S04.E01: Cake and Pastry Week

[Writing Wrongs]

9 hours ago, Adiba said:

I realize that because this show is (kind of) a spine-off from the GBBO, they have Paul Hollywood as a judge--but it is interesting to me that if an American were a judge on GBBO, a lot of people would be upset. YMMV. Why can't there be two American judges since it is the American show?

They used to have American hosts, but then the sexual harassment thing happened.

I thought it was cute how Emma asked if stuff was good or bad. She must have no baking experience at all. LOL

[Rammchick]

Paul is one of the producers of the show.  I gather that it's in his contract to be associated with as many of the renditions as possible.  He was not a part of the Canadian version, however, which just ended a month or so ago.

I loved how everyone pitched in at the end to help.  There's no monetary award for this show, so there's no reason not to help a fellow Baker.  This in and of itself is why GBBO and its offspring are so good, and so much better than other food competition shows.

That shallot tart tatin looked scrummy.  I wanted to reach through the TV to get it.

[Kohola3]

2 minutes ago, Rammchick said:

I loved how everyone pitched in at the end to help. 

That's what I love most about these - they all raced to help out when the time was winding down.  A really nice gesture from everyone.

[Rickster]

1 hour ago, Writing Wrongs said:

They used to have American hosts, but then the sexual harassment thing happened.

 

But they replaced one American judge (Iuzzini) with another one (Yard). Hollywood was in both versions, so I don’t get the point.

[jcbrown]

I will likely never go on a reality show because (among other reasons) I know I tend to have all the charisma of Al Gore when you point a camera at me. But! I am watching the first two episodes of the American version of this and so far, contestants have said they have never made flourless cake, meringue, and tarte tatin. Okay, sure, maybe if you are an average person, but you're competing on a baking show! I have made each of those things and more than once! What have you been doing?

[Brookside]

16 hours ago, Kohola3 said:

 Is onion pie even something served in the US?  I don't think technical bakes for foods unknown in this country are really fair.  Although since Paul is so disparaging of American food I can see him pulling this kind of crap.

 

Onion pie is not particularly common in the UK, and yes, it is served in the US.

Not sure why "foreign" bakes aren't fair.  It's a level playing field for the competitors.

[GaT]

I don't understand why a Spice Girl & an ex NFL player are hosting this show. Who came up with this combination? It makes absolutely no sense to me.

[2727]

1 hour ago, GaT said:

I don't understand why a Spice Girl & an ex NFL player are hosting this show. Who came up with this combination? It makes absolutely no sense to me.

Me neither. The template is set in stone at this point, but I'd prefer one host. The various combinations of folks have all been perfectly nice, but their banter and prerecorded comedy bits have never much enhanced my viewing experience.

I blame Ant and Dec.

Edited December 8, 2018 by 2727

[Rickster]

4 hours ago, Brookside said:

Onion pie is not particularly common in the UK, and yes, it is served in the US.

Not sure why "foreign" bakes aren't fair.  It's a level playing field for the competitors.

Pretty sure I can remember some headscratching over some foreign bakes in the UK version technicals. This one was pretty straightforward too. They “should” all know how to make a rough puff pastry and a fruit tarte tatin. You’re just replacing fruit with shallots. Not really foreign.

[dleighg]

49 minutes ago, Rickster said:

Pretty sure I can remember some headscratching over some foreign bakes in the UK version technicals.

absolutely. Like that zillion-layer pancake thing? 

On 12/7/2018 at 12:59 AM, mlp said:

I was relieved that the woman with the ridiculous hair and tattoos was eliminated first.  I didn't relish having to look at her for weeks.  

I am relieved to be reading this before I'm finished watching! Her hair is way way too much. And I'm pretty accepting of oddly colored hair in general.

[Rickster]

56 minutes ago, dleighg said:

absolutely. Like that zillion-layer pancake thing? 

I have a vague recollection of an obscure bread or pastry from Cyprus that only Paul had ever heard of.

[dleighg]

I am now at the point when someone *correctly* pronounces "mascarpone" I have to think about whether that's right. ARGHHH!

