Great British Bake Off: Series Five Episode Two Recap

It’s bake off time!! And it’s biscuit week. First up are savoury biscuits, (they need to go with dough, and Mary says they must snap!) so the contestants are going all out with cheesy, herby goodness! And we meet Jordan’s pet yeast, Yorick!

Diana is trying something different and using pastry dough for her biscuits… could this backfire or be a triumph? Let’s see! Meanwhile Norman is doing the polar opposite and making a plain biscuits with no flavouring at all… hmm! Which approach will win the day?

A few minutes later and the bakers are very nervously watching their ovens – the biscuits are so thin that they can overbake very quickly. Richard is up first for judging and his rosemary biscuits get a good review. He’s followed by Jordan with his slightly overbaked but tasty biscuits. Chetna, Luis, Nancy and Martha all get rave reviews, but Kate, Ian, Diana and Enwezor get a bit more constructive criticism. So how do Norman’s plain biscuits fare? Paul and Mary love them! Norman can do no wrong. He’s going to sell them for a farthing each – Norman, I’ll take a dozen!

*Food learning interlude* – time to learn about gelato! I ate my body weight in it at an amazing galeteria in Sardinia one summer…. I have no regrets! 

Back to the Bake-Off! The technical challenge this week is one of Mary’s recipe – and it’s florentines! Mary talks us through how to make a perfect one, and oh they do look divine! I’m not a fan normally but I’m sure homemade are a whole different thing… 

Florentines are made by adding fruit and nuts to a caramel dough – lots of the contestants are flummoxed by the dough and how big to make the cookies. Cue lots of nervous oven watching! Once the florentines are liberated from the ovens, there’s lots of debate on how to apply the chocolate, but there don’t appear to be any florentine disasters. 

Judging time, and Martha will surely get loads of points for her zig zagging… although her florentines are pronounced a little small. Jordan does well (hurrah!) and Mary cautions against cutting out your florentines. Ian is pronounced the worst florentine maker, followed by Norman, while Nancy and Richard come out on top! 

Showstopper time! The contestants will make a 3d biscuit scene – the Bake Off is so challenging this year! Enwezor is not making his own fondant… Mary is displeased. Martha is making a ski village scene with flavours of the mountains like hot chocolate… it sounds amazing! I can really see her winning this whole thing…

Nancy is making a hansel and gretal scene which sounds super ambitious… good luck Nancy! Ian knows he may well be getting the boot unless he pulls it out of the bag in this challenge… I reckon he’s going.

Jordan time! He’s making a monster scene with skyscrapers and custard and bourbon biscuits. What a cute biscuit monster! Norman has made his own cookie cutter for this challenge…. oh Norman! Uh-oh, Jordan’s biscuits are stuck to the tray. 

Oh my gosh, Enwezor is amazing! Direct quote = “I drew a dinosaur for my daughter and it was so awful she started crying.”

 Judging time! Ian has seemingly saved himself from elimination with his horsey scene! Diana’s cake is praised for it’s construction by Mary – another fan of old fashioned baking! Next up is Richard with his pirate scene and it’s bloody bloody amazing! He’s put his building skills to good use! And it even tastes amazing – is Richard another possible winner?

Jordan is next! The monster is so adorable! Paul has issues with the tidiness of the scene, but the biscuits taste fantastic. Go #teamjordan! Chetna’s design is good but the biscuits are burnt…. 🙁

Nancy also receives lots of praise, along with Kate… and now it’s Enwezor’s turn… once again the issue of him not making the fondant comes up, as well as his biscuits being under-cooked. 

Luis’s George and the Dragon scene is absolutely incredible!  For once Paul can’t find enough good things to say… they’ve pretty much all done great this week! Norman is next and his simple approach lets him down for once… the judges feel he should have shown off more of his talents as his showstopper is a bit too simple.

Martha’s mountain top scene is beautiful (with a hanging chairlift!) and everyone loves it – go Martha!

So who is star baker and who will go home? It’s Richard bless him and he looks so chuffed! Hurrah! Enwezor is going home… the standard of the contestants this year is just so excellent that one slightly poorer week will see you go home… crazy!

Recipes from this week’s episode – 

• Norman’s Farthing Biscuits
• Pumpkin Sunflower Seed Biscuits
• Mary’s Florentine Recipe
• 3d biscuits

Are you tempted to make florentines? Who do you have pegged as an early possible winner? Meet you back here next week for bread! You know Paul will be on point!

x Kerry