It's officially fall because The Great British Bake Off is back, and I instantly feel cozier. From a delightful new host, Alison Hammond, to an extremely talented group of bakers to a course correction eliminating the show's country-themed weeks, the season is already off to a great start.
As always, the first week was Cake Week, and the bakers were first challenged with baking vertical layer cakes, followed by a technical challenge for the ages: They were tasked with baking THE iconic GBBO opening credits cake, missing raspberry and all.
And it wouldn't be a Bake Off episode without an awkward innuendo moment:
Speaking of beavers, it was the showstopper challenge that really wowed me. The challenge was to make an animal out of cake, and the results ranged from super realistic to adorably cartoonish and everything in between. The animal bakes were so much fun that I just had to put together some side-by-side comparisons of the drawings and the final bakes.
The drawings are, of course, done after the final bakes by illustrator Tom Hovey (aka the man with the coolest job ever!). He once told Vulture, “My job is to illustrate what the bakers planned to create, not what they actually baked in the tent." So I just think it's pretty neat to see a side-by-side of what the bakers had planned next to how things turned out.
1. Keith's "Maisie" Cake:
2. Cristy's "Raspberry Ripple" Duck Cake:
3. Matty's "Marty the Cocker Spaniel" Cake:
4. Rowan's "Cosmopolitan Lobster" Cake:
5. Saku's "Tikiri the Turtle" Cake:
6. Dan's "Bruno" Cake:
7. Josh's "Mum's Highland Cow" Cake:
8. Dana's "My Amazing Gracie" Cake:
9. Abbi's "Herbert the Herdwick" Cake:
10. Amos's "Orca on a Wave" Cake:
11. Nicki's "Beavering Around" Cake:
12. Tasha's "Robin" Cake:
