S10.E01: Cake Week

[Rinaldo]

On 8/31/2019 at 1:15 PM, kittykat said:

Good technical to start with although you would think everyone would learn to memorize how to make a genoise sponge. 

Seriously. However much experience they do or don't have, everyone should know enough to have already mastered a genoise, a crème anglaise, choux pastry, the creaming and biscuit methods of combining ingredients, the most popular pie crusts, and a few other fundamentals like that. Not only will they want them for their Signatures and Showstoppers, but they're the building blocks for the Technicals. The ones who consistently find that the given time is sufficient are the ones who can do those techniques without stopping to think about it.

[Sharpie66]

1 hour ago, Rinaldo said:

Seriously. However much experience they do or don't have, everyone should know enough to have already mastered a genoise, a crème anglaise, choux pastry, the creaming and biscuit methods of combining ingredients, the most popular pie crusts, and a few other fundamentals like that. Not only will they want them for their Signatures and Showstoppers, but they're the building blocks for the Technicals. The ones who consistently find that the given time is sufficient are the ones who can do those techniques without stopping to think about it.

Yes yes yes!! I remember when Warden Paul said he had never made a genoise, and then the editor immediately cut to Nadiya saying, “Oh, I just made one last week!” Huge contrast.

[dleighg]

and know how to do (at least) a rough puff and preferably a real puff pastry. Even I've attempted a real one ... once... and I don't feel in any way qualified for this show. 

[Rinaldo]

17 hours ago, dleighg said:

and know how to do (at least) a rough puff and preferably a real puff pastry.

Absolutely. I meant to subsume this under my reference to "popular pie crusts," but your wording is better, as they don't apply just to pie. Also a hot water crust, since that seems to be a thing in the UK and its method is the opposite of most others for pastry. And the three kinds of meringue and how to make them and what the advantage of each is. The more of these that you can do pretty much on autopilot, the bigger advantage you have. And that's not even gamesmanship -- it's just good sense.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I know I'm an easy mark, but I'm all for costumes so I liked the Wizard of Oz opening. That being said, all the intro/anniversary/"this season on" segment went on way too long. Four minutes, people? Let's get to the baking!

Ugh, fruitcake is one of the few dessert things I don't like so I was not too excited about the first signature challenge. I was cracking up when Noel said six of the bakers were using family recipes. My family doesn't have a fruitcake recipe because none of us like fruitcake!

Amelia's naked Christmas cake with orange brandy soaked fruit and marzipan stars was simple but effective in the decoration. She was brave to use that tin and hope that none of the cake would stick.

Michelle's Bara Brith with tea soaked fruit, Welsh rum icing, and pecan crumble was so pretty. I loved the color of the purple and yellow flowers to brighten up all that brown. The little bee was cute too. While I love fresh eggs and I'm totally into Michelle bringing her own, I don't know if that's enough of a secret weapon. Would that really substantially change any part of her cake to be noticeable?

Steph's vintage citrus and apricot fruitcake with marzipan roses was so pretty. I loved the fan of citrus slices on top. I want to hear more about her family's classic car business!

Rosie's spicy chai tea loaf with mango, apples, and strawberries was not the fanciest looking but it still looked better than Helena's so I'm not sure why Paul said it looked sad. I'm also not sure how I feel about her proofing her dough at home in her python's vivarium.

Michael's cup of chai cake with sultanas and apricots was so pretty. I loved the henna decoration going from the cake down to the plate. He really needs to watch what he's doing or he's going to be covered in bandaids from chopping his fingers so often. He already had three cut fingers during the first challenge!

Dan's Jamaican rum cake with coffee, almond brittle, and spiced rum buttercream was very plain and amateur looking. It just had a big smear of frosting on top with a lump of something in the middle.

David's fat free fruitcake with carrot, squash, figs, and prunes looked simple but clean. I know people with all kinds of food allergies and other issues so I'm always interested in alternative cakes, especially when it comes to Paul who can be a bit close minded. I always root for bakers to prove him wrong.

Phil's spiced fruit cake with rum glaze was simple in decoration (like Amelia's) but also effective. I loved the icing down each ridge and his marzipan fruit decorations were so pretty.