[Brookside]

23 hours ago, Kohola3 said:

Isn't the Spice girl getting a little long in the tooth to be calling herself "Baby" anything?

I'm assuming you've heard of Babe Ruth?

[Brookside]

20 hours ago, Pickles said:

 Does it seem like all of the contestants are from NY or California? 

I imagine they have auditions in very few locations - NY, LA, Chicago?  That would explain the lack of diversity.  It's unfortunate, but logistically inevitable.  Even if you're the best baker ever  from Podunk, it's going to be hard to justify the money necessary to cover all the costs involved in going to an audition - airfare, hotel, childcare, etc.  And that's not even considering making it to the actual competition.

[Kohola3]

29 minutes ago, Brookside said:

I'm assuming you've heard of Babe Ruth?

It was the result of a joking reference to the fact that he needed a legal guardian to sign his paperwork.  He didn't adopt the name himself.

2 hours ago, dleighg said:

I am relieved to be reading this before I'm finished watching! Her hair is way way too much. And I'm pretty accepting of oddly colored hair in general.

I am not bothered by some colorful people but she a bit over the top between the hair and the tattoos.  Looked like a crayon box had exploded over her.

[Destiny74]

I actually like it when they ask for more obscure bakes.  It's an education for me as a viewer and makes me curious to see what is out there.  Google is my friend after watching an episode of TGBBS.

I'd never heard of a "tennis cake" or "princess torte" before TGBBS but they looked interesting and fun.  Not to mention the components are such that any baker who would want to be on one of these shows should know how to make the parts and piece them together to produce the final product.

That's the issue.  Who would go on a baking competition and have NEVER made a French meringue?  Whipped egg whites and sugar?  Really?  Even if some have been weepy and runny, I've made it.  Pavlova, meringue kisses, lemon meringue pie, some mousses, and many other  bakes require meringue.  And fourless chocolate cake?  I failed the one attempt (gooey, not baked enough) but I've tried it because I enjoy baking and was alive in the early 2000's when they were the hot new thing.  I assume the people who apply to be on this show are in that same boat with me, interested in baking and an adult.  

But, if I was to ever apply for a show like this I would totally research and bake any and everything I could imagine because I would want to be prepared.  That means boning up on bread for me because I have my two recipes that work but I know there is a ton of technique and ingredients I would need to work on.  Sure, there would be obscure bakes I've never heard of but hopefully I would know the pieces and do an ok job.  Also, I have no idea the difference between the sponges they reference but I'd know if I was baking on TV.

Then again, that's just me.

[Adiba]

3 hours ago, Rickster said:

I have a vague recollection of an obscure bread or pastry from Cyprus that only Paul had ever heard of.

Yep, Paul’s Cypriot flauonas— the bakers were scratching their heads and the flavoring was a strong “piney” smelling extract. The bakers also had to do a thing called baumkucken? They had to grill numerous layers of very thin cake. 

I don’t have a problem with obscure technicals—I think they are interesting and show who has some real baking knowledge/technique.

[irisheyes]

2 hours ago, Destiny74 said:

 Who would go on a baking competition and have NEVER made a French meringue?  Whipped egg whites and sugar?  Really?  Even if some have been weepy and runny, I've made it.  Pavlova, meringue kisses, lemon meringue pie, some mousses, and many other  bakes require meringue.  And fourless chocolate cake?  I failed the one attempt (gooey, not baked enough) but I've tried it because I enjoy baking and was alive in the early 2000's when they were the hot new thing.  I assume the people who apply to be on this show are in that same boat with me, interested in baking and an adult.  

I agree.  When the one competitor said he’d never made a meringue, I about fell over. Have you never watched GBBO?  They LOVE their meringues!  All varieties, so you better brush up on them all, and know the difference between them. Same thing with pastry. You need to know the technique for all of them and have made each type a couple of times so you’re familiar with them. 

[laredhead]

I remember several times on the GBBO, that contestants mentioned they had been practicing certain recipes for weeks at home, and that their families were sick of them.  I was thinking that the producers may give them a cheat sheet of sorts to give the contestants an idea of what will be asked of them.  I can't believe these people go into the competition totally cold.  

