The Great British Bake Off: Season 11, Episode 1 – My Thoughts

🧁🧁🧁

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! No, not Christmas (though, the speed this year’s going, it won’t be far off), it’s another series of The Great British Bake Off. As everyone will surely be aware of by now, things have been less than normal (and less than joyful), but having the baking show back makes 2020 feel just a bit more normal and fun, for sure.

Anyone who has done their research (just me? o.k. then) will know that sacrifices were made to enable the filming of this series, as cast, crew and production found themselves contained in a hotel and effectively forming a “bubble” in order for the show to happen. Though this highlights the severity of the pandemic we’re living in, this didn’t take away from the sense of pure joy and fun I think this show gives off.

Anyway, as with my previous GBBO posts, I’ll talk about the bakers, the challenges and the result. SPOILERS AHEAD FOR THE GREAT BRITISH BAKE OFF, SEASON 11 EPISODE 1…

🍰 🍰 🍰

The bakers

Unlike most series, I haven’t Googled the contestants within an inch of their lives, so I went into this series blind. The one thing I did know was that – in a sweep with my friends (who I love dearly, not least because they suffer through me only talking about Bake Off whenever it’s on) – I had Michael.

💗💗

𝒲𝒽𝑜 𝐼’𝓂 𝓁𝑜𝓋𝒾𝓃𝑔

Obviously my opinions will change (and it is only the first episode) but, at the minute, I’m loving Sura (her facial impressions are hilarious) and Mark (he’s just really calm, which is mad).

👀 👀

𝒪𝓃𝑒𝓈 𝓉𝑜 𝓌𝒶𝓉𝒸𝒽

So far, I’m thinking Sura, Peter and Hermine are the ones to watch but – as always – this could change as the show goes on.

🍰🍰🍰

The challenges

The first week was Cake Week (the best kind of week, if you ask me) and, as always, the bakers took on the Signature, Technical and Showstopper challenges.

𝒮𝒾𝑔𝓃𝒶𝓉𝓊𝓇𝑒 𝒞𝒽𝒶𝓁𝓁𝑒𝓃𝑔𝑒

For the Signature Challenge, the bakers were asked to make a batten-burg cake. There were a variety of flavours, colours and – well – cooking methods.

𝒯𝑒𝒸𝒽𝓃𝒾𝒸𝒶𝓁 𝒞𝒽𝒶𝓁𝓁𝑒𝓃𝑔𝑒

For the Technical Challenge, the bakers were asked to make pineapple upside down cakes. There were a lot of inconsistencies with caramel, mishaps with moulds and even a tumble in the tent. Dramatic stuff.

𝒮𝒽𝑜𝓌𝓈𝓉𝑜𝓅𝓅𝑒𝓇 𝒞𝒽𝒶𝓁𝓁𝑒𝓃𝑔𝑒

For the Showstopper Challenge, the bakers were tasked with creating a cake bust based on a celebrity. This challenge was so fun, for sure, even if a lot of the celebrity cakes didn’t feature a neck!

🍰🍰🍰

The Result

It was a bit of a nail-biter this one but the results were:

⭐️ Star Baker: Peter

👋🏻 Out: Loreia

Next week, it’s Biscuit Week. Who will go from rags to rich teas? Who will fall short bread of the title? (The first food puns of the 2020 series).

Did you watch tonight’s episode? I’d love to know what you thought about it?

Question for this week: if you were to do your own version of the Showstopper who would you replicate in cake form? I think I’d give Dua Lipa or William Shakespeare a go, though it’d be a disaster for sure!