Bake On: Week Six/Seven (Japanese/80's)

Hi friends! We're back! We're ready to talk about week 6 and 7! We missed you!
themcelroy.family/

[@freakette555]

I'm still not over the fact that so many of the bakers struggled to figure out what a crescent was for the matcha crepe cake

[@jimmyoutlaw9384]

like, are crescents not a british thing? have they never heard of a crescent moon? are they okay?

[@ryoung6518]

@@jimmyoutlaw9384 I can confirm that crescents very much exist in Britain and the bakers were just being dumb/panicky XD

[@NonyaBiz79]

y'all are sleeping on how good and consistent Hermine as been

[@CaroGo]

Hermine is my favorite, she has such good flavors and her whole vibe is just so good. I love it when she laughs

[@boudicathebrave]

I am so rooting for her, she's my favorite.

[@OnlyInThisLight]

Disappointed in the challenges they decided on for Japanese week. Japanese week should have had a BIG focus on clean, perfect decoration. The matcha crepe cake was a great technical, but would have loved to see some mochi, rare or jiggly cheesecake, cakes that when you slice into them have geometric patterns of jello, cheescake, pudding, and fruits, flavors of milk, lavender, mf melonpan!! Bless Lotti for baking the jiggly cheesecake. Bless. Her.

[@KittiLumpo]

week 6 i was *absolutely* ready for the showstopper to be "make a beautiful bento box with at least 4 different things in it" or for the technical to be "heres a literal octopus; make takoyaki" but neither of those things happened and i was SO disappointed by how shallowly they did the theme ò-ó

[@scarebears3359]

Yeah I was pretty disappointed with the way they chose to do Japanese week too. It felt... eh. I'm curious as to how their Japanese audience felt about it.

[@georgiamontgomery8607]

It was literally SO far from being Japanese, there were so many amazing opportunities they missed

[@TheNabster1]

But I would argue that if you are not familiar with how to cook certain things from Japanese culture, would you just run into the technical challenge problem of 'Okay none of you got it right which of you got at least close'. I'm assuming that's why the things are the way they are, because three whole challenges of that wouldn't be good television, but I do agree it could have been a little better on that.

[@OnlyInThisLight]

Except for Noel, he was absolutely here for Japanese week.

[@Emily-oq1ey]

it had so much potential!!!! there were so many options and they literally just went “bake a cake!”

[@boudicathebrave]

The "asian whatever" feeling of Japanese week made me upset too. It's not like European bakes where they've been doing them for years and are scraping the barrel this is the *first* Japanese week and I feel like they should've been stricter on ingredients in the buns (Chinese being "close enough"? 2 separate ones doing hamburger?) and the kawaii cake, while I bet there are plenty of Japanese bakeries that make kawaii things, was not nearly enough. There's so much untapped potential and I loved that Lottie made a jiggly cheesecake. The "cat poo" joke made me so angry. Noel's voiceover of "and this one is going with a more East Asian theme" made me laugh. I don't like to speculate too much on the personal lives on the bakers but maybe Peter's youth is working to his favor. The feeling of this filming set up might just feel more like a term at university for him. I also think he's just kind of shier than the others or quieter, which is why we don't seem to see as many interactions with him. I agree that they do kind of withhold praise from him. I also feel like there have been multiple times this series that they are amazed by Hermine's flavors and it seems like she's going to get a handshake or get in the running for star baker and she doesn't. It's honestly a miracle Dave didn't go home with how much the judges hated his signature flavors and coming last in technical. When Lottie was talking about how she's been borrowing others' clothes the whole time I started crying. It just really paints a picture of isolation and camraderie.

[@boudicathebrave]

I'm sorry about the block of text I just have so many opinions!!!

[@cryssnail]

Important Japanese pronunciation guide: kawaii = cute kowaii = scary That vowel makes a difference!

[@GarglingGorilla]

kowai*

[@natalie7851]

Mark L and Lottie were two of my favorite bakers in the tent and it was so heartbreaking to see both of them go. I feel like Lottie especially is a wonderful baker who knows technique, flavors, and design really well, and that's why it was so rough to see her ice cream cake go so backwards. still holding on for my Golden Boy Peter

[@Anilikedifranco]

this is the perfect respite from the whole,, you know. that thing

[@phaillanx37]

gestures broadly

[@yarns8117]

Choosing to believe you mean destiel canon as far as I know that is the only current event happening right now (dont worry im not an spn fan just think its funny as hell)

[@Anilikedifranco]

@@yarns8117 yeah, it’s been a while since something that big happened on twitter. i’m also not a fan but funny to think that they ruined like 16 seasons by sending someone to turbo hell for being gay

[@andrewdavis8251]

It's just so nice, basically the opposite of the world now.

[@huh.2]

@@Anilikedifranco twitter??

