Jürgen Krauss talks all things Dessert Week for RadioTimes.com.
We’re getting closer and closer to finding out who this year’s Great British Bake Off winner is, with the quarter-finals set to take place on Tuesday 14th November.
This week saw the Great British Bake Off 2023 line-up tackling all things dessert for the Bake Off theme, and saw what was, perhaps, the worst results in Technical history as all but one contestant (Tasha) produced underbaked steamed puddings.
Here, former Great British Bake Off semi-finalist, and RadioTimes.com columnist Jürgen Krauss shares his thoughts on Dessert Week, admitting he and his fellow bakers had a similar experience with a Technical challenge during their season.
As well as this, he reveals who he thinks could make the final, and which two bakers need to “brush up”.
You can watch Jürgen give his verdict below.
Keep watching at the end of each video for more from the expert baker.
Jürgen on Dessert Week
It was really fun to watch. I thought it was probably daunting for the participants – the bakers, and it’s crazy what happened in the Technical.
We had, I think, a similar experience in our year with those caramel bars, chocolate coated caramel bars, where everything was a catastrophe, but not in such a dimension as with the sponge puddings.
It was just random that Tasha’s were edible, and I think that gave her the win over the others, but [it was] quite an episode. I thoroughly enjoyed watching it.
Looking at the story they told, Tasha didn’t make a caramel for the syrup that would go on top of the sponges into the tins. So despite that, obviously skipping one instruction (I think that’s what she did), she came out as the winner.
I think something similar happened to me as well. I skipped an instruction and then used different techniques and and it still came out. So there’s always many ways to create a bake, there’s not just one way to interpret a recipe, and she was lucky in this case.
Favourite bake
Probably the bombs by Josh and Dan. What I like about both of those was that they were very personal, and that [they] both went out of the ordinary to create something wonderful.
Josh obviously, with strawberries and cream, that went down very well, in the shape of a Fraisier cake inside the bomb, but I thought Dan’s idea and execution was particularly interesting, in context of this contest, because he thought of an integral thing.
He thought of creating Earth, and this dessert resembled Earth’s atmosphere in terms of the light meringue, and then you have the crust as the chocolate sponge, and then you have the inner layers that are the mousse and the raspberry jelly. So I think the concept is ingenious.
Dan’s ‘Pale Blue Dot’ Meringue Bombe Showstopper. #GBBO pic.twitter.com/Aa2NdFTPIp
— British Bake Off (@BritishBakeOff) November 7, 2023
Least favourite bake
Well, yes, if we leave the Technical out there, it will probably be Cristy’s profiteroles. They dissolved with just too much royal icing, so I think that was a bad strategical choice.
Given the time restriction, the icing wouldn’t have time to dry on the profiteroles, and then stacking them inside a globe that prevents moisture from getting out. It wouldn’t work.
And between the end of the baking and then the judging, there’s always a couple of hours, so enough time to really destroy a crispy texture, if it ever was there. So no, I wouldn’t like to try those.
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Jürgen’s finalists
I would say my bid for the finalists will be Dan, Josh and Tasha. The winner might depend on so many things. With Josh, he is a rugby player so he probably has a strategy. But I’m sure there will surprises from producers and bakers.
Tip of the week
I don’t think I’ve made [a] steamed pudding since that Technical, so I don’t have a tip for that. But, in terms of desserts, I really like making the Bavarian creams and and other creams. And the most important bit is to watch your texture and to respect cooling times.
So the texture changes with cooling and beating the eggs etc, beating the substances. That’s all very important. When you beat up your eggs or your butter, there’s often a very subtle change in colour or inconsistency that indicates that your mixture is ready for the next step.
So that’s something to watch out for. But, almost more critical [for] me, is understanding the timing of things and the cooling, because that determines how it sets – whether it gets grainy to some extent, or whether it stays runny.
Jürgen answers…
Why was this week’s Technical so difficult?
I think partly because it’s nothing that you would do every day or in these times anyway. I think they [steamed puddings] were around much more, maybe, in the ’50s, ’60s or ’80s. I didn’t grow up in England, so they are completely new for me.
And when I was thinking of applying for the Bake Off, my wife actually made me make steamed puddings, which saved me in one Technical where we had to make sticky toffee pudding. I actually won that one. But that was a lucky coincidence, and having a very good coach in my wife helped, otherwise it’s quite involved.
It takes time, you have to work hard all the time you’re creating this recipe in order to get the result. You can’t just walk away like it is with bread. With bread, you mix it up and then you can walk away. With a steamed pudding, you have to be there and you have to watch it – ‘it needs these toppings’, etc.
So I don’t think it’s something many bakers do on a regular basis. And it’s a high risk thing for the Technical. It was a good choice.
Speechless. #GBBO pic.twitter.com/6dx9YKcMPO
— British Bake Off (@BritishBakeOff) November 7, 2023
Does Cristy have to worry for the quarter-finals?
We have seen so much up and down during these weeks. For the quarter-finals, everyone really has to be there on the spot. You can see that there’s so much space between the benches now.
The atmosphere in the tent has already changed and it will change even more for the quarterfinals. So everybody has to be there in the space concentrated. There is no safe place in the quarter-finals I would say, but Cristy and Matty certainly need to work on things if they want to be on par with the others.
A week in the life of Jürgen
This evening, I’m actually going out with some colleagues to the Queen Museum in London, which I’m looking very much forward to. On Saturday, I’m running another pretzel class, which I’m also looking very much forward to, and then Sunday is hopefully a rest day.
I might go to London again because my son has rehearsal in London, and just hang out in a museum.
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.
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