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suguruslut · 1 year

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Teaching you how to cook

𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘩𝘶𝘴𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘯𝘴

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Gwen’s Notes: I can’t cook worth shit. I got these food ideas from Haikyuu characters🤣

🐉𝒯𝒶𝓉𝓈𝓊🍳

-now THIS is the man you want to teach you how to cook. probably, maybe, definitely. you want to make milkbread, and Tatsu agrees, but that’s the last decision you make in the kitchen

-put on your apron. now. the cute Polycure one that will quickly be destroyed by flour. you have to match!

-Tatsu is a tough teacher, ngl. he wants you to follow the instructions exactly the way they’re written, no deviation, and if you do, he’ll get after you. maybe even lightly smack your ass with a wooden spoon but you like it

- “If you think you can skip a few steps here and there, yer dead wrong! Don’t underestimate any of the steps!”

- you underestimate most of the steps, so you guys have to start over at least twice, but his instructions are clear and easy to understand, once you decide to start listening. there’s lots of yelling, but not malicious or accusing

-Tatsu the master bread maker demonstrates how to knead bread, then gets behind you and places his hands on yours for a more immersive example; only then do you start to gain confidence in your kneading skills

-most of Tatsu’s time is spent actually trying to make the bread and stopping you from burning yourself or cutting a finger off (you were mockingly pretending to cut your pinky off for making a cooking mistake and got a little too close to the skin)

-ridiculous, overdramatic compliments he subtly backtracks from

- “See? Yer getting the hang of it. With those kneading knuckles, you’ll be better than Paul Hollywood himself. Well, that might be a stretch...but yer definitely getting better. Wait--don’t take it out! It’s still rising!”

-you quote The Great British Bake-Off and Guy Fieri the entire time, which Tatsu finds cute, also takes the seriousness out of the cooking lesson

-when you stop touching the dough and finally listen to Tatsu’s instructions, you are left with a huge, delicious milkbread loaf, and there is no disastrous dropping on the floor like there was with Masa

-Tatsu breaks off a piece for you to test first, holding the piece to your mouth and smiling smally when you hum in amazement. you give him the credit, but Tatsu is quick to correct you

- “You kidding? Ya almost sacrificed a pinky for this bread. Show some respect.”

-it was nice, spending an afternoon in the warm kitchen watching Tatsu work in his apron, so cute and focused on making everything perfect...you realize how crazy you are for this shades wearing, peach fuzzy man

-(this lesson caused your husband a lot of stress, though, so don’t expect him to invite you back for at least two weeks. *Azula voice* “You, are banished.”)

🐅𝒯𝑜𝓇𝒶𝒿𝒾𝓇𝑜🍰

-another man who knows a thing or two about cooking...or does he? baking is his specialty, but there’s nothing a little “secret ingredients” and “family recipes” can’t fix

-Tora takes you to his truck for your cooking lesson: you’re going to be making Oinarisan (inari sushi) a recipe of his mother’s which he got from his sister. does he know anything about sushi? no, but he prepared well, reading over the recipe a dozen times

-being in such small quarters with Torajiro makes you both nervous and excited; you like the homey atmosphere he’s created here, just the two of you in your own little cooking show world

- “And now, ladies and gentlemen, the lovely [ YN ] will cook the rice; watch it materialize right in front of yer eyes. Brown grains, from the hills of Tokyo, freshly bought this morning.”

- “Didn’t we get it from Tatsu, Tora? And there aren’t any hills in Tokyo.”

- “...”

-how much ginger is too much?? apparently the amount you dumped in without measuring. oh well. Tora thinks it’s kinda cute how pathetic you are at cooking, so he doesn’t get mad that you have to start over (but he keeps the ginger away from you after that)

-he nudges you with his elbow or lightly touches your arm when he asks you to do something, keeping your attention on what you’re doing so no accidents happen. he would FREAK out if you even got so much as a mild burn

-Tora is very delicate when folding the tofu pockets, not at all speedy like he is when making crepes. you watch him with a smile, getting distracted from your own folding, and he blushes and tries not to smile back when he catches you watching him

-it’s impossible to not overfill the stupid tofu pockets with the rice, kombu and mushroom mix, and that’s when Tora starts getting pissed at the damn things, trying desperately to patch them together so you two don’t go hungry. he even tightens his headband, like that will help him focus more

-you find his desperate attempts hilariously endearing, and ensure him they’re fine the way they are, which he eventually submits to

-the sushi doesn’t look...horrible. it’s not the best looking street food you’ve ever seen, but to your surprise, Tora seems impressed by your combined efforts, grinning and holding one deformed Oinarisan up for you to see

-you insist he tries first, and when his eyes light up upon tasting the sushi, he quickly offers you a piece

- “It ain’t good lookin’ like you, but it sure tastes good!”

-Tora and you spend another hour eating the fruits of your labor before the dreaded time comes...to do dishes. Torajiro will insist he will do them, but doesn’t nudge you away when you slip up beside him to help

-overall, you had a good time on Tora’s “cooking show,” and hope to be invited back soon as a special guest (hopefully with more cooking skills by then)

🐕ℳ𝒶𝓈𝒶🥡

-oh baby boy...we all know you still cannot cook worth a damn, but that’s okay. we’re in this together. try not to burn the house down this time. either of you.

- “You want...a cooking lesson? Uhhhh....s-sure! No problem! I’m a pro, now! Big brother Tatsu taught me everything he knows!”

-everything Masa knows: how to open the microwave door, how to buy instant ramen, how to pour water into a glass

-you two decide for something very Western to eat, something very common that shouldn’t be too difficult to make...how about grilled cheese?! cheese on bread! easy! apparently not

-obviously you know Masa has no idea what the fuck he’s doing, but you let him believe you don’t know. ingredients bought, now Masa is staring at them in confusion, wondering what goes first

-it doesn’t help that he’s easily distracted by you, even though you aren’t doing anything in particular aside from looking cute in your apron...he keeps getting even more nervous by looking over at you, knowing you’re expecting him to produce something edible for you to eat and not be poisoned or die

- “Haha! Okay, here I go, babe! On second thought...wanna just order in?”

-you insist that with the two of you on it, making grilled cheese is possible. why do you have to put butter on the bread? neither of you are sure, but you manage to follow the instructions somewhat and get a single piece of bread on the skillet

-it burns

-you try again

-and again, and a few more times after that, wasting almost an entire loaf of bread

-down to the last two pieces of bread, Masa finally manages to get an overload of cheese on and places the other bread piece over top of it. the bread partially rips because the butter is too hard, but the flip doesn’t go as bad as both of you expected, and the bottom bread piece isn’t burned!

-after three agonizing minutes of trying to stay focused enough to ensure the bread doesn’t burn again, Masa realizes most of the cheese is spilling out of the sandwich onto the skillet and lowers his head in defeat

-you tell him it’s okay and plate the grilled cheese, watching more cheese spill out when you cut it in half. Masa sits beside you and looks down at the sad sandwich you have to share because he messed up so badly.

- “Some househusband I am! I’ve failed you, boss!”

-however...when you bite into the grilled cheese sandwich, all of Masa’s defeated attitude floats away. even though a lot of the cheese fell out, it’s still good enough to eat, and the two of you giggle while fighting for the glops of cheese on the plate

-in a better mood, Masa sends a selfie of you two with cheese on your lips holding up your pathetic grilled cheese to Tatsu and Miku. Miku thinks it’s cute, Tatsu is horrified, but Miku stops him from sending a long text about the proper way to make grilled cheese

-Masa and you may not be the most talented married couple on the block, but you have glops of cheese, and that’s really all that matters

🐉 🐅 🐕

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picniconabroom · 3 years

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After years and years of watching GBBO I finally had a go at baking (and eating) a victoria sponge and it was de-li-cious. It's such a simple and comforting cake, color me impressed!

#i kinda want to try scones next #maybe paul hollywood's recipe? i dunno #baking #dessert #gbbo

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jamesphillimoresumbrella · 3 years

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I have two more days to go at the hell-job (which has soured me and made me unfit for human company today), and I also have a rather satisfying cob loaf.

#bread #things I bake #the second recipe out of Paul Hollywood's book #(which was my birthday present my precious)#life; maybe talk to me about life

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one-time-i-dreamt · 3 years

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I was on The Great British Bake Off, but I’d forgotten all my recipes, so I was just wandering amongst these huge bookshelves full of pottery that were there for some reason. I saw Paul Hollywood one time and he was the only living thing there. Although, maybe not I’m not sure he’s actually mortal.

#dream #submission #the great british bake off #food mention #paul hollywood #baking

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newtonsheffield · 3 years

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What Edwina went on to celebrity Great British Bake Off and destroyed the competition (and lol maybe Michael or Frankie are on as well) and turns out all of her recipes are Anthony's??? We ❤ bonding between Anthony and Edwina

Oh. My. God. Words cannot describe how much I love and adore this concept. The thought of Edwina, Michael and Francesca being on Celebrity Bake off is so chaotic so amazing. Ugh. The world would never the the same. Michael is definitely the one that doesn’t connect his bowl to the stand mixer properly, and the whole thing goes flying off, nor does he remember to preheat his oven. Francesca manages fairly well and the judges are like What’s going on with your fiancé? And Francesca’s like He’s a disaster, that’s what’s going on with him!

Here we go!

“hey, Kate?” Edwina called through her sister’s house as soon as she opened the door. “What?!” Her sister’s voice yelled down the stairs, forcing Edwina to roll her eyes. “Is Anthony home?” Kate’s head appeared at the top of the staircase, Edmund sprinting down the stairs towards her, before wrapping his arms tightly around her legs. “What do you need Anthony for?” Kate said, her brow furrowed, alarmed suddenly. “Daddy’s in the kitchen, Auntie Eddie!” Edmund said happily, grinning up at her. “Thanks Neddy! Good to see one of you is being helpful!” Edwina said, taking Edmund’s hand and tugging him in the direction of the kitchen, leaving her sister to follow bemusedly, Miles, tucked against her hip.