[@rain.enthusiast]

GBBO has been my comfort show for a while now, but it’s so frustrating that they would do Japanese week when Paul has explicitly said before that he doesn’t like matcha. This isn’t even TOUCHING the weird orientalism of last week

[@georgiamontgomery8607]

Also like the challengers weren't remotely Japanese.... Like they could have done Taiyaki, Daifuku, panya items. And they just were like - make it cute I guess.....

[@britishpigeon838]

@@georgiamontgomery8607 they probably knew making a cute cake would get ratings or popularity online

[@Coco-Momo]

Agreed. Aside from matcha, they didn’t delve into any other Japanese ingredients or styles of creating sweets (although Hermine and Dave did experiment more with flavors from Japanese cuisine in their steamed buns). I was really hoping for more out of that week. :c

[@MusicaScarlet]

What gets me is that Paul *chose* the challenge. In other seasons I remember him saying that matcha is "too earthy"

[@TheKingsPride]

Oh thank god, I thought you might have dropped this series. Honestly this was keeping me sane in these tough times, especially since I just started a new job. Thanks for doing this podcast.

[@quiietriot]

Japanese week was so disappointing (minus shiba cake and the japanese cheesecake!) They sent them up for failure picking challenges that were only vaguely Japanese. Would've loved to see more research.

[@Jeevesie1988]

Re: This year feeling different, I feel like it has to do with a number of pandemic factors. They're not only practicing in a tent, but there's less time between episode shoots so they have less practice overall. There's also editing to consider, whether the crew of the show is reduced or working remotely to craft coherent storylines. Also, we don't know if these are the original contestants picked for this series. If some of them weren't able to deal with this year's COVID protocols (time off work, living away from home) they may have had to go to some of their reserve contestants. I know y'all still love the show, but I do hope you come to enjoy this series more as it continues and on any rewatches.

[@snailflowers]

I really, really hope this low effort Japanese week paves the way for a future, more well-researched, more creative Japanese week in a future season. There are so many interesting and novelty Japanese bakes that could make for cool technicals as well as so many unique flavors the bakers could be challenged to bake with. I was very excited for Japanese week and it honestly let me down, hopefully producers see that people expected more from that week and there's another opportunity for Japanese baking to make it on the show.

[@ryoung6518]

It confused me how few of them knew what a crescent shape was

[@MusicaScarlet]

Part of me thinks they were just stressed and overthinking it, but I was surprised that only two(?) of them got it right

[@karawright9571]

They needed to sit the bakers down and have them watch a Sailor Moon episode.

[@Hawkfire360]

Right?! It cracked me up. They just don't teach shapes over in Europe I guess

[@renatagoetz8765]

My feeling about Lottie's cassette cake the whole time was - Magic Shell! Wikipedia says it was sold under a different name in the UK, but the concept was the same - chocolate syrup that instantly hardened when poured on something cold. Even if they weren't allowed to use branded products, the concept seems easy to reproduce if she'd thought of it (the hardening effect comes from coconut oil)

[@lesmisloony]

at least they stopped pretending this isn't just a Peter fancast

[@NotSoImpassive]

My first thought at seeing a new episode of Bake Off is Yay! Another Bake On!

[@SamiKelsh]

I see things on Bake-Off now that I have Opinions about, and my first thought is now "I wonder what Teresa and Travis are going to have to say about this?"

[@adminchobe]

avs media demo

[@ryoung6518]

avs media demo

[@myettechase]

avs media demo

[@britishpigeon838]

Demo media avs

[@0axel078]

save mode maid

[@genericspectator3094]

someone made panda buns?? on a japanese themed challenge??? christ

[@CaroGo]

I mean, yes. But to be fair Japan loves pandas. They use the aesthetic A LOT

[@asiarevels5612]

So glad you're both back this week! I hope Bebe had a nice birthday. This podcast is one of the highlights of my week, along with actual GBBO on Friday 😊

[@aidanbee844]

I am so grateful to wake up and find a new bake on! I was checking every day! I hope after this season y’all revisit other seasons!! I was pretty disappointed they didnt do any actual japanese bakes like taiyaki. Also wtf paul this isnt a restaurant with your ‘no pickles’, especially when attached to paul&prues next week comments about baked beans. Are we baking just to paul & prue’s taste or are we judging a competition of bakers, right? Also crescents 🤯 🥐🌙🤷‍♀️ Also also (I got a lot of feelings) lots of folks used non-japanese ingredients in their buns (some just going for Chinese) and that just makes me think that it was a poorly researched challenge? I was super hyped for Japanese bakes and I felt the entire weekend was largely “asian whatever” and overall had very little to do with Japan proper? Idk I feel like one real solid google search wouldve saved GBBO from some of the backlash they received. I think of when Paul argued semantics about whether a tart is a tart because it didnt have edges...makes me feel like “then very few people actually did a japanese bake?” Sorry for the long comment. Ive had all week to think about it 😅

[@mbt1774]

I swear to God y'all are sleeping on Hermine hardcore

[@JessBakesCakes]

This show is truly delightful and I’m going to say one more time how much I would loooove going back and watching previous seasons if you decided to discuss them!

