In the introduction to this week’s episode of “The Great British Bake Off,” reigning star baker Tasha had some choice words regarding chocolate week: “The things that you love the most, hurt you the most.”
As has been the case for the last several seasons, the start of chocolate week is falling on the hottest day of the year in Wellford, the palatial English village surrounding the tents. Coincidence or purposeful scheduling from the production crew to introduce just a whisper of drama to the show? You decide.
What’s clear from the jump, though, is that the 50s-style freezers stationed throughout the tent will be getting a workout this week as the contestants are challenged to temper, cast and sculpt all manner of chocolate, starting with the signature challenge: a decadent chocolate torte — made without traditional wheat flour. These tortes, which are usually layered with mousse and jam, are already a little denser than your average chocolate cake; the challenge here for the bakers is going to be making sure that whatever they choose to replace the wheat flour doesn’t weigh the final product down.
The most common replacement used among the contestants is ground almonds, but some people, like Rowan, are attempting something a little more ambitious. In his case, he’s skipping the flour altogether and going for a base made solely of whipped egg whites, which Prue says will be quite luxurious if he can pull it off.
“They can show off a bit,” Prue said in an aside to the camera. “And they should.”
By and large, however, everyone seems to be playing it a little safer than they did during last week’s bread-themed challenges, which tripped up even consistently even players like Dan. That said, Dan tells the judges he’s had a good reset (perhaps derived from doing tai chi on a mountain as Noel suggested?) and that everything is tickety-boo, and while his ultimate creation, a chocolate and cornmeal torte with chili-chocolate truffles, isn’t quite a complete success, it’s clear that he’s feeling a bit more centered this week.
Rowan’s flourless cake doesn’t sink and turns out perfectly balanced, incorporating espresso flavors which judge Paul Hollywood seems to love; I’ll be honest, I was anticipating a Hollywood handshake based on Paul’s face as he ate, but it didn’t come. In the end, Nicky seems to have come out on top with Prue by making a simple, but dreamy chocolate torte with sleek, molded chocolate decorations, which Prue describes as “classy and cool” and “a little piece of art.”
“I think I’m ready to skip off into the meadow,” Nicky jokes, before doing just that.
This week’s technical challenge comes from Prue “Princess of Puddings” Leith. She asks the contestants to make six perfectly-baked individual cheesecakes with a caramelized white chocolate filling, biscuit crust, a layer of jelly and molded white chocolate decorations.
Unlike the signature challenge, the bakers haven’t had a chance to practice this dessert and, as always, the instructions are pretty vague. What promises to trip them up in this round is achieving an evenly caramelized batch of white chocolate, which in this recipe is actually achieved by microwaving the chocolate in short, 30-second bursts and then stirring it aggressively.
Prue had teased that the contestants needed “perseverance and patience” in this round, and if having to babysit a notoriously temperamental ingredient, a process soundtracked by an uneven score of appliance beeps, doesn’t teach you those virtues, I’m not sure what will. After scorching his white chocolate pretty badly — leaving it looking like flaking cosmetic foundation caked to the inside of a bowl —Rowan looks to the camera in despair and declares: “I’m going to set up a charity for everyone who has ever worked with caramelized white chocolate.”
The heat isn’t doing anyone any favors, either. Midway through the round, Tasha, who had been sick the week leading up to the challenge, begins feeling unwell and after consulting with the show medic, is sent home to rest. Everyone wishes her well, but it raises the question of how the elimination round this week will be handled.
As the eight remaining bakers line up their cheesecakes, it’s clear that this was a rough challenge. The judges roll through the critique: Saku’s cheesecakes were terrible and overbaked; Cristy’s were melted and a bit grainy; Josh’s were far too dark; Dana’s jelly was rubbery; Nicky’s base was uneven; Rowan’s were melted.
Matty — whom Allison joked came in acting like a professional this week — came in second place after a fairly successful signature in which he made an ambitious chocolate and hazelnut torte. Maybe things are turning around for this baker who has kind of hovered in the middle of the pack, so far? But once again, it’s Dan standing at the top of the podium with the only cheesecakes the judges described as coming out correctly.
I know it’s a little early to start making predictions, but I think Dan and (provided she returns) Tasha are going to be our final two bakers.
This week’s showstopper challenge is deceptively simple: The bakers are charged with making a chocolate cake, and then making a box out of chocolate to put said cake inside. The specifications beyond that are pretty loose, which leads to some interesting interpretations.
Some bakers — like Matty, Josh, Nicky and Saku — go for sleek, simple chocolate boxes with decadent cakes inside, really focusing on flavor and technique. Others go a bit more whimsical, like Dan, who made a treasure chest filled with a tropical-flavored cake, and Dana, who attempted to make a Cinderella-style carriage out of the chocolate.
This week, simplicity wins as Matty is rewarded with the title of star baker. This feels like a real breakthrough week for him and it will be interesting to see if he can keep up the momentum in next week’s pastry-themed challenges.
There are no great failures this week, though Rowan had a bit of a rough go making his painter’s palette-inspired chocolate box. He didn’t have a chance to practice because it was final’s week at his university, so I think we should give him a pass.
And in the end, everyone actually ends up getting a pass because, according to the unspoken laws of reality television, on any week in which a contestant leaves unexpectedly, there’s no elimination round. However, the specter of an impending DOUBLE-ELIMINATION round now looms over the tent.