“I thought I heard you yelling my name Eddie.” Anthony said dryly as she entered the kitchen. Edwina sighed theatrically. “I’d be careful who you accost with that tone, Anthony. I came to give you a gift of sorts.” Anthony’s eyebrow raised. “Someone has been invited on celebrity bake off and that someone is looking for a practice partner to help with recipes.” Edwina said pointedly and her brother in law’s reaction was immediate. He gasped loudly, dropping his spatula, turning around with his eyes wide. “You’re gonna meet Prue and Paul?!” He said delightedly, his face lightening up like a boy at christmas. “Yes, And I obviously I need your help.” Kate scoffed behind her. “Why wouldn’t you ask for my help?! I’m great in the kitchen.” Anthony scoffed waving off his wife. “Your sister knows class when she sees it. Kate, take the children, and order take out, I don’t have time for Dinner, Eddie and I need to get to work.” He said throwing whatever had been in the saucepan into the bin and wiping down the kitchen bench. Edwina could barely hold in a laugh. “Anthony! You can’t be serious.” Kate said indignantly, “Kate, it’s BAke off. BAKE OFF.” He said gesturing around the kitchen as though that made his point. “ Do you want your sister to embarrass your entire family? How would that make Mary feel? No offence obviously Eddie. Now please, Kate, We’re busy.” He said primly, turning his back on his wife and children, Kate muttering darkly at Edwina who was barely holding in her laughter.

“Right now who else is on this episode?” “The producers thought it would be fun in I went on with Michael and Frankie?” Edwina said, chuckling at the way Anthony scoffed, adjusting his apron, like a proud show Mum. “Ugh, we’ll wipe the floor with them. Michael’s a disaster and Frankie’s all bark no bite. Let’s do this Sheffield!”

And to Anthony’s credit, he was fairly right. Michael’s stand mixer bowl went flying in the first 25 minutes of filming. “Michael, sweetheart, did you forget to lock the bowl in?” Francesca’s voice came lilting across the tent. “Yeah, I did a little Frank, thanks.” Michael said back sheepishly. “And Edwina did you come up with this recipe yourself?” Paul Hollywood said, his intense gaze making her shift nervously. “Ahhh No, I’ve had a lot of help from my Brother in law Anthony and this is his Sandwich cake recipe.” She said lightly, as Francesca gasped. “You’re kidding! Anthony gave you his secret sandwich cake recipe?! Surely that’s cheating!” She called wildly, flour already splattering her face. Edwina scoffed. “I happen to know you have been skyping Sophie every day for months!” She shot back. “Wait, you guys were practicing? Frankie! You told me we weren’t allowed to!” Michael called back irritatedly.

And when Edwina took the bake off trophy back to Anthony, she could have sworn he’d never looked at her more affectionately. “Edwina, this the greatest thing that’s ever happened.” He said excitedly, placing the trophy on the shelf in his kitchen. “We have two children, but sure, this baking trophy is the best thing in your life.” Kate’s irritated voice called out.

#bridgerton and sons au #anthony + edwina #kathony #anthony x kate #anthony x kate + edwina #michael x francesca #are also there #edwina sheffield #edwina sharma #anthony bridgerton #kate sheffield #kate sharma #francesca bridgerton #michael stirling #anthony is a huge GBBO fan #change my mind #molly's asks ans answers

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whocalledhimannux · 3 years

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@peregrer the What. 👀👀👀 *insert John Mulaney gif of "say more right now"*

ok so when I say "the extent to which I've fleshed out the QT GBBO AU in my head is getting to be embarrassing," I truly and deeply mean it, please enjoy 1,900 words of utter ridiculousness.

first, our competitors:

Legarus - performs so poorly that viewers are a bit confused how he got on the show in the first place, a la Jamie (series 10) or that one guy who made a lime and chocolate cake in the first week.

Chloe - nice flavors and good ideas for decorations, but pretty sloppy. was up for elimination in the first week but came back with a great showstopper.

Melheret - good but not as good as he thinks he is (hence his bread week elimination because of sloppy technique), heavy-handed with the alcohol flavoring

Agape - solid competitor, not flashy but tasty + pretty results. I haven't worked out exact week-by-week themes (that would indeed be Too Much) but I imagine this is something like "Dairy" or "Caramel" or "Vegan," some particular element she just happens to not be strong on. viewers are disappointed by her early elimination

Teleus - Dad contestant. brings in a bunch of weird pans and gadgets he made up himself, does pretty well until it comes to Fiddly Foreign Foods he doesn't know (probably eliminated in French or Patisserie week)

Laela - typically has good flavors and pretty designs but technical knowledge is a bit lacking, so there are usually some flaws in the execution and she's often in the bottom half of technicals

Phresine - Grandma contestant. nails the classics but ultimately isn't creative enough to make it further.

Magus - the "Ian (series 6)" flavor of Dad contestant, often brings in foraged ingredients or eggs from his own chickens or whatnot and revives old recipes/flavor combinations no one else knows about. one week, some of those turn out to just be too weird, leading to his elimination.

Sophos - pretty elaborate decorations and good flavors (on the border of classic and new), but he tends to try a million different embellishments on everything and struggles with timing, occasionally to the detriment of technique.

Kamet - always has really interesting and different flavors and tends to do well in technicals especially, assuming he doesn't get overwhelmed. which is... an assumption (Finalist)

Costis - leans towards classic and indulgent flavors, although sometimes a bit sloppy--the kind of contestant where the judges look at his dishes and say "it's a bit of a mess" and then Paul Hollywood starts laughing because it still tastes delicious (Finalist)

Irene - absolutely stunning visually, queen of the technicals, occasionally gets the "style over substance" warning (Winner)

more details below the cut

I've gone back and forth on whether Eugenides should be in it but ultimately I decided no because I wanted to maintain a pre-show relationship between Laela + Kamet (I thought otherwise at first but then I realized I hadn't left Kamet any longterm friends or family for his finalist video and that's depressing af) and Irene and Sophos which to my knowledge hasn't happened once on the show so far? so having a married couple on top of that seems like it would be a stretch, and also then I think I'd need to make Eugenides the winner on principle and you know what? he can stand to be second fiddle to his wife for a little bit. My alternate backstory for him is that he was actually the winner of MasterChef one year (good with knives), so in the first episode Irene's first little chat to camera is something like "my husband's been bugging me for years to try out and I keep telling him he's got a skewed perspective on cooking competitions, finally I applied just to shut him up... and here we are." Her little video introduction is about how baking is a stress relief from her bigshot job. Her decorations tend to be abstract and gorgeous rather than cutesy.

Kamet, likewise, was nagged into applying by Laela, but she very cleverly framed it as she wanted to apply and wanted him to do it to for moral support. both were confident the other would get in and surprised that they did themselves. This is one of those series where everyone's friendships are immediate and obvious and super adorable (cast of series 10 my beloved...), and in particular these two are holding hands in episode 1. Laela's deep blue robe from TaT sticks in my head for whatever reason so I imagine her making an elaborate blue peacock cake or something one week that wins her star baker. somebody always does a peacock something and it's always impressiev.

Phresine is cool as a cucumber under pressure, always has lovely things to say about everyone else's bakes, and is the go-to last-minute helper because she usually comes in under the time. Irene starts out similar but as the weeks go by she starts to feel the pressure a bit more and cuts it a bit close. Sophos is the worst on timings, and mentions his wife at least once an episode. (I also played with him being single on the show and meeting Helen later through Irene and Eugenides, but this idea is too cute to pass up tbh.) Teleus lives with Relius, a fact that isn't mentioned until a few weeks in when he comments that Relius likes a recipe or gave him an idea for a flavor or something (Relius does not bake himself but will happily sample practice bakes), to the surprised delight of every viewer whose favorite contestant is the oldest gay in any given series (me, me, that person is me).

Costis tends to use a lot of chocolate and, as I said, pretty "classic" flavors--one of those people who makes a full English savory bake at some point. He's usually in the top half of the competition but doesn't get the top until one of the later weeks in the competition, which is a Honey themed week, and he absolutely nails it. The delicate decorations of his honey nut cakes and his use of honeycomb are particularly praised and that's the week he gets star baker. One of those bakers who flirts with elimination the first few weeks but noticeably improves over the course of the show.

My most, like, plot-y ideas are about Kamet (SHOCKER). I imagine he was born in Setra (I usually make Setra a non-autonomous region in my AUs) but arrived in Britain as a child due to [Unspecified Crisis] and ended up with foster dad Jeffa, who was roughly from the same region but not Setra itself; whenever Kamet wanted Setran food as a kid, Jeffa would take him to the library to find recipes and that was what sparked his love of baking. He's well-read on the subject and knows about foods from a lot of different cultures, so he's usually heard of the technical challenges even if he hasn't made or eaten them. He does a lot of fusion flavors, and is ALL ABOUT bread week.

I don't usually make the his-relationship-with-Nahuseresh-is-romantic leap in modern AUs but I think it works for this one because of the nature of the format--Nahuseresh doesn't actually appear on camera but is alluded to once or twice, ends up being Very Displeased that Kamet is doing something for himself, and during the week following Laela's elimination they have the fight that makes Kamet realizes this is actually a terrible relationship and he needs to leave now. He calls Laela to let her know what's up and mentions that, since he'll need to stay in a motel and has presumbly lost his job as a secretary (yeah working for your boyfriend is Bad, he's realized that now), he's going to have to drop out of the show. Laela, despite living in a studio flat without room to host him, immediately thinks "um fuck that" and calls Costis, and within an hour Costis and Aris and a few rugby buddies have moved all of Kamet's things into Costis and Aris's flat, where Costis insists that he'll squeeze into Aris's room (they've shared before, it's fine) and that Kamet gets first dibs on the kitchen for all bake off practices.

None of them actually reveal any of this to the show's producers. Kamet gets a little overwhelmed the following week and nearly walks away from the tent, but Costis jumps in to keep his bake from being ruined, and some soothing words from Irene + the hosts calm him down and he returns to finish. The only mention of the Drama comes in the finale, during the longer video clips they do on each of the contestants. Kamet is deliberately vague about the details of the situation, but Aris shows up in both Costis's and Kamet's videos and references the fact that having TWO flatmates in the bake off is a bit difficult because they only have a standard size kitchen, so he hasn't cooked for himself in a month and has been living off cake and savory breads. one of the hosts talks to Kamet in the tent after that clip is shown and he still won't talk about it in more detail, but says that he wanted to tell people so they could appreciate why Costis hasn't practiced as much the last few weeks (the judges scolded him for winging it a couple of times), and admits that he totally copied some of Costis's techniques for honey week based on watching him at home.

