Announcement: One of our contributors is on The Great Irish Bake Off!

Silverfish

I still think Will's lighthouse was the best of the three.

Really thought it was either Will or Mary-Anne for the throne

fox_1973

Congratulations on your engagement Will, you done yourself proud, onward's and upwards

Well done, really enjoyed it and made better by the insight from you here

awec

Just in general about the show:

Maryanne finished first in the technical challenge despite somehow getting the recipe totally wrong and forgetting to add sugar and adding flour twice, which made one of her items practically inedible but either way they were not tuiles.

Steven finishes second despite not even delivering what was asked, serving up only 75% of the items and missing the fudge entirely.

Steven's final item appeared to be ginger bread walls with cereal stuck on top and a base made of wood. In the semi final he made a cake and drew smiley faces on macaroons. Creative baking this is not.

IMO the judging of this series leaves a lot to be desired. I imagine it'll be something looked at for season 2.

cofy

Well done Will, you have amazing talent. Thank you very much for answering all our questions, it definitely made the show more interesting and the very best of luck to you and Joanne on your big day, I hope it all goes well for ye:):):).

MugMugs

awec wrote: »

Just in general about the show:

Maryanne finished first in the technical challenge despite somehow getting the recipe totally wrong and forgetting to add sugar and adding flour twice, which made one of her items practically inedible but either way they were not tuiles.

Steven finishes second despite not even delivering what was asked, serving up only 75% of the items and missing the fudge entirely.

Steven's final item appeared to be ginger bread walls with cereal stuck on top and a base made of wood. In the semi final he made a cake and drew smiley faces on macaroons. Creative baking this is not.

IMO the judging of this series leaves a lot to be desired. I imagine it'll be something looked at for season 2.

With respects, overall Stevens performance during the whole show was second to none. He was deserved of the win!

awec

MugMugs wrote: »

With respects, overall Stevens performance during the whole show was second to none. He was deserved of the win!

Maybe he has been consistent, but I thought he didn't perform tonight. His first challenge tonight wasn't completed and his second one was pretty average IMO.

It was just a load of gingerbread cut into shapes and glued together with icing. I'm sure there are plenty of people on this thread who could do that if given enough time.

Chong

Thanks so much guys for watching here is my final blog post

http://www.thecooksbelly.com/2013/11/great-irish-bake-off-final-no-more-cake.html

RasTa

awec wrote: »

Just in general about the show:

Maryanne finished first in the technical challenge despite somehow getting the recipe totally wrong and forgetting to add sugar and adding flour twice, which made one of her items practically inedible but either way they were not tuiles.

Steven finishes second despite not even delivering what was asked, serving up only 75% of the items and missing the fudge entirely.

Steven's final item appeared to be ginger bread walls with cereal stuck on top and a base made of wood. In the semi final he made a cake and drew smiley faces on macaroons. Creative baking this is not.

IMO the judging of this series leaves a lot to be desired. I imagine it'll be something looked at for season 2.

Disagree, Maryanne's were perfect looking. Uniformed to a tee whilst Chong's tweels were bathtubs, no unity on either of his items, none were petit fours, Fudge looked very pale.

In saying that I don't think there was much in it, but I can see why he came last

awec

RasTa wrote: »

Disagree, Maryanne's were perfect looking. Uniformed to a tee whilst Chong's tweels were bathtubs, no unity on either of his items, none were petit fours, Fudge looked very pale.

In saying that I don't think there was much in it, but I can see why he came last

Maryanne's can't have been perfect looking tuiles given that they weren't even tuiles at all!

In my mind a tuile is crisp - hers looked soggy to me, almost wet biscuit like?

RasTa

awec wrote: »

Maryanne's can't have been perfect looking tuiles given that they weren't even tuiles at all!

Yeah but everything else was, doesn't matter if Chong got all his stuff out if they were all a mismatched in size and strawberry on one and blueberry on another.

http://www.tv3.ie/3player/show/514/71485/1/The-Great-Irish-Bake-Off

Skip to 22:45, pause and check out Maryanne's plate compared to Chongs

Eyepatch

Well done, Will! I was so sure they would pick you, as your interpretation of your lighthouse, with the waves was so creative, original and artistic. If the prize had been awarded for "Journey" from the beginning, you'd definitely have won it. I think, in the end, the top prize did go to the right person, since they based it on consistency form the beginning. Let's not mince words - each of the three finalists are winners in their own way! Congrats to All!

I really enjoyed the series and have every episode recorded. I'll probably watch bits of it again!

Congrats on your engagement, Will, and best wishes to Stephen and Marie-Anne in their future as keen bakers.

I'll try to make it into Arnott's on Saturday! Cheers - and Congrats again to All, on a most entertaining show!

awec

RasTa wrote: »

Yeah but everything else was, doesn't matter if Chong got all his stuff out if they were all a mismatched in size and strawberry on one and blueberry on another.

But if Will or Maryanne had decided from the start to completely ignore the tuiles and just bake the other 3 then based on the judging tonight they'd have done better. I don't see that as right.

Surely there should be more focus on actually delivering all the items and being edible, as opposed to not delivering one or one item being completely the wrong thing?

Not just tonight, but I think there was maybe a bit too much focus on looks at the expense of taste. I think GBBO has this much more balanced, probably because it has been going longer.

I'm not saying Steven is bad or anything - he clearly has an immense amount of talent, but I think he lived off previous performances alone because to me he wasn't brilliant tonight at all and was probably out performed by both Will and Maryanne - the two people I thought were in the running.

I guess my point is I just found the judging a bit erratic.

Mrs Fox

The lighthouse idea was impressive and the wave was really really creative. What was that you were doing with the piece of paper? The sound of waves crashing or seagulls attacking?

Well done Will. I'm certain all of us here from the boards are really really proud of you. And congratulations on your engagement. Wonder if Paul or Stephen will bake your wedding cake?

Dizzyblonde

Well done Will, I'd say it was very close at the end. I absolutely loved your lighthouse.
You should be very proud - and huge congratulations on your engagement

Chong

Mrs Fox wrote: »

The lighthouse idea was impressive and the wave was really really creative. What was that you were doing with the piece of paper? The sound of waves crashing or seagulls attacking?

Well done Will. I'm certain all of us here from the boards are really really proud of you. And congratulations on your engagement. Wonder if Paul or Stephen will bake your wedding cake?

Only one making the wedding cake will be me

Right hit me with questions!

MugMugs

Chong wrote: »

Only one making the wedding cake will be me

Right hit me with questions!

What was the craic with the matching denim shirts between the two lads ?

Any regrets about not standing the lighthouse up straight?

Congrats on the engagement by the way! She's a lucky lady who'll never go hungry with you about !

Chong

Just so happened re the shirts, freak accident I struggled to find shirts the weekend before, its the only left that fit and didnt have stripes or dots.

Only regret about the lighthouse was the finish, Ideally would have been nice to have it standing but I had only practiced the chocolate shell 2 days before and everything else on the day was winging it.

Thank you so much RE the engagement

Boards.ie: Niamh

Morning all,
I didn't get a chance to watch the show last night but I had to check in here to see how you got on, Will. Hard luck on not winning but it sounds like you did a fantastic job anyway - I can't wait to see this lighthouse cake everyone is talking about :pac:

And congratulations on getting engaged, wow! She's a lucky lady

Thanks for posting in here, it's been great to hear about things from behind the scenes!

Chong

Boards.ie: Niamh wrote: »

Morning all,
I didn't get a chance to watch the show last night but I had to check in here to see how you got on, Will. Hard luck on not winning but it sounds like you did a fantastic job anyway - I can't wait to see this lighthouse cake everyone is talking about :pac:

And congratulations on getting engaged, wow! She's a lucky lady

Thanks for posting in here, it's been great to hear about things from behind the scenes!

Thank you so much Niamh!

fitzcoff

Congrats on the engagement and well done in getting to the final.

I loved the balloon, I was so nervous for you when you were brusting the balloon, great tension.

Was there a prize for winning?

After going through the process would you do it again?

If you could do it again, would you change any of your own bakes and why?

Mrs Fox

Out of all the bakes that you've tasted by others including the ones you've made, which one stood out to you the most and that you'll remember for a really long time?

Chong

I would do it all again in a heartbeat nothing more fun or exhilarating.

I would practice far more, and keep a book with all my ideas so I can call upon them for the show.

My fave cake was the final weirdly, I did everything based on what I learned.

I practiced it once and somehow got it all out.

hdowney

Congrats on the engagement and hard luck on not winning, I thought you were fantastic.




Something Biddy said annoyed the heck out of me. During the technical she said she'd rather (I presume Stephen since he was the one that put up the incomplete plate) someone put up something inedible than nothing at all. SERIOULSY woman. Every other cooking show ever, and chefs and the like will say if it isn't right it doesn't go on the plate. And there you are saying the complete opposite?!?! I was really surprised no one pulled her on it.

Dizzyblonde

I didn't think Biddy was right for the programme at all and I hope they use someone else next time.

angeldaisy

Dizzyblonde wrote: »

I didn't think Biddy was right for the programme at all and I hope they use someone else next time.

Totally agree with you, and if I hadn't been supporting Will, I would have switched off long ago. I'm a massive fan of gbbo and the irish version lacked humour, likeability and decent judging.

Mrs Fox

Dizzyblonde wrote: »

I didn't think Biddy was right for the programme at all and I hope they use someone else next time.

I honestly can't see anyone better than Rachel Allen for this. So people have a couple of issues with her, but to judge a bake off, she'd be perfect.

Faith

Well done, Will! I'll admit that I never watched it because I don't have TV3 but I'm delighted for you!

I was thinking of Darina Allen also, Mrs Fox. Surely someone with a career in baking would have been a better choice than a food writer (that's all Biddy is from what I can see from Google).

Dizzyblonde

I agree about Darina or Rachel Allen - at least they'd know what they were talking about.

oscarBravo

Nice to meet you and Stephen yesterday, Will. You both put on a great show.



If any of you were wondering whether these guys can really bake - trust me, they can! Stephen's ciabatta was fantastic, Will's bolus buns were a delight, and as for those macarons and the choux in the croquembouche... wow!

Chong

oscarBravo wrote: »

Nice to meet you and Stephen yesterday, Will. You both put on a great show.



If any of you were wondering whether these guys can really bake - trust me, they can! Stephen's ciabatta was fantastic, Will's bolus buns were a delight, and as for those macarons and the choux in the croquembouche... wow!

Thank you so much OB for coming was delighted to put a face to the name, crazy having read so many of your posts down through the years.

Means alot so thank you for the support.