GBBO starts tomorrow!

[Forgetfulmog]

Very excited!

Paul Hollywood does piss me off tbh, but I love seeing all the cakes & stuff. Will probably have to make something to eat whilst watching it though...

I predict Kimberley and two others from Ruby, Robert and Christine in the final, and Kimberley to win.

Glenn not careful enough, Howard too disaster-prone, Frances too annoying and Beca rarely does anything that stands out (so will fall by the wayside if we ever get a week where no one screws up big time).

If it's like last year we'll get a couple of Masterclass episodes after the main series where Paul and Mary take us through how to bake all of the technical challenges properly.

Kimberley to win. Frances or Beca to go next.

I noticed the greaseproof paper under the custard tarts as well wintera very clever move of Ruby's. I wondered why the others didn't think of that they're meant to be good bakers FFS! I suppose well buttered or oiled pans would work also to brown and 'crisp' the pastry.

Yes I thought about the masterclasses they give too Pachacuti. Also Christine seems to be letting the stress get to her I don't reckon she's a contender for the final her timing is not good.

That's what was so annoying, though, Butkin. When she's focused on technical excellence and producing something that was cooked properly and tasted right she's an excellent baker (well, mid-table on cakes and desserts, top or very close to it on bread and tarts). When she focuses on cutesy-wutesy design features, though, she has a bit of a tendency to misjudge the flavours or the cooking.

I'm guessing that's because of the tight timescale for conceiving, submitting and practising the recipes; she must be spending a lot of that limited time thinking about and developing her presentation ideas and so she can't possibly be spending as much time as the others on getting the other aspects right -- and today's signature dish and showstopper seemed to suffer from that. If she'd cooked her filo thing a few times before then how could she have failed to notice that the quirky baklava branches weren't actually cooked through (and from what Paul says, weren't ever likely to cook through, because you can't really do baklava on that scale)? So she's someone who could be up there as a serious contender but who isn't reaching her potential because she's getting distracted by inessentials.

Thanks soooo much for the Mighty Monk Seal's blog Viking it gave me the best laugh I've had in weeks brilliant!! I like the way he includes some of the Strictly stars really really funny.

Bring back Brendan, they're all so boring this year.

I have to say, I like Frances's stuff. Though I did laugh at whoever posted upthread about it being creepy.

If she'd done the 'trunk' bit out of several long thing rolls bundled together, it'd have been fine. And I do like that she actually tries to do something a bit different, even if it is bonkers sometimes.

I like Rob.

Yes, ppeatfruit, I think of my final contenders Christine is the most likely to have a big baking disaster at some point -- but if she can hold it together and someone else screws up instead then her basic skills may be solid enough to see her through to that point. I can't see her winning in a month of Sundays, though.

Just caught up on iplayer. Wow, most of them had a real struggle with the first two rounds. Could hardly watch at times when they were trying to wrestle their pastry out of the tins!
There are no real characters I agree. Really want either Kimberley, Ruby or Rob to win as they all seem very likeable and can bake. Sad to see Ali go but hard to believe he wouldn't taste any element of his fruit pie on the basis he doesn't like fruit pies! That seemed very babyish! He didn't have to eat a whopping great slice, but surely he could have tasted a bit of the filling. Glad Kimberley got star baker. Felt she was a bit robbed of the title last week.

Raising if you read viking's link to the blog upthread you'll wet yourself really laugh at the way he describes the pastry in the custard tarts! He doesn't miss a trick even to the custard!!!

I can't believe it - just caught up on last episode... I was welling up!!! I know I'm quite 'ormonale at the moment but honestly.

Really also thought 'style-over-substance'Frances was for the chop. Can't bear her, I'm afraid; not personal (of course!!) but generally am irritated by overstyled food - just puts me off.

Also is it only me who's bothered by the magically clean workbenches during the judging... isn't everything stone cold by the time they taste and doesn't that affect things!!

Still. Am really loving this series.

DS watched it yesterday and cried when Ali got eliminated. He gets very emotionally invested in these things...

Thanks for blog tip-off! Sooooo funny.

I nearly cried when Ali got the chop.

I absolutely adore Howard and Kimberly.

Frances gets on my TITS.

Just caught up and am really sad about Ali, he was endearing like Jason in the second series. Oh well. I'm hoping for Kimberly to win now. She's just lovely and her bakes make my mouth water. Absolutely detest Frances' creations. Tacky and crappy.

This is an absolute favourite in our house. DS1(17) and DS2(15) both glued to it. They want Howard to win.
I loved Ali but it was a fair choice.

You got the feeling that Ali was a genuinely nice bloke, when some of the others were so upset to see him go This is what I would worry about, going into a baking competition ( not that I'm anywhere near good enough) There are some things I'n terrible at, and some things 'Im good at.
I just want Frances to cook a normal bloody thing without some stupid stunt attached. She's like someone who tells jokes all the time- even if they're funny, it's just wearing!

The person who said that Harold is like a Alan Bennett monologue is a genius.

I do love this show. A huge part of its charm is down to Mel and Sue I think. Mel's FACE when it showed something falling over in next week's show. I still laugh when I think of Mel saying '20 minutes for your frasiers' in last year's show.

I think it would be lovely for an older person to win (I loved Brendan last year). I cannot remember her name but I like the older woman who cried in this week's programme. Christine is it?

Everyone obviously really liked Ali.

Although Kimberley is my favourite, I thought it telling when Mary said that Ruby is a student with no equipment at all. You can imagine her style of baking (ie don't just chuck it all in the KitchenAid, which was expertly edited to contrast with Glen in this ep...) being very attractive for a book deal or even TV programme as she is all back to basics.

Good point. In another ep they made a big deal about her doing this and that by hand instead of relying on machines too.

Sorry if this has been answered before but can anyone tell me why they wear the same clothes for both days?

Continuity - so that they can take shots from either day of the shoot and edit them in.

I agree wingdefence Ruby's timing must be very good considering she doesn't use aids (esp. when you think of some of the other's timing) She's also got the looks for telly.

KIM TO WIN though

Kim to win. I can tolerate Ruby being second as long as Howard is also in the top three.