Brace yourself for Soggy Bottom Bingo – it’s Pastry Week!

Hands down, this is my favourite week! Pastry is the king of beige foods. And for one very good reason: life is better wrapped in pastry.

So what did the pastry-themed week have in store for the remaining seven bakers? Would it be all puff and nonsense? Would the bakers crack and flake under the time pressures?

Let’s find out!

**** SPOILER ALERT: This article contains details of the outcomes of each of the challenges, this week’s star baker and the sixth of The Class of 2025 to go home. Please don’t read on if you have yet to watch the Pastry Week episode and don’t want to know the outcome! ****

THE SIGN OF A GOOD BAKER

According to Prue, pastry week is one of the most important weeks in Bake Off because if you can’t make pastry then ‘frankly, you’re not much of a baker.’

Phew, that’s me flying under the radar for a little while longer then

Aside from my love of all things pastry, I think that’s why it’s my favourite week. This week (and bread week) are the two that I feel really show more of the bakers’ technical talents rather than their creativity and artistic flair as some of the other weeks tend to major on.

THE SIGNATURE: SAVOURY PASTRY PLAITS

For the first of the pastry challenges, the judges were expecting the bakers to produce crisp, flaky, laminated pastry with a savoury filling, shaped into a beautifully plaited design.

They were given two and a half hours to complete this task, which for once seemed like a decent amount of time! Even though the pastry making process is quite protracted (laminated doughs require chill time in between each roll and fold), the fillings typically go into the oven uncooked, so this takes away the time that would otherwise be needed to make and cool the filling.

Hopefully the bakers remembered that and didn’t try to make their lives harder by choosing a pre-cooked filling…

AMAZINGLY BRAVE

As we learnt what each of the bakers had chosen to create for the pastry signature, Lesley told us that she was using a Paul Hollywood recipe for her filling. But she had decided to pimp it up a little bit to improve it. Bold.

And then there was Toby. Who decided he was going to do a full puff pastry, even though it wasn’t required for the challenge (rough puff pastry is a lot quicker to make and is still a laminated dough). Amazingly brave is how Prue described him. Paul looked slightly incredulous and told him he wouldn’t have enough time to make it.

I must admit that I feared Toby may become a victim of his own ambitions on this one. I’ve seen [more than] enough TV reality food programmes in my time to know that, for those contestants who decide to go over and above the brief, it usually doesn’t end well. It’s so much better – and safer – to knock it out of the park with what is expected than to go rogue and not quite pull it off.

But then Toby has shown us time and again that he’s a risk taker. And I kinda like that about him.

FORTUNE FLAVOURS THE BRAVE

Anyone who works a lot with pastry knows that you need really punchy flavours for your fillings. For them to cut through the pastry, they need to be a bit, well, extra.

So what did the bakers opt for in an attempt to wow the judges?

Tom used his time living in Hong Kong as inspiration for a fermented soy and chilli oil infused sausagemeat filling, wrapped in red pastry shaped like the severed tail of a dragon. Lesley’s take on Paul’s sausage plait had a layer of homemade gooseberry compote through the middle. And Jasmine added leek, apple, thyme and smoked paprika to her sausagemeat.

Toby and Nataliia both picked chicken as their main meat content, with Toby adding bacon, leek and cheese and Nataliia wrapping her chicken and bacon around garlic butter sticks in a nod to her Ukranian roots and its national dish, chicken Kiev.

Aaron chose beef as his meat filling, which he flavoured with vibrant Jamaican curry spices and Scotch bonnet chilli.

And Iain’s meat-free savoury plait was created from tofu, broccoli and potato (see earlier note about pastry needing punchy flavours )

PLAIT’S THE WAY I LIKE IT

So what did the judges make of their flavour combinations? And their plaiting skills? Did they live up to Paul’s expectations of neat, precise and incredible tasting savoury pastry plaits?

Lesley’s take on a Hollywood classic was a hit, with Paul admiring the colour, structure and overall look of it but saying that it could have been improved with slightly thicker pastry to give it more flake. Prue thought the addition of the gooseberry compote was a little bit of genius.