Priya's sunshine fruit cake with papaya, pineapple, and mango was a bit plain looking so she was smart to add the lei and cocktail umbrellas for color which gave her presentation a very festive look. The tiny marzipan fruits were the only decorations she actually made. The rest was store bought accessories. I'm not opposed to stuff like that but I remember one Bake Off season where someone kept decorating with store bought stuff and people got annoyed with her.

Alice's gingerbread fruit wreath was a bit small but I liked the Christmas theme.

Jamie's Easte simnel cake with strawberry jam was a very cute spring idea. His execution fell a little short though. The green marzipan he used as a collar on the cake was very messy looking. The little spikes at the top were flopping over and where the ends met on the side of the cake, it was just kind slapped together rather than precisely cut and applied. When they showed a slice of the cake, it was also obvious how uneven the sides of the cake were (the side view of the marzipan looked like a wave with three bumps). But the eyeless chicks and the wreath with flowers were pretty.

Helena's spooky fruit bat cake with spiced pumpkin, maple, prunes, toasted pecans, and maple cream cheese buttercream looked like a mess. Even without the melted bat wing issue, it was looked sloppy. On a shallow note, who writes the voiceover stuff? Noel said "dried prunes" which is redundant. If it's not dried, it's a plum.

Henry's Wood Street cake was simple looking but mostly well executed. The collar that came halfway up the cake gave it a nice snowy look, as did trees on sticks. I was so sad for him when he wrecked the hut. It was so intricate and airy!

Duck sighting!

Prue's three layer angel cake slices with Italian meringue buttercream sounded interesting. I laughed when the bakers were discussing how much flavoring to add and they cut from Michelle guessing a teaspoon to Jamie guessing a cup and a half.

I'm glad that Jamie recognized he had knocked all the air out of his batter and realized he needed to make the batter again. Unfortunately, he just kept making it worse. No surprise that he came in last after leaving out one layer. Steph's looked messy but her flavors saved her and got her third. I'm glad Rosie got second to help balance how she did in the fruitcake challenge. Congratulations to Henry for winning the first technical challenge!

Edited September 17, 2019 by ElectricBoogaloo

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Showstoppers!

Michelle's Welsh fairy cake with carrot cake toadstool with orange cream cheese frosting was very sweet looking. I liked that she had so much detail, from the different shades of brown for the tree bark to the different leaves, flowers, and acorns. I loved how excited everyone was after Paul pronounced her cake faultless.

Helena's chocolate fairy garden cake was so pretty. I personally can't stand dried coconut anymore (my mom made a cake covered in it one year and ever since then I can't take the taste of it), but it looked so good - it really looked like a grassy hill. I was glad that she did well after her mess of a bat cake in the first challenge.

Priya's pop up storybook cake with chocolate orange sponge and chocolate orange buttercream looked like a homemade cake. Everything about it was very amateur from the piping she did for the tree trunk to the lumpiness of the book base. Ha, but I loved that 10 year old Priya included a copyright and ISBN number on the books she wrote.

Alice's lemon and raspberry sweet shop cake was a cute idea. I was relieved that the back part didn't fall. The frosting looked like it was too thick or dry. Something about the texture didn't seem smooth and creamy.

Phil's retro rocket cake with raspberry ripple buttercream was a nice idea but it was REALLY leaning.

Henry's Magic Faraway Tree cake with chocolate sponge and chocolate ganache was a good idea because the tree gave it a lot of height, making it seem taller and grander than just the two cakes below. I loved that he used blackberry which is not in cakes often enough!

Amelia's red velvet carousel cake with white chocolate ganache and raspberry jam was such a fun idea so I was disappointed for her when she didn't have time to put the center post in. I agreed with Prue that it was a grown up version of a carousel in terms of the colors.

Steph's dropped ice cream cake with coconut and raspberry ripple cake was a fun idea but the execution was lacking. It just looked like an upside down ice cream cone, rather than a dropped ice cream cone. There was no splat. I also didn't like all the chocolate at the end of the cone.

David's orange and chocolate python cake looked so good! I loved the precise layers of different green scales on the neck and the scales looked great. The egg with gummi worms was a fun addition. Loved that there was a nice thing layer of frosting underneath the fondant. This was my by far my favorite showstopper. Everything about it was well executed.

Rosie's red velvet jungle cake was a cute idea. I agree that it wasn't the most professional looking cake, but it wasn't terrible. Thank goodness the cake and buttercream were good!