I imagine the finale task is something like an illusion cake--probably with a bunch of additional required elements because the show has been going bonkers with the finale showstoppers in the newer seasons--and Irene wins with a jewelry box containing, among other things, ruby earrings made out of candy. Kamet does a stepwell, and Costis does something architectural (I was thinking castle but something visibly Greek-ish so maybe a temple or a megaron? idk). Irene wins but they're all BFFs and that's obvious, so everyone's delighted for her. The little montage at the end reveals that Irene + Gen are expecting twins, that everybody hangs out all the time, and that Costis + co recently helped Kamet move into his own flat where he's now working on a novel (Immakuk and Ennikar inspired, obvi, leaning heavily on the honey-shared-on-the-road thing and including some recipes that actually work in the narration, albeit still written in an ancient-novel-like-way).

[Obviously not part of the show, but when Kamet mentions that it's time for him to look for his own place, Costis tries to v awkwardly invite him to stay forever and Kamet is like "nope I've got to try this on my own but yes we will go on a date once I've moved out and see how it goes from there."]

[This is so far beyond the scope of the show but also several of them go on to have more baking-related careers and have active social media presences and at one point they're all hanging out and Eugenides pulls out a camera and demands they all produce baking pick-up lines. Teleus refuses and also doesn't believe anyone knows baking pick-up lines off the top of their head or could make them up on the spot. Sophos sort of proves him right by coming up with "you're the apple of my pie," which Eugenides instantly mocks because Sophos's three greatest loves are baking, Helen, and poetry, and that's the best he can do? Helen comes up with "I like my cake the way I like my men--rich, sweet, and bright red," to which Sophos blushes on cue. Irene's is "when I'm with you, I feel like chocolate heated to 50 degrees--I struggle to maintain my temper." Eugenides protests this is more like an anti-pickup line. Irene insists this is the most accurate marriage-related baking pun anyone could ever come up with.

[Laela's is "You and I are like custard--I hope we never split." Kamet's is "You remind me of bread, because I knead you." Costis freezes for a minute and finally comes up with "Fancy a cream horn?" which produces a lot of giggling and makes Kamet slap his arm in such a way that, hen Eugenides posts this video to instagram, fans of the show all go WAIT ARE THEY DATING NOW] [by this point, yes they are] [I didn't even have to google baking pickup lines for this, guys, I legit came up with them on my own, please clap.]

am I obsessed? I might be obsessed

#queen's thief #attolia irene #kamet #costis ormentiedes #sophos #eugenides #teleus #eddis helen #laela #oh dear I bet her tag is virtually unsearchable #sorry laela

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sarunohadaki · 3 years

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DQXI/Great British Bake-Off Crossover

Crossover week: Home | 1 | 2 | 3| 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |

This story idea in particular is very near and dear to my heart because when I first arrived in the SOS discord server, I mentioned it, and I got to talk with a lot of cool people for a long time about it. A lot of people seemed to love the idea, and Cicada even made art for it! 😭

It’s my favorite crossover idea and would be the most intricate to write. More under the cut because it’s another long post. (very long. With graphics. What is this, an essay?)

Spoilers for a potential future Saru fic.

Funny-but-I’m-not-using-these fic title ideas: Baking Bananaza, Fluff — and not just Meringue

Relationships: Gen or M/M (depending on how heavy the luminerik will come out)

Premise: Erik is a graduate student studying biogeochemistry with a particular interest in peat bogs in the UK. He interviews and gets on the show after Mia nags him to do it in the hopes that it’ll have a monetary reward, but as they soon find out, there’s no money involved. Erik participates anyway, figuring it’ll be a fun thing to do and help him hone his skills for the next time his sister randomly begs him to make éclairs at two in the afternoon.

He doesn’t really know what to expect, having never watched the show before, and is initially a little overwhelmed when he meets other amateur bakers from all over the country.

Twelve contestants enter the tent, but only one will come out on top. Who will it be?

Initial plan is to have none of the characters be related or know each other aside from the twins and Hendrik/Jasper. I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to have Rab related to El and so on and so forth, but I think it would be funner to have all the characters meet for the first time and develop friendships from there.

Everyone’s occupations are picked directly from my self-indulgent wants, haha.

And then here are some epithets, since the show uses things like this sometimes:

The structure of the fic

I initially thought it would be fun to do it sort of like a screenplay, but I am most comfortable writing in third person limited. BUT when you do it that way, you lose out on all the other disasters that are happening around the tent because you are only seeing what Erik’s seeing. And it would get boring after one episode to tell the reader, “I am now making this cake and following these directions.”

To combat this, I think it would be cool to do the omniscient POV for most of it, with the intention of writing it like an episode on TV. This would be interspersed with Erik’s director cut of events because he and Mia are watching the events play out while watching TV on the couch.

This would give us a chance to have Erik say, “Huh I didn’t realize the workstation behind me was almost literally on fire because I was too distracted trying to not over-mix my batter.” (Or staring distractedly into the back of ur crush’s head in front of you)

Plot

The short of it is you get to see a bunch of characters hang out and bake stuff semi-competitively! The long of it is, well… let me show you.

Each chapter is an episode

The Great British Bake Off usually has about 10 episodes, each with three challenges: the signature, technical, and showstopper. Whoever performs the worst holistically in each episode is eliminated. I have already roughly determined how that will play out based on some things I saw on a wiki. So, here’s the progression as it stands (don’t worry if it looks complicated at first — I can explain!):

To read this chart, each number refers to the episode. So, to see how people performed in episode 1, go to 1 and read down the column. From episode 1, you can see Erik, El, and Hendrik did well, while Ronnie and Faris did not. Vince got booted. Doing things this way, you can see Sylv had a few rough patches before they were eliminated, while El — the sweet boy — was never on the judges’ “least favourite bakers” list (alongside Jade, Rab, or Serena!)

This isn’t the final thing, and maybe there are patches that don’t make sense, but for a skeleton, it’s pretty useful for thinking up interesting plot points.

For example, Vince gets eliminated after baking an unchewable cake, and Sylv keeps pushing the envelope on how flamboyant their bakes can be in showstopper challenges, which lands them in trouble. Veronica really messes up in one episode and makes the food way too spicy.

Recipes

Okay. So you thought that chart was complicated, then behold this! Charts detailing any and every challenge from the Great British Bake Off from series 1-10, including signature, technical, and showstopper challenges with hour constraints where I could find them. Compiled from various wiki pages into one Google doc.

Potential problem: I don’t know if it would be plagiarizing to take various challenges and put them in a fic, and even more worrisome, if I could include recipes or just rip off what former contestants made. To create everything from scratch (pun intended) would take a lot of work. Based on the elimination chart, there are 225 instances of something being baked. Do you know how much work that is. (It goes down to 160 unique dishes when you take into account technical challenges all being the same recipe.)

In recent series (the gbbo say “series” and not “season”), they have had a few episodes such as “the ’80s,” “vegan,” and “forgotten bakes,” along with such classics as cakes, biscuits, etc. Pretty much every season includes the following episodes: Cakes (episode 1), biscuits (2), bread (3), desserts (~4), pastry (~6), patisserie (9), and a final challenge (episode 10). That leaves you with about 3 or 4 unique challenges each series unless you cut out one of those staple weeks, such as pastry. (Also, for anyone wondering the difference between pastry and patisserie: Pastry is a type of dough with fat and patisserie is a style of baking.)

This is where I said things were going to get intricate. Sometimes the details are what really sell a fic for me. Remember the five senses or that random thing that no one cares about but helps fill in the setting or make the story feel more alive. Having a masterful grasp of which characters are cooking what without overwhelming the reader would be difficult. Unlike TV, the reader is keeping track of all of this in their head!

I am no stranger to plopping some HTML into my fics from time to time and maybe that could help? To include graphics of what each person is baking, kind of like those… idk, “recipe blueprints” the narrator talks over where they tell you what the contestant is making and then they give you an illustrated piece of what the dish is supposed to look like.

Anyway, that’s a lot of work and I think just telling the reader, “he’s making this and I’m making this” would prolly suffice.

Why does any of this matter?

Because it’s fun. Because all of the characters will exchange jokes and poke at each other and I had plans to make Jasper and Hendrik have past beef and maybe Jasper throws food at Hennie or something. And also the pining for Elian would be very persistent. Erik and El have some stuff in common and their stations are right next to each other, maximizing the potential for banter and small talk about trying to manage school and this baking show thing at the same time.

In my heart, Erik wins because he’s the one who gets to date El at the end, but El is the hero so I know he’s the one who wins the show. And Hendrik has a secret baking sweet tooth so of course he comes in close third. (That is to prepare Hendrik for baking cakes for Jasper later.)

Unlike 80% of my fic ideas that are fusions, I think this one might be a legitimate crossover with people like Paul Hollywood, Merry Berry, and Noel Fielding. Sylv might slot into being a host, too.

#Crossover Week #my fic ideas #my writing #The Great british bake off #dqxi #luminerik #food #the thiccest outline #i have spent less time on homework than i have writing out all the notes for this

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sarandsaffitz · 3 years

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Salted Halvah Blondies, p.128, Dessert Person by Claire Saffitz

Made 10/16/2021 with the help of my BFF, Caroline.

YUM! These are so delicious and you feel super accomplished when you’ve made them. Absolutely ingenious recipe by our #Queen - Claire, amazing, I can’t believe this is the second easiest recipe in the book, like what?

Tips:

1. Halvah was difficult to find and a search to find vegan (I originally found some with egg in it). I ended up going to a local international grocery with middle eastern foods and found a vegan halvah there.

2. Vegan white chocolate chips are even harder to find. Somehow, I found some at Walmart, the organic ones, and stocked up so I hopefully don’t have to go back to Walmart anytime soon.

3. Claire says to use a metal tin, but I only had glass. Shouldn’t change the bake at all right? (wrong)

4. More of a zero waste tip: Did you know you can make your own brown sugar? Instead of buying it in those plastic bags, just measure out how much the recipe calls for in white sugar, then add a small amount of molasses. Using a fork, mix it all up until there aren’t any molasses pieces left over and it’s all the same color. Tada! You made brown sugar. Good job, you!