Tom, Nataliia and Aaron were all told that their pastry was slightly underbaked. Paul found Toby’s flavours boring and Iain’s needing more punch. And Prue said if sausage rolls all tasted like Jasmine’s, she’d eat a lot more of them.

Despite his pastry being ‘a few minutes under’, Aaron received some incredible feedback for his Jamaican beef plaity – none more so than both judges taking a chunk away to eat for their lunch! Nice one, Aaron.

So did Toby pull off the full puff? Kinda. It wasn’t a disaster, but neither was it brilliant. Paul said it had some lamination but with full puff pastry you would expect double what he had achieved. So you probably put yourself through the extra stress for no additional gain there, Toby,

THE TECHNICAL: gala pie

Set by Paul, the technical challenge was a gala pie, described as a spectacular rectangular pork pie made with hot water crust pastry and a line of eggs running through the middle. They had three hours to make it, which would need to be split into roughly two equal parts of making and baking time.

As always, the technical challenge is presented to the bakers with scant instructions. Paul did tell them that they needed to be neat and precise for the recipe to work. And out of their earshot, he told us that it was vitally important they create a steam hole in the lid of the pie. Without it, the chances of pastry blowouts and soggy bottoms are waaaaaay higher.

This was shortly followed by:

Iain: “I don’t think it needs an air hole, but maybe it does?”. Yes, Iain. It does.

And Aaron: “I didn’t put a steam hole in it but I think it’s going to be OK.” No Aaron. It is not.

KNOWING WHICH WAY IS UP

Something I was surprised we didn’t see discussed or highlighted during this week’s technical was which way up your eggs need to go in the tin when you’re making a gala pie.

As a gala pie is sliced through once baked, you need to lay your eggs down horizontally in the tin so that each slice has a full ‘O’ of yolk. If you put them in vertically, you’ll end up with a line of yolk.

I’m not entirely convinced there wasn’t some ‘selective’ footage during both the baking and the judging on this one

Call me a cynic, if you will.

If you’re going for the full aesthetic with a gala pie, you also need to trim the egg white ends off before placing them in the tin. This means that you won’t end up with a slice that is all white with no yolk. The beady-eyed amongst y’all would have spotted during the judging that Lesley didn’t know this

LEAF IT OUT, PAUL

So what did the judges make of the seven gala pies waiting for them on the gingham altar?

Well first off, Paul seemed to have a little bit of an obsession with the number of leaves the bakers had (or, more accurately, had not) decorated their pies with. I mean, in the grand scheme of things and considering it wasn’t specified exactly in the instructions…

Both Nataliia and Toby received those dreaded words that should never be said in the same sentence – soggy and pastry – in their feedback. Prue said she thought Iain’s pie looked like it had been crimped by two different people! Aaron’s was underbaked, Lesley’s was well-baked, Tom’s was a bit of a mess and Jasmine’s was robust with good flavour.

So this week’s baker at the bottom of the technical was Aaron. He did have a great signature, so slightly less worrying for him than if he’d also had a bad first round. Tom was sixth, Nataliia fifth, Toby fourth, Lesley third, Iain second and Jasmine first.

THE SHOWSTOPPER: SCULPTED TARTS

After probably two of his worst rounds in the competition so far, Tom was going to need something pretty special in the pastry showstopper to dig himself out of danger. I was also a little nervous for Toby as I can’t help thinking he’s a little under-marked and over-harshly criticised for his baking.

Anyhoo, onto the pastry week showstopper, which this year was to be visually stunning sculpted tarts. The judges were looking for great textures and flavours and beautifully sculpted tarts that showcased their engineering, design and baking skills and also told a bit of a story.

To make the task trickier, the bakers’ structures needed to be at least a foot tall and could not be made from anything other than the pastry used for their tarts. They had just four hours.

A ROLLERCOASTER OF EMOTIONS

Paul told us that this year’s pastry showstopper was an opportunity for us to be a bit nosey and dig around in the lives of the bakers.

