#3009 Great British Baking Show Part Two: Bread in the Face

Summary

Watch What Crappens – Episode #3009

Great British Baking Show Part Two: Bread in the Face

Date: September 24, 2025
Hosts: Ben Mandelker & Ronnie Karam

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Episode Overview

In this lively and irreverent recap, Ben and Ronnie savor, skewer, and lovingly roast the second episode of The Great British Baking Show (GBBO) Bread Week. The focus is on the contestants’ bread challenges, the ever-present drama of under-proving, and the uniquely British mixture of understatement and high emotion in the tent. From questionable showstopper tributes to accidental donut mishaps, the hosts blend sharp wit with genuine appreciation for the bakers’ personalities and efforts. This episode dives deep into the symbolism of celebratory breads, the trauma-baking trend in reality TV, and, as always, plenty of laughs at Paul Hollywood’s foibles.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Signature Challenge: Monkey Bread and the Confidence Crisis

• Aaron’s Lack of Confidence ([02:36] – [04:30])
  • The hosts riff on Aaron naming his bread “Aaron’s Not For Everyone Monkey Bread.”
    • Allison: “I mean, come on now, you gotta lead with confidence.”
    • Ronnie: “You’re probably gonna hate this monkey bread. I’m sorry that this is terrible monkey bread.”
  • Bread is under-proved and under-baked, leading to both host mockery and a little sympathy.
  • Jasmine reacts to Aaron’s review with a “sorry face,” prompting Ronnie to joke about her hoping Aaron will keep his tears to himself.

2. Technical Challenge: Paul Hollywood’s Donut Obsession

• The Challenge Setup ([05:04] – [10:07])

  • Contestants are tasked with making Paul Hollywood’s glazed ring donuts.
  • Paul dubs donuts his “guilty pleasure,” which Ben and Ronnie mock mercilessly.
    • Ronnie: “Guilty pleasure is like, you know what I really enjoy? Giraffe hoof candy. A donut is not a guilty pleasure, Paul.”
    • Allison: “Thanks for that bombshell revelation that donuts are a guilty pleasure for you.” ([06:27])
  • Paul’s fixation on the “white band” of a correctly proved donut becomes a running joke.
    • Ronnie: “White band, white band. Where’s the white band? Hope it’s not. Oh, this wasn’t proven enough. There’s not a white band on this one. Fucking die in a fire.” ([08:30])

• Execution and, Predictably, Chaos ([10:07] – [14:47])

  • Several bakers struggle with donut glaze consistency and proof times.
  • The hosts dissect the various botched techniques (rolling, spooning, too thick or too thin).
  • Ben and Ronnie both acknowledge they hadn’t mastered donut glazing either, ultimately learning along with the bakers.

3. Technical Judging and Results

• Judging Donuts ([14:16] – [19:47])

  • The hosts riff on the bizarre appearances of many donuts (onion rings, bagels, shoe-shaped).
  • Jasmine innovates with spiral piping and is at first softly critiqued but ultimately impresses the judges.

• Rankings ([24:25])

  • 10th: Poiman (over-fried, underproved)
  • 9th: Leslie
  • 8th: Natalia
  • 7th: Jessica
  • 6th: Ian
  • 5th: Tom
  • 4th: Toby
  • 3rd: Aaron
  • 2nd: Nadia
  • 1st: Jasmine (for her “non-traditional spiral,” which “hypnotized” the judges)
    • Allison: “Her clever spiral... I think it helps, because they remember it. They’ve just looked at a bunch of misshapen squiggly things and they remember the spirals.” ([25:01])

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4. Showstopper: Trauma, Weddings, and Bread Towers

• Showstopper Assignment ([26:31])

  • Make a fantastic celebratory bread tower (at least three tiers) with personal meaning.

• Showstopper Stories & Host Commentary ([26:54] – [38:08])

  • Aaron: Tribute to two deceased friends (flowers, marzipan, cherries). Hosts: “Most depressing, but actually very sweet. Very Aaron to pick the most depressing thing.”
  • Nadia: French wedding cake, though not married herself.
    • Allison teases her about her boyfriend: “What are you playing at, Daniel?” ([28:24])
  • Ian (Mullet): Samhain (Irish Halloween), turnip carving legend.
    • Allison: “I love that there’s a holiday where you carve a scary face into a turnip.” ([29:29])
  • Tom: Dedicates his bread to his boyfriend for loving autumn.
    • Ronnie: “People are giving it to dead people and all sorts of important things. Your boyfriend gets enough.”
    • Allison: “Negative five trauma score. Wow. A gay loves fall. I never... Gays famously never have any opinions on fall, ever.” ([35:40])
  • Jasmine: Midsummer flower crown, opens up about alopecia.
    • Hosts praise the depth, compare it to Tom’s lack of personal backstory.
  • Jessica: Rain dance-inspired pumpkin bread tower, based on experiences in Uganda.
  • Toby: Adds a snowman to a bread tower because he “loves Christmas.”
    • Hosts are unimpressed: “Wow, you’re a British person who loves Christmas.”
  • Leslie & Natalia: Both do Ukrainian korovai wedding breads—Natalia’s is a multi-generational family recipe.
  • Poiman: Rose and coconut bread; after a story of hating (then accepting) a rose bush at her house.

Memorable Quote—The Trauma-Bake Trend

Ronnie ([32:45]):
“On Top Chef... every story has to be, like, ‘I made these capri pants because my aunt passed away and loved capri pants. I’m dedicating these capri pants to my aunt.’ You build your trauma into it... do I have to have a fucking trauma with every little thing?”

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5. Judging the Showstoppers ([45:03] – [59:10])

• Hosts’ Mini-Reviews

  • Jasmine: Midsummer flower crown—“Gorgeous,” “The braiding is perfect.”
  • Toby: Santa/snowman bread—“Not a triumph,” “It’s leaning,” “Reads more Pilgrim than Santa.”
  • Tom: Autumnal cinnamon roll tower—Hosts surprisingly approve of taste and visuals despite the bland backstory.
  • Jessica: Pumpkin bread tower—Hosts find meaning sweet but the bread “just looks like people climbing a mountain of pumpkins.” ([49:55])
  • Leslie: Ukrainian korovai—Cute daisies, “lopsided,” but praised for flavor.
  • Natalia: Generational korovai—Nice lace decoration, but “claggy,” underproved.
  • Nadia: Wedding cake—Visually beautiful, “petals look like real roses.”
  • Poiman: Understated coconut and cherry cake, strong flavors.
  • Ian (Mullet): Halloween-inspired—Hosts like the Halloween theme but lament sad, underbaked loaves.
  • Aaron: Flower-covered tribute—Hosts are wowed, “absolutely beautiful,” “should have won Star Baker.”

• Paul Hollywood Leaning Hazard

  • Allison ([45:03]):
    “Why does he always lean on that table like he’s about to do a 50-yard sprint?... You’re going to knock that table over one day!”

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6. Star Baker & Elimination ([60:47] – [61:01])

• Poi Man is eliminated despite a strong comeback in the showstopper.
• Jasmine is awarded Star Baker, lauded for her technical win and meticulously braided bread crown.
• The hosts express delight at Jasmine’s performance and relief that “Mullet lives to mullet on.”

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Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• On Aaron’s Habitual Meltdowns:
  Ronnie ([04:30]):
  “Please keep all the snot in your nose and all the tears in your eyes. All right, Leaky. Thanks.”

• On GBBO Trauma Competition:
  Allison ([38:08]):
  “Just to summarize, we have... My sack of bread is dedicated to my dead friends. Mine is to Ukraine, my homeland, which is being torn up by war. Here, I went to an impoverished community that would have to do rain dances. Here, I lost my hair at a young age. And here, my boyfriend likes fall.”

• On Glazing Donuts:
  Ronnie ([13:46]):
  “Well, you do know, because we learned something today, and that’s how this show is. We’re very educational.”

• On Judges and Decoration:
  Allison ([18:28]):
  “I will not have originality in donut odds. Damn it.”

• On Criticizing Paul Hollywood:
  Ronnie ([08:30]):
  “Where’s the white band?…Fucking die in a fire. All right, where’s the white band?”

