Section:GDN 12 PaGe:6 Edition Date:190827 Edition:01 Zone: Sent at 26/8/2019 16:11 cYanmaGentaYellowbla

• The Guardian
  6 Tuesday 27 August 2019

bakers measuring out fl our and

whimsy in a countryside tent was

commissioned by the BBC, more

not-great British stuff has happened

than in many other peacetime

decades combined.

Bake Off was born into a country

reeling from its fi rst hung parliament

since the 1970s. It turns 10 as the

UK prepares to crash out of the EU

without a deal. In between, lots of

other nasty things have been stuff ed,

like an inedible victoria sandwich

baked in hate. What I am really

wondering, while being waylaid by

extended cake metaphors in the

grand tradition of #GBBO reportage,

is whether The Great British Bake Off

is all that is left of what’s great and

British in this country?

Everyone has their own theory as

to why the show has been such an

unprecedented global success. For

some, it is Bake Off ’s magical ability

to induce the warm contentment,

sprinkled with mild hysteria, of

eating cake. For others, it is the

unbridled joy of a lion made out

of bread by a prison governor. It

combines the bunting-encircled

days of the village hall fete with

an irresistible, if concocted, vision

of modern, diverse, harmonious

Britain. In fact, The Great British

Bake Off may be the last acceptable

form of nostalgia in the UK.

In preparation for the 10th

series, why not smooth on a few

more layers of wistfulness with our

rundown of the best moments from

the p ast nine ...

C onsider the end

times in which The Great British

Bake Off has risen like a derelict

gingerbread barn from the ashes of

a near showstopper disaster. (James

Morton, adorable Scotsman, series

three.) In the 10 years since a show

about a disparate bunch of amateur PHOTOGRAPHS: BBC; CHANNEL 4/LOVE PRODUCTIONS

From squirrel

nuts to

#Custardgate,

Chitra

Ramaswamy

looks back at the

highlights and

controversies

as the baking

contest enters its

10th ser ies

Bake Off ’s

greatest

moments

Robert:

Poldark, if

he was good

at baking

Mark: his

spirits sank like

his tea loaf

Cathryn:

no one

likes a hairy

strudel

Series 3

Cathryn tosses

strudel dough

This was when Bake Off

began to quietly scale

the meringue-peaked

heights of greatness.

Brendan Lynch greasing

up his arms to stretch

his dough! John Whaite

confusing salt and sugar

in a technical round,

causing Paul Hollywood

to retch over his rum

babas! James Morton’s

Fair Isle knits! But no, the

winner must be Cathryn

Dresser. In episode six,

Hollywood’s advice to

“build up the resistance”

of strudel dough by

grabbing, twisting,

slapping and tossing

it until you win virile

baker of the year at the

county fair was taken

too enthusiastically by

Cathryn, who catapulted

hers to the fl oor. “I’m not

serving Mary Berry green

carpet, ” she laughed.

Bake Off ’s

2019

contestants

Series 2

Squirrel nuts

Remember when Robert

Billington became the

fi rst twee heart-throb

in the tent? All boyband

hair and clumsy puppy

paws. But even the

sight of Bake Off ’s own

Captain Poldark dropping

his chocolate genoise

mousse cake couldn’t

compete with a squirrel’s

enorma-balls in the fi nal.

It was the equivalent

of that lingering shot of

Elizabeth Bennett and

Mr Darcy eyeing each

other up over a piano in

Andrew Davies’s Pride

and Prejudice. Subtle,

subversive and deeply

naughty.

Series 1

Sunken cake

pep talk

There is a wonky charm

to these six homespun

episodes. In the

fi rst, Mark Whithers ’

marmalade tea loaf sank

in the middle because

he kept opening the

oven door to check on it.

“You put your heart and

soul into this,” said Sue

Perkins, as he burst into

tears. She straightened

his tie. Gave him a little

pat. “I’m ready for the

next challenge,” he

said shakily. “Which

will probably be a

saltwater cake, unless

you dry those peepers,”

Sue gently teased. A

prototype pep talk

containing all the

ingredients of Bake Off ’s

future success: pathos,

humour, a rounded

teaspoon of melancholia,

and words like “peepers ”.

Series 2

Squirreln

Rememb

Billin

fir

e

e

Which

bly be a

rcake, unless

ose peepers,”

eased. A

talk

he

ke Off ’s

os,

a,

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