Aaron had other ideas, however, as he told us that he didn’t really want to say on camera what his sculpture was because he would then be admitting to something that had been a secret for years. Relenting eventually, he let out to millions of viewers that his ‘Nobody Gnomes’ tart was based on his antics with a friend and the period of time where they used to move his friend’s mum’s gnome around the garden without her knowing [until now!]

Toby told us that he used to work at a theme park and spent some considerable time trying to tame a goat called Milly that lived underneath a rollercoaster there. He thought he had achieved it – only to be rammed by her

MASTERING THE [T]ART OF PASTRY SCULPTURES IN JUST FOUR HOURS

Yes Toby, that’s four hours and not the four and a half hours you thought you were getting. Kudos for pulling it back, though!

And with Tom’s two biggest fears being structural pastry and Paul Hollywood, how did he – and the rest of the bakers get on?

Lesley delighted the judges with her ‘exquisite’ pastry bees and the depth of flavour of her honey-glazed pecan tart. Aaron divided the judges with his use of jasmine extract – which Paul didn’t like but Prue said was nice although she couldn’t eat much of it.

Ian’s retelling of the story of how the Giant’s Causeway came to be was a hit, described as detailed, clever and a great work of art. Although Prue did say that she thought he’d gone a bit OTT with the whiskey (and we all know that Prue likes her boozy bakes!)

Despite having half an hour less than he thought, Toby managed to pull off his pastry rollercoaster showstopper. His pastry was considered ‘exceptional’, although his structure was a little on the wonky side.

Nataliia’s sculpted swans were a visual triumph but the judges thought her pastry was too thick, overworked and a bit on the tough side. Jasmine’s sculpted tree looked like something you’d seen in a professional patisserie shop window according to Paul, although her tart was missing a texture (like a curd or jam) and was a little on the dry side.

And Tom needn’t have worried about either Paul or the structural pastry as he got a ‘Tom’s back in the tent’ for his Connect Four pastry sculpture.

FAREWELL TO THE SIXTH BAKER OF THE CLASS OF 2025

I thought this was a pretty tough one to predict this week as nobody had a total car crash week and while there were some issues in the signature and technical, everybody put up a great pastry showstopper.

I feared for Toby a little because, as I mentioned earlier, I think he’s judged a little harshly sometimes. Thankfully, those fears were baseless

The judges’ discussions with Alison and Noel centred around Nataliia and Aaron at the bottom. Tom saved himself from joining them with his great showstopper. Jasmine and Lesley were both in line for star baker after having three great rounds each.

Sadness for Nataliia as she became the sixth baker to leave the tent.

And a third star baker crown for Jasmine this week. Unquestionably well-deserved as she’s exceptionally talented, but I so very much wanted Lesley to get it this week. Let meringue week be yours, Lesley!

Until next week!

The post THE GREAT BRITISH BAKE OFF 2025: WEEK SIX – PASTRY WEEK appeared first on The Little Bakery of Happiness.

Baking for someone with coeliac disease? Here’s what you need to know…

If checking labels for sources of gluten, worrying about cross-contamination and interrogating ingredient lists isn’t a daily occurence for you (as it is for coeliacs) then it is completely understandable that you may feel a little daunted about baking for someone with coeliac disease.

I have written this article to help those of you who may be thinking of baking for someone with coeliac disease for the first time. It may also be helpful to you if you have coeliac disease and need to communicate to friends and family the importance of vigilance when it comes to baking and cooking for you. This can sometimes be a challenge as not everyone fully understands our condition (and why would they if they’re not living with it day in, day out!)

THE IMPORTANCE OF NOT DIGESTING GLUTEN WHEN YOU HAVE COELIAC DISEASE

For those of us living with coeliac disease, a strictly controlled gluten-free diet is vital for our ongoing good health and wellbeing. Even the slightest crumb of a food containing gluten can make us ill for days on end.

I know this may sound far-fetched. And it was something I struggled to wrap my head around following my diagnosis. I mean, how can you eat *all* the gluten for *all* the years and then suddenly a tiny speck of it can make you ill? But it really, really is true. It is not attention-seeking behaviour, it’s not being over-dramatic or paranoid and it’s not that “a little bit of gluten every now and again won’t do you any harm.” It will. And it does. Trust me, I (as do many of my fellow coeliacs) speak from first-hand, deeply unpleasant experience.

