On Your Marks, Get Set, Baaaaake! A Thread for Great British Baking Show / Bake Off & all of its sundry delights

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I can't read anything in this thread because I've just started the new season but Jurgen is absolutely too delicious to be true. And they know it. The specific way Neal said, "...along with his pet rabbit, Humphrey" was murderous.

Noel, sorry. I was in a rush so I didn't accidentally scroll up.

otm <3 humphrey

oh my heart… elimination sadness

jurgen’s showstopper was immaculate! and george’s too! lizzie’s looked like a hat i would def wear but sounded like not something i would eat

had seven heart attacks and died twice over crystelle’s dome. SO STRESSFULL

the twix technical challenge seemed like they either didnt allow enough time or took out a key instruction if no-one got close to what they wanted.

really would like some caramel now though for real

the Twix challenge prompted this revelation that Twix could possibly be based on a real baked good, much like Oatmeal Creme Pies and so on, and immediately got me thinking about how amazing the fresh-baked version must be.

yeah honestly had never considered scratch-baking twix

mine would turn out like george’s

They seem to have at least one a season of those kind of made-up recipes for things you buy in a shop, like wagon wheels and walnut whips! I don’t really approve of those rounds.

i quite enjoy Snackmasters, which is top chefs doing exactly this.

and oh yeah totally shared the suspense/shrieking at the screen during the sugar-dome operations. devoting a whole week to the vagaries and nightmares of caramel really pivots the show into "thriller" territory.

great episode. not really fair how much better than everyone else jurgen is tho

its just so heartwarming to think of bakers like Jurgen just baking at home for the family all their lives, and then revealed on tv to be truly, exquisitely talented - unknown to themselves, even.

its very good

absolutely. surely one of the show's best strengths is their casting team's eye for genuinely great, yet also genuinely amateur, skill. it's really touching to watch people really accept praise and get comfortable giving themselves credit for something great about themselves.

I don't like caramel, so this week my only contribution to the discourse is this:
Chigs fans: glasses, yay or nay?

yay

Glasses, yay. Plaid, double yay.

^^yes

Again I'm still behind so I can't read the whole thread but...is anyone else finding Maggie increasingly loathsome? It's been creeping up on me, but my loathing bloomed in full when she said, "Watching the show, when people cried I always thought, Buck up, it's just a baking show after all. But now that it's happening to me it's very very important and relatable."

She voted Leave, didn't she.

My god Lizzie is a treasure. She as much as just called Noel an annoying attention-starved child and in such a dryly otm way that he can't even be mad at her.

We loved the way that Paul and Prue failed to mask their lack of enthusiasm for this week's Greggs-esque technical challenge (clearly imposed from on high, and not set by Prue at all). Normally, when sampling the professionally created version ahead of the contestants' attempts, they're full of delight and wonder. This week, it was little more than a desultory contractual munch.

That aside, it was a particularly likeable week, and I didn't want anyone to go.

George looking the adorable hard man in a flight jacket in the rainy episode, so cute. Chiggs is the surprise hottie through isn't he? Especially with glasses.

Maggie: Hate. Haaaate. Why does she have no lips? Actually why doesn't Prue either???
Freya: A contemporary teen ager with the same social media accounts as ever other teenager, sure, but I liked how easy she was with being the youngest and kidding around. I would have been a frozen nightmare of nerves. When she said her mum said her dad could pick her up on Tuesday, I laugh-cried, it was so cute.

So speaking of Prue...can she not raise her arms above her waist or something? She has such an awkward way of putting food in her mouth also like her mouth doesn't open properly. Is this a manners thing?

Maggie: Hate. Haaaate. Why does she have no lips? Actually why doesn't Prue either???

some of us poor souls just don't have lips, idk what to tell you.

Oh no, I shouldn't have. Sorry, Lily. The fact that I find her awful is making things about her seem awful that are really perfectly normal. Bad habit.

No worries! I was exaggerating, anyway, though I'm sure my lips will be totally invisible by the time I'm Maggie's age.

xxpost yeah Pru is basically the epitome of mannered eating, Mary Berry used to do similarly, a dainty bird-like nibble from one side of her mouth

was a bit sad to see this weeks eliminatee go, even though i was never fully a huge fan. but that final cake was fuckin tops, just incredible

crystelle’s moment eating her chili chutney was so funny, couldnt have scripted it better

and yeah that technical was v telling, in the pre-presentation all you ever heard about was the pastry but they barely said anything about the filling. def made me crave some sausage rolls though, i might make some for dinner

I'd thought the US was getting the full seasons on Netflix, so bummed this a.m. to see I've just caught up and now am waiting for the last two episodes.

For me, as much as the growth and creativity, it's the captured moments of friendly winks and camaraderie that make this show special.

I miss Mary Berry a lot.

i've only just finally gotten used to Prue. at this point it's Matt and Paul himself who most detract.

yeah i miss her kindness towards the bakers, she had such an affinity for home bakers (also it’s been her lane for decades).

I was so sure they were going to take everybody through to the final that when they said the name, I couldn't believe it for a couple of seconds.

yeah i kinda hoped in a way too

don't know if I can bear to watch the finals w/o him tbh

looking for small positives, at least this way they get their own episode of Extra Slice and don't have to share it

but yeah, would've hated having to call that, probably the best single episode in terms of results that I've seen

Semi-final carrying on the “controversial exit” tradition

Matt didn’t even say his usual “I have the terrible task of…” which made the departure feel quite abrupt. And *spoiler* looked quite gloomy :(

thought the same trishyb!

Me too! Seemed very, very wrong but I could see from the edit of PH’s comments that one of two contestants were for the chop.

Kevin was sticking to the trishyb scenario - as I was, initially - but during the last ad break I called it right on both counts. Quite possibly the highest standard of any week I've ever seen; Chigs' signature in particular looked mouth-wateringly good.

he was billy no-handshake in round 1 which suggested he was in for it, but winning the technical you'd think would count for something

That was brutal. I mean the Freddie/Bowie debacle obvs.

Boooooooooo

What happened to judging based on the whole season, like with Lizzie?

I've been thinking about it today and it wasn't fair but I honestly don't know who should have gone instead. Chigs would have been acceptable but he had such a brilliant week. As did Chrystelle. I like the idea that all four should have gone through

otm

best episode yet — stunning exit

Chigs was the obvious one to go, imo, as the only one who actually fucked up a round. But they do always give the showstopper a ridiculously high weighting

Like Jordan, I don’t know what the hell they were doing when out of the blue they said they were judging Lizzie on the whole season. The whole criteria for their decision is less than transparent at this point.

They only judge based on the whole season when they absolutely, definitely can't decide between people based on the current week, is the impression I get. It would all be a lot clearer if they assigned points, I suppose.

It feels like, if you do really well every round, you still score lower than a contestant who has one disaster + one showstopper