Thank you for watching and commenting – we’re back next week with Dessert Week.
And hear hear with this comment too.
It’s been a tough few weeks out there, so be good to yourself and the people around you.
And the baker leaving the tent is … Dana!
Not Dana, but the writing was on the wall after her showstopper.
Every setback, every criticism she received from the judges never ever knocked her back. I think she is the most positive baker I’ve ever seen in the tent, reacting to a bad bake with an unflappable commitment that the next one, and the next day, will be better.
“I feel like I smashed it. Week six!,” she said.
Star Baker is … Josh!
Completely unsurprising. Josh is a finalist in the making I reckon.
So, no obvious baker at the bottom. Who could be heading home?
I’m worried for Saku, Matty and Dana.
Knowing Dana, if she goes home she’ll be giggling.
Cristy tries to tell Paul about the horror of her showstopper bake, but Paul tells her to stop.
Good. She shouldn’t talk herself down in this way.
“Thank god it’s over,” she comments.
Paul jokes that he has seen people throw stuff in the bin, a reference to the infamous bingate.
Cristy's Elderflower, Strawberry & Rhubarb Floral Dessert Showstopper. #GBBO pic.twitter.com/y2gews2i5T
— British Bake Off (@BritishBakeOff) October 31, 2023
Now it is time for Dana’s.
Wowzers, how has she been able to bake the box and the cake in just four and a half hours?
However, like Saku, her flavours didn’t come through (it appears floral flavours are the hardest to get right.) The cake is also deemed to be a bit stodgy, raising concerns of style over substance.
Matty, Saku and Dana at the bottom I think.
Dana's 'Stop & Smell the Rosé' Floral Dessert Showstopper. #GBBO pic.twitter.com/qTyjMnsmZI
— British Bake Off (@BritishBakeOff) October 31, 2023
Josh’s rhubarb, raspberry and hibiscus floral desert gets top marks, even though it has split on the side. The flowers in the jelly have been the result of some “very skilful injecting.” Ahem.
Josh's Rhubarb, Raspberry & Hibiscus Floral Dessert Showstopper. #GBBO pic.twitter.com/hKVc98x8np
— British Bake Off (@BritishBakeOff) October 31, 2023
A mixed bag for Matty. Although his layers are nicely separated, it feels too much like a lemon cake than a botanical bake.
Prue: “It is delicious, but it isn’t a showstopper.”
Saku and Matty at the bottom, then.
Dan has baked the Blue Peter garden.
Dan's 'Sunny Meadows' Floral Dessert Showstopper. #GBBO pic.twitter.com/TipRbgEGq1
— British Bake Off (@BritishBakeOff) October 31, 2023
Saku, after a wobbly (this is not a pun) signature, has come back with an impressive jelly showstopper.
However, her bake is overwhelmed by ginger, with no other flavour coming through. That puts her in a weak spot. I’m worried for Saku now.
Saku's Earl Grey & Hibiscus Floral Dessert Showstopper. #GBBO pic.twitter.com/2wws9XWA7Z
— British Bake Off (@BritishBakeOff) October 31, 2023
And now it is the showstopper judging.
Beginning with Tasha, and her elderflower and hibiscus floral desert.
Apart from a little bit of jelly leakage, her bake is deemed to be “absolutely heavenly” and “a triumph.” She’s easily walked into next week. So who is going to leave the tent?
The tension on tonight's Bake Off is something else. 😱😱 #GBBO pic.twitter.com/mG178TIpFU
— British Bake Off (@BritishBakeOff) October 31, 2023
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Miraculous! With literally a minute to spare, on the second attempt Cristy somehow managed to take the mould out of her bake and has something to present.
I think I need a walk outside now. That was so stressful.
Gosh, is Cristy going to get her bake done in time? This has all the hallmarks of a disaster.
And Saku literally slopped her jelly lid on.
This is hard to watch. Cristy is still crying, but has returned and is continuing on.
Social media can be vicious when stuff like this happens, because a small proportion of viewers would believe she is being melodramatic or did something like this for attention. I hope Cristy knows that nearly all viewers wouldn’t think any less of her.
Meanwhile, Dan is now helping Dana complete her box, after literally baking a village green in jelly.
Oh god. Cristy’s bake has fallen apart after coming out of the mould, just as Noel Fielding was standing next to her attempting to do a yoda impression. You couldn’t make it up.
And, oh gosh, she’s in tears. Alison Hammond has tried to take over making her mixture, while Cristy has decided to leave the tent to resettle.
Convinced it is over, Dan has also given her a big hug.