How to make vegan:

This recipe calls for butter, an egg and 2 large egg yolks. I always opt for Earth Balance instead of butter, which can come in sticks for baking. The egg we swapped for a flax egg.

The egg yolks I was unsure of, and if I were to do this again, which I probably will (and I’ll post about it if/when I do) I would do another flax egg instead of what I ended up doing. I read somewhere that chickpea flour is a potentially good replacement for egg yolks, so we used 3 tbsp of chickpea flour, with 3 tbsp of water. It didn’t seem to add or take anything away from this bake, so do what sounds right to you. Next time I’m just doing another flax egg.

Maybe because of the chickpea flour egg yolk or maybe because there may have been excess liquid or maybe because we used glass instead of metal (I kind of need Paul Hollywood to tell me what exactly went wrong), we ended up needing to bake this longer because it was just way too jiggly all over the damn thing. The recipe says to bake for 20-25 minutes, but we ended up baking for another 15-20.

The recipe also says to allow the blondies to cool completely in the pan before cutting. I did that and tried to cut them but it seemed as though it still hadn’t set completely. Into the fridge it went, and now this morning, a little coffee and a delicious, almost fudge-like consistency, salty and sweet and nut buttery blondie. Seriously delicious, will definitely be doing this one again. 10/10

Edit: 11/3/2021 - I made these again for some friends and used two flax eggs instead and it worked out great! Still had to chill in the fridge but would definitely keep this one in mind for a tasty treat to bring to a dinner party.

#dessert person #claire saffitz is my god #delicious #how did i not know about halvah before?

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hlcreators · 4 years

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AUTHOR REC: haztobegood / @haztobegood

Don’t forget show some love by leaving kudos and comments!

to be so... (228)

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#writer appreciation week #1dsource #hljournal #fics #author rec

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strongbrew-hamstery · 3 years

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It's time to meet the #BakersDozen! First up is the wonderful #Gingham Altar, a golden long hair boy who wouldn't stop staring at me during the photoshoot 😂. The Gingham Altar is the area where bakers on @britishbakeoff bring their finished technical bakes. Technical bakes are done blind - the bakers have no idea what they will be making and are provided a minimal recipe to make one, ie. It might simply say "Make the lemon curd" instead of telling you how to do it. This tests their baking skills in a way the preplanned bakes do not. Do you watch the Great British Bake off? Maybe you watch the Canadian or Australian one! Hamdad and I started watching them several years ago and Hamdad took up baking since. He is a fantastic baker and makes many delicious things for us to enjoy. The Baker's Dozen gets their name from their grandma, Meringue who I called Meri Berry. Mary Berry was one of the original hosts of the Bake off. So when Meri had pups I had wanted a Bake off litter but with only two, I opted to name them after one of the hosts, Noel Fielding and the other judge, Paul Hollywood. Since Hollywood had her babies I opted to use the theme for her pups. Which is super exciting because their names are A+! @wildrosehamsters helped name them all and I'm very grateful for that. https://www.instagram.com/p/CVDleW-AHw2/?utm_medium=tumblr

#bakersdozen #gingham

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recurring-polynya · 3 years

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Cake was a success!!

It was a Earl Grey Tea Cake, which had orange zest and dark chocolate chunks in it. The icing is sort of halfway between a whipped cream and a cream cheese frosting, with tea infused into the cream. The recipe said you could use cream cheese or marscapone. I used cream cheese, although I had trouble with chunks, so I would probably try the marscapone next time (the store was out, so it’s not like I had had a choice anyway, and honestly, it was fine). It also would have been fine with just a whipped cream topping, or maybe just a sprinkle of powered sugar. My tea was actually a lavender Earl Grey (it was the only reasonably priced loose-leaf Earl Grey the grocery story had), but I think the lavender went great with all the other flavors.

The children wanted to help, and for the first time in recorded history, they didn’t fight and were actually helpful.

Probably the only downside is that the chocolate chunks sort of sunk to the bottom, so Paul Hollywood would give us some side-eye, but the Birthday Geezer Boy was very pleased with it.

#baking #i deserve a W after that last cake

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cookingmywaythroughcarryon · 4 years

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SAMOSAS AND CURRY

Welcome to another episode of Cooking My Way Through Carry On. Today I tackle one of the iconic meals in the book--Simon’s dinner the night he and Baz go after the vampires and the night where everything changes between them.

I made these samosas and this curry for dinner the other night and it was a rousing success. I’ll share the samosa recipe here and a link for the keema curry recipe I used!

“I’ve finished my curry and two orders of samosas, and I’m watching him read–I swear he sucks on his fangs when he’s thinking–when he snaps the book shut with one hand and stands up. ‘Come on, Snow. Let’s go find a vampire.’”

Carry On, Chapter 60.

These are baked samosas, since I didn’t want to deal with deep frying anything. They’re also vegan. I am a big fan of Isa Chandra Moskowitz and this recipe is from her book Vegan with a Vengeance, one of my favorite vegan cookbooks.

The keema curry recipe is one I got from a friend and it is so close to the one my father-in-law used to make for me that it brought back a lot of memories for us.

Samosas

Ingredients:

Dough Ingredients:

3/4 cup rice or soy milk (I used coconut milk--any of them work)

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar (any mild vinegar is fine, really)

1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

about 3 cups of flour

Filling Ingredients: (sorry forgot to get photo)

3-4 medium size russet potatoes, peeled and cut into one inch chunks

2 tablespoons vegetable oil plus extra for brushing the samosas before baking

3/4 teaspoon ground cumin (the recipe called for cumin seeds which I didn't have and this worked fine)

1 teaspoon mustard powder (the recipe called for mustard seeds which I didn't have and this worked fine)

1 medium sized onion, very finely chopped

2 cloves garlic (or two teaspoons chopped garlic if that’s what you have)

1 tablespoon fresh ginger

! teaspoon ground coriander

1.2 teaspoon ground turmeric

pinch of cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon salt

juice of 1 lemon (or whatever equivalent is if you have lemon juice and not a lemon--it usually will say on the bottle)

3/4 cup frozen green peas

Method:

In a large saucepan, boil the potatoes for about 20-25 minutes, until they are tender (use a fork to poke them to check). When they are done drain them and set them aside.

Po-tay-toes (boil ‘em, mash ‘em, stick ‘em in a stew) In this case they are to be mashed!

Make the dough:

Pour the wet dough ingredients into a mixing bowl.

Add 2 cups flour and the turmeric, baking powder, and salt. Knead the mixture until well mixed, adding the rest of the flour bit by bit until a smooth but not sticky dough is formed, Maybe 10 minutes by hand?

I cheated and used the dough attachment on my KitchenAid so it was a bit under that time. (I kneaded it a bit by hand when the mixer was done too.) (Something something about the gluten, per Paul Hollywood and GBBO.)

set the dough aside, cover with a damp cloth or plastic wrap and begin working on the filling.

Preheat over to 400F somewhere in here

Filling:

Saute the onions with oil in the skillet on medium high for about 7-8 minutes or until the onions begin to brown.

add the garlic, cumin, mustard powder, ginger, coriander, turmeric, cayenne, salt, and lemon juice, and saute a minute more.

Add the potatoes (honestly it pains me to not type ‘po-tay-toes’ in true LOTR style)

Mash the potatoes with a spatula or potato masher until it’s all a big mash of potatoes and spices (taters, precious)

When the potatoes are well mashed and the whole mixture is warm then add the frozen peas to the mix. Mix well.

Back to the dough:

divide the dough in half and roll one half of it out on a floured surface until thin (I use a big silo pat as my surface)

Now cut out circles of dough. I used a 4 inch round cookie cutter ( 4 inch circumference not diameter).

Have a small bowl of water nearby

Cut out 8 circles

I rolled them out a bit once I cut them out, because they tended contract a bit when I cut them. Keep the shape circular.

Place 1 1/2 tablespoons of potato mixture into the centre of the dough circle, the dab the edges of the circle with water, fold over the edges to form a triangle shaped wedge and seal with your fingers.

Repeat until you have 8 roughly symmetrical samosas

Repeat process with second half of dough

Place filled samosas on a baking sheet that has been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray or use a silo pat on the baking sheet and then brush each side of the samosa with vegetable oil

Bake at 400F for 15 minutes. Flip the samosas over and then bake them for 10 more minutes or until lightly browned.

Take out of the oven and let them sit for about 5-7 minutes to cool.

These may be frozen and reheated in the oven. They never had a chance at our house because the family descended on them like a ravenous pack of wolves.

Tumlbr is being stupid about letting me put photos between the steps today so here are all the photos in a row.

We had chutney in the fridge to go with the samosas. If you don’t have chutney here’s a quick recipe from the same cookbook:

chutney

1/2 cup coconut milk

1/3 cup finely chopped fresh mint or rehydrated dried mint in these times of pandemic

1/3 cup finely chopped fresh coriander. I don't know what to sub for this other than perhaps some ground coriander to taste

1 clove mince garlic

1 teaspoon maple syrup

1 teaspoon fresh lime juice

1/4 tsp salt

These were some work but the result was definitely worth the effort! Highly recommended. We also had curry along with the samosas, to really recreate the meal Simon had that night with Baz. The curry recipe is here and it is EXCELLENT!

And here is the recipe without the photos:

Samosas

Ingredients:

Dough Ingredients:

3/4 cup rice or soy milk (I used coconut milk--any of them work)

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar (any mild vinegar is fine, really)

1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

about 3 cups of flour

Filling Ingredients:

3-4 medium size russet potatoes, peeled and cut into one inch chunks

2 tablespoons vegetable oil plus extra for brushing the samosas before baking

3/4 teaspoon ground cumin (the recipe called for cumin seeds which I didn't have and this worked fine)

1 teaspoon mustard powder (the recipe called for mustard seeds which I didn't have and this worked fine)

1 medium sized onion, very finely chopped

2 cloves garlic (or two teaspoons chopped garlic if that’s what you have)

1 tablespoon fresh ginger

! teaspoon ground coriander

1.2 teaspoon ground turmeric

pinch of cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon salt

juice of 1 lemon (or whatever equivalent is if you have lemon juice and not a lemon--it usually will say on the bottle)

3/4 cup frozen green peas

Method:

Pour the wet dough ingredients into a mixing bowl.

set the dough aside, cover with a damp cloth or plastic wrap and begin working on the filling.

