The Great British Bake Off: Free-from Week
November 10, 2021 8:59 AM - Season 12, Episode 8 - Subscribe

It's Free-From Week and a chance for the remaining bakers to explore alternative ingredients. The Signature challenges them to bake without dairy, there's a hearty vegan Technical, and showstopping celebration cakes that must be gluten-free.
posted by jeather (26 comments total) 3 users marked this as a favorite
 
Too bad Freya went home before this week.
posted by briank at 9:01 AM on November 10, 2021 [10 favorites]


I never like when they decide they will judge based on "overall baking skill" because it seems to only happen when they want to send one person home who did better on that given week.
posted by jeather at 9:18 AM on November 10, 2021 [13 favorites]


Loved this episode as a gluten, dairy, egg, and red meat free person! Never see gluten free vegan stuff in France. Sad for Lizzie but it made sense, and thrilled for Chigs in his different pair of glasses, plus love how he explains what he's doing the best.
posted by ellieBOA at 9:23 AM on November 10, 2021 [2 favorites]


I really thought this was "free form" week and was wondering why Matt was pronouncing it wrong.
posted by guiseroom at 8:14 PM on November 11, 2021 [1 favorite]


IMDB had it as free form week!
posted by ellieBOA at 1:00 AM on November 12, 2021 [1 favorite]


Very glad to see a good vegan sausage roll recipe, which I hope to bring to a potluck sometime this holiday season. (It doesn't look THAT hard if you're not against the clock.)
posted by Jeanne at 3:52 AM on November 12, 2021 [2 favorites]


Really sad to see Lizzie go after how excellently she did on her showstopper, but... is there anyone else you could send home?
posted by Jeanne at 4:13 AM on November 12, 2021 [1 favorite]


Lizzie’s idea of the sausage roll filling being a mashed vegan sausage is a good idea too.
posted by ellieBOA at 4:50 AM on November 12, 2021


Based on this week alone, Crystelle was a legitimate choice to go home as well, and I agree it felt like a coin toss for them. But I believe deeply that they felt that based on her overall record, Crystelle deserved to stay, so they ignored this week's problems to keep her on, and I don't like that.
posted by jeather at 7:11 AM on November 12, 2021 [3 favorites]


I have to know: was there some kind of bulk sale on miso or something?
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 2:08 PM on November 12, 2021 [4 favorites]


So Jurgen's floor rolls? How was there no discussion? Others have sobbed and tried to redo their dropped bakes in previous seasons. Jurgen just plates them up and escapes without any comment. Seems like that would have been a fatal blow To other bakers.
posted by the christopher hundreds at 7:24 PM on November 12, 2021 [15 favorites]


I'm sad about Lizzie, especially after that amazing final cake. I'd have prefered Crystelle to go. :( Oh well!
posted by BlahLaLa at 9:39 PM on November 12, 2021


I was also curious about the floor rolls! “Surely he won’t serve them…” and then he did, and no one said anything. What!

Next season: Drop It On the Floor Week.
posted by hijinx at 9:42 PM on November 12, 2021 [2 favorites]


Was that just one jalapeno? I don't want to spice shame people, but more curious at what they heat level they were reacting to.
posted by Carillon at 10:07 PM on November 12, 2021


So Jurgen's floor rolls? How was there no discussion?

Hasn't that happened before? I feel like I've seen it a bunch of times over the years
posted by trig at 4:12 AM on November 13, 2021


Was that just one jalapeno? I don't want to spice shame people, but more curious at what they heat level they were reacting to.

