Choccy horror show
IT’S CHOCOLATE WEEK, AND THE BAKE OFF HOPEFULS ARE IN MELTDOWN
BAKE Off knows how important it is. The show even created its own pandemic bubble to bring us this weekly spoonful of sugar in uncertain times. This is dedication of the highest order, and its heady mix of cake and polite banter is just well-baked TV perfection.
And it doesn’t get much better than Chocolate Week. A deceptively simple traybake gets the signature challenge off to a shaky start.
The nine bakers have to make chocolate brownies with a
“nice fudgy texture”.
“This is going back to basics,” says Paul Hollywood. “If you can’t produce a decent chocolate brownie, there are going to be problems.”
And so to the problems. One baker is resigned: “They look like an actual car crash.”
The technical brings more drama – they must make a chocolate Babka, a traditional Jewish loaf cake. Most look blank-faced as they read helpful instructions such as: “Make the dough”.
The dough, by the way, must be “rolled, split and twisted”, which sounds more like a gymnastics move than a baking instruction. At this point, some bakers are starting to talk to their bakes, others are practically hugging their ovens, while some just give up and sit on the floor.
A spectacular white chocolate celebration cake is the showstopper finale. The cakes must have a minimum of two layers. “White chocolate is frankly a nightmare to work with,” says Prue Leith, who later gives one contestant this encouraging advice: “Don’t forget, you only have to be ‘not the worst’.”
Oh, and the w weather is warm… br bring on the melt.