FINDING GLUTEN

The main sources of gluten are the grains wheat, barley, rye and oats, with other less common sources including spelt, einkorn and emmer. I have seen repeated claims over time that baked goods made with spelt are gluten-free. This is categorically untrue. Some people with a gluten-intolerance report being able to more easily digest ancient grains such as spelt, but this does not make these grains gluten-free. And they are absolutely not safe for coeliacs.

Oats are a constant source of confusion in the gluten-free diet. The grain itself does not contain gluten but the way in which it is grown, harvested and milled has a high potential for cross contamination. As such, standard oats are not considered gluten-free. Gluten-free oats do exist and they are safe for coeliacs if they are certified gluten-free.

BUT (and there’s always a but!) some coeliacs can’t tolerate oats – even the certified gluten-free ones – so do please check with the coeliac you are baking for before using them.

I SEE YOU: SPOTTING GLUTEN-CONTAINING INGREDIENTS IN PRODUCT INGREDIENT LISTS

When you are shopping for ingredients to bake for a coeliac, you need to check for the presence of all/any of these gluten-containing ingredients and put them back on the shelf if they appear in the ingredients list.

It is a legal requirement for food to be labelled with any gluten-containing ingredients. It is the grain, not the word gluten, that you are looking for in the list. Allergens must be highlighted in some way so that they are easy to see. And most manufacturers use either bold type or CAPS or both. As an illustration, below are the ingredients lists for a packet of standard digestive biscuits and a packet of gluten-free digestives, which I have lifted from the Tesco groceries website.

STANDARD DIGESTIVE BISCUITS:
Wheat Flour (with added Calcium, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin), Vegetable Oil (Palm), Sugar, Wheatgerm (5%), Raising Agents: E500, E503, Salt, Dried Whey (Milk), Natural Flavouring
GLUTEN-FREE DIGESTIVE BISCUITS:
Gluten Free Oat Flour, Muscovado Sugar, Maize Starch, Palm Fat, Rapeseed Oil, Palm Oil, Partially Inverted Sugar Syrup, Raising Agent (Sodium Bicarbonate), Flavouring, Salt, Emulsifier (Mono- and Di-Glycerides of Fatty Acids).

We can see immediately from these two ingredients lists that the standard digestive biscuits contain wheat and are therefore not safe for coeliacs. The gluten-free digestive biscuits have no gluten-containing ingredients highlighted in the list and no may contain warnings, so we know that they are safe for coeliacs. BUT they do contain gluten-free oats, so we need to check with our coeliac friends/family members that they can tolerate gluten-free oats before we use these biscuits in our baking.

WARNING. THIS IS NOT A DRILL!

May contain warnings. A headache for coeliacs and a source of controversy and confusion for a variety of reasons.

The term gluten-free is legally protected, which means that a product should not claim to be gluten-free unless it is under 20ppm. It is not uncommon to have an ingredients list with only non-gluten-containing ingredients but with a may contain warning for a gluten-containing ingredient (for example, wheat).

Here the manufacturer is communicating to the consumer that there is a high probability of cross contamination with the ingredient mentioned. As an example, this is common on some Cadbury chocolate products where products with gluteny ingredients are produced on the same line as those with no gluteny ingredients and the process isn’t segregated to guard against cross contamination.

CADBURY DAIRY MILK (BAR)
Milk, Sugar, Cocoa Butter, Cocoa Mass, Vegetable Fats (Palm, Shea), Emulsifiers (E442, E476), Flavourings
May contain nuts, wheat.

We can see here that this product is not safe for coeliacs because of the possibility of it containing wheat. Please don’t use this chocolate if you are baking for a coeliac. There are plenty of chocolate bars that are safe to use and if you’re set on Cadbury chocolate, their buttons and giant buttons do not carry a may contain warning.

