‘The Great British Baking Show’ Pie Week Recap


It was pie week on the Great British Baking Show, and pie seems to have a broader definition than most Americans imagine. Hosts Mel and Sue announced that we are midway through the competition and though pie sounds like a fairly easy category to tackle, judges Mary and Paul threw some curveballs to challenge the bakers.

Vulture shared their perspective on the signature bake, which was a Wellington (not often thought of as a pie in the traditional sense), but it did not have to be beef, it could contain another meat or protein. There were a few rules, the usual no soggy bottom applies, the pastry must be laminated, and the meat must be cooked.

Cathryn decided to do a “Full English” Wellington, which was a mix of her own creation.

“Wellington is a ‘glorified sausage roll,’ complete with eggs, tomatoes, mushrooms, and black pudding.”

Ryan and Brendan opted for a fish Wellington, Danny a vegetarian pie, Manisha went with lamb, and Sarah-Jane chose the traditional beef. Several did very well in terms of flavor, but had other problems, including the lamb, which featured rosemary and mint, but had an undercooked crust (read: raw).

Paul Hollywood agreed that Danny did a good job with his vegetarian Wellington, but said it was missing something.

“There’s not much about it,” he said. “I think it’s missing something.”

Obviously, it was missing meat.

Sarah-Jane’s traditional beef Wellington was a mess because the beef was room temperature and seemed to have melted along with the butter in the dough. Sarah-Jane was crushed.

On to the technical challenge, which was “a hand-raised pie, made with hot-water crust and stuffed with chicken, bacon, and apricot.” But this is the Great British Baking Show, so there must be a twist. There are no molds allowed, so bakers must use a wooden dolly, which looks like a doorknob, to mold a warm pastry. This is a lost method that not many people use, and with no instructions, trouble awaited. The secret seemed to be chilling the dough and heavily oiling the dollies. This was a problem for almost everyone and particularly frustrating for John who was missing his tins.

“Why use a stupid thing like this when you can use tins? We’re not in the 1600s now; let’s face it,” he said.

Last of all was the showstopper, which was American pies, giving Paul the opportunity to diss American pies.

“To be honest, most of the American pies I’ve had before, I wouldn’t go back for another one. To make a good American pie, you almost have to make it British.”

Away from the contestants, Paul and Mary discussed that all but two bakers were in peril, and this showstopper was make-or-break for them. There were several usual suspects, including a pumpkin pie, peanut butter pie, sweet potato pie, and key lime pie.

Manisha had a disaster, as her crust broke and she tried to glue it with sugar and meringue. That did not work. Ryan, on the other hand, did what Mary called “sheer perfection” with his key lime pie with crystallized ginger. Manisha was voted out of the tent, and Ryan’s pie was so good, he was the star baker.

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