
I just finished watching the penultimate episode of Bake Off an hour ago, and I CAN’T EVEN. I have just emotionally eaten my way through the fridge and I’m about to start on the pantry because TBH, I EAT MY FEELINGS and right now THERE ARE TOO MANY.
Someone gets eliminated in a twist, guys. Not the kind of Bakers Delight Apricot Twist that you embrace with joy and cups of tea. This is a twist bigger than “I see dead people” or “I’m Keyser Söze”. More shocking than Maggie Beer having too many sherry’s and blurting out “actually I just MADE up the name verjuice and it means nothing”.
But first, let’s recap.
There are just two facts you need to know at this point:
1. There are FOUR bakers left.
There’s Sian, a fashion design student whose impossibly beautiful baking would look at home in the pages of Vogue Magazine. There’s Suzy, the moussey-haired Greek mumma type who throws edible glitter upon every morsel, and who last week stopped what she was doing to HELP all the other contestants make their filo pastry. There’s Angela, who is the type of cook that this country was built on: thousands of blue ribbons in her armory, a salt-of-the-earth, no-nonsense attitude and the type of baking I ADORE, and then there’s Jasmin, a barista. She’s British.
2. This week, the brief is “Classics.”
Remember that. That will come in handy later on.
SIGNATURE BAKE!
It’s Donuts. Jasmin is working on subliminal messaging.
It’s a tricky one for the judges because can there ever BE a bad donut? From fat glazed country bakery ones to the cinnamon multi-pack at the shops, donuts are king.
All four bakers do a bang up job. Sian makes a liquorice donut that looks like the kind of thing you’d pay exorbitant money for in a Melbourne laneway cafe. The judges spend most of the time laughing about how Maggie pronounces Liquorice, which she says as “Licorise”.
“All my life I’ve called it that!” she exclaims, and everyone laughs, and I secretly wonder if she thinks Liquorice is Licorice, is verjuice just vinegar pronounced in a Maggie way?
The judges were tough on Angela’s lemon donuts. “A bit doughy” said Maggie, as if that’s a bad thing. Suzy’s wins them over with her walnut and honey balls, insert joke here about the judges loving having Suzy’s balls in their mouth. And then when it comes to Jasmin, the judges have their adoption papers ready to sign.
Top Comments
Yes, I was shocked that she left. Sure, she isn't as "creative" as the other girls, but this is AUSTRALIA'S GREATEST BAKER, and she's nailed nearly all of the TECHNICAL bakes. At the same time, it would have been hard to see any of these 4 women go - they are all very talented.
There is definitely something awry when a baker wins the technical, puts a fabulous high tea together and is eliminated. I think we should look to the saliency of the judging, of Matt Moran in particular, the great bully. I don't think this competition is so much about baking, as it is about Foxtel attempting to create celebrity. Angela deserved to be in that final. She is an exquisite baker. Matt dismissed her over and over again, even though she excelled, because the agenda was to chose bakers, who make for better celebrities for Foxtel's next cooking show.