Where There's Cake, There's Hope...Bake Off 25

[GetSetFake]

The new series starts on Tuesday 2nd September and the bakers have been named. A few weeks earlier than recent seasons, so taking us nicely from late summer through to the cosiness of autumn.

No change to the team of Paul, Prue, Noel and Alison, which I thought worked well last year - it was a warmer and kinder programme than it has been for a few years.

The usual eclectic mix of contestants, but less of an age spread than some years - a lot of 30 somethings, no-one under 20 or over 60.

Anyone else excited for this season?

The Great British Bake Off confirms return date for season 16 and reveals cast | Radio Times

Och he didn’t bake well

🥺🥺🥺 hassan

Those were the right decisions.

I'm quite glad Leyton is staying, would like some older contestants to remain for longer

It felt a bit harsh that comments were made about other people’s bakes and yet Iain’s mushy cake didn’t even raise an eyebrow…

I wonder if that was a deciding factor ? Leighton being older.

Anyway that's it for this week, see you all next week !!

I'd be very surprised if it was. I don't think the diversity thing tends to extend to the judging. Hassan really wasn't very good overall. Leighton might well go next week if he doesn't pull his socks up.

Interestingly, I don't think they showed either of the judges watching the part where it was collapsing. So if they were just going on what he presented at the end, it may have come together in the fridge and tasted ok?

What do we think overall? Paul has said this is the best group of contestants for a while - there did seem to be some strong bakers and lovely flavour combinations. I enjoyed it, I much prefer a series where they rave about how good people are than a few series back when they were hyper critical, setting impossible time limits and saying the bakers were useless.

This!

It annoys me so much that too many of the bakers do not have a clue about hygiene.

How can others bear to eat anything they have cooked when they are preparing food with cuffs and frilly sleeves touching their ingredients and finished product.

The same cuffs and sleeves that are touching their nether regions when they go to the toilet. 🤮

Hands can be washed (I hope!), but not ends of sleeves they are wearing.

It seems every year the issue gets worse. It gives me the rage everytime and spoils the programme.

I think it did. He was a bit lucky.

My goodness, that's more detail about the cuff hygiene hazard than I've ever given thought to. Will be thinking about nether regions every time I see a dangly sleeve now.😂

Really don’t like Alison and Noel in this.

I think they're great. I never liked Sandi and although I liked Matt Lucas in other things, he didn't fit in at all on Bake Off. I think Noel seems to get on well with the contestants and Alison just seems to enjoy being there.

Really don’t like Alison and Noel in this

Oh, I do. Best since Mel & Sue, IMO.

I think since Alison joined, Noel has transformed from laughing at the contestants to laughing with them. I think she's great on this, and he's now OK, whereas before he had a bit of a Sandi 'this is beneath me' vibe.

Though, irritating though the silly dinosaur sketch was, I did smile at:

Prue: but what about Noel?
Alison: don’t worry, I’ll call Dermott

I don't get the sketches at all. It's the same on sewing bee and pottery throwdown. Always a bit cringe and you wonder who they are meant to appeal to. Presumably they do audience research and some people like them? Or maybe they are a vanity project by someone high up in the business and nobody has the guts to tell them they are dreadful!

I agree. I've seen a few comments saying people didn't mind the sketches, but never seen anyone say they like them, and most just say the sketches are silly and unfunny. Last night's seemed to go on forever too. Surely, they must have plenty of baking footage they could show instead? Or include a little section showing viewers how to do some fancy technique?

I’d definitely prefer a technique masterclass to either the sketches or the spoiler reel at the start, ideally replacing both.
How to make apple roses, or simple scones, or roll/fit fondant icing without wrinkles etc.

When they actually did technique masterclasses - I think Mary and Paul might have both done them in the early bake off years as separate programmes - they were sooo dull. I thought I'd love them but found them unbearably boring.

The sketch last night was super long because they have extra time to play with in the longer 90 minute format. But I think that is only for a week or two and then we're back to the normal 1.15?

Not RTFT as just started to watch and want to avoid spoilers.
I wonder why they think anyone watching a programme about baking would be interested in this crap? I find it almost insulting. One very good reason for not watching in real time!

I felt sorry for Hassan, he plainly had a disastrous day but it really was disastrous. I thought the Ukraine cake map was amazing and was glad to see her win. The blue and green swiss rolls looked amazing but unappetising. I thought the challenges were pretty hard for a first round.

I hate the rubbish sketches, just a waste of air time. I quite like Alison on Bake Off - never took to either Sandi or Matt but none of the combos have recaptured the “Mel and Sue” feel. I never understood why Sandi signed up to do a show whilst looking down her nose at it.

I agree the diversity is a bit “diversity by numbers” which usually forgets age and class. I’ve no idea how they implement this when selecting contestants.

Overall last time I felt a lot of the challenges were so far removed from regular baking that it was less a baking show and more a construction and decorating show. I’d like to see more of the difficult-but-real baking challenges with maybe the odd whacky construction challenge.

How times have changed! Compare those showstopper landscape cakes to what they produced in the first episode of the first series (a Victoria sponge?) And the design on the Swiss roll was something that's not appeared until much later in previous series. I dread to think what complicated construction they'll be asked to make in Biscuit Week!

I don't like overcomplicated, gimmicky stuff (especially the requirement to make an edible showstopper cake with only four or five hours when some elements would need that much time just to reach the ideal temperature to assemble) but I enjoyed the technical with the red herring ingredients. That tested a completely different aspect of being a skilled baker.

(I absolutely love Alison in this, and all the other presenters have seemed warmer since she arrived.)