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Aaron’s Monkey Bread & Lack of Confidence: [02:36]
• Technical Donuts & “Guilty Pleasure” Rant: [05:47]–[06:46]
• Donut Judging, Jasmine’s Spiral Win: [15:05], [24:55]
• Showstopper Assignment & Trauma-Baking Discussion: [26:54]–[38:08]
• Judging the Showstopper Entries: [45:03]–[59:10]
• Star Baker & Elimination Announcement: [60:47]–[61:01]

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Episode Tone and Humor

This recap is classic Crappens: loving but brutally honest, full of sly reality TV observations, running gags (the trauma-baking Olympics, Paul’s leaning, “stay hot!” advice), and playful affection for the show’s quirks and contestants’ neuroticism. The hosts never hold back on snark, but at heart, their critiques show genuine appreciation for both the bakers and British Bake Off’s gentle, quirky spirit.

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For those who missed the episode: This is a comprehensive, irreverent, and affectionate take on GBBO Bread Week, where skill, sentimentality (sometimes forced), and the chaos of British baking create both beautiful breads and comedy gold. Jasmine’s clever braids and emotional vulnerability win the week, Poi Man cannot recover, and the phrase “trauma-bake” may never leave your mental pantry.

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[Allison]

Who cares what happens when there's so much that happens. Hi, everyone. Welcome back. This is part two of a two part recap. If you're wondering where part one was, well, go check in the feed and be sure to subscribe. So that way you always get your episodes. But enough of that. Let's get right back into the episode. Next we go to. You know, when we did our cast breakdown, Ronnie, you said that Aaron, what's funny about him is that he always seems not very confident. And here's a great example of it. He named his bread Aaron's not for Everyone Monkey Bread. Like, I mean, come on now, you gotta, like, lead with confidence.

[Ronnie]

They only named that because they suggested that he didn't name it. You're probably gonna hate this monkey bread. You know, like, I'm sorry that this is terrible monkey bread.

[Allison]

Aaron's Marmite is an acquired tastes monkey bread.

[Ronnie]

This does look good. This has like. What are these, like, little parmesan crisps on the top?

[Allison]

Yeah, yeah. A little freako.

[Ronnie]

Yeah, that looks really good. Well, obviously it's sort of trying to grow, but it can't. And it's sort of falling apart, much like you in every challenge we've had so far. It's very raw and PR says it doesn't even look like it's been in the oven, which is crazy because it's dark on the outside, but I guess they're talking about the insides.

[Allison]

Yeah, I guess it was like he had an issue. He had an issue with his. Well, he was saying it was funny because earlier he was like, you know, been making bread's like a game of chicken because you want to, you know, you want to prove it as long as possible, but then you don't want to have not enough time to bake it. And it's better to be baked than. It's better to be under proven than under baked. I was like, well, congratulations. You're both underproven and under baked.

[Ronnie]

Oh, poor guy. So that's it. So now Jasmine's making a face like, sorry, sorry. And because they tell him, like, it's good, but, like, the taste is good, but it's not cooked right. I can't. It proves, like, I can't even eat it, you know? And so just Jasmine's making a face like, I'm sorry, you poor man. Please don't cry again. My shoulder. I just want a clean shoulder for one day. Please just keep them in. Please keep all the snot in your nose and all the tears in your eyes. All right, Leaky. Thanks.

[Allison]

So now we go to technical challenge. It's like, hello, bakers. Welcome back to the tent. It's some for your technical challenge. And today, your technical challenge has been set to you by the chairman of the board. And when I say board, I mean breadboard Paul Hollywood. Paul, what you have to say?

[Ronnie]

He's like, well, do you want me to tell you what you should put in Mediterranean dishes? We're like, no, Paul, let's get to the point. Let it go, Paul. Okay, so this is about planning and timing. You know, guys, the technical Challenge will be judge blind, so judges have to leave. And Paul Hollywood would love you to make his take on that fast food classic. The glazing, the glazed ring donut.

[Allison]

I love that. This is by Paul's advice is it's about planning and timing as opposed to any other bread thing. It's like, oh, you know what I love? As in, you know, off the cuff, spontaneous, untimed bread experience.

[Ronnie]

Yes. And Paul, you know, he sits with Prue and he does his little thing where they talk about what they're having them make. And Paul's monologue is that donuts are his guilty pleasure. And I love.

[Allison]

He says that as if it's like a big surprise. Like. Like, I have to. I hate to go against the grain, but donuts are my guilty pleasure. Like, wow, I never thought about that with a donut. I was.

[Ronnie]

Yeah, it's like, I never thought of one of the most popular foods in the world. It's not a guilty pleasure. It's a pleasure.

[Allison]

Okay, thanks for that bombshell revelation that donuts are a guilty pleasure for you.

[Ronnie]

Yeah, but guilty pleasure is like, you know what I really enjoy? Giraffe hoof. You know, candy. It's like, no, that's disgust. Like, no, you shouldn't be doing that. But this is not. This is not a guilty. It's a fucking donut palm.

[Allison]

It's a pleasure. It's a pleasure.

[Ronnie]

It's a pleasure. Yeah. So let's see. So they talk about how his ideal meal would be a load of hot dogs and donuts for dessert. Why are chefs like that? So many chefs are like that. I think because they make such good food all day that they just want a fucking hot dog, you know?

[Allison]

Yeah, Yeah. I went to a really fancy dinner over the summer. There was, like, an Alenia popup. Alenia is very, very, very, like, three Michelin star shishi influential massively. It's like a. It's a big thing, and they really specialize in molecular gastronomy. And so, like, the first chorus was like, this is a Chicago hot dog. And it comes and it's a cube of gelatin, but it has actually all the flavors of a hot dog. So it's like amazing. And it actually tastes great. And it's amazing. You're like, how is this a hot dog? But also hilarious cuz it's so cheffy to be like a hot dog and then you get served a clear cube of something with like some specks floating inside it. So chefy. That's my little story about hot dogs and chefs.

[Ronnie]

So they.

[Allison]

He talks about donuts and he talks about like a thing to look out for with a, A well made donut is it has to have like a white band around the center, which is funny because we always see that white band. But he is saying like, if you don't have the white band, it means it's underprooved. And I never knew that the white band was something I can actually judge a donut on. And anytime I'm given a tool to be more judgy about something, I'm always so grateful. So I can't wait to go to like donut shop and be like, sorry, these donuts are underproven. There's no white band around the center.

[Ronnie]

Yeah, like when I think of white bands, I think of like the Carpenters, you know, I've never really thought about it with donuts, but it's true. And he doesn't shut up about it either. This is like his new obsession where he's like, white band, white band. Where's the white band? I hope it's not. Oh, this wasn't proven enough. There's not a white band on this one. Fucking die in a fire. All right, where's the white band? Where's the white band? So, yeah, that becomes a big thing. And they do pretty well. There's supposed to be a certain little squiggly wiggly decoration on top. And some of them have to be strong strawberry glazed. So they have to do a ton of donuts. Of course. I think a dozen. Right. Six strawberry and six just glazed with.

[Allison]

With a spiral circle decoration. Which was funny because I thought spiral circle meant like, like those hypnotic. Like a circle that gets smaller and smaller into the center. But in this case, it's like a loop de loop that goes all around the top. And I'm just saying that because later on when some people do like the hypnosis thing, they're the ones who are wrong. And I would have done the same thing.

[Ronnie]

Yeah, it's like someone danced in the town that Footloose took place in. You know, they're like, oh, this isn't the proper squiggly. How could they? They went off a form.

[Allison]

Not only that, but then they were like. Then they were trying to be nice about it, like, oh, well, this is a very inventive and autistic way about it. It's like, no, they were doing a spiral circle the way you said they should be doing. A spiral circle.

[Ronnie]

Yeah.

[Allison]

This is not spiraling. This is just circles. It's just, I don't know, loop de loops.

[Ronnie]

I don't know.

[Allison]

It's not spiral circle. I'm sorry. This is not a spiral circle. I don't know what you call it, but it's not that.

