Great British Bake Off Series 3

[Slainte]

I'm so excited, the new series starts next week . Link

Well weird or what? Peter going when his cakes were SO good last week ,i don't like his smugness BTW i just thought it was a bit unfair when Stu was mediocre ALL the time and still managed to stay in.

I like Cathryn now she's relaxed (i love the sitting by the oven!) james came over better too so sweet i'm glad he won best of show!!

Didnt manage to post last this week though did watch.

Can someone tell me how is Stuart still there???

Yeah VERY good question ( maybe he has good connections) well there's no other reason i can think of.

I think Stuart is still not out, not by virtue of him doing well, but because someone else managed to be worse than he was. :)

Last night it sounded as if one of his bakes (the bread? I forget) actually turned out alright. The other poor guy had three failures in a row.

But greenEggs Peter made amazing cakes last week and Stu most def. didn't.

It's also annoying that we don't see everything they all bake it's obviously 'cos they don't have time in the programme esp. when they start with so many contestants. They need to either give another half hour to it or continue over 2 days.

You're right, Stuart was terrible last week. They don't seem to have taken his performance last week into consideration.

Mary & Paul did say the contestants need to be consistent though, and Stuart is at least consistently bad! Maybe he will win!

Love this programme - and this thread.
Thanks for the link to that really interesting article in the Telegraph. WingDefence. Had never really thought about how expensive it would be to enter nor how little time some had to practise - like James in the middle of his exams.
JeezyPeeps - very impressive claim to fame.
Sorry to see Natasha go last week but I thought it was the right result unlike Peter this week who surely should have been shown more credit for what he did last week. I also like James, Victoria and the vicar's wife - in fact most of them really except Stuart and Cathryn who does seem fake to me. I love how calm Brendan is - and how he mentioned that the didn't believe that Cathryn was really in a panic. Can also understand why people find him a bit sinister... Really interesting interview with Mary Berry on Desert Island Discs.

Cathryn annoys me too.
She reminds me of those girls at school who always used to have drama queen sessions after exams and go on and on about how they had miserably failed and invariably ended up with top grades.

Do like James, John, Ryan and Brendan as well as, um, vicar's wife, Manisha and Victoria.

PE teacher is way to smug, glad Peter went - he was definitely a sales manager, Catheryn is playing up the frightened mouse thing far too much. That lass has a rod of steel running through her, mark my words. All that faux "oh look what I did, is it any good?" fishing gets wearing after a while.

Cathryn slightly improved for me this week. She is still a bit simpery.

I don't get MN scarves. I own lots of scarves and I am a MNer, but I would have no clue if I was sporting some code for other MNers.

I am quite glad Peter went as I, very shallowly, had a massive issue with his teeth. They reminded me of Jafar as the imprisoned cripple in Aladdin. And I think it's been said, but a massive cock up one week won't be salvaged by a decent effort the week before. People like Stewart will go by the end because the standard will go so high, past performance will have to considered too.

TwoIfBySea I so agree. Cathryn really annoyed me when she did her 'poor me' act while waiting for her bagels to cook. And lo and behold out came of the oven perfect-looking bagels.
I bet the judges loved them. Shame we didn't get to see it.

I'm disappointed that we don't see all the bakes being judged. Surely they could have skipped the (admittedly entertaining) section on the history of bagels and shown more of the bakes?

Loving it otherwise.

Google mumsnet scarf , images, the first one is right (kind of leopard print).

Agree with other comments, Cathryn is annoying. I like James.

I have come very late to this thread and didn't see the first episode as we were away but DS2 loves this programme and the junior version so have been forced to watch, not that it is a great trial. What's not to like about baking?

I must admit that I was wondering whether anybody else found Cathryn annoying or whether I am just mean. Seems that if I am mean so are a lot of you. If she's faking it, stop now please but if not I just want to tell her to get a backbone!

I find I have nothing to say about Manisha and Danny. Are they two of the ones who haven't been featured much?

I am saving my opinions on the other until I have seen the next episode.

Hi BBB! I don't think Cath. is faking you should 've seen her last week she was shaking with fear but she did pass a unpleasant comment on Stew's cooking skills. Eugene IKWYM about Peters' teeth oh dear! to be kind he probably didn't realise how bad they'd look on telly. funnily he became human when failing.

Cake question! The lady who was eliminated in the first show (Natasha) made a lovely showstopper cake at the end of the show, covered in lovely pink and white swirly rose type buttercream icing - which I remember Mary Berry in particualr admired. My DD has asked if I could do this on her birthday cake next week!! Has anyone any idea as to how to do this, it looked a lot more complicated than just doing swirly things with an icing bag, as the icing seemed to be a mix of both pink and white, and I presume she used a special nozzle? Is there anything about this online -have checked the GBBO website on BBC and have found nothing - all help appreciated!

www.goodlifeeats.com/2011/03/kitchen-tip-multi-swirled-frosting.html This shows you how to make multi-toned icing. I've never tried it but it seems to show pretty clearly how to do it. Hope this helps!

There are several ways to get multi toned piping, easiest IMO is to paint a line of colouring on the indies of your piping bag.

Good Luck serend!!

Hi ppeat. Should we even be talking about baking?

Baked things and specifically cake are my weakness. A day without cake is a day lost as far as I'm concerned.

I try to be moderate but it is a daily battle!

IKWYM but I love GBBO it's so much better than all those crazy fake high pressured master chef type progs. I make cakes occasionally and they are even healthy would you believe!

For those with Listen Again computers; Mary Berry was on Chris Evan's show BBC radio 2 this morning and they had saint Paul Hollywood on the phone who nearly dropped the top secret Information that he's going to be on Strictly this Autumn!!!!!! he's def. going to loose weight on there!!!!

Multi-toned icing thread.