If you don't know the Great British Bake Off, run, don't walk, to your nearest device to watch!
The premise of the show is that a selection of amateur bakers gather in one of the best outfitted tents ever to participate in three baking challenges every weekend for 10 weeks.
Each week has a theme: pastry week, bread week, dessert week, cake week, etc. {This year included first time themes like Tudor week and botanical week}
For each theme, the bakers are challenged to make A) a Signature bake, a flavor or family recipe that they love or has a great story; B) a technical challenge that is usually a list of vague statements that can't always be counted as instructions for something that is judged in order of how close the baker gets to the real thing; and my favorite, C) the showstopper, the bakers pull out all the stops to make something beautiful AND taste amazing.
The competition is sweet. No, really. These guys are in it to win it but they become best friends and cheer each other on and are happy for each other's successes. What?! I love it.
The recipe book with some of the show's recipes was released the day after the finale aired in the UK. A great friend gave me the heads up that the three finalists were going to attend a signing at a bookstore in London! So I HAD to be there and it was the best!
Jane, Candace and Andrew.
I was so excited/nervous for this photo that I had to clench my fists to keep my hands from shaking. haha! It was such a star-crossed moment and I failed at being cool about it. Whoops.
Taylor had Jane pegged as the winner from early on but Candace took the coveted cake plate home!
We had a whole group that would gather every week to watch and cheer on our favorite bakers. It is such a fun thing to get together and learn about British baking and ooh and aah together over the pretty and the ugly that can happen in the tent :) (for ugly, see gingerbread house showstopper...it was just sad...)
I was so excited/nervous for this photo that I had to clench my fists to keep my hands from shaking. haha! It was such a star-crossed moment and I failed at being cool about it. Whoops.
Taylor had Jane pegged as the winner from early on but Candace took the coveted cake plate home!
We had a whole group that would gather every week to watch and cheer on our favorite bakers. It is such a fun thing to get together and learn about British baking and ooh and aah together over the pretty and the ugly that can happen in the tent :) (for ugly, see gingerbread house showstopper...it was just sad...)
Candace wore awesome lipsticks every week (except for one week and it was weird) so this lip stamp was perfect for all the book signings.
This will be a treasured souvenir from 2016 in London. I might even make one or two of these recipes....