Preheat over to 400F somewhere in here

Saute the onions with oil in the skillet on medium high for about 7-8 minutes or until the onions begin to brown.

add the garlic, cumin, mustard powder, ginger, coriander, turmeric, cayenne, salt, and lemon juice, and saute a minute more.

Add the potatoes (honestly it pains me to not type ‘po-tay-toes’ in true LOTR style)

Mash the potatoes with a spatula or potato masher until it’s all a big mash of potatoes and spices (taters, precious)

When the potatoes are well mashed and the whole mixture is warm then add the frozen peas to the mix. Mix well.

divide the dough in half and roll one half of it out on a floured surface until thin (I use a big silo pat as my surface)

Now cut out circles of dough. I used a 4 inch round cookie cutter ( 4 inch circumference not diameter).

Have a small bowl of water nearby

Cut out 8 circles

Repeat until you have 8 roughly symmetrical samosas

Repeat process with second half of dough

Place filled samosas on a baking sheet that has been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray or use a silo pat on the baking sheet and then brush each side of the samosa with vegetable oil

Bake at 400F for 15 minutes. Flip the samosas over and then bake them for 10 more minutes or until lightly browned.

Take out of the oven and let them sit for about 5-7 minutes to cool.

These may be frozen and reheated in the oven. They never had a chance at our house because the family descended on them like a ravenous pack of wolves.

We had chutney in the fridge and it goes so well with the samosas but if you don’t here is a quick recipe:

1/2 cup coconut milk

1/3 cup finely chopped fresh mint or rehydrated dried mint in these times of pandemic

1/3 cup finely chopped fresh coriander. I don't know what to sub for this other than perhaps some ground coriander to taste

1 clove mince garlic

1 teaspoon maple syrup

1 teaspoon fresh lime juice

1/4 tsp salt

#cooking my way through carry on #the food of Carry On #carry on cooking #samosas #curry #iconic vampire hunting power meal #their first date

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passiveagressiveukulele · 3 years

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FILM GENRE

THE FILM STILL

Sexist and empowering - at the same time?

Back in February my local art-house cinema had dedicated a week to Paul Verhoven’s steamy classics. Having never seen Basic instinct and the likes I decided to purchase a ticket and to my feminist surprise, I didn’t hate it. I found this sex driven mystery almost... empowering?

Sensational, devil-like, confident, cold and unmaternal- Stone’s character is a recipe on how to expose the qualities that society finds uncomfortable and undesirable in women. Much like her femme fatale predecessors, she uses her sexuality as a tool to destroy men; the only difference is, the screenwriter has mercy on her and spares her the death sentence. I’m guessing 1940 to 1990 was a learning curve for Hollywood screenwriters - maybe women shouldn’t be punished for refusing to stay at home and put up with their abusive husbands after all.

However, despite making out alive, there’s one thing Stone’s character can’t seem to escape - the male gaze. In fact, none of the 1990s erotic thrillers can. Hyper-objectification of women on screen endures. So I went on a quest to find an erotic thriller free of that notion, and in turn found sanctuary in the one that envelopes its characters in the opposite: the female gaze.

Lollipop, lollipop...

The Handmaiden is a 2016 South Korean adaptation of a Welsh novel Fingersmith set in Victorian Britain (now in Korea under Japanese colonial rule). Sook-hee, a young pickpocket gets a job as a handmaiden at the estate of a rich old book collector serving his niece Hideko. She gets pulled into a scheme by a fake count who wants to marry the niece and have her committed to an asylum so that he can claim her fortune. However, the plan starts falling apart once the two women catch feelings for each other.

As their romance progresses, their roles interchange and we start questioning who exactly is in control? Control is one of the genre’s defining themes. Female protagonists who are in control of their own sexuality and wield it as a weapon are a danger to society, hence they must be imprisoned and punished. Hideko is imprisoned from the start. Locked in her uncle’s mansion, he taught her to erotically read sadistic pornography since she was five years old. Only after Sook-hee’s arrival, does she gain autonomy over herself. As Peter Bradshaw puts it: “sex is the sanctuary from pornography in The Handmaiden”. Instead of being used as a tool of manipulation, sex is used as a tool of liberation.

And it all starts with a lollipop.

During one of Hideko’s baths, Sook-hee gives her a lollipop saying her aunt used to give those to babies to make their bathtime sweeter. Hideko then proceeds to complain about her sharp tooth to which her handmaid responds by getting a thimble and putting a finger in her mouth and smoothing it out. The emphasis of the scene is placed on oral fixations. From here on, the lollipop becomes one of the motifs of their relationship and it even leads into them having sex for the first time.

Furthermore, this scene demonstrates the interchangeable power dynamic between the two women. Once a servant, Sook-hee becomes a mother like figure to her mistress and later on, while undressing her she refers to her as her doll. Throughout the film, the submissive-dominant dichotomy continues to switch sides. They each play their roles respectfully, reverse them, manipulate and seduce until they are both striped naked of their lies and deceit. Once open and vulnerable, the two women become each other.

Working together as one, they assert their gaze and free themselves of the shackles of men who kept them prisoners. Their conspiring against the Count and Hideko’s uncle is charged with feminine imagery.

The way Hideko spies on the Count through her binoculars eavesdropping on his conspiring plans with her uncle. The shots themselves seem to reference Satyajit Ray’s Charulata, in which the protagonist asserts her gaze on the object of her desire she could never have. Here, Hideko wields the gaze knowing she has this man wrapped around her finger.

Next, the two women destroy the pornographic book collection in what looks like a pool of menstrual blood. They are destroying what once abused and controlled their sexuality and claiming their body autonomy.

Finally, just before leaving for good, Sook-hee smashed the snake statue that guards the entrance to the library. Snake carries the religious symbolism and signifies the moment in which the woman became subservient to the man. By smashing the statue, Sook-hee is symbolically smashing the root of patriarchy - it is as if the tale of Adam and Eve had never been told.

These three acts of female “madness” demonstrate Sook-hee and Hideko reclaiming power over themselves and their desire. The Handmaiden breaks the erotic thriller as we know it - womens’ nudity is not objectified, lesbian sex scenes are not overly-fetishised and both the female protagonists stay alive.

It’s a win!

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pacifymebby · 3 years

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Hihi! Any two of the questions you would like to answer but have not yet been asked :)

AHHH I LOVE U FOR ASKING THIS

14. What sound would you like Catfish to experiment with?

I just want Johnny Bond wacking out that slowdive reverb cocteau twins weird shit on guitar and Van with some sad boi romantic lyrics.

Shoegaze basically but I know we're not getting it.

20. What TV show would you like Catfish to star in (cooking, dancing, etc.)? How will each member fare?

Idk if this is basic bitch or fucking genius but...

Catb do great British bake off.

Like Van absolutely loving it, chaos, helpless in the kitchen but u know, chatting away to everybody, probs flirting with Paul Hollywood, giving it his all. He's just happy to be there.

The only thing bondys ever baked before is hash cakes. The challenge is not hash cakes. He's chill though, cig hanging out his mouth, spare cig tucked behind his ear, singing away Frank sinatra impressions as he free pours whiskey into his mixture for flavour. Even Noel fucking fielding thinks the man is weird.

Larry shitposts the lot of them by turning up at the end of the challenge with a box of jaffa cakes. Slams em down on the table presents his hand to Paul Hollywood and offers him the handshake.

Benji probably blows up the fridge or the microwave. Can't get his head around the proving drawer. Is trying his best. Somehow manages to pull it off at the end? Idk maybe fridges and microwaves weren't an important part of the recipe.

Bob is just watching the rest of them wide eyed, kind of amazed by the whole thing, amazed or horrified who knows. Anyway he's quite good at baking, actually he's very good at baking, wacks out a beautiful banana loaf, icing and all. Everybody loves him he's so shy he's so sweet his banana bread is actually good enough to eat, which is more than can be said about anybody else's.

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artificialqueens · 3 years

Text

Down with the Recipe, Bake from the Heart, 9/10 (Taywhora) - Juno

Chapter Summary: It’s the semi-final, and patisserie week will see the bakers face a tricky signature, an even trickier technical, and the trickiest showstopper ever seen on Bake Off. The four semi-finalists are all feeling the pressure, but they’re all determined to make it to the finale, whatever it takes.

WEEK 9: PATISSERIE WEEK

Tayce’s work had been almost a welcome distraction this week. Sleep had gone right out of the window for her for the last two weeks; all that occupied her spare thoughts was baking. Baking, baking and more baking. All she saw when she closed her eyes were proving bowls, baking trays, and KitchenAids - her own white one now blinding her.

Last week was too close. Shit critiques, shit bake. I need to nail this week.

Her weeknights were spent practising. Patisserie weeks were fiddly, intricate, and stressful, but she knew this was the one that separated the master bakers from the amateurs. So she’d practised until she had no bowls left, no ingredients, until her mind fogged as if with condensation, filled with no thoughts but baking.

I’m going to the finale, whatever it takes. I’m not doing all this for nothing.

——

Tayce painted eyeliner over her eyeliner, concealer over her concealer, and chugged another can of Monster - why had she let Ellie introduce her to Monster? - all while she was waiting for the connecting train at Reading Station, delayed as usual, when she saw a familiar person on the platform, checking her phone. Tayce stomach leapt to her throat as she realised it was Aurora.

Aurora was getting the same connecting train! Maybe they all did, but this was the first time Tayce had seen someone else on the same train as her.

Aurora hadn’t spotted Tayce, and Tayce’s mind whirled. Should she go and talk to her? Tayce wasn’t sure whether their NDA would stretch to them chatting in public before the show aired. On the other hand, who would know that they were just talking?

Can’t hurt, can it?

But the tannoy announcement came overhead for the train - only five minutes late, practically on time for trains - and Tayce saw that Aurora had disappeared into the crowd as she stood to board.

