Bake Off review from Jürgen Krauss sees verdict on Alison Hammond debut

Season 14 kicked off this week (Tuesday 26th September) with the 12 new bakers in the line-up getting stuck into Cake Week.

The Signature saw them tackling vertical layer cakes, while the Technical was all about Bake Off's iconic chocolate fudge cake (with the missing raspberry on top). Finally for the Showstopper, the cast had the opportunity to show off their architectural skills with sponge cake animals.

While it was a piece of cake for Dan, 42, who Jürgen thinks has finalist potential, unfortunately Amos's cakes didn't quite rise to the occasion as he became the first contestant to leave the tent.

Here, Jürgen reveals what he thought of The Great British Bake Off week one, whether he agrees with judges Prue Leith and Paul Hollywood's choice to send Amos home, and who he thinks is at risk of going home next.

You can watch Jürgen share his verdict on the final below. Keep watching at the end of each video for more from the baker.

The Great British Bake Off is back for 2023, and we have a brand new columnist at RadioTimes.com!

Joining us each week to share his thoughts on the bakes, results and some tips along the way is season 12 semi-finalist Jürgen Krauss.

Season 14 kicked off this week (Tuesday 26th September) with the 12 new bakers in the line-up getting stuck into Cake Week.

The Signature saw them tackling vertical layer cakes, while the Technical was all about Bake Off's iconic chocolate fudge cake (with the missing raspberry on top). Finally for the Showstopper, the cast had the opportunity to show off their architectural skills with sponge cake animals.

While it was a piece of cake for Dan, 42, who Jürgen thinks has finalist potential, unfortunately Amos's cakes didn't quite rise to the occasion as he became the first contestant to leave the tent.

Here, Jürgen reveals what he thought of The Great British Bake Off week one, whether he agrees with judges Prue Leith and Paul Hollywood's choice to send Amos home, and who he thinks is at risk of going home next.

You can watch Jürgen share his verdict on the final below. Keep watching at the end of each video for more from the baker.

The Great British Bake Off is back for 2023, and we have a brand new columnist at RadioTimes.com!

Joining us each week to share his thoughts on the bakes, results and some tips along the way is season 12 semi-finalist Jürgen Krauss.

Season 14 kicked off this week (Tuesday 26th September) with the 12 new bakers in the line-up getting stuck into Cake Week.

The Signature saw them tackling vertical layer cakes, while the Technical was all about Bake Off's iconic chocolate fudge cake (with the missing raspberry on top). Finally for the Showstopper, the cast had the opportunity to show off their architectural skills with sponge cake animals.

While it was a piece of cake for Dan, 42, who Jürgen thinks has finalist potential, unfortunately Amos's cakes didn't quite rise to the occasion as he became the first contestant to leave the tent.

Here, Jürgen reveals what he thought of The Great British Bake Off week one, whether he agrees with judges Prue Leith and Paul Hollywood's choice to send Amos home, and who he thinks is at risk of going home next.

You can watch Jürgen share his verdict on the final below. Keep watching at the end of each video for more from the baker.

The Great British Bake Off is back for 2023, and we have a brand new columnist at RadioTimes.com!

Joining us each week to share his thoughts on the bakes, results and some tips along the way is season 12 semi-finalist Jürgen Krauss.

Season 14 kicked off this week (Tuesday 26th September) with the 12 new bakers in the line-up getting stuck into Cake Week.

The Signature saw them tackling vertical layer cakes, while the Technical was all about Bake Off's iconic chocolate fudge cake (with the missing raspberry on top). Finally for the Showstopper, the cast had the opportunity to show off their architectural skills with sponge cake animals.

While it was a piece of cake for Dan, 42, who Jürgen thinks has finalist potential, unfortunately Amos's cakes didn't quite rise to the occasion as he became the first contestant to leave the tent.

Here, Jürgen reveals what he thought of The Great British Bake Off week one, whether he agrees with judges Prue Leith and Paul Hollywood's choice to send Amos home, and who he thinks is at risk of going home next.

You can watch Jürgen share his verdict on the final below. Keep watching at the end of each video for more from the baker.

Jürgen on Cake Week

I'm really excited about it. I think they have thought a lot about it with the return to, well some say basics, but more relatable challenges for home bakers and showing more of the actual hands on activities of the bakers as opposed to focusing on hosts and comedians.

The bakers I found are a wonderful group. It's really hard to kind of judge at this stage who will do well and who won't. It's a very coherent group with a nice chemistry.

Favourite bake

Quite a few of the bakes have stood out. Flavour-wise I would have liked to try tropical flavours, even though the sponges weren't so great. Abbi's sheep looked so happy to bounce around on our table, I would say.

I would have loved to try that. I would have loved to try Tasha's - quite unusual flavours with sesame and yuzu. Her robin was also outstanding in design. Lots of things to look forward to.

Least favourite bake

I think Matty and Amos didn't have the best of the days. Probably the least favourite was Matty's dog. Just the colour of his butter cream. Grey doesn't work for me for a cake. It's hard to get black into butter cream really working with normal food colours.

I think he would have to resort to something more drastic, like really coal powder, and then it really doesn't become nice to eat. I understand those difficulties. I was experimenting with those colours going on to Bake Off and decided not to go ahead with it.

Star Baker Dan

I think Dan was really brilliant. I thought [he was] kind of laser sharp, maybe [a] Jedi baker. He really took off there and took the field. I think it's quite a big group of bakers, who are in the brilliant bracket. Dan is definitely one of them.