I feel that we’re only going to know whether everyone’s bakes will be set at the very last moment. Why have I suddenly got a sense something is going to go really wrong?
Cristy is trying to take a white chocolate ganache out of a mould on a hot day.
Good luck to her. Honestly.
Noel is just saying that he has dated a woman who put flowers in resin.
Totally normal thing for Noel to be saying.
Josh coming out with another peak Josh moment, while he talks about his nan:
“We would grow hibiscus flowers in our conservatories and we would see who could grow the most.”
Tasha has decided to sign instead of talking while explaining her recipe, as she doesn’t know how to pronounce so many of the words.
Credit where it is due. I love how accommodating Bake Off and Channel 4 has made it for Tasha, without making it a big deal at all.
Saku is making an earl grey cheesecake: “I don’t really have artistic skills.”
Saku, take that back! Your own name piped on a bake the other week defined creativity.
Matty is talking about his alcohol infused floral bake.
“When you put elderflower in prosecco with some raspberries in, it is a real masculine drink I find as well, so people look scared when you’re drinking it.”
Matty, have you ever been on a stag do?
The cake must be beautifully holding together, which is the opposite of me right now.
Oh and Paul and Prue are talking about cat pee, as we’re on Channel 4.
The showstopper is an imaginative ‘floral desert’
Well, it is botanical week. Glad they finally settled on flowers.
So Josh and Cristy are frontrunners, but who is at the bottom?
Tasha didn’t have a good technical, but was a clear frontrunner in the signature.
And here are the rankings. 7: Tasha (“a bit clumsy on the icing”) 6. Dana (she remarked that she didn’t know why the colours in her bake were off, resulting in her trademark giggle.). 5. Saku. 4, Matty. 3. Dan. 2. Josh (needed a little bit more time/thyme, can’t really tell which.) 1. Cristyyyyyyy.
And now it is time for the technical challenge judging.
Dan’s did not have enough thyme. Matty’s didn’t contain enough thyme. Dana’s did not contain enough thyme. Tasha’s contains enough thyme. Cristy’s contains enough thyme. Saku’s contained enough thyme. Josh’s did not contain enough thyme.
It is just the same review, thyme after thyme.
I’m really sorry.
And now … a tense moment, as the bakers flip their drizzle cakes.
If they hadn’t lined their tins (my advice for life: always line your tins) then they’ll experience the consequences. And, of course, Prue hadn’t warned them about this.
Josh: “The worst thing will be for it to not come out.”
Funnily enough, I said the same thing to myself in front of a mirror when I was 14.
We’re so sorry.
Saku flailing her arms wildly as Noel Fielding dropkicks a lemon to the other side of the tent, shattering a glass panel, is peak Channel 4 Bake Off.
QUESTION THYME: Dana hasn’t put that much thyme in, while Cristy has put in a lot.
But following the other bakers, Dana has decided to add some more. 🙏🙏🙏
Oh and they haven’t told them how much thyme to include either.
For no real reason but to catch them out, I guess.
“This challenge will be right up your street. You’ve actually come as a lemon,” says Alison to Matty before her trademark cackle.
Her cackle is the best thing about Bake Off.
Technical challenge is a lemon and thyme drizzle cake.
Oh and they’ve only given them an hour and a half, so they haven’t got much thyme.
I’m so sorry.
That was quite an underwhelming challenge as a television spectacle. I am not sure whether getting rid of two bakers in the same episode was a good idea, especially as they were some of the most interesting bakers in this series. They could have just kept four bakers till the final.
Yep, it was totally non-sensical.
Josh’s bake looks like something the Demon Headmaster would have invented.
Cristy’s bake is deemed to be “absolutely delicious,” receiving not a single criticism.
And Matty’s bake is too dense, but to be honest it still looks banging.
Meanwhile Saku apologises for getting the bakes in different sizes due to her poor calculations.
Paul: “Don’t you work as an accountant?”
Saku: “SHHHHHHH.”
Dan and Dana’s bakes get mixed reviews, with Dan’s deemed to be misshapen and Dana’s critiqued for containing more rose than actual spices.
Dana replies with her trademark wit (and laugh): “Well, I guess I should just change the title.”
She’s unflappable. A positivity queen!
“That’s Christmas,” Prue says on Halloween.
And now it is time for the signature judging.
Starting with Tasha’s mulled wine spiced buns.
“That’s Christmas. I love the flavour,” says Prue. Tasha managed to balance out the flavours and the whole thing does not look like the grey slop it did earlier. She should be proud of that.
