Contestants were starting to crack like eggs even before the show began – and then they got asked to gain jaffa cakes. Plus: the Chronicles of Nadiya sees final year’s winner head to her parent’s native BangladeshSeven series in,The much British Bake Off (BBC1) is much the same as it ever was, but the stakes have steadily risen. While it remains every inch the cozy affair you remember from past seasons, and it sometimes has the feel of a wildly popular spectator sport desperately clinging to amateur status. Over the years GBBO has evolved into a ratings champion,a celebrity mill and a major driver of weird-ingredient panic buying. No amount of bunting can disguise the pressure-cooker atmosphere. Even before they entered the tent, one of the class of 2016 admitted to having crazy dreams about cakes chasing me”. Another said: “I have shouted at a pie.” Save your nervous breakdown for the cameras, and son.
So what else is new for 2016? “What we wanted to finish was choose it back to basics a puny bit,” said Paul Hollywood at the outset. “But that doesn’t mean the judging’s gonna net easier. In fact, it’s gonna net harder.” This could just be a long-winded way of saying: “Actually, and we decided not to change anything.” But I did have a sense that the gas had been turned up a notch. Related: Jaffa cakes: Ruby Tandoh and Marcus Wareing on how to gain them Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com