The Great British Bake Off: Biscuit Week

October 2, 2024 8:38 AM - Season 15, Episode 2

Bakers compete by making Viennese sandwiches, minty desserts, and puppet theatres.
posted by ellieBOA (19 comments total)

So the “next time on” from last week turned out not to be about heat issues. I didn’t hear or see much chatter about the temperature in the tent this week. No real details about Jeff’s rapid departure or Illiyin fainting so I suppose it’s still possible that was the problem but there’s no need to go digging into personal health. I hope Illiyin is okay and wish Jeff the best. That said, my wife and I were getting increasingly frantic when we got to ten minutes from the end and still no one had collapsed! The red herring with Dylan falling off of his stool got us good. He’s got great energy.

Unsurprised that Hazel was eliminated this week with two major mistakes on the same bake. Double the butter on the first attempt and missing the sugar on the second. Big oof. Pretty sure she ignored advice from Paul and Prue twice as well, although it’s not like she could really switch from shortbread to gingerbread for her showstopper on such short notice, and I’ve gotta say, her showstopper seemed fairly structurally sound so that didn’t seem to be an issue for her.

Good turnaround for Christiaan this week on flavors after Paul wasn’t impressed last week. I think Paul was genuinely surprised to enjoy some of his combinations this time .

Got worried about Dylan on the technical but he did come 4th last week so hopefully he’ll be alright on those moving forward.

Congrats to Sumayah on Star Baker! I’m not sure anyone was as surprised as she was, she had a great week, if uneventful.

Nelly is an absolute delight and I hope she goes far. The sheer indignity on her face when Noel suggested she was from Lithuania (I think? Can’t recall) was incredible.

Also: MaxFun has a podcast covering this season like fantasy football, TV Chef Fantasy League.
posted by potent_cyprus at 10:11 AM on October 2, 2024 [5 favorites]

They were dropping like flies this week. I was so sorry about Jeff--New Yorkers represent!--and I hope he feels better. Illiyin fainting was pretty scary. Maybe it was just stress. I hope she's better next week. At least Dylan didn't hurt himself falling off of his stool.

Nelly is my favorite. She may not be the best baker but she is hilarious. Chasing Noel around the tent was great. And she was so sweet talking about what her showstopper meant. They gave her a lot of air time to talk about it, which was really lovely.

Showstopper handshakes are rare. Christiaan's story and puppet theater were lovely. I'm happy his flavors were good this week.
posted by ceejaytee at 10:21 AM on October 2, 2024 [7 favorites]

So bad if the heat led to two contestants falling ill! I disagree with most of the showstoppers being puppet shows, there was only one that seemed to fit the brief.
posted by ellieBOA at 10:34 AM on October 2, 2024

It seemed to me like people were getting physical reactions to stress - the challenges they are given are barely possible in the time allotted, let alone in front of cameras surrounded by a bunch of other people who are also freaking out. I get that they want the show to get more exciting every year, but there are limits to what humans can do.
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 11:48 AM on October 2, 2024 [4 favorites]

This year's standard is *really* high, and I loved seeing people's design skills on display for the puppet theatres. Most of which were just dioramas, but who's counting?

I liked Mike's biscotti marionettes and Christiaan's jointed stick puppets. I thought Dylan was doomed until I saw his painting, which was jaw-droppingly amazing. Glad he's around for another week.

And I'm glad Nelly got to talk about miscarriage on national TV, on a baking show. That feels like progress. I liked her sunset forest and silhouetted figures.

Sumayah is clearly both a great baker and artist (and a child prodigy!! 18!??!?!) and seems to be a strong contender for the win.

I hope Illiyin recovers and does well next week.

Gill may be this season's dark horse. I sense a potential finalist.

