Jayne McGlaughlinEach week, Northern Slant are preparing to bring you the latest run down of Britain’s most loved baking show by self-confessed GBBO addict Jayne McGlaughlin.
This week were we treated to dessert week and some more classic one liners from Karen, but apart from falling a little more in love with Rahul, what else happened in the Bake Off tent this week? Terry was sick and wasn’t able to bake so the tent was automatically a little less dramatic. I for one certainly missed him and his impressive moustache but do not despair, he will be back next week.
The Signature was to make a family-sized meringue roulade. At some stage in my life I think there should be a dictionary definition of ‘family-sized’, mostly because the roulades that the bakers produced looked more like they could be tackled by me and a fork and not by my family of four. A meringue roulade leaves no room for error and no where to hide. Too long in the oven and the meringue will be too stiff to roll and will crack, too short a time and it will become soggy. So no pressure really.
In typical Kim Joy fashion, she said that meringues are like dreams and clouds so she made a ‘sweet dreams’ roulade, but it all turned into a bit of a nightmare when Paul declared her roulade to be ‘clumsy and thick’. But, despite the negativity, both Paul and Prue did say that her flavours were lovely. Manon made a amarene and kirsch cherry roulade, which are apparently flavours from her childhood. It’s a far cry from my childhood which tasted mostly of ham sandwiches and salt and vinegar crisps, but I tried to roll with it. (Roulade. Roll. Get it?)
Both Karen, Ruby and Dan all decided that boozey was best. Ruby made a piña colada flavoured roulade to pay homage to a girls night out, while Karen made a coffee cream and praline roulade with a whiskey filling. Dan’s was also inspired by a cocktail and he presented a perfect exotic roulade which received a Hollywood handshake. Remember when Hollywood handshakes were something of a rarity though? Paul is throwing them about this series.
Of course Jon had to take things one step further, as if folding a meringue and creating a perfect swirl wasn’t difficult enough. He turned his bench into a science lab and made jelly sweets by ‘reverse spherification’. The more this series goes on, the more I am considering creating a drinking game to play as I watch. One shot for every word you have to Google, one for every time Paul dishes out a handshake, another one for every time Kim Joy incorporates animals into her bakes and one for every time Rahul gets a compliment. Although, I’d probably find myself unable to ever write another post about the show again.
The Technical Challenge was set by Prue and the bakers had to make a raspberry blancmange and 12 langues de chat biscuits. So really, it was just a chance for us to be reminded that Manon is French and can indeed pronounce these words while no one else could. ‘Langues de chat‘ means ‘cat’s tongue’ and they’re quite tricky to bake because they are so thin. A blancmange is a sweet dessert, made with milk or cream and thickened with corn starch and gelatine – a rich man’s jelly really. In the words of Briony, “the only thing I know is that it looks like a brain.”
I felt unnecessarily stressed as the bakers tried to remove their blancmange from the moulds. Poor Karen’s looked like the tubby custard that the Teletubbies used to eat and Briony’s wasn’t much better. However, Dan, Ruby and Jon all did an excellent job and were placed first, second and third.
This week’s Showstopper was to make a chocolate globe that melts away to reveal a dessert inside. Not much to ask in the boiling heat of the tent. Most bakers opted to use a mould to make their chocolate ball but Karen and Rahul used an inflated balloon to make their balls – stress. Rahul brought extra balloons because they kept popping in his face during practice.
Briony made a white chocolate ball with a blood orange sticky toffee pudding inside which sounded delightful. She was fighting against her chocolate though and she had to present a cracked and incomplete ball but Paul and Prue did say that her dessert inside was delicious, a word that seemed to be used at least 157 times during the judging this week.
I’m not quite sure the dictionary contains the words to adequately describe Kim Joy’s creation. She made a chocolate planet filled with choux space turtles, complete with cocktail umbrellas. When she explained what she was making I was a little judgemental but her galaxy with orange and salted caramel sauce looked and sounded amazing – or, out of this world, if you will.
Jon made a ballet creation for his daughters and although he compared his sauce to the blood he delivers, it apparently tasted amazing. It was also complete with a tutu – for the dessert and for him, – although it did have some strange ballet shoe feet attached to it.
Dan made a peach and hazelnut creation with a layer tart inside. It looked like an orange planet (maybe he and Kim Joy were trying to make a new solar system) but apparently it was a delicious planet. He was rightly crowned Star Baker and because Terry was sick, no-one was sent home – a lucky escape for Briony. This does mean that two people could be sent home next week though, so tune in on Tuesday night at 8pm.
Catch up on previous episodes:
