S09.E04: Dessert Week

[Athena]

Quote

The bakers must create a cracking meringue Signature, a wobbly Technical, and a complex chocolate Showstopper that promises to reveal all

[Ceindreadh]

That was weird, just after the showstopper, they showed about two seconds of the bakers on their stools for the results scene. 

I figured they’d probably not send anybody home and do two next week since Terry wasn’t there.  (Something similar happened in an earlier season when a baker had to leave midway with an injury)

Glad Dan finally got the star baker, and I absolutely loved Kim Joy’s little turtles. 

I also may have squeed out loud at the little duckling in the water!

Edited September 18, 2018 by Ceindreadh
Damned autocorrect

[Danny Franks]

Rahul, for the love of god, enjoy yourself! He seems to feel pressure so intensely, I thought his dome not melting would reduce him to tears. Even insecure bakers in the past have enjoyed the compliments they get.

I really like Ruby. She has a great, bolshy sense of humour that appeals to me a lot. Her blurting out "oh my God!" when they announced the blancmange technical was hilarious.

Kim-Joy's turtles were cool, but I just can't warm to her. I find her too determinedly quirky and off-beat.

I wish John had won star baker. There's something so sweet about a big, burly bloke who gets into girly things because he has daughters.

Kind of a cheat to keep everyone, but maybe they just couldn't decide between Karen and Briony. I guess it feels good to them all now, but they'll regret it next week, when two of them might be for the chop. Briony summed up my view on the dramatic delay before the announcement.

[Rinaldo]

Like @Ceindreadh, I was sure that they wouldn't eliminate anybody. It was absolutely the only fair outcome. In fact, while watching I was mentally betting big money that Paul and Prue knew this before the first challenge, as it would be so unjust to eliminate someone who might well have survived, had Terry been there. But of course they can't openly say so, as it would remove all suspense and competitiveness from the hour. Now they have a double elimination in reserve, for any week when the bottom two are too close to call.

I'm very happy for Dan, who really did do well. And Rahul always does well (even with the one non-melting globe); echoing @Danny Franks, I just wish he could allow himself to enjoy it more.

Is the kind of "globed" dessert they made for the Showstopper a thing that readers here have heard of or seen? It was entirely new to me, and seemed like a real stretch. But they all seemed prepared to deal with it technically (I wonder if they were provided the molds in advance).

For me blancmange is a Monty Python joke.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

This week's recipes:

Signature challenge - roulades
Ruby's piña colada roulade
Manon's pistachio roulade
Briony's treacle tart roulade
Dan's Florida roulade

Technical challenge
Prue's raspberry blancmange and langues de chat

Showstopper challenge - melting chocolate ball desserts
Karen's château du Chambord framboise


 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I would love to see Paul get a pie in the face every week. Does that make me a bad person?

I hope Terry feels better and is back next week!

I've never made a roulade, but when I was 12, I made an ice cream roll cake and I remember what a pain in the ass it was to roll up.

Manon's amarene and kirsch cherry roulade with mascarpone cream and meringue lollipops looked nice. The lollipops gave it a more festive look. The cherries sounded so good!

Briony's treacle tart roualde with pears, mascarpone cream, and pecan meringue sounded good because I love mascarpone, and I agree with Paul and Noel and pears are underrated.

Kim-Joy's whipped cream and raspberry roulade with passionfruit curd and flaked almonds looked like it could have been rolled a little better but it sounded delicious. Her dream theme (and the reason behind it - meringue is fluffy and dreamy) was a nice idea.  The moon and star decorations were cute.

Jon's mango and passionfruit roulade with white chocolate cream looked nice. I cracked up when he said that if you use the word rustic, you can get away with anything. It's funny because it's true! Loved the mango spheres.

Dan's Florida roulade with coconut cream, mangos, strawberries, and lime curd sounded very tropical. It was colorful inside and out with the mangos and strawberries.

Ruby's piña colada roulade with coconut rum cream, roasted pineapple, and coconut meringue sounded very tropical. It looked nicely rolled. I LOVE roasted pineapple (I know that's a controversial topic!) so I was glad that the judges liked it.

