Caution: SPOILERS ahead for this episode, also for series 12 and 15 of the same show!

The Bake-Off is back! Finally. It feels like it’s been a long wait, doesn’t it? I’ve been craving this show for months, and this premiere hit the spot. I’ve been watching this show since 2017, and it is truly the OG baking competition show, the one that got me started watching all the rest of them.

The sixteenth season: I really feel like this show has aged well. It’s become self-aware without losing any of its authenticity; the 2025isms (“Prue is low-key savage”, all the jokes about Paul’s blue eyes, etc.) don’t feel out of place; the aesthetic hasn’t changed, but also hasn’t become dated; unlike so many shows that do not age well, it has managed to not become a parody of itself.

At the same time, it’s sad to me to see how old the show has gotten. Paul and Noel are both looking older. When Paul eventually retires, the Bake-Off simply won’t continue. How could it? Like him or not (and I do like him; I think the attitude is just a part of his job), he really is GBBO.

But it’s not time to worry about that yet. Another season begins, and I think this is going to be a good one. The editing in this episode was on point; my husband and I were laughing a lot; and, at this stage, there’s no obvious winner right out the gate (looking at you, Giuseppe in series 12), which raises the suspense level.

However, this episode was also tragic for me:

Over the years, my husband and I, while watching this show together, have observed a trend: the contestants that I pick early on as my personal favorites tend to be the ones who end up going home in the first few episodes. It’s become a running joke: my blessing is like a death sentence; my selection of “favorite” is a curse. And I’m afraid that, this episode, my cursing power was stronger than ever.

During the Swiss roll Signature challenge, when they were introducing Hassan and his creation, my stupid little ears perked up. Chocolate, coffee, and caramel: definitely the best flavor choices this challenge. And additionally, for his decorative inlay design, he chose blue roses. “Blue roses,” he said, “are a symbol of achieving the impossible.” If you know me, you know I was cheering for him from this moment, because I have a thing about blue flowers and their symbolism. Plus, Hassan seemed like a really likeable guy. But! I dared not speak aloud that I had chosen him as my favorite, lest I curse him. I kept my mouth shut.

And then!! Holy cow! The disaster that ensued! My husband and I were cry-laughing as poor Hassan tried to like knead the leaking gloppy chocolatey mess into some semblance of a Swiss roll shape. It still tasted amazing, apparently, but it was basically just a pile of broken cake and filling, heartbreakingly topped with some chocolate curls. (“He decorated the corpse,” my husband remarked.) Hassan then came in 10^th in the Technical, and in the Showstopper, Paul said his bamboo scene looked “like a bad dream,” which had me once again cry-laughing, because apparently Paul’s worst nightmares are about landscapes of stumpy, awkward bamboo stalks.

What else? There are so many contestants, this early in the game, that it’s hard to talk about how cool everyone is and every noteworthy thing that happened without rambling on for like 3,000 words, so I’ll try to keep it concise.

Nataliia was certainly a highlight of this episode! I did think it was interesting that Nataliia chose to do such an incongruous combination of flavor/decor in her Swiss roll: a traditional Ukrainian design for the inlay, with tropical passion fruit and mango flavors inside?! Hassan did the same thing, a Japanese landscape with a pumpkin spice cake inside! Weird; I feel like, if this were the Food Network Baking Championship, the judges would have dinged them for something like that. But, Prue and Paul didn’t seem to care.

Then Nataliia came in third in the technical, and her chocolate-cherry-rum “map of Ukraine” cake was, according to Paul, “a special cake” and “stunning.” Good for her!

And then she won!? Honestly, I was expecting either Tom or Iain to be star baker this episode. Even though he came in last in the technical, his blueberry mascarpone Tartan-patterned Swiss roll was phenomenal, and his Icelandic waterfall landscape cake in the Showstopper looked and sounded incredible. He’s one to watch for sure. Iain also killed it in both the Signature and Showstopper. That artwork of his university on the inlay of his Swiss roll was insane! Contestants with fine arts skills always go far in this show (thinking about little Sumayah last year). And then, the beach design on that chocolate stout/blackberry cream cheese cake, dang! So, I was sure it would be one of these two dudes. I was surprised when they called out Nataliia. But then I looked back on the episode and yeah, she really was the most consistently good, and then her showstopper was next-level, so, the win was well-deserved! I really like Nataliia and would love to see her win the whole thing.

Two IDK LOL moments that were peak TV: Pui Man randomly putting rosewater in her fondant fancies in the technical, for no reason at all. When Paul asked why she did that, she was just like: “I don’t know,” lol. I can relate. Also, Nataliia telling Noel during their little chat session that she “didn’t know” what her husband was good at, hahaha. Noel Fielding is such a blessing to this show.

I like so many of the contestants this year but I’ll try and wrap this up. A couple final observations. Iain looks like Puck from The Sandman season two. He’s like a sneaky little baker elf (what kind of magic spell did he cast to get that cake to stay together after it collapsed in the showstopper?!), and I think he might win the whole thing. My husband and I both really liked how they did the technical this episode; letting the contestants see and taste the finished fondant fancy, and giving them more ingredients than they needed to use, made it really fun to watch (those ground almonds were a trap!). This episode also taught me what myxomatosis is, as my heart broke for Leighton’s poor little decorative sheep. Also, there was a whole lot of lemon in the Signature, did you notice that? Five out of twelve Swiss rolls were lemon!

And before we go, can we talk about Pui Man? She somehow managed to make matcha taste amazing in the Signature! That takes a crazy amount of skill. And this was right after she said in conversation that she “doesn’t eat sweets” – lolwut?! Ma’am? You don’t like sweets? As a contestant on GBBO? This girl is quickly becoming my favorite, hahaha – no, wait, I take that back!! I never said that. She’s not my favorite. I don’t have a favorite!

“Claggy” count: 2

“Concertina” count: 1

My high point: Everything Pui Man did.

My low point: Drag king? Eww. Poor taste. This show’s supposed to be family-friendly. Surely there’s some other element of her life that they could have chosen to showcase.

The cake that I would most have liked to eat: Toby’s PB&J Showstopper cake, with browned butter sponge, white chocolate, strawberry jam and praline. If you know me, you know I’m all about peanut butter desserts, and I always love when a contestant goes for the PB&J theme on this show, because it’s not exactly a common flavor combo in the UK.

My official prediction for winner: Tom, with runners-up Iain and Nataliia – but, as I observed earlier, it’s hard to say, at this point! Jessika, Lesley, and Aaron also seem like potential champions.

What do you think?? I don’t usually beg for comments (or even allow comments on most of my junk, lol) but leave me a comment!

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