Oh, Vienna! It’s a Bake Off disaster
PLAY school teacher Sandra O’Reilly was the latest casualty on the Great Irish Bake Off last night after her efforts at an Austrian delicacy failed to translate.
The contestants were tasked to bake a cake inspired by a country of their choice and the Malahide, Co. Dublin native’s Vienna-inspired Esterházy torte failed to impress judges Paul Kelly and Lilly Higgins.
Ms O’Reilly, 51, scored zero marks for presentation and also scored poorly in the technical challenge, where the contestants were asked to bake a pineapple upside down cake without a recipe.
The mother of four found herself in a sticky situation and landed herself in last place. But she said: ‘I will just keep baking. Nothing will stop me baking, no matter what.
‘If I had gone in the first week it wouldn’t have stopped me baking. Absolutely no regrets, I have loved every minute.’
Judge Paul Kelly said the standard has risen among the bakers and he found it easy to decide who to send home as it became clear who couldn’t handle the pressure. The heat in the kitchen also got too much for last week’s star baker Clare Ryan. Her Swiss roll won her brownie points with judges last week, but viewers saw the pair slam her French fancy macaroon tower last night.
Paul said her creation fell below standard. He said: ‘I’m just not sure this is what we were looking for. For me, this is not a cake. When you think of a cake you think of something you can cut into.’
The mother of three hit melting point and fled the Bake Off tent in tears, saying: ‘It’s hard to have, really have, put in the work. All the preparation and thought that has gone in. It feels like a waste.
‘It’s what I really wanted to do and what I wanted to succeed in but I suppose that just didn’t happen for me today and that’s just really disappointing.’ Monaghan woman Cathy McKenna was named this week’s star baker for her Italian-inspired basil and olive cake and her pineapple upside down cake.
The 27-year-old said: ‘I’m delighted now to have star baker. It’s brilliant.
‘After five weeks they have finally gone, “Well, her presentation isn’t going to get that great so we might as well focus on the flavours”.’
Next week is ‘party week’, and with a place at the semi-final at stake, the bakers are under pressure to score well in the technical challenge of creating gluten-free Irish ingredient pizzas and traditional Italian calzones. The bakers also face their third showstopper challenge, in which they will have to make a Mad Hatter’s Tea Party creation made up of 30 individual elements in just five hours.
The Great Irish Bake Off airs at 9pm on Sundays on TV3.
‘Nothing will stop me baking’