#alaskagate

When the heatwave broke and the British public were wondering what UK weather had in store for August, spirits were low. Rainfall was on the up. Sunshine was few and far between. There was talk of Summer being over. August is the awkward time where we feel we've had a good stab at summer - some of us have already made it on holiday. For the others a vacay simply cannot come soon enough. August is the time where everyone has SOMETHING on their minds.... perhaps it's the year ahead. Finalists contemplate their academic aspirations, recent graduates wonder whether they'll ever find a job without standing at Waterloo with a Sandwich Board. All in all, things aren't great.

ENTER THE GREAT BRITISH BAKE OFF.

Hello cake. Hello biscuits. HELLO BREAD. Oh, how we have missed you in the long year since Frances won the great accolade of the Greatest British Baker of 2013. The bakeoff is a bit like marmite - it appears that one either loves it or hates it. A small number claim to be indifferent. As indifferent as I am to marmite, GBBO is a LOVE. A guilty pleasure perhaps. And this season has not disappointed.

It has just hit week four.

Week one was CAKE - oh glorious cakes. you beauties. And the first to fall was a girl whose name I have already forgotten. I want to say it was Claire/Clare?

Week two was BISCUITS - shocking biscuits. SHOWSTOPPING 3D biscuits. And Enwezor left after sticking together (literally) a stack of gingerbread biscuits with fondant icing. It wasn't a good look.

Week three was BREAD - and how wonderful said bread appeared. Rolls. Brioches. Tear and Share. Oh God........ it was too good. Jordan left. I wasn't upset in the slightest.

It was all okay... the right people were going... the Bake Off was forging ahead without scandal. Without drama. And then came WEEK FOUR. Tonight was the night that brownie batter hit the proverbial fan.

Tonight was SPONGE. The self-saucing puddings went swimmingly for most. The tiramisu was alright (not my thing) and then came the showstopper - a baked alaska however the baker wished to present it.

It was hot in the tent. Scorching (way before the blowtorches made an appearance). Tension was high.

Icecreams were melting. Bakers were wiping their foreheads, exasperated with icecream that was refusing to set as it should. Iain (whose icecream looked a little runny when it exited the churning process) was making black sesame icecream with other things crammed in. He walked with purpose to the freezer to check on his icecream and to begin the assembly of the alaska. It was not there.

With horror he questioned its absence. It did not take long before the truth emerged:

Diana had removed it from the freezer and for some reason had neglected to put it back. Thus it sat melting at "room temperature". Iain was enraged and quite rightly asked for an explanation. Diana coolly remarked that he had put his pudding in the wrong freezer anyway and in not so many words TOUGH SHIT.

She then made an "oooo-oo-ooo" face when Iain, almost on the brink of tears, shoved his alaska into the bin - much to Sue's horror. He proceeded to storm out.

Having nothing to present but a bin and a temper lost whose hole was filled by sheepishness, Mary and Paul sent him packing. We understood that he should have kept his cool, even if the icecream couldn't! He surely could have shoved it in the icecream machine to churn a little - after all some people had some pretty solid icecream after extensive churning. Oh Iain if only you had just stopped to think.

His leaving was viewed as an injustice - including by John (2012 winner). Shocker. Everyone is involved in the politics.

Diana - I'm afraid you've angered the Great British public. And we do not take our tea and baking lightly.

One enraged viewer suggested that Diana should not only be disqualified, but also "arrested". Probably a little too far, but there is nothing we will not do for injustice served with baked alaska.

JUST READ THE FALL OUT:

Here is a great summary by Scott Bryan of Buzzfeed.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/scottybryan/a-cake-scandal-hit-the-great-british-bake-off-and-the-britis#2nt08jn

Read it and weep, children.

And then get baking!

What will pie week hold for the tent? Oh I can hardly wait!

Olivia - x