It was just one pepper - but I don't think it was specifically a jalepeno. It looked like something a little more potent.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:41 AM on November 13, 2021


Maybe she didn't remove the seeds?
posted by bleary at 7:12 AM on November 13, 2021


She didn’t.
posted by ellieBOA at 7:24 AM on November 13, 2021 [1 favorite]


We don't know that they didn't say anything about the floor rolls, just that we didn't see them say anything.
posted by It's Never Lurgi at 4:04 PM on November 13, 2021


Was it possible the floor rolls were okay because it was at a moment when he was just turning the pan around, so they were going to cook some more...which means the heat would burn off any germs?
posted by BlahLaLa at 6:52 PM on November 13, 2021 [2 favorites]


I certainly wouldn’t have hesitating at eating those floor rolls even if they hadn’t gone back in the over. It is a different thing to put sticky wet dough on the floor.
posted by janell at 7:33 PM on November 13, 2021 [1 favorite]


I like to think there is an unspoken rule that when something falls to the floor, it is placed in the back of the presented items, and the judges are informed off-screen not to eat those.
posted by guiseroom at 7:36 AM on November 14, 2021 [5 favorites]


Lizze's cake was OMG Incredible. I know that her and Crystelle were neck and neck for going home. I also don't like they kept Crystelle on her past performance. Lizzie did better this week and it was the wrong choice by the judges.
posted by kathrynm at 10:23 AM on November 14, 2021


I was also crushed that Lizzie was sent home, but it really was the only choice possible. She was, in the end, the weakest of a group of very strong bakers. She’s kind of like the ball-player who is hitting .370, but the rest of the team are batting .380.

I loved, loved her off-the-cuff style, but it just worked against her in the end. He final show-stopper was stunning, and was a succinct expression of who she was, and how her beautiful mind works. But, as great as it was, it was just too late.

Sometimes I think the show over-emphasizes a very particular sense of style/aesthetics, and this leaves little room for free-spirits like Lizzie to succeed. She’s a great example of an artist who understands themselves and rolls with their own idiosyncrasies, creating off-beat yet wonderful stuff. Sadly, the show does not tolerate such talents very well, if at all.

Lizzie was never going to blossom into a Giovanni, nor should she have. But, Giovanni is what the show aspires to; clean, stylish, controlled, “professional”. I love his stuff. But, if I was ordering a birthday cake, I’d hire Lizzie any day of the week.

As for this week’s theme...yes, please, more of this.
posted by Thorzdad at 6:35 AM on November 15, 2021 [7 favorites]


I also think they made the right choice (though I'd prefer that nobody went home, even if eliminating 2 in the semi-final would be brutal). Crystelle did better in the signature, Lizzie did better in the technical, they both did well in the show-stopper. Without having actually tasted what they baked, they appeared to be pretty even - but Lizzie has been somewhat less consistent.

And in defense of the show's judging metrics, the whole premise is amateurs trying to bake at a professional level - so of course finesse does matter.

As much as I like him, I found it a bit absurd they instantly cleared Giuseppe - sure, he had done well in the first two rounds, but the show-stopper has always been heavily weighted - had Lizzie done well in the first two rounds but fallen flat in the show-stopper, I bet they wouldn't have been so forgiving.
posted by coffeecat at 10:58 AM on November 15, 2021 [4 favorites]


I loved Lizzie's Muppet cake so so much, and am devastated to see her go. But as the other likely option was Crystelle, I could not have come out of this episode happy (and to be fair, I would be sad to see anyone go at this point). I am glad her last bake was a strong one - I'd rather people get to go out on a high note - and I do think it's a bit lame that they didn't even feint at Giuseppe being in trouble when everyone else's showstopper was great and his was meh. But, it would take true disaster to keep either him or Jürgen out of the finale at this point.

Just as I want Jürgen drafted to replace Paul as judge, I would like Crystelle to launch a career as a screwball comedienne. Her timing on that "I'm ok with spice ... gulp" line was, as Matt pointed out, perfect. My kingdom for a Gentlemen Prefer Blondes style buddy comedy with Crystelle as the Lorelei Lee and Lizzie as the Dorothy (or vice versa, whatever, their personalities aren't really Monroe and Russell, but they would be fab In that kind of set up; we can bring in Chigs as the gorgeous straight man).
posted by the primroses were over at 7:48 AM on November 19, 2021 [1 favorite]


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