The Great British Bake Off/Baking Show – Week 4 – Chocolate Recap

Last week’s disappointing bread week sent Abbi home. There were articles published which hinted that bread week could cause the GBBO to lose the “feel good” momentum it had been building. Let’s hope not.

Of course, if it is chocolate week, that means scorching hot temperatures in the tent. Get these folks some air conditioners. So hot that Tasha fell ill and had to leave during the technical.

Signature: Chocolate torte without wheat flour in 2 1/2 hours

Dan had to redo his cake as his rack was tilted. I give these bakers props – I would have just cried and gone home. There were some positive comments but also a few that went like this: Josh’s was delicious but messy almost like a pudding; Cristy’s was messy, her cake was dry and crumbly with no real flavor; Dan’s was nice and neat but too gluey in texture and so forth.

Darcie: Although it’s tough to have to wait for the American airing of GBBO, Fridays are the perfect day for me to view it. It’s such a lovely way to relax after the grind of the workweek is over. However, chocolate is stressful for the bakers. Tempering chocolate sure brings out my temper, so I can relate.

For this challenge, I was struck by one of the host’s questions: what is the difference between a torte and a cake? The bakers hoped to have the same answer as the judges, but it seems like a few of them missed the mark. The most common negative comment was that the cake was too dense or gluey. Maybe it’s the difference between British and American notions, but I would have likely had one of the “too dense” cakes because I equate tortes with fudginess. This was a tough brief and the contestants struggled. Of course the heat didn’t help, but neither did choosing a poor mold for chocolate decorations (Cristy), or putting the oven rack in the wrong way and ending up with a tilted cake (Dan). Rowan’s torte was the most impressive visually, and I too live on coffee so I would have loved the flavor. Even though Dan had to re-do his bake, he performed a lot better than he did last week.

Recipes:

• Chocolate torte, caramel ice cream and chocolate sorbet (image above)
• Flourless Nutella chocolate torte
• Salted caramel chocolate torte
• Chestnut and chocolate torte
• Chocolate torte
• Flourless chocolate torte 
• Amaretto and almond chocolate torte 
• Lisbon chocolate cake (Dorie)
• Flourless chocolate cake with chocolate ganache glaze (Baked)

Technical: 6 individual cheesecakes with caramelized white chocolate and black currant jelly set by Prue

Recipe: Prue Leith’s Caramelized white chocolate and black currant cheesecakes

This was quite a disaster of a challenge. Tasha fell ill – she had a migraine the night before and the tent was very hot. Almost everyone had issues except for Dan who ended up in first place.

Rowan made me laugh when he said he was going to set up a charity for anyone who has worked with caramelizing white chocolate. (I found these instructions for making caramelized white chocolate in the Instant Pot).

Saku came in last, Cristy in 7th, Josh in 6th….Rowan claimed third, and Matty took 2nd place.

Darcie: I don’t know why they always seem to end up in chocolate week during the hottest time of the year – make it come before bread or something! It’s disappointing to see the weather play such a huge role when it has nothing to do with the bakers’ ability. The timing was tight, but Dan managed to create perfect cheesecakes so it definitely was possible. Everyone else wilted, Tasha more than metaphorically, the poor dear.

I haven’t used the microwave to caramelize white chocolate (I use Stella Parks’ oven method – page 60 of BraveTart) but I will try it after seeing this challenge. Since I adore cheesecake and caramelized white chocolate I may just have to recreate this challenge at home (with a substitute for the currant jelly because I can’t get fresh currants).

Recipes using caramelized white chocolate:

• Caramelized white chocolate ganache (photo above)
• Salty caramelized white chocolate blondies 
• Caramelized white chocolate spread
• Sous vide caramelized white chocolate
• Banana pecan bread with caramelized white chocolate sorghum glaze
• Edd Kimber’s caramelised white chocolate, ginger caramel & macadamia tarts

Showstopper: Edible chocolate cake box alongside a selection of chocolates in 4 hours.

Lots of redos – Nicky had to make her caramel three times. Matty and Saku had to redo their cakes. There were much more positive comments this round. Matty was told he had delicious textures and his showstopper was spot on; Dan’s was neat and beautiful with wonderful flavours. Dana’s carriage was impressive; Rowan’s was a bit of a mess, Josh’s was messy, all his piping was rushed, and had too many nuts, Nicky’s had an amazing shine but the cake was extremely rich, Saku’s cake was dry and she got low marks for messy piping and Cristy’s heart box looked perfect but her cake was dry, her praline however was nice.

Darcie: First off, I was relieved when I learned Tasha would be back next week. She’s too talented (and too sweet) to be sent home over an illness. Now on to the chocolate showstopper – if you’ve ever watched a single episode of Bake Off, you must know that there is never enough time to complete intricate challenges. That makes it frustrating to see the bakers have delusional ambitions when it comes to showstoppers. Saku was attempting to make three separate filled chocolates. As anyone who has made a molded, filled chocolate can attest, that in itself could be a challenge in four hours, much less also make a box and a layered cake to go inside of it. Cristy’s white chocolate box was lovely, but her cake, not so much.

Matty’s star has been slowly rising. I thought Josh might be poised to do well this week, but he faltered. After doing well in the signature, Rowan entered a slump. It was nice to see Nicky shine along with her beautifully tempered chocolate.

At the end of the episode, Noel and Alison revealed the final results: Matty won the honor of Star Baker, and no one would leave this week due to Tasha’s illness.

“It wasn’t fair that someone left,” Paul explained, adding that two bakers will be eliminated during Pastry Week next week.