Great British Bake Off episode 4 2022 – Mexican Week: The bakers take on three challenges exploring authentic Mexican bakes, as they put their twist on the classic sweet bread pan dulce for the Signature, tackle a Mexican street food staple in the Technical, and make their own showstopping version of the milk-soaked tres leches cake. Which bakers will impress Prue Leith and Paul Hollywood enough to keep their place in the tent, and who will be heading home?
It’s getting hot and spicy in the Bake Off tent – not because Noel Fielding and Matt Lucas are cracking risqué jokes but because it’s Mexican week. Perhaps it was Paul Hollywood’s recent series about Mexico’s food that inspired the theme. Though hopefully he won’t be asking them to use scorpions or tarantulas in their bakes, the culinary challenges are getting increasingly obscure. After last week’s challenge of Swedish smorgastarta, they’re now having to make pan dulces and a tres leches cake. Bet they had to Google the recipes beforehand.
Culinary competition in which amateur cooks compete in a variety of culinary challenges, hoping to be crowned Britain’s best amateur baker. Contestants create a wide range of sweets and pastry dishes, before the judges cast a critical eye over their efforts. Each week, the bakers must prepare their own take on a tried-and-tested recipe, complete a technical challenge with minimal instructions, and finally pull out all the stops to create an outstanding showcase of their talents.
Great British Bake Off episode 4 2022 – Mexican Week
Bake Off in the time of a global pandemic is very different behind the scenes as the 12 contestants, judges Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith and presenters Noel Fielding and Matt Lucas leave behind their loved ones to enter their own bubble.
But this sacrifice means that on-screen, fans will be relieved to learn, all is as familiar and comfortable as a well-loved bobble hat. The opening episode is a corker, with a bunch of good-natured, self-deprecating and often brilliant amateurs and the funniest round I can ever recall. It’s the showstopper and it’s hilarious. A fondant Freddie Mercury, anyone?
First up in Cake Week is a Battenberg signature challenge. As new boy and Sandi Toksvig replacement Lucas settles in (very well, actually) there is raw dough, a classic technical challenge, and a catastrophe caused by carelessness at the gingham altar. And yes, of course there are tears.
Paul Hollywood
The elder statesman of Bake Off, Paul is the only member of the team who has been with the show since its very beginning, originally judging alongside Mary Berry until the move to Channel 4 in 2017. Paul also hosts the US version of the programme, The American Baking Competition and has served as head baker at a number of hotels in the UK and abroad, after first beginning his career at his father’s bakery when he was still in his teens.
Although it was Bake Off that really made Paul a household name, he had made some other TV appearances beforehand on shows including The Heaven and Earth Show and This Morning, while since making his name as a judge he has appeared on a number of programmes including his own show Paul Hollywood’s Pies and Puds.
Paul is known for his often harsh comments and for setting frequently challenging tasks in the signature challenge, while his coveted “Hollywood handshakes” reserved for the very best bakes have become a popular feature of the show.
