Great British Bake Off/Baking Show – Recap: Pastry Week 8

Five bakers are left and it is one week before semi-finals. For a breakdown of what has happened in the big white tent, please see my earlier recaps Weeks 1 and 2, Week 3, Week 4, Week 5, Week 6, Week 7.

I confess now that there are just two weeks left, I am sad. It is over too soon. I relate these mixed feelings to a mean dog I couldn’t part with because of some sense of obligation. It would eat my shoes and relieve itself on my carpet and I would still be annoyed and loved the little scamp. That is how I am going to miss this series.

I recommend watching pastry week twice. During the second viewing, take a shot of liquor every time lamination is uttered. I would say take a shot when tarte tatin or soggy was said, but then you would likely be knocked out or sleeping before the signature challenge got fully underway.

Rosetta Stone for Rosie is a new language program I am going to endorse. She talks so incredibly fast. I am thankful for closed captioning and pause and rewind. She is endearing but girl, slow your roll. Another moneymaker would be some type of cooling system for the tent. Making pastry in a hot white vinyl tent is brutal and unfair or perhaps they should film in late October. I sweat just watching them.

There is scuttlebutt floating about the internet of a showmance between Henry and Alice. They are cute but there is an eight-year age difference and in reality, Alice could have been Henry’s babysitter when she was 16. Henry is adorable and he won me over this week with his use of the word malarkey. On to the bakes.

Signature bake: A savory tarte tatin in 2 1/2 hours

Henry’s tomato and new potato tarte tatin with crab salad received rave reviews and Henry was right when he declared “no one wants a soggy tart”. Truer words were never spoken as several of the bakers were admonished about their soggy pastry.

Steph’s cheese and onion tarte tatin was flavorful with David’s carrot version being dry and judged as a pastry lacking beauty (I thought it was attractive, the kind of attractive that everyone is at the end of a night of pub crawls). Alice’s lattice leek work was pretty but most of the bakers either under caramelized or burnt.

If you are looking to make a tarte tatin, you can, of course, use a cast iron skillet but I prefer a pan made for the task. Silverwood makes a nice one but my favorite is Mauviel’s copper pan which is pricey. Mauviel’s stainless steel version is middle of the road (if you live on a very nice road). Tarte tatins make beautiful desserts and we have loads of recipes indexed for you to try.

Technical challenge – Paul Hollywood’s Moroccan-style pie

This challenge was a stinker if I do say so myself but one that I enjoy making and eating. Reminiscent of a bastilla, the pie is filled with a spiced mixture and encased in layers of flaky thin dough.

Henry declared he would get naked (he says that a great deal) if anyone in the tent had heard of this bake. The camera pans to David stating “I’ve seen it on the travel channel”. Not even Henry’s tie was loosened. Drats.

For the warka or brick pastry, one needs to utilize a flat nonstick pan over boiling/simmering water to cook a wet batter. Steph’s struggle was real throughout the challenge and Henry ran out of batter. The five bakers all presented their pies with Henry coming in last, followed by Steph, Alice, Rosie (good flavors but exploded) and David took first place.

Showstopper challenge: A vertical pie with a decorative base and at least three pies in four hours

Just like needing advanced algebra, how often in life will we need to make a tower o’ pies but these bakers were asked and delivered. As in her usual fashion, Rosie aimed to make nine pies with a Camembert dragon named Bert at center stage. Her Rapunzel’s tower design was impressive but her pastry was too thick and the contents too dry.

David’s fish pies looked great but had no tops. The scales on the fish and waves were lovely but the pies suffered from underdone pastry and dryness. Henry’s attempt to sell an inverted chandelier didn’t make it past the judge’s keen eyes as being just three stacked pies which were very dry and whose pastry was far too thick. Alice’s apple tree house pie was designed well but the pastry was tough and filling dry.

Steph delivered an outstanding carousel of pies that were lovely, neat and delicious. It was not shocking that Steph made star baker once again and Henry was sent home.

When Henry was twelve he met Paul Hollywood outside the GBBO tent and Paul shook his hand. Eight years later to have come as far as he did at his age and to receive a true Paul Hollywood handshake for perfection is pretty fantastic.

Semi-finals are next week. Will Steph continue her winning streak? Will Rosie slow down? Will Alice miss Henry and will David’s buns make another cameo? We shall see.