12: S17E3 "Audience Choice"

[00:00:00] Hmm? Ah! Hmm. Podcastica! Hey everyone, welcome to Bakedastica, a podcast dedicated to the Great British Baking Show. I'm Jamie. I'm Greg. And I'm Wendy.

[00:00:29] This episode we are covering the Great British Bake Off Series 17, Episode 3, Audience Choice. Have they ever done this before? They said no. No, this is the first time. That was so cool. I'm sitting there like, oh, what are they going to bring? What kind of thing? You know, forgetting it's a British show. And of course, it's wholesome and they bring their family in, not set up some kind of demon task.

[00:00:54] It kind of reminded me of Survivor, you know, where they bring the family member in at some point, but like this was a totally different vibe. Yeah. Like once it was, all right, we're bringing your family members. I'm like, oh, but of course, it's going to be wholesome and sweet and adorable. And we're going to learn even more about these people that we love and love them even more. And it'll be even more sad when we have to shove one of them off. Yes.

[00:01:19] Like every family member was lovely. Like every, everyone. And even where like Nigella was talking about this could go well or this could go badly. And I'm like, no one, you saw a couple or you heard a couple of lines where people were like, nope, don't do it like that. Do it like this.

[00:01:41] But like nothing in comparison, like there's nothing that we saw that was anything but I'd say the absolute quote unquote worst was someone disagreeing with how someone was doing something. And that was it. And I mean, I thought, how cute was it that we found out that Gabe's thruple is called a boy band? That was so cute.

[00:02:11] That's great. All the family was, I really liked Moyen's mom. She was a lot of fun. And is it Mo? Mo. Had his cousin. Mo's cousin and... Giannis? Giannis. Yeah, thank you. Yeah, Giannis' sister. I felt like they, like I said, the vibe, it just made it even more like happy. It was great.

[00:02:42] I loved how Mo seemed to really come out of his shell with his cousin there. His smile was just infectious. And you could see like, you know, because he seems kind of shy and reserved on the show. But you could see a little bit more of his personality come out with his cousin sitting there. And she loved, like, looked like she just loved it. Yeah, he definitely did. Mm-hmm.

[00:03:07] He definitely, like, started showing personality as opposed to previous, like, various debates. And like you said, reserved. So their signature challenge was that they had three hours to bake, to create a baked cheesecake inspired by a family favorite flavor with their family member. I really wanted for Shannon's to be good.

[00:03:36] Like, because that looked like the dark chocolate ganache and the... Irish cream. Yeah, well, the Irish cream cheesecake, but the bite, not bites, morsels, what are they called? I can't... Was it... The things on top. Truffles. Truffles. Yeah, the truffles. Oh, yeah, that was pretty. I was like, oh my gosh, like that looked so good. Style over substance. Yeah, I mean, and again, I...

[00:04:06] They didn't say that one tasted bad. I feel like... They said the ganache was too salty and overpowering. Yeah. No, Paul said it was not a good flavor. Okay. Yeah, I was like, man, like, that's disappointing. But then, like, yeah, the over-salting. Yeah. The fact that she emphasized it early on. Like, I'm like, did you try it at home?

[00:04:36] Because you had to know, right? Like, at some point or another, even if you like salt, like, you go, oh no, that was too much. That's over the edge. Yeah. Or whatnot. Yeah, I really wanted hers to be good. Little ass. So many of these looked so good. Like, I can get on board with the cheesecake. Me too.

[00:05:05] Was it Gary's with his sister and the swans? Oh, yeah. They were so pretty. Did he do them out of chocolate in a mold? She did them. That was her. Yeah. His sister. Was that white chocolate in the mold? I'm assuming. Yeah, I don't think they gave us the details. It was really pretty. Yeah, I saw her making the wings or the feathers.

[00:05:33] But I feel like, yeah, I feel like that was like chocolate in a mold. But and then Moyen's was like, it looked beautiful. And his, I mean, obviously handshake worthy. And like they talked about the texture. I was like, oh, my God, I totally want that super crazy creamy cheesecake now. And his mom got a handshake, too. Like, how cool is that?

[00:06:03] You get a handshake and your mom gets a handshake. Like, that's amazing. I wrote in my notes that honestly, like getting a handshake for your mother is probably more powerful than winning the whole thing. Yes. Like, you know, I don't know if he has any siblings, but they're done. He is the golden child for the rest of time.

[00:06:30] And anytime like somebody brings their mom on a red carpet and I see it, I show my kids. I'm like, look, look who brought their mom who got famous. Just remember this if you get famous. Yes. Yeah. Like all these cheesecakes looks phenomenal. I am getting mixed up. I think. I wrote down what most of them made. I missed a few. One made the.

[00:06:57] Oh, like because the technical, I don't have a defined like which one. There's one. There was one that got made. I can't remember if it was the technical or the signature because it wasn't a hat or it wasn't an article of clothing. But it had like it was almost like abstract like raspberries and stuff on the outside with like a white. That was Tom's. I think that was Tom's. Was it Tom's? Okay.

