The Great British Bake Off recap: It's party time

It’s the quarter finals and a new week. I’m just about over the horrid technical challenge from last episode, so am ready to enjoy Party Week, even if that does feel more like a theme for the final.

We’re down to just five bakers, which seems extraordinary; it feels like five minutes ago that we were meeting our dozen. Both of my favorites, Saku and Dana, are gone (sob!), but there are plenty of great bakers left. I’m not-so-secretly rooting for Josh and Tasha.

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The first challenge is to make 12 sausage rolls, which Noel describes as “an absolute staple for any party.” The bakers can choose any type of pastry and filling; they just have to look like sausage rolls. Is it me or is this task quite straightforward for a quarter final? I’m assuming to make up for that everyone is going for complicated flavors. Of course, it’s also a hot day, and the bakers are making pastry, which does make things harder.

Paul loves sausage rolls like they’re a favorite child, and he wants the ones the bakers make to “pack a punch” and have a little moistness without being claggy. He also tells us he’s baked millions and millions of sausage rolls in his life, which I think seems like a slight exaggeration.

Anyway, back to the bakers. Cristy is going classic with cranberry and sage flavors, but don’t worry: Dan is being more experimental to make up for any regular sausage rolls in the tent. Inspired by dim sum, he’s going for pork and prawn in his filling, with a pastry flavored with five spice, served with a soy dip.

Josh is taking Christmas as his theme (indicated by his T-shirt choice), and opting for Brussel sprouts, turkey mince, and sausage meat. Paul says it’s “Christmas in a sausage roll, which can’t be a bad thing.” And Tasha is going for apricot and almonds, with a pork filling and an apricot sauce. “You’re talented enough to get yourself through to the final,” says Paul to Tasha. He’s been really impressed by Tasha throughout the series; it’ll honestly be some kind of miracle (or whatever the reverse terrible version is) if she doesn’t make it to the final. And finally, Matty is making pork, sage, and onion sausage rolls and giving them a twist by also using grated apple and a touch of chili.

Despite the heat, the pastry making seems to be going fairly smoothly, although both Cristy and Tasha are a little behind getting theirs into the oven. Cristy’s pastries are a tad undercooked, but overall everyone has pulled off what they were aiming for, as to be expected with this task.

Tasha is first to be judged, and Prue likes the look of her pastries and she’s impressed by the lamination Tasha has achieved. Paul thinks the flavor is “superb,” but they needed 10 more minutes in the oven to have been perfect.

Dan’s have good color and a nice flake, and Prue says they “certainly taste Chinese.” She adds that the flavors are delicious but she’s not used to them in a sausage roll, which seems like a Prue problem to me.

Josh’s also needed longer in the oven and the lamination could have been better, while Paul also thinks the meat is a bit dry. Did I curse Josh by saying I was rooting for him? Meanwhile, Cristy’s sausage rolls are underbaked and have a soggy bottom, something she knew even before the judging. The flavor is good and well balanced though, and Prue thinks the filling is “absolutely perfect.”

Matty has knocked it out of the park. Prue loves the shape of his sausage rolls, while Paul likes the color and the lamination. Paul has barely taken a bite before he’s holding his hand out to Matty for a Hollywood Handshake. Well done, Matty.

Technical

For the technical, set by Paul, the bakers have to make a chocolate caterpillar cake, a stone cold classic of the British party/leaving do/office birthday scene. The contestants need to make a chocolate Swiss roll sponge, filled with Swiss meringue chocolate buttercream, coated in a chocolate ganache, and topped with various decorations in two and a half hours.

The sponge is tricky; there’s a risk of overmixing and making it dense, and it’s so thin that it could easily overbake and become dry and crumbly. It turns out though that the baking isn’t the biggest problem. Instead, it’s cutting the sponge correctly to get the ridges of the caterpillar in the right place. Cristy and Dan both cut their sponges the wrong way, going for cuts along the horizontal instead of the vertical. Cristy opts to make her sponge again, while Dan decides to go with it and just cut off the excess, meaning he’ll have a very short caterpillar. Which risk will pay off?

It seems like Cristy is in a bit of trouble, as remaking her sponge means it’s still hot when the buttercream is going in, causing it to ooze over the sides. She keeps going and manages to put together something respectable looking. And let’s be honest: If you took this in to the workplace for a celebration, it would be devoured in seconds, so does it matter if it doesn’t look perfect?

For extra fun, Tasha has Noel’s face for the caterpillar. It’s not that bad, especially compared to the face Matty has put together, which is enough to give you nightmares. That’s not Matty’s only issue. His sponge is dry, according to Paul. Cristy’s isn’t “particularly neat,” says Paul but the buttercream is delicious. Prue uses the same word to describe Tasha’s, which has nice decoration, while Josh’s looks a bit messy and is a bit dry (I really did curse him), and Dan’s is overmixed and overbaked.

Dan comes in last, followed by Josh and Matty. Cristy definitely made the right decision when it come to remaking her sponge, as she takes second place. And Tasha is in first.

Showstopper

It’s real mixed bag going in to the showstopper. I think Matty is completely safe, unless he has a disaster in the showstopper. And I assume Tasha will be okay as well. Josh, Cristy, and Dan are all having rougher weeks.