It is worth stating here that it is my personal choice not to eat any foods where there is a may contain warning on the label. This is in line with the advice from Coeliac UK. I am aware that not everyone takes this stance. But for me it is not up for debate and you will therefore not find me saying anything other than to avoid them.

IT’S GOOD TO TALK

When someone goes out of their way to help us feel included at an occasion where food is involved, it really does make those of us with coeliac disease feel warm and fuzzy on the inside. But at the same time it is an enormous source of anxiety. Do they know about cross contamination? Or that we can’t eat foods with may contain warnings in the ingredients list? Might they have used an open jar of jam in the cake filling? Should I check and risk offending them after they have gone to the bother of catering for me? Or should I keep quiet and risk getting ill?

You may have no idea that this is what goes on inside the head of many a coeliac in these situations. How could you be expected to if we keep it to ourselves? Which is why I am telling you here

And it can also be an anxious time for you if you’re going to be catering for us: worrying about how to prepare things and what to think about to make sure we don’t get ill. Which is why I am advocating that you talk to us about how the food we are about to eat has been prepared. And never be afraid to ask questions if you’re unsure about anything.

Having a chat with the coeliac(s) in your life before cooking or baking for them with get any anxieties that either of you have out in the open and will result in a happy eating experience. Which of course I would champion!

NO OFFENCE, BUT WHAT’S WITH ALL THE QUESTIONS?

As coeliacs, we don’t live in a gluten-free bubble and so we have to make decisions every day on how safe it is for us to eat certain foods in certain places and in certain situations. Informed decisions help us to stay safe and well. Which is why it is so good to talk and ask questions We’re not questioning your cooking or baking skills. And neither are we saying that we don’t trust you. It would be unreasonable of us to expect you to know the intricacies of a medical condition you don’t live with! So we’re just asking questions to make those informed decisions that will help keep us from being glutened.

DON’T BE DOUBLE-DIPPING

If you’re baking a cake for us, the chances are you will be using butter (or another form of fat) and maybe jam or chocolate spread or something else from a jar. Please always make sure that you use a fresh pot of jam or a fresh packet of butter when baking for someone with coeliac disease.

If yours is not an exclusively gluten-free household (and let’s face it, how many are?), the chances are that the pot of jam in your fridge has had a knife dipped in it, spread on a slice of gluteny toast and then dipped back in the jar for a second helping. This is a one-way ticket to what us coeliacs refer to as a ‘right royal glutening.’ So please start a new packet, pot or jar of any ingredient you are using to cater for us in order to mitigate this risk.

SEPARATING THE WHEAT FROM THE…

In an ideal world, the perfect kitchen for a coeliac would have a completely separate set of cooking and baking tools and equipment than those used to cook gluteny things. But for many this is neither practical nor financially viable. And if you’re just baking something gluten-free for a friend or family member once in a while, it seems a little OTT.

Most of us are accepting of the fact that you will be baking for us using the things you use for your own food on a daily basis. But do please always check with the coeliac you are baking for, as we are all different and have different levels of acceptance when it comes to how our food is prepared.

That said, please give all your pots, pans, tools, tins and utensils a nice and thorough wash in hot soapy water (or better still, run them through the dishwasher if you have one) before you bake for us.

IT’S NOT HIP TO BE SQUARE

We need to talk tins. Baking tins.

As discussed above, not everyone is in a position to have separate baking tins that are used exclusively for gluten-free baking. And the chances are, if you are baking something gluten-free once in a while for a friend or family member, this is you.

My advice in this situation is to give square, oblong and straight-edged cake tins a wide berth if you have already baked gluteny things in them. Stick to round tins and / or cupcake pans lined with cupcake cases.

I say this because it is next to impossible to get baked-in cake batter out of the corners of a square/oblong cake tin. And even those few pesky crumbs can make a coeliac quite unwell.

I hope you have found this little guide to baking for someone with coeliac disease useful. It may seem a lot to remember, so you can always bookmark this page for future reference. But the simplest way to bake safely for someone with coeliac disease is to chat with the person you are doing a spot of gluten-free baking for before you start. Coeliacs don’t bite – unless we’re very, very hungry

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