[00:07:24] He had a white chocolate and raspberry with almond. I can't read what I wrote. Almond base. Yeah. Yeah. That one looks really good. That sounds really good. Yeah. Because I made a little note that said retro looking. So I think that's what you're thinking of. Moyen made the vanilla and orange Basque cheesecake. That sounded amazing. With orange curd.

[00:07:50] Well, and Giannis with his weird like slightly out of the box flavors like honey fig and walnut. Like, oh, I would like that. Yeah. They talked about not liking the was he they didn't like the fig pieces on top or. Yeah. Because they said something very specific about the fig. And I couldn't remember if it was.

[00:08:15] I couldn't tell if he was talking about like the whole like the not whole figs, but like the slices of fig on top or if it was the like dots of fig flavoring in the top. So I in case you guys didn't didn't know. I didn't. I just looked it up.

[00:08:34] Um, Basque cheesecake, which is what a number of people is crustless with a deep caramelized burnt looking top and a light gooey custard like center. While New York cheesecake features a dense smooth cream cheese filling set on graham cracker or cookie crust. So, yeah. Yeah. Basque, I feel like was a technical last year. And that's when I learned what it was. Mm hmm. Because I went looking for it around here.

[00:09:02] If I remembered that I did not when I watched this episode. Um, but now like having seen that, like I think that I would enjoy the Basque cheesecakes more than I would the not that I wouldn't like the New York style cheesecakes.

[00:09:23] But the like I feel like the the creaminess of the Basque would just make for a better hot than cool. How about that challenge, though? Like make a cheesecake and then cool it like in. Yeah. Three hours. Three hours. Ridiculous. It's crazy. Because usually I make a somewhat complicated pumpkin cheesecake, but like it's literally a two day thing. Same. Yeah. For Thanksgiving. Same. Yeah.

[00:09:52] I make it like start it the day before and then and then finish it up the next day because it's, you know, so it can cool. And yeah. Yeah. And then decorated to cover the crack that I obviously got. Clara made bourbon and peach cheesecake with her fiance, Kieran, and their little shot glasses. Yeah. The chocolate cowboy hat and chocolate shot glasses.

[00:10:18] Interestingly, she said they're moving to Georgia in the United States soon. So that kind of makes sense why she's a little obsessed with American cowboy culture. Well, it was just funny because it was like I was like bourbon. But bourbon's like Tennessee. Yeah. I mean, I get the peaches, right? Georgia peaches. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:10:43] But yeah, I was like, I mean, my understanding of what they said was like the flavors were really good. But it just added a little bit too much moisture to it. Yeah. Was that the one they said that they didn't? Which one did they say didn't need the curd? That was Gabe's, right? I think so. It wasn't. They liked Clara's flavors. And her and her fiance were so cute together. Super cute. Yeah. Connie made a pear cheesecake.

[00:11:13] Pear flavored cheesecake. It was ginger and lemon with pears on top. That was one. And that was the one that was kind of falling apart, right? The pears made it too liquidy. Mm-hmm. Was that? No, that wasn't Connie. That was Nikki, right? Nikki was the one that had the one that was falling apart at the Bakewell or not Bakewell enough. Oh, yeah. That was Nikki. Yeah. Cherry didn't bake very well. Yeah. And she used four teaspoons of almond essence, which is always a bad idea.

[00:11:43] But why? We're at week three now, guys. Mm-hmm. We know not to use extracts around Paul Hollywood. Yes. Right. I mean, I just, again, back to like, if you've practiced this, like, you have to know. Like, and maybe they don't have time, right? Maybe they don't have time to practice. Yeah. Even Gabe was saying, like, oh, yeah, this didn't come out well last time or this.

[00:12:10] I'm like, then why are you doing this? What is happening? Why? I know. I love when they're like, yeah, never, never got this to work. This took me two days to do. It's the human nature of just continuing. Like, I've put this much into it. I'm going to make it work instead of just starting over. It's just human nature. I'm guilty of that all the time. Gabe was coconut, chocolate, and lime. Oh, that was so good. Yeah.

[00:12:38] That was, yeah, the one they didn't think the lime curd was necessary. But I don't know. Like, I like a good curd. Yeah. I mean, this all reminds me of my cousin Vinny. And so physics works differently in your kitchen as opposed to every other place on Earth. So in the bake-off tent under stress, you're going to be able to do this because it's going to cook faster or it's going to cool faster or whatever.

[00:13:07] But not when you get it. You're in a controlled environment at home. Come on, people. And I'm not saying that they aren't making amazing things. I'm just saying Jasmine had it last year. Do more simple, not simple, but more simple perfectly. Molly made raspberry cheesecake featuring freeze-dried raspberry powder. And they didn't like that.

[00:13:35] Was it powder or was it just freeze-dried raspberries? I kind of become powder once you start making. Like syndrome. Oh, okay. Yeah. Yeah, I've said it before. Malcolm only eats freeze-dried, mostly only eats freeze-dried fruits. I'm very familiar with freeze-dried fruit. And the red ones get all over and look like you've been bleeding. Oh, boy. Moe's was a lemon pistachio cardamom and strawberry cheesecake.

[00:14:05] They thought there were too many competing flavors, although I feel like Nigella disagreed and said she thought it was pretty good. Yeah, I would have. I would have eaten that. Was it Tom that had the pistachio in the base? There was one base that I saw that had, like, I feel like I saw green pistachio chunks in the base or, like, chips or whatever.

