corner of my eye in one shot, but since it hadn't been talked about my mind dismissed it as a trick of the camera angle. How refreshing not to have it be a massive story point! Good.

I definitely heard "pond water"

[WookieeCookieez]

On 9/4/2018 at 10:34 PM, Kohola3 said:

Well, color me unobservant. I never noticed.  And they have already taken down the video so guess I will have to wait until the next one if it exists.

I didn't notice Briony's hand until the second episode because I was too visually distracted by another contestant.

[Girl in a Cardigan]

On 9/5/2018 at 10:06 AM, Athena said:

Manon's bleeped comment to Noel and Sandi was surprising. I think she was genuinely feeling a bit under pressure and maybe even a bit ticked off; she forgot where she was.

So, I'm finally catching up on these post-BBC seasons on Netflix and I'm curious about something. At one point, she's telling Sandi and Noel that the figures on top of her cake are them - Noel is sleeping and Sandi is "pissed off" that Noel is late. Sandi immediately says that she's not sure she can say that and the scene cuts. I wasn't watching closely - did they ADR over what she really said? If not, is "pissed off" not a think you can say on British TV?

Or did I miss another bleep altogether?

[Athena]

2 hours ago, Girl in a Cardigan said:

So, I'm finally catching up on these post-BBC seasons on Netflix and I'm curious about something. At one point, she's telling Sandi and Noel that the figures on top of her cake are them - Noel is sleeping and Sandi is "pissed off" that Noel is late. Sandi immediately says that she's not sure she can say that and the scene cuts. I wasn't watching closely - did they ADR over what she really said? If not, is "pissed off" not a think you can say on British TV?

Or did I miss another bleep altogether?

In the original UK version, Manon says to Noel: "Yeah, well it's you fast asleep and Sandi is f***ed off because you’re late." with the f word being bleeped. I guess in the Netflix version they may have ADR it?

[Girl in a Cardigan]

2 hours ago, Athena said:

In the original UK version, Manon says to Noel: "Yeah, well it's you fast asleep and Sandi is f***ed off because you’re late." with the f word being bleeped. I guess in the Netflix version they may have ADR it?

Thank you! That makes much more sense! Odd that Netflix would record over the bleep instead of just leaving it in.

Spoiler

Also, in a future episode Noel draws a picture of a cat with a speech bubble and the work FUCK is clearly visible, so it's weird where the line is for Netflix.

 

[blueray]

That is weird, especially because I feel like someone swear in one of the christmas specials and got away with it. 

[AZChristian]

21 minutes ago, blueray said:

That is weird, especially because I feel like someone swear in one of the christmas specials and got away with it. 

Don't recall who it was, but pretty sure someone did come out with a streak of "F" bombs.

[Athena]

3 hours ago, blueray said:

That is weird, especially because I feel like someone swear in one of the christmas specials and got away with it. 

 

3 hours ago, AZChristian said:

Don't recall who it was, but pretty sure someone did come out with a streak of "F" bombs.

Spoiler

It's probably happened in the regular series S10 and S11 too.

They are allowed the F word with their the rating (14A in the UK), but for some reason, they bleeped Manon's. Maybe because Noel and Sandi made a note of it and the others were more casual? Who knows. Channel 4 is more lax about it than the BBC.