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Welcome to the Eater round-up of Great British Bake Off 2019’s final, as Paul Hollywood, Prue Leith, Sandi Toksvig, and Noel Fielding return to the tent for the final episode of this year’s GBBO.
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 then Patisserie Week rung in the GBBO semi-final. Here it is: the final.
00:00: It’s here. The final curtain. The last showstopper. The ultimate technical. Bad film titles, all. Excitement all around.
I mean henry isnt there so whats the point really? #GBBOFinal
— Spookki Neepier (@schnikum) October 29, 2019
Wait.
CMON #GBBOFinal , LETS GET SICKENING pic.twitter.com/sOFYuJBnLA
— day dreamin’ (@bruce_bogtroter) October 29, 2019
Uhhh.
The standard has been poor this year, lets hope tonight is decent #GBBOFinal
— Formie (@formbob) October 29, 2019
Ouch.
00:00: Intro watch: Noel has been fired out of a cannon. Intro watch II: a flashback guide to each contestant. Alice: Chaotic Evil. Steph: Lawful Good. David: Lawful Neutral.
01:00: It’s chocolate cake time. Steph points out what bad chocolate cake is: brown sponge. David goes for prunes in armagnac. Alice goes for pears. Steph goes for cherries.
Me when I found out that the bakers final signature is chocolate cakes vs me when I found they’re all adding fucking fruit #GBBOFinal pic.twitter.com/PqhRxosFxk
— louise (@louisednp) October 30, 2019
#GBBOFinal okay i want chocolate cake now!! pic.twitter.com/ozvrKwHjMv
— Kush Shah (@shah_kush) October 29, 2019
05:19: Family montage time! Steph remembers how she ran a brilliant athletics race then fell at the final hurdle. NO METAPHORS PLEASE.
06:29: David reveals that his prior obsession with vegetables in cakes — squash, parsnip — comes from his mum. Paul’s doing his looming thing in the tent. It’s getting tired.
09:28: David keeps talking about armagnac, having had a history of overdoing flavours throughout. It has a kick! This is just armagnac! Maybe less armagnac???
David: There’s Armagnac syrup, Armagnac cream, prunes soaked in Armagnac, Armagnac in the sponge and I’m serving it with the rest of the bottle of Armagnac and a funnel to just pour straight in the judges mouths.
— Becky Pybus (@beckypybus1) October 29, 2019
Judges: I think there’s too much Armagnac #GBBOFinal
Stop saying Armagnac in there! #gbbo #gbbofinal pic.twitter.com/EhLd2zRBUL
— michael. ️ (@MichaelM238) October 29, 2019
17:21: Signature challenge tiers
- Good balance tier: Steph
- Not enough chocolate tier: Alice
- Too much armagnac tier: David
23:47: Some weird statue gag occurs pre-technical. Twice-baked stilton souffles. Pretty brutal really.
Bake Off: Please make Stilton Soufflés
— British Bake Off (@BritishBakeOff) October 29, 2019
Steph:#GBBOFinal pic.twitter.com/LieiTbr6c8
25:12: Steph has chosen to fill the her souffles to the top and use cold water in her bain marie. For the favourite, unfortunately, there are two Foolhardy Manoeuvres That Will Likely Backfire As Soon as They Are Mentioned of the Week.
29:40: And lo, they have. It’s impossible not to feel for Steph given how strong she has been throughout. Perhaps putting it all on one episode is ... Not right?
Watching Steph's souffles slump #GBBOFinal #GBBO pic.twitter.com/VjrzxbweWu
— Ashleigh (@Ashleighw13) October 29, 2019
33:41: Technical challenge tiers
- It worked tier: David
- Mediocre tier: Alice
- Foolhardy Manoeuvres That Will Likely Backfire As Soon as They Are Mentioned of the Week tier: Steph
39:12: David’s making fig rolls that look like sausage rolls, summoning Jamie to the tent. Alice’s parents are meant to be coming but might not make it. Steph is going for macaron strawberries and a Chicken Burger Cake.
43:17: Everyone wants to know who has won, so here is a semi-accurate summation of the showstopper production: burger-stress-macaron-stress-cheese-calm-nougatine-nougatine-oh-god-the-nougatine-oh-good-the-nougatine-oh-GOD-the-nougatine-macaron-macaron-make-macaron-bake-macaron-remake-macaron-rebake-spray-paint-emboss-pork-pie-bread-scotch-egg-bread-strawberry-macaron.
45:59: Showstopper challenge tiers
- Exceptional tier: David
- Successful illusion tier: Alice
- Not her day tier: Steph
- Trying to be consoling but coming off terribly tier: Paul
Judging tweet:
Feel really terrible for Steph, I don't know if they should start judging the winner on overall performance but it's so shit that you can have a bad day and undo it all #GBBOFinal
— Valerie Loftus Hall (@valerieloftus) October 29, 2019
Judgey tweet:
Me, someone who can’t bake at all, judging Alice’s signature bake #GBBO #GBBOFinal pic.twitter.com/4IXtbjEEY3
— Joe (@joepaulsullivan) October 29, 2019
Judgment tweet:
I have been bleating on irl that I feel the edit and judging has been skewed in favour of one particular baker this series. I shall be interested to see if my conspiracy theories prove to be true come the result... #gbbo #GBBOFinal pic.twitter.com/Uox2lwRgdk
— Mr Baker’s Cakes (@MrBakersCakes) October 29, 2019
Winner: David
Book deals: Steph, Alice
Running theme: Putting a three month show on one episode is bad, actually!