[00:14:31] And each of the ones that had, I mean, like you said, Jamie, like, I would have tried all of these. Like, all of these would look, like, all the flavor combinations were amazing. Like, I want to taste the ginger along with the, you know, the almond and the pistachio. Like, it all just sounds so good. And I get that there's, like, a balance that you have to match, but, oh. Cheesecake, cheesecake. I mean, hopefully good cheesecake.

[00:15:00] I even wanted the didn't bake very well. Almond and cherry. I love cherry flavor and I love almond flavor. Like, they don't get combined very often. And I feel like you do it right, it's going to be pretty good. Yeah. Yeah, I think that this was, I think this was a good challenge. Although, like, as I said, I think that the time restrictions made it a little bit more unreasonable.

[00:15:29] I feel like if you gave the bakers, we'll just say four hours, right? Like, add an extra hour to it. Yeah. And judge them on the quality of their bakes and their creativity. I feel like on the signature, you could really, like, you could really have, like, have some amazing competition and cut out with the ad of an extra hour.

[00:15:57] Really cut out some of, like, the technical mistakes and stuff. Like, I just, especially for a chance like this, which requires you. I was like, they're all physically fanning their cheesecakes. It was just, like, again, it just, for the technical, I get why they have the time limit to see who can make the best in the shortest period of time where you're making the same thing. But, all right, I'm done. I'm done.

[00:16:25] I'm going to complain about it because these look really good. I was hanging with a Brit yesterday and she informed me that there is a professional bake-off. There's bake-off professionals. Like, I was like, I didn't know that. I don't think that one made it across the pond. And they do, they have longer times and they make them much more challenging and that kind of stuff. I think I... Is it run by the same people? Yeah. She was showing me, like, on their, we were going through their Instagram and she was showing me some of the stuff that they...

[00:16:54] Very cool. I think there's a show that Netflix shows me whenever I'm done watching bake-off and, like, the preview is, like, whatever the professionals. And I don't remember if it's... I feel like they're Americans, though. I could be wrong. I feel like it's... There is an American show. Oh, is there? Okay. I haven't watched it yet, but I have heard... I've heard it's good. And I think there's a Canadian show, too, right? I think so. Yeah.

[00:17:22] I feel like I ended up watching, like, the first season of The Great American Bake-Off. And it was good. I mean, it wasn't exactly the same vibe, but it was good. I feel like you need the right hosts and, like, all of it has to gel. Just right. Yeah. And I feel like this season is gelling... Like, gelled instantly. Yeah.

[00:17:44] I mean, the whole team, between Noel and Allison and Nigella and Paul and the Bakers, they got an extra week together. And, I mean, it's just... Which, again, makes it... I feel like they're going to make up that week, though, right? I know. I'm waiting for that shoe to drop. Yeah. They're probably doing it later rather than earlier, which is nice that we get more people for longer. Absolutely.

[00:18:17] Did we get through everybody's... I think so. Okay. I got through everybody I wrote down. All right. The technical. Have we ever seen a technical like this? No. No. I really... I liked the idea. However, I did not like... It's not that I didn't like. I feel like that...

[00:18:46] Again, if people are going to make different things, if you're going to have people make different things and you don't have a standard to, like, judge it against... Harder to judge. Make something good, but also complex. But also you have something... You know, you're just finding out what it is. You're not just finding out what it is. You're just coming off with it off the top of your head. And, like, I do agree with Nigella that, like, every baker who aspires to bake well...

[00:19:16] Bake well... Should have a... Like, three recipes in their head that they can just make off the top of their head. Yeah. But, like... But, like, I... I get... Was it Mo that said something about, yeah, I could do this, like, from a recipe? I could make this from a recipe, but I don't just make things without having a recipe with, like, reminding me of baking times or baking temperatures or whatever.

[00:19:45] Like, do I need to go memorize how to put together how many... How much to weigh each flower, each component? And it just... Like I said, I get it, but I felt like it was a little unfair judging-wise. Mm-hmm. Well, I thought the table looked like a really fancy bake sale instead of, like... Not a complaint, but it looked...

[00:20:11] But if you showed me a picture of that, I would never have told you that it was a technical of Bake Off. Like... No, I don't think we've seen anything like that before. Yeah. And then... I do think I was more interested in what they had to bake. Just because everybody's was different. Trying to take notes on it was... I was like, oh my god. Yeah. I know. Usually the technical's my easy note-taking. Right. Yeah, like, I... I mean, I...

[00:20:41] Connie won, right? Connie won the technical? Gabe was first place. He made a lemon meringue-style tart. They were very impressed with that. It's funny because that sort of reminded me of the cake that Nigella made. Right. As the example. Yeah. So I was like, that's probably gonna go over well. Mo was second place. It's a Paris breast using chew pastry... Shoe pastry. Chocolate and raspberries.

[00:21:09] My Google search after... After these podcasts just makes me so happy. There was so much lemon and I loved it. Yeah. There was... You're right. There was a lot of lemon. There was a lot. So that must have been just one of the most obvious things sitting in the... ...pantry. The easy thing to get, like, some punch out of your flavor. Like, lemon... A little goes a long way.

