Any fans Great British Baking Show?

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My husband and I love the Great British Baking Show (on PBS in the United States).

Anyone else? If you are from Great Britain, talk to me! Tell me all you know about this great show!
 
I did watch it once and I really enjoyed it, although I am not from Great Britain. ☺️

I liked that it was pretty low keyed compared to other cooking shows.

🍰 :coffee:
 
Peeps said:
My husband and I love the Great British Baking Show (on PBS in the United States).

Anyone else? If you are from Great Britain, talk to me! Tell me all you know about this great show!
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I have seen a few episodes this season. I like it and the judges. I just don’t like the
Emcee or host - the lady with the short black hair. I guess the finale is approaching.
 
I love that show. I am in Aus
 
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I love the hosts–Mel and Sue!

Did you know that they have been best friends since childhood? They grew up together, went to school together, and started a career writing together for television. Great British Bake-Off has been a huge success for them.

Sadly, both of them, along with Mary Berry, are no longer doing the Bake-Off. From what I understand, the show was switched to a different British television network, and these three felt that their loyalty belonged to the old network. Paul Hollywood stuck with the Bake-Off.

But from what I have read (we haven’t seen the new shows yet on PBS in the U.S.), the new hosts and the new judge are quite popular, too. I hope that’s true. IMO, it’s the SHOW, the concept of a “Bake-Off”, that’s so appealing.
 
For those of you who haven’t seen the show–I turned it on one day when I was just looking for background noise. I started watching it (love the accents!), and was entranced.

My husband wandered into the room and said, “What on earth are you watching?”

He sat down to watch, too, and by the end of the show, both of us were completely hooked!

We TiVo every episode that’s aired, and almost every evening, we’ll watch an episode, often while we’re eating dinner (we’re not convinced that sitting around a dining table is a huge boost to our 39-year marriage! Sitting on a sofa is more likely to lead to…! )
 
Has anyone tried any of the recipes?

I made Mary Berry’s Cherry Cake a few weeks ago–heavenly! It was a job searching for “caster sugar,” but I found it at our local grocery store. The cake was so moist, not really very sweet (the Brits apparently don’t like really sweet stuff), but the cherries gave it a delicious flavor. We will definitely make it again–not difficult at all, except I won’t use butter to grease the bundt pan, but will use cooking spray.
 
Peeps said:
I love the hosts–Mel and Sue!

Did you know that they have been best friends since childhood? They grew up together, went to school together, and started a career writing together for television. Great British Bake-Off has been a huge success for them.

Sadly, both of them, along with Mary Berry, are no longer doing the Bake-Off. From what I understand, the show was switched to a different British television network, and these three felt that their loyalty belonged to the old network. Paul Hollywood stuck with the Bake-Off.

But from what I have read (we haven’t seen the new shows yet on PBS in the U.S.), the new hosts and the new judge are quite popular, too. I hope that’s true. IMO, it’s the SHOW, the concept of a “Bake-Off”, that’s so appealing.
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I thought there was just one host or hostess and 3 judges - 1 man and 2 women. I really like the male judge. He doesn’t seem full of himself like so many judges on these tv shows are. The older woman is nice too. It is fun watching all the different recipes they make and how
creative thry are. I like how they are in the big indoor tent outside. Nicer than a show filmed in a studio.
 
I’m in the UK - I think it’s brilliant! I loved Mel and Sue, but I do like Noel and Sandi as well.

My favourite ever winner is Nadiya. She’s become really successful because of it - is now a presenter in her own right, writes cookbooks, has baked for the Queen.

It’s such a lovely show! I like how all the contestants become friends with each other and help each other out.
 
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Yes, Nadia!

That was the first season that my husband and I watched (I think it might have been the first season ever broadcast in the U.S. by Public Broadcasting Service), and we loved Nadia from the beginning! I loved the way she made so many “sweet” recipes incorporating candy, soda pop, etc.–kids’ stuff! In the U.S. many people love candy bars, soda, ice cream , etc. with a full sweetness, and so it’s no wonder that Nadia’s bakes appealed to me.

My husband enjoys making bread in a bread machine, and Paul Hollywood has inspired him to try making bread the old-fashioned way by hand!

I read today that the Great British Baking Show is American’s favorite television “escapism!”
 
I have to admit that “pie week” makes my stomach hurt.

Although we eat “pot pies” in the U.S. (mainly frozen, but sometimes we make them from scratch), the idea of a “Wellington” or a “meat pie” stuffed with giant pieces of meat, or a mish-mash of different meats, including organ meats (Blech!) just turned my stomach! I had a hard time watching the judges cut those things open and taste them.

I also cracked up when the bakers in the season that we are now watching (Season 6) were challenged to make an “American Pie.” But…the judges asked that the pie not be too sweet and that there should be no top crust. AND–they gave the bakers FOUR HOURS to make this American pie!

I was dumfounded! In the U.S., pie is all about SWEET! And they’re one of the quickest and simplest desserts to make! The pastry is just flour, shortening or lard, and a pinch of salt–my daughter can roll out a delicious flaky piecrust with these ingredients in less than five minutes!

And we just whack up some fresh fruit, mix it with sugar and cinnamon, throw it into the crust, put on a top crust, crimp the edges with a fork, sometimes put a little decoration on the top (e.g., leaves made out of extra piecrust), cover the edges with tinfoil to keep them from burning, and bake at 350 for around an hour.

Then we take it out, dump some ice cream on it, and YUMMY!

We actually have Pie Auctions in the U.S., where men (and some women) will bid lots of money to buy a pie like the one I described above.

My husband loves raspberry pie, and I love peach pie.

It’s so simple, and so sweet. IMO, when Paul and Mary said, “Not so sweet,” THAT was NOT an AMERICAN pie–it was a British pie!

🇺🇸
 
I enjoy this show. It feels authentic (as opposed to the US “reality” cooking shows which are sooooooo staged/scripted).
 
I like cooking shows so I will look for this on my local pbs station.
 
He is a specialist in breads and pastries. I think he’s written books on the subject. My husband has learned a lot just listening to his comments on Great British Baking Show.

One thing that he does when he is extremely impressed is to give the baker a “handshake.” When you get the Paul Hollywood handshake, you know you’ve done well!
 
It looks like he enjoys breads and pastries!

I like the twinkle in Paul’s eyes.
 
It’s so nice to watch a show where everyone isn’t counting calories and carbs and describing how we’re all going to die early after eating all the good baked goods!
 
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