The Great British Bake Off: Cake Week

September 24, 2024 1:26 PM - Season 15, Episode 1

Whose cake fakery will take them to new heights and earn them the first Star Baker award?
posted by ellieBOA (18 comments total)

Actual spit-take from me when Allison asked Paul “How does Fanny taste?” Incredible moment.

As always, excited by the cast this season. Seems like an excellent group. Random thoughts from the episode:

- I thought they’d go after Dylan a bit more about his showstopper being a little small but I’m glad they didn’t. I thought it was a clever, very vertical choice.

- Sumayah’s duck looked incredible.

- Christiaan voiced a little concern that his tastes don’t align well with Paul’s, which I think is a pretty common fault with his judging.

- The “next time on” looked to be playing up possible heat exhaustion/stroke concerns. This isn’t the first season they’ve had this problem, but I wish they would figure something out to combat this. Outdoor tent, sun, studio lighting, lack of airflow/conditioning for sound reasons (maybe? Not an audio engineer.) I understand it’s a tough problem to solve but something’s got to give before there’s a serious incident. Heat stroke is no joke!
posted by potent_cyprus at 8:54 AM on September 25 [5 favorites]

I didn't look at next week's preview but it's amazing that heat exhaustion looked like a problem, considering how cold everyone was this week. I really like the new round of bakers and happy that no one had to leave. Sumayah's duck was incredible and I love how she made the fondant look so much like tree bark. I'm guessing she's going to kill it at decorating. I worry about Christiaan--Paul's tastes are so pedestrian. As soon as he starting talking about the two different misos he used in his loaf cake I knew he was in trouble. Maybe he went a step too far with his sewing machine though, because even Prue didn't like it and she's much more adventurous than Paul.

I was worried about Mike, but his books looked so great. I think those are difficult to do well as illusion cakes because they are so basic--just some rectangles and fondant--but he made the covers look real, from what I could see. Prue and Paul were impressed, and they tasted great. I love how the contestants are already holding on to each other. They look close already.

So many different accents this year! I'm so excited!
posted by ceejaytee at 11:50 AM on September 25 [5 favorites]

I thought the same about Mike’s books. I think the key here was that he made each as individual objects instead of trying to fake it with fondant folds. Paul and Prue looked really blown away that they could just pick them up off of the shelf and handle them!

I was hoping for Paul to take a big honking bite out of the one he was holding though, and he let me down.
posted by potent_cyprus at 12:40 PM on September 25 [4 favorites]

Everyone seems lovely as usual, but my early favorites are Sumayah (her loaf cake sounded so good and that duck was awesome) , Nelly and Andy.

Loaf cake challenge was a good start. People actually bake loaf cakes!
posted by the primroses were over at 6:35 PM on September 27 [4 favorites]

And the showstopper was, y'know, while it was particularly fondant-y and airbrush-y for GBBO, it still wasn't at the "look at this high art that tastes like rubber but it's PRETTY" that other baking shows seem to aspire to.
posted by Kyol at 7:23 PM on September 27 [1 favorite]

The Great British Baking Show Season-Premiere Recap: Loaf Is in the Air [Vulture / Archive]
posted by ellieBOA at 12:58 PM on September 28

I'm so happy it's back! We need this kind of low-stakes programming in this moment of high tension for sure.
posted by BlahLaLa at 4:54 PM on September 28 [3 favorites]

There is zero reason to have temperature issues, there are plenty of ways to have ac or heat that don't interfere with audio, this a solved problem for literally every other TV show. So my assumption is that they make the cooks suffer from heat and melting ingredients because they want that drama. Same reason they provide not enough fridge and oven space for complex bakes. Il
posted by emjaybee at 10:35 PM on September 28 [3 favorites]

Still with the unrealistic time constraints, I see.
posted by Thorzdad at 3:23 PM on September 29 [1 favorite]

After I saw Sumayah's duck, I suggested that she should just immediately and politely be ushered over to the set of the Great British Pottery throw-down.
posted by furnace.heart at 11:12 AM on September 30 [5 favorites]

So happy it is back, I did shout at the screen 'no you don't' when Paul said he likes things outside the box. Also nice that there was a handshake, I do sorta like the system, but more when it's them recognizing good bakes, rather than this whole mysterious thing about ooh who's going to earn it etc. What season did it really start to become a thing?
posted by Carillon at 11:15 PM on September 30

Solid set of bakers! A few early standouts, a few prrrrobable early eliminations (though I could be wrong), many hard to predict.

Georgie has the same sort of energy as Matty from last season-- seat of the pants baking, only escaping disaster by pure luck. But she does have that luck, so far.

Really liking Sumayah and Illiyin's style. Hoping Mike stays in and finds his balance.

(And very much missing my friend who got me into Bake Off, and who would make a chicken cake every Easter, and whose funeral cake was a pile-of-books cake. Wish I could be watching this series with her, or at least texting in all-caps about it)
posted by Pallas Athena at 4:53 PM on October 1

Oh! And I absolutely loved the way they handled the technical this week, too - here's what you're supposed to make, here's the barest hint about proportions, here's an example of what you're supposed to make, you can study it for 5 minutes (or whatever) and then you have to start your bake. Honestly, I'd be curious to see how much that would change the whole shape of the technical if they did it every week - would it give an edge to bakers who can figure out a recipe from a sample over the handful of bakers who seem to have memorized the most common British recipes? I mean, I'm always mildly surprised how well the technical generally turns out considering how many bakers are like "I've never heard of a prince regent's torte", and yet you still end up with something that broadly looks like what everybody else made anyway.
posted by Kyol at 6:57 PM on October 1 [2 favorites]

someone's gotta tell Paul that whatever he's been doing with highlighter/contour makeup is making him look leathery
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 12:32 AM on October 2

We wondered if there was a new makeup artist on set. Everyone looked a little over-painted.
posted by donnagirl at 12:54 PM on October 2

Allison's arrival last season saved this show for me and I'm so grateful. She's a total delight and she makes everyone around her shine, too.
posted by merriment at 8:01 PM on October 2 [1 favorite]

Defector bakes is always a treat and back this year
posted by Carillon at 9:03 PM on October 4 [3 favorites]

This isn’t the first season they’ve had this problem, but I wish they would figure something out to combat this.

For the show, it's not a problem to solve, it's a goal to achieve.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 8:57 AM on October 5