GBBO 2020!!

[5foot5]

I couldn't see a thread on this so apologies if there was one and I missed it.

Apparently this will be on before the end of the year, filming has just finished

GBBO

Yay!! Something good on the tele to look forward to for a change

Nobody coloured their white chocolate. It can be tricky but I colour white choc all the time for things. Would have helped make more of an impact on some of the cakes

Lettingthedaysgoby, I wondered that too - there don't seem to be any really stand out bakers yet. Maybe it's a lack of practice time as well, whilst being away from home?

Any baker should be able to bake brownies with their eyes closed. Brownies is a easy bake for a child let alone a good baker!!

I reckon they didn't give them enough time for the brownies and that was why they all failed. Maybe if they hadn't all gone overboard on decoration they could have done it in the time.

The babka looked quite nice. I wonder if you could do it without the nuts.

That’s what I think too @lettingthedaysgoby. They also have less time to practise. I think the shows were filmed 2 days apart rather than a week apart.

Why don’t they ever allow them time to let the cakes cool ?

Really liked Sura! So sorry to see her go although it was inevitable this week.

Agree with everyone else in that nobody is really standing out this season. Star baker is usually pretty obvious! This year I often can't recall how they did in the rounds prior to Show Stopper.😕

If they only have 2 days between filming how could the one with all the hair have practised the chocolate cake 15 times? I suppose they must be told at least some of the challenges way before filming starts.
Not 10 seconds before like they pretend. "This week's challenge is..bla.. bla....BAKE"

Am I imagining that near the beginning of Bake Off they had more time. I seem to recall one showstopper was a wedding cake and they had hours and hours to make it (as is needed)

I’m not sure if the standard of bakers is low, or the challenges are too difficult. Probably both. I think they are set up to fail.

@Al1langdownthecleghole

And there you have it from Pru. You only have to be not the worst.

Not exactly reaching for the stars is it?

It was pretty appropriate for this week’s poor show, though, wasn’t it?

It wasn’t even just that they’d made mistakes in baking, the majority of the brownies were just badly conceived as recipes — brownies are already very rich and sweet, so why would you add meringue or cheesecake or caramel on top? And Peter’s fig and cinnamon thing sounded revolting!

Also, no one looks as if they’re having fun. Well, maybe Linda and Mark, but Lottie and Sura and several others look permanently tense and unhappy. Even normally cheery Laura looked very miserable tonight.

I’m sure this selection was possibly the B team when many first selections couldn’t commit to potentially weeks in the tent, and the claustrophobia is getting to them.

Yes, I think they do know the non-technical challenges well in advance — they have to submit their recipes long before filming starts. Hence Lottie practicing her cake 15 times and Peter making his brother a graduation cake earlier in the year.

@Ellmau

I reckon they didn't give them enough time for the brownies and that was why they all failed. Maybe if they hadn't all gone overboard on decoration they could have done it in the time.

The babka looked quite nice. I wonder if you could do it without the nuts.

My daughter makes babka without nuts.

My daughter makes babka without nuts.

That sounds delicious ;)))

I do wish the producers would allow sufficient time for all stages of the baking process, including cooling.
It’s such a false ‘peril’ competitive element that is unnecessary.
Give the bakers the time they need, edit/film as required. At least then we could see what was truly possible with each recipe.

That brownie round was an absolute case in point, all of them were appalling.

It’s about time they had air con in that tent. Every year one or two episodes are dominated by the temperature affecting the bakes. In real life, no one would attempt to temper chocolate in tropical heat!

Yes,lack if cooling time is annoying but then some of them manage and time things to suit ,the same with the heat.

I liked the fact they did brownies (though why did they all over\sweeten and overdecorate them? ) the time they were given was for BASIC brownies, because they need leaving for a while after cooking to help the squidgyness).

I like that they're not doing complicated recipes. it's easier for non bakers to feel able to start baking.

Give the bakers the time they need, edit/film as required. At least then we could see what was truly possible with each recipe.

Absolutely this!

It's to inject an element of "drama" I suppose - stuff that! I just want to see good baking.

@ppeatfruit

I liked the fact they did brownies (though why did they all over\sweeten and overdecorate them? ) the time they were given was for BASIC brownies, because they need leaving for a while after cooking to help the squidgyness).

I like that they're not doing complicated recipes. it's easier for non bakers to feel able to start baking.

I think the problem is that the terms of the show require them not to just use someone else’s basic brownie recipe, they have to customise and adapt. For instance, I use Nigella’s damp chocolate loaf cake recipe for brownies, but that wouldn’t be allowed unless I altered it.

And unfortunately they seem not to have considered this time that sticking on Italian meringue, caramel etc would make something already sweet disgustingly sweet — or that adding a cheese cake layer that needed to be cooked would overcook the actual brownie.

I was disappointed about the brownie round because it was something reasonably straightforward.....and yet by making them "different" and adding toppings nearly all managed to balls them up.
Presumably they're encouraged to add different flavours/textures/toppings etc...?
I did laugh at Matt Lucas saying they complain things are to sweet when they've set a task to make something v sweet.

Yes Schady I really don't 'get' all this effing jeopardy that the producers seem to think we want . What's wrong with a slow paced intelligent programme I wonder?

Like The Repair Shop WITHOUT the plinky plonky music !

I didn't understand the brownie challenge. How do you make a stand-out one exactly?

A brownie is a brownie is a brownie, surely?

I agree. A standout brownie to me is the most brownie brownie you can get.

Glad Lottie stayed in, she’s got good chat and doesn’t get intimidated by Paul. Hope she does better next week. Also pleased for Linda as she’s not had many positive things said about her bakes, Sura always seemed miserable so didn’t warm to her but as others have said might have been the claustrophobic events of having to stay. Can’t be easy this year agree tension getting to them all.

@Smudgeis13

I’m not sure if the standard of bakers is low, or the challenges are too difficult. Probably both. I think they are set up to fail.

I don’t think brownies are a difficult challenge though.

Bake off has lost its appeal for me this year, I think the awfulness of the pandemic has a lot to do with the quality of the bakers, some not all just don't seems to be very good at all. They all seem to be given less and less time and as ever the tent overheats which causes issues which I think is really unfair to the bakers as they're already up against it. I think CH4 need a rethink for next year. Give the bakers the appropriate amount of time and get the tent cooled down. Then we can all see the bakes properly!