Great British baker’s recipes for success
SAY what you like about the latest Bake Off – and there are those of us who still feel nostalgic for the BBC days despite having great respect for Channel 4’s handling of the series – but the latest run was an unmitigated success.
At 11 million viewers, the final was watched by the channel’s biggest audience in 32 years (the 1985 drama A Woman of Substance pipped it to the post), and the secondbiggest ever in Channel 4 history.
It was still behind the Beeb’s 2016 final, which drew in 14.8 million, but let’s not split macarons here – after all, Prue Leith did give away the winner 12 hours before transmission...
Anyway, the anchor which enabled the new cast – judge Leith, and hosts Sandi Toksvig and Noel Fielding – to merge almost seamlessly into the old format was Paul Hollywood, the blue-eyed baking pro who’s been with the show since series one.
He’s become notorious for his strict judging style as well as the occasional praise he doles out to those (very few) deserving bakers – the “Hollywood Handshake” has become serious currency in Bake Off circles.
The fact is, Hollywood knows his stuff. He began working at a bakery – his father’s – as a teenager, and went on to work as head baker at a number of prestigious hotels and restaurants throughout the UK and in Cyprus.
This was all before he found small-screen fame and during that time, he’s learned a thing or two about baking.
In this new series, he prepares to impart some of that knowledge – as well as integrating previously unseen footage from the Bake Off tent and the auditions phase, which gives this series a rather unique twist.
This means it’s a must for any fans of the show, who are hungry for more helpings before the next series comes along.
Noel and Sandi crop up, too, offering their inimitable insights, while Prue is also on hand to keep Paul in line. Think of it as a reunion, then – especially when previous Bake Off contestants Val and Selasi turn up to challenge Paul to bake a pistachio and rose petal roulade. Which he does, of course, with customary panache.
Other recipes – this is a baking show, after all – include Paul’s favourite pizza recipe, topped with courgette, lemon and thyme, an unusual combination for which he gives credit to Venice.
He also gets out and about, visiting the famous motor-racing track at Silverstone, where he makes a favourite burger recipe from his childhood for a barbecue held in the paddock.
Then he heads back to the Bake Off tent with Prue, where he bakes a madeira celebration cake. He hands over the decoration of this particular confection to Noel and Sandi, who oblige with a “nude” meringue finish. Expect some risque puns about that, then.
Paul Hollywood: A Baker’s Life is on Channel 4 on Monday, November 27 at 8pm