Great British Bake Off 2021

[Saddlesoap]

German week a little unfair surely

 

[The Devils Arse]

Glad chins got star baker, loved his bakes this week.

I'm not sure about Freya. Her voice grates on me a wee bit. Is it vocal fry?

 

[Chinese_whispers]

Finally caught up.

- There isn’t really any particular contestant I’m rooting for yet, but I do get the Chigs hype.

- glad to see Maggie go. She was never going to get far and went as far as she could.

- Matt is starting to grate. He’s a funny man, but him and Noel are not a comedy duo. At least Noel seems to have some natural banter with the bakers, Matt hasn’t.

 

[jackolantern]

Maggie hun I liked you, but how do you reckon on a *baking* show, you can get very far making a cake without flour?!

 

[NonDairyQueen]

This week was great! Absolutely died at Maggie's burned butter and sugar lumps, how did she not think a sticky toffee sponge needed flour
Jurgen, Giuseppe and Chigs are smashing it, and I have a soft spot for George too, who always seems hapless and winging it but sometimes nails it!

What do we think of Freya? I can't warm to her for some reason, and although I admire her really challenging herself with vegan bakes rather than using normal ingredients I can't help but think she's shooting herself in the foot here by making everything so much harder... maybe not the show for her as it is so butter and egg heavy!

Hmm I'm not all that fond of Freya but I did think making the signature meringue was a bit mean. Aquafaba takes ages to whip up and she didn't really showcase vegan baking with ' aquafaba is really unstable and ' vegan sponge is not very bendy! I think vegan week is enough to showcase vegan baking- its more fair, I think, but I suppose she chose to apply!

 

[MrsVonDarkness]

I have just finished watching bake off. Maggie was terrible. I have no idea how she even got on the show to be honest. Poor performance. How the feck do you not realise you need flour in a sticky toffee pudding.
The intro was dreadful. It is as if the producers do not want to potentially offend anyone so they have .. whatever that was.
Freya annoys me so much. The detective also irritates me.
I honestly don't know why I continue to watch the show as it riles me up

 

[Wellwouldntyouknowit]

We were wondering if Freya was the only vegan baker that applied? Or the only one palettable fot tv? Cause my sponges (vegan) are bendy...

 

[BonBon27]

Just catching up tonight. I swear I’m going to have to stop watching it if they keep on with the whole “this usually takes three hours so we’re giving them an hour and a half to do it” I get it’s a challenge, and they need to be managing their time etc, but it’s supposed to be home bakers doing home bakes. Does my head in!

Anyway Maggie was in over her head, and Chigs is my fave, with Giuseppe up there too! I don’t like Lizzie or Freya.

 

[Giggling Squid]

Is Freya vegan? She should have said

 

[BunnyLebowski]

You two have Chigs. I’ll have Jürgy.

Can I have George please?

 

[Tippingpoint23]

Just catching up tonight. I swear I’m going to have to stop watching it if they keep on with the whole “this usually takes three hours so we’re giving them an hour and a half to do it” I get it’s a challenge, and they need to be managing their time etc, but it’s supposed to be home bakers doing home bakes. Does my head in!

Anyway Maggie was in over her head, and Chigs is my fave, with Giuseppe up there too! I don’t like Lizzie or Freya.

This has annoyed me for ages too. They say ‘oh this takes 4 hours so do it in 2’ and then say well this isn’t baked properly or this could have used longer in the oven. GIVE THEM LONGER THEN!!

 

[BelleAmie]

This has annoyed me for ages too. They say ‘oh this takes 4 hours so do it in 2’ and then say well this isn’t baked properly or this could have used longer in the oven. GIVE THEM LONGER THEN!!

I don’t enjoy these challenges - I don’t want to see how well they can make a flying plane out of gingerbread, I just want to see a nice cake that is immaculately presented.

 

[Sprezza]

This has annoyed me for ages too. They say ‘oh this takes 4 hours so do it in 2’ and then say well this isn’t baked properly or this could have used longer in the oven. GIVE THEM LONGER THEN!!

Or when they give them chocolate or ice cream to work with on the hottest day of the year!! And they're all 'hmm I wonder how they'll cope with the challenge' and it inevitably melts and everyone has a disaster. How is that a test of skill!? It's also predictable and boring to watch now.

 

[DinosaursLayEggs]

Caught up last night. Freya going on about aquafaba really annoyed me. There was a technical on vegan week 2 (I think?) years ago to made a vegan pavlova so I think Paul and Prue know how aquafaba behaves. I baked along at that point, and didn’t find it any different to using egg whites, so she just sounded like she was making excuses

Gutted Maggie left, I really liked her but I do agree she was the right person to go. Also, Chigs deserved star baker so much, his desserts looked incredible!

 

[SarahGard83]

I'd happily eat Chigs cakes then I'd eat him

 

[Sprezza]

Well Maggie was an absolute delight on an extra slice tonight. Why didn't she come across like that on the show?

 

[NonDairyQueen]

This has annoyed me for ages too. They say ‘oh this takes 4 hours so do it in 2’ and then say well this isn’t baked properly or this could have used longer in the oven. GIVE THEM LONGER THEN!!

Yes that is ridiculous. Its notvthen a test of skill or timing. It's just there to add a bit of jeopardy to the programme. They can't do a 4 hour recipe properly in 2 hours@

 

[Chinese_whispers]

Well Maggie was an absolute delight on an extra slice tonight. Why didn't she come across like that on the show?

all the stress is gone now. She probably doesn’t do that well under pressure.

 

[Smoke_and_Mirrors]

Well Maggie was an absolute delight on an extra slice tonight. Why didn't she come across like that on the show?

Exactly what I thought. I really warmed yo her, her personality came though and she is lovely. Maybe we just didn't get to see enough of her for that to show in the tent.

 

[DinosaursLayEggs]

I had a thought last night about how the majority of older contestants tend not to do as well on Bake Off. Not sure whether this will be the case, but it makes a bit of sense to me.

My mum used to work in a bakery and has baked many a beautiful cake throughout my life. However, one thing I know about my mum is that she very rarely weighs out any of her ingredients (apparently can tell from sight). This is something she has learnt from her mum, and through her time at the bakery. Speaking to my partner’s nan, she has baked in the past the exact same way. So I wonder whether some of the older contestants took this approach too, and are used to baking a little more “freely” should we say and more simple bakes that maybe aren’t up to the standard shown on GBBO nowadays? Forgetting Maggie not putting flour in the sticky toffee puddings, none of her bakes looked awful, but they probably just weren’t up to the standard that GBBO expects.

It’s just a thought, but I know nowadays, they say baking is all about provision, and being specific but I know that’s not the way my mum or my grandparents or my partners nan bakes, and all of their bakes have been delicious. Or maybe I’m just trying to find an excuse because the older contestants break my heart when they leave early on