[00:21:36] And I feel like, especially with, like, okay, I don't have any idea what I'm gonna make, but I know that lemon packs a punch. Or it can. And I guess Giannis was the one who tried a tort. A layered cake traditionally made with nut-based sponge and cream filling, but didn't turn out great. So he was in ninth place.

[00:22:05] Was that the one that had the... Again, they're all different. Like, all... Every... Yeah. ...chocolate was different now. Was that the one that had, like, the little... I don't know if it was white chocolate or whatever, like, the ring around the top? Or was that his signature? I think... No, I think the one with the ring around was... Wasn't that Moe's? Because he had the choux pastry? Maybe? I can't remember. But I remember seeing the ring and thinking, that probably didn't need that.

[00:22:35] Like, it just seemed like it... Overcomplicated the dish. Yeah. I'm wondering if maybe... I feel like I remember seeing that and his sister. So maybe that was the signature. No, I think Giannis' was the one that was, like, four individual square. Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah. It looked good. Yeah. Yeah. They... They... I mean, they looked good. But they... Like they said, they... It was kind of...

[00:23:05] Salty. Yeah. I felt like there was... Should have been more in between. Like, the... The two... Biscuits or sponges. Whatever they were. Yeah. Like, the filling didn't seem like there was much to it. And then Molly was 10th. And Shannon was 11th. She made lemon cakes.

[00:23:32] But they thought they were a little too flat and not enough... Packing not enough lemon flavor. I felt bad for Shannon, too. But, like... I felt so bad for Molly when... Like, it just seemed like everything... Like, nothing went right. Yeah. I agree. And it feels like Molly really knows what she's doing.

[00:24:01] And not that... Again, not that Shannon doesn't. But I feel like there's a confidence in Molly that, like, I know I can do this. Yeah. I know. I've been able to do this. And it's been... You know, I feel like she... If she can kind of, like, harangue her skills and actually put them to good work, I think she could do well. Yeah. She said, like, cakes... For whatever reason, cakes are just not my thing. I'm real curious how she's going to do next week.

[00:24:31] Next week? Yeah. Yeah. I loved... Was it... Tom had the quote. It would be... Like, somebody asked about a recipe. It's like, it would be nice to try it one with a recipe. Yeah. Just one. Yeah. Because they're really changing that up. I gotta say, I like it, though. It's more interesting to watch. I'm sure it's not for them. I mean, the recipes were never complete. There was always steps left out or stuff like that. Like, the recipes were never complete. But they always...

[00:25:01] They usually had some kind of... They haven't had a recipe yet. Right. It's been pictures and an eating challenge and now a, hey, do what you want, guys! Yeah. Yeah. They have a skill of a recipe normally. And they... Like I said, they haven't had one yet. I'm like, are they going to go the entire season without giving them a recipe? Just different ways for you to figure out? Yeah. That's wild. Do we think Paul loses that much control for bread week?

[00:25:31] Yeah, that's true. That's true. Like, if the recipe's going to come back, I feel like bread week is the week that the recipe comes back. Yes. And I think bread's hard without a recipe. It's so finicky. I'm going to give you exactly the recipe. But it's got to be perfect. Like, oh no. Yeah, I can see that. It's all about how long you knead your bread and how hard you work it. And is your air going to expand?

[00:26:01] Are you going to have your bubbles? Are you going to have your whatever? I'm giving you everything perfect except for the things that you would normally just be different because you're a different person. Right. We'll see who comes out best. Any other notes for the technical? I just want to clarify, again, love it.

[00:26:29] People know I'm complaining about it. I love it. Yeah. Yeah. Like, I felt for them. Yeah. Because it was hard. A lot of empathy. Yeah. I feel like I'm really empathizing with the judges. I was like, oh, they got so screwed again. I know. Because, you know, you go into the technical and they probably think the same thing. Like, all right, we've got to do this.

[00:26:58] Like, my brain is thinking this. And all of a sudden they're like, all right, do what you want. Here's an easy version of Chopped. Like, sometimes I will be like, okay, I want to bake something. I don't want to go to the store. But I, like, can feed those ingredients into Google or ChatGPT and it will, like, help me. Right. I'm sure I could pull something out, but it would not be good. Yeah.

[00:27:26] Decision paralysis is, like, a real thing. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Like, yeah. My dad calls it the paralysis of analysis. Yeah. You just keep thinking about something so you never make a decision. Yeah. I went to Ikea with my daughter yesterday and she was, like, looking for bookcases. And she's just, like, so indecisive since she was a little kid. I can remember she would get to pick a beanie baby out. That was, like, an hour event because I don't want to make the wrong choice.

[00:27:56] And it was just, like, watching that, you know, as a 30-year-old. Like, it's so funny. And her wife was just like, oh, no, we're going to be here a while. She knows. Yeah. No, that's Alice. She, we go into a store. She has to walk the entire, like, she'll grab something right off the bat. And then sometimes she'll trade it out. But she has to walk around the entire store, make sure she has seen everything so that she can make the right decision about what she wants. Even if we're going to the store to specifically get her something.