[Ronnie]

So we see not the judges, but the hosts go around and check on people. And Aaron's a little worried because he's Aaron, you know, she's like, oh, my God, I'm probably gonna lose this whole thing today. I'll be out. And Allison's like, oh, come on, love. It's all gonna be great. You look good. You know what I mean? At least you're hot. You know, thank God you're good looking. At least you're not ugly and sad. You know, you can't be both. He's like, thanks for the hug. You know, it's just like, I just needed to keep going. As long as you look good, babes. All right? Just here's what I suggest. Don't get ugly, all right? Stay hot. I always tell that to my nieces. Stay hot, Stay hot, Stay adorable. You know, I don't want you ever come coming back looking less adorable than you do. Now stay cute. You know, I shouldn't say stay hot to my nieces, but I do tell people in general.

[Allison]

She goes up to Po man, who is like. She's like, how you feeling? And do how you feel in love. How you doing in J? And she's like, well, I just hope I'm not at the bottom again. She's like, oh, you're right at the back. Okay. You can see what everyone's doing. You know, she's like, I don't cheat. You know, cheat at school. No. She gets so serious. This woman is, like, giggly the entire time. And this is the first time she gets serious. She's like, I don't cheat. It's like, okay, who broke this woman's heart?

[Ronnie]

Who is going to want me to make their wedding dress if they think I'm a cheater? And Allison's like, not once, darling. Come on. Come on. Did you do well at school then from not cheating? And she goes, actually, no, I was terrible at school.

[Allison]

Probably because they graded on a curve and everyone else cheated. So then halfway through the challenge, they, like, one of the. They have to. Like, they have to fry. That's, like, how many things should go in the fryer at once. You don't want to do too much because it'll lower the temperature, make it greasy. And then they are. They're frying, and then they're glazing. And I. I'm sorry, I. I have to feel like if you're a baker, you should know how to glaze a donut. Like, you should just have the basic technique down. Like, you should just have that in your repertoire, right? Because they seem. Some of them just seem like they've never had no idea what they were doing. Some of them were, like, rolling it around in a bowl of glaze. Some are spooning it, but some of it. There are some people who did a great job, but other people just seemed totally at a loss.

[Ronnie]

Well, it seems like it would be some crazy baking fucks with you, because the simplest things are what mess you up every single time. It's always something simple. And glaze is just, what, like powdered sugar and water? Right? I mean, it's not like. Don't you make it like kind of an icing? You know, like a light. Like a watery icing? So it seems like it would be easy, but I mess that shit up all the time. Whenever I have to do something like that, I always make it too thick or too thin. And that's what they do. They all make it too thick or too thin.

[Allison]

I feel like what I would do is I would put the donuts on a rack and pour the glaze over. I don't think I'd put it into.

[Ronnie]

A bowl, but then it wouldn't be even. And you can't go over it with, like, a stick or something. You have to, like, dip it into the thing, don't you, to make it kind of an even sheen. Let's see what I'm not telling you.

[Allison]

No, I know.

[Ronnie]

I'm judging how you would do it, even though I wouldn't know how to do it.

[Allison]

But I'm wondering, who do we think is the authority on this? Who do we think is gonna knows exactly how it says dip the warm donuts? Okay, this is according to, like, Google. Dunk the warm donuts into the glaze. Make sure to coat them fully. Let the excess glaze drip off the donut then put them on a wire rack. Okay. So you dip and then you put them on the rack. Okay, well, you know what? Guess what? I don't know how to glaze a donut either. Okay, I'm sorry.

[Ronnie]

Well, you do know, because we learned something today, and that's how this show is. We're very educational. So, yeah, everyone's kind of fucking up their glaze, and then now they can return to their dough. If they prove it for too long, it could develop large air bubbles and collapse when it's fried. Basically. Basically like me at the end of a Saturday night. Right. But if it's underproof, that donuts will be dense. Was basically me on a Monday morning. All right, I'm making this too personal, right, babes? Back off.

[Allison]

So now they all bring their donuts up. And I have to say, some of these donuts just look crazy because another issue is, like, how big of a hole do they cut out in the middle? Because they do. Too small of a hole, it's going to fill in, but too big, it's going to look crazy. And so these people all have this just the craziest looking donuts, and they're. The glaze is out of control. There's like thick, thick, thick layers of glaze. Although low key, I probably would not be mad at, like, a thick layer of glaze because I love that glaze so much. But these donuts look certifiably bonkers.

[Ronnie]

And now it's time to prove. And everybody's like, oh, oh. They're like writing down calculations. And Paul's just in the back muttering, proving, proving. Proving's everything. White band, white band, white band, white band, white band, white band, white band, white band, white band, white band, white band.

[Allison]

So we now go to the judging and, you know, Nadia's donuts look pretty good. She's got the white band and her. Her glazing looks pretty good. Tom's his glaze. His. His piping is like a little haphazard and his glaze is kind of, like, chunky. It looks a little like. Looks like he kind of, like, lubed up his donuts a bit. It looks like you put some Vaseline on them.

[Ronnie]

Yeah, his. His squiggle lines look really good, though. And Poiman, squiggle lines look the best, though. They're like, just the right amount of melty. And actually, I think her glazing looks really nice too, don't you?

[Allison]

Her glazing is really good. She says at one point that she makes donuts all the time, but like she, she's like, she already knows hers are underproofed and see me as like an, as someone who, if I didn't know about the white band thing, I would see hers and be like, oh my God, these donuts look great. And I would just grab one and be so happy. And then I, I guess it probably would be tough if it's under proven it's going to be tough. It's not going to have that rise in airy. But like you would never like it in a picture. They look nice.

[Ronnie]

They look risen. I mean they look like the most filled up, if that makes sense. Yeah, like they look like a filled up tire as opposed to like a flatter tire.

[Allison]

I think that they look more like a cake donut. That's the problem. They look like a cake donut, not a yeast donut.

[Ronnie]

Oh, okay. So then we go to Toby's. Don't to be stone. That's and his inconsistent. They actually look like all the glazed donuts look like different kinds of donuts.

[Allison]

Yeah, right? Yeah. There's one that looks like it's like an apple cider donut. One looks like it's a, it's a white frosted doughnut. Like they're all, they are all crazy.

[Ronnie]

A bagel donut. Okay. And then we see Leslie's donuts. Leslie's donuts look cray cray and I love chocolate. These look crazy. They're dark brown and then there's so much really thick glaze on them and it's just kind of splooged all over it. And then her piping is, is too much. Well, it's just a shame.

[Allison]

You know, Aaron's are also a little all over the map because some of his look quite good, but then others are like not. They're just. And his. Oh, and he, oh, he does his, his decoration. Did he just do like little circles? He did like Olympic rings around the top of his.

[Ronnie]

Yeah, he did rings. Yeah, he did rings. And then one of them is dark brown. But it's the only one which is really weird. I don't know what's up with that one.

[Allison]

1. Jessica's are a hot mess. I mean like one looks like a chunky onion ring. The. And like the, the glaze is all over the, all over the place. Her decorations are crazy. She did like, hers are just bad.

[Ronnie]

Yeah, they're all different sizes.

[Allison]

Uganda. You're like, okay, okay, Jessica, this is.

[Ronnie]

How they love them in Uganda. It's like, okay, you've been to Uganda. Okay, we got so then we go to Jasmine. Jasmine's look great. I mean, they look all exactly the same. They've all got a big fat white band. And she is the one who did the untrad, the non traditional piping, and she did just big spirals instead of squiggles, which, yeah, they are, you know, shocked by at first. Paul's like, look, someone's tried to be clever.

[Allison]

Yeah, look at them trying to be clever, doing spiral circles when we merely ask for spiral circles.

[Ronnie]

I will not have originality in donut odds. Damn it. And Bruce, like, I'll get over it, you know, she's like, I think it looks really good, you know, Know, it's not. Not quite the decoration we told you, but it's lovely, you know, listen, I've just loved walking around talking about everyone's whole sizes and how they've glazed their holes. I mean, to me, this has just been an ideal judging. Thank you, everybody.

[Allison]

Thank you. I'm gonna need a donut. Also us very soon. Then we go to Ian's and Paul's, like, well, overall, these don't look too bad. I'm like, are you looking at the same donuts I'm looking at?

[Ronnie]

These look bad.

[Allison]

What? They look like they were flung at a wall. I mean, one has. One almost looks like a shoe.