Rahul's rhubarb and custard roulade with cream custard and rhubarb compote looked really nice. I liked the story of how he hated rhubarb when he first moved there and then he started to like it. Like Rahul, I learned my knife skills by watching tv. I still remember when Sara Moulton demonstrated how to chop an onion!

Karen's roulade with hazelnut praline, coffee caramel, whiskey filling, and dark chocolate didn't look great but the flavor combination sounded good.

I've never had blancmange but I love raspberries so my mouth was watering when the bakers were making their raspberry puree.

I was so excited about the showstopper challenge this week! I loved that Ruby said this is the kind of dessert she would get when she's out with her girlfriends and Paul asked if she's seen these kinds of desserts and she said, "Yes, they have RESTAURANTS now, Paul. You need to get with the times."

Poor Briony! Her blood orange and amaretto sticky toffee sphere was a disaster. I felt so bad when she started crying and Noel tried to comfort her. I'm glad that the judges said the taste and texture was good though.

Ruby's golden egg with short crust pastry, pistachio crumb, white chocolate coconut ganache, passionfruit curd, and mango meringue sounded like a lot of elements to incorpoate. So sad that her sphere shattered but I was glad she was able to Frankenstein enough pieces together to make a dome to present. She is usually good with her flavors and that often saves her when the presentation isn't the greatest, but having the judges describe her cake as sickly sweet made me worry for her.

Dan's giant peach with peach mousse, jaconde, hazelnut biscuits, honey and vanilla poached peaches, and caramel sauce sounded so good. I love peach though so I'm biased.

Jon's ballet cake with white chocolate ganache, raspberry ganache, and kirsch syrup was not the most beautiful ballet design I've ever seen, but I totally appreciated the combined effort of drawing all the ballet figures on his sphere plus the actual tutu and pointe shoes. The sphere melted nicely and the flavors sounded delicious. Jon was so sweet to help make Ruby's chocolate sauce after her sphere broke.

Kim-Joy's galaxy ball with choux turtles and the salted caramel sauce was pretty and it looked different from everyone else's which is always a good thing. THe outer sphere melted very nicely and the little turtles piled up inside looked so great.

Manon's renaissance entremet with white chocolate mousse, raspberry curd, dark chocolate praline, and crème anglaise looked so elegant and beautiful. Her sphere melted beautifully too. The cake sounded delicious. I'm glad she did so well after coming in last for the technical challenge.

Karen's château de chambord framboise with chocolate brownie, mascarpone, raspberry syllabub, and raspberry liqueur coulis looked nice. I thought she was very brave to cut those holes in her sphere. I would have been afraid that I'd break the chocolate. I wasn't sure if that would be enough to save her because she had a pretty bad week.

Rahul's kalash dome with coffee and chocolate opera cake and coffee crème anglaise sounded delicious but I knew he would have trouble getting the chocolate to melt when I saw how thickly he was painting the chocolate dome onto his balloons. Poor guy. He was practically in tears while Paul tasted his cake.

I know the bakers were relieved that no one was eliminated this week, but they're going to be so stressed next week about the possibility of having a double elimination.

[Corgi-ears]

11 hours ago, Rinaldo said:

Is the kind of "globed" dessert they made for the Showstopper a thing that readers here have heard of or seen? It was entirely new to me, and seemed like a real stretch.

The home cooks on Masterchef Australia have made this -- though usually smaller versions -- quite a bit in the last few seasons.

 

17 hours ago, Ceindreadh said:

I absolutely loved Kim Joy’s little turtles.

They were hilarious, especially when if you believe, as I do, that Kim-Joy was nerdy illustrating the saying, "turtles all the way down."

Right before they announced the results, the editors showed Briony and Ruby holding hands...

...and then from there they cut to Ruby saying, "My hands are clammy, I'm sorry." I mean, I can be forgiven for thinking, on Briony's behalf, "at least you've got two hands," right? No? Fine. I was heading to hell anyway.

[Athena]

I love that on this show melting chocolate is both a suspenseful moment that the contestants want to happen (melt, sphere, melt) and not happen (poor Briony).

