The Great British Bake Off: Pastry Week
October 3, 2017 7:35 PM - Season 8, Episode 6 - Subscribe
The bakers face a tough triple challenge with a savoury signature, a multi-layered technical, and an ambitious traditional pie that pushes them to the edge (Channel 4 description).
Julia was my absolute fave! Her faces! I'm sad to see her go.
Liam really is a very good Baker and he's just the most adorable young man, so full of energy and that funny blend of cocky and not 100% sure of himself yet. I think Paul sees him sort of as a son figure.
Also I want pie now.
posted by GuyZero at 10:24 PM on October 3, 2017
Liam really is a very good Baker and he's just the most adorable young man, so full of energy and that funny blend of cocky and not 100% sure of himself yet. I think Paul sees him sort of as a son figure.
Also I want pie now.
posted by GuyZero at 10:24 PM on October 3, 2017
I’ll miss Julia’s accent, which zig-zagged between Russian and Estuary English within a single sentence.
Stacey seemed to have had an incredible escape; I really wouldn’t have thought anyone could survive a bad Technical Challenge followed by a blunder like leaving paper liner in their signature bake, but there you go.
I’m away from home this week and so watched this in my hotel room whilst texting comments to Mrs Clanger. “He did what with the lingonberry?” and “How the hell do you get foamy custard?” featured among them.
posted by Major Clanger at 12:04 PM on October 4, 2017 [5 favorites]
Stacey seemed to have had an incredible escape; I really wouldn’t have thought anyone could survive a bad Technical Challenge followed by a blunder like leaving paper liner in their signature bake, but there you go.
I’m away from home this week and so watched this in my hotel room whilst texting comments to Mrs Clanger. “He did what with the lingonberry?” and “How the hell do you get foamy custard?” featured among them.
posted by Major Clanger at 12:04 PM on October 4, 2017 [5 favorites]
It has always sort of felt like the judges are willing to overlook that sort of thing though - preferring to focus more on whether it "tastes good" or is "cooked all the way through", etc. And that's sort of what I like about it, it isn't a "oh god what a rookie error how terrible, clearly they are not fit for this show, have them taken out back and shot" sort of show, it's more caring than that. And I think as long as you don't pull an Iain and serve something, even in the face of challenges...
I mean, Stacey's showstopper was a disaster in other ways, and Stacey would probably have lost out if Julia had done better in either the technical or showstopper. There but for the grace of god etc and so forth.
And yeah, we're down to the sort of bakers that it feels like we're usually at by this point - the glamour baker, the enthusiastic amateur, the steady traditionalist, the family baker, the inconsistent middle-of-the-road baker, and the technical baker. From here on out everyone sort of feels like a contender, even the middle of the road can win as long as they don't screw up too badly.
posted by Kyol at 8:09 PM on October 4, 2017
I mean, Stacey's showstopper was a disaster in other ways, and Stacey would probably have lost out if Julia had done better in either the technical or showstopper. There but for the grace of god etc and so forth.
And yeah, we're down to the sort of bakers that it feels like we're usually at by this point - the glamour baker, the enthusiastic amateur, the steady traditionalist, the family baker, the inconsistent middle-of-the-road baker, and the technical baker. From here on out everyone sort of feels like a contender, even the middle of the road can win as long as they don't screw up too badly.
posted by Kyol at 8:09 PM on October 4, 2017
Nooooooooooo, Julia! Well, at least we still have Yan. And Liam. And Sophie -- oh, wait.
For me, this is the hard part, about halfway through or so, when I've gotten to know the bakers and I have started to develop preferences. I know all of them won't make it to the final, but it's still so sad to see them go.
I have a question though, if someone could care to educate this non-British baker -- what's the big deal with the inside of the mold/outside of the mold thing for their pies? I was watching an earlier season, and all of the bakers had baked them all in fancy Victorian-era inspired molds, and nobody said a word about how it the incorrect way of doing it. Are these different types of savory pies or something?
posted by PearlRose at 11:42 AM on October 5, 2017 [1 favorite]
For me, this is the hard part, about halfway through or so, when I've gotten to know the bakers and I have started to develop preferences. I know all of them won't make it to the final, but it's still so sad to see them go.
