The Great Irish Bake Off

stargazer 68

Standard seems to be much better this year imo

BabysCoffee

Blonde lady with glasses seems to be a bit of a character

BabysCoffee

Dovies wrote: »

Standard seems to be much better this year imo

:eek:

I didn't watch last year but I didn't think the first cakes presented were of a high standard?

dee_mc

Eek the guy who was giving other people tips on how to make sure it would set has a drippy mess on his hands!

amdublin

Mod:

Ireland is a small place. No discussion of people who might be winners "because you haven't seen them in their regular workplace lately" Etc

Preferably don't go down this route of conversation. But if you do then make sure you use spoilers.

There will be infractions or bans for spoiling/revealing the winner.

wyrn

dee_mc wrote: »

Eek the guy who was giving other people tips on how to make sure it would set has a drippy mess on his hands!

I've no idea of names, so I've dubbed him "Boyzone guy". I felt bad for him and his drippy mess

Thargor

BabysCoffee wrote: »

One of the guys looks very familiar

I keep seeing Mickey Doyle from Boardwalk Empire:

harr

Dovies wrote: »

Standard seems to be much better this year imo

First time watching Irish one...if this year is better standard ,I am glad I did not watch last year..😟 Most can't even make a proper base for a cheese cake..

BabysCoffee

Wobbly cake lady has to go I think

BabysCoffee

What cake did Fionnadh do????

amdublin

Is that Wobbly Cake lady?

BabysCoffee

What's with the credits at the end? They were all out of focus and unreadable?

BabysCoffee

amdublin wrote: »

Is that Wobbly Cake lady?

Yes. TBH even if it didn't wobble off the plate I didn't think it sounded very appetising.

dee_mc

BabysCoffee wrote: »

What cake did Fionnadh do????

The croquembouche with the edible flowers in the spun sugar and pumpkin and apple puree in the pastry cream.

So far it's the 'Only OK Irish Bake Off' for me anyway, will enjoy it more as the numbers go down and we get a chance to get to know people a bit more over the weeks.
The older blonde lady remind me a bit of Twink, I don't really know why!

Chong

I will give my review, but if you want to see it in more rant form check out my Snapchat : Chongwill. I will try do it each week.

I really liked the episode, they have upped certain elements especially in production. However I still do not get why they cannot do the 3 challenges. They must get enough from advertising at this stage, between Odlums ( ps I loved when they went up in fire ) and Stork.

I enjoyed the episode, however I don't get the sense in giving everyone carte blanche for the signature, you have everyone do every kind of everything. A more regimented brief would have been better, make a cake ( lets's start off with that ) easy right, and make any form of cake you like. I enjoyed what people made, I always think in the first episode that everyone is nervous and mistakes etc. happen or edges are always a little rough. My faves were the beach scene from Emer, there was technique under the sand, I also really liked Cathy's tart it looked stunning.

On to the technical, jesus ..... Why oh why on a show called "The Great Irish Bake Off" start with patisserie. It is the first episode have a theme and start with bakes not cheesecake for the love of christ. Couple that with the fact they they give them something very difficult as it wasn't your common cheesecake. Like always, whether it was last year or the year I was on it, it is so badly conceived, do they not watch the British Bake Off? I genuinely believe all TV3 want is disaster it was the undercurrent throughout our series, they were constantly waiting for failure. Do they not get the concept of the show, it is not about constant failure, people want to see good cakes / bakes and ones they can make themselves. Tonight was not that, they got disasters galore and made everyone look foolish. I even dipped in to Twitter quite often to see what people were saying and it makes me sick seeing people saying the contestants "cant bake" "they are sh...te", its simply unfair, it is like giving the leaving cert to kids in 5th class, it's the production team's F up.


Then they have the audacity to waffle on about taste and flavour, criticise the sodding bakes and make clear how poor they are. Alas no because their conception was incorrect. Other than that I really enjoyed the episode, I think everyone did great under the circumstances. I enjoyed Lily she will be good I believe, Paul is Paul, he is certainly no Paul Hollywood no matter what they do, he needs to come up with proper criticism and actually discuss the bakes not flavour constantly. I think he needs replacing by an actual baker like Hollywood, Paul Kelly is a pastry chef, hence the constant lean to patisserie.


Sorry enough of my rant, I am delighted for Fionnadh and Cathy, great start from them both.

