Come and chat to Bake off's PAUL HOLLYWOOD, Friday 10 October, 10-11am

[RachelMumsnet]

On the week that TV's most hot-contested baking challenge reaches its climax, we're thrilled that Paul Hollywood is returning to Mumsnet Towers. Paul last joined us back in February 2013 when he gave us his tips on bread-making. This Friday between 10 and 11am he will be on hand to help out with all your baking conundrums and of course give us the inside story on this year's GBBO.

Paul's latest book Paul Hollywood's British Baking is published this week and everyone who joins the webchat will be entered into a draw to win a SIGNED copy. If you're unable to join Paul on Friday morning, post a question in advance on this thread.

Do you and Mary always agree on Bake Off? Or has one of you ever said "that's divine" and the other hated it?

Hi guys. I'm online. Fire away with your questions!

Much excitement at Mumsnet HQ this morning as Bake-off's favourite male judge Paul Hollywood joins us. He's already sampled half the office's baked goods and is poised to answer as many of your questions as possible throughout the next hour. A big welcome back to Mumsnet Paul...

Hi Paul,

What do you and Mary do while the contestants are baking?

@Rumours

Hi Paul, when a recipe says to use ground almonds, what can I replace this with as my ds has a nut alergy?

You can normally replace it with plain flour. The addition of ground almonds is purely for moisture and a little bit of flavour.

Hello Paul and welcome to Mumsnet. :)

I am constantly ruining my bakes with my inept icing skills. You make it look so easy. Is it all in the wrist action? Please help!

Brilliant thankyou

Hi Paul, do you ever make pastry in a food processor, or do you always make it by hand? Could you tell me the pros and the cons of both approaches?
Thanks

@Caly2014

Hi Paul,

What do you and Mary do while the contestants are baking?

Mary normally practises her darts, and I'm normally having a doze. I've got a little chair, which is my little deckchair so I go and sit outside!

Hi Paul. Is the smut going to be toned down for the next series or will it be ramped up.

Oh good, it's all typing then - I can hack while I do it, since I'm off with a heavy cold! Welcome!

I posted a question about how you tell for sure that your loaf of bread is done - I really want to nail that one. The advice I was given about tapping the bottom and taking it out if it sounds hollow...is hollow, since I've had several loaves pass that test and turn out to be soggy in the middle.

@CaptainFatpants

Hi Paul. Is the smut going to be toned down for the next series or will it be ramped up.

It'll be as it was in the beginning. Nothing's ever changed!

@LaChatte

I've been following GBBO since series one, and have to say I'm so disappointed by the transfer to BBC1. The editing has taken away all the charm it had, and totally spoilt it for me.

Have the producers encouraged you to all be OTT with innuendo, or to try and make things as sensational as possible or is it really all just in the crappy editing?

PS can we have Sue's phone number please?

Sue who?

Hi Paul, this was my 'showstopper' in honour of this weeks final. It tasted better than it looked but the lairs were not even Anyway question. If you had to have sex with one of them who would you choose, Thor or Loki?

Thank you

@WinifredBanks

Hi Paul, do you ever make pastry in a food processor, or do you always make it by hand? Could you tell me the pros and the cons of both approaches? Thanks

I always do it by hand. When you're doing it by hand you get a feel for it. You get a feel for what it should be like and that's the key thing when you're making pasty. The whole cool hands things is an old wives tale. My hands are as hot as chips and I can make pastry.

@Nuvia

As a professional baker, do you ever get frustrated when you see people doing it wrongly, on GBBO?

Yeah, I do. All the time. Which is why I’m on a programme. They do it differently at home. Professionally we do it in such massive numbers that it’s different. It’s been fun learning the home way of baking.

@MarmaladeShatkins

Hello Paul and welcome to Mumsnet. :)

I am constantly ruining my bakes with my inept icing skills. You make it look so easy. Is it all in the wrist action? Please help!

Go and get some sugar paste and use that as a base. Remember to glaze your cake before you put it on to make sure it sticks. Give it to your kids and let them do it - then it'll be your get out of jail free card when it looks wrong!

Hi Paul!

Have you ever felt the need to punch a cake? Tis very therapeutic, MN recommends it.

Also, do you ever walk around a supermarket bakery and stick your fingers in the bread to see if it's baked properly?

@chockbic

What's the funniest thing to happen on the show? Either broadcast or not broadcast.

Loving Mel and Sue with their 'smut'

Mel guffs on a Sunday afternoon at 3pm. And it’s known by all the bakers in the tent. Mel chuffs like a train – we call her Iver.

Haha LaChatte, I have a huge crush on Sue

@ocelot41

ARE they contact lenses or are your eyes really that blue?

No they’re really my eyes. They’re just normal blue eyes! I’ve got the same colour eyes as Mary. She’s my mother. She put me up for adoption. She left me in Liverpool in the 60s and we’ve only recently got back together.

@halfdrunkcoffee

Do you and Mary always agree on Bake Off? Or has one of you ever said "that's divine" and the other hated it?

No, we're pretty much on the button. We agree on 99.9% of the time. The only time we disagreed was the week when it was between Richard and Kate - that was the week no one left.

@TheCunkOfPhilomena

Hi Paul!

Have you ever felt the need to punch a cake? Tis very therapeutic, MN recommends it.

Also, do you ever walk around a supermarket bakery and stick your fingers in the bread to see if it's baked properly?

Yes –I do feel the need to punch a cake!

No but I walk around a supermarket and put a loaf in my basket! I do make a lot of my bread at home, but not all the time!

hi paul,

I loved this series of the bakeoff and also your 'puds' programme.

I have a yeast question. why do you seem to prefer tasteless fast action yeast?

the flavour of 'normal' dried yeast is much better and comes closer to the taste of fresh yeast (and despite what it says on the pack it works fine in a bread maker)

my european heart bleeds trying brioche made with fast action yeast

@Bingbongbinglybunglyboo

Hello Mr Hollywood! I see from a quick google you were working on a great gluten free bread recipe. How is that going?

My daughter has recently been diagnosed with coeliac disease, and it is frustrating her prescribed bread is as processed and crap as normal sliced supermarket bread.

Am not having much joy with gluten free bread recipes, basically am I screwed?

Cheers, loved bake off, was fab

Give me another 18 months to sort it out but my times been taken up with flour at the moment! There are plenty of good gluten-free recipes out there. Let me know how you get on