4 September, 2015

Recap Of My Time In The Tent

Comments : 5 Posted in : My Blog on 4th September 2015 by : Ugne

Good evening,

On Wednesday evening I bid an emotional farewell to the GBBO Tent. I had an absolute disastrous spell that day and felt like the world was caving in on me, it was well and truly one of those days in The Tent where It would’ve just been better to have stayed in bed and come back two days after; as they say ‘Murphy’s Law’ was at play – anything that could go wrong, went wrong!

All started off great with the sponges for my signature bake ( free from Chocolate, Hazelnut and Lavender cake from alternative seed/nut flours) baking well.  Even though people may ask me why I went through all that hassle I felt that I was well versed with the bake at home as practised it a  few times without hassle and as you will see from the picture on my blog it turned out well as a ‘free from’ cake!  I will never be one to do what is  seen as ‘straight-forward’ as that is not being true to myself – yes off course,  I can make you a great Vic. Sponge or Bakewell Tart, but I try to bring something fresh, push boundaries and challenge the way we think about baking.  Also – there are many people out there whom cannot consume wheat and/or suga, so I wanted to showcase something for them. Yes on the day it didn’t pay the dividend, but I gave it a good go!  

Now, the Initial ‘trouble’ started when I arrived at my station and I noticed that the cream cheese (thin) was a different texture to what was used at home (Mascarpone), straight away I knew that this was going to be an issue (‘cause melting point and setting point would differ) – but on Bake-Off you just crack on as no time for doubts/panic.  What the viewers don’t always fully appreciate is that when baking at your leisure at home there is minimal pressure, you can prep in your own time, you can wait for your cake to cool down at your own time and ensureall your steps are done to perfection – in The Tent you have timings to adhere to, pressure of the judges walking ’round, not forgetting all those cameras on you – people talking to you…the heat is well and truly on you (no pun intended).   The Tent has a different dynamic where Cakes/Bakes usually dont always having as much time as at home to cool down totally (as you know from watching you see Bakers from time to time fanning bakes to try to cool bakes). Now then…lets do some simple math… adding up the thin cream cheese + cake not cooled down thoroughly + my upper tier of my cake breaking whilst I assembles it left me in a BIG pickle (no not  the Branston type…but the one where you say OH MY…quick bring the scooper…GAME OVER…RIP cake!!). Needless to say the outcome of my signature bake left me devastated and mildly embarrassed as I knew that  I can do so much better than what that result was, not in one bit did I expect disaster walking in that morning – that counts NOTHING in The Tent you grin and face the music.  Upon judging, the feedback was that the frosting was good, but needless to say the rest was just not up to scratch due to my bake literally going into melt-down.  Mary mentioned a slight closed texture to the sponge, but then again if you used these ingredients all the while you will be familiar that seed/nut flours don’t bake as fluffy as you would expect wheat flour to bake.  

Thinking back it makes me very emotional all over again. At the time it happens to you, you get a sinking feeling which you cannot explain – no one may fully comprehend that feeling apart from those whom have been in The Tent and have experienced it first hand when things go wrong.  At the end of the day it was, what it was and I am still reliving the ‘horror’ most days.

Onto the technical challenge, which included incorporating psyllium husk (it is a form of natural fibre) into a bake for Gluten Free Pitta breads.  Sounds an easy enough task, but with minimal instruction you have close margins between creating a flat bread or the perfect Pitta with a great pocket!  I was happy enough with my Pitta after the first days disaster and was looking forward to getting on with the Showstopper which were to creat a free from Arctic Roll.

I opted for a chocolate sponge base and my ice-cream was my (now infamous) Peanut Butter & Grape Jelly free from ice cream.  Even though I was happy with my bake of the roll base the devil once again came out to play on that day too – this time the issue was my ice cream which set to a point just above ‘soft serve’, which in turn meant that I could not roll my sponge firmly as it should’ve been (see the photo of the home-practice below as it should have looked) and the roll eventually simply collapsed on limp ice cream…upon which I thought, my-my-my Ugne lets just ‘go home’ which unfortunately we all know now was the outcome.  As a final word Paul paid great tribute to my ice-cream which he firmly doubted at my brief with the judges that morning.   It is truly a fantastic blend and do try it when I publish the recipe once upon a rainy day…

Being honest, I did not think it would be my week to go seeing as I had a very strong run the week before and felt that my confidence were building as I went on.   I had some interesting bakes planned for weeks to follow.  But that is the beauty of bake-off, one moment you are on top of the world the next moment you are ..poof…gone…bag packed you are on your way home!  I was and remain ‘wounded’ about that day, but I am not one to dwell on the past – I would like to move on and do great things in baking, I have ‘bags full’ of aspiration/energy/ideas and above all I have vision…I am sure and comfortable with who I am and clear on what I want to achieve.

Throughout my life I had to work hard to get where I want to be, I am 100% self-made and I always strive to be the best of the best.  If you ask a lot of both current and past contestants of the GBBO what they would have liked to have achieved from being on the show you will get an array of answers ranging from then just wanting to gain that experience and cherish it, some wanting to publish a book after to some aspiring on winning the show.  Of nature I am extremely competitive and it was my intention (in my mind) from the start that I wanted to go out and win this year’s bake-off; eventually become successful as much as God’s Will allow for it!

Obviously that dream of winning has been shattered, but I am far from done in this industry and for me this is merely the start of another Chapter – I will continue to work as hard as I have done before to build myself from here onwards and to become as ‘polished’ an item I can feasibly be.

Many have asked since my departure on Wednesday just what is next for Ugne; well, the answer to them is where do I start.  First of all I would like to become a more polished version of ‘Ugne’.   I have so many ideas I want to test and try and put down on paper and that all will take some time.

Longer term I would love getting involved in various projects …think a healthy baking line/brand, exhibition baking theough to my ultimate dream of hosting my own baking or related show on television – television is where I see my long term future. ‘Rome was not built over night’, these developments will take time and the correct opportunities have to come your way in order for you to live your dreams so Im also realistic about it all.

I would like to once again say a big, heartfelt thank you for all your support, love and well wishes during my 5 weeks in The Tent.  Also sorry to those  whom may feel let down by my departure – I gave it my all and it is my aim to be back with a big Ugne …BANG!  Trust me when I say that, I’m absolutely distraught, but I can honestly say that during my time on GBBO, I always tried to push boundaries and never played it safe!

Massive thank you to all at Love Productions and BBC for the opportunity and having faith in my abilities as an Amateur baker to have me on the 2015 Show – without you there would be no BAKE-OFF!  To all the Bakers, you are all very unique in your own way – talented beyond all believe (always funny reading after the shows how those at home are so much better than us hehe!) – dare I say this year’s standard was exceptional, a lill bit special! 

I hope you all enjoyed Extra Slice (if you watched it that is) and thanks to BBC2, Jo and her panel for a great show!

I am Ugne Bubnaityte  and thank you for sharing in my bake off Journey – I may be out of The Tent but I promise to be here to stay in the world of GREAT BRITISH BAKING!