She couldn’t see that Aurora in her same carriage, so she found a seat and sat down with a sigh. Even though it was early on a Saturday morning, the train was already packed with people - mainly groups of women chatting and laughing, dressed in lots of fine dresses and enormous hats and drinking gin cocktails from cans; taking up all the table seats, excited giggles filling the air.

Tayce hadn’t a clue what this was in aid of - Ascot or just a wedding? - but for a split second, she’d have given everything to be as carefree as they were.

——

Signature: 24 Choux buns

“Your Choux buns this week should have a delicate and tasty filling. Twelve should be iced, and the other twelve topped with craquelin.”

“Topped with what?” Matt asked.

“Craquelin,” Noel said.

“Oh. Still didn’t understand that but alright.”

Tayce still managed a laugh, but Lawrence and Aurora on the other side of the room could only just crack a smile, and God only knew what Veronica’s face looked like in front of her.

“On your marks -“

“Get set -“

“BAKE!”

The general mood between the bakers was tense, but exhausted, as if they were all struggling up the last few feet to the top of a mountain. But although all of them were starting to bend under the pressure, Tayce was determined not to be crushed.

Even though she hated patisserie.

“It’s just so fiddly,” she’d complained to Cara during the week, the only person she’d managed to tell as part of her NDA. “I’ve done about three hundred practise choux buns and they never come out alright. I think the choux pastry just doesn’t like me.”

And whisking the ingredients together, waiting for that moment where she could check to see if the pastry was ready, gave her the chance to look around at the other bakers.

Her eyes stayed on Lawrence the longest. Lawrence had told her at the end of last week, after Bimini’s departure, that patisserie was her favourite. And although Tayce had assumed no one could like patisserie, Lawrence seemed to have regained some of her smile this week, sipping from a can of Monster herself as the choux pastry whirled in the deep purple KitchenAid on her workbench.

Veronica, with her emerald green one, was having a similarly peaceful time. Tayce had glanced at her a few times so far, mainly as she was directly in front of her, and found that every time she did, Veronica was fine. There was no clinging to the bench, no sighing, no shaking - just Veronica humming something as she put all her ingredients into the KitchenAid and let it spin, sipping her tea.

“Hi, how are you?” Blu was accompanied by Paul and Matt, coming round to do the usual on-camera talk with the bakers about the bakes.

Tayce’s stomach somersaulted whenever Blu was around - it was the accent mainly, but also Blu always seemed to be full of energy, even when the rest of the tent was dour as it was right now. Tayce couldn’t help but to smile back at her.

“Morning, love! I’m good!” She grinned. “Just trying to make sure sure my choux pastry behaves itself!”

“Oh, God, tell me about it! I don’t even know why I agreed to judge this week, patisserie is a triggering word for me after last season!” Blu laughed. “But Prue still has to recover, so here I am! Tell me what you’re doing this week, then.”

“So I’ve got two lots of choux, the iced choux buns will be full of cherries and coconut, and I’m icing the top to make it like a Bakewell tart. I love Bakewell tarts,” Tayce simpered, “and the craquelin ones, I’m doing those ones filled with vanilla cream and coffee. Bit of a kick first thing in the morning. Bit of a wake up call, you know what I mean?”

The judges had looked pleased enough with her flavours, and after they’d left, Tayce put her spatula into the mixture to test if it was ready to pipe, glancing at her timer as she did. It could have done with another minute or so to mix, but time was not on her side, so she picked up the piping bag and decided to get on with it.

“I’m making blood orange filling and a lemon curd icing for one set,” Aurora was saying on the other side of the tent, “and for the craquelin ones I’m making strawberries and lime.”

“Lime?” That was the one-word Paul Hollywood takedown. Aurora would have known that by now, but Tayce watched, a pang in her stomach as Aurora glanced down, the dimple on her cheek fading as her smile slipped down her face a little.

Come on Rory. You know better than to take that to heart.

“Yeah, lime.” Aurora nodded, but her voice was dimmed, and her dimple didn’t come back.

No, don’t start doubting yourself now!

“How’s the buns?” Tayce said, sidling over to Aurora once the judges had moved on.

“They’re fine.” Her voice was still stiff, and so were her movements. “Just getting the filling done.”

“Ignore what they said about the lime,” Tayce said into her ear. “It’s gonna be great. I know it already. I can’t wait to get out of here and taste one of them.”

“Thanks.”

But Aurora wouldn’t look at her, crouching down to look into the oven again at her second batch of buns.

“Do you want a cup of -“

“No thanks.” Aurora’s sharp voice was a surprise, as she indicated the can of Monster on the corner of the desk. “I’m good.”

“Alright! Jesus! I was only asking!” Tayce chuckled. “God, you can be a right moody mare to everyone when you’re stressed! Chillax!”

And this time, she didn’t wait for Aurora’s retort before heading to the tea tent.

She just takes out her mood on other people all the time. What’s the problem with her? She was better last week, and this week she’s back to being Mardy Margaret.

When she brought her tea back into the tent, Aurora was watching her, her hands on her hips. “You do an awful lot of talking for someone who’s meant to be baking, Tayce. You should focus on that instead.”

Maybe it was Tayce’s rattled nerves from lack of sleep. Maybe it was the semi-final pressure. Or maybe it was the raw, simple vulnerability that Tayce felt with Aurora, baring her soul, telling her that she was falling for Aurora last weekend. Whatever it was, all of Tayce’s emotions were on her sleeves, far too near to her skin …

… and this time, Aurora’s words were the last straw.

“Rory!” she yelled, “Just calm down! You’re not the only one who’s stressed here today! Stop taking your nerves out on me!“

Aurora’s jaw twisted, and she slammed down the choux buns she was taking out of the oven onto the steel with more noise than she meant to.

Lawrence, startled at the sound, turned to face them both, choux bun and piping bag in hand. “Not right now, alright?”

Tayce bit her tongue, bit back the reply that she’d taken Aurora’s moods, and her sharp words, with little retaliation the last couple of weekends, and that she was getting near to her limit with how much she would take. After all, Tayce was stressed too. Tayce hadn’t slept a wink. Tayce was just better at hiding her nerves.

She cocked an eyebrow at Aurora, who wasn’t even looking at her anymore, and concentrated on filling her piping bag, shocked at how much her hands shook as she tried.

Forget Aurora for now. We can talk calmly later. Focus on yourself.

The rest of the Signature was a blur, a fast blur of a morning which Tayce recalled virtually nothing about, until the moment she stepped out of the tent, baking completed.

The only thing she remembered about the Signature were the judges comments. And that was because they stabbed her, pricking her skin and staying there like hedgehog spines.

“Tayce, the filling is leaking.”

“The pastry could have done with a little more mixing.”

“Over baked - the choux shouldn’t really crunch.”

“The icing is lumpy.”

“I can’t get the coffee flavouring.”

At least she’d managed to correctly present the full twenty four. Aurora had managed to fill and ice twenty one of hers in the time, presenting twelve with craquelin and nine with icing; while Veronica had miscounted and made fourteen iced and ten with craquelin. Meanwhile, Lawrence might have swiped her perfect-looking choux buns straight from Paris.

While the others went back to Norton Hall, Tayce stole away, slipping through the trees back to the lake, this time alone. The bench was a little damp from the rain on Friday, but Tayce took off the jacket she’d brought for the chilly turn the weather had taken, and lay it on the bench to sit on. The ducks, tame now to her footsteps, approached her thinking she had bread.

Only six weekends too late, she thought to herself. I wonder if ducks like choux buns.

——

Technical: Cornucopia / Horn of Plenty

“What advice do you have for the bakers this week, Paul?”

“It’s all there for you in the instructions.”

Cryptic as ever. Blu giggled next to him, her hands in front of her mouth, back in her Mary Berry disguise to judge them again.

Once allowed to bake, Tayce whipped off the gingham tea towel and read the title twice before it sunk into her mind. The ingredients were sparse, the instructions were for once really detailed, and they were all given diagrams of the shapes of the parts of the horn they had to bake.

In front of her, Veronica was groaning, leaning on her workbench, her knuckles white. On her right, Lawrence was clutching her hair until it started to come out of her bun, and Aurora was pacing up and down in front of the workbench, her face thunderous.

Tayce had the mixture done in no time, but shaping it was proving difficult. Not the consistency of the diced almonds, not melting the chocolate for decorating and piping the scrolls for the top - but the shapes, and everyone was struggling to grasp how they all went together. They’d all been provided with templates for each piece of the bake on laminated paper, eleven in all that were meant to fit together, but without a picture of the finished product for reference, it was difficult to see how it all would.

“How are you doing it?” Tayce asked Aurora, leaning at the corner of her workbench.

She didn’t look up. “I - I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?”

“Tayce -“ Aurora raised her head, locking eyes with her, irritation etched in every line of her face. “I’m trying to focus. I need to do this right.”

“I do too! But we can work together, compare notes!” Tayce said, but Aurora held up her hand.

“Please,” Aurora breathed, turning her heavy eyes back to the laminated paper, the words dropping like lead from her lips, “… please just leave me alone to do this. Please. I can’t right now.”

Tayce had no choice. Every step back to her own workbench drained a little bit more of her enthusiasm through her feet as it slipped away from her into the floor. By the time she’d grabbed her cup of tea, she was empty.

Fuck it.

She had trusted the recipes all through the contest, and it had gotten her this far. She could keep doing it.

She weighed each piece of mixture and shaped them into rings, all eleven pieces in differing sizes, placing them on the baking tray and putting them into the oven to bake. In front of her, Veronica was tapping her alarm, before stepping back, fingers in her mouth, and Tayce noticed that her own nails, that she’d taken so long to grow out, were now bitten back down to the quick. A habit she’d worked so hard to break, sacrificed in the name of baking.

Veronica had put hers in to bake a minute or so earlier, but when they came out, Tayce thought they looked a little too brown, so she took hers out at the same time, the slightly paler colour looking about right. But when she watched Veronica, she realised how wrong she’d gotten the shapes.

“Veronica,” Tayce called, and she turned.

“What’s up, love?”

“How did you get yours to tilt on its side like that?”

Veronica’s Cornucopia was rounded in a curve as she fitted it together, like a horn, but Tayce’s wouldn’t form that shape, and Tayce felt like she was missing something.

“It’s on sealing the pastry. Did you have one side of each ring that was thicker than the other?”