[Ronnie]

You're right. I see which one you're talking about. And one looks like. It's like leaning. It's like a tower that's now leaning over, which is weird. They're all different shapes. He does have the white band, which is really all Paul cares about, I think. But they're trying to make mullet happen. Like, they really, really like this guy.

[Allison]

Yeah.

[Ronnie]

Which, I mean, I like him too, and he seems like a nice guy, but, you know, there's always one in competition shows that it seems like the judges are rooting for. And I think, for whatever reason, it's mullet. They're like, really, really? They're like, we've never had. We need to make history. We need the first mullet wearer to win.

[Allison]

We need the first short king to win British Bake Off. Yeah, Natalia. I mean, like, we look. We love it. Natalia. Every time she tells a story about Ukraine, it's so heartbreaking, and I'm rooting for her. But these donuts are. They are crazy. These are. These are the craziest of the bunch, I would actually say. So far, I don't remember what the rest look like, but.

[Ronnie]

The glazed ones, yeah, the glaze is too thick, so they look like Powdered donuts. In a way, they're just white.

[Allison]

Yeah.

[Ronnie]

Okay, so now he's. Paul says they're a mess. You know, it's time for a commercial. It's time for a crappens commercial.

[Allison]

The other day I ordered from Wayfair this really cool little side table for here in this office. So that way, if I ever needed my laptop, I could put my laptop on it right next to my desk set up, which was really cool. But what I've since found is that this cute little table works really well as almost like a TV table. I can bring it upstairs, I can put a drink on it while I watch tv or if I'm watching a game, because, you know, I am a sports gay. I enjoy my football. I can have my little snacks right there while I recline on the sofa. I just love my cute little table. I really do.

[Ronnie]

Yeah. When you think of game day, you might not think Wayfair, but you should. Because Wayfair is the best kept secret for incredible and affordable game day finds.

[Allison]

Yeah, Ronnie, you're totally right. For instance, like, aside from my cute, adorable little table, there's like plenty of outdoor tailgating things like coolers and grills and folding chairs and patio heaters, things like that.

[Ronnie]

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[Allison]

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[Ronnie]

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[Allison]

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[Ronnie]

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[Allison]

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[Ronnie]

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[Allison]

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[Ronnie]

Men and the three.

[Allison]

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[Ronnie]

All right, so ranking 10th place poi men she lost, which sucks over fried undeproved 9th is Leslie, 8. Natalia, 7. Jessica, 6 Ian, 5, Tom, 4. Toby, 3. Aaron, 2. Nadia. She got close and I was happy for Nadia because she's had a couple of stinkers, but the first was Jasmine, who ended up winning with her non traditional spiral.

[Allison]

Wow. Good for her. Good for her. I mean, her clever. Her clever spiral.

[Ronnie]

Her clever spiral. I think it helps, you know, because they remember it. They've just looked at a bunch of misshapen squiggly things and they remember the spirals. You hypnotize them. Yeah, it works.

[Allison]

Yeah, exactly. Hypnotized. So okay, now. Now it's time for the judges to talk about where this is all going. So I was like, well, that we have at Bread week. Dread week. Let's talk about some of the bakers. Let's look at Aaron. And I was like, oh, Aaron's a bit of a disaster in the sig, didn't he? In the sig? That's short for signature. You catch what I'm putting down? And Paul's like, yeah, but he's not so bad in the tech. But then they're like, like, yeah, poi man. I mean, he's like, I just don't think that Poiman had enough salt in the Signature. And what she was saying about me not having a milk loaf in my book, I mean, does she even read these things? I mean, what's the point of coming out of the show if you don't do your proper research? Right? We should just get rid of her right there on the spot.

[Ronnie]

And Natalia is also on the bottom because her Signature was supposed to be savory, but it was sweet. But on the bright side, Ian smashed it. Mullet. Mullet for the win. And Paul says, yeah, you know, he did really well on the Signature, but he was six than technical, so he slipped down. One person's doing extremely well, and it's Jasmine, because she did. She won the Technical and she did well in the Signature. We didn't even say who won the Technical, did we? Jasmine. When.

[Allison]

Jasmine. No, you did. You did say one.

[Ronnie]

Oh, I forgot.

[Allison]

But they're spiral. Her non traditional, clever spiral is the Technical.

[Ronnie]

Right. The Signature, they don't say who's the winner.

[Allison]

Right, yeah. So now it's time for the Showstopper, and they have to make. It's like the judges would like you to make a fantastic celebratory sweet bread with at least three tiers, and it has to be an enriched bread dough, and it should be a celebration that has meaning for you. So they have five hours to make giant bread towers.

[Ronnie]

Yes. Okay, so let's see what they start doing. Okay, so Aaron is doing a celebration of life for two friends who passed away, which is actually really sweet, but it's also very Aaron. To be like, I'm gonna pick the most depressing things. But it is sweet. And they were always supportive of him getting on to Bake off, and now he's here, and then he's doing a bunch of flowers. So why is he doing flowers? Is it like.

[Allison]

It's like renewed, like grove.

[Ronnie]

It's like a memorial.

[Allison]

Yeah, it's like, you know, like, when you think about someone who's passed, you like to think of, like, flowers and beautiful things that they're maybe sending from the other side. And, you know, especially when they come attached to a sack of four colognes.

[Ronnie]

So of all the money they owed me or, like, you know, whatever you.

[Allison]

Can make about their breads. Yeah. Okay.

[Ronnie]

So then we go to Noel, says Aaron's ambitious French coron bread. Coron will be festooned with a cascade of flowers and filled with pistachio, marzipan, cherries, and apricots. Okay. Nadia is also doing a French celebration, and she's doing a wedding cake. A French wedding cake, A brioche dough with raspberry creme patissier inside. And she just loves weddings. And she's like, I've never been married, but I love weddings.

[Allison]

Yeah. And Allison's like, what you got? You got a boyfriend? And she's like, yes and not. And not. Put a ring on. Yeah. She's like, no. Oh, what's name? Daniel. I'm like, what are you playing at, Daniel? What are you playing that? I remember. There's no ring on. Anyone could take her.

[Ronnie]

Get off the pot, Daniel. All right, we're done waiting for you over here.

[Allison]

So this is like. You don't understand. She smells like garlic all the time. Okay? We're in therapy over it. If she cannot reduce her garlic consumption, I am not getting her giving her a ring.

[Ronnie]

He's like, she won't stop showing up at weddings she's not invited to. It's so embarrassing.

[Allison]

It's just Jody from Miami. As long as you speak to someone about your garlic, then I'll put a ring on it. But until then, I can't.

[Ronnie]

So next up is Ian, and he's going to be pronouncing Samhain, which is the Irish precursor to Halloween. So he's doing, like, Jack o' lanterns and dark colors, and they end up telling him. They're like. I mean, it's kind of, like, Halloweeny. That's the point.

[Allison]

Yeah, I know. He also describes Sawin. I never heard of Solon. And he says. He's like, so they used to have these little turnips that they would carve terrifying faces into. And I just love that there's a holiday where you carve a scary face into a turnip.

[Ronnie]

I do, too. I love a good, affordable holidays.

[Allison]

I know. I love that, like, we spend so much money putting up stuff for Halloween and for. And for Christmas and everything. It's like, just give it. I love. I feel like the Irish have got it right. Just get. Get a turnip, get a little knife, and you're done. You're done.

[Ronnie]

Okay, so he wants to make a horrifying cake and scare the judges a wee bit. And it does look crazy. His. It looks like a witch's. I don't know, kind of a. Well, there's a bonfire at the top and, like, trees all over it and corn cobs and. Or corn stalks or whatever and fall leaves.

[Allison]

Let's see.

[Ronnie]

It looks very magical.

[Allison]

It's called. It's. It's a saw. Wonderful time of the year. He should have said it's the most so wonderful time of the year. Come on, bro.

[Ronnie]

Some wonderful time, someone. It's the most wonderful.

[Allison]

Wonderful time of the year.

[Ronnie]

That's Christmas, though.