Yay for Dan. He's been so close to Star Baker and he was really good this week. I like how he's got a very calm manner when baking as well. It seems the men are really the most consistent so far and there are several contenders with Rahul, John, and Dan being the three to beat each week. Each have delivered in flavour and John is quite good at technicals.

Rahul drinking that glass of milk was really funny as well. I think he's getting a similar arc to Nadiya actually. She didn't have a lot of confidence but gained most of it from the competition.

I love Noel. He is so sweet on this show. I watched him be really biting and scathing on Nevermind the Buzzcocks for years so it's great this show reveals his kinder side.

 

22 hours ago, Ceindreadh said:

That was weird, just after the showstopper, they showed about two seconds of the bakers on their stools for the results scene.

I noticed that too. Some editor must have goofed but they probably caught it by now ahead of reruns.

 

5 hours ago, Corgi-ears said:

The home cooks on Masterchef Australia have made this -- though usually smaller versions -- quite a bit in the last few seasons.

Yes, they show up on other food competition shows as well and I've seen one in a fine dining restaurant. It's usually small and part of a tasting menu so the pastry chef can make them in advance based on reservations.

[Occasional Hope]

Loved Jon this week.  The guys generally seem to be stronger atm.

 

I still can't quite warm to Dan - he probably meant his "no cheating" to Ruby to be joky but it came across a bit nasty.

[halopub]

20 hours ago, Danny Franks said:

--

Kim-Joy's turtles were cool, but I just can't warm to her. I find her too determinedly quirky and off-beat.

I wish John had won star baker. There's something so sweet about a big, burly bloke who gets into girly things because he has daughters.

Kind of a cheat to keep everyone, but maybe they just couldn't decide between Karen and Briony. I guess it feels good to them all now, but they'll regret it next week, when two of them might be for the chop. Briony summed up my view on the dramatic delay before the announcement.

I agree with you about Kim-Joy. Some viewers adore her, though.

Plus he was amazing to help make Ruby's chocolate sauce.

I've got a soft spot for Briony and would have totally been okay with Karen leaving. But yeah, Terry saved them both this week.

What was chasing Noel? A yeti? A wolf man? It didn't look hairy enough to be a Wookiee. 

[Amarsir]

18 hours ago, Rinaldo said:

Is the kind of "globed" dessert they made for the Showstopper a thing that readers here have heard of or seen? It was entirely new to me, and seemed like a real stretch. But they all seemed prepared to deal with it technically (I wonder if they were provided the molds in advance).

I've seen it over ice cream plenty of times. Over a baked dessert, especially a complex-on-its-own opera cake, not so much.

What's new to me is a meringue roulade. It's hard enough to roll sponge and meringue cracks if you look at it funny. If you can pull it off, fantastic. But to me it seems that outside of a banking competition I would always choose something less perilous.

Edited September 19, 2018 by Amarsir

[Rinaldo]

6 hours ago, Corgi-ears said:

Joy was nerdy illustrating the saying, "turtles all the way down."

This is a saying?? What does it mean?

3 hours ago, Occasional Hope said:

Dan - he probably meant his "no cheating" to Ruby to be joky but it came across a bit nasty.

Not to me. The bakers often joke with each other about "cheating" during the Technical, because the idea is so clearly ridiculous when used for something as simple and unavoidable as casting a glance around the tent.

[Occasional Hope]

Oh, I fully admit he didn't mean it that way.  But It looked like Ruby didn't appreciate it.  Tonal awkwardness, if you like.

I've seen meringue roulades before.  But never an uncracked one.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

7 hours ago, Corgi-ears said:

They were hilarious, especially when if you believe, as I do, that Kim-Joy was nerdy illustrating the saying, "turtles all the way down."

 

48 minutes ago, Rinaldo said:

This is a saying?? What does it mean?

It’s an expression and the title of a recent bestseller by a John Green (author of The Fault in Our Stars). The book is being turned into a movie so if it’s as successful as TFIOS (which made over $300 million), expect to hear “Turtles All the Way Down” a lot in the near future!

