The Great British Bake Off: Patisserie Week
October 24, 2017 6:50 PM - Season 8, Episode 9 - Subscribe

It's the semi-final and the last four bakers are three patisserie challenges away from the biggest day in their baking lives. But first up, there's no business like choux business (Channel 4 description).
posted by PearlRose (12 comments total)
 
That was EXTREMELY STRESSFUL. Gah. I've gone back and forth about Steven over the course of the competition, but the possibility that he was going to muck it up at the last second induced a sympathetic horror in me that made the last few minutes way more sweaty than expected.

Was anyone else shouting, "Oh my God stop touching it?!?!" at the screen while Steven and Sophie were trying to finesse their meringues, or was it just me? Also, I didn't really understand the concept of the final bake--all that fragile meringue with an added cream or sauce just seemed weird in terms of concept and construction. I did breathe a sigh of relief when Sophie's meringue won praise for its look, because to me it looked kind of terrible even with all of the piping, so it meant their expectations weren't that high.

Noel seemed especially winsome this week, plus it appeared that he was crying during the post-elimination hugging portion of things, so I guess I really do love him now. I've also fallen utterly under the spell of Prue's wonderful gravelly voice. Given how much I adored the original crew, to have taken two of the three replacements to my heart is actually kind of impressive. I've gone from being anxious about the move to C4 potentially ruining one of the few things to give me joy during this garbage year to feeling like this season's episodes have gone by way too fast. I can't believe it's already the finale next week!
posted by merriment at 9:15 AM on October 25, 2017 [4 favorites]


Yes, this one was hard to watch. I had to take my glasses off and cover my eyes before one of the ad breaks as I figured someone's meringue was about to disintegrate before our eyes.

The technical was insane, one of the hardest I've ever seen them give.

And Kate. She's nice enough but it's finally happened that someone has come second-last every single time all the way to the final. I don't even know what to think.
posted by GuyZero at 6:15 PM on October 25, 2017 [1 favorite]


Was anyone else shouting, "Oh my God stop touching it?!?!"

Yes.
posted by Sys Rq at 9:07 PM on October 25, 2017 [5 favorites]


Also, yes, the whole showstopper was a big head-scratcher. Just, like, a bunch of meringues and two kinds of gloop? Gross. What even is that.

It's a shame Steven went with the weird presentation, because if he'd just stacked up his meringues on a plate, he'd probably win just for being the only person to not make a bunch of crunchy garbage. It just didn't have the structural integrity to be supported by a quarter-inch wooden dowel. And you could see the dowel, which kinda spoiled the whole effect anyway.
posted by Sys Rq at 9:19 PM on October 25, 2017 [5 favorites]


I keep watching this show because even when it's being weird, it's still delightful and I definitely do need some delightful in my life right now.

First, Sophie! I'm so glad you got Star Baker again, and delighted you're in the final. Even though your tutu didn't quite look like a tutu. But you tried! Especially since I'm pretty sure that Prue made up that Les Miserables Slice or whatever it was. (It was the first time Google utterly failed me on figuring out WTF a technical challenge was.)

As far as Steven goes, everyone generally has one terrible week, and this week happened to be his. I'm glad he made it through to the final -- I'd be okay with him or Sophie winning, but I think he went way overboard on his meringue design. (Also, yes. For the love of everything, STOP TOUCHING IT.)

What is up with all of the funky design challenges this year? Make me an illusion cake, make this bread look like a sculpture, make this tower of meringue look like ART!!!! Between those design challenges and the just plain tricky showstopper challenges, I think it's no wonder we've had some wildly inconsistent results. They've had so much glee about making each challenge the MOST. COMPLICATED. EVER. and I think it went off the deep end this week, finally. (Plus, I feel bad for the bakers, having to make meringue on such humid and rainy days.)

Kate. Oh, Kate. This week, you finally seemed to get your act together. You've been just scraping by for the past several weeks, and this week, you brought your get-me-out-of-the-danger-zone-for-once game. I mean, based on this week, I can't fault the decision to send you to the final, but... I like Kate well enough, and I've wanted to eat at least a few of her bakes. But she's been so inconsistent at best, and so excellent at being second-to-last at worst for several weeks now.

As for Stacey? I'm going to miss your pink, glittered everything.
posted by PearlRose at 7:18 AM on October 26, 2017 [3 favorites]


Yeah, honestly I really like Sophie, she seems to have had the best overall quality all season long, even if she only was star baker twice to Steven's 3. Steven either hit it out of the park or ended up in the style over substance trap, while Sophie was more consistently above average.

I'll be honest, I was a little perplexed at the showstopper as well - Stacey's was a nice tabletop decoration I guess but it was basically puddings in a cup. It seems like Kate's was the least screwed up one, but it was also the least ambitious one.

Odd week.
posted by Kyol at 8:43 AM on October 26, 2017 [1 favorite]


Just, like, a bunch of meringues and two kinds of gloop?

Yes! I've rarely been so flummoxed by a challenge. If they're running out of ideas, I'd rather see a solid recycled challenge of yore than something so conceptually wonky that it produced barely acceptable results in the final Showstopper before the finale.
posted by merriment at 8:47 AM on October 26, 2017 [2 favorites]


First, Sophie! I'm so glad you got Star Baker again, and delighted you're in the final. Even though your tutu didn't quite look like a tutu. But you tried! Especially since I'm pretty sure that Prue made up that Les Miserables Slice or whatever it was. (It was the first time Google utterly failed me on figuring out WTF a technical challenge was.)

It took me a couple of tries, but adding the Belgian part helped.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mis%C3%A9rable_cake

Even then, it seems rather obscure and ill-defined.
posted by 2ht at 1:50 PM on October 26, 2017


OMG I actually yelled "You've violated my trust" when Stacey got the boot.
posted by miss-lapin at 3:41 PM on September 8, 2018


Oh one thing-have we ever established why this has to take place in a tent as opposed to someplace where the temperature can be MORE controlled? It's something I always wondered.
posted by miss-lapin at 4:19 PM on September 8, 2018 [3 favorites]


I've never been as excited as when I thought Steven might go home. There is nothing likable about that man — mean jokes, talks like has marbles in his mouth, doesn't seem to actually like the food part of baking, his poor-me act, ugh.

I really missed Liam.
posted by dame at 8:10 AM on September 12, 2018


Seriously. If they are going to look at past results, then Liam should have been there instead of Kate. Still, Kate did finally pull it out and deserved to be runner up this round.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 4:17 PM on September 18, 2018 [1 favorite]


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