[00:28:26] She'll say, well, let me just make sure that's what I want. Yeah. Yeah. Kate will do the same thing. She will, uh, she'll be like, okay, you can have one of the two things. And she'll just be like, I can't make a decision. Yeah, it's hard. It's hard. Yeah. And sometimes I feel that way when you go to the grocery store and there's like a hundred different types of this one thing. I, I think I stood at the salad dressing aisle. Cause I'm like, oh, I want a new salad dressing.

[00:28:55] Like I'm tired of everything I have. I want a new salad dressing. And I just stood there staring at salad dressing for a solid 10 minutes. I feel it felt like. All right. Are we ready to move on to the showstopper? Yes. Yeah. Wearable bakes, which is incredibly intimidating. I can't even, I was, I couldn't wrap my head around it at first. I was like, what? Yeah. Like the fact that we had a lot of hats make sense because that's the only thing that kind

[00:29:25] of. Yes. The fact that anybody went beyond hat was impressive to me. Yeah. They like immediately got points for that. I'm sure. Well, I feel like, I feel like the, the hat, I like, I was like, they're not going to have to put that like on their head. Are they like, they're not going to. Right. I was like, they're not going to like physically, but like, they can't, that can't possibly be. Right. They can't have to wear it. Same place.

[00:29:53] And I was like, this doesn't make any sense. Oh, oh, right. The models. And, but I mean, there were some phenomenal, phenomenal. The sombrero. I was like, oh, please. Like I. Yeah. The crap out of that. The purse is the one that impressed me the most. I didn't, I didn't want to go straight to that one because. But, but yeah, no, it was, that was amazing.

[00:30:23] Like that was like a cake or not cake. And her little sashay walk down her little runway through the tent. Ah. That was great. Yeah. Totally perfect. Yeah. I did think that the, I really liked Nikki's sombrero and, and like they, we didn't hear anything about them discovering any of the cracks that she had. Um, right.

[00:30:49] I could appreciate their thoughts on the, on Shannon's wings. Um, like the, you know, it's a decorated biscuit. So I get, I get it. But in a vacuum, you're trying to think of something that I can, like, what can I do in three hours or four or whatever and do well and make good. And like the fact that they were like, oh, well, it was just too simple.

[00:31:18] And yes, it was, did they say it was overbaked? And that was the one she said she baked less than the first one that cracked or that broke. I feel like she said, oh, I baked that one a little bit less. And then. Yeah. They said it was slightly overbaked and it needed more jam. Yeah. I mean, if you're going to call it blackberry and your blackberry is just tiny little dots everywhere like that. Yeah. You can't really call that a blackberry with royal icing. That's just royal icing with dots.

[00:31:47] If you happen to get this little bit. Yeah. You get the. So like, I could, again, I could, I feel like there were other faults with that design, but the idea of it was too simple. Cause like Mo did the wings. That was so cool. That was amazing. I feel like I misunderstand. Like, I feel like I didn't understand the depth of what was there. Cause it was almost like a backpack of cake in like under the feathers.

[00:32:17] Yeah. And I didn't realize that until they peeled it off at the judging. And I was like, I don't know what he's doing. Like, I don't see what is going on, but they peeled it off. And then it was, there was like some like two or three inches of, of depth to the cake there. I was like, Oh, okay. And what were the feathers made of rice paper? I think. Wow. That was amazing.

[00:32:43] Watching him do that with like the exacto knife and, or maybe what exactly was like a chef's knife, but like just making the, the, the ruffle of the feathers. It was so cool. Yeah. Like when he was like Victoria's secret angel wings, I'm like, Oh, that's going to look cool. Cause like Mo's going to pull that off. Yeah. And I, I looked at the inspo picture, you know, and I was like, but it looked just like it. Yeah. I was, it was amazing. Yeah.

[00:33:13] I was really impressed with it. I thought that was a great idea. I don't know. I don't know what I would have done. Cause my only thought like wearable clothing, I'm like, um, lady Gaga's meat skirt. Like a different vibe. Totally different vibe. Cause yeah. Hat was the only thing that made. No, I couldn't wrap my head around it until I actually saw it. It was very impressive. I was like, maybe like.

[00:33:37] Like a vest with like fondant, like fondant made vest or something like that. But that'd be really difficult to actually get on to a dummy without breaking it. Right. Yeah. Um, I was, at some point I was thinking like a necklace, uh, or like jewelry that was a little bit smaller that you could make cake or biscuits or maybe like interlocked like a chain of gingerbread or, or something like that.

[00:34:06] Like, I could see that, but like, I definitely went straight to clothes. I did not even think about, I wouldn't even have thought about a hat until I, you know, my head against the wall a few times and like, okay, fine. I'll just do a hat. Uh, but it doesn't make any sense. Cause I'm going to put it on my head. Um, I did think that Paul had a definitive point with Moyens. Like that, that was just a cake with a wrap bottom. It, it did not. It was, I, I.

[00:34:35] Of all of them, it was, it was, yeah. It was decorated like a cake. It looked like, I don't know, like out of Alice in Wonderland where they put the cake on their head as a hat. Right. But it was good enough to save him cause it was a really great cake. Yeah. The fact you missed the, what did he, what did Paul say? You missed the, the note or the brief. You, you didn't make the brief, but it was an excellent cake. Yeah. Um, I was really impressed by Gary's knitted hat.