[ShortyMac]

Rahul is adorable. His coffee/chocolate opera cake, one of my favorite flavor combinations...his coffee buttercream looked fabulous. I need it.

Kim-Joy's galaxy sphere and space turtles. So great. :D

[TVbitch]

I loved the space turtles too. And I've seen a LOT of those domes on Masterchef Australia!

This is my favorite blancmange. :)

[ElectricBoogaloo]

9 hours ago, Athena said:

Rahul drinking that glass of milk was really funny as well. I think he's getting a similar arc to Nadiya actually. She didn't have a lot of confidence but gained most of it from the competition.

Please to enjoy (side note: because I watched Pretty Little Liars, I now think of sipping milk as a creepy Ian thing, but Rahul was so cute when he did it!)

 

On 9/18/2018 at 3:03 PM, Ceindreadh said:

I also may have squeed out loud at the little duckling in the water!

[rhys]

My son has 3 daughters 2 of whom are in ballet. I can so see him doing exactly what Jon did. So c!ever & hilarious& a great way to honor one's ballerinas!

[Danny Franks]

16 hours ago, Occasional Hope said:

Oh, I fully admit he didn't mean it that way.  But It looked like Ruby didn't appreciate it.  Tonal awkwardness, if you like.

I've seen meringue roulades before.  But never an uncracked one.

I think Dan has had a couple of moments of tonal awkwardness, so far. He seemed less jokey about Rahul beating him to star baker than I'd like, and I feel he gives off an air of competitiveness that clashes with the general feel of the show. He seems nice enough, but there's something about him I don't find completely genuine.

[Lois Sandborne]

On 9/18/2018 at 10:25 PM, Rinaldo said:

Is the kind of "globed" dessert they made for the Showstopper a thing that readers here have heard of or seen? It was entirely new to me, and seemed like a real stretch. But they all seemed prepared to deal with it technically (I wonder if they were provided the molds in advance).

It's big on Instagram; I've seen that sort of thing shared in links. I don't know if that means pastry chefs started it and people began copying it at home, or what, but I thought it was a strange challenge as well.  I've never seen it in an actual dining environment though.  Next week's showstopper seems like more of the same with the gravity-defying angle.

I don't know why, but I keep falling asleep on the episodes.  I had to watch this one in three sessions.  Dan is really growing on me.  I liked his snarking to Ruby about her peeking at his station, and I tend to want to eat what he makes.  I like Jon's style, but he lost me pairing lovely passion fruit with white chocolate.  I love Ruby's personality, and Rahul in general.

Kim-Joy hasn't done much for me since her very first signature with the pretty Earl Grey biscuits, but I absolutely loved her globe with turtles all the way down.  I'm pretty sure that's what she was referencing (Earth + chock full o' turtles = what else?), but either way that's what I thought of too.  The sphere itself looked extremely cool with the painted design, and the turtles were adorable.

I don't think I've ever heard the word blancmange said aloud before, so there's that.  I know I've never wanted to make it, and this technical didn't quite spur me on.  Milky jello ... doesn't quite appeal.  But then there is panna cotta, so I don't know why blancmange feels so much more wrong.  Does anybody here know and love it?  Or know it, at least?

[rhys]

7 hours ago, Lois Sandborne said:

 

Kim-Joy hasn't done much for me since her very first signature with the pretty Earl Grey biscuits, but I absolutely loved her globe with turtles all the way down.  I'm pretty sure that's what she was referencing (Earth + chock full o' turtles = what else?), but either way that's what I thought of too.  The sphere itself looked extremely cool with the painted design, and the turtles were adorable.

 

Well I must be 12 because i thought " all the way down" meant that she painted genitalia on all the twee turtles.

[Danny Franks]

I thought she might be making a Discworld reference, with the space turtle. But she never clarified it, and the end result was nothing like Great A'Tuin

[halopub]

@Danny Franks In response to the question of whether it was an intended reference to Terry Pratchett, Kim-Joy tweeted:

Quote

Sooo many people have said that! I’ve only read the reaper man (and really enjoyed it)! It wasn’t a conscious decision but I’m wondering if Pratchett got into my unconscious somehow! Xx

Edited September 22, 2018 by halopub
added ref

[Writing Wrongs]

On 9/19/2018 at 10:26 AM, Corgi-ears said:

I mean, I can be forgiven for thinking, on Briony's behalf, "at least you've got two hands," right? No? Fine. I was heading to hell anyway.