This episode is desperately needing Nicky to fly the flag for Scotland, while Rowan drops a random anecdote you wouldn’t expect from someone in their early 20s.
Alison ends the challenge the only way Alison can: “Let’s have a group hug. Hug me. HUG ME.”
Noel follows it up with: “I don’t want anyone to touch me.”
God, how relatable.
Matty and Josh’s buns look quite identical.
Dan’s buns are quite identical.
And Saku and Dana’s buns don’t look identical at all.
Cristy: “I hope Paul enjoys his nuts.”
Cristy, this kind of talk is supposed to be entirely between Matty and Paul!
Not sure why Paul is obsessing about uniformity with all these bakes.
It’s a bun, not an army.
Here’s a prediction that will no doubt completely go wrong the moment I publish this post:
Josh and Cristy reckon they will make it to the final.
Matty trying to get his practice spiced buns done before the West Ham game is peak Matty.
Matty is also missing out on a filling. Yep. You’re reading the Guardian.
Tasha is adding mulled wine into her bake, turning it grey.
Alison’s reaction? “That is absolutely vile babes.”
Paul meanwhile has already resorted to adding his trademark anxiety to each baker for no clear reason, saying that Tasha adding mulled wine is “quite a dangerous thing to do.”
Paul and Prue are confused at why Saku hasn’t incorporated Sri Lankan flavours into her cinnamon buns.
I mean, it is a very weird comment to make. For one thing, she can bake whatever the hell she likes and incorporate any flavour she chooses? It’s not like she has to stay in her lane.
The signature is … 12 perfect spiced buns.
It is botanical week, and they want them to celebrate spice. You’re following this?
Dana’s positivity is such a joy. She says she doesn’t want to win, she just wants to win a challenge and get a handshake. All of this is said with her trademark optimism.
Matty: “I had to Google what botanicals were.”
Good luck everyone.
Do they seriously go, ‘yep, the opening skit is perfect. No notes.”
That opening skit was a choice!
Cristy got last week’s Star Baker, which brings her total to two. She is now drawing with Tasha. Dan and Matty have both won Star Baker once.
Previous weeks are not taken into consideration in each Bake Off episode, which makes keeping this kind of tally totally pointless.
But it does make it all the weirder when a really good baker leaves because they simply had an underwhelming week.
Also Happy Halloween!
For those wondering whether Bake Off should have done a Halloween themed week, they did it last year.
Although, weirdly, it was on air two weeks before Halloween.
Last week we said goodbye to two bakers, as Tasha had to take some time out the week before. It does make you wonder whether this sudden reduction in the number of people in the tent will make the episodes frankly less enjoyable.
In case you forgot or missed last week’s episode, here’s a quick recap:
Cristy: A Hollywood Handshake! A Star Baker too! This is Cristy’s Bake Off dream. We’re all just living in it.
Dan: Two weeks ago he accidentally put his chocolate torte on an uneven wiring rack, resulting in the torte having a TILT. Last week he forgot to turn his oven on. The drama!
Dana: Achieved what seems like a Bake Off first: baking something in the signature, only to then bake it again in the technical. Weirder still, she had no idea what a dauphinoise was before she baked them in both the signature and the technical either.
Josh: “Oh and Josh’s sausage has shrunk,” I wrote during the middle of the challenge during his pastry signature. “What a joy to be writing this in the Guardian.”
Matty: He’s been subjected to the most innuendos. Last week he was at the receiving end of “How are you using your plums?” This came the week after Paul said to Matty: “Tell me about the proportion of your ball size.”
Saku: A week after making a torte and calling it ‘Saku’s Saku Torte’, she baked a pie and named it ‘Saku’s Pie Chart’. She’s clearly the People’s Champion.
Tasha: Her bake last week needed a glaze, looked a bit “rough and ready” and was deemed to be a bit ‘wet inside’ (ahem.) Look, it was pastry week. Innuendos are inevitable.
And we said goodbye to Rowan … whose bake last week contained a drawing of Eddie and Patsy from Absolutely Fabulous.
And Nicky … whowill be remembered for how often she said wee (I counted 15) and the numerous times her glasses got fogged up opening the oven door.
Hello babes and welcome to the Guardian’s Bake Off liveblog. I’m Scott Bryan. And in the tent it’s botanical week!
In case you have no idea what that means, it will celebrate floral flavours, spices and edible flowers. And whilst it feels new, it isn’t. It first debuted back in 2017.
And yes, if Abbi was still in the tent, this would have been her week. She would have foraged all the ingredients for weeks in advance.
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