Will

Eyepatch

Hi, Chong! Yes, I also enjoyed this first episode. Congrats to the lady who won Top Baker, and sad to see the "Wobbly" lady leave. She seemed like good fun.

I don't like that people here tend to compare GIBO with GBBO. We are a much smaller country with much less revenue coming in than our neighbours across the water. So - let's be happy with what we have. Let's just enjoy it, without the begrudgery. Please!

hazeler

My two cents in.. I missed the first half of the show so had to catch up and avoided twitter until I had.. The tent looks way better this year. Remember that insipid green carpet from last year.. it's beige now! And the tent is padded out better, a lot more money spent there than in previous years. Lilly is a lovely addition. I actually saw her take a full forkful into her mouth and make a comment after.. Better than Biddy's crumb tasting and polite nod-alongs with Paul.

The first episode has to be the episode where people settle in.. It's new to them in the tent, no one has baked with a full TV set and crew around them before. You get these emails from production with notions for themes.. last night was "Dessert Week" with "nostalgia" or something thrown on it so they have to bake a theme within a theme. The Sandcastle was the best IMO. Pumpkin puree just doesn't do it for me.. But I did like the spun sugar presentation.

As for the technical... jesus... christ. It's all about Paul being able to say his 3 p's... Again. And after they fail he can chastise them on not executing his three p's. That's fine in a professional kitchen, he's a pastry chef in a hotel with highly trained staff who can do this stuff in their sleep. Measurement is part of the high end patisserie game.. home bakers aren't doing that! Is anyone here actually inclined to try that technical?? NO!

Not being able to make a biscuit base that holds together, and lining the inside of your rounds so you can slip them out easier are small mistakes, that can make you look silly on TV, but that's pressure I think. The rubbish with the gelatin and the 5cm disks bull... that just grates me. That's being overtly complicated for the sake of "good" TV.

I am looking forward to a good season though.. I think we just have to weed out the weak ones and then, see how the strong behave. The guy with the bun, I liked him. I like Emer, her being from Limerick and all and I really liked that Sandra, who left, said the best thing she'd take away from it, was a few towels from the hotel!!

Next week is Cake Week.. Looks to be a Halloween theme too... and it's on on Tuesday night, did I hear that right?

Red Kev

Eyepatch wrote: »

I don't like that people here tend to compare GIBO with GBBO. We are a much smaller country with much less revenue coming in than our neighbours across the water. So - let's be happy with what we have. Let's just enjoy it, without the begrudgery. Please!

Thing is, one of the biggest spends is getting the tent and equipment set up. So that expense is the same if you do two or three challenges, so why not extend the programme by 15-20 mins and do a third challenge. The programme seems successful enough to justify it and as most people watching the Irish version also watch the UK version, we all know that we are essentially missing out on 1/3rd of the programme.

I'm not sure if actual filming (a very expensive part) takes place over one or two days, they said two, but I think most contestants wore the same clothes, so it's possibly one day.

Chong: I got the impression that the first signature was to try to give us an introduction to the people and what makes them tick, I seem to remember GBBO doing this a couple of years ago on the first programme.

The technical was difficult, but so is the one on GBBO. At least the GBBO gives them two chances to redeem themselves with the signature and showstopper.

I also agree that Paul isn't the best man for the job, I'm still out on Lily and Anna is trying to hard to be like Mel Giedroyc.

j@utis

hazeler wrote: »

<...> Is anyone here actually inclined to try that technical?? NO! <...>

I am! if only I had all those fancy ingredients like mango and passion fruit coolies (sounds expensive) and agar agar (never heard about it) I love precision. I was looking at them dipping rulers into the cheesecake mix and thinking why didn't they just mark the tins inside in 1cm increments or so, and then fill up to the mark with whatever

Chong

Red Kev wrote: »

Thing is, one of the biggest spends is getting the tent and equipment set up. So that expense is the same if you do two or three challenges, so why not extend the programme by 15-20 mins and do a third challenge. The programme seems successful enough to justify it and as most people watching the Irish version also watch the UK version, we all know that we are essentially missing out on 1/3rd of the programme.

I'm not sure if actual filming (a very expensive part) takes place over one or two days, they said two, but I think most contestants wore the same clothes, so it's possibly one day.

Chong: I got the impression that the first signature was to try to give us an introduction to the people and what makes them tick, I seem to remember GBBO doing this a couple of years ago on the first programme.