[Kohola3]

2 minutes ago, laredhead said:

I can't believe these people go into the competition totally cold.  

I believe they know the signature and showstoppers ahead of time.  Just not the technical.

[PrincessPurrsALot]

When shows are new I understand people not knowing what's coming.  The various country versions of this show have had many seasons.  The bakers really should get the basics down in many categories.  As the show progresses they are more and more tested on their ability to know how to do certain things without instruction - meringues, enriched doughs, choux paste, glaze, buttercream, mousse, rolled cake, puff pastry, and every damn type of meringue.  

With all that said, flourless chocolate torte with baked meringue sounds so unappealing to me.  I am not a meringue fan as it is.  Flourless chocolate tortes did have a heyday. They are making a come back for people who cannot have gluten.  

[Rinaldo]

On 12/7/2018 at 12:27 PM, rhys said:

I'm always puzzled by bakers when I hear them say: "I've never made a flourless cake (or whatever)." That is crazy to me. Practice all that shit, people, cuz you know Paul will ask you to make it.

I agree in general, but a flourless cake is enough off the beaten track that I can imagine not bothering with it while you practice your puff, meringue, choux pastry, genoise, etc. And though I'm usually the defender of the pared-down instructions in the technical challenges, in this case it felt a bit unfair not to give them guidance on how long to bake, as it is such a special thing: the ingredients for a mousse almost, but if you combine them just right and bake them this long, they'll seem like a cake. It's not surprising that hardly anybody got it close to right.

6 minutes ago, laredhead said:

I remember several times on the GBBO, that contestants mentioned they had been practicing certain recipes for weeks at home, and that their families were sick of them.  I was thinking that the producers may give them a cheat sheet of sorts to give the contestants an idea of what will be asked of them.  I can't believe these people go into the competition totally cold.  

It's way more than a cheat sheet -- before Day 1 of the competition (as @Kohola3 rightly said) they all know exactly what all the Signature and Showstopper challenges are going to be, have decided what they were going to make for each, and have submitted their lists of needed ingredients. Only the Technical is a surprise.

[illdoc]

11 hours ago, GaT said:

I don't understand why a Spice Girl & an ex NFL player are hosting this show. Who came up with this combination? It makes absolutely no sense to me.

The only reason is because "Spice" is in their names (Spice Girl and Anthony "Spice" whatever the heck his last name is). The one the Spice Girl replaced from last season also had "spice" or "curry" or something like that in her name. That's it...the only reason. At least the first year (like in the British version), they had a "comedy team" (Nia Valadaris (however it's spelled) from My Big Fat Greek Wedding and her husband Ian Gomez).

[dleighg]

4 minutes ago, illdoc said:

The one the Spice Girl replaced from last season also had "spice" or "curry" or something like that in her name.

oh, right, wasn't she Steph Curry's (the basketball player) wife?

[meep.meep]

Ayesha Curry, Steph's wife, who has at least one show on the Food Network.  

[Brookside]

5 hours ago, illdoc said:

The only reason is because "Spice" is in their names (Spice Girl and Anthony "Spice" whatever the heck his last name is). The one the Spice Girl replaced from last season also had "spice" or "curry" or something like that in her name. That's it...the only reason. At least the first year (like in the British version), they had a "comedy team" (Nia Valadaris (however it's spelled) from My Big Fat Greek Wedding and her husband Ian Gomez).

Seems like as good a reason as any, since last season's supposed comedians were about as funny as soggy bottoms.

[Reality police]

11 hours ago, Brookside said:

I imagine they have auditions in very few locations - NY, LA, Chicago?  That would explain the lack of diversity.  It's unfortunate, but logistically inevitable.  Even if you're the best baker ever  from Podunk, it's going to be hard to justify the money necessary to cover all the costs involved in going to an audition - airfare, hotel, childcare, etc.  And that's not even considering making it to the actual competition.

