Bake Off Noel’s Mighty fine job

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SO The Great British Bake Off is back and all anyone really wanted to know was whether it would be as good on Channel 4, ad breaks ’n’ all, as it was on the BBC.

Like millions of fans I was on the edge of my sofa, afraid a towering and muchloved TV confection might fall flat in its new home. I needn’t have worried because the new GBBO stuck with its tried and tested recipe and came out every bit as tasty.

Big white tent, bunting, 12 bakers toiling away – and crazy cakes galore.

Of course, there’s no Mary Berry, no Mel and Sue, who, famously, didn’t “follow the dough”.

Instead we’ve got Prue Leith judging alongside Paul Hollywood and presenters Sandi Toksvig and Noel Fielding.

I wasn’t sure about the new line-up but the mix proved just right. The perfect bake. Prue’s a tough cookie, Sandi’s a treat and Noel’s the cherry on the cake.

Sweet and moreish and brimming with enthusiasm, the Mighty Boosh star is right at home in the tent with the bakers. When one admits she forgot to squeeze the moisture out of her courgettes in the first fruity cake challenge – disaster! – Noel tells her to keep schtum. “If the judges ask, deny it,” he advises.

When Prue pulls up a baker for putting inedible flowers on their cake – “no one’s going to eat a marigold” – Noel defies her and pops one in his mouth. “It’s my favourite bit,” he says.

The heat is on in the Bake Off tent and the pressure is huge. It looks like torture – death by chocolate. Even accomplished bakers, capable of turning out a light and lovely Victoria sponge in their sleep, go to pieces. Yan forgot to switch the oven on and had to start again. Stacey crouched on the floor, confidence crumbling, convinced hers wouldn’t bake on time. James, at least, was determined not to go nuts. “It’s just a sponge, no one’s going to die,” he said.

If looks could kill, Peter, who overdid the baking powder in his coconut cake, wouldn’t have survived his first encounter with judge Paul. “It’s burning my tongue,” been tempted to hide away from all the attention on a major duvet day. But not KP. She was live and loose, sharing her story with the nation is behind that famous TV desk. Katie an acquired taste, that’s for sure. But tip my hat to her for the way she handled that appearance the day after the story broke. I said the bread supremo, unimpressed. Prue’s challenge to make 12 identical chocolate mini rolls proved fiddly and stressful. You could see panic set in as the bakers studied a recipe that had no flour.

Chris chucked his first lot out and when his sorry-looking effort came last he looked battered. “I don’t think anyone has any idea what the tent does to you,” he said.

Even Kate, who won the challenge, vowed she’d never make another mini roll in her life.

It all came down to the showstopper, to create an illusion cake – a cake that doesn’t look like a cake.

We got some amazing creations – a stack of pancakes, a pork pie, a watermelon. Sophie’s champagne bottle looked good but lacked fizz. Chris’s pork pie was dense. Julia’s Russian doll a little plain. Steven stole the show. His stunning loaf of bread with a BLT sandwich on the side was pronounced perfect and won him Star Baker.

It was all a bit much. “I’m not crying, obviously,” he said through his tears.

C4 got flak for paying so much for Bake Off but chiefs must be on a sugar high now. Proof you can have your cake and eat it. THIS week saw the start of a TUreet, rerun of the nostalgic series sum quipit nim Britainat, As Seen on ITV. This quis alit episode doluptat, focused on the corem changingdolore te face of the “modern mincidunt woman”lobor acilitand featured amazing clips praesenimfrom ITV alit archivesver of some feisty aut females landiamet who, even way back accummoin the Sixties, dipsum knew aliquamet,that men were ing gettingea commyan easiernos ride. verostiThe ncincilit selection of regional real-life interview gems are interspersed with clips of long-forgotten shows. In 1965, The Trouble With Men featured women in the street saying what irritated them about menfolk. “I think they are all right as long as they get their own way,” one bespectacled housewife confessed. Nothing’s changed there, then!