The Great British Bake Off, Season 10 Episode 2: My Thoughts

Last week, thirteen bakers entered the tent and fought it out in three tough (and delicious) cake based challenges. We had our first star baker of the series, Michelle, and Dan was the first baker to leave the tent. This week, a little later than usual as I was on holiday with the girls, I sat down to watch the bakers take on biscuits.

Did they (brandy) snap under pressure? Or did they actually manage to not fall short(bread)? Read on to find out!

DISCLAIMER: SPOILERS FOR THE GREAT BRITISH BAKE OFF, SERIES TEN EPISODE TWO, AHEAD!

The bakers

I’ve loved getting to know the bakers more in this episode. Even though the VTs are so unbelievably cringey, it’s nice to see what the bakers get up to in and out of the kitchen.

I’m still loving Michael, though I’m also thinking Rosie and Alice are underdogs, too.

The challenges

It was Biscuit Week this week and it began with the Signature Challenge. For this, the bakers had to make 12 chocolate biscuit bars. A few got off to a Rocky (I’m so sorry) start, but- in the end- everyone produced varied biscuit bars that showcased a selection of flavours and, I’ll admit, if I could’ve reached into the TV and grabbed them I would’ve.

The second challenge, the Technical Challenge, was one for my Dad. He’s obsessed with fig rolls but, despite the fact that they seem to be a cupboard staple in my house, I had no clue how fiddly they were. I won’t lie, when the bakers had finished, I thought what most of them produced looked more like a plate of dog biscuits than a plate of fig biscuits. Luckily, though, they didn’t taste like dog biscuits. Helena was in last place and Alice in first.

For the final challenge, the Showstopper, the bakers faced a “jolly” challenge all about flavour and structure: the 3D biscuit sculpture!

The tent turned into a zoo for this challenge, with the bakers presenting Paul and Prue with different animal offerings and- as an alternative- two bakers took inspiration from music. In the end, some of the bakers impressed, whilst others offerings proved over or under baked.

The result

As I suspected last week, I lost my place in the Great British Bake Off sweep 2019 this time around. Despite his cheeky personality and fabulous flavours, Jamie missed out on progressing any further.

On the flip side, Alice became the second Star Baker of the series and ensured that we’ve now had a total of 2 cute and emotional “phoning home” shots…even if it was just her mum being embarrassed she had something in her teeth (honestly that is such a mood).

I think Alice and Michael are showing they are contenders so far. Saying that, as is always the case with Bake Off, anything can happen and anyone can win in the end. Next week, it’s Bread Week. Who will be pitta-d to the post? Who will rise to the challenge?

Find out next week and stay tuned for my thoughts.