I have a question though, if someone could care to educate this non-British baker -- what's the big deal with the inside of the mold/outside of the mold thing for their pies? I was watching an earlier season, and all of the bakers had baked them all in fancy Victorian-era inspired molds, and nobody said a word about how it the incorrect way of doing it. Are these different types of savory pies or something?
posted by PearlRose at 11:42 AM on October 5, 2017 [1 favorite]
I have a question though, if someone could care to educate this non-British baker -- what's the big deal with the inside of the mold/outside of the mold thing for their pies? I was watching an earlier season, and all of the bakers had baked them all in fancy Victorian-era inspired molds, and nobody said a word about how it the incorrect way of doing it. Are these different types of savory pies or something?
Disclaimer... I'm equally as un-British as you. However...
The issue seemed to be that this challenge specifically called for hand-raised pies, which would indicate that they are not baked in a tin. However, a little Googling shows that "cheating" and using a tin is a common thing for home cooks making hand-raised pies. I would argue that it's no longer a hand-raised pie at that point, and it's just... a pie. Paul Hollywood agrees, thus giving grief over it.
I don't believe they've ever given this challenge before, which is why the tin-baking has not previously been an issue.
The instructions should have been more clear - either tin-baking is allowed or it isn't. It isn't fair for them to judge a bake on criteria that wasn't spelled out plainly enough. If it had been only 1 contestant misunderstanding the idea behind a hand-raised pie then I'd lay the blame on them, but with 3 of them using a tin the blame lies in the instructions.
posted by 2ht at 11:59 AM on October 5, 2017 [4 favorites]
Disclaimer... I'm equally as un-British as you. However...
The issue seemed to be that this challenge specifically called for hand-raised pies, which would indicate that they are not baked in a tin. However, a little Googling shows that "cheating" and using a tin is a common thing for home cooks making hand-raised pies. I would argue that it's no longer a hand-raised pie at that point, and it's just... a pie. Paul Hollywood agrees, thus giving grief over it.
I don't believe they've ever given this challenge before, which is why the tin-baking has not previously been an issue.
The instructions should have been more clear - either tin-baking is allowed or it isn't. It isn't fair for them to judge a bake on criteria that wasn't spelled out plainly enough. If it had been only 1 contestant misunderstanding the idea behind a hand-raised pie then I'd lay the blame on them, but with 3 of them using a tin the blame lies in the instructions.
posted by 2ht at 11:59 AM on October 5, 2017 [4 favorites]
Just started watching it, but wanted to draw attention to the science pie, with "Franklin and Crick" just dropped in there without comment or explanation (at least so far). Awesome.
posted by rhamphorhynchus at 5:50 PM on October 5, 2017 [12 favorites]
posted by rhamphorhynchus at 5:50 PM on October 5, 2017 [12 favorites]
The issue seemed to be that this challenge specifically called for hand-raised pies, which would indicate that they are not baked in a tin. However, a little Googling shows that "cheating" and using a tin is a common thing for home cooks making hand-raised pies. I would argue that it's no longer a hand-raised pie at that point, and it's just... a pie. Paul Hollywood agrees, thus giving grief over it.
Yep, this. They asked for a hand-raised pie. My guess is that traditionally, this would have been done so you can make lots of pies with one mold. If you put them all in tins you'd need a tin for every pie. Also a bit of product placement?
posted by EndsOfInvention at 2:54 AM on October 6, 2017 [1 favorite]
Yep, this. They asked for a hand-raised pie. My guess is that traditionally, this would have been done so you can make lots of pies with one mold. If you put them all in tins you'd need a tin for every pie. Also a bit of product placement?
posted by EndsOfInvention at 2:54 AM on October 6, 2017 [1 favorite]
I love Liam to tiny bits and pieces, and I'm glad he finally got his well-earned Star Baker, but I'm secretly rooting for Yan to win. C'mon! She stepped up and helped two separate bakers this week! Julia, who couldn't get her pastry free of the tin, and Stephen (who is still a plant from Le Cordon Bleu despite performing poorly the past couple of weeks...) who needed a bit of camp. Also, she put Alan Turing on a pie. However well the pastry or the chicken turned out...respect.
But I was so sorry to see Julia go. She was such a sweetie and her hilarious faces! She was a good sport on Extra Slice though. The snail and bouncy biscuits live on through sculpture! (I am really enjoying Extra Slice's bit of extra C4 freedom.)
posted by sldownard at 2:16 PM on October 6, 2017 [1 favorite]
But I was so sorry to see Julia go. She was such a sweetie and her hilarious faces! She was a good sport on Extra Slice though. The snail and bouncy biscuits live on through sculpture! (I am really enjoying Extra Slice's bit of extra C4 freedom.)
posted by sldownard at 2:16 PM on October 6, 2017 [1 favorite]
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posted by merriment at 8:21 PM on October 3, 2017 [1 favorite]