Tayce looked at her rings of almond bake, but they were all an even thickness.

“They’re meant to be a bit thicker,” Veronica showed her one of hers, “so they fit together with a curl in them. D’you see?”

Tayce’s stomach filled with lead as she re-read the shaping instructions. She’d missed that part.

“Shit. I think I’ve got a disaster.”

“No, no, don’t say that,” Veronica soothed, “I mean - the biscuits are a bit wrong, yeah, but that’s not all that matters - the bake still has to be good, and the piping you have to do as well …”

“Vee,” Tayce stopped her, and Veronica sighed.

“I guess it’s gone a bit … pear-shaped, hasn’t it.”

“It kind of works at the bottom,” Tayce said, trying to fit the largest bits together, but the rest of it stood straight, leaving a strange shape that didn’t seem to stand up or lay flat.

“I’m fucked.”

“You’re not, Tayce …” Veronica’s voice faded away

“It’s fine. It is what it is.”

“You can still salvage it …” But Veronica trailed off again, and Tayce forced a smile to try to make Veronica feel better.

——

“Bakers, your time is up!”

Matt’s call couldn’t come soon enough. Tayce had had enough of this bake. The heat in the tent was making the piping drip, the caramel was hanging on by a thread, and the shape was definitely not what it needed to be. Veronica’s curve of the horn looked much more like it, and Tayce felt herself sink.

Once Tayce had brought hers to the front, she couldn’t help but look at the other horns, and felt a jolt of relief when she saw another one was also a mess, the same wrong shape as her own.

Oh, thank God for that.

But as she went to take her place on the stool, between Aurora and Veronica, she realised it was Aurora’s, and her blood turned to ice.

She almost couldn’t watch the judging. Paul and Blu in her Mary Berry disguise were sampling, Blu putting on Mary’s accent for the cameras, but none of the four of them on their stools let out anything more than stifled laughter and taut smiles.

“In last place we have this one -“

Tayce didn’t even need to look to see who would be raising their hand. Aurora’s face was white, chewing her nails as she claimed fourth place.

“Aurora - it’s quite over baked, the caramel is crystallised, and you’ve lost the horn shape - it’s just a pole. Not your finest hour, I’m afraid.”

Paul’s words were stacking on Aurora’s shoulders, she could see it plain as day as they weighed heavily on her. Aurora was nodding, but her eyes were blank, and Tayce was sure she couldn’t hear him.

“And third place is this one,” Paul continued, and Tayce knew it would be her, again without looking.

“Tayce - you started to get the shape right, but I don’t know what happened to the icing, and it’s a little under baked.”

Tayce swallowed the lump of whatever was at her throat and forced a smile. “Not my best!”

She felt Aurora’s eyes burning holes into her, but she didn’t turn to face her. She just focused on Veronica being called second and Lawrence coming out on top, all of them looking more and more anxious the longer judging went on.

This week was the week that the smallest thing could send any of them home. It was the semi-final. It no longer mattered where you came in Technical or Signature, because the Showstopper would probably count most. It was what the judges remembered, and the last impression could turn out to be the lasting impression.

I have to nail the Showstopper to stay. Whatever it takes.

——

“Surprise!”

When they all opened the door to Norton Hall, a loud burst of pink and purple hit them all, along with a nasal laugh. For half a delirious second, Tayce thought it was Bimini, back from elimination for whatever reason, but a few more steps revealed Cheryl, another contestant from the previous year, her smile warm and welcoming.

“Chez!” Blu immediately broke to a run past them all and leapt onto her girlfriend. “You didn’t tell me you were coming here!”

“Well how would it be a surprise if you knew?” Cheryl laughed, as Blu peppered her cheeks with kisses. “Put me down for a second, Blu! Jesus! I thought I’d get the party started! You’re all semi-finalists! We’re all semi-finalists!”

“Not all of us,” Blu remarked, eyeing her, while Cheryl nudged her.

“Babe, you’re not meant to remind me that I left the week before semi finals, that’s part of the agreement for us being on-screen girlfriends, remember?”

“On-screen?” Aurora squeaked.

“Yeah, we’re not really a couple, we’re just pretending for the cameras.” Blu said solemnly, disentangling herself from Cheryl and extending her hand. “How do you do?”

But Cheryl couldn’t keep a straight face; she collapsed into giggles as she took Blu’s hand and shook it, before slapping Blu on the arm again. “You’re a nightmare, honestly! Anyway, I can’t wait to try all your choux buns and the Cornucopias you’ve made!”

Blu sighed as she flopped onto the sofa. “Oh god, I didn’t know how much I’ve missed Norton Hall! This is where we all stayed too, you know.”

“Norton Hall?” Aurora said, putting a hand to her throat. “Is that what this place is called? I’ve been calling it Carr Hall since we got here!”

That was the catalyst. Tayce’s nerves creeping up her chest all day finally reached her lungs, eliciting a laugh, and once she’d started, she couldn’t stop. She put a hand to her mouth, but that only made her giggles bubble in her chest until they burst from her.

“It’s definitely Norton Hall, babe,” Cheryl said, shooting Tayce a confused look. “Check the leaflets. It’s got the name on it.”

But the others had fallen silent, the only sound Tayce’s uncomfortable wheezing laughter; Lawrence looking from Tayce to Aurora; while Tayce felt sharp fingers in the crook of her elbow, Veronica’s voice reaching up to her ear.

“For God’s sake, Tayce, please go and get a bun or something, please -“ Veronica steered her away to the table, and Tayce’s chuckles died down as she looked down at the buns, picking up one of everyone’s, even her own.

But as she looked at the Technical bakes, the Cornucopias, all now collapsed pastry rings, in pieces like all of their minds; all Tayce could hear as she looked at her bake were the judges words as they span round in her head -

Under baked … poorly iced … awful shape …

And Aurora’s at the other end, where the words were louder, stinging like thousands of tiny needles in her skin -

Over baked … just a pole … crystallised …

Her heart rattled against her ribs as realisation struck her so hard that stars danced in her vision.

It’s me or her.

And Tayce let her breath go, not realising she was holding it.

Whatever it takes.

Long, sharp fingers looped at her elbow again.

“Tayce?” It was Veronica, cautious and concerned, but Tayce couldn’t meet her eyes, squeezing her own shut so tightly so that she could stop herself from showing her pain by closing it back in.

“Tayce, what’s up, love?”

Veronica was gentle and her voice was soft, but Tayce’s skin was on fire, and she yanked her arm free and found her feet taking her away to the the stairs, taking the steps three at a time, ignoring the voice calling after her, a voice that was so familiar and so excruciating at once …

The door slammed behind her, closing out the world. But suddenly, her door was flung open and there Aurora was, in her doorway; the shock caused Tayce to say the first words that came to her head.

“Hey! I didn’t say you could come in!”

But Aurora’s eyes were wide, her hand trembling, as she pulled the door firmly shut behind her.

“What the hell -“

“Tayce, I’m not leaving until you tell me why you’re being so weird.”

But Tayce forced a laugh. “What? What do you mean, I’m being weird?”

“You’ve been annoyed all day, you’ve had a short fuse, even though -“

“You’re the one who keeps getting in a mood whenever I talk to you now!” Tayce cried, a bitter bark of a laugh escaping her. “I wanted to help you, and you just snapped at me, even after - after last weekend!”

Aurora took a sharp breath in, a flush creeping on her cheeks as she stood, silently surveying Tayce for a moment.

“I’ve had my first bottom in Technical. I’ve had my worst feedback in Signature. I’ve not slept all week because I was so worried with all my practises for patisserie week, and honestly, now I’m scared shitless.”

Aurora’s voice was low, and Tayce watched as Aurora scrunched her eyes tightly shut, her hands clenching and unclenching at her sides, her lips pursing as she fought some internal battle; before finally relaxing again, opening her eyes to look into Tayce’s.

“So I’m sorry, Tayce, that I’m a bit on edge, and I’m sorry that I’ve snapped at you. I know that’s wrong. But …” The sigh she let out was slow, filled the air with fizzling nerves. “I’m going. I know I am.”

“You can’t go.”

Where did that come from? Aurora’s eyes flickered, she licked her lips.

“I already know it’ll be me. I’ve been so bad this week -“

“Stop saying that. Stop being defeatist.”

“I’m not being defeatist, Tayce, I’ve done the worst this weekend so far! It’s logic!” Aurora’s voice grew higher with every word. “All I need is to fail the Showstopper, like every time I’ve done it in practise, and -“

“Rory! Please!”

Aurora stopped as Tayce spoke, trying to regain control of her tongue.

“Tayce. Why can’t you just tell me why you’re being so weird this week -“

“Because I can’t deal with thinking about one of us leaving, alright? I can’t!”

Her voice was shrill, breaking in her throat, and she screwed her eyes shut tightly, but tears still overflowed, her whole body suddenly shaking uncontrollably. Her chest crumpled, she was laid bare again, impossible to hide anymore.

I came here to win this. I came here for the cake stand. But that was eight weeks ago. And now …

Aurora stepped back at Tayce’s sudden outburst, the explosion of emotion alien to her.

“What do you -“

“Remember when Tia went home? Remember?” Tayce interrupted her, finding words fully formed without her having to think about them. “Veronica was a bag of nerves all the next week! She still is! And Ellie, too! You were so sad. Lawrence was losing it. They were so close! They got each other through the days! Remember?”

Aurora’s voice broke. “Of course I remember.”

“That’s you, too.”

“Tayce -“

“You get me through the days. You made me smile every week. You - you were the only person to come talk to me when I was missing my Pops. You always …” but finally the words stopped, thoughts drying out, but Tayce took a shuddering breath, the most honest truth still to come. “And like, I can’t … I can’t imagine you going now.”

Whatever it takes.

… but not this.

Aurora’s expression was unreadable as she surveyed Tayce, peering into her eyes as if searching for some meaning behind them, something she was concealing.

“I mean it, Rory, I mean it, I’ve never meant anything more in my fucking life …”

Aurora tugged Tayce gently into her embrace, and Tayce yielded to her, resting her forehead against Aurora’s, and when their lips met, Tayce tried to put everything she could into the kiss, to tell Aurora with unspoken words everything that there were no words for. A kiss was the most honest language there was, right?