[@probablypossessed2075]

I love being early to Bake On it honestly makes my whole week:))

[@arose2586]

I was skeptical about Matt at first, but I've really come to like him. Love how well he and Noel mesh together, plus Noel seems like he's having an extra good time this season. I do agree that this season just isn't drawing me in very much. Maybe it's just a general lack of enthusiasm I've had in this entire trainwreck of a year haha

[@jimmcintyre9089]

Welcome back, I missed you.

[@beckmannm]

"Let me tell you about my robot son!" Lol!

[@hopeym5337]

thank Teresa + Travis for Teresa and Travis! I'm still so happy the best couple in the world is giving us their sweetness & goodness to the least appetizing season of Gabbo, and making it fun & appetizing

[@SamiKelsh]

Ughhh, Japanese week. Now, I understand I probably have more experience with Japanese bakes and wagashi since I have a) family-in-law who are Japanese; and b) a keen interest because Japanese food is *chef kiss* but it felt like they did less than the bare minimum of research and called it a day. There were SO many interesting things they could have done (taiyaki, melonpan, good ol' daifuku) and to default to "uhh just do steamed buns and a cute cake and throw matcha at the technical" felt uncomfortably lazy.

[@doolittle8888]

Nearly 42 minutes of podcast and Travis never mentioned how he predicted in week five's episode Mark would be star baker and Lottie would go home in episode six, only for that prediction to be exactly wrong.

[@Hawkfire360]

My cousin is a huge fan of Japanese patisserie, so I was also disappointed by Japanese week. But not as disappointed as I was to not hear anyone say "Steamed Clams? Oh no, I said we were having Steamed Lambs!" about the sheep buns.

[@oliviarowe2410]

As someone who has lived in Japan, Japanese week was pretty painful to watch. None of those foods were specific to Japan, and throwing matcha onto something does not make it Japanese. The pronunciation of "kawaii" was also awful (it often sounded like they were saying "kowaii," which means scary lol). Japan has SO MANY great desserts they could have made (I was hoping for something with mochi or melonpan) but clearly they did not take the time to research any of those. The whole thing was just oof.

[@boudicathebrave]

Melonpan is a favorite in my household and honestly it would've made a great technical.

[@irian42]

Lotti! Noooooooooooooooo! All my favorites! I am so rooting for Hermine now!

[@ericminer2301]

I expect that a lot of bakers on bake off who make donuts do it by shallow-frying them in a cast iron pan, like me! It works good enough for a yummy donut!

[@katherinesavrtka3563]

Beef =\= Cheeseburger. Fight me. Also, when did you start to notice Peter's talents?

[@DuhLikeTotally]

Living in Japan right now and couldn't believe they didn't even have them make taiyaki. It has a ton of different fillings already and the bakers apparent need to put a bunch of random stuff in their pastries would have fit it perfectly as a challenge

[@TopazFire15]

I don't watch GBBO, but it's so wild to hear that their best idea of Japanese cuisine is just... Harajuku?? Like, Japan is so much more than kawaii culture, I'm sad to hear that they greatly under-researched what Japanese patisserie entails

[@12345678abracadabra]

They have cheeseburger buns all around Asia and it's good.

[@SunshineNinja94]

I was so upset when Mark L. left. My mam and I were screaming while my brother just stared at us like "you knew this was coming"

[@TotallyWicked10]

Am I the only one who kind of wants Peter to go just to see what happens?? Just to fuck around and find out?? He's the clear frontrunner right now and clearly I'm just an agent of chaos at this point in 2020 and I want to see what happens if Peter is removed from the equation.

[@boxgirl8193]

*Joy has entered the chat*

[@sallyjordan-peck7940]

I miss Sandy; Matt just isn’t doing it for me. He was ok in Doctor Who but otherwise I’ve never liked him in anything he’s been in/on. I feel Sandy was a much better match for Noel’s humour and I miss their silly visual gags (and even the short jokes).

[@teddy_ursidae]

40 degrees in Britain??? I think they'd melt :(

[@febe1895]

Yeet

[@XibaXela]

Peter is Paul's bastard child

[@sage5948]

420 views

[@jimmyoutlaw9384]

Other than Peter, the only consistent baker has been Laura. She's consistently bad and skating by and it makes me upset! Lottie and Mark L. are way better and I don't understand it.

[@LOLTOSANIME]

Japanese week was a huge disappointment. Can't believe the challenges they set. The technical was okay, but not when Paul has said he doesn't like matcha. It really made me uncomfortable

[@LiaaaaaaaaAAAAAHH]

It really annoyed me how in Japanese week so many people did Chinese things! Like it’s 2020 y’all. Know and do better.

[@MaskofFayt]

Japanese week was weak, they didn't do anything actually japanese and the showstopper was just more of the same shit they've always been doing. Laura just made another chifron sponge again. I think she should have gone instead of Lottie in episode 7