'The Great British Baking Show' Series 3 Episode 9 Recap: Chocolate Week
Judging by the Forest Gump-themed reference made by Sue Perkins and Mel Giedroyc at the beginning of the show, it’s chocolate week! But not just any chocolate week; two boys and two girls will bake to within inches of their lives to make it through to the holy grail of baking – the Great British Baking Show Final!
But before we get ahead of ourselves, let’s take a peek back at the outcome of our last episode. Despite her bubblegum and peppermint cream nun tower showstopper which proved flavor-challenged and structurally unsound, Nadiya’s cream horns and first place mochatines were more than enough to warrant the Star Baker title during patisserie week. Paul, on the other hand, produced raw genoise sponge for his mochatines and disappointed Mr. Hollywood with his promise of real banana cream horns. So it was that his hopes to continue came tumbling down along with his haphazard religieuse à l'ancienne’ in the showstopper round and it was to Paul that we bid adieu.
This season’s semi-final field is bursting with talent. Over the course of the competition, Tamal has impressed the judges with his creativity and stunning flavors but has had timing issues throughout. He has claimed the Star Baker title once. Flora’s bakes are lovely to behold but she frequently strays from the brief and tends to overburden herself with style over substance. (Remember Frances from last season?) Twice named Star Baker, Nadiya seems to have overcome her technical challenge curse and with it her confidence has increased allowing her artistic flair and bold flavors to come to the fore. Ian’s precision, ingenuity and unique homegrown flavors have earned him three straight Star Baker titles, but he has struggled more recently with consistency. How will they do with this week’s tension-filled, no room for error semi-final? Let’s have a look.
For the first challenge, the bakers had two and a half hours to make a chocolate tart. Pastry crust, filling and decorating options were up to the contestants but they all had to be of the chocolate variety.
This week's technical round had a bit of twist built in which obviously quite rattled our bakers. The judges ordered a staggered start with each competitor being given one hour and fifteen minutes to make a chocolate soufflé. The judges then blind tested each bake as they came straight from the oven. Flora started the whole thing off followed by Ian, Nadiya, then Tamal.
A 3-D chocolate centerpiece was set as the showstopper. In four hours, the bakers were required to create a piece of chocolate artistry with detail and precision. Molds and stencils had to be homemade; a biscuit element must be present in the piece as well as the use of white chocolate in some form.