They might have stayed entwined for longer than they thought. But when Aurora pulled away, her lip shook, her chin quivered.

“You’d better not go this week.”

“Or you, you bitch. We need to be in the final three together. Just promise me you’re gonna bring it. Bring your best bake.”

Aurora blinked, stunned for a moment. “Tayce -“

“Promise! You can’t be giving up! Bring your best bake. Okay?”

She swallowed, nodding against Tayce’s forehead. “Okay. I promise.”

——

Showstopper: Meringue centrepiece, featuring 2 types of meringue and a dessert element.

“Most importantly of all, remember what Prue says all the time -“

“… it has to be worth the calories,” Tayce heard herself parroting back as Blu said it, the catchphrases all too familiar by now.

Once the clock started, Tayce wasted no time. She didn’t want to talk. She didn’t even want to see anyone else in the room.

This was about her and Aurora now.

We both need to stay. Come on.

She glanced up, watching Veronica separate her eggs, and over to Lawrence, frowning down at her instructions as her eggs whipped alongside her. Both of them were still here, but one of them had to go next.

Please, one of you has to have a disaster. Neither of you have had one. One of you must be due one now. You can’t both be this perfect.

But as time progressed, Tayce felt it in sand, slipping through her fingers.

Veronica’s ballet design was interesting, beautifully decorated, and really showed off her dancing past; while Lawrence’s pair of meringue flamingos, proudly stood next to each other, couldn’t have looked more perfect if Lawrence had painted them pink and given them a voice box with a bird call.

She was stupid, so stupid to think that Lawrence or Veronica would slip up. Neither of them had put so much as a toe out of line since the first week, and they weren’t about to start now, not now that they’d seen how much Tayce and Aurora were failing, scrambling to keep up with them both.

“Bakers, you have ten minutes left!”

Where had the time all gone? Tayce couldn’t remember half of what she’d done, but she had meringues before her, incorporating the two different types the judges had specified, and a dessert that was delectable, she hoped.

She glanced at Aurora, whose meringues looked pretty good, if Tayce’s judgement was worth any weight. The sculpture she’d done was delicate and beautiful, the meringue lined with fruit and spun sugar. It looked similar to Tayce’s own, and Tayce wasn’t surprised - there was only so much you could do with meringue.

They still both stood a chance. Veronica and Lawrence may still have a disaster.

“Bakers! Time’s up! Step away from your meringues!”

When Noel called for time, Tayce noticed the hairline crack in the largest meringue she’d baked, holding the rest of the sculpture upright, and cursed herself for not covering it with more fruit to hide it. She looked over at Aurora’s, at the shape, seeing hers was in pretty good condition - not as interesting as Veronica’s or Lawrence’s, but one of theirs could taste bad or be under baked.

But when Tayce was asked to present it, the crack in the upright meringue that she had hoped would last until this point, crumpled and collapsed, taking the rest of the meringue sculpture with it, tumbling to the floor.

——

The wait was the longest any of them had felt. The judges’ critiques had been kind as always, but there was still of course the lingering knowledge that the unthinkable had happened.

Lawrence and Veronica were definitely out of trouble. It was down to Tayce and Aurora for elimination.

Tayce took herself back to the pond; Veronica looked as though she wanted to follow, but Lawrence caught her arm just in time, shaking her head and pulling her back up the path to Norton Hall. But when Aurora hung back, approaching the same bench slowly, Tayce couldn’t move to stop her; nor was she entirely sure she wanted to be alone now.

Aurora sat heavily, as close to Tayce as she could get, and silently rested her head on Tayce’s shoulder. Tayce caught sight in the dimming light of her fingers twisting in her lap, her left foot jiggling up and down. Felt deliberately calculated breathing against her chest.

In for three, hold for four, out for five. Tayce remembered the rhythm Aurora had told her about and her stomach twisted, pained at Aurora’s worry. She let her head drop on top of Aurora’s, and Aurora’s hand slowly crept into hers, her skin cold and the scent of her hair filling every pore of her skin.

For what was looking more and more likely to be the final time.

They spent the next fifteen minutes wordlessly watching the ducks on the pond, coming and going, water rippling out beyond them.

So calm, so regal on the surface, but underneath their legs are kicking hard as they can to keep them afloat.

Once the team hurried them back into the tent, the air in the room felt like tar, too thick to breathe. Aurora’s fingers were so tight around Tayce’s that she thought she might lose all sensation in them; and as they sat down, and Aurora let her head fall onto Tayce’s shoulder again, she tried to ignore the wetness that developed on her shirt. Willing herself not to look down so as not to cry too.

On her right, Lawrence took her other hand as she settled onto her stool, stroking her knuckles tenderly, and Veronica did the same to Aurora, like they were four penguins in a row. Veronica clasped Aurora’s left hand in both of hers, muttering soothing words that were meant to calm them both.

But of course, both of them weren’t going.

The judges were back in the room in what seemed like the blink of an eye.

The final Star Baker award went to Lawrence, and for a split second everyone lost their contact, a strange cold gap between them as they applauded. Tayce, speechless in fear, pulled Lawrence in to hug her as Lawrence fought back tears.

“I’m so honoured,” Lawrence mumbled, nodding. “Thank you.”

And then it was the person leaving. Noel’s expression was grave, unnerving for him, as he said the immortal words of “I have the awful task of announcing who will be leaving us today.”

Noel was still speaking, but Tayce wasn’t listening; Aurora’s chin rattled against Tayce’s shoulder as she curled back onto it, and Tayce rested her head against Aurora’s, turning her gaze skywards so as not to cry; Lawrence’s hand almost as tense in hers as Aurora’s as they waited for the death knell -

“Tayce.”

The weight of the room seemed to slam her into the floor.

Noel’s mouth was moving still, but words were hard to hear.

All Tayce knew was Aurora’s whole arm shaking, and the whole tent crashing to the ground around her as time stopped.

——

“It’s been … a ride.”

The producer behind the cameraman waved a hand, trying to get Tayce to say some more.

Tayce hadn’t been sure how she’d feel at being eliminated, but now that she had been, if there was any sense of disappointment, it sat on her skin, refusing to sink any deeper at present. All that was going through her mind were the happy memories, running in a showreel being projected into the back of her head.

Joe’s store-bought fondant. Ellie’s questionable towers. Pip’s tiny handbag. Cherry’s seemingly endless supply of gossip. Tia’s adequate chocolate ball, filling the room with charm. Asttina’s playful glee at whipped cream. Bimini’s crimps with Noel. Ginny’s obsession with lemon and legendary exit.

What had Tayce brought? She wasn’t quite sure.

She threw back her head and laughed at the absurdity of it all.

No one will remember me at all!

“It’s been a really great adventure. I’ve met some amazing people, I’ve had the time of my life, and I’ve put Newport on the map, baby!”

The producer waved at her again.

“What? What more do you want?”

But as the words left Tayce’s mouth, she realised that she didn’t seem at all perturbed at going home.

She tried, but it just didn’t come to her.

The cold dread, that had once threatened to creep like ivy up her chest to her heart, had been conquered by the elation of each week, by the warmth of the others there, and by the depth of care she’d found in all of the contestants, severing everything negative that she could have taken away from not winning a baking contest.

The oppressive atmosphere of the contest had lifted.

She couldn’t believe that only an hour or so ago, she was hoping for Lawrence or Veronica to have a disaster to spare her. Thinking back to it, she felt ashamed at how much those thoughts weren’t like her. It made her laugh to realise now that she’d missed out on a cake stand, but that was all. And she could buy one of those anywhere.

How could she be sad to the camera?

But after her exit interview was done, she found all three of the finalists waiting for her, waiting to see her, huddled under one big golf umbrella.

“It’s … it’s raining. Why aren’t you back in -“

“Why d’you think?” Veronica said, holding her hands up. “You didn’t think you were leaving without a proper goodbye from us did you?”

“I’ll be back next week!” Tayce laughed. “I’m only gone a week! And I’ll be here to cheer you three on in the final and -“

“Tayce,” Aurora shook her head. “When are you gonna admit that you’re upset for yourself, for not making it to the final?”

“I’m - I’m not!”

But the more she stood before them, the more it started to creep on her, disappointment …

But not for the loss, not that I’m no longer competing. That I’m … that I’m leaving these people.

“Guys -“

Lawrence’s eyes were shining with tears as she hugged Tayce, and Tayce rubbed her back as they fell. Lawrence was shaking, and Tayce was lost for words, wondering if she should be trying to comfort Lawrence or reassure her.

“I’ll give Ellie a kiss for you on the loser side,” she muttered finally into her ear as they held each other.

“You’d better fucking not,” was Lawrence’s strangled retort.

Veronica was a little more nervous, holding her arms awkwardly at her sides, unsure if she wanted contact or not. “I - look, Tayce, I know I didn’t always -“

“Oh, Vee, lighten up! Come here,” Tayce said, pulling Veronica into a hug, and Veronica wrapped her arms around her, surprising her at how tightly Veronica squeezed. “You’re an amazing baker, and you need to give yourself more credit. And a bit of a break.”

“I know,” was Veronica’s muffled reply.

Aurora waited until last. Tayce could barely stand to look at her. Her brown eyes swam with tears, her lips quivered, and she took a shaky breath as Tayce came near to her.

“I’m sorry.”

“You don’t have to be sorry.”

Tayce opened her arms out and Aurora let herself come into them, Aurora’s chin nestling into the crook of her neck. And the longer she held Tayce, the tighter her grip became, and Tayce tried to pull her nearer still until she couldn’t -

“I don’t know if I can do this.”

The heartbreaking words were breathed into Tayce’s ear, strands of silk in the wind, but hearing them made Tayce’s stomach flood with lead, a cold wave washing over her skin, and not from the rain as it grew heavier.

Those were the words that finally made tears spill from her eyes.

She took Aurora’s face in her hands, locking eyes on hers to confirm her conviction, her voice breaking with heartache.

“You can win this, bitch.”

——

THREE BAKERS REMAIN

#rpdr fanfiction #rpdr uk #down with the recipe #juno #uk2 #baking au #gbbo au #taywhora #tayce #a'whora #bimini bon boulash #veronica green #lawrence chaney #fluff #lesbian au

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