Stacey into GBBO semis with a forgotten bake
“FORGOTTEN BAKES” week on GBBO turned out be be one to remember for Stacey Hart.
Not only did she ease into the semi-finals, but she did so crowned as star baker for the first time.
Her triumph came as the contestants were asked to make cakes and pastries now so out of favour that most of us have never heard of them, starting with the oddly named Bedfordshire Clanger — a pasty with a savoury course one side and dessert on the other.
The task was to produce four of these snacks, once the lunchtime treats of farming folk. The obvious jokes about TV cartoon moon creatures ensued.
Judges Prue Leith and Paul Hollywood told the bakers to beware wet fillings that could leak. Cut to Stacey, the only one who had opted to include a sauce in her clanger. Uh oh.
She had opted for camembert and caramelised onion on one side of her snack and apple and blueberry with custard on the other. Practice had not gone well: “I’ve had some leaky clanger issues over the last week,” she confessed. But the judges swooned with delight at what she managed to produce, with Hollywood bestowing his first handshake in weeks — “that, young lady, is absolutely delicious,” he told her.
Next up was the technical round with another random recipe, the Cumberland Rum Nicky, a sweet shortcrust tart with a lattice top. Stacey illadvisedly argued with the judges over the correct number of strands in a lattice and had to settle for third place behind Steven’s winning effort. The showstopper was a race to bake a Victorian Savoy, a centrepiece that was rarely eaten. The challenge was as much to make it edible as make it look good. Stacey went for a typically over-the-top affair, clad with macarons, jelly hearts and meringues, giving herself plenty to do.
She wasn’t helped by her overn door coming unhinged, a technical mishap which produced a bleeped-out swear word from Stacey, probably a first for Bake Off. It didn’t matter — both judges agreed her Savoy had great texture and flavour, making it her best week yet in the tent.