I first heard about The Great British Bake Off years before it popped up on PBS. I read a lot of British and European food stories, and I started seeing coverage of a baking show with an avid audience.
I tracked down GBBO episodes on the Web, followed the show on social media, and was aware of who had won seasons long before Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood became familiar faces across the pond.
Now, Bake Off (or Baking Show as it has to be called in North America, because Pillsbury has the Bake Off name rights here) is back on Netflix. Episodes air three days after they run in Britain. The new season started on Friday, and according to my Tivo, there will be 10 episodes,
Here are my impressions from the first episode, Cake Week. Stop now to avoid spoilers.
Swirls Aren’t A Simple Matter
Have you ever made a jelly roll? If so, you’ll be into the first signature challenge, which is to make 12 decorative mini rolls. They’re essentially small rolls of cake with filling inside - upscale HoHos, if you remember those.
Paul makes it very clear that he wants a visible swirl when the rolls are cut open. There are some real flops and one tense moment when he makes Jurgen, a baker born in Germany’s Black Forest region, judge his own bake.
Let’s stop a second and explore a trait of reality TV. Even before Paul stopped by Jurgen’s counter, there already were clues that he was going to be meaningful in this episode.
Jurgen got two sound bites early in the show, and was serenaded by Matt with the Flintstones theme sung in German. That’s a tip off from the producers that Jurgen is someone they want you to watch.
In the face of Paul’s pressure, Jurgen is unflappable, however. He likes his bake, which is chocolatey and not too sweet, and to everyone’s relief, so do Prue and Paul.
The big surprise comes from Italian baker Giuseppe, who presents a flawless orange and ricotta mini roll. A triumph, says Prue.
Malt Loaf Takes The Spotlight
For the technical, we’re told no one under 35 will know what malt loaf is. I don’t know what it is, either, and probably many Americans are in the dark, too.
It’s basically a loaf cake made with malt extract, prunes and raisins. You could mistake it for banana bread, except, yes, it has no bananas. (Sorry for the ear worm.)
The bakers all do pretty well, which doesn’t always happen with the technicals. Maggie, a retired midwife and the oldest baker at age 70, which sounds less old every day, wins.
Here is Prue’s recipe, if you want to make it.
Suspending your cake belief
This showstopper falls in my least favorite Bake Off category: bakes that look like other stuff. In this case, the bakers have to make something that looks suspended in air.
Says Prue; “We want to look at these cakes and say. ‘How did they do that?’”
To which I’d reply, “Why did they make them do that?” This isn’t baking, it’s construction. Am I going to try to do this challenge at home? Hell, no.
A lot of the showstoppers are a mess, and a couple crash to the floor. The clear winner is Jurgen’s creation - a reading lamp over a book, all crafted from cake.
There was a reason why he got so much screen time. Jurgen becomes the season’s first star baker.
It was a decent start to the show. Let me know if you whip up a mini roll or the malt loaf. Be sure to put down some newspaper if you attempt a cake suspended in air.
A Newsletter About Chicago, Including Its Amazing Food
Last week, Axios rolled out Axios Chicago, a daily newsletter looking at issues across the city. The writers, Justin Kaufmann and Monica Eng, are well known across the city for their journalism and broadcast expertise.
Monica, especially, is someone food lovers should know. She’s half of the Chewing podcast, with Chicago Tribune restaurant critic, Louisa Chu (the name is a play on their last names) and she’s a veteran of the Tribune as well.
Already, the newsletter has looked at the shortage of local apples that is plaguing orchards in Michigan and Illinois that supply Chicago farmer’s markets; the rise of returnable takeout containers, and shrimp donuts, an interesting local specialty.
You can subscribe to Axios Chicago here.
Stanley Tucci’s Newest Food Book
I know lots of you have enjoyed Stanley Tucci’s CNN show, Searching For Italy, which has been renewed for a second season.
Now, his latest book about food is going on sale. Taste: My Life Through Food due Oct. 5, is described as a memoir of his life in and out of the kitchen.
You might have read recently about his bout with throat cancer three years ago, which meant he could only eat through a feeding tube for six months.
That adds a certain poignancy to watching episodes of his show, since they marked his return to normal eating and drinking. Clearly, food has great meaning in his life, as his new book suggests.
Find it at your favorite bookseller — and I’m thinking it would be fun to listen to the audiobook for this one.
Squash Season Is Here
The arrival of fall means apples, pumpkins and squash. We were a butternut squash family growing up. My mother preferred its sweeter taste and bright orange color to nutty, savory acorn squash
In the past couple of years, I’ve been buying honey nut squash, or as I call it, Dan Barber squash. This little squash variety was developed at Stone Barns, his restaurant and food laboratory outside New York City.
It is sweet and easy to handle, unlike bigger squashes that seem daunting to prepare. For fans of Somebody Feed Phil, this is the squash that Phil Rosenthal ate in the NYC episode when he visited Dan with Alon and Emily Shaya.
Here in Ann Arbor, you can buy it at the Produce Station, along with many squash varieties.. I cooked my first batch this weekend.
My story for The Takeout has tips on how to cook it and ways to add different types of flavors.
You can swap in squash in almost any recipe that calls for pumpkin. I don’t think it’s made it into a latte yet, but if you invent a recipe, let me know.
Keeping Up With CulinaryWoman
You can reach me at culinarywoman at gmail dot com. I’m @culinarywoman on Tik Tok and Twitter, and @michelinemaynard on Instagram.
The CulinaryWoman podcast is coming back to life in January. In the meantime, you can find the first season of episodes on your favorite podcast platform.
Please look after your health. Get vaccinated, wear a mask, and I’ll see you next week.