“My aim really is to get everyone to love baking.” – Mary Berry.
The Great British Bake Off – or GBBO to us fans - has made the country go crazy for cakes.
Whether it’s George Clooney-eque looks of judge Paul Hollywood, the contestants’ longing to please co-judge Mary Berry, the terrible puns of hosts Mel and Sue, the pastel kitchens with every piece of kitchen armoury you could wish for, or simply a competition with an old-fashioned British sense of integrity and comradeship, the formula is certainly a winner.
Who could fail to be caught up in the quiet drama of what each contestant is going to make in the showstopper round after they have triumphed – or failed dismally – in the technical contest. Rob’s Dalek made of biscuits just didn’t cut it and Frances’ showstopper collapsing did feel a bit like “what goes around, comes around” with her increasingly over-the-top presentations.
And now, that the chaff has been separated from the wheat with the more obvious weaker candidates chucked out, the competition is, excuse the pun, really hotting up.
Ruby is a favourite – you can see her good looks and charm gracing the cover of a cook book and many a TV appearance already – but the quiet assured manner and quite frankly consistently amazing creations of Christine might win supreme.
I think this is part of the show’s appeal. After the influx of celebrity and celebrity-wannabe TV competitions, it is refreshing to have contestants who are there because they simply really love baking and want to be the best. Some of the cakes are familiar to us and we’ve made them ourselves at home so when one of the complicated showstoppers is made, we can appreciate how difficult the task is – there’s a world of difference between making pancakes for the kids and a shortbread Bavarian clock tower.
Baking is helping fuel the home cooking revival as we increasingly want “real” food, cooked properly and without the ping of the microwave letting you know it’s ready. Whether that is sausages from a butcher’s on a BBQ when it’s warm and sunny, or mince and tatties and skirlie on a cold rainy day, there’s no substitute for home cooking.
However, some technology most definitely has a place in the kitchen – for those of us with a Pinterest account, who doesn’t have a “Gorgeous Food” section? And who hasn’t spent 30 minutes looking for a recipe which will use up the two almost-gone carrots and an aubergine lurking at the bottom of the fridge? Mary Berry has just launched an app for your smartphone or tablet with her Christmas recipes, there’s no excuse to at least try your own mini GBBO at home – with considerably kinder judges.
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