It wasn't until this episode that I noticed her hand.

I laughed at Prue's snarky "Do you not understand what a sphere is?" to Ruby.

[rhys]

Former college worker here. I used to work with students who had disabilities. Some needed additional time for exams so I've been wondering if Briony gets an extra 5 or 10 minutes, for example, to complete her bake. Anyone know?

[Sharpie66]

I only knew about beef roulade and had no idea it could be sweet. 

I wonder if Briony had help flipping over her blancmouge?

Blancmouge just makes me think of the Monty Python episode where the blancmouge plays Wimbledon. The raspberry one looks delicious. 

What the hell was chasing Noel?!?

Jon was terrific for helping Ruby! I really felt for her and Briony. Manon was so kind comforting her. 

Jon’s presentation was hilarious with the tutu and toe shoes.

Rahul’s cake was gorgeous, but too bad it didn’t melt. Manon’s was also beautiful. And Kim-Joy pulled it off in the end!

Karen’s popped eyebrow over no one going home was really funny, and Dan’s phone call with his daughter was adorable.

(Every time I see a lamb on this show, my first reaction is “Aww, cute!” And the second is, “Yum! Can I have some on my plate now, please?”)

[GaT]

Those globes desserts were tough, I've never seen anything like them.

I was pretty sure they weren't going to eliminate anybody with Terry gone

On 9/18/2018 at 3:29 PM, Danny Franks said:

Kim-Joy's turtles were cool, but I just can't warm to her. I find her too determinedly quirky and off-beat.

 Yeah, I just don't like her.

[AZChristian]

6 hours ago, GaT said:

Those globes desserts were tough, I've never seen anything like them.

As I often do while watching episodes, I was googling.  During this episode is was:  restaurants with melting chocolate sphere desserts near me.

Nada.

[cherrypj]

I loved this episode. It was just so well done. Humorous, great baking (blancmange excepted--yuk!), superb editing, plenty of Hollywood Handshakes. Just an absolute smile on your face episode. 

[theatremouse]

On 11/10/2018 at 11:09 PM, GaT said:

Those globes desserts were tough, I've never seen anything like them.

The other times I've seen them, they were much smaller, basically single serving.

[Quilt Fairy]

On ‎9‎/‎25‎/‎2018 at 1:04 PM, Writing Wrongs said:

I laughed at Prue's snarky "Do you not understand what a sphere is?" to Ruby.

I did not get snarky from Prue's comment at all, more just plain mean.  In fact, this was the first time I've understood why some people originally thought she wouldn't fit in with the show's vibe.

[dleighg]

That blancmange made me think of a strange dessert that was popular (at least in my family) back in the 70s. It came from a box and sort of made a three layer raspberry dessert "all by itself". 

It was called Jell-O 123 LOL https://food52.com/blog/18270-in-1969-kraft-forcefully-split-its-jell-o-into-three-layers

[jcbrown]

On 9/18/2018 at 3:29 PM, Danny Franks said:

Rahul, for the love of god, enjoy yourself! He seems to feel pressure so intensely, I thought his dome not melting would reduce him to tears. Even insecure bakers in the past have enjoyed the compliments they get.

Kim-Joy's turtles were cool, but I just can't warm to her. I find her too determinedly quirky and off-beat.

Yeah, Rahul is going to die of a heart attack if he stays at this ratcheted-up level of anxiety.

I agree about Kim-Joy. She seems competent and she seems nice but I almost can't stand to look at her because her style is so unattractive. I think "determinedly quirky" is a perfect description.

On 9/18/2018 at 8:25 PM, Rinaldo said:

Is the kind of "globed" dessert they made for the Showstopper a thing that readers here have heard of or seen? It was entirely new to me, and seemed like a real stretch. But they all seemed prepared to deal with it technically (I wonder if they were provided the molds in advance).