[Allison]

The joke is that it's. Then the joke, darling. The joke is that it's a Christmas song that you're using for Sawin, which is basically Halloween. I'm a. What don't you understand about. About my creative vision here? It's like the nightmare before Christmas, but the nightmare before the night.

[Ronnie]

Christmas is a religious holiday in Halloween is Satan.

[Allison]

But you got turn.

[Ronnie]

Okay, I will not.

[Allison]

What about, like, how about, like. I mean, turn up for what? How about that? I mean, come. Why can't we. All right, I've got the entire marketing team here for Sawin, and I'm. I'm looking for good ideas, and this is the best you give me. Come on now. It's the number one Turner pilot of the year. So then we go leading the marketing team for salman.

[Ronnie]

Yeah. So we. Who's obsessed with Christmas, they're like, okay, for Halloween this year, why don't we put little reindeer that are bleeding? It's like, that's Christmas. That's the point. It's Christmas, but it's Halloween, you know, have you never. Santa Claus coming down the chimney, but he's getting burned to death by the actual fire. You know? That's what I'm talking about.

[Allison]

Let me tell you something. When you see the Christmas decorations going up on October 15th, I don't care if it's Halloween time. Christmas has already started. All right? So get a Krampus into this cake and be done with it already.

[Ronnie]

Okay, let's go over to Tom. Okay. Tom is dedicating his bread to his boyfriend because his favorite time of the year is the autumn. I don't care. Don't give it to your boyfriend. People are giving it to dead people and all sorts of important things. Your boyfriend gets enough.

[Allison]

Listen. Also, like, you can do better than this. Like, he clearly has a vision that he wants to an autumn cake. So it's like, I dedicate to my boyfriend who loves autumn. I feel like you got, like, people doing dedications that are much more meaningful, say, because in autumn was when we had our first date. And I'll always remember it was under the trees and leads were changing. But not like my boyfriend, he loves autumn.

[Ronnie]

It's like, yeah, this is like a modern reality show. You're supposed to cook your trauma into the cake. I mean, and that's a lot of what's happening. And we see it on Top Chef. We see it on all them. You know, every story has to be like, I made this pair of capri pants because I had an aunt that passed away and loved capri pants. I'm dedicating these capri pants to my aunt. You know, it's. That's what it is. You build your trauma into it. You know, it's not like my boyfriend loves leaves. What the, bro?

[Allison]

Yeah. Also, I love when he says, he's like, yeah, so my boyfriend loves autumn. So mine is just all about that changing time of year when all the leaves fell off the tree. And Paul goes, how you doing that in bread? Which is funny. I'm funny that after all these years, this is the one that stumps Paul because people will be like, I love octopuses, and I want to do an octopus, but it's also on a rocket ship and it's going to be dangling. And I also love when light bulbs turn on and off. So I'm going to do a bread that has a flashing light bulb and an octopus on a swing. And he's like, all right, but now this guy's like, I want to represent it.

[Ronnie]

Just make sure it's proved, you know, well proved.

[Allison]

But. But here it's like, I want to do something that represents autumn. He's like, how are you going to do that? Are you stupid? Because it's like, well, you make a tree out of bread. Oh, you're going to make a. You make a bunch of bread that's going to sort of look orange. How do you even do that? Come on.

[Ronnie]

He's going to do a bunch of leaves. That's how he's going to do it. He's like, all right, it's going to be cinnamon. It's basically going to be big cinnamon buns put together as a three tiered cake with some leaves on there.

[Allison]

Like, well, I hope it tastes as good as it sounds. Like garbage. But guess what? I love eating garbage. That's my guilty pleasure. A real guilty pleasure. Garbage.

[Ronnie]

Yeah. Toby's having some Trouble with the magic word of the day. Proving. So we're worried, we're all worried for him. And then we go to Jasmine and Jasmine's drawing is gorgeous. It's a midsummer flower crown, sweet bread. And it's just, just really intricate and multi layered and has flowers all over it and vines all over it. This one looks really pretty with cinnamon and cardamom.

[Allison]

Yes. And she's. I don't know if she says specifically what she's dedicating it to, but this is when she tells us that she has, she, she has alopecia and she started losing her hair at 12. And she only recently stopped wearing wigs a few years ago and only very recently has started to actually like not having a wig. So this is the irony here is that she is plating, platting, how do you say it? Platting, Plating. But she's braiding. She's a plate. But she's braiding the, the hair, the, the, the bread, which is an irony because she has no hair. It's a parade. Yes.

[Ronnie]

So it's braided. So.

[Allison]

Yeah, so, yeah. So by the way, Tom, you want to rethink your my boyfriend likes fall dedication? Because I mean, like, come on now, Jesus.

[Ronnie]

I'll tell you what your trauma score is.0, Tom.

[Allison]

Okay, negative five. Wow. A gay loves fall. I never, I've never seen that happen before. Gays famously never have any opinions on fall. Gays never lose their mind over fall, ever.

[Ronnie]

So then we see other bakers, Knowles telling us that, you know, these need to be carefully shaped. Okay, so Noel is like, Paul, like seems very neat. Or I can seem sweating if it's not neat. And Aaron's like, well then how does he cope with you? Oh, he's like, he doesn't even know what I am. Paul Hollywood. He's been trying to get me fired for years.

[Allison]

So that's how he deals with me.

[Ronnie]

He's always giving up a little broom. He sprayed me in the face with Windex this morning. That's how he tries to deal with me. All right.

[Allison]

So now we go. Jessica. And she's doing something really cool, which is that she's tying a string around her bread so that when it proves it's going to make these creases that make it look like each layer looks like a pumpkin. And she is doing a rain dance celebration sweet bread. And she says that she works in communities that are mainly focused on agriculture. And they, when she was in Uganda and they experience a lot of drought. So when the rain would come, the Women and children would leave their houses and dance. And so here she has people dancing around a giant stack of pumpkins and hashtag, uanda basically, hashtag, yeah.

[Ronnie]

She's like, I was gonna do something that was really meaningful. I can remember a day. We call it the day of lightning. We lost a lot of people that day, unfortunately. But I just decided to stick with the rain pot, so it's gonna be delicious. I was like, okay, I could use a little more trauma, but I'm liking yours. At least you're gonna beat the other guy.

[Allison]

You know, it's also like a better way of doing the autumn thing. It's like, oh, my boyfriend loves autumn. And she's like, well, I've got a stack of pumpkins because people prayed for it with rain dancing when I was in Uganda. It's like basically the same thing. But, like, hers is like, well, I was able to tie in. This whole thing looks much better.

[Ronnie]

Look, I've got fall too. But it's actually meaningful. How about that?

[Allison]

So just. Just to summarize, we have. Okay, my sack of bread is dedicated to my dead friends. Mine is to Ukraine, my homeland, which is being torn up by war. Here I went impoverished community that would have to do rain dances. Here I lost my hair at a young age. And here, my boyfriend likes fall.

[Ronnie]

Yep. So then we go to Toby, who's doing belt buckle with a snowman on top. Well, that's his.

[Allison]

You know what? This one's down there with this one also annoyed me because he's like, I absolutely love Christmas. I always have. We stockpile Stalin every single, every day. We love Christmas with Stalin. We say, why does Santa have to come down the chimney? Why can't it be Stalin? Stalin should come down and deliver gifts.

[Ronnie]

But that was really meaningful to me. Stalin. I just want a cake that celebrates Stalin.

[Allison]

No, the reason why I got annoyed with this is like, wow, you're a British person who loves Christmas. Just. I mean, this is almost as exciting to know that someone finally announces that they think that a donut is a pain. Guilty pleasure. I love Christmas.

[Ronnie]

Oh, so his has snowflakes, a snowman, and a belt. Is wearing a belt. And I resent belts, so whatever. So we go to a little high.

[Allison]

By the way, I just want to say the belt is a little high for a waistband. This is a high waisted belt.

[Ronnie]

It's a high waist. It is.

[Allison]

Yeah. Yeah. That belt should be one, not one tier lower. I'm just gonna say that right now.

[Ronnie]

Yeah. And you know what? I have to Say, watching the show, I don't dislike Toby, but I'm annoyed with him. In the recap, I'm finding myself getting annoyed with him as we go through the notes. But he's.

