Great British Bake Off/Baking Show – Recap: Desserts’ Week 6

Seven bakers remain. Cake week saw the demise of Dan, biscuit week crumbled Jamie’s dreams of baking royalty, bread week sent Amelia packing, dairy week bid adieu to Phil and the Roaring 20’s sent both Michelle and Helena home. (Weeks 1 and 2, Week 3, Week 4, Week 5).

Even before the seven remaining bakers entered the tent, I started muttering under my breath. If Noel’s desert skit wasn’t bad enough, we had to sit through both David and Rosie voicing distaste at the thought of making desserts. “I don’t like desserts.” “I don’t make desserts.” News flash, you are bakers in The Great British Bake Off. Bakers make dessert. I can understand a baker claiming not to like making a Tudor-era cheese dessert that has to be stirred for two and a half hours, but dessert? We love dessert! Sweet Mary Berry, what is happening to the show I adore?

Prue was extra mean this week. Did Channel 4 hire Janet Jackson and Bea Arthur’s old stylist? Was Prue cranky because she had no sleeves? Even Paul looked perplexed.

I’ve been psychoanalyzing myself throughout this season. Is it the younger age of the bakers? Is it the fact that I can watch it weekly and not binge watch the season? Is that fact causing my sense of loss? Is it Sandy running about the tent with a bull horn and blaring a siren? Is it Noel channeling Lawrence of Arabia? Have I lost my sense of joy? So many unanswered questions. Let’s get to the bakes.

Signature bake: A layered meringue cake with at least three layers in 2 hrs and 45 minutes

The bakers got to work while chattering about pavlovas and meringues. Does anyone else notice Rosie’s demeanor? She always looks sadly annoyed. The judges’ comments about her Salted caramel and raspberry stack were good so smile, Rosie. Steph received raves about the Eton mess she created with the only complaint being that it had too many nuts? Are we nitpicking about the number of nuts? The color of Priya’s blueberry meringue was judged as horrible and nasty. David’s offering was overspiced and wasn’t as delicious as it looked. Henry almost set himself ablaze with the kitchen torch and threatens to strip if his meringues work. They do and he didn’t make good on his threat. Michael was covered in chocolate and was last seen squeegeeing ganache off his apron.

Technical challenge: Prue Leith’s Mango, coconut and raspberry verrines

Ironically, Prue had something up her missing sleeve, yet again another doozy for the technical. The brief was to create six identical layered desserts known as verrines. The layers were to consist of a mango compote, a creamy coconut panna cotta, a coconut lime streusel, a raspberry jelly, with a chocolate decoration, mango bits and mint topped off with a sable biscuit.

As I sat on the edge of my seat, watching the bakers juggle and balance those six glasses on a tray back and forth to the fridge, I started to believe that verrine was French for disaster waiting to happen.

The bakers did fairly well with the judging from worst to last being: Priya, Michael, Rosie, Henry, Steph, David, with Alice taking first.

Showstopper challenge: A celebratory bombe dessert, molded in either a semi-spherical or spherical shape with one baked element and two other elements such as ice cream or bavarois

It was Michael’s birthday but that didn’t stop Paul from saying that his bombe looked like it stepped off a 70’s sweets trolley or Prue commenting that it looked like the Queen Mum’s hat.

Steph’s Cho-ffee lava bombe was declared the best thing that Paul had to eat in a long time and Prue wanted to eat the entire dessert. Alice’s Pistachio tiramisu bombe received high praise as well. Henry’s cake was stodgy and Priya’s elegant bombe’s only criticism was that the chocolate mousse was very sweet.

In another surprise ending, Priya was sent home when it seemed to this viewer that Michael and Henry’s offerings were judged more harshly. Big congratulations to Steph who was star baker for the third time in a row and for having a mom that swears on speaker phone!

Of note: While scrolling through Facebook tonight, a friend posted an article entitled Five reasons the Bake Off is better in France than Britain. If you need me, I’ll be learning French with Rosetta Stone. Sacré bleu!