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Biscuit week
You can watch GBBO on Channel 4
Signature – Illusion Macaron (2 hours)
18 identical filled macarons, shaped or decorated to look likes something else
Burrgurrs (Burgers), Burgers and chips Init, Watermelons, Carrots, Racoons, Cats, Yo-yos, Peanuts, Icecreams
I distinctly remember, last year Paul told us that macarons have to be rested (to form a skin) but nobody has done that. Maybe because they only have 2 hours or possibly becasue it would be wasted with these curious designs. When I make macarons I prefer to use Italian meringue and I don’t rest them before baking.
There are some good ideas here. It didnt even occur to me that you dont have to make a macaron round.
Wow! Dawn used a lot of strawberry powder! I like the string for the yo-yos. Siyabira’s peanuts look great but the cream looked a bit curdled when she mixed it. Sandro’s buns are surprisingly pale but I’m sure they’re delicious. Maisam’s Carrots are a bit dumpy. Maxy’s Daisies look amazing.
A couple of clear winners there!
Technical Challange – 12 Garibaldi (1 hour 45 mins)
An absolute classic – stick to the recipe
Who has ever seen Garibaldi biscuits with chocolate??? At least Prue admits to Paul that it’s not an absolute classic.
If you haven’t seen a Garibaldi biscuit before then you might struggle with this but I don’t think there’s anything particularly difficult with the challenge until you ask for a chocolate decoration. Not for the first time some bakers take the instruction to make feather decorations a bit too literally. The results are in some ways an improvement on the original design. Too bad it’s not what Prue was looking for.
Show-stopper – 3-D Biscuit mask (4 hours)
Must be presented standing upright on a stand
Gingerbread is the obvious choice for anything structural and it’s no surprise that many of the bakers chose this. I’m more interested in the other bakes. James has opted for brandy snaps which I think is a pretty good alternative and could be lighter and prettier than gingerbread. He has also included Italian meringue buttercream and fortune cookies so there’s quite a bit of extra skill on show.
Syabira and Maxy went for sugar biscuit which is another good solid base for a sculpture and their designs are strong.
Maisam finished very early and I think she’s done a fairly basic design so could be in trouble. Carole did a goodish mask but the stand is a very bad choice. Instead of supporting the mask it pokes through and with just a few minutes remaining the mask collapses. She’s nearly in tears.
Janusz used a modern art theme for his mask. It’s flat and that it makes it a lot simpler to assemble. Some strange camera work with Kevin’s bake so we don’t get a good view of it. I think it looks basic and overbaked. I love Dawn’s design but I agree with Prue that there should be holes for the eyes.
There are lots of spectacular bakes on show. This is one of my favourites…
Round Up
Biscuit week is not always the most interesting but we got to see some good designs and unusual recipe ideas. Although I thought the macaron challenge was a bit contrived there was enough there to test our bakers and give them an opportunity to shine. The Hollywood Handshake isn’t what it used to be. The Technical, a bit like the chocolate on the Garibaldis, was a bit dull. The show-stopper was up there with the best callenges and some of the results were spectacular.
I saw after the programme that newspapers were reporting criticism of Rebs because she asked other bakers for help. There was also some criticism of James for not helping other bakers in the Technical when he saw they were not feathering right. Of course the papers want to have their cake and eat it! They seem to take an unnatural joy out of stirring up hate. It is perfectly normal for bakers to ask for help during the show and in other bake offs there is far more cooperation than in the British version, and I love it when they work together. During the Technical challenge bakers are told not to help. It’s written in red bold capitals on top of the instructions “PLEASE DO NOT CONFER WITH ANY OTHER BAKERS”. So there’s really no story here at all.
Maybe if Dawn had done better in the Technical she would have been a contender for Star Baker. The yo-yos and Baroque mask were very good. Maxy did well throughout but I thought Sandro was equally impressive. Kevin, Abdul and Maisam were the bottom three for me this week.
Spoilers below…
Janusz and Carole are still up there with Sandro, despite mistakes this week. Dawn is looking quite strong too. James showed a huge improvement so there may be more to come from him. Maxy also excelled and obviously Star Baker is a big feather in her cap. Although Rebs won the Technical I would still place her with Kevin and Maisam in the bottom three. It was not a surprise that Maisam left the tent. The show-stopper, although impressive, was just a little too simple in comparison with the others.