[Allison]

It's also. He's fine. It's also funny because we're ragging on Toby and Tom for coming up with, like, very basic dedications. But meanwhile, Nadia's was like, I love weddings. So she also gets, you know, retroactively. Let's ding her, too. Yeah.

[Ronnie]

But Natalia's never been married, and she really wants to be married. So it is kind of. You know, it is kind of a tragic cake because she's never had a wedding, and she's like. But I'm obsessed with weddings. No one's ever asked me. So I'm just gonna make a wedding cake. May. It's my turn. Always the bridesmaid, never the bride. That sort of thing. All right, this one's called Always the Bridesmaid, Never the bride. Please, Paul, will you marry. This cake is called Paul, Please marry me. I mean, come on. Anyone? Please?

[Allison]

I'm going to stack 27 little loaves together. And dedicated to the Katherine Heigl movie 27 Dresses when she went to 27 different weddings.

[Ronnie]

Oh, so she's gonna make. Yeah. Wedding cake. Bread. It's covered in lays and, you know, catch her own. Oh, I'm sorry.

[Allison]

I'm sorry. I was talking about Nadia. Nadia. Nadia has a wedding cake. But this is actually Natalia, who's doing a Ukrainian wedding cake. So it's also, like, got like, oh, sorry, I was. No, but it's like, I think we're saying the same thing regardless, because.

[Ronnie]

Okay, wait, we're still talking about.

[Allison]

You were still talking about. You were still talking about Nadia, but as it turns out, didn't Nadia make a wedding cake? Because she loves weddings? And that's when Allison was like, what's your boyfriend? I gotta propose to you?

[Ronnie]

Oh, yeah, I guess so. Okay. So anyway, I've just fucked it up in my own head. But, yeah, Natalia is the one making this lacy cake. Yeah, you're right. Three generations. Korovai. Korovai sweet bread. Natalia's traditional Korovai wedding bread will be made from enriched dough packed with butter flavored with orange, cinnamon, and rum, all from a family recipe passed down to her from her mom.

[Allison]

Yes. So it's like a generational Ukrainian bread, which also feels like sort of like, you know, like, makes you so sad because you're thinking of Ukraine and all. Everything that's being destroyed over there. And Then we go over to Leslie's like, I'm doing one too. Like, what? She's like, I'm doing a coravo bread as well. Like, why are you doing a corava? She's like, because I want to. I mean, she didn't say that, but it's just kind of funny. Like Natalia's just like, mine was passed through generations and Leslie's like, like, I'm just gonna make it.

[Ronnie]

I'm doing it because I love hair. Really at the end of the day, just love doing hair. So just gonna steal a little bit of culture for this one. You don't mind, do you? So this one looks pretty. It's got little flowers all over it as well. Lots of flowers on these cake, on these big cake things. Today Leslie's hoping a cor of I sweet bread enriched with rum soaked raisins, blood oranges and cinnamon will hold its own. So she's doing her granddaughter.

[Allison]

She's like, I'm gonna make a cake for my granddaughter, soak it in rum, start her early.

[Ronnie]

Her first birthday, we had a daisy theme and we all got shit faced on rum. So there we go. So now we go to Poiman and Poiman is also using a lot of flowers and Poiman bought her house and there's a rose tree outside her house. And Alison goes, stunning, stunning story. Like your first house you could buy for yourself. That is a beautiful story. She goes, yeah, I cut the rose bush down. Hated it, but I'm gonna make it into a cake anyway.

[Allison]

Yeah. She's like, yeah, I hate that. She's like, she's like, yeah, roses are not good for your love life. She goes, but, but, well, why don't you just put it around back? Put the rose bush bar. Feng shui doesn't work. But in the back. We all know there's a non feng shui zone in the back of the house. Okay? So when things don't work out inside the house, you put in the back. It's like the leftover. It's like the spillover.

[Ronnie]

By the way, Nadia, you don't have rose bush in your front yard, do you darling? Right, I'll be holding you back a bit.

[Allison]

So the point man's like, well then my boyfriend at the time bought me a plant, rose plants and planted at the back garden. And now we got married, so I think it's broken. What? So what are you going on about the feng shui then? That worked out. Then why are you getting so mad at roses then? Don't understand this.

[Ronnie]

She ridded herself of roses and then found love and brought roses back. That's so swamped. So this is a cocktail wedding. Sweet bread. A lot of wedding stuff today.

[Allison]

Yeah.

[Ronnie]

Shredded coconut glazed cherries. Looks nice. Looks kind of plain compared to all the other ones. It's like a cake with roses. And Paul wants to know her method of rose making, and she uses a circle cutter. And he's like, you do. So you line them all up and then roll it. She's like, yes. And he's like, impressive. But he says in that way, like, you're, you're. You're out of here. You're out of here.

[Allison]

You're not proving enough.

[Ronnie]

Disgusting.

[Allison]

So now they're all just cooking and things are just happening. Tom has made these little turd shaped things and Allison's like, this is the most disgusting thing I've ever seen. You're really making turds. You're gonna serve them turds. He's like, no, it's gonna be a log. It's like, oh, no, it's disgusting. Smells nice, though. Actually, it smells quite lovely. They do look like little poops for.

[Ronnie]

A stupid non story tree thing. So everybody bakes. Get their, you know, do all the. Getting the stuff out of the oven. Let's serve it to the judges, people. Let's serve it.

[Allison]

Okay, so here is my issue. I'm sort of done with Paul. When it comes time to. When they bring up the. The Showstopper, why does he always lean on that table like he's about to go do a 50 yard sprint? He always, like, eats it and then he just, like hunches over and he braces himself on the table like he's. He's about to take off from the starting blocks. I'm like, can you, can you, like, why, why do you do this to yourself and to the table every single time you're gonna knock that table over one day?

[Ronnie]

I'm a leaner, so I stand for. I mean, it's so hard. Some of us just have a hard time just being alive. Just standing up is fucking hard. I'm sorry. I will lean on anything anywhere. I'm a leaner and that's it. Okay. And also I'm a cleaner because I have time to clean. So that's how it works. Okay, so let's start off with Jasmine's midsummer flower crown. This turned out gorgeous. To be very gorgeous. Look at that.

[Allison]

Gorgeous. Look. And look at that shine. Look at that color, the amber hues, the dark. I just want to stick my mouth on that thing.

[Ronnie]

The braiding is perfect. She put these, like, flower, like, tendril things through the braids. I mean, it just looks great.

[Allison]

Great. Cardamom, cinnamon. It's great. It looks wonderful. Toby. You know, it's like Toby's thing here. He's. He. He makes. It's kind of funny because he put, like, a little snowman on top of his strange sort of like, sand worm esque stack of bread. But it's funny because the. The bread itself looks like a snowman. And then he put a snowman on top of the snowman.

[Ronnie]

Yeah, this is.

[Allison]

It's not. This is not a triumph for me. I mean, it's. If I had made it, it would look great because I'm, like, not a bread baker. Be like, look at what I made. You guys will be like, whoa. But if you're, like, on this show, this is, like, a little silly looking.

[Ronnie]

Yeah, it's. It's silly. It's not terrible. The snowman's ridiculous. The. Yeah, it's leaning. Yeah.

[Allison]

But it's giving more Pilgrim than it is feel.

[Ronnie]

Like I'm just hating on Toby for no reason. But, like, this braiding around it, isn't that just fondant that he just, like, made really thick ropes of fondant and it. Is that what he did, like, braided it off.

[Allison]

Where's the hammer and the sickle? I mean, this is supposed to be a Stalin cake. Come on now. Let's do some onion domes. Come on. Come on. But I do think that by having that buckle so high, it. It reads more like Pilgrim than it does Santa. Like, it should have been. It should have been lower. And honestly, get rid of that green braid or put the green braid down with the red braid. Put the buckle one tier lower. And that's if you want to put on another ring and make that, like, Santa's beard or something like that.

[Ronnie]

Yeah, I agree with you.

[Allison]

Or like some sort of, like, Christmas.