The technical was difficult, but so is the one on GBBO. At least the GBBO gives them two chances to redeem themselves with the signature and showstopper.

I also agree that Paul isn't the best man for the job, I'm still out on Lily and Anna is trying to hard to be like Mel Giedroyc.

I know ya, but it is far to expansive to say you can do what ever you like. I think if they had an under lying bake that evoked memories that would be far better imo.

I think Hazel nailed it above in better summarized way than I did.

As for the technical... jesus... christ. It's all about Paul being able to say his 3 p's... Again. And after they fail he can chastise them on not executing his three p's. That's fine in a professional kitchen, he's a pastry chef in a hotel with highly trained staff who can do this stuff in their sleep. Measurement is part of the high end patisserie game.. home bakers aren't doing that! Is anyone here actually inclined to try that technical?? NO!

That quote above is everything, this is a baking show and year in year out the production team forget that. It is not the the Great Patissier, and these contestants are not competing to impress customers of a 5 star hotel. There is certainly room for patisserie work for sure, later in the season not on day one.

hazeler

j@utis wrote: »

I am! if only I had all those fancy ingredients like mango and passion fruit coolies (sounds expensive) and agar agar (never heard about it) I love precision.

Ah very good!! I am delighted someone will try it.. I don't have the patience but It does look good when you are someplace fancy! Only I didn't think Paul's own cheesecake cross section was particularly perfect when he held it up to Lilly... in the parlour having tea!

I have a bottle of mango puree from Tesco there in the press, going to be a no bake, cheats mango cheesecake later on!! And it won't be precise.. I'm being a rebel like that!!

Eyepatch

I would love to try that recipe too! Good to know, hazeler, that the mango puree is easily available from supermarket. As it happens, I do have a tin of agar agar in my cupboard. Haven't known how to use it. I would not be using a ruler! LOL!

j@utis

hazeler wrote: »

<...>Only I didn't think Paul's own cheesecake cross section was particularly perfect when he held it up to Lilly... in the parlour having tea!

I agree! I thought the same "oh those jello thingies aren't perfectly aligned in the middle! major FAIL"

I have a bottle of mango puree from Tesco there in the press, going to be a no bake, cheats mango cheesecake later on!! And it won't be precise.. I'm being a rebel like that!!

yeah, I've seen it in tesco too. It was about 3euros for a smallish bottle, not sure if one would be enough for this recipe, you probably need two (pricey!).

where did you buy agar, Eyepatch?

Eyepatch

j@utis wrote: »

where did you buy agar, Eyepatch?

"Agar agar", it's called. I think you are more likely to get it in the health section of the supermarket or in a health store. Far as I know it is a veggie/vegan alternative to jelly, but does not work in the same way. It comes out more solid than jelly and does not have the "wobble"! LOL!

BabysCoffee

How did the pumpkin filling relate to the theme? It doesn't seem like a very Irish ingredient - just wondering how it was nostalgic for this baker, did I miss something?

Toto Wolfcastle

Just caught up on this now. It was actually okay until they got to the technical. The tent looks better than the one in GBBO I think. The trifle disaster was hilarious, although I did feel bad for her when she cried.

So far I like most of them, but James stands out to me. He clearly (so far anyway!) knows a lot about baking and has probably tried lots of different difficult bakes, which is what you'd expect from someone who applies for this show. Sadly I suspect we'll see a couple of 'I can't remember how to make a sponge' at some point during the technicals in the future. (This happens all the time on GBBO and I can never figure out why these so-called baking enthusiasts haven't tried some of the things they're asked to bake at some point!) I like Cathy too. She used to work somewhere I go fairly regularly and she was always super nice.

I like Lily. Paul is still annoying. His technical was a joke. It's become a problem in GBBO that they're choosing the most ridiculously obscure technicals but at least in most of them there's a type of sponge that they're expected to be able to make or something along those lines. The technical should test your baking knowledge. It should build on something they should already know and take it a step further. Making them measure jelly and cheesecake mix in episode one is silly. Why not start with a cake, give them the ingredients and tell them to make X type of sponge? See if they know the basics.

Apart from the technical I was pleasantly surprised by the whole thing. Looking forward to next week's episode.

