Just finding this thread. Love this show. Regarding the American pie challenge…I was impressed that the sweet potato pie came out well. Those are really difficult to get right, even for experienced southern cooks. Sweet potatoes vary wildly in both moisture and sweetness, even within the same variety. So blindly following a recipe can be disastrous.
The typical bad result is a sickly sweet, dense, watery mess but I’ve also had too dry and under sweet versions. When they come out right though, they’re sublime.
I agree that they made the right call on last week’s episode.
Still giggle like a school girl when they mention Mary Berry’s “soggy bottom” and her affinity for the boozy ingredients
The season showing as new to US viewers is pre-“Hollywood Handshake”…Paul’s much coveted display of appreciation and recognition of a job well done by the contestants
Just watched this afternoon and I knew from reading the thread that some sort of disaster would ensure - wow! I like for the showstoppers to allow for more creativity and this one was just too much for the time allotted. The final decision definitely seemed to be the right one given the circumstances. I hope next week’s theme is more manageable!
What’s “American” about a pie with a sweet bottom crust and no top crust? Have they never heard, “American as apple pie”? I love pie, but most of those pies seemed bad.
Excuse me, those were JAM donuts. But they looked like jelly to me- no seeds or chunks. I never knew the Brits did not have the same donut culture we do. Scones do not appeal to me. Nor the traits of a good “biscuit”/cookie I recall Paul commenting on in a previous episode. They lack our familiarity with so many baked goods with the variety of different parts of Europe.
Seeing the British baking shows reminds me how much more culinary diversity the US has. Not just English but all of the different European continental baking traditions brought over here. Plus other continents although it seems to me Europe and baking go together more than other cultures, especially the warmer climate ones.
I dunno. We don’t have a familiarity with much of British traditional baking, so why would we believe we’re better acquainted with other Northern European countries’ baking traditions? Before British Baking, I’d never heard of a drizzle cake, or a Victoria sandwich, or that Queen of Puddings that Mary Berry said was many British family’s favorite dessert, or Jaffa cakes, or any number of other desserts that are obviously familiar British treats.
Ryan’s Lardy buns were very complex and earned Paul’s Hollywood Handshake.
Then his show stopper was too simplistic and no wow…like he gave up…
Think he was done with the stress of being on the show…
Familiarity with baking depends on where you lived. Ethnic foods of Europe were common in Wisconsin because of where people came from. The annual Folk Fair in Milwaukee was a dessert lover’s paradise with all of the different types of cakes et al. Plus the grocery stores had items that sold because people wanted them. I miss many bakery items from up north here in Florida. The emphasis on Mediterranean and subtropical items instead of those I knew is different.
A major difference in this season’s show is the lack of creativity that finally struck me. Putting a lattice on a strudel was “fancy” (and inappropriate). Past season bakers embellished their goods so much more. So many plain goods that could have been visually more pleasing. Boring.
Yes, exactly! I don’t know whether it’s the assignments they’re given or the bakers’ lack of skill, but we’re not seeing any of that creativity anymore. (
I heard the season we, in the US, are watching now is actually a few years old to those in England. The show (as we know it) is no longer in production. This series is from before the previous seasons shown here. I think that may explain why bakes are not as elaborate as we are used to seeing.
After I got hooked on this show on netflix, I was able to find all the previous seasons online and watch from the very beginning. If you can find the “real” season 1, check it out—completely different format in that each week they moved the tent to a different region of Great Britain and the bakes were centered around local dishes. There was a lot more history stuff thrown in too. One downside was a smaller cast meant fewer episodes.
I also found the latest season as well, which was good but I missed Mary, Mel and Sue. The new people grew on me by the end of the season though.
Enjoyed the final tonight. John’s mom says she was surprised he had gone so far since he should be a lawyer and not a baker and “he has never won anything in his life.” There is definitely a cc lesson to be learned here - let your child do what makes them happy not what you think they should be doing!
It becomes obvious after watching a few that this is about packaging a contestant vs actual baking skill. The new (channel 4) series is not bad IMO as the Mary Berry aspect of appealing to the baby boomers work was done, so Pru seems a little more current (LOL, for an OG).
I haven’t watched those old shows for a while now but binge watching really shows up the progression of the series for the worse. I imagine it is difficult to package TV for the TV audience (old) vs needing new blood. Still, I went on a donut making binge after that one LOL, and english sticky buns, sans contrived time constraints and faux teaching .
I am guilty of reading the last few pages of a book early in the read occasionally (something my Kindle has almost cured me of) and looking for spoilers on television and movies, but I resisted looking to see who won, even though I knew that technically this season was ancient history. I am delighted that Jon won and not Brendan. I found Brendan entirely too full of himself, although it clearly meant so much to him. It was also nice to see Jon’s family praise him at the end after the initial interview.
My favorite throughout the season was James. He is the only contestant among all the seasons that I’ve seen frequently take a little taste of what he was making and I loved when he poked fun at the finals calling part of one of the challenges a piece of cake. He’s probably a doctor by now and I’d be delighted to have him turn up by my bedside if I needed him.
Brendan did seem a little cocky but I thought he also put forth some insecurity which he tried to cover up with his aura of confidence. As the judges pointed out, he was good at things he could practice at home but came across a little rigid, not that that is a bad trait in a baker. Baking is mostly by the book.
I did get a kick out of a few scenes in the final episode where he had a little chocolate around his mouth. I bet when he saw the final episode that irked him a wee bit.
