FINALLY!! I have been eagerly anticipating the newest season of Great British Bake Off!!
Season 11 will be uploaded one episode at a time every Friday here is the United States , on Netflix.
A few changes have been made to the Bake Off format. They have pitched their tent in a new location (Down Hall), and each contestant will live 24/7 there in their own little bubble together. So depending on how far they make it into the competition they could be away from their families for a week or for 7 weeks!! Thats crazy!
ROUND 1- SIGNATURE BAKE. For the first bake of the new season the bakers were assigned their take on a Battenberg Cake. Traditionally Battenberg Cake is rectangular and made from 2 complementary flavors, arranged in a way to reveal a design when cut. It is then covered in Marzipan (a fondant type covering made from eggs, sugar and ground almonds) and decorated.
Prue declared Battenberg a lovely cake to start with, and is typically a marzipan lovers favorite cake (Hers included)
Paul wanted to see a smooth marzipan, start contrast in color and a punch of good flavors.
Battenberg is difficult to make, it requires a good sponge that isnt overbaked but sturdy enough to hold its shape when cut and stacked. Cake cant be too warm or too cold when it is cut either. So there is a lot to think about when making one!
DAVE- An Espresso Martini . Chocolate liquer and vodka flavored cakes
HERMINE- Chocolate and Orange cakes. In her marzipan she used orange marmalade instead of eggs.
LAURA- Raspberry Ripple and Coconut Cake
LINDA- Tribute to her deceased cousin, cake made to look like ambulance.
LOREIA- Bubble Gum and Cream Soda with BRIGHT BLUE marzipan.
LOTTIE- Rhubarb and Custard Cakes, inside is a star shaped pattern.
MAK- Lots of middle eastern flavors like ginger and orange, covered in a pistachio marzipan instead of the traditional almond.
MARC- Sour Cherry and Chocolate Walnut Cakes with rosewater Marzipan.
MARK- Turkish Bazaar inspired cake, with orange, pistachio, cardamom and pomegranate flavors.
PETER- Gluten Free dark chocolate and orange cakes with a polka dot marzipan covering.
ROWAN- Mozart inspired Magic Flute BB cake. Dark night sky marzipan covering with an intricate temple inspired cake inside.
SURA- Lemon and Orange cakes with traditional marzipan decorated with sculpted marzipan fruits.
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SO Rowan looks like he bit off more than he could chew. When he took his cakes out and started to cut, a few of them were still almost raw inside, so he resorted to putting them into the microwave to dry them out a little bit. This means he ran way behind and had to alter his temple design quite a bit.
Sura's cake completely bubbled over in the oven.
Lotties cakes were so moist she was having issues to keep her star shape looking clean and crisp.
many of the bakers were having issues frosting their layers and keeping them together, rolling their marzipan and wrapping them neatly and cleanly.
ROUND 1 JUDGEMENT:
DAVE- The coffee overpowers and Paul said it just blended the wrong way.
HERMINE- Her marzipan was delicious with the use of marmalade instead of eggs. Judged well and a pleasure to eat.
LAURA- No real distinctness in her sponges. Flavors ran together and wasnt real neat.
LINDA- overbaked and dry.
LOREIA- striking color and layers but the flavors were just too intense and overpowering. Bone Dry and too thick marzipan.
LOTTIE- Despite the messy star pattern the colors were wonderful. Her cakes tasted the same but had a good sturdy rhubarb jam.
MAC- Pistachio was overdone with the pistachio marzipan. But had a good ginger spice cake.
MARC- The decorations were too busy, and the rosewater marzipan was overdone.
MARK- Good texture.
ROWAN- Heavy Sponge, too wet. He had to go with a "deconstructed temple" since he ran out of time. But they liked the look of the marzipan covering.
PETER - Very Neat. Lovely Texture. Gluten Free flours tend to make great sponge. Great and Well Done.
SURA- Really pretty and neat, good texture and a really lovely piece of cake.
TECHNICAL CHALLENGE: 6 identical Pineapple Upside Down mini cakes.
Light buttery cakes with a perfect caramel, topped with a pineapple ring, maraschino cherry and whipped cream.
Get the caramel too dark it can become bitter and can make the sponge too hard to get out of the tin. Too much caramel the sponge wont rise, too little the sponge wont have flavor.
POOR LINDA... Her syrup was dark, and she put in too much syrup n her tins so her poor little cakes wouldnt rise, then she had to piece them together at the end.
the last few minutes of the challenge everyone was furiously fanning their bakes with their cookie sheets, pacing and saying things like "oh dear". Everyone had hot cakes and many had issues with their whipped cream melting and falling off.
POOR MARK!! As sura put her cakes on the table she went to shoo a fly and knocked into Mark, dropping all but 2 of his cakes. WHOOPSIE!! She felt so bad she was crying. But they told Paul and Prue what happened so they were able to judge his 2 standing cakes, picking the best one.
JUDGEMENT:
12: Linda (didnt rise, not properly cooked, patchworked together, too much caramel)
11. Marc- (Very dark, stuck in tin and bitter)
10. Loreia (too light)
9. Dave (just OK)
8. Mak (problem with heat. doughy)
7. Mark (over-caramelized but nice height)
6. Laura ( Dark in Places)
5. Hermine (Nice and light. well balanced. good flavor)
4. Lottie ( Neat and uniform)
3. Rowan (Neat, nice color, nice cake)
2. Peter (Good color, good caramel, good piping)
1. Sura (Well balanced, lovely)
SO FAR LOREIA, MARC AND LINDA ARE IN BOTTOM THREE(Per paul and prue)
SHOWSTOPPER CHALLENGE. Cake Bust made to look like their personal celebrity hero. Needs to be made and sculpted from cake and decorated with a fondant or icing. Cake needs to be well baked but have good structure to withstand the weight and pressure. Also needs to have good internal structure to hold the cakes up. Prue says too much frosting is a no-no it can make the cake too sweet.
DAVE- Tom DeLonge . Dark chocolate and Mint.
HERMINE- Lupita Nyong'o. Chocolate and Coffee
LAURA- Freddie Mercury. Lemon and Elderflower
LINDA- Bob Marley. Lemon and Orange
LOREIA- Louise Bennett-Coverley. Chocolate and Chili
LOTTIE- Louis Theroux. Coconut
MAK- Bill Bryson. Lemon and Madeira
MARC- David Bowie as Ziggy Stardust. Chocolate.
MARK- Charles Darwin. Ginger spice with coconut buttercream
PETER- Sir Chris Hoy.
ROWAN- Marie Antoinette. Chocolate and cherry with choux buns for hair.
SURA- David Attenborough. Coconut with raspberry buttercream.
Poor Rowan. Another overpromise. Choux buns were a total bust so he had to improvise on her hair.
Lottie made a skull head and then covered it with fondant and sculpted, making a much more realistic looking cake.
Hermine sculpting looks ridiculous, but her fondant work on Lupitas dress is legit.
Freddie Mercury is losing his head and has beaver teeth. Laura is having a hard time keeping his head upright.
David Attenborough fell over, so Sura propped him up on a roll of frosting bags, so it looks like a travel pillow.
JUDGEMENT:
DAVE: Toothpaste and chemical taste from the mint. "Let yourself down on texture and flavor"
HERMINE: Chocolate cake is amazing, fondat on dress looks real. Face not so much.
LAURA: giggled at poor Freddie's head. But very moist and delicious and Paul loved the flavor.
LINDA: Delicious, and all the elements of a good sponge. Citrus with lemon curd is delicious.
LOREIA: Doesnt really look like her, and chili is overwhelming the chocolate.
LOTTIE: Recognizable, good flavors but overbaked.
MAK: Lovely flavors but very dry
MARC: Does NOT look like Ziggy. Dense and overbaked but great flavor.
MARK: Well baked, well done.
PETER: excellent. Spot on. great concept, witty and well done.
ROWAN: Pauls advice "Say less, do more" Lovely cherry flavor, tasty cake"
SURA: Good flavor and texture.
STAR BAKER: Peter wins star baker this week with a good signature, 2nd in technical and a spot on show stopper.
GOING HOME: Loreia. Came down to Overbaking and Overflavoring. Paul saw a lot of potential in Loreia, but as a judge could get involved and tell her to pull back or watch her stuff.
Loreia: " I am proud. I did quite well to get here and I stayed true to myself".
Great way to start off season 11!!
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