So apparently there is going to be a Great British Bake Off this year after all. The world may feel as if it’s rapidly going to hell in a hand basket, but we will be getting our much needed weekly fix of baking powder and icing sugar. No doubt there will be numerous bonkers baking challenges where the contestants are asked to make things no one has ever heard of. We’ll all moan that they’re being wilfully obscure, only to then start scouring the cookery books so that we can have a go at home.
I’d long since convinced myself that GBBO would be going the same way as so many other annual events and just be written off as far as 2020 was concerned. Somehow the fact it’s going ahead feels like the most positive news I’ve heard in quite some time.
The specific date for the new series hasn’t been announced yet but the ‘coming soon’ trailers have started to appear on Channel 4, so I would guess the cry of ‘let’s bake’ should be going up in about a couple of weeks.
Last year I did have a few reservations about the direction the show seemed to be heading in. The challenges seemed more obscure than normal and the marking and comments of the judges verged on the unnecessarily harsh on quite a few occasions. I put much of this down to the fact that the skill levels of the contestants just gets better and better with each year that goes by, but I still hope they don’t lose sight of the fact that virtually everyone watching or taking part is an enthusiastic amateur. However much some of us may dream about taking it further.
For the last series, I set myself the task of baking at least one of the show’s challenges from each week and then posting about it here. I’ll be doing it again this year and will also make sure to include the recipe details so that anyone who happens to stumble across my posts can join in as well if they want.
Following the show can certainly lead you in some unexpected and unusual baking direction. I would never have made a gateau vert if it wasn’t for GBBO and although there were a few ‘why am I doing this ‘ moments during the lengthy baking time, the final results made it all worthwhile.
Another unexpected pleasure from the last series was fig rolls. I’d always dismissed them as a strange biscuit/cake hybrid which were always on the table if you went to your grandparents for tea. Then they cropped up as a challenge, I baked some, and now they’re a regular in this house as everyone seems to enjoy them.
So dust off your rolling pin and get your apron ready. It will soon be time to bake.
David in the kitchen. 