For me blancmange is a Monty Python joke.

I've had single-serving versions of a dessert with a chocolate globe before, at a high-end steakhouse near me (San Francisco Bay Area here). Pretty cool.

Blancmange is absolutely a Monty Python skit to me.

On 9/21/2018 at 5:24 PM, Danny Franks said:

I thought she might be making a Discworld reference, with the space turtle. But she never clarified it, and the end result was nothing like Great A'Tuin

I thought the same!

I am loving that Netflix is airing this close to real time. Such a great show.

[illdoc]

On 11/14/2018 at 2:39 PM, dleighg said:

strange dessert that was popular (at least in my family) back in the 70s. It came from a box and sort of made a three layer raspberry dessert "all by itself".

Loved Jell-O 123! Was around for a while (called "Rainbow 123" then), then disappeared for about 15 years, came back in the 90s (called "Jell-O 123"), was around for a while, then disappeared and hasn't been back since. They didn't have quite the same varieties in the 70s than the 90s. My mother actually has a recipe book called "The Joy of Jell-O", which has Jell-O based recipes in it, including making "Jell-O 123". It involves crushed ice, I think.

[Dots And Stripes]

It took me a little while to warm to Kim-Joy, but I am 100% sold after the space turtles. It was so strange, but also cute and something no one else there would do. 

[ABay]

On 9/25/2018 at 2:04 PM, Writing Wrongs said:

It wasn't until this episode that I noticed her hand.

You're ahead of me because I never noticed and had no idea until reading these posts that there was anything wrong with one of her hands. And I still don't know what's wrong.

[Writing Wrongs]

One is deformed or tiny or something.

Edited November 19, 2018 by Writing Wrongs

[dleighg]

Her left hand more or less stops at the wrist, though she has a thumb.

[rejnel]

On 9/19/2018 at 4:13 AM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

when I was 12, I made an ice cream roll cake and I remember what a pain in the ass it was to roll up

I swear it gets easier. By your second or third roll-up cake, it's way less tricky. Some of that has to do with confidence, I think. I've made a lot of rolls and buche de noels over the years, and as long as I charge ahead and don't look scared, all goes well!

The GBBO culture makes me happy. "Terry is not here this weekend because he's poorly." Realistically, Terry's probably sick as a dog if he's missing a weekend of bakes, but it's so much nicer to say he's "poorly."

On 11/13/2018 at 9:10 PM, theatremouse said:

The other times I've seen them, they were much smaller, basically single serving.

I could convince myself to try that! Even a bunch of them for a bunch of people. But I'd find the one big sphere intimidating! A little crack and you're sunk!

 

On 9/19/2018 at 11:35 AM, Athena said:

there are several contenders with Rahul, John, and Dan being the three to beat each week

That's what I'm thinking too. If John or Dan falls out, there are several at the next tier right now, but nobody I'd want to bet on.

If Rahul gets eliminated before the finals, I will be very sad.

On 11/14/2018 at 12:39 PM, dleighg said:

It came from a box and sort of made a three layer raspberry dessert "all by itself". 

It was called Jell-O 123.

I was and remain obsessed with it.

[MisterGlass]

Really enjoyed this one.  Jon is winning my fan vote.  I feel empathy for Rahul, because I would also be on edge all the time in something like this.

A rolled meringue seems unnecessarily failure prone.

I've never seen a chocolate dome reveal dessert.  I notice some of the bakers had a technique with pouring the hot sauce in lines to melt the dome in big pieces that fell away. 

I loved Kim Joy's little turtle dome concept.  She is sweet, and I'm warming to her.  Suddenly this episode she reminded me of Janice the Muppet.

[stillshimpy]

On 11/13/2018 at 9:43 PM, Quilt Fairy said:

I did not get snarky from Prue's comment at all, more just plain mean.  In fact, this was the first time I've understood why some people originally thought she wouldn't fit in with the show's vibe.

