Great British Bake Off: East Sussex baker uses spinach in a sweet treat

This week the bakers were faced with biscuits and after Janusz got off to a strong start last week with cake, there was a lot to prove this week (I’ll make a note of that pun for bread week).

Find out more about Janusz, the baker representing East Sussex

Week 1 for Janusz

He opened the episode saying aware that last week’s star baker award means nothing now. He said: “Anything can happen - biscuit week here I come!”

The first challenge was to create macarons that looked like something other than a macaron…never straight forward with Bake Off. Janusz chose mini watermelons which he said were inspired by sunny days on the beach in Brighton. He said: “What’s better on the beach than watermelon on a hot day?”

Weirdly, he used spinach powder to colour them which I was concerned by. Spinach isn’t exactly something I want to taste when I’m having an indulgent treat, it should stay in the green smoothies in my opinion.

He didn’t have a straightforward start and had to be rescued to Rebs to get them finished and got mixed comments from the judges. Paul Hollywood said: “They look great but they’re quite dry on the outside. It’s a shame because I love the look and flavour of them.”

Two famous Hollywood handshakes were given out that first round, but no one was standing out as a weak link at this point.

For the technical challenge the bakers had to make the Garibaldi biscuit, also known as the ‘squashed fly’ biscuit - not a favourite of mine, but definitely a classic. Yet again Janusz was in the middle of the pack with this challenge. Judges said they tasted ‘alright’ but presentation let him down. He came 6/12.

Finally the showstopper…3D masks made from different types of biscuit. What I will say after watching years of Bake Off is that the challenges definitely get much harder. Old seasons kicked off with a Victoria sandwich, now bakers can’t just make something delicious and complicated, it also has to look like something else!

Janusz went for an abstract mask inspired by cubism which took my right back to GCSE art classes. It looked great with its bright coloured sections and held together well when other masks were breaking at the last minute. Prue Leith said: “It’s the most perfect example of cubism.”

Paul Hollywood said: “That’s Christmas right there, it punches you between the eyes with flavour.”

Despite this, it wasn’t enough to get Janusz a mention when it came to star baker, but on the bright side - he wasn’t mentioned as being one of the weak ones either. Middle of the pack is a great place to be at the moment. I’ll remind you that Nadiya Hussain, the most successful winner of Bake Off, was middle of the pack for most of the show. My point is, Janusz fading into the background this week definitely isn’t something to worry about.

Next week is bread week.

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