Episode 4: Dessert Week

Overall Impression:

So, Dessert Week. Like Cake, Biscuit, and Bread, it's been in every season (though sometimes as Pudding Week), but this is the first week that steps beyond the basics. What even is Dessert Week, to distinguish it from other weeks that are about desserts (like Cake, Biscuit, or something like Chocolate)? As I understand it, Desserts fall into two categories: first, desserts that don't fall into other categories, like meringues or steamed puddings; second, desserts with many different elements, like mousses, jellies, or jams in addition to biscuit or sponge.

Series Episode Signature Technical Showstopper
Series 1 Episode 4* Puddings Mini Hot Lemon Soufflés 3 Puddings (Crumble, Bread, Suet)
Series 2 Episode 6 Baked Cheesecakes Chocolate Roulade Croquembouche
Series 3 Episode 4 Torte Cake Crème Caramel 4-Layered Meringue Dessert
Series 4 Episode 3 Trifle Floating Islands 24 Petit Fours
Series 5 Episode 4 8 Self-Saucing Puddings Tiramisu Cake Baked Alaska
Series 6 Episode 4 12 Crèmes Brûlées Spanische Windtorte 3-Tiered Cheesecake
Series 7 Episode 7 Family-Sized Roulade Dacquoise 24 Mini Mousse Cakes
Series 8 Episode 5* Steamed School Puddings 6 Molten Chocolate Puddings Ornamental Trifle Terrine
Series 9 Episode 4 Meringue Roulade Raspberry Blancmange with Langues du Chat Melting Chocolate Ball Dessert
Series 10 Episode 6 Layered Meringue Cake 6 Verrines Celebratory Bombe
Series 11 Episode 8 12 Mini Cheesecakes 2 Sussex Pond Puddings Jelly Art Design Cake
Series 12 Episode 4 Pavlova 4 Sticky Toffee Puddings Joconde Imprime Dessert
* denotes Pudding Weeks

As we move past the simpler weeks, I become more tolerant of very complicated Showstoppers. Paradoxically, the challenges presented seem less gimmicky. Sure, chocolate balls and jelly art are complex, but they're things people actually make, unlike cake busts or biscuit chandeliers.

The Challenges:

Signature (Pavlova):  Pavlova is delicious. Can I recommend a recipe? It's just a meringue disc with a chewy middle, usually topped with fruit or cream, and there is nothing wrong with that. This recipe also fulfills Dessert Week's standard meringue challenge: only four series have not had a meringue challenge during Dessert Week, and only two in the last ten series. Bakers need to know how to make meringue, and really, I'd recommend it to everyone. It's absolutely the best use for leftover egg whites.

Many bakers take the opportunity of a fairly basic challenge to show off their knowledge of the basics: Giuseppe talks about bake times, Crystelle does some nice piping, Amanda talks about design. The basics are an area Maggie is quite comfortable in, with a pavlova creatively titled "Traditional Pavlova". As she says--to the judges, directly--"I feel there's no real need to enhance things." Isn't there, Maggie?!

And then there's Freya. I'm not sure how the community at large feels about her self-imposed handicap; in my mind, it's at best a tiebreaker, where she might win out over an equally excellent bake just because hers was harder, but she's not actually getting any points for it. But when it comes to meringue, while it's possible to make a vegan pavlova (indeed, it was a Technical bake in series 9), there are definite risks to using aquafaba, and in judging, we see that her meringue didn't hold up to its filling.

Other judging went smoothly; while most bakers had some cracking, the judges didn't ding them too strongly. George had major crackage; while the judges blamed his plan of transferring his pavlova to the proving drawer to finish cooling, it's clear that there were severe cracks even right away. Maggie's flavors were nice enough, but there's an old standard on the show that you can succeed with simple bakes if they are executed perfectly, and she had baking issues. Chigs had amazing chocolate work; I always love when bakers display chocolate or sugar work on challenges that don't require it.

Chigs got a handshake; Jürgen got a "Jürgen's back", which really proves that he's Paul's favorite this series.

Technical (4 Individual Sticky Toffee Puddings): Sticky toffee pudding sounds delicious: moist sponge, made with dates, topped with toffee sauce and served with crème anglaise. In addition, the bakers were tasked with baking 8 sesame tuiles. Neither recipe is terribly difficult, but the bakers need to execute them properly: bake the tuiles to a nice crisp, don't underbake the puddings despite the dark color. And make sure you don't forget the flour.

Maggie forgot the flour. It seems like it was the only ingredient on the next page, but... even though she commented on the lack of flour, that should have niggled her enough to take a closer look. In other judging, five of the bakers underdid their puddings, one baker burnt their tuile, and Chigs' caramel wouldn't come out of the tureen, so... rough challenge.

Maggie took last place, with Amanda fairly close behind having messed up every element, then George. Lizzie took second, and Jürgen took first. Jürgen's back! (Am I doing it right?)

Special shoutout for the first "Ay caramba" I've heard in years.

Showstopper (Joconde Imprime Dessert): "An impressive, multi-layered dessert wrapped in a joconde collar." Joconde sponge is a thin sponge made with ground almonds, and has the flexibility to be wrapped around the cake. A design is piped onto a baking sheet and chilled before being topped with the joconde batter and baked, resulting in a clear pattern on the sponge itself. We've seen these on the show before, but it's never actually been part of the brief.

The difficulties with vegan baking reared their head again here--as Freya's vegan joconde was less flexible, she was forced into a square design. It was interesting to see one that wasn't square--whether "collar" implies square, I don't know--but it shows, again, that the vegan requirement is a handicap, not a bonus, and that she has performed so well thus far is a sign of great bakership that might not be enough to overcome the gap. (I choose, here, not to make judgments on tofu mousse without being able to taste it myself.)

Highlights from judging: Amanda's looked a mess, but was delicious. George and Chigs both made two-tiered imprimes, but Chigs executed better on the look, plus George had a layer of solid peanut and chocolate. Freya's did well enough, but Paul made a point of saying that her issues weren't just a result of veganism: "I've had some beautiful vegan cakes before. It's not one of the better ones I've had." Maggie barely met the brief, if she did at all; the bakers were required to have at least two elements in their layered dessert, and she had the bavarois and a coulis just glazing the top.

The Results

Chigs took Star Baker off the strength of a beautiful showstopper--great design, great execution taking him ahead of Jürgen and Giuseppe. Maggie went home, which was no surprise after a so-so Signature, a disastrous Technical, and a hugely lackluster Showstopper. But really, this is the second or third time this series that it might have been a disqualification issue. The brief said two elements, and a coulis isn't a layer any more than a whipped cream topping would be.

We're a few weeks back now; I'm sorry you've had to wait to watch new episodes, until you could read my insightful comments. See you soon for German Week!

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