I was lucky when I competed in a national cooking contest that the cost was completely covered for my husband and myself. They even covered the tips at the hotel. Unfortunately I didn't win. But it was a great experience .

[Brookside]

Did the female judge describe someone's pecan pie as lacking the "woodiness" one usually expects?  What on earth does that mean?  Or did I mis-hear?  Whatever, she does nothing for me.

[Dewey Decimate]

Aw, watching all the super-boozy concoctions from that one guy had me wishing Mary Berry was there.  :(

[Rickster]

7 hours ago, Brookside said:

Did the female judge describe someone's pecan pie as lacking the "woodiness" one usually expects?  What on earth does that mean?  Or did I mis-hear?  Whatever, she does nothing for me.

She was referring to the pecan nuts themselves, not the whole pie. She thought pecans have a woody quality that was lost in however the pie was concocted.

[kj4ever]

18 hours ago, Rinaldo said:

I agree in general, but a flourless cake is enough off the beaten track that I can imagine not bothering with it while you practice your puff, meringue, choux pastry, genoise, etc. And though I'm usually the defender of the pared-down instructions in the technical challenges, in this case it felt a bit unfair not to give them guidance on how long to bake, as it is such a special thing: the ingredients for a mousse almost, but if you combine them just right and bake them this long, they'll seem like a cake. It's not surprising that hardly anybody got it close to right.

It's way more than a cheat sheet -- before Day 1 of the competition (as @Kohola3 rightly said) they all know exactly what all the Signature and Showstopper challenges are going to be, have decided what they were going to make for each, and have submitted their lists of needed ingredients. Only the Technical is a surprise.

I went down the rabbit hole on Netflix and rewatched some of the old episodes just to see if I was crazy thinking this episode was dumbed down for the Americans.  Turns out the challenges are quite alike, just the bakers put out far better product.  Yes, there were some that had bombs but each season had at least 4 or 5 rock stars from the start.

It makes me wonder about how long the American vs. British versions take to film.  I know the British show films once a week, which means the contest last at least 2 months.  I don't think many people could leave their lives totally for 2 months, let alone for a contest with no real monetary prize, so I wonder if the American version films faster.  It also would be much easier to practice at your home rather than a hotel or where ever they stay.  I wonder if that's the key to why the American version pales in comparison?

[Kohola3]

25 minutes ago, kj4ever said:

I wonder if that's the key to why the American version pales in comparison?

Good question.  The Brits go home in between so are using familiar equipment and are in their usual kitchens.  But to speed it up seems like it would be torture - and exhausting!

8 hours ago, Brookside said:

Did the female judge describe someone's pecan pie as lacking the "woodiness" one usually expects?  

The term she used that I thought was odd was "unctuous". I wonder if she meant to say scrumtious (a la Mary's "scrummy") instead.  Unctuous is certainly an inappropriate term for food!

[tobeannounced]

29 minutes ago, Kohola3 said:

The term she used that I thought was odd was "unctuous". I wonder if she meant to say scrumtious (a la Mary's "scrummy") instead.  Unctuous is certainly an inappropriate term for food!

I was always familiar with unctuous being used to describe a person, not food. But after consulting Webster's, apparently it's overly greasy food. I'm remembering her using it in a positive sense though, so it doesn't seem like she used it correctly to refer to food either. But maybe I'm misremembering.

[Kohola3]

3 minutes ago, tobeannounced said:

I'm remembering her using it in a positive sense though, so it doesn't seem like she used it correctly to refer to food either. But maybe I'm misremembering.

You are correct, she was using it as praise.  That's why it stood out to me.

[Rickster]

This might help:

Unctuous Food Meaning

[Kohola3]

Interesting.

[Corgi-ears]

On 12/8/2018 at 12:58 AM, Pickles said:

I was surprised that the first challenge was coffee cake. That is really basic. It feels like they dumb down this show compared to the British version.

Well, Judge "Unctuous" Sherry did at one point say that her technical was "deceptively difficult." Which, if my calculations are correct, means "easy."

