Go all gooey with Liam
OVER the years I’ve watched an awful lot of The Great British Bake Off. I’ve watched it since its early, low-ratings days on BBC2, when it was all still rather earnest (yes, even Mel and Sue held back on the irreverence) and Mary Berry looked about 20 years older than she does now.
Yet despite all those years as a loyal fan, shall I tell you what I’ve never actually done? I’ve never actually baked anything. Not a single thing.
Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t me playing the helpless-chump-whocan’t-even-make-toast card. No, I cook plenty. It’s just specifically baking that I’ve steered clear of.
Two reasons. First, I don’t have a sweet tooth, so most of the stuff they make on that show looks horrifically sickly to me and second, baking looks rather too much like science, something I was never any good at.
Yet maybe I’ve been approaching it all wrong, if a brand new five-part series, LIAM BAKES (C4, 8pm), is anything to go by.
Liam, in case you’re unaware, is Liam Charles (right), a very personable chap we first met on Bake Off 2017. (Just in case you thought it was going to be, say, Liam Gallagher or former Arsenal and Republic of Ireland midfielder Liam Brady. Which admittedly you probably didn’t.)
Now he’s on a mission to make baking unintimidating and accessible. “Anyone can get into it,” he insists.
Not only that but he seems to have the most extraordinary belief in its powers. “I reckon for any problems, baking is the answer,” he tells his viewers, as if to suggest that, say, the Brexit talks could have been so much more productive if only Theresa had turned up with a Tupperware box of her fondant fancies.
With its choppy editing, urban soundtrack and vibrant, hashtaggy graphics, Liam Bakes is clearly designed to make baking look cool and at the cutting edge. Bless it for trying. While it’s clearly not aimed at the likes of me, if Liam’s enthusiasm does somehow connect with its target audience, that surely can only be a good thing.
“This is literally, like, one of my favourite recipes,” he exclaims of his mega-choccy cupcakes, “because it’s, like, super-quick, loads of chocolate and it’s just, like, aaaaghh…”
Elsewhere, from Liam Bakes to Bear Grylls (sounds like a very fair division of kitchen duties, that) and the crazily keen adventurer chap is back tonight with another of his celebrity specials. RUNNING WILD WITH BEAR GRYLLS: ROGER FEDERER (ITV, 9pm) sees him heading into the Swiss Alps with the eight-times Wimbledon champion, a guy who admits his thrill-seeking usually begins and ends on the tennis court. “I’m a bit of a scared guy,” Roger warns his trusty guide, “when it comes to this kind of thing.” This is probably why Bear decides to ease him into their adventure nice and gently. They start by merely descending hundreds of feet down a frozen waterfall. “What I’m going to do is lower you down first,” he adds, matter-of-factly. “You can be the eyes and ears, tell me what it’s like…”