I like biscuit week; biscuits are my favourite things to bake. But I dread the bread. Bread week can be so awful! I hope all our faves survive.
posted by Pallas Athena at 12:15 PM on October 2, 2024 [3 favorites]

The Great British Baking Show Recap: Puppet Strings Attached [Vulture / Archive]
posted by ellieBOA at 5:04 AM on October 4, 2024

My partner loved Noel's sweater in part because her love of the raincoats, anyone know where I might find one?
posted by Carillon at 9:00 PM on October 4, 2024 [1 favorite]

I love Nelly so much. And I really hope Jeff is okay, I like him a lot. He didn't look well at all, though.
posted by maryellenreads at 10:24 PM on October 4, 2024 [3 favorites]

Carillon, three magazines recapped his style at the end of the last season, so if you don’t find it now they may do the same at the end of this one: Cosmo, Grazia, Heat. This is his stylist, and here is a wardrobe account that hasn’t updated for this season but might have some inspiration.
posted by ellieBOA at 6:13 AM on October 5, 2024 [3 favorites]

I demand a Nelly/Noel spinoff. Just them doing literally anything.
posted by I_Love_Bananas at 6:30 AM on October 5, 2024 [5 favorites]

I second that!
posted by maryellenreads at 7:07 AM on October 5, 2024

I hope Jeff feels better soon; it's a bummer he had to quit. Andy's joke about being in a murder mystery was a little too uncomfortable; I only read fictional mysteries, not true crime thank you very much. (Although Andy was the one making jokes about Jeff stealing his style, so if we're in search of a suspect, I'm looking at him first...)

I kind of hate the "build a structure out of biscuits" showstoppers, but Christiaan and Sumayah did impressive work, and Dylan's painting was gorgeous. Nelly's inclusion of her lost pregnancies in her family themed puppet theatre was really touching, and I for one loved her little doggie Viennese cookies.

Noel's sweater

Poor Hazel had a terrible episode this week, no quibbles about either star baker or who went home from me.
posted by the primroses were over at 9:40 AM on October 5, 2024 [5 favorites]

Oh, when I posted that link to the sweater, it was available only in large, and now it appears to be sold out. They have a "notify me" button though, if anyone is so inclined. Or, best of luck hunting for resale!
posted by the primroses were over at 10:02 AM on October 5, 2024 [1 favorite]

I was confused about Jeff's leaving, he just seemed to...walk off? Like there was no lead-up at all, he just suddenly said "I'm done" and I was like "huh?" I guess I forgot that he'd been sick last week or something, and no one here seems flummoxed by it, so I assume it's a me thing, but I do wish they might have left us a little less in the dark, as well as with Illiyin, because that was very scary! Fingers crossed she doesn't also have to walk off.

I really like Nelly a lot. I don't see her winning this, but I hope she lasts as long as possible. I was so touched by her stars for her children. I definitely do not share her love of Noel.

Hazel seemed out of her depth from the beginning, but I really hope she continues to bake for her seaside pals and gets better and better. I hope Dylan will go far but I always worry with someone who's lauded for their flavors, just because Paul is such a flaming red baboon ass about anything he doesn't like, which is a considerable amount of "non-traditional" Englishy stuff, and Prue is pretty rigid in her tastes, too. I'm still just boggling at him being all "actually, I was just in Vienna, where were these biscuits" in an attempt to...what, humiliate Nelly? Put her in her place that she doesn't know shit about Viennese treats? What was the purpose of that? God, he's just so insufferable.
posted by kitten kaboodle at 10:46 AM on October 5, 2024 [4 favorites]

The red herring with Dylan

I'm sorry, but his name is Larval Form Jason Momoa.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 12:15 PM on October 5, 2024 [11 favorites]

no one here seems flummoxed by it

Not true! It also felt very off to me. I think it’s because it was so sudden, there was no time for medical staff to check on him or anything. He really did just seem to up and walk out.
posted by potent_cyprus at 6:30 PM on October 5, 2024

Andy's joke about being in a murder mystery

Comics fans: I recommend The Great British Bump Off by John Allison, in which a teenage detective has to solve a series of murders in the Bake Off tent.
posted by Pallas Athena at 4:06 AM on October 6, 2024 [2 favorites]

I loved Illiyin telling Noel he's annoying and Nelly chasing after him. It’s good for him to get a taste of his own medicine.
posted by Orange Dinosaur Slide at 3:56 PM on October 7, 2024 [1 favorite]

Defector tries and generally succeeds at the biscuits this week, to the point that I think I should try the recipe myself as it looks up my family's alley.
posted by Carillon at 12:43 PM on October 9, 2024