Danni, starting her cake batter, thinking out loud as she mixes: “I cannot imagine one of these people has not made a coffee and walnut cake.”
*cut to Tom, standing at his station looking lost*
Tom: “I’ve not made one.”
The Bake-Off is back! I can’t tell you guys how starved I’ve been for this show. There was no Spring nor Summer Baking Championship this year, so all these months I’ve been positively in agony waiting for a new baking show season. And, of course, this is the undisputed OG of baking shows.
But without Prue! I miss her so much. As great as a choice Nigella Lawson was and is, I was unsure how the show was going to be without Prue. Since its beginning, there’s been this inter-judge dynamic of, to borrow someone’s description from a Facebook comment, “posh grandmother + bad boy,” which is a major element of the show’s charm. Nigella, who is younger than Paul, changes up this vibe completely.
Luckily, after watching the first episode, I believe it’s going to work. Sure it’s a different vibe, and it doesn’t seem like Nigella & Paul have quite the level of comfort together that Paul did with Prue or Mary — not yet, at least — but it works.
What I like most about Nigella as a judge is the way she talks about food. In this episode, she described cakes as “savage” twice and “thrilling” once; she told one contestant their cake was “emanating anxiety,” another that they had “confidence in their cake.” It’s evident she has a highly artistic approach to food. So far, it seems to make her an excellent judge. She’s insightful but tactful, and doesn’t miss anything. What did you guys think?
How about this year’s contestants? Do you all have any favorites yet? Naturally, I automatically favored the two contestants who, when assigned a chocolate stout cake, used alcohol-free stout: Yannis and Mo. Plus, Yannis is a pediatrician, so I like him even more! Mo, the youngest of this year’s bunch, seems very chill. Gary is my other favorite: you all know I always tend to root for the older contestants, on these shows, but the thing is, usually the oldest ones are also some of the weakest. Gary was one of the best this week! He was this close to getting Star Baker. That was great to see.
And nice to see that no one got sent home. The contestants acted shocked, but come on, anyone who’s watched this show saw that one coming from a mile away, the second they showed Shannon walking off the set with a medic. They never kick anyone off if someone had to leave for an emergency. Poor Shannon! I was so disappointed to see her leave. Speaking of Shannon, everyone was talking about Tom and his Paul-like piercing blue eyes, but why did no one say anything about Shannon’s eyes? Wow! Eyes made of sparkling ice from an enchanted realm, or some faraway planet. It was like she was seeing me through the screen.
I didn’t care much for the stout cake challenge, obviously (🤢), but loved the self-portrait cake challenge! What flavor would you guys make your self-portrait cakes?! I think I’d make mine fig and blackberry — something a little weird and bluish-purple colored, plus blackberries and figs both have personal significance for me. With some kind of nuts mixed in there somewhere, because, you know, nutty.
Oh, and one other observation: in the musical intro theme, was that a new little girl?! I feel like they left the intro the same except for that one little moment. I could swear that’s a new child. Am I crazy? Please let me know if you noticed this — and any other thoughts you had. Leave me your comments!
Here’s the recap!:
Signature Challenge: Chocolate Stout Cake
- Shannon: black forest gateau with cherry compote filling
- Tom: “tipsy cherry” chocolate stout cake with cream cheese icing
- Gary: whiskey & Irish cream stout cake with Irish whiskey ganache
- Yannis: “Sacher Symphony” with apricot compote
- Clara: Portuguese stout cake with orange zest
and sugar dome - Moyin: Nigerian stout cake with hazelnut
- Danni: cup-shaped design with cream cheese icing
- Nikki: blackberry & malt mascarpone stout cake
- Connie: Jamaican Dragon stout cake
- Molly: cardamom spiced chocolate stout cake
- Mo: peanut and caramel stout cake
- Gabe: peanut stout cake with peanut brittle
Judging notes: Mo and Gary were the favorites. Moyin also did great. Molly’s dropped, but she was able to recover.
Technical Challenge: Coffee & Walnut Cake using illustration for reference
- 12. Molly
- 11. Danni
- 10. Shannon
- 9. Moyin
- 8. Clara
- 7. Yannis
- 6. Connie
- 5. Nikki
- 4. Mo
- 3. Gabe
- 2. Gary
- 1. Tom (who had never made a coffee & walnut cake before, but decided to use a tried & true family technique and did a perfect cake!)
Showstopper Challenge: Self-Portrait Cake
- Molly: Lemon & mango “knitted” cake with white chocolate ganache and buttercream painting
Shannon: lemon cake with lemon curd and fondant face- Gary: lemon-lime “home at the stables” cake
- Danni: vegan, foraged green cake with stinging nettle, “sticky willy,” and magnolia jam
- Tom: spiced carrot cake with salted caramel
- Yannis: almond chiffon cake with whipped pistachio ganache and cherry compote
- Moyin: brown sugar cake with hibiscus curd
- Gabe: spicy margarita blue cake with orange-flavored buttercream and cracking mirror with hidden portrait
- Nikki: 9-layer chocolate cherry cake with kirsch-soaked cherries
- Mo: lemon blueberry cake with blueberry compote and cream cheese icing
- Clara: pistachio-cardamom cake with amaretto cream cheese icing
- Connie: chocolate berry cake
Judging notes: Mo “took the cake,” pun intended — judges were speechless. Molly also did great, redeeming herself from the first two challenges. Danni’s unfortunately collapsed.
STATS:
“Claggy” count: 0
“Concertina” count: 0 (wow, I’m surprised we got through Cake Week without a single “claggy” or “concertina” from Paul!)
Noel’s Outfit Notes: oversized navy sweater with gray nude sculpture body beneath the collar, with fig leaf covering
Best Noel Moment: pretending to embrace and freakily French kiss the Technical cake illustration for no reason whatsoever
Star Baker: Mo
Sent Home: N/A (do you think they’ll send two next week?)
Mith’s official prediction for winner: Tom. I just have a feeling about that guy. I think he’s the winner.
The dessert I’d most like to eat: Yannis’s almond chiffon cake with whipped pistachio ganache and cherry compote. Paul said it was slightly overbaked, but this sounded like an incredible flavor combo!