Great British Bake Off/Baking Show – Recap: Roaring 20’s Week 5

And then there were nine. To recap – cake week saw the demise of Dan, biscuit week crumbled Jamie’s dreams of baking royalty, bread week sent Amelia packing and dairy week bid adieu to Phil. (Weeks 1 and 2, Week 3, Week 4). Before I begin retelling the tale of the “first-ever” Roaring 20’s week, I must confess my struggling emotions about this year’s competition. This season seems to have lost some of the magic for me. My GBBO honeymoon is nearing el finito status but I am hopeful that next week will spark a flame. Rest assured, week six isn’t the first-ever set fire to a dessert week.

Personally, I feel one “first-ever” week is enough per season and certain of these obscure challenges are taking a toll on the bakers and myself. There is an incredible amount of tension in the tent and I am worried that Michael will be wheeled out on a mover’s dolly complete with a hockey mask.

I am also having difficulties with the judging by Prue and Paul. It seems to me that middle-of-the-pack bakers have been sent on their not-so-merry way when they seemingly performed better than others. More on that later.

An EYB member on last week’s recap stated that she felt the time allotments for each bake were too restrictive. Personally, I feel that there seems to be plenty of time but that time is sucked up by the jitters. The hot temperatures in the tent (a usual suspect each year), the commotion and nerves of other bakers, and extremely sparse instructions in the technical challenges appear to be more in play this year. What are your thoughts?

Signature bake: Four custard pies, highly decorative in 2 1/2 hours

The task is to create four shortcrust pastry pies with a silky smooth custard that fit the Roaring 20’s theme. (If a recipe is available for any of the bakes, you will find a link to same.)

Helena in her usual macabre fashion created an ancient sea creature flavored with lemon and lavender that tasted soapy. Rosie used horse needles to create some very pretty orbs that melted on the top of the tarts (one tart met the floor, so only three were presented). David’s tarts were gorgeous with flapper girl cookie decor which earned him a Paul Hollywood handshake (the second of the season) and Michael’s tarts were lovely.

Of note, Noel is obsessed with Rosie’s vet duties. Henry knew a great deal about Kool-Aid and Alice seems to have calmed down from a 10 on the Richter scale to a seven. Michael was relatively collected during the signature bake but that doesn’t last long.

Technical challenge: 18 beignets souffle

Prue set the challenge this week and called for 18 beignets souffle each with a jam filling served with a boozy sabayon. New rule: please don’t allow Michael near hot oil in his state of mind. I almost had to pour myself a stiff-one to get through his battle. Was he going to walk out? If he did, would he come back? He did power through but it was very hard to watch.

I love beignets and was somewhat surprised so many bakers didn’t know what they were. Future contestants study up on Pâte à Choux.

The results: David’s were judged the worst. Sandi commented that they looked like poop emojis. Poor Michael was second worst with beignets that were both burnt and raw and technically were not an identifiable shape and Michelle came in 7th. The best: In third place was Henry, followed by Priya and first went to our queen of darkness, Helena!

Showstopper challenge: Two-tier prohibition-era cake that highlighted a 1920’s cocktail

Helena’s blood-red velvet cake inspired by a Vampire’s Kiss drink met with harsh criticism. When the judges paid a visit to her station, Prue shooed away a fly to which Helena stated: “they come to me because I am dead.” Helena, after last week’s dairy theme, I’m a little dead inside myself and this week’s showing put the nail in the coffin. Prue declared Helena’s cake to be sinister and pretty (the baker confirmed it was just like herself) and if one closed their eyes it was an okay cake. Thanks, Prue.

Steph’s pina colada cake received glowing comments as did Henry’s white Russian creation. Michelle’s cake which I thought was decorated beautifully was not looked upon with favor by the judges. Overall, the judges were extremely picky and somewhat unfair.

The week’s results had Steph receiving star baker for the second week in a row and both Michelle and Helena were sent packing – a double whammy. The judges had to have flipped a coin because there were several bakers that could have been sent home. I was sad to see both ladies go as Michelle was creative and the crypt won’t be the same without Helena.

Thank the baking gods that next week is desserts. Let us hope that Prue doesn’t resurrect a dessert that was served aboard the Mayflower crossing. Fingers crossed.

Darcie’s comment made something clearer for me – I used to escape to the tent now I feel like I’m entering psych triage.