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Welcome to the Eater round-up of Great British Bake Off 2019, as Paul Hollywood, Prue Leith, Sandi Toksvig, and Noel Fielding return to the tent for the 10th series of cakes, puddings, breads, and inevitable recourse to terrible baking puns.
Cake week kicked off GBBO 2019; episode 2 tackled biscuits; bread week brought in tear-and-share loaves, baps, and a lot of scoring; and dairy week was all about crying over spilt milk. Episode 5 inadvertently summoned Cthulhu for 1920s/Retro/Great Gatsby/What Even Is This Theme Week, and dessert week was all bombe and no bombshell. Henry told Paul to shut up on Festival Week; Henry went home on Pastry Week, and now Patisserie Week is here for the GBBO semi-finals. Strap in.
00:00: Patisserie week. Ooh. La. La.
For the last three weeks, there has been some kind of dessert game in which songs are transformed with baking puns, but this is the semi-final, it’s serious now, there is no time for friv—
and I, will allllways loooove CHOUX - oh oh oh oh oh oh #patisseriesongs #GBBO https://t.co/FaebZGDzNb
— Hannah Cooper (@HanInHeels) October 22, 2019
Stand by your Flan #PatisserieSongs pic.twitter.com/UTvLqHHJzt
— Richard Pulsford (@RichardPulsford) October 23, 2018
How is it the @BritishBakeOff semi-finals already?
— Maggie (@kittenstiel) October 22, 2019
more important:
how will i live without choux?
i want to know.
how will i breath without choux?
if you ever go. #patisseriesongs #GBBO pic.twitter.com/4Bdju3DgC1
00:00: Choux —> you is basically a free hit, so, no embarrassing choic—
"Paul's nervous,
— British Bake Off (@BritishBakeOff) October 22, 2019
Palm's are sweaty,
Feels nauseous,
Noel's spaghetti..." #GBBO #PatisserieSongs https://t.co/vhMmNjPfhr
01:00: Spaghetti is just not patisserie. Intro watch: there’s a sports car. Reasons unknown. Maybe Paul’s having a mid-mid-mid-mid-life crisis.
02:42: They’re all wearing ties, in honour of Henry, the people’s favourite. Paul Hollywood says “je ne sais quoi” — half the county swoons, half vomits. Brexit, isn’t it.
They are wearing ties for Henry!!! #GBBO pic.twitter.com/yTX2zu1LeI
— Rebecca (@RH90__) October 22, 2019
05:19: Alice is going for mocha, orange, and hazelnut; David is making an Aperol Spritz tart, but no-one is allowed to name any brands, so he’s making an Italian Spirit Tart. Rosie is doing gin, lemon, and raspberry, which sounds a little Pimm’sy, sorry, British Summertime Fruit Cup Number Oney. Steph goes for lemon, raspberry, and white chocolate. The Henry memory gets someone’s goat:
You'd think Henry died the way they're going on about him.... #GBBO
— afrah hates k*mala harris (@afrah_hyder) October 22, 2019
Paul’s mad for chocolate and hazelnuts. Wait:
Yeah, Paul, everyone loves hazelnut and chocolate. Have you not heard of Nutella? #GBBO
— Lauren (@LaurenWTRedHair) October 22, 2019
07:49: The traditional freezer stage starts, as contestants’ compulsion to open and close doors gets the better of them. Noel’s asking Rosie about castration.
09:28: It’s dome assembly time. Everyone’s getting nervous. But ... The bakes look good, and there have been no Foolhardy Manoeuvres That Will Likely Backfire As Soon As They Are Mentioned this week.
17:21: Signature challenge tiers
- Nearly perfect but for piping tier: Alice
- Nearly perfect tier: Steph
- Sponcon tier: David
- Crème flat tier: Rosie
23:47: Prue: “This is very difficult to make look good.” Grammatically and syntactically, shaky. Semantically, empty. Gâteau St Honoré is the reveal behind the cipher: crème chiboust the filling, which doesn’t even sound like it’s real.
27:12: Rosie is having a bit of a nightmare. The atmosphere is kind of flat, really, given everyone is so focussed on the technical. GBBO has deliberately eschewed the MANUFACTURE DRAMA curse of so many reality shows, but with a lack of interesting analysis on the bakes and — not to be unkind — less personality in the tent than previous years, whisper it but: things have gotten a little bit dull.
