Tom Triumphs Again
Tom takes Star Baker and his first Hollywood Handshake, Moyin wins the Technical, and Clara goes home. The newsroom reacts to Pastry Week.
A clear frontrunner has emerged in the tent, and I could not be happier! Tom is absolutely smashing challenge after challenge. Banh Mi pasties one minute, a Mexican-inspired Chicken Run pie the next. He's a jack of all trades and a master of all!
And his first Hollywood Handshake! It was so well deserved. He's been working day in and day out, perfecting the tiniest details of his flavours and the look of his bakes. I even put him down for the Handshake on my Fresh Bakes, because I thought he deserved more love than he was getting, so you'll forgive me a little woohoo.
We haven't even got to his third Star Baker title! Three in six weeks, and we're lucky enough to be watching it live. I don't think I have the words to express how happy it makes me to see him do so well. Wishing Tom all the best!
Some call Mo nonchalant. I think he's a little bit too cheeky for his own good. Whatever it is, his attitude caught up with him in Pastry Week, and he found himself in the running to go home for the first time this series. Admitting pies aren't his thing, just as he did with "boring" bread in Bread Week, is one thing. Not preparing properly for the challenges is quite another. His Creamy Chicken pies had "gone a bit gungy" in the Signature, he came third from last in the Technical, and his butterfly Showstopper was burnt, with pastry that was too thick. Now, I know Mo's a nice boy deep down. All he needs to do is pull his socks up, put a smile on his face, and prepare properly, and he'll be right back in this thing.
Now on to the sad part… I was devastated to see Clara leave the tent this week 😢 Her positive attitude and her love for all her fellow bakers were a joy to see. You could tell how deeply she cared about being there, and even on her way out, she said straight away, "I had a blast!" She's certainly my inspiration for having a good outlook on life.
Newsroom Articles
🦌 Clearly Not Clara… Unfortunately
No! Clara! Dearest Competitors, I truly believed she had the stuff to win this show, and my Star Baker and Handshake calls were hers again this week. Alas, 'twas not to be. It falls to this newspaper to report that, even to Clara's biggest fan, sending her home was the obvious call.
The evidence is regrettably clear. Her venison and stout pies were a poor showing in the Signature: the wrong choice of dough had her scrambling, sticking reindeer together haphazardly, and earned her a firm critique from Nigella about prioritising style over substance.
There followed a last-place Polish karpatka that more closely resembled a mashed potato omelette.
She needed a miracle in the Showstopper. Instead she delivered a dud: a starry bites sun and moon pie, noted as "cracking" and "too short", and in need of another couple of turns.
I'll miss Clara's presence in the tent. She was a great character and a cracking baker. Now, I'll have to pick a new favourite…
🥱 Same Old, Same Old
Did anyone catch that Moyin has Nigerian heritage? This week his Signature was Nigerian meat pies and his Showstopper was an apple pie shaped like a Nigerian face mask. Honestly, I'm surprised the Polish karpatka didn't get a Nigerian makeover too.
I had Ronnie run the numbers. Over half of Moyin's Signatures and Showstoppers have been Nigerian themed.
There's nothing wrong with using your heritage for inspiration, and plenty of those bakes went down brilliantly, this week's meat pies included. But at some point, you need variety. It's getting very samey, and it's counting against him.
And it's not just Moyin. Gary is another offender. Everything is old, traditional, homey flavours. This week's Signature was mince beef, onion, and potato, which is about as basic British as it gets, and the judges said it needed "a bit more oomph". His shortcrust fish pie Showstopper landed in exactly the same camp.
If either of them actually wants to win, they need to leave their comfort zones and be more like three-time Star Baker Tom. Vietnamese banh mi in the Signature, and Nigella calls the flavours "gorgeous". Chicken Run crossed with Mexican food in the Showstopper, and Paul says, "I love that, Tom." Being adventurous pays off. Who knew?
💰 Moneybake
Need an uncommon Fresh Bakes pick to shoot up the leaderboard? Introducing the tent's most overlooked asset: Gabe. Welcome to Moneybake :-)
- Gabe's Technical average: 3.0, the best of anyone left. Tom is next on 3.7.
- Technical wins: two, more than anyone. Top three in four of six weeks.
- Public Technical calls on Gabe: 0 of 42, or 0.0%. Tom has 13.
- Return: 16 points for calling him every week, the most of anyone left.
- Going home: 5 of his 7 public calls, 3 of them last week. Never once in the running.
Is he due a breakout? The numbers lean his way, gently. Since series 5, Technical winners have taken Star Baker 35.8% of the time, against 14.3% by chance, though Gabe's two wins have not converted. Of five bakers with his Technical form and no Star Baker by Episode 6, two went on to win one. For all bakers without one at that stage, it was a third.
Behind in your league? Matching your rivals only preserves the gap. You need to take a risk to get ahead. Call Gabe.
Trisha has called Gabe in the Tech four weeks running and banked 14 points. I joined in Dessert Week and have banked 2. I asked about her method. She said he has a kind face.
My Technical call for Free-From Week is Gabe. In a market this nervous, I'm buying low and waiting for him to rise :-)
Temperature in the Tent
Gauging the heat from this week's Fresh Bakes
The Over/Under
Counting the over vs under words
A light week for the Over/Under. But Over takes it 4-1
Soggy, Stodgy, or Split
Calling the first word of the week
Soggy it is: said first by Tom, in the Signature.
Baker Points
How the bakers stacked up this week
Tom earned the week's Hollywood Handshake, two of Connie's bakes received "Perfect" Praise from the judges, and Moyin and Tom each earned a Nigella Second Serving.
Pastry Week, Ranked
The Fallen
Always in our hearts
Next Week's Batch
Reminders for next time
Don't forget! Free-From Week airs on Tuesday 3 November, and picks opened this morning at 8am.