Welcome to Le Grand BSAK Bake Off!
November 4th: so we have our baker's dozen plus one more as the inaugural BSAK Bake Off gets underway. Check our teasing trailer for what is to come and our competitor bios
November 21st: LGBBO is finally launched in Senior House Assemblies. The contest starts next Monday in the hotbed of culinary genius namely the Senior Food Room. Our judges are Carl Moore from the Holiday Inn and Mrs Jane Looker. Both of these characters will not hold back in their criticism. Next Thursday Mrs Andrea Ferrari and Aurelien, Head Chef at La Brioche provide the judging panel. A French tart being judges by a French chef! Good luck with that one!!
November 28th: The first round is over and there are 6 very disappointed teachers in school over this long National Day weekend. They have retreated to their families to lick their wounds. Let's hope they come back next year better than ever. For our qualifiers, the 2nd round now awaits and it is about to get hot in the kitchen....
January 24th: 6 days until the 2nd Round...
November 21st: LGBBO is finally launched in Senior House Assemblies. The contest starts next Monday in the hotbed of culinary genius namely the Senior Food Room. Our judges are Carl Moore from the Holiday Inn and Mrs Jane Looker. Both of these characters will not hold back in their criticism. Next Thursday Mrs Andrea Ferrari and Aurelien, Head Chef at La Brioche provide the judging panel. A French tart being judges by a French chef! Good luck with that one!!
November 28th: The first round is over and there are 6 very disappointed teachers in school over this long National Day weekend. They have retreated to their families to lick their wounds. Let's hope they come back next year better than ever. For our qualifiers, the 2nd round now awaits and it is about to get hot in the kitchen....
January 24th: 6 days until the 2nd Round...
Competitor Profiles
Leanne McCabe, Dhabi House Captain, comes into the competition with the weight of expectation bearing down on her shoulders. To be eliminated in the first round would be a PR disaster. She loves to eat Crème Brulée but has never cooked anything French before. She admits that her cooking skills are poor but her participance is all that matters (her words not ours..)
Prediction: 1st round elimination was averted but she is now faced with a much stiffer challenge . She will have a laugh on her face and that's more important...or is it? Kerry Singleton, Junior Head of French will have loads of experience of the wonderful French culture having spent time living there. She will be no stranger to the delights of the patisserie. However, years of pureed food has meant that this represents a whole new level. Prediction: will want to do well as a Francophile and will put up a fight. Perhaps the second round may see her struggle. Sarah Baqla, Y5 Ochre teacher has 'previous' and is a serious contender for the title. Although, she has mastered good old fashioned pub grub, her experience of French baking, is by her own admission, limited but she is now one of the favourites Eliminated in R1 Lisa Jones: predicted to go far but never matched the hype! Catherine Willis: not fancied to progress, but will be proud to have made an edible tart |
Michele Fleming, Head of Senior Media is one of the most genuine people on the planet and for her this competition is all about getting her hands dirty. She will want to entertain and I think she will...
Prediction: unpredictable Christine Welthagen, is the sole French representative and with her football nearly out of the World Cup, she has much to do to restore the pride of a battered nation. Her cooking skills are not just limited to quiche and she has been practising loads! Prediction: a place in the final is within her grasp. Suzanne Gaskell, Head of Learning Support has insider information with one her colleagues having close ties to Dame Mary Berry. I think she bakes more than she lets on and she is a very dark horse. Prediction: Mr Davies' current 2nd favourite in that she is very modest but deep down she wants this. George Meechan is a modest but I suspect a quietly confident chap who by now has probably baked about 23 apple tarts in preparation. He is nothing if not thorough and he will think he has a chance. Prediction: being a finalist would not surprise anyone. Eliminated in R1 Mike Edgar: shock faller at first hurdle Louisa Jeffrey: much fancied but another bad day at the office Nichola Cooper: Cormorant House Captain didn't lead by example and fell some way short |
Justine Lawton, Head of Senior English may well be the Oryx One, but by golly, she is the leading contender and only wild French horses will stop her taking this crown in May. She is the doyen of the cake making fraternity and when Mr Craig left us this year, he knew he would be 10kg less within a week such was the ferocity he would down a Lawton Lemon Drizzle.
Prediction: still the favourite, but there are a few breathing down her neck |
Eliminated in R1
Charlotte Moore: eliminated in the first round. Falcon distraught... |
Le Grand BSAK Bake Off Trailer |
Round 2
So Round 2 is upon us and will take place on Thursday 30th January 2014. Our 8 qualifiers have been briefed and we have gone classic! Yes, it is choux pastry. So their brief is 12 items of choux pastry, sweet or savoury. They can choose an assortment or they can do 12 of the same but all 12 need to be identical in size and shape. We have posted some videos and links to the art of choux pastry below to help them. If you want to give it a go yourself, please do so!
round 2 trailers
original version |
mystery guest 1 |
Le Big Final
before... |
So they think its all over and it is now! The whole world descended upon the BSAK Main Stage at the International Fete on Saturday 1st March to witness our finalists coping with the stress and expectation to produce 12 tastefully presented macaroons as well as one individual portion of a classic French dessert. This was sure to be a very close affair with only the culinary big hitters left. They were:
Dhbai Divas Mrs Baqla Mrs Singleton Miss McCabe Cormorant Man Mr Meechan. For those of you who have been on Mars for the last few weeks or those who want to relive the suspense, take a look at the final video of this 1st series of LGBBO. More to come next year, maybe... |
final photos |
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