Happy Bake-Off Tuesday and welcome to the week five GBBO recap! Previously, episodes one, two, three, and four which saw the baking wheat sorted from the chaff. This week, we’re exactly halfway through the competition and things are getting tougher. Who will bake brilliant biscuits in week five?
First this episode is a traybake – yay – I love a good traybake! Beca is making hazlenut, cherry and chocolate brownies which sound delicious – not sure we’ve had brownies on the Bake-Off before, but of course the judges are looking for an original idea and consistency across the pieces of cake. Although a traybake sounds like a simple challenge, our poor bakers have only got two hours to put together an impressive bake, and Frances and Glenn resort to trying to set their bakes in the freezer, while Beca is struggling with knowing whether her brownies are done enough to cut into slices (the eternal dilemma of the brownie baker).
Judging time is upon us! Beca, Christine and Frances all receive high praise while Glenn’s chocolate pistaschio tiffin is called grotesque by Paul as a result of them being so big (I would not complain about this). Howard’s flapjacks also receive some constructive criticism, while Ruby takes a risk by telling the judges she thinks her bakewell inspired cakes are terrible. While they (sorta) agree, she gets a more lenient reception than Ali did last week! Meanwhile Kimberley has once again done very well with her florentine topped tiffins.
Next up, and Mary has devised a devious technical challenge for the bakers this week – tuille, which are a paper thin and delicate biscuit. Our contestants face issues with the thickness, cooking time and rolling up their biscuits.
Tuille judging time, and many of the contestants biscuits are either burnt are undercooked. Christine wins the technical challenge as one of the best of a poor bunch. So who could be in trouble this week? I have a feeling that it may be Rob or Howards last week, but lets see.
The final challenge for this week is a tower of biscuits that will be stacked tall (up to 16 layers of biscuits!). Our remaining contestants are embarking on some very ambitious skyscraping desserts – and Rob is even making a dalek! Frances is making a biscuit haberdashery box – but of course! Just before judging time, disaster strikes and Frances’ biscuit tower collapses (WHY did she not put any icing between the layers?!).
Glenn does exceptionally well in the judging, while Beca gets a bit of constructive criticisim but does well too. Ruby falls down in judging again with her crumbly tower – her worst bake to date! But will she be in danger of going home? I think she’ll get a free pass due to her excellent track record.
Howard’s tea flavoured biscuit tower is delicious and Christine also receives high praise for her beautiful clock biscuit tower. Next up is Rob with his dalek which falls into the style over substance category – the dalek is fun to look at but not so good to eat. Finally its Ruby who has produced a slightly crooked, messy looking tower which wins praise from the judges – I have to say, it feels like they (especially Paul) go a little easy on Ruby… or am I just imagining it?
Christine is pronounced star baker, while Rob, who spent so long trying to figure out how to make a dalek, he never stopped to think about whether he should. So, Frances and Howard scrape through to bake another week.
Next week – beastly buns, tea loaves and another fiendish technical challenge… see you here then!
x Kerry
This weeks Great British Bake-Off Link Roundup
- All the recipes from last weeks pies and tarts episode are now up on the BBC website – Edit – and now this weeks episode too!
- Mary Berry answered baking questions on Mumsnet this week
- Is the nation in the thrall of the smutty innuendo’s of the bake off?
- Want to take your GBBO watching up a notch? Get a family pack of biscuits in and eat along with the Bake-Off!
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