Bake Off Rises To The Occasion

The Great British Bake-Off on Wednesday showed the bakers creating Crème Brulee's, Mary's mysterious meringue torte and a simple (you would think) cheesecake.

But, of course, GBBO never makes anything look easy. It magnifies how complex and particular baking can be.

The last task saw the contestants making three different types of cheesecake, all with their own weird and wonderful spins on the classic.

The adventure of the herb made its way among the bakers, revealing a honey and rosemary and a tarragon and apple cheesecake. They surprisingly went down well.

Nadiya infused fizzy pop into her cheesecakes: cream soda, lemonade and ginger beer. The judges thought her trio was 'ingenious'.

Nadiya's risky show-stopper impressed Paul and Mary

This week's star-baker title was given to Ian for the third time running.

An emotional Sandy was the unfortunate to go this week for having several bakes undercooked.

Many Twitter viewers were sad to see her big personality get kicked off the show; was the right decision made?

@rachbear: Sandy was my fav contestant #gbbo
@JackCEsq: WHY WHY WHY?! Why did they kick Sandy out? Why are all my favourites dropping like flies #GBBO
@_hannahwing: #GBBO is dull without Sandy. She was definitely the humour of this seasons

What makes GBBO so great?

Presenters Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins make the show particularly perky with their light-hearted humour and comedic puns, and viewers are gripped by the toughness that is Paul Hollywood and the sweet but sassy Mary Berry.

Mary Berry stormed as a sex symbol in April this year as she was voted 74 out of FHM's 100 Sexiest Women. I wouldn't argue with that.

One of this year's favourites, Mat Riley, has also made headlines in recent news - a widow from Sussex claimed the death of her husband was because of Mat, when he collided with a motorcycle and killed Michael Turner, aged 51.

I understand why the widow is unable to forgive him, but I fear this will damage Mat's time on the show.

Bake Off is in its sixth season, no doubt due to its outstanding viewing figures. Previous winners, such as last year's Nancy Birtwhistle, have begun careers in baking.

Dublin

 

So my sister lives in Northern Ireland and last week I went to visit her and we took a day trip to Dublin from Belfast, these are some of the places we visited!

The National Leprechaun Museum
It's as it sounds! This is the first place I wanted to go as I love museums and wanted to do something fun, take some pictures and find out more about Ireland and its myths and legends! As I had a student card it was 10 euros, a reasonable price. Unlike many museums, you have a tour guide who takes you through the museum and acts as a storyteller.

 

 

The tour begins by going through a very dark tunnel, which gets smaller as you near the end so it's like you've turned into a leprechaun. Not for anyone that's afraid of the dark! Next, we had some pictures with some giant chairs, then we went through a rainbow, found a pot of gold and heard some stories not only about leprechauns, but also about trickster fairies.

First time trying some Guinness! Can't say it's going to be my regular order from now on though. We visited a small, traditional Irish pub called O'Neils, round the corner from the museum. Very friendly.

 

 

Dublin Castle - inside the courtyard

 

 

It was easy to find this part of Dublin castle, this is the part that Google maps directs you. I have no idea where the actual bit that looks like a castle is- disappointed! If you want to go inside the castle, you have to pay.

 

The sand sculptures were very impressive. They are designed and sculptured by a group of artists called Duthain Dealbh. With the typical Irish weather, you're probably thinking what if it rains.. the rain actually helped the sculptors as it dampened down the sand so it could mold together. The particular sand they use isn't like the sand you get on your typical beach but feel free to prove me wrong. This sand is often from river beds. The sculptures being made of sand means they won't last forever and will be removed end of August, but different sand sculptures will be here next summer.

 

 

Dublin City Hall

Beautiful! Very quiet when we went in but I think it's worth a view if you're in the area. Below the ground is a café and a gallery for a small fee. The fashionista in me will tell you my fur coat is from H&M, dress from Topshop and sandals from lamoda.com.

 

 

Glasnevin Cemetery and Botanic Gardens

 

 

The cemetery and gardens were on the Dublin tour bus map. A cemetery being very unexpected as a tourist attraction, but if you have visited you will know why. The cemetery is stunning; spread across acres of land made up of thousands of pounds worth of monuments, important to Irish Catholic history. Many of Ireland's national and political figures are buried here, such as Daniel O'Connell (political leader). The cemetery is surrounded by high walls and a watch tower at the entrance, originally built to catch 'bodysnatchers' in the 18th and 19th century.

The National Botanic Gardens is also made up of acres of land, and giant greenhouses that store over 100,000 exotic plants. It's peaceful and scenic to walk around. Another attraction to visit if you want to go somewhere for free.





All photographs are my own.