 

It was mean enough that I came here to see what other people thought of it.  Damn, poor Ruby is standing there nearly in fucking tears and that's what Pru thought was appropriate to say.  Yikes.  It felt out of place, unkind and unnecessary to me but I'm not liking Pru and it isn't just because I miss Mary. 

On 11/14/2018 at 12:39 PM, dleighg said:

That blancmange made me think of a strange dessert that was popular (at least in my family) back in the 70s. It came from a box and sort of made a three layer raspberry dessert "all by itself". 

It was called Jell-O 123 LOL https://food52.com/blog/18270-in-1969-kraft-forcefully-split-its-jell-o-into-three-layers

Someone donated a box of that to a food pantry where I volunteered in Colorado back in 2010.  There was no expiration date and we had to look up the last time it was manufactured which was in the 1990s.   We did pitch it, obviously, but it was an oddly beloved thing, we had a group of people standing around enthusiastically pining for the fun of the desserts of yore. 

I like all the contestants.  I like the challenges, but I really don't understand Pru as a choice for this show.  

Edited November 25, 2018 by stillshimpy

[chaifan]

I wish Ruby could pull Rahul aside and give him some confidence lessons.  His bakes are amazing but he looks like he just wants to hide in a cabinet. 

I will admit, I didn't miss Terry at all this episode. 

I really want to try making a chocolate dome.  Has anyone done this and have some first hand experience to share? 

[Ilovepie]

I am not enjoying this group of bakers as much as last season, and unfortunately the two bakers I was enjoying the most are already gone (Antony and Luke). I guess I am routing for Jon, or maybe Manon at this point. I thought Manon’s Showstopper was beautiful. I wish she was more consistent.

[AllAboutMBTV]

To me, blancmange = The Jewel in the Crown. Sarah Layton asks Guy Perron to her family's for dinner and apologizes in advance for dessert being blancmange, which they both refer to as "shape." When the excellent television version came out I finally learned how blancmange was pronounced. (And if memory serves, the "shape" on JitC was white, bowl-shaped and wobbly.)

[AmandaPanda]

I can't warm up to Dan for some reason. There's just something about him I don't like. Kim-Joy reminds me of my former best friend who was super into kawaii culture, so I have an irrational hatred of her. I loved her galaxy sphere concept and the turtles. I just don't like her and it's not even about her. 

I'm ready for Karen to leave. She's skating by each week and I don't like how she argues back with Paul and Prue every time. Agree that Prue's comment about the sphere to Ruby was unjustifiably bitchy. 

Rahul remains my favorite. I, too, am a ball of constant anxiety, so I can empathize with him. I also really like Briony, even though I'm expecting her to be gone soon. 

[meep.meep]

On 9/18/2018 at 8:25 PM, Rinaldo said:

For me blancmange is a Monty Python joke.

Thank goodness those weren't bright pink!  I'd hate to see one of Prue's blancmanges competing at Wimbledon.

[Deskisamess]

The chocolate sphere thing would be a cool gender reveal for expectant parents.  When our neice did her baby's gender reveal, she and her husband didn't even know the outcome. She had a friend who knew the ultrasound result, (they both work as ultrasound techs at a hospital) bake and decorate the cake they used. Until they plunged their hands into the cake, they didn't know yet that they were having a boy.

[kirklandia]

When I saw Kim-Joy's showstopper, I thought of "The Earth on Turtle's Back", a Native American creation story.  

I believe there are variations in the cosmology of other cultures as well.  

Edited December 1, 2018 by kirklandia
Trying to get the spacing right.

[theajw]

I'm Native American, and yes, turtles are a big part of our culture.  I'm cat-obsessed, so Kim-Joy is my favorite.  She looks like she could be a character in Scott Pilgrim's League of Evil Exes.

I was a huge fan of the band Blancmange in the 1980s, which is my only context for the food.

[snarktini]

I was surprised when Kim Joy said it came solely from her imagination, when there are multiple mythological and pop culture references to the turtles + planet. It's of course reasonable that she didn't consciously remember them, I just expected her to have a story!

Manon's sphere was so lovely. And her lipstick game is strong!

While I don't mind Sandy or Noel, I honestly don't think I'd notice if they weren't there.