[00:35:05] Like. Yeah. I liked that one a lot. Phenomenal. That's the second time we've seen that knitting pattern. Cause Molly did it. Oh yeah. I wonder if they shared. It would not surprise me. Hey. But the fact that he was like, oh yeah, I was like a techno textile person for 20 years. I ran, ran a textile company that made that. So we're going to make this.

[00:35:32] I'm like, that's fortunate. Like extremely lucky. I will say. Sorry. Go ahead. I was going to say Gabe is a costumer. Like we're learning a little more. Mm-hmm. So Gabe's was the next one I was, I was going to bring up. And, um, like that was so colorful and so bright.

[00:35:54] And like, kind of like Nigella's dog, like you can tell like the, the joy that he, and that he, that it brought him to present something like that. Yeah. Even though. Yeah, I agree. He was kind of like, he was kind of like, this isn't quite perfect or whatever, but. Yeah. You could see what he was going for. It was, I thought it was really creative. And anytime you use flowers, it's gotta be perfect. Otherwise it tastes. Yeah.

[00:36:24] Like soap or grandma's bathroom or something. Yeah. Well, what did he use? They said the floor. I feel like I remember them saying that the pear in something had like a floral flavor, but what was the rose? My notes are pistachio, rose, and chocolate. The rose is what, yeah, that was the floral. I have a question. So Giannis and Gabe's, we never saw like a side by side, but like,

[00:36:53] was Gabe's that much bigger than Giannis's? Because it seemed like Giannis's looked reasonably sized. It looked similarly sized, at least to what we saw. He had the Bengali. That was pretty. Yeah, it was. I thought it was really pretty, but then Paul was saying that like, is this four and a half hours worth of work? I was like, it's not very big. And they're talking about it being like a short keying. I was like, I feel like it's the same size.

[00:37:19] Like as, as, as Gabe's that was significant. Maybe the profiteroles. Well, yeah. Cause I think the way his bake was, was it faster to get done? Cause like he made the profiteroles and just kind of stuck them in the hat. Is it a croquembouque? What's it called? Croquembush? Yeah. Something like that. Croquembouche. Croquem something. Where they have all the profiteroles stuck together with like caramel or something. Oh yeah. Croquembouche.

[00:37:49] I have something like that. Thank you. Yeah. I've never, I've never even had that. Like to me, it looks like donuts, like donut holes, which sounds wonderful to me. I love that. But I would be interested to see, to try like a different flavor of profiterole. We saw a couple of those towers the last couple of seasons. And I'm like, yes, please. Sorry. I keep on yapping.

[00:38:20] Yeah. These are. Who? So Nikki had the sombrero. Nikki had the gingerbread sombrero. What did Connie have? Connie had. It was Jamaican flavor. The mother of pride hat. Oh, I love that one with the purple. And then a rum carrot cake. Yes, please. Caribbean rum carrot cake featuring fruit that had been soaking for approximately a year.

[00:38:49] Yes, please. Wow. That's impressive. I was so impressed by that. It looks so good. Absolutely. Absolutely agree. That one. Tom's Dolly Parton wig. Like, not a hat. A wig. Like, that's such a cute idea. And the fact that he put, like, the glasses on it and everything. And his was, what?

[00:39:17] Banana spice, rum, caramel, jam. You just said, like, a bunch of flavors. Yeah, but, like, all flavors I like. Yeah, I know. Yes, again, I agree. But that sounded, it sounded really good. And they talked about how, like, Paul talked about how the banana really worked for him. And, I mean, again, visually, I get he's a hairdresser and he can identify what looks good and what doesn't. But, man, that was incredibly impressive. Yeah.

[00:39:46] Which I thought didn't look too much like Dolly Parton, but I still thought it was really wonderful. Yeah. He put the scarf on her, right? Yeah. And Dolly without a scarf. And he put makeup on the mannequin. Yeah, and it was different. Yeah. You know, it was different than the others. So I liked that. Because it was more of a is it cake thing. Yeah.

[00:40:14] Molly had the Earl Grey F1 Formula Racing cap. Oh, yeah. I was a little surprised that they didn't knock her for simplicity. Like, they talked about how it looked good. And Nigel talked about, like, it looked like glitter or on the little dots.

[00:40:36] But the fact that it was just the black hat with the pink bill, I think. Yeah. Yeah. And then, and then the, I, I was a little surprised that they did not. Well, I think it's still, it fit, it fit the bill. Like, it looked like a hat. Okay. Right. Fair enough. Yeah. No, yeah. It met the brief. Yes. It met the brief. It looked like a hat.

[00:41:04] It didn't look like a cake you tried to turn into a hat. I mean, it obviously wasn't, you know, like anybody looking at it's like, oh, that is cake. Like, you know, nobody's going to actually wear it. But. Right. But it looked, it looked a lot like a, you know, a baseball cap type of, or a Formula One. When they cut into it, I did see it. I was like, that looks dense. Like, it, it just, it, it looked like there were not a lot of like, I say air holes, but

[00:41:33] like, I think you guys, what, the structure was not as open. That's what I. Yeah. Um, but I mean, it was, she, it was, it looked exactly like, well, almost exactly like what the drawing perspective was. Yeah. Pretty impressive. And I like Earl Grey. I'm down for an Earl Grey cake anytime. There's not enough of those in this country. Yeah. I've, I don't think I've ever had one, but I would like to.