29:40: Steph says “butter seepage” and things are redeemed. Rosie’s choux melts for the second time. She refers to “the graveyard of choux buns.” The puff’s gone wrong too. The gods of bake off (TGoGBBO) heard the prayers for ritual sacrifice and have delivered.
Rosie is giving me palpitations #GBBO
— hlb (@hlb_____) October 22, 2019
Nailed it Rosy #GBBO pic.twitter.com/hsMmdgNC0T
— SHE's on it (@JudgyMsSnipalot) October 22, 2019
33:41: Technical challenge tiers
- Risen from the choux graveyard tier: Rosie
- Not perfect tier: Steph
- Not not not perfect tier: David
- Not not not not not perfect tier: Alice
39:12: Rosie rises from the choux graveyard to take the technical. She, rightly, finds it hilarious, given she was absolutely done about 3 hours ago (or 5 minutes in TV time.) Some are not pleased.
HOW IS ROSIE STILL HERE BEING SO SMUG AND HENRY IS GONE #GBBO
— Georgie Fogelman (@georgiefogelman) October 22, 2019
“Ahhh Rosie’s fucked it here”
— Ell (@Ellrose95) October 22, 2019
Rosie: *comes first in the technical challenge*
Me: #gbbo pic.twitter.com/sszqet5X17
43:17: They have to make a f---ing cabinet out of sugar. This is madness. Paul says “anything from a banana, to a raspberry, to a coffee.” A wide range. Alice is representing the fragility of the oceans, with a cake. David is making a beetroot, parsnip, and apricot cake inside a terrarium. Steph is doing an opera cake. Some scepticism, and some dreaming:
OK. Now we've had the description I don't think there's anything David can do that would convince me that beetroot and parsnips have a place in patisserie. #GBBO
— Helen Walmsley-J (@TheVintageYear) October 22, 2019
I just want everyone to do well and everyone to have a hug #GBBO
— Maybe it's Rosie (@maybe_rosie) October 22, 2019
That’s simply not how it works.
47:10: It’s isomalt time. Noel realises that Rosie’s vet experiences are more interesting than the show he’s fronting. Oops.
53:19: David’s throwing it back to week one, when he put butternut squash in a cake and everyone asked why.
'Parsnip, maple syrup and cream cheese', says David, as though it's the most normal thing in the world. NO. #GBBO
— Helen Walmsley-J (@TheVintageYear) October 22, 2019
55:02: It’s assembly time. There are boxes made out of sugar. It’s quite the show. Then... Then Alice reveals that she is making a ... ... A chocolate starfish... Let’s hope she doesn’t make a limp biscuit too.
How long until #chocolatestarfish is trending?#GBBO #OMG
— Owen Thomas (@owenplaywright) October 22, 2019
Sorry, are we just letting that chocolate starfish comment slide? #GBBO pic.twitter.com/BDD0D4rmJ2
— James Andrews (@jamesandrews10) October 22, 2019
‘Chocolate starfish’. #gbbo pic.twitter.com/f0W5xigs6u
— Alex (@alexk2) October 22, 2019
‘Im just making a chocolate starfish’ #gbbo
— Danielle Lauren (@daniele_n91) October 22, 2019
Me pic.twitter.com/1NQOmwfNxl
57:01: Showstopper challenge tiers
- Very neat very tidy very Steph tier: Steph
- Not patisserie tier: David
- Chocolate starfish tier: Alice
- Boring tier: Rosie
Judging tweet:
Steph is the favorite for the win. She has been consistently strong #GBBO
— d (@doleshka) October 22, 2019
Judgey tweet:
Paul couldn’t make it any more obvious every week that he doesn’t like Alice! #gbbo
— Lisa ♡ (@LilTigz) October 22, 2019
Judgment tweet:
"Wish you could have incorporated more of patisserie week". Explain the sugar box shite then Paul. Explain it #GBBO
— Valerie Loftus Hall (@valerieloftus) October 22, 2019
Star baker: Alice
Going home: Rosie
Running theme: Choux drama / boredom.