Michael's chocolate and coffee treasure chest cake with salted caramel buttercream was an interesting idea but the gold bars looked like bricks of cheese to me. I was looking forward to the jewels so I was disappointed that didn't work out.

Dan's lime and coconut pirate island with coconut buttercream passionfruit curd and isomalt waterfall was a fun idea but having just a flat sheet of blue for the waterfall didn't work for me. Dry ice always wins people over though. I cracked up when the judges asked where the passionfruit was and he told them it was further inside so Paul gamely cut deeper to try to find it.

Jamie's salted caramel schnauzer cake was a fun idea. Once again, Jamie had to start over with his batter, this time because he forgot to add the eggs. Even though he didn't have time to finish decorating, it was still a cute dog face. But I disagree with Prue - I'd be fine with a whole slice that tasted like salted caramel!

No surprise that Michelle won star baker. She had a great week. Heh, I kind of hope we get to see a segment where Noel pretends to be her with her husband.

Jamie is lucky that Dan did so poorly. That saved him this week. I hope Jamie can pull it together. It was sad but sweet to see Jamie run off camera because he didn't want them to film him crying.

Edited September 17, 2019 by ElectricBoogaloo

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Recipes

Signature challenge
Amelia's naked Christmas cake
Phil's spiced fruit cake with rum glaze

Technical challenge
Prue's angel cake slices

Showstopper challenge
Jamie's Easter sinmel cake
Dan's pirate island cake
Helena's away with the fairies cake
Michelle's ty tylwyth teg fairy house cake
 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

History of the Christmas cake aka fruitcakes

Dan's exit interview

[Clanstarling]

On 8/27/2019 at 10:10 PM, Corgi-ears said:

Wahey! Fleabag's sister is a baker!

Spot on - much better than her husband's comment that she looked like Noel (it was her husband, right).

On 8/29/2019 at 9:18 AM, Athena said:

Dan on the other hand also didn't take it serious enough. He made a radical change on his Signature bake by doubling the fruit. I knew he would have raw cake after he admitted changing it last minute. He didn't seem to have prepared much either. 

I'm not much of a baker (a good cook - but baking's chemistry, man), but it doesn't take a baker to know that doubling the ingredients without having tested it out is the road to failure.

On 8/31/2019 at 12:56 PM, jennylauren123 said:

That was hilarious.

About the rocket: At first I thought it would be  quick take, and then the camera lingered...and lingered...went to showing him shaping another part of the phallic rocket. Definitely one of the reasons that I love this show.

I waited for a moment, thinking there'd be a comment. Then just laughed.

On 9/2/2019 at 6:36 AM, Rickster said:

I was a bit disappointed to see the dreaded (to me) rice krispy treats make their way into the Showstoppers. To me, they belong in the crazy decorating competition shows, not in a competition that highlights home bakers.

I guess they do make the mark of being edible, though I hate them and don't think they belong in a cake, whether for structural purposes or not. But to be fair, I hate fondant too.
 

On 9/2/2019 at 10:35 AM, meep.meep said:

And because I am 13 at heart, I loved the drooping rocket.

Which means (please pardon the expression - pun not quite intended) he nailed it!

I'm glad I finally made it to the current season. I've been watching the "new" (as in Prue and company) seasons on Netflix because I needed that break from reality and decided to get over my indignation regarding the changes.

One question - is it just me, or has Paul been handing out handshakes way more than he used to?

[Athena]

33 minutes ago, Clanstarling said:

One question - is it just me, or has Paul been handing out handshakes way more than he used to?

Not you. Last series had one of the highest numbers of handshakes and Paul even gave interviews where he admitted he was giving too many so he had to be watch himself. Minor spoiler for the next few episodes:

Spoiler

He's cut back. At this point midway through the season, he has only given one. 

[romantic idiot]

On 10/6/2019 at 5:56 PM, Clanstarling said:

One question - is it just me, or has Paul been handing out handshakes way more than he used to?

I remember remarking on this in the first season with the changes, but because Prue isn't as sweet as Mary, it felt to me like Paul had to be almost nicer because otherwise the atmosphere would be a little too negative and non Bakeoff like. 

Also, is it me or does the cast feel less diverse this year? Maybe I'm being paranoid.