[Ronnie]

It's not like this crown. Oh, yeah, that's a cute idea. It's not like a huge fail or anything, but it's. Yeah, it's not great. This one gets no respect. Tom's, you know, Tom's boring story cake, I think is getting dissed because his story is so lame, but I actually kind of like his. I think it's really delicious. Yeah. I mean, like, big cinnamon rolls all put together and glazed. And the leaves look nice and the tree looks really good. It ended up looking like poo poo. So I think it looks nice.

[Allison]

It looks delicious. I mean, you can really. He's got great color on those cinnamon rolls. Like, you can tell it's got, like, a nice crackle to it. They think. They think it looks stunning. It's orange, cinnamon, and pecan. Like, I'm sure it looks one. They love it. They love the way it tastes. It's gorgeous. It's gorgeous. But just, you know what? The lack of soul behind it really bothers me, you know?

[Ronnie]

Yeah, well, I get it, but, you know, I don't mind the lack of soul all the time. At the end of the day, I really don't like all the traumas associated with every little thing. I do kind of respect when people, you know, can just make something just because it's good. You know, it's like on Top Chef when they got mad at that guy, the Italian guy, for not being, like, meaningful enough, and he's like, I just want to make good food. Like, yeah, do I have to have a fucking trauma with every little thing? And I kind of agree with that. But once you get used to the trauma part and the people making everything so personal, it does seem lacking when there's not that, you know, like that recipe thing I read earlier, when they don't share their trauma, I suddenly get mad like, you're literally never gonna win with me. And I get that. No, but, no, that's my trauma. That's what I would make a cake called never winning with me. Okay.

[Allison]

I just make a cake dedicated to my therapists. Well, now we have well fed.

[Ronnie]

It's just like a person. A well fed person on a cruise.

[Allison]

It would just be like, you know what? I would have a cake that looks like a. Like a small, little, gay, closeted gay boy. And it's like, here it is. Here's the trauma.

[Ronnie]

Well, if I made a. If I made a cake based on my therapist, it would actually be cake. I'm like, hey, guys, it's a cake that looks like a cake.

[Allison]

I dedicate this. I dedicate this cake. Cake. So this is Jessica's rain dance celebration. And so I, you know, obviously the. The meaning behind this is very lovely about being working in these communities in Uganda and the rain dances and everything. But what it looks like is just like a. It does. The. The bread doesn't totally look like pumpkins. Maybe the top one does, but it just looks like people trying to climb a mountain of pumpkin or a mountain of loaves of bread. It's like some weird, surreal, and. And we have like, it's cool. She made, like, the rain. I don't know. It all it looks just a little janky.

[Ronnie]

The cake itself doesn't look good. The breads don't look good. And then the little people. It looks like one of the people is trying to stop one of the clouds that is tipping over from hitting its friend and killing it. Look, it's like, watch out. And the other one's about to die. But, you know, I like all the little corn cobs and what are those? Bell peppers? Why are there bell peppers showing up? Oh, they're carrots. I think they're carrots.

[Allison]

Oh, they're carrots.

[Ronnie]

Yeah.

[Allison]

The. She says that this is Japanese milk bread. Well, well, Paul, did you. Are you going to say, oh, yes, that's on page 73 of my cookbook? No, of course. Because you don't have a recipe for Japanese milk bread. You just have loaves that are made with milk.

[Ronnie]

Okay, who's next? Ben?

[Allison]

Leslie. So this is Leslie's. Her coravai sweet bread that's dedicated to her granddaughter. Her rum soaked raisin sweet bread dedicated to her five year old daughter. It's cute. I mean, it's a little lopsided, but the daisies are cute. I don't understand what these yellow tendrils are coming out the side. It's like little spider arms.

[Ronnie]

Yeah. I think what's kind of hurting this one is the decoration. It's the flowers and those, the whatever, cornstalks. Why is everybody making? What are they? I don't know what they are, but yeah, it makes it look weird. I think it makes it look lopsided. Or is it lopsided? I can't tell if it's a visual.

[Allison]

It looks lopsided. But they, they love the bake on it. They say the texture is great, flavor's great. So it's actually a successful loaf. The daisies look wonder, wonderful. It's just. I don't know what these, like yellow laurel leaves are that are sort of draped all around it. It's just.

[Ronnie]

Yeah, I'm not sure. I'm not sure about that either. But they love it, so that's good for her. And I like her. So you go, Leslie.

[Allison]

Natalia's is a little odd. Hers is also a corovi. This is the one that's generational, and I think it's cool. She put like a. She made like lace that, like wraps around the loaves, which I like. I like a. I like a modest loaf that's like. I would like to put on some. I'd like to put on some lace, please, before I'm presented to the judges. But overall, wrapping is all off.

[Ronnie]

Like, look, she's, like, wrapped it and then she just kind of cuts it in the middle here it's like, it's just kind of hanging off. And then up here it's like layered, but then it's all hanging all out over each other. So it's a good idea, but it's kind of sloppy, eh?

[Allison]

Yeah. And there's like weird gaps in between loves because they're sort of like sitting on top of other things. So there's like, like weird kind of caverns that are in there that just don't look. It doesn't look.

[Ronnie]

What is kind of looks like a stock. What is kind of cool are those real flowers that she just decorated it with. Real flowers. Because that looks like a real sunflower, right?

[Allison]

That looks like a real sunflower. Yeah. Look. Yeah. I don't know. You know, with this show, you never know. They don't. They say the bread's claggy, though. And guess what? It needed more proving, guys.

[Ronnie]

Proving. It's all in the proving. It's bread week. Come on, provers. Yeah. What's her button? Says claggy a lot. This is where she enters her claggy phase. Her claggy. Claggy, Claggy, Claggy, clocky claggy.

[Allison]

I'm in my claggy. Yeah. Nadia's looks beautiful. This is her. This is her marriage ghetto. Her sweet bread marriage ghetto. Although I seem to remember from this side, it looked a little jankier. But from above, which we have in the photo. So shout out to our note taker who put photos in our notes.

[Ronnie]

Truly. Oh, my God.

[Allison]

That's why we have, like, that's why we have such. If we didn't have these photos, we'd be like, I think it looked good.

[Ronnie]

This would have been a 10 minute recap, that's for sure. But, yeah, being able to look at it like, this is crazy. This looks really, really beautiful. It's a different shape than the other ones. It has the actual cake from above. Looks like a flower. Just how it's shaped with all the petals she made. All the flowers she made with her circle cutter. Even though Paul probably is resentful of the idea. Look beautiful. They look like real roses. They look so pretty.

[Allison]

Yeah. And she's put some sort of like, raspberry, like, creme muslina in. In the middle. And Paul, like, gets on his fingers. She's like, oh, by the way, that won't come off your fingers. So apparently it's A real sticking point for my boyfriend. So every time I touch your body, I get stained and I'm like, well, I'm sorry. I'm a baker and I know we've had a lot of. A lot of counseling.

[Ronnie]

That's why I want Mary love. Stop with the red fingers. Come on.

[Allison]

Stop using so much dye and garlic.

[Ronnie]

I keep getting Nadia. I'm getting the names confused still because it's our first time recapping it, but okay. So then we go over to PO.

[Allison]

Hers looks great. It's very refined, actually. It's like a very understated wedding cake. It looked lovely. It looks very lovely. And they. And they really like it. There's a really strong coconut flavor. There's cherry. It's actually, it's. It's a very, very successful bread tower for her.

[Ronnie]

Yeah, what a successful bread tower. You did. You know what? I'm so proud of you. Everybody loves a bread tower.

[Allison]

Now come on.

[Ronnie]

All right, next we go to our shawan. So wonderful time of the year, pre Halloween cake. Let's check it out, shall we?

[Allison]

It's a little strange looking, I'm not gonna lie. It's like just a stack of strange colored breads. The bottom one when it came out actually looked very lovely, but now it's stacked and cracked and there's like the turnips are all sad, but then there's also whimsical like moons and stars and clouds. And then there's like some attempt at a bonfire at the top.

[Ronnie]

I think this looks really nice actually for what he's going for. I mean, it does look like a Halloween cake to me. I think the bonfire thing is just. It's like tilting so it makes the bread look like it's lopsided. A lot of this is just like the. The decorations are making things look lot platted. I think think it's like pulling your vision in a weird way. But I mean, I like this one.

