Giggles,............any nobody else seemed to pick it up.......too busy with Andrew versus Tom this week.

Batter week
Botanical week
Tudor week

What is going on. Stick to what made the show so popular for the past 6 series. Cakes, biscuits, pies, tarts, bread, puddings, desserts, sweet dough etc. No need for any of these wacky theme weeks

I really believe that it is the right time for this show to end. Good luck Channel 4 trying to reviive a show that seems to be on the decline

this series' viewing figures are breaking records so it's hardly a show in decline. I like the themed weeks. Otherwise how many times can we watch them bake genoese sponges and chocolate ganache?

That is excellent, had a proper laugh out loud moment there

Disastrous stuff from Tom. That wasn't even Mousse. What was THAT?

It looked like thick mayonnaise. Yuck.

I don't think Tom's idea's were actually that bad yesterday, but his execution was terrible. He tried to make his roulade too much like millionaire's shortbread by using literally the same ingredients - shortbread, caramel and chocolate. He could have still got the flavours by using ingredients more suited to a roulade itself, e.g. keep the shortbread but mix it into caramel-flavoured cream and use either a chocolate sponge, or pipe only a little ganache on the top and sides.

Same with the mousse cakes. The sandwich idea was good, but he could have constructed them in moulds and still kept the sandwich effect. The piping didn't actually add anything.

Granted with batter week there was only one challenge where things went in the oven, my usual definition of baking, but then again they were at least the kind of things most people at home could attempt.

Botanical week really didn't showcase anything that unusual after all it was meringues, bread and cakes which are standard fare for this series.

The Tudor one could be really interesting actually. From the trailer it looks like pies similar to pork pies in construction, some kind of extravagant centrepiece and what else I'm not sure although people of that era did seem to be fond of almonds. I expect it to be a week where some more advanced skills come into play and so they should at this stage of the contest.

My 2 faves from Day One are still here! - Andrew and Selasi.

Was worried for Selasi for a while but Tom had to go, he had grown on me, a quite odd young man.


It's really sad watching this series now. I mean, I am loving it, but knowing it's the last time it will be Bake Off.

Yes, just three more shows then RIP Bake Off.

Some of those show stoppers were quote like the mousse patisseries sold by an Austrian patisserie stall in my local shopping centre. Only have them as special treats, but they are absolutely yum.

https://www.druckers.co.uk/individual-portions.aspx

I admire the bakers last night even attempting what they did in that round.

Sometimes wonder if they turn the air conditioning down when there are things that might melt, for dramatic effect?

Will be interesting to see what Cherish has to say about those Mousses last night as I think she's on Extra Slice this week?

I feel the same - mixed feelings, bittersweet.
On one hand I do think the dynamic is beginning to slow. I think the programme has peaked. I will feel sad when it's over, but it's making me savour and enjoy every second of this last series

Yes I though that too. He could even have made the caramel slice mix, put it in the freezer, then whizzed it in the processor and added it to a generic buttercream/chocolate mix to fill and coat the sponge.

No doubt the BBC are looking to replace Bake Off with something else, and may well be keeping an eye on the likes of Selasi. He would be fab.

I wonder how, legally, you can decide whether a new show is a copy of an old show. What makes a baking competition a copy or just another cooking competition?

I haven't really liked these new themes but am still enjoying the series. When GBBO ends I will be really sad. I love everything about it - the presenters, the competitors, the judges and especially the tent with all it's bits and pieces.

The answer unfortunately is often 'whoever has the most expensive lawyers gets to decide'.

Yes, how can you make it the same but different? The Tudor theme next week got me thinking that perhaps they could do a baking/cookery competition (Mary Berry is much more than just baking) where each week they had to cook things from different eras or decades. Mary could be the resident judge but each week have guest judges who specialise in that era.

Programmes featuring what life was like in past decades or eras seem to have been quite popular recently so a mash up (pardon the pun) of cooking and "time travel" could be quite interesting providing they didn't go too OTT. Call it something naff like "Baker of the Century" or "Best Baker of all Time"

Yes I was seeking along these lines. If they didn't have three challenges per week I think that'd be different enough.

Just looking at the Druckers website, I didn't realise they were exactly the same as the Valerie Patisserie.

Yes ,he always tried something different, some successes, but some failures too.He was great at piping cream as his cake showed last week, but then did a strange covering for his roulade and didn't pipe his meringue thingy. Odd choices really, but I liked the fact he did some different things.

I was thinking of Marys Mystery Mix, where six bakers had a set of ingredients for a more unusual bake and had to produce the item Mary had baked simply based on the ingredients. The nearest being scored six down to one point and after six weeks a winner is crowned. Hey ho!!

They have the same management team.

We have both in our area, Druckers is nearer to us and more less resistable because you go past their open cafe in the middle of the shopping centre rather than going into a shop.

You made me feel hungry, just had a look where my nearest shop is Manchester over 45 miles away. Abit too far for a cake.

Tom's ideas where different. But at least he took chances.

I am so scared of the gothic look on Candice. Awww those black lips

I was thinking something similar. Maybe they tour the UK/ Europe so that every week there is a different theme or speciality. And at some point in the episode we get a Mary Berry masterclass.