For the showstopper, the bakers have to make an “incredible” anything-but-beige buffet. They have four and a half hours to produce a colorful and highly decorative display of sweet and savory party bakes.

A word in defense of beige. Just like how girl dinner is sometimes the most satisfying meal, a beige dinner has its time and place, and can be perfection in the right circumstance. Obviously not in this challenge though.

Offering words of wisdom to the camera (and not the bakers), Prue says that many people slip up because they are too ambitious. They might have a vision, but if they can’t pull it off, it’s no good, she says. I kind of assumed the bakers would just be picking delicious things to make, but they’ve all gone for a theme. Dan is going prehistoric, with chicken curry dinosaur feet pies, dinosaur head tea cakes, lemon shortbread fossils, cake pop stones, white chocolate dinosaur eggs, and chocolate nests. Six items seems like way too many.

Josh is doing the opposite of Dan, and going for precision over volume, making snowman macarons, choux bun puddings, and couronne wreaths with cheese, spinach and pesto. This man truly loves Christmas.

PE teacher Matty is making a sports-themed buffet, with curry filled cricket ball pies, tennis ball macarons, creme brûlée doughnuts, and chocolate and orange cupcakes. Meanwhile, Cristy’s Swiss roll lollipops, lemon meringue cupcakes, spiced beef and onion patties shaped as sweets, and candy cane style cheese twists will come together in a Willy Wonka-themed buffet, which Paul likes the sound of. And Tasha is taking inspiration from her childhood, with a farmyard party buffet of Za’atar and sumac milk bread pigs, choux bun lambs, and raspberry and pistachio biscuit wagon wheels.

The balancing act is the most difficult thing here, with everything needing different baking times and some doughs requiring proving, plus lots of decoration to do. Tasha and Dan are always the ones who are most ambitious, says Prue. Paul would rather Dan did fewer things and did them all perfectly, but Prue thinks he could pull it off.

Tasha is having a bit of trouble; her choir hasn’t risen, so she can’t squeeze much filling in and her jam hasn’t really set and her biscuits are a bit soft. Eek. I hope this task won’t be her downfall. Maybe I should just stop saying who my favorites are out loud.

Cristy is first up to be judged, and Paul describes her buffet as “rough and ready,” with everything having visible flaws. Her candy canes taste okay but aren’t baked enough, although her pies taste great. Prue thinks the lemon meringue cupcake tastes like a lemon meringue pie, which I think is a win, and her lollipops have lovely soft cake. But when it comes to the visual effect, it’s “fallen short,” says Paul.

Prue thinks Matty has achieved something quite clever with his buffet, with each item having a different finish. The doughnuts taste of creme brûlée, but Paul tells Matty his oil was too hot and that’s why his doughnuts are raw inside. The curd in his macarons is lovely, says Prue. The pies are delicious, says Paul, and he thinks the cupcakes taste good too. Overall, Matty’s flavors are solid, even if his textures are a little off.

Tasha’s little milk bread pigs look fantastic, but her Viennese whirls are underbaked and crumbling, although Prue says the flavor is “absolutely perfect.” Tasha’s choux buns haven’t quite worked, and Tasha looks really emotional and like she’s barely holding back tears. Where is her Alison hug?!

Paul likes Dan’s theme, but his dinosaur feet pies are a bit dry, and while his lemon biscuits taste good, they’re beige and so not on brief. Prue says if Dan had done four things instead of six, he could have aced them.

Josh’s display looks impeccable, the kind of thing you’d seen in a cute bakery window around Christmas and be tempted by. The couronne appears nice and even, says Paul, and they’re “delicious actually.” Paul was worried about them being bland, but it seems he’s been proved wrong. Josh’s choux buns are “absolutely delicious” says Prue, as are the coconut snowmen. “Josh, I think you’ve done really well, and it’s hard to fault anything,” says Prue.

In my opinion, Josh is for sure star baker this week. If he is not, I’d be very, very surprised. Then again, this season I’ve been wrong about just about everything. I think it’s between Cristy and Dan to go home; Dan is as non-stick as Teflon though and seems to have gotten away with his mistakes in previous weeks.

The judges still have Matty in the star baker mix and ultimate they plump for him as the winner. His consistency over the three challenges netted him the accolade over Josh. Paul says he’s “just, just pipped” Josh to the post, and Prue says it’s because his sausage rolls were so good in the first task.

Going home is…Cristy. Not a shock at all, although I think it could easily have been Dan (and perhaps should have been?).

Next week: It’s the semi-finals, and they’re doing patisserie.

Stray observations

• Best/worst top of the series award goes to Josh, who is wearing a T-shirt decorated with baubles and tinsel (I think…there’s a lot of pattern) this week. He later reveals he decided against wearing his elf socks, which I think was a good decision.
• Dan predicts Josh to win, and I do think that’s a good shout. I think the final three will be Josh, Matty, and Tasha. Anyone else want to lay their cards on the table at this stage?
• We’re in week eight now, and I’m still stunned by how much personality Noel is showing. Alison has truly been a breath of fresh air as a presenter and really brought the best out of him.