On 12/8/2018 at 3:18 PM, GaT said:

I don't understand why a Spice Girl & an ex NFL player are hosting this show. Who came up with this combination?

They tried to get the Old Spice guy, but he was busy. 

Can we talk about the wackass ugly font they are using for the chyrons? But I did enjoy how on one occasion the editors were apparently concentrating so hard on spelling Destane's name correctly that they instead fucked up "raspberry.":

 

Edited December 9, 2018 by Corgi-ears

[Kohola3]

51 minutes ago, Corgi-ears said:

Well, Judge "Unctuous" Sherry did at one point say that her technical was "deceptively difficult." Which, if my calculations are correct, means "easy."

On 12/8/2018 at 2:18 AM, GaT said:

Well, it must have been more difficult than it appeared since only 2 of them managed to bake the cake correctly.

[Rinaldo]

4 hours ago, Kohola3 said:

Unctuous is certainly an inappropriate term for food!

I read about food more than I make it, and I've seen "unctuous" used often over the years -- perhaps most often by restaurant critics like Mimi Sheraton, to describe a desired quality of smooth, yummy richness.

"Deceptively difficult" is indeed suggestive of a double negative, but it's been said for so long that I've had to give up about it. It's one of those portmanteau phrases that combine two sentiments into one (confusingly, to my ears, but I've been overruled): it's "deceptive" and it's "unexpectedly difficult," smashed together. (Another example is the way people say "I've missed not seeing you!" as a mashup of "I've missed you" and "I haven't seen you," and there's only so many times I can inject "You mean you've missed seeing him" before becoming an asshole -- indeed, some would say I passed that point long ago.)

[Rickster]

I’m puzzled by the puzzlement over “deceptively difficult”. In my experience it means “looks like it should be easy, but is in fact quite difficult”, which is the source of the deception.

[dleighg]

15 minutes ago, Rickster said:

I’m puzzled by the puzzlement over “deceptively difficult”. In my experience it means “looks like it should be easy, but is in fact quite difficult”, which is the source of the deception.

I'm totally with you. 

[Omeletsmom]

On 12/8/2018 at 1:18 AM, GaT said:

I don't understand why a Spice Girl & an ex NFL player are hosting this show. Who came up with this combination? It makes absolutely no sense to me.

The both have spice in their names?  The other host last year was surnamed Curry.  They need to stop picking hosts on the basis of their culinary names.

I liked it overall, but it seemed so rushed.  Gotta fit those commercials in!  (I know the current iteration of the British version is on a commercial network, but I suspect they have far fewer commercials.)  At least we got to see the technical bakes!

[illdoc]

51 minutes ago, Omeletsmom said:

(I know the current iteration of the British version is on a commercial network, but I suspect they have far fewer commercials.) 

For some reason, I think it also has a longer timeslot (i.e. 1 hour, 15 (or 30) min, so they have commercials but the actual show is still an hour (watched on Netflix--runs about an hour without commercials)).

[Brookside]

6 hours ago, Rinaldo said:

I read about food more than I make it, and I've seen "unctuous" used often over the years -- perhaps most often by restaurant critics like Mimi Sheraton, to describe a desired quality of smooth, yummy richness.

"Deceptively difficult" is indeed suggestive of a double negative, but it's been said for so long that I've had to give up about it. It's one of those portmanteau phrases that combine two sentiments into one (confusingly, to my ears, but I've been overruled): it's "deceptive" and it's "unexpectedly difficult," smashed together. (Another example is the way people say "I've missed not seeing you!" as a mashup of "I've missed you" and "I haven't seen you," and there's only so many times I can inject "You mean you've missed seeing him" before becoming an asshole -- indeed, some would say I passed that point long ago.)

If we're going to be picky about language, I suspect you mean "interject" not "inject".  And since you and I are going there, it's "there are only so many times", not "there's".

Edited December 9, 2018 by Brookside

[Rinaldo]

OK, I'm out.

[dgpolo]

On 12/8/2018 at 7:33 AM, Kohola3 said:

He didn't adopt the name himself.