[00:42:03] I think we talked about everybody. Yep. Moyen's was pistachio and raspberry. That sounds amazing. Yes, please. Yeah. Like, and his flavors saved him. They saved his butt. His flavors and his good baking ability. Clara's was pineapple. And coconut inspired by pina coladas. I like Clara. Bet she'd be a lot of fun. Oh yeah. I want to go to her wedding. Her wedding looks like it's going to be fun. Yeah.

[00:42:34] And she seemed quite shocked at the end results, which I thought was really sweet. Well, the fact that she was staring at Connie, waiting for, for them to say Connie's name. Yeah. And then she was like, wait, what? I know. What did you say? I think she did. She knocked it out. That handbag was amazing. I think they were very impressed with that.

[00:42:59] I actually, like, right before they announced, I was like, Clara and Shannon are the answers. Yeah. And I was like, yep, all right, cool. And the fact that they had, like, the camera on Clara, and she's, like, staring at, I'm assuming at Connie. Yeah. And it was a fabulous, like, anti-gotcha. Yeah. Good for her. I'm excited for her.

[00:43:31] Yeah. She was so cute. Yep. Speaking of that, the phone call at the very end where either her dad or dad. I think it was her dad. It was her father-in-law. Future father-in-law. Oh. The fact that that was so funny. When he kept swearing. You're hearing the bleeps, and then he's like, oh, my God, I just realized, oh, sugar, I just realized what's happening. That was so sweet.

[00:44:01] And, okay, and here is, here is the defining, here's, like, the defining trait of this show that makes it so wonderful. Shannon got told she was going home. And then everybody was cheering her on, and they were dancing to her name. They were chanting her name. They were celebrating her.

[00:44:29] Like, to me, that was just, like, the defining theme of this show. It was. And she asked for a handshake. I was like, I wouldn't have thought of that. Yeah. Yeah. It was so cute. Yeah, I just, I thought it was, it was just, I mean, apart from the course, but just so nice. Yeah. I love this group.

[00:44:54] Oh, we missed talking about Allison coming out in the bagel bra. Oh, my God, yes. I was tackling. I was laughing so hard. And the hat, right? She had the two hats with the cherries on top of the. Yeah, but those were less funny than the bagel bra to me. Like, it took, like, I saw the bra, and then I saw the headpiece, like, right as she was leaving. Like, that was so funny. They also did the bend and snap. Yes. Oh, yeah. That was great.

[00:45:24] That was so funny. Mm-hmm. Yeah, they never ceased to amuse us. This will go by so quickly. I know. So, next week is bread week, which I feel like is a whole different vibe. Like, it could go. Anyway, because making bread is completely different than making cakes and cookies. Yes. There is a. Less forgiving.

[00:45:52] The savory, I'm really looking forward to the savory. Because we've had a lot of sweet this season. And I get it. It's designed that way. But I'm. And bread is the first time that I think that we end up with, like, those, like, heavily spiced bread loaves. Like, the heavily flavored, savory bread. Like, oh, you have, like, an olive loaf.

[00:46:20] Or you have, uh, and I'm just like, man, I, I'm craving some salty. And, well, not like Nigella. But, uh, I'm craving some salty to just, to, to mix it up a little bit. I'm really looking forward to it. Yeah, I'm curious. Because we'll really see who's got the skills. Like, because right now, if you made me pick, I'm saying Connie and Tom are the ones definitely going to the finale. But that could all change this. Like, I don't know if Connie has the bread skills. I feel like Tom does.

[00:46:50] I feel like Tom has bread skills. I have nothing to back this up. Yep. And, like, in my gut, I feel like Yanis might have some bread skills. I'm interested to see some of the, some of the, the, the variants that we have. Because I'm, I'm curious if Mo is, like, Mo seems like a very precise and creative person.

[00:47:20] But I wonder if that will translate to something that is not quite as creatively, like, appearance-wise. Because bread, bread's bread. Like, you can't. You can get some fancy decorations in the sourdoughs and stuff. You can, you can make them in the sourdough. But that's not making it, like, that's not putting that style, making it appear good. That is baking it into the bake.

[00:47:48] Like, was it last year they did, like, multicolored, like, there were, like, different plaits from, like, the plaited wreath. I can't remember. Oh, yeah. Yeah. The year before. But, and then somebody had, like, multicolored. I mean, it was almost like a Tom. Was it Tom last year? Tom last year is a tall, skinny, blonde guy who did, like, the multicolored plait.

[00:48:17] And it looked phenomenal. Yeah. I remember. It was, yeah. It was, like, I, and that was, again, that was Bread Week. They're just like, oh, my gosh. Amazing. Yep. That was pretty good. Yeah. I'm excited about Bread Week. Bread Week is always, and Paul is so much stricter on Bread Week. Yeah. And they get nervous making bread for Paul, because he is the bread king.

