Great British Bake Off - Back 16th August

[turnitup]

Yay

I loved series 1

I have this horrible image of Holly saying to her DH 'foreplay will last for precisely four and a half minutes, after which you may penetrate me. After exactly sixteen thrusts I will climax. You may do the same 11-14 thrusts later. DO NOT get any ejaculate on the sheets'.
I'm sure she's actually really nice and just badly edited.

Aww, I think Holly's comment was just a joke that fell a bit flat. We've all been there.

Still Mary-Ann to win for me; she is technically brilliant and fabulously creative. But I felt for her when she put her sponge portion on back-to-front. Holly and Jo are very competent, but they don't really show any real brilliance, do they?

Loved Janet. Loved her thankyou, and loved her crazily fat croissants.

I agree re the Holly-editing, ikiboo - it's like they wanted a 'this year's Ruth' and she was the closest they had.

TougherTTR I agree with you about Jo, but if there is any justice MaryAnne will win - can't wait for next week - but what will I do after that??

(makes note to self to NEVER eat pastries again, cake must be healthier )

Mary Anne to win ! I loved Janet though- so nice -loved her giant pastries !

I was thinking of making croissants but obviously it's waaaay too tricky and I don't think I could cope with all that butter !

Aww lovely Janet. Loved her slap dash approach and very gracious little speech at the end.

Mary Anne to win! I really warmed to Jo this week though, as can see now where the flappy lack of confidence comes from, and the bit where she cried at the end almost set me off!

Agree that they are editing Holly to be the annoying one but then, she is! When she got that bloody ruler out I almost threw my dinner at the tv.

Interesting that the are having three finalists this year, should be great!

You see, it's always good to make your own cakes/puddings etc as more often that not taste miles better than shop bought, but jeez, when you see the amount f butter and sugar in them it is just jaw dropping. I was totally at the slabs ofbutter n the pastries. Yum!

Yes - when I saw the the first one of the contestants putting that huuuuge slab of butter onto the pastry, I was sure she had made a colossal error - and then they showed another one doing it too. Then I assumed that must be the only layer of butter, and was gobsmacked to hear that this process was to be repeated more times!

I know and to think of having put butter on to a croissant myself, I mean you might as well get some butter out to eat and put some butter on the butter.

I love the way Paul loves their successes, he does seem to take genuine pleasure in their creativity and skill. Mary is also very sweet when they succeed. She'd never had such a finger before nb.

Janet, gracious in defeat, quite lucky to get this far as she is quite inconsistent, lovely person though.

Mary Ann a total passionate creative baking Artist but she is slightly wild in her creativity, she experiments a little too much to be sure of winning don't you think?

Holly, irritatint Head Girl type but fairly honest too.

Jo - she's not as skilled as Mary Ann and Holly, It has to be either Holly or Mary Ann. It'll be between who has better luck on the day and whether Mary Ann takes any crazy risks. For consistency Holly should win despite the horror of that profiterole tower with the STUPID little house underneath, I mean so silly. And she puts chocolate in everything yawn. But I respect her pedantic attention to detail, you probably do need to be a little anal retentive to be a consistent baker at this level.

Oh I wish I'd found this thread weeks ago - I've been watching it all by myself :(

I haven't warmed to Mary Ann - I just find her comments really annoying - too try hard.

I like Holly (and her comment was funny - they are all Mum's going 'I hope everyone does well' when what they mean is I hope you drop that cake/keel over/whatever because I want to win dammit').

But I love Jo and I want her to win :)

I wish I'd found this thread before too. Agree re Holly, she was being funny.

But

I really wanted Jo to go.

I thought it was really telling what Holly said about wanting one of them to die. I suppose it may have been her attempt at a joke that came across wrong, but I just thought 'True colours'. I agree that she doesn't seem to have a real passion for baking, whereas Janet and Jo seem to do it out of love and Mary Ann out of a passion for ingredients and experimentation. I find her very over-achieving and uptight. Can't stand all her try-hard things like the fecking gingerbread cottage inside another cake, the vile-looking chocolate croque en bouche etc. V sad to see lovely jolly Janet go, but she didn't really seem to mind and was very philosophical about it. Whether or not Jo wins I think she might have gained enough confidence to think seriously about using her talents for a career or business venture ? I hope so anyway.

I didn't watch the last series but am SERIOUSLY hooked on this one. I hope they do another!

Oh, and I'm dying to try making my own pastries now, even though they're bound to be a disaster.

Ah but the little tips the experts throw around in conversation will make a massive difference to you, LadyClarice. You will become expert in no time and take over the world with your creme anglaise and your choux pastry

Jux, seriously, I do find it really educational. You get actual useful tips, not to mention the snippets of food history.

Lady Clarice's Continental Bakery is definitely in the pipeline.

Shame to see Janet go, though it probably was the right decision. I think it's probably Mary-Anne to win, but lovely to see Jo in the final, she's good but seems so nervous and lacking in confidence.

Haven't been able to like Holly somehow, and her comment seemed quite odd and unpleasant. Agree we don't see the full picture and you can make anyone look bad with selective editing though.

Meh, I like Holly, and her sense of humour. I think she's the best baker but I do agree that MA will probably win seeing as she is far more creative and passionate.

yeah but Holly is far more consistent and that is really important to the judges, she's so good at aiming for a perfect look.
Mary Anne is too patchy however creative.

But it'll be luck on the day, unlikely that Jo will win don't you think?

You know there is an American cook who "invented" a recipe for deep fried butter? And they kid themselves we Scots are unhealthy.

Think Holly is too forced. Jo is lucky to have gotten so far as should have been out before someone like Jason. Would like to have seen what he would have done at this point.

Mary Ann, well if I ever cast a real life Downton Abbey I know who I'd chose for my Mrs Patmore! Bet when you go to her house you end up having to roll yourself out the door.

Yes, I was gutted when Jason went, but he's still young and do another year or so and then storm it.

I think if I went to MA's house they'd have to knock a wall down to get me out, or at least take out a window - like Harrods did when they tried to deliver a bed to some newly married friends . It was so big they really did hoist it through the window!

LadyClarice, I am eager for your Continental Bakery! I shall even move house to ensure I can stroll down every afternoon. And, yes, you're right, the tips are educational. I try to write them down. I love the history too.

Blimey, deep fried butter. I'm not even tempted to try it.

I was sorry to see dear Janet go, but those croissants were hilarious. LOL at Holly's sex instructions. I bet she folds up her knickers before she issues them too. I'd love Mary-Anne to win, or Jo - it would be great for her to make a career off the back of the series wouldn't it?

Patisserie: I was in Waitrose cafe the other day and they put calorie details on the cake and biscuits. Of everything - scones, muffins, pains au raisins, cupcakes, cookies, it was the pain au raisin which had the fewest calories. Truefact.

Jo has quite a professional looking blog actually-so i think she will be fine and dandy afterwards,whether she wins or not.
If I'm having cake or pastries I'd rather not know the calorie count-just assume it's quite a lot and enjoy the thing without recriminations !

that deep-fried butter site had a fabby recipe for 'french toast casserole'- french bread and butter pudding with maple syrup really- yum.

Deep fried butter!!!! Now you're talking! (she said, pregnant and Scottish!)

Hello GBBO laydies, only just found you .

I'm LOVING this series, am likewise still devastated at the loss of the lovely Jason and a Mary-Anne fan. Jo's 'little girl lost' voice is driving me batty and it's interesting to see swotty-Holly struggling.

Can't wait til next week!!