Welcome to this week's stressful/delightful recap of The Great British Bake Off!
This week, Britain's best amateur bakers tackle desserts, a category as menacing as it is vague. Here are 16 absolutely wonderful moments from the episode, plus 18 extremely stressful ones.
Warning: Spoilers (and potential emotional turmoil) ahead.
1. STRESSFUL: The hosts' continued descent into mutual comedic madness.
Right after they announce the show, Noel farts with his mouth and Matthew walks off, presumably in search of a better intro.
2. DELIGHTFUL: Tiny sassy Noel.
Signature Challenge: Pavlova
3. STRESSFUL: When Maggie gets the look (you know the one) after she pitches her traditional pavlova to Paul and Prue.
4. DELIGHTFUL: Amanda theming her "pav-love" around a fun heart-shaped cutting board, which is pure, wholesome home baker energy.
5. DELIGHTFUL: Freya's perfect meringue swirls (which are somehow also 100% vegan, because Freya is an overachiever).
6. DELIGHTFUL: Jürgen's "Passover Pavlova" recipe, which is inspired by his family's observation of holidays from his wife's Jewish faith.
7. STRESSFUL: The cracks on George's bake, which are most likely a result of him taking the pavlova out of the oven and placing it in a proving drawer too soon. (There's probably a science and/or a dark magic to this, but apparently, warm pavlovas do not love cold air.)
8. STRESSFUL: Watching everyone move their extremely delicate pavlovas, which seem to crack if someone looks at them the wrong way (or at all).
9. DELIGHTFUL: We're just gonna do some pavlova appreciation, because these look really difficult to make. First up, Crystelle's key lime creation.
10. DELIGHTFUL: Jürgen's successful Passover pavlova, complete with matzoh pyramids, which leads Paul to declare "Jürgen's back!"
11. STRESSFUL: The fact that George's pavlova lost its way somewhere between the oven and the proving drawer.
12. DELIGHTFUL: Okay, back to our regularly scheduled pavlova appreciation. Look at Freya's! This is spectacular! It's like if a rainbow became a dessert! And it's exactly as vegan as a rainbow, too!
13. DELIGHTFUL: Chigs becoming the second baker to be awarded the coveted handshake. Can we just all take a second to appreciate that Chigs started baking as a quarantine hobby? And now he's doing this?
Honorable mention to Crystelle's reaction.
Technical Challenge: Sticky Toffee Puddings
14. STRESSFUL: When Maggie's puddings started to collapse in the oven and she didn't know why.
15. STRESSFUL: When Giuseppe had to be the bearer of bad news and tell Maggie that she left out flour.
16. STRESSFUL: When Amanda's puddings came out of the tin still raw.
17. STRESSFUL: And when Maggie's looked...well, they looked like this.
18. STRESSFUL: The fact that Paul won't even try Maggie's puddings. Is this a GBBO first?
19. DELIGHTFUL: Jürgen placing first in the Technical with his textbook definition sticky toffee puddings.
Showstopper Challenge: Celebratory Joconde Imprimé Dessert
20. STRESSFUL: The fact that I have no idea what a joconde is, let alone an imprimé, yet here I am, writing a recap of a baking show.
21. DELIGHTFUL: Jürgen describing to Noel a Star Trek–themed joconde imprimé wedding cake he once made.
22. DELIGHTFUL: The fact that Chigs based his dessert's design on "his sister's new bathroom tiles," according to Matt's narration.
23. STRESSFUL: Amanda's dripping joconde.
24. STRESSFUL: This ominous cloud of smoke that erupts from Chigs' oven while Noel narrates about the dangers of over-baking jaconde.
25. STRESSFUL: When Freya's pattern dissolved into her sponge.
For contrast, here's Lizzie's.
26. STRESSFUL: When Maggie pulled out her sponge before it was done baking, and she was forced to start from scratch at the halfway mark.
27. DELIGHTFUL: Giuseppe modeling his showstopper after a wedding cake made by his father, a professional chef.
28. STRESSFUL: Amanda's cake leaking jelly and looking like it's been wounded in battle.
29. DELIGHTFUL: Giuseppe's dessert, which looks so perfect it wouldn't be out of place in a Studio Ghibli movie.
30. DELIGHTFUL: Crystelle's gorgeous pineapple dessert.
31. DELIGHTFUL: Chigs' incredible two-tiered dessert, which makes me think his sister must have the finest bathroom tiles in the world if they inspired this masterpiece.
32. STRESSFUL: Alas, Maggie's dessert.
Final Results
33. DELIGHTFUL: Chigs being named Star Baker after a truly incredible performance.
34. STRESSFUL: Saying goodbye to Maggie and her delightfully positive attitude (and wonderful bakes).