[Allison]

Well, unfortunately has a lot of issues because Paul says it's under baked. Sadly. It's like, oh, really? It's like as in you under baked it in a very sad way. It's under baked, sadly.

[Ronnie]

I would love if you could find a way to be more charismatic in your failures, honestly.

[Allison]

And guess what? Certainly under proved. Way to go. Didn't do. The one thing I ask of you is prove your bread.

[Ronnie]

Way to prove my point. Under prover. I believed in you, mullet. I've been fighting for you, mullet.

[Allison]

Prude. You got something to add to it? You'd like to use your new favorite buzzword.

[Ronnie]

I thought you were referring to sloppy holes, which is what I've said a lot in this. In this episode as well.

[Allison]

There was a. There was talk in the donut part where someone was saying. I think it was Aaron, who's coming up now about like, he's like. I don't have preference about whole size. Okay.

[Ronnie]

That's what they all say. Okay, so here we go to Aaron's Flowers in paradise. Sweet bread. This one we don't even really see very well. It's just covered in flowers. It's like the whole.

[Allison]

This one is gorgeous. This one, to me, I was like, this one should have been one Star Baker. It was, was. It was absolutely beautiful. It also had a really, like, heartfelt message behind it, a story behind it. They seem to really love the way it tasted. This was just. It was wonderful. It was really so nice. And you know, Paul and Prue said it was like, you know, Paul was like, what a great tribute. Well done. And by the way, thanks for proving it. So I did mullet. Did you hear me say that in the background? No, in the back. Did you hear me say proving that's what you're supposed to be doing?

[Ronnie]

Stupid mullet failure. Okay, so here's my question about this again. Are these real flowers? Because I.

[Allison]

These I don't think are real. I don't think these are real.

[Ronnie]

Well, but look, let me show you another angle of this picture because it's like crazy. Hold on. Close window.

[Allison]

No, those are not real. Look at this. It's poppy seeds. They put poppy seeds in the center. No, those are not real right now.

[Ronnie]

But some of them. Look, let me show you. I think some of them are like. Some of them are candy. Like the ones up here are. Are icing. But these ones are not icing. Look how they're all floppy, these roses and things. I think these are real, real plastic flowers. You know what I mean?

[Allison]

I think, I mean, non edible. Really fooled. I think you've been fooled by big flower, the big flower industry.

[Ronnie]

Well, it's rough to do, to fool me, pull one over on me. But they've done it. Okay. So they all think it's, you know, astonishing. And so he's. He's gonna cry. But this time it's like, you know, a good one. It's a good cry. Yeah. It's an earned cry. Yeah. So people hug him and stuff because it's that show. He's not told to shut up and cry outside. Like Nina would probably tell him on Project Runway. And I love when people cry on Project Runway. Nina just squints her eyes and nods like, okay, can I go on a cigarette break for this part?

[Allison]

Project Runway, which is still abysmal this season, I'd like to add.

[Ronnie]

Yeah, you turned me off of that. I didn't even watch it. Yeah, but I've seen a lot of the clothes online that they're posting. You know, people posting the Reddit thread about it, and I'm like, not.

[Allison]

Yeah, they did it. Yeah, yeah, they've had. They've had. They. They've improved a little bit in terms of their. In terms of, like, the clothing they've made. But, like, the. The reality. The reality showess of it all is just so contrived now when they get into these stupid fights and they make them, like, go after each other in a way that's just so not the spirit of the show. Like, I. I'm, like, embarrassed. Embarrassed for the producers who have ruined Project Runway. But, you know, of course, I'm still watching it. Anyway, now they're judging, and the question is, did Po man do enough to save herself? Because she's sort of the comeback kid, and she did a really good, you know, showstopper, but she really. She really flopped hardcore in the first two challenges. So now it's time.

[Ronnie]

She's out of her.

[Allison]

She's out. They get rid of her. Who's the Star Baker? Is it? Oh, it's Jasmine. Yeah. Jasmine killed it this week. So Jasmine, Star Baker Poi man is done. And Mullet lives to see another week.

[Ronnie]

Yeah, Mullet lives to mullet on, you know, so God bless his heart. So that's it for the Great British Baking Show. So nice two hour recap for you.

[Allison]

Practically three hours because we did the cast preview right before this and turn into a bonus episode.

[Ronnie]

Yeah, we were like, we love British Bake Off. That'll be a great, easy day for us, like, 10 hours later. But it was easy as far as talking about. It was super fun to talk about with you. Let us know in the comments what you guys want us to taste test next time.

[Allison]

Yeah, we're having fun. We wanted to sample different things and just. Just watch TV and talk about it. Thanks, everyone for being here. Yeah, sample platter. Thanks, everyone for being here, and we will catch you on the next episode. Bye.

[Ronnie]

Bye.

[Allison]

Watch what? Crappins would like to thank its premium sponsors. Ain't no thing like Allison King. It's always a party on Allison Block.

[Ronnie]

Our way is the Amber way.

[Allison]

It's the Foster and The Furious It's Amanda Foster. It's always automatic with Ashley the Auto Put your hands together for Carly Clap.

[Ronnie]

Get on the right foot with Chrissy Offutt. She's not just a Sheila She's a Daniella Etchells. We never miss her call.

[Allison]

It's Diane Call Aaron mcnicholas she don't miss no Trickolus Hava Nagila Weber. You'll never hide from Heidi Eleanor Jones. I go, you go, we all go for Hugo Jamie she has no less.

[Ronnie]

Namey she's our kind of mess It's Jennifer Messer Siphon some scotch with Jessica.

[Allison]

Trotch she's our favorite streamer Caroline Peacock.

[Ronnie]

Kristen the Piston Anderson Get a bee in your bonnet with Lacey B. Que sera sera Whatever will be will Lauren Sills be she gets an A from us It's Lindsey D. Let's give a Kisserino to Lisa Lino Fresh as a daisy It's Maisie McHenry we love her on the rocks It's Melissa Cox. Megan Berg. You can't have a burger without the.

[Allison]

Burg this is Living with Michelle Vivian.

[Ronnie]

I love a YA Olivia Williamson. Tastier than Flanderson. It's Rachel Manderson.

[Allison]

She sure is swell It's Raquel, yes.

[Ronnie]

We canna It's Savannah Cast a spell.

[Allison]

With Shannon Spellman let's share with Sharon Eldridge.

[Ronnie]

Darn Skippy, it's Tippy and our Super Premium sponsors She's VVIP It's Amanda V. K. You can't lose when you're with Amy Baldwin.

[Allison]

Somebody get us 10cc's of Betsy MD.

[Ronnie]

We'Re taking the gold with Brenda Silva.

[Allison]

Let'S get real with Caitlin o' Neal.

[Ronnie]

Put us on a stretcher It's Charlotte Fletcher don't get salty with Christine Pepper can't have a meal without the Emily.

[Allison]

Sides who, what, why, where? And Gwen Pentland let's go into the.

[Ronnie]

Woods with Guy Tubbs it's our queen It's Queen La Elle FIFA Nobody holds.

[Allison]

A candle to Jamie Kendall Hail the cork master the master of the cork Jennifer Corcoran. We got our wish It's Jen Plish she's not harsh She's Jill Hirsch My Favorite Murdo Karen McMurdo we love him madly It's Kyle Pod Shadley in the study with a candlestick It's Leslie Peacock G. It's Lisa H. We're ride or die for Lisa Ryder Baron, She's a whiz It's Liz Sartham Always killing it.

[Ronnie]

It's Lola Al Kalani, the incredible edible Matthew Sisters. She eases our woes. It's Melissa St. Rose. There's a chance of meatballs. It's Rebecca Cloud, neat. It's Ronit Feldman.

[Allison]

Maximum love for Sandy Maximoska. She's the queen bee. It's Sarah Lemke.

[Ronnie]

We cannot tell a lie.

[Allison]

It's Sarah Tellif's son Shannon out of a cannon. Anthony, please don't stop. It's solely and pop. Let's take off with Tamla Plaine.

[Ronnie]

She ain't no shrinkin Violet Cootar we love you guys. If you like, watch what crappens. You can listen ad free right now by joining Wondery plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts. Prime members can listen ad free on Amazon Music. Before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a short [e-mail] survey.