Eyepatch

Invariably, it seems, when a contestant attempts to help another, something breaks off, or goes wrong - unintentionally. I think,if I were a contestant, i would not allow somebody else helping me to lift something.

dee_mc

Eyepatch wrote: »

Invariably, it seems, when a contestant attempts to help another, something breaks off, or goes wrong - unintentionally. I think,if I were a contestant, i would not allow somebody else helping me to lift something.

I'm the very same - I bake a good bit and do DIY stuff and if things aren't going well and someone offers to help I invariably say 'no thanks, if it's going to break I'll break it myself so I've only myself to blame'

hazeler

Eyepatch wrote: »

I think, if I were a contestant, i would not allow somebody else helping me to lift something.

dee_mc wrote: »

I'm the very same - I bake a good bit and do DIY stuff and if things aren't going well and someone offers to help I invariably say 'no thanks, if it's going to break I'll break it myself so I've only myself to blame'

You'd be quite surprised what you'll agree to when your staring at your bake.. needing to move it on to that ****ey bit of slate they've given you and you haven't a breeze how it's going to get there and Anna is calling out two minutes!

In order to stop you doing the panic dance, like a 4 year old needing a wee, whoever is closest will lend a hand!! And you have to go with it!! Broken bits and all... because a broken bake is still better than no bake! :D

fitzcoff

Just wanted to say that it is great to see Chong and Hazeler commenting on the Bake Off, I wonder is there any boardsie this year, I loved the extra info, questions we found out in the past

j@utis

so, I tried to make last week's 'Exotic' cheese cake It came out as a success taste wise but not as good in appearance... I blame my terribly under equipped kitchen and my experience (or lack of) which is mostly limited to a carrot cake.
I didn't have metal rings or acetate (where can you buy it?) so used small spring form - I should've lined it but I didn't - and cheese cake base got stuck to it
Never done any chocolate work and it shows I ate good bit of chocolate trellis and didn't have enough to go around the cake at end. Apricot jam never set even put in the freezer - I probably added too much water to it.
I didn't have a chance to look for agar agar in health shops, so only used gelatin to set the passion fruit discs - they were almost impossible to transfer.

anyways, the whole thing tasted delicious

Chong

Hey all, I will throw up my review post bake off but will be doing goggle box on Snapchat at the end of each ad break.

Snapchat name: Chongwill

BabysCoffee

It's Cake Week!

wyrn

Damien, where did he come from? I totally never noticed him last week.

I've decided to stock up on goodies. This show makes me so hungry. Digging into the left over sweets from last night and a cuppa.

BabysCoffee

Lilly is very likeable

dee_mc

BabysCoffee wrote: »

It's Cake Week!

Yay!
I have a Weetabix fruit cake (like a brack) in the oven in celebration

Toto Wolfcastle

A coffee cake is much more like it for a technical. As long as that recipe just says 'make a sponge' it should be a good test.

Thargor

That cake she had on the table looks totally amateurish?

amdublin

Let's see the messes they come up with this week (considering last week)

amdublin

BabysCoffee wrote: »

Lilly is very likeable

She is, I agree

Toto Wolfcastle

Why are they all helping each other? It's nice and all but I think they should do it themselves.

amdublin

Ok I HATE when cakes are made in those weird tins and end up like that cake they showed Ailish with in her house.

BabysCoffee

Sandra seems very capable

BabysCoffee

Toto Wolfcastle wrote: »

Why are they all helping each other? It's nice and all but I think they should do it themselves.

I agree. It's a competition after all

amdublin

Mixing in the tin :eek:

touts

Meow Paul. Telling Lilly how great her cake is and how she'll "fit in very well" after telling the camera behind her back that the cake "wasn't my cup of tea" and how he was "looking forward to seeing if the bakers fall into the trap of thinking it is too easy".

BabysCoffee

"Blenders"???!!!

Mixers I would have thought?

Red Kev

Thargor wrote: »

That cake she had on the table looks totally amateurish?

Yeah, the layers are very different thicknesses. Looked a bit dry as well.

BabysCoffee

Anna doesn't have the same appeal as Mel & Sue, for me.

dee_mc

touts wrote: »

Meow Paul. Telling Lilly how great her cake is and how she'll "fit in very well" after telling the camera behind her back that the cake "wasn't my cup of tea" and how he was "looking forward to seeing if the bakers fall into the trap of thinking it is too easy".

He comes across very mean spirited, which I think goes completely against the spirit of the show...
Didn't like the uneven layers in the cake used as an example, Paul will slaughter anyone who has uneven layers like that