It is Tuesday night, the kettle has just boiled, a slice of cake has just been cut, and I’m on Channel 4, waiting for ‘Bake Off’ to start.
‘Bake Off’ is truly a British TV treasure and the country adores it. It has been popular for years now and everyone loves the classic comedy duos, the bakers, the judges, the music, and the magic.
Every year ‘Bake Off’ is amazing, and this year is no exception, despite being filmed during lockdown.
The different themed weeks have been great, and I particularly liked the most recent weeks of ‘80’s week’ and ‘dessert week’. However, ‘Japanese week’ came under fire from fans. One of the tasks, steamed buns, is more traditionally part of Chinese cuisine, and many of the flavours used in tasks were, again, more a part of the Chinese cuisine and had little bearing to Japanese food culture. While ‘Bake Off’ does well at what it knows: cake week, bread week, etc, there is clearly still some work to do when it comes to weeks that celebrate people’s cultures and identities.
This year, newcomer Matt Lucas joins Noel Fielding to be the second half of the ‘Bake Off’ comedy duo. Personally I understand why people find him funny, but I don’t think he brings as much to the tent as Noel does. Noel continues to make me laugh with quick-witted and intelligent jokes, while I often find myself cringing at Matt’s. Luckily, that is the bonus of having two comedy stars, there is always a bit of something for everyone and it does cater to different humours.
Paul and Prue have been as delightful as ever, though Paul has been much stingier than usual with his famous ‘Hollywood handshake’. He has been very sparse with his handshakes and there have definitely been bakes that deserved them but weren’t rewarded.
The bakers are lovely, and I have a personal favourite in Hermine. With only two episodes left to go, ‘Bake Off’ is drawing to a close this year, and I can’t wait to see the final few episodes!
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