[00:48:47] Yep. Anybody else? Not quite a short king. I don't know how short Paul is, because we see him, like, in comparison to, like, Nigella and Noel. And Noel's kind of tall. Noel is tall. And Allison's tall. Yeah. I think Allison, because Allison and Noel are not, like, crazy height difference between them. Um, but, yeah, Bread Week.

[00:49:18] Mm. Bread. Anybody else have any? Any predictions? I said mine. I don't. I like it. Mo and Moyen, I think, are really strong, but Shannon is, too. It's hard. Not Shannon. Not Shannon. Clara. Sorry, Clara. Yeah. Yeah. Like, I, I mean, I'll, I agree with you, Jamie.

[00:49:47] I think that Tom and Mo are probably, like, frontrunners. Connie. My girl Connie. I'm still, she's my dark horse. I, I, I, yeah, I think, and you said, you said, you said Tom and Connie. Yeah, I said Tom and Connie. I think, I think Mo is, obviously Mo is on my head, in my head. Um, Mo, like, I'll tell you what, like, Mo makes it, makes it to Patisserie Week. I think you're going to see some extremely elegant bakes there.

[00:50:18] Yeah. I, I, like you said, I, I think that we really do, we need to see a larger breadth of samples from everybody, um, which we will. Yeah. Uh, but, I think that the consistency, I, I hate to say it, but I feel like Mickey might not make it, uh, much further.

[00:50:44] I feel she's, she's gotten some really good things, but then she's all, we've also seen some mistakes that she's made that is like, oh man, if she isn't able to cover that up and at some point or another, you start running up against the people who are consistent every week. I absolutely agree with that. Um, I mean, and maybe she'll, maybe she'll, she'll pull it together and, and, uh, pull it out. But I mean, I, uh, yeah, no, I, I also think that.

[00:51:14] Yeah. I just don't, I, I think that Yanis and Nikki will maybe may go out, you know, in the next few weeks, which is unfortunate because I think that they both are really good. And if things don't start breaking Molly's way. Oh yeah. I mean, I feel like, I agree with you. I think she's got the skills. I think she's just got bad luck. I feel like she's on thin ice and I feel like she's not going to have nearly as much

[00:51:43] forgiveness as some of the people who have produced some more, uh, whether it's supposed to be a week to week thing or not. I feel like there's going to be some cumulative. Yeah. And I feel like Gary too, we're going to hit a wall with Gary at a certain point. I think that his, not simplicity, but like the, the, the, the, his skill lies in the basics.

[00:52:06] And, and again, maybe I'll be wrong, but he hasn't produced anything that was amazingly brightly colored. And like, I, like, so, Hey, the hat this, this week was, was great, but, um, I just feel like his, his showman's pimp is, is more muted. And I think that's going to, that may help him. But I'm real excited for bread week to see what happens. Cause it's a different vibe.

[00:52:46] All right. All right. Well, I think that's our show for now. Next week we will cover episode four from series 17 bread week. If you want to write in or leave us a message, you can find all our contact information at podcast.com. While you're there, be sure to check out our other shows. Jamie, you have a show coming up. When's that come out? Uh, it comes out October. Well, the show crystal Lake, um, which is a Friday, the 13th prequel type of show, um,

[00:53:16] comes out October 15th, but we are releasing a pre episode where we cover, uh, the first and second Friday, the 13th movies. And that should be out right around the same time this comes out. So check podcastica and cover the Friday, the 13th movies. You don't have to watch the movies to watch the show. Um, I have seen the movie, so I'm definitely gonna participate. I mean, you know, if you've seen the movies, you know how the show is going to end. Yep.

[00:53:46] But they also don't bury the lead with that. Like they know, you know. Yeah. Um, I'm enjoying Widow's Bay. Jason and Karen are covering that. Yeah. Um, I'm one episode deep in both the show and the podcast, but both are fantastic so far. I've watched the first three, but then I'm rewatching for the pod. And I know this is in the past, but I recently binged Heated Rivalry and woo boy.

[00:54:16] Ah, it's my show. I am so obsessed with that show. Oh my God. Highly recommend. It's really great. Episode five. I haven't got to episode five. I've watched the first four. Okay. Episode five is, in my humble opinion, the best episode of television ever. Wow. Oh, I can't wait now. Yeah. When we're done, you do go watch it and then you text me what you think. Yeah. And, um, Jenny and Danny covered that.

[00:54:44] And I'm, I'm, I watched the first, I listened to the first episode of the podcast and I thought that was really great. Really amusing. They're super open. Loved it. Yeah. Heated Rivalry. Anybody who wants to contact me about Heated Rivalry, I will not shut up. I just saw the author. I just went to like a Q&A with the author and like breathe the same air as her. Yeah. Have you read the books? All of them plus her one-offs. Oh, wow. It was actually just, I have all the audio books too because they're like comfort reads at this point.

[00:55:12] So like if I've got, I can't sleep or I'm just. Nice. I throw the audio books on and. That's exciting. I am completely, utterly obsessed with this show. That's exciting. If they don't want to cover season two, I volunteer as tribute to cover season two. All right. Go subscribe and leave a review for Bakedastica on Apple Podcast. On your marks.

[00:55:42] Get set. Rape.