I also like Abbi with her foraging and her sense of flavours. I think she will deliver some good things. Cristy has a lot of potential. That duck just looked amazing, so I'm looking forward to more of her decorating skills, but also flavour-wise.

Rowan is very unusual with his lobster and quite young, but [he's] a student who did his degree during the week of filming, so he really has resilience. I'm looking forward to a lot of his bakes. I mean Saku is a very interesting baker and Keith is a very nice character in the tent with, I think, lots of potential in his baking as well.

No clear winner

For the finals, I wouldn't say winner, but for the finals, I would say Dan and possibly Abbi. Tasha is a bit of a wildcard, so I will put Tasha in there because she went out with flavours that possibly are a bit unusual for the judges, and where you don't know whether you hit the right spot.

A warning for Matty

I would say Matty has to pull his things together a bit - I would be worried about Matty. And then Dana as well. Dana is a self confessed untidy baker and, having been in the tent, I understand how important it is to keep some sort of tidiness.

I would be a bit more worried about Dana putting twice the amount of chocolate in her cake in the Technical.

Tip of the week

I would just make sure to follow the recipes to the dot if it's a recipe like the one they got, and watch the temperature and the consistencies. If you heat the chocolate too much when you pour it into the dough, [that's] when the chocolate breaks and at that point, the consistency of the butter won't be that great, and that affects volume in the end.

So treat all your ingredients with respect - I think that's the that's the main thing.

Jürgen answers...

Do you think Amos was the right person to go?

He really had a bad day: his sponges were very dense. He announced that he would make heavy sponges in order for them to be easy to carve, and kind of everyone at Bake Off knows that the judges aren't looking for a dense sponge.

So in a way, it was a combination of a bad day and unlucky choices. I think it was the right decision. I will say I would like to have seen more of Amos.

What did you think of Alison Hammond's Bake Off debut?

I think she brings a nice chemistry to the tent. She very cheerful and I think she's very supportive to the bakers. With the new format, focusing more on the bakers, I was surprised how little the comedians came out, but she seems to have a good chemistry with Noel Fielding as well.

I like it with the focus being on the bakers because it's a baking show and that's what lots of watchers want. I enjoy seeing the way people use their hands and use tools to create some things, and that's one of the reasons the show got popular and I got drawn into watching and finally applying.

A week in the life of Jürgen

Well, this week has been one of the craziest weeks in my life since Bake Off, and I think it's going on like that for a bit longer. So apart from watching the Bake Off and thinking about this column, I have been on a Charity Award from the UBBC.

I've been on two big festivals in the last two weeks. I'll do more food related stuff on the weekend - [I'm] going to food festivals. So you'll see my face around. You won't be able to avoid it and I hope you'll enjoy it!

German Baking: Cakes, tarts, traybakes and breads from the Black Forest and beyond by Jürgen Krauss is available to buy at Amazon.

The Great British Bake Off airs at 8pm on Tuesdays on Channel 4.

Looking for something else to watch? Check out our TV Guide or Streaming Guide, or visit our dedicated Entertainment hub for the latest news.

Try Radio Times magazine today and get 10 issues for only £10, PLUS a £10 John Lewis and Partners voucher delivered to your home – subscribe now. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.

Jürgen on Cake Week

I'm really excited about it. I think they have thought a lot about it with the return to, well some say basics, but more relatable challenges for home bakers and showing more of the actual hands on activities of the bakers as opposed to focusing on hosts and comedians.

The bakers I found are a wonderful group. It's really hard to kind of judge at this stage who will do well and who won't. It's a very coherent group with a nice chemistry.

Favourite bake

Quite a few of the bakes have stood out. Flavour-wise I would have liked to try tropical flavours, even though the sponges weren't so great. Abbi's sheep looked so happy to bounce around on our table, I would say.

I would have loved to try that. I would have loved to try Tasha's - quite unusual flavours with sesame and yuzu. Her robin was also outstanding in design. Lots of things to look forward to.

Least favourite bake

I think Matty and Amos didn't have the best of the days. Probably the least favourite was Matty's dog. Just the colour of his butter cream. Grey doesn't work for me for a cake. It's hard to get black into butter cream really working with normal food colours.

I think he would have to resort to something more drastic, like really coal powder, and then it really doesn't become nice to eat. I understand those difficulties. I was experimenting with those colours going on to Bake Off and decided not to go ahead with it.

Star Baker Dan

I think Dan was really brilliant. I thought [he was] kind of laser sharp, maybe [a] Jedi baker. He really took off there and took the field. I think it's quite a big group of bakers, who are in the brilliant bracket. Dan is definitely one of them.

I also like Abbi with her foraging and her sense of flavours. I think she will deliver some good things. Cristy has a lot of potential. That duck just looked amazing, so I'm looking forward to more of her decorating skills, but also flavour-wise.

Rowan is very unusual with his lobster and quite young, but [he's] a student who did his degree during the week of filming, so he really has resilience. I'm looking forward to a lot of his bakes. I mean Saku is a very interesting baker and Keith is a very nice character in the tent with, I think, lots of potential in his baking as well.

No clear winner

For the finals, I wouldn't say winner, but for the finals, I would say Dan and possibly Abbi. Tasha is a bit of a wildcard, so I will put Tasha in there because she went out with flavours that possibly are a bit unusual for the judges, and where you don't know whether you hit the right spot.

A warning