The Great British Baking Show
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We are now eight weeks intoGreat British Baking Showseason ten and I feel a bit … empty?
Its not the challenges, which have been pretty decent all season long.
Prue and Paul are delivering the same gut-wrenching critiques as always.
But none of the bakers, except Steph, have distinguished themselves as clear winners.
Perhaps this is the cost of watchingGBBSweek to week for the first time ever.
During a binge, themes start to emerge.
Week-to-week, not so much.
Going into it Steph and Rosie both mention not really liking pastry, which doesnt seem possible.
That would be madness.
But to not likemakingpastry?
Well, the act of filling it with literally anything can lead to disaster.
And, oh, does it lead to disaster this week, though not in the way youd expect.
Thats the order its made in, but its presented in the opposite direction.
So, there will be flipping!
They also have the option of create a rough puff or full puff pastry.
Rosie begins cooking her filling and realizes shes added too much butter.
The bakers pop their tartes into the oven and then the waiting and the sweating begins.
The bakers begin flipping out all of their tartes and there are no major disasters!
But you kind of find yourself wishing for a major disaster.
After all, this season has really lacked Ian-throwing-his-bake-in-the-bin levels of horribleness.
Both the flavors and coloring are spot on.
Henry beams in his pink tie and floral button-down.
Next, over to David.
Paul says his tarte looks nice, but its a shame about the burning.
David corrects him: Its not burned.
Those are purple carrots, which are apparently news to 53-year-old Paul Hollywood.
That would be too much work.
David begins to wonder if hes too sophisticated for this show.
Played well, Free Bird is nice to listen to, I guess.
Finally, its over to Rosie, who just barely beat out Michael the week before.
She gets the challenges only soggy bottom criticism.
All in all, Henry and Steph receive the only completely good feedback of the morning.
Next, its onto the Technical and this week, Paul has set the challenge.
He wants the bakers to make a Moroccan pie with warqa pastry.
Alice suspects, correctly, that it must be similar to phyllo dough.
Henry says hell get naked if anyones actually heard of this.
(I imagine its very, verywhite.)
My biggest fear is not being able to present something, she says.
The filling in Rosie and Henrys immediately bursts forth, but its too late to do anything about that!
Paul and Prue reemerge and arent immediately put off, a good sign.
They start with Rosies pie.
How that is possible is beyond me.
Could this be the week David breaks free of this No.
This is that week!!
David claims first place, but doesnt seem all that thrilled with having finally won first place.
He comes out ahead of Rosie, Alice, Steph, and Henry in that order.
Finally, its onto the Showstopper and the challenge is… vertical pies?
Prue says its totally possible to just place some pies on top of one another.
Cool, no harm, no foul!
There will be crab, salmon, root vegetables, and no tops.
Rosie goes in the fantasy direction and plans to make a Rapunzel tower with a dragon at the base.
It will also feature the burned outline of a knight, which Im pretty sure is straight fromShrek.
Did I mention that the dragon is pink?
Rosie wont be using any dowels or supportive structures and she doesnt know why.
This is an ode to her curry-obsessed childhood, apparently.
Finally, Henry says hell be making a chandelier pie with four (!)
Two will be sweet spiced chocolate and pecans and two will be savory chicken, ham, and chorizo.
Steph puts little horses and squares on the outside of her carousel.
Alice adds a swing to hers.
What veterinarians dont know about physics, amirite?
It does not and Prue and Paul dont look disappointed at all!
Prue loves the imaginative and funny design, but thats about as good as it gets for Rosie.
Alice is up next and the judges are enamored with her little treehouse, and especially the trunk.
He also misses on his flavors (too salty) and guess what?
His filling is dry!
Steph is up next and the first criticism the judges dole out is that her decorative squares look clumsy.
But the rest of the curry-filled pie?
Great flavor, perfectly browned and thin pastry, and its not dry!
Steph smiles, having fully recovered from her Technical Challenge failure.
Finally, its over to Henry and his chandelier pie.
Prue says the design is lazy.
Paul says he cant taste the chocolate, which seems literally impossible.
The filling is dry.
The dryest of them all!
Thats on the judges, yall.
Just not as well as Steph did.
But with the competition so, so poor this week it barely feels like a win.
Otherwise, her winning the competition seems like a foregone conclusion and wheres the fun in that?
