The Great British Bake Off: Week one – CAKE!

Hey guys! So, this is going to be a major challenge for us, but hey, that’s the whole point of the show. We have decided that every week, following the latest episode of The Great British Bake Of (GBBO), we will pick one of the challenges (Signature, Technical or Showstopper) and attempt to recreate it ourselves.

Now I guarantee, not a single one of our bakes will be even close to the level these top bakers will be at. We aren’t really bakers, we barely have any of the tools that they have access to and we are complete amateurs. But that’s kind of the point. We want to see how we hold up with our teeny weeny kitchen and basic kitchen appliances and accessories. And if we can do it, then you sure can too!

So let’s introduce the show, shall we. Anyone in Britain knows what this show is. The first episode of this season (Season 7) had over 10 MILLION viewers tuning in. A record for the show. It is probably without a doubt one of of the most popular tv shows airing in UK right now.

I reckon it’s that Mary Berry one, she’s a saucy minx

 

 

 

 

 

 

So there are 12 contestants of mixed “variety”. Definitely hitting a diversity quota there – not to say they aren’t all incredibly talented, but is such the way things are these days. To make up for years of prejudice and discrimination against various groups, we are now trying to make up for a lack of diversity by purposefully hiring or picking specific people for being a minority, be it being a woman, being LGBT, being Muslim or black.I enjoy seeing diversity everywhere I go, I want it diversity at every single point of my life, but you can always tell when a bit of cherry picking has happened.

Season 7 sees (From left to right):

Rav Bansal (28), Val Stones (66), Tom Gilliford (26), Selasi Gbormittah (30), Kate Barmby (37), Lee Banfield (46), Candice Brown (31), Benjamina Ebuehi (23), Michael Georgiou (20), Louise Williams (46), Andrew Smith (25) and Jane Beedle (61).

Up front we have our two judges and two hosts: Mel Giedroyc (host) Paul Hollywood (judge) Mary Berry (judge) and Sue Perkins (host).Funny how attached you get to a group of contestants and then the following year, for a good couple of weeks, the new contestants just don’t seem as good, you aren’t as attached – who cares ’bout these new guys maaaan!

I always used to do it with America’s Next Top Model or RuPauls Drag Race. But eventually, you being to get to know them and like them bit by bit.

The first challenge was the Signature Challenge. This challenge gives the bakers to pick the flavours themselves. They have the type of bake they need. They pick the flavours and design. This challenge was DRIZZLE CAKES. Oh my lord. My god. My freaking …. drizzle cakes are my favourite, or should I say, LEMON DRIZZLE CAKES. I can’t get enough of them. My work recently got awarded some money to buy cakes and treats for our office for us, and my manager happened to buy a big lemon drizzle cake. You know the kind with the actual sugar crystals on top. Took so much will power to not just stuff the whole damn thing in my mouth in one go. I’m not even joking.Tom will tell you my obsession with the damned thing. So guess what challenge we’ll be attempted this week?

The second was the technical challenge. Jaffa Cakes. Now, most challenges for this round are relatively… underwhelming in name. But the challenge is that they are given the most basic of instructions. When I say basic, I mean basic. They might be given the ingredients to use, but not the measurements. They might be told to put it in the oven, but not for how long. This round is a surprise so some bakers may have never even made this thing ever before in their life. So they have to use what they already know to figure it out. This is my favourite round to watch, because the idiots come out to play during this round. Sorry, no, it’s probably the pressure getting to them. But seriously, you would think some of these people had never even SEEN a jaffa cake before by the looks of it. One guy made his completely upside down. HOW CAN YOU BE BRITISH AND NOT KNOW WHAT A BLOODY JAFFA CAKE LOOKS LIKE?! They also have to make 12 IDENTICAL pieces in this challenge. So they lose point if a couple are a bit wonky or whatever. PRESSUUUREEEE.

Finally, it’s the showstopper. This round they know about in advance and get to practice it all week to perfect it. This is where they really show off their skills as bakers. This week their showstopper was a mirror glaze cake. Any cake. Any flavour. Any design. It just ha to have a mirror glaze topping. You know those cakes where you can basically see your reflection in, they are that shiny. I doubt me and Tom will ever attempt this round, maybe we will for kicks, but meh. I mean, just look at this showstopper made last season (season 6) by Paul Jagger!
It’s frickin LION made out of bread! Not just one kind of bread either. Several. Anyone who’s ever made bread will know it always varies. The type of bread and the recipe, method, ingredients, size will ALWAYS vary and it’s very hard to design anything made out of bread and know exactly how it will turn out once it has cooked and expanded. JUST LOOK AT THIS BREAD LION! LOOK AT IT AND CRY AT YOUR BREAD MAKING FAILURE!

 

So! This week. We want to make a drizzle cake. Wish us luck!