TV cook Nigella Lawson said she was “full of cake, hope and expectation” as she made her debut as a judge on The Great British Bake Off.
The 66-year-old appeared on the Channel 4 baking show for the first time on Tuesday evening, joining fellow judge TV Paul Hollywood for the new series.
Lawson was welcomed into the Bake Off tent by presenters Alison Hammond and Noel Fielding and was met with a round of applause from the contestants.
First episode highlights
During the first episode, Lawson said she “loved” being in the tent.
She said: “I’m full of cake and hope and expectation.
“The standard is incredibly high.”
Discussing the bakers she added: “It’s also important for them to learn. None of us are finished articles.”
The series kicked off with a chocolate stout cake before the new bakers were tasked with making a coffee and walnut cake for their technical challenge.
Judging the bakes
While tasting Tom’s tipsy cherry chocolate stout cake, Lawson said: “The flavours are giving me a lot of pleasure but I think you have gone a little heavy handed on the bicarb (bicarbonate soda).”
She praised Mo’s peanut and caramel chocolate stout cake as “sensational” and said it looked “irresistible”.
“When you have a bit of salt in something you are just singing a song,” she said.
“That looks rather spectacular. I’m in heaven.”
Hollywood said he loved the cake and added that the flavours were “absolutely spot on”.
“Looking forward to seeing what you are going to do next,” he said.
Showstopper challenge
The bakers’ creativity was pushed to the limit again as they made a self-portrait showstopper.
Lawson said she was excited about the first showstopper of the series to see the bakers show off their “artistic skill”.
She appeared moved during Gabe’s showstopper, Blu Romantic portrait cake, which involved cracking a “mirror” to reveal the true identity.
Lawson added: “If you are not the Picasso of patisserie what I want is a bit of personality, some wit.”
Asked about the apparently missing portrait, Gabe, who is a drag artist and performs under the name Blu Romantic, said: “There is a mirror on the front of the cake. Usually my drag persona isn’t around, so you have to get into that mirror so that you can see it.”
Hollywood cracked the mirror to reveal a picture of Gabe’s drag king persona, and Lawson said: “Oh, that is clever.
“That is rather profound actually. A lot of us feel we have a person beyond the surface.”
During the showstopper another contestant, Shannon, became unwell and was unable to finish her bake.
Fielding later announced that Mo had been named Star Baker while Hammond revealed nobody would be going home in the first week.
Lawson replaced Dame Prue Leith, who announced in January that she was stepping down after nine seasons on the show.
Bake Off will return next Tuesday at 8pm on Channel 4.
