The 2021 semi-finalist had many of his own meltdowns.
Things got pretty tense in The Great British Bake Off 2023 tent this week, as the line-up tackled Botanical Week for the theme.
This was the second time the theme featured on the show since 2016, and there were many wobbles in the tent, from Dana‘s Showstopper which eventually saw her eliminated from the show, to Cristy‘s meltdown with her Showstopper, which she had to remake at the last minute.
Things were a bed of roses for Josh, however, as he won his first Star Baker accolade for season 14.
Now, RadioTimes.com columnist Jürgen Krauss shares his thoughts on Botanical Week, sympathising with Cristy after having many meltdowns of his own during his time on the Channel 4 baking show.
You can watch Jürgen give his verdict below.
Keep watching at the end of each video for more from the expert baker.
Jürgen on Botanical Week
It was very interesting. Again, it was really enjoyable all in all. I don’t mean the fact that Matty ended up at the bottom, I mean they are in very small bracket of abilities. I think some show more routine than others.
I thought Christy showed a lot of routine in the way she approached things, and the fact that the ganache stuck to the form and broke in the end, that was kind of predicted by Paul. So no big surprise there, but I really enjoy watching them.
Tent meltdowns
Oh, it’s very easy to get emotional in the tent. I had a breakdown. It didn’t make it into the show, but I think everybody has the support by the hosts judges, and whoever is in the tent production team is amazing. You are in a show and the show has to go on and everyone will have a good result at the end.
And yeah, Cristy managed to deliver something really beautiful and special, despite having to dismantle her original one in the last minute and reassemble it. Really, I pour my heart out to her. You put so much of your personality into these bakes and then you have the stress[ful] environment.
It’s the culmination of all these weeks before, all the episodes you have already filmed, plus the preparation time, which is not to be underestimated. The preparation is almost more intense than actually being in the tent and being filmed. That’s my personal opinion. So Cristy did a wonderful, wonderful job.
I think there were several [occasions]. On one occasion, it was just the relief that it was over, that I managed to deliver something that I wanted, just the relief brings up tears. And on another occasion, it was it was in Free From Week, so that was week 8 in our show.
I had somehow read that we had four and a half hours for the Showstopper, and that dawned on me when the announcement was made in the tent, so I had to catch up half an hour in a three tier gluten free bake, which was pretty tough, and again, I baked without a second to spare and so just the relief of that brings up so much.
Favourite bake
I would think there was several. If we look at the buns in the Signature, I would have liked to try Dan’s. They looked irregular, but the flavours must have been amazing, so I would really like to try those – and Cristy’s as well.
And Josh’s and Tasha’s desserts, I really would have liked to try. As I said, I thought Dana’s sugar box with the flowers was incredibly beautiful, but the dessert inside didn’t quite live up to the presentation, sadly.
Least favourite bake
Dana's 'Stop & Smell the Rosé' Floral Dessert Showstopper. #GBBO pic.twitter.com/qTyjMnsmZI
— British Bake Off (@BritishBakeOff) October 31, 2023
It would have been Dana’s dessert, actually, if you call something a dessert and the dominating bit is the sponge, then something is out of balance.
I would also say that that’s part of the problem with Matty’s dessert, that the big element was the sponge and not the cream.
Tip of the week
A general baking tip is: don’t be frightened of these desserts. If you want to make them at home, take one layer at a time. Each layer is a beautiful dessert and you can combine them, and that makes creating these Showstoppers actually very easy.
The only thing you need is time and patience, but try one flavour at a time, one layer at a time and then you can combine them. And for the bakers in the tent, I would say, it’s a tough time. Really everyone leaving leaves such a huge gap at this point, so just keep your spirits up! You’ll get through it and and you will be great!
Jürgen answers…
Would you like Botanical Week to stay as a theme?
Yeah, it has so many possibilities and so many pitfalls. So it’s very easy to use tea bags essentially to flavour your bakes – herbal teas or constituents of herbal teas like hibiscus flowers, or mint or things like that. A lot of contestants took hibiscus as a flavouring and as a colouring agent. I think it’s a very interesting concept and it shows also how the contestants approach bakes and flavours.
It needs more experimenting than other flavours. I had Earl Grey biscuits in German Week and it was very hard to get the Earl Grey flavour into those biscuits, so I’m emphatic with Saku having had problems with her flavours.
But the possibilities of Botanicals are huge, and if that’s the theme, I think that [it’s] interesting. Also, it would be interesting comparing year on year.
What would you have made for Botanical Week?
I think I would have gone with a hot cross bun theme – that was the first thing that came to my mind when I heard about the spiced bun challenge. I’m not exactly sure at this point what kind of flavours I would have tried to put it in there, but for different bakes in my series I also had a botanical theme if you want, or I tried botanical flavours, which didn’t always make it into the tent.
I experimented with rose hips, and rose hips were tricky to manage because they lead to curdling of creams etc. And you could see that the batters of Tasha with her intense intense red colour – they looked almost curdled. But that’s the danger with these intense colours, you misjudge what the batter is actually doing.
So I really liked what Tasha did with the hibiscus. I think I would have been put off by the by the appearance of the batter in the first place.
German Baking: Cakes, tarts, traybakes and breads from the Black Forest and beyond by Jürgen Krauss is available to buy now.
The Great British Bake Off airs on Tuesdays at 8pm on Channel 4.
Looking for something else to watch? Check out our TV Guide or Streaming Guide, or visit our dedicated Entertainment hub for the latest news.
Try Radio Times magazine today and get 10 issues for only £10 – subscribe now and celebrate the 60th anniversary of Doctor Who with a special issue of Radio Times. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.