Patisserie week brings temptation, says the current Bake Off champion
It was patisserie week on Bake Off and the contestants were making delicious mokatines, piles of cream horns and the great tower of eclairs known as religieuse l’ancienne. To be involved on Bake
Off, you have to like cake, so there’s no sense whatsoever on set that cake isn’t good for you. A lot of the crew, and Mel and Sue, say they put on weight every series, but you can eat cake and not do that. I’ve never seen Mary and Paul eat cake other than when they’re judging, but I’m sure they do – Mary, in particular, just doesn’t eat a lot of it.
The cakes from each bake are put on a table to one side after judging and once all the photography is done, you’re given the go-ahead to eat them. On my first week I got Star Baker for my 36 mini bakes, and when I returned from the interview after judging, every one had disappeared.
But nobody’s walking around eating cake – that was forbidden.
I never once saw food thrown away. The person who looked after our meals, would always try to save us a sample of each bake, even the ones that didn’t go well, because we all wanted to try each others’ bakes and see if we agreed with the judges’ comments.
The stress of being a contestant meant I lost weight, though, and even Luis, who is a big chap, lost weight. When you’re baking and tasting and dealing with the anxiety and travelling, it takes its toll.
I think Flora is feeling the pressure. For a youngster, she was really confident in the first few weeks, but now she looks very uncertain. When I heard her say she hadn’t practised her flavours for the religieuse l’ancienne, I thought, crikey. It’s incredibly tiring being in Bake Off – but you’ve got to practise.
Paul had a very bad week and that’s why he had to go – his flavours didn’t come through in the cream horns, he couldn’t make a Genoese sponge, and then his showstopper didn’t hold and they didn’t like the artificial banana flavour. I’m sorry to see him go – nobody will ever forget his fabulous bread lion that even Paul Hollywood said he wouldn’t tackle himself.
Ian had a disaster with his cream horns, but his showstopper was a great success and I noticed Mary Berry gave him a wink at the end. Maybe Mary’s wink is going to become the equivalent of the Paul handshake – a reward when she’s really impressed.
I was surprised Nadiya got Star Baker. She did two great bakes until her showstopper – which collapsed, however they did say that her choux pastry was good. I agree with the judges that bubblegum and peppermint flavours were OTT, unless you’re making it for a kids’ party. I’m past the age for those flavours and clearly Mary and Paul are, too.