Neither did she. She was given the name Baby Spice when she became part of the Spice Girls (which she joined when she was much older than an infant). She will be 'Baby Spice' until she dies, no matter how old she gets. (unless she gets really famous for some other role, like being the wife of a super famous soccer player)

I also thought most of these bakers made a pretty poor showing, I believe it was posited in an earlier forum that because the contestants had to fly overseas for a significant amount of time, other, perhaps better bakers couldn't make that commitment.

[Irlandesa]

15 hours ago, kj4ever said:

It makes me wonder about how long the American vs. British versions take to film.  I know the British show films once a week, which means the contest last at least 2 months.  I don't think many people could leave their lives totally for 2 months, let alone for a contest with no real monetary prize, so I wonder if the American version films faster.  It also would be much easier to practice at your home rather than a hotel or where ever they stay.  I wonder if that's the key to why the American version pales in comparison?

That has always been my theory.  For GBBO, not only do they get to go back to their lives midweek but they can spend that time practicing for the next week's challenge. They only need to focus on one week at a time. From what I recall, the US folks also get a list of the signatures and showstoppers but their practice time is limited to before they leave and maybe a little bit of time before each round. They do need to be able to give up their lives for about a month.  That's not uncommon with many US shows but for some reason, the dropout rate on this show has been kind of high.

I always wonder what it would be like for this show to do something similar to GBBO.  I get that the UK is much smaller than the US but perhaps they could do something regional.  For instance, a season filmed in NYC could pull people from the East Coast who could either get there by train or a quick plane ride.

 

13 hours ago, Corgi-ears said:

Can we talk about the wackass ugly font they are using for the chyrons? But I did enjoy how on one occasion the editors were apparently concentrating so hard on spelling Destane's name correctly that they instead fucked up "raspberry.":

 

I noticed the weird font too but good catch on raspberry.

I see what people were saying about Paul Hollywood being a bit weird this season.  It's like he's going through the motions trying to get into the groove but he's not quite there yet. I don't get why it's so hard for this show to find judges.  The GBBO managed to do it twice. I do like Sherry as a judge, though.

Edited December 10, 2018 by Irlandesa

[proserpina65]

On ‎12‎/‎07‎/‎2018 at 2:32 AM, Brookside said:

I had to look up Sherry Yard since I'd never seen/heard of her.  I hope she grows on me.

Neither had I.  And I was not impressed with her flourless chocolate cake recipe.  The meringue was three times as high as the cake.  I've made a flourless chocolate hazelnut torta which rises has high as the cake + meringue on this episode.

[proserpina65]

On ‎12‎/‎07‎/‎2018 at 8:19 AM, Kohola3 said:

I was thinking the same thing.  Is onion pie even something served in the US?  I don't think technical bakes for foods unknown in this country are really fair.  Although since Paul is so disparaging of American food I can see him pulling this kind of crap.

Cooking shallots and making flaky pastry is something American bakers are capable of knowing.  It's not some special British thing.

 

On ‎12‎/‎07‎/‎2018 at 9:14 AM, Kohola3 said:

I think they have done eclairs more than once.

Yes, but usually they're more complicated than just "make two kinds of eclairs".  Personally I want to see them try to make nuns out of those eclairs.

 

On ‎12‎/‎07‎/‎2018 at 9:35 AM, Adiba said:

They have done eclairs in GBBO, as well as other choux pastry--such as the "nun" thing which is basically two cream puffs and a glaze.

The nun was more than just two cream puffs -  it was a tower of eclairs.

 

On ‎12‎/‎07‎/‎2018 at 2:04 PM, Kohola3 said:

Absolutely. Paul is clearly not enjoying it and surely there is an American of Mary Berry's caliber to fill his spot.  Why does it even have to be a man and a woman? 

I've never seen an American baking personality of her caliber.

[proserpina65]

On ‎12‎/‎09‎/‎2018 at 7:24 AM, Rickster said:

She was referring to the pecan nuts themselves, not the whole pie. She thought pecans have a woody quality that was lost in however the pie was concocted.

Oooookay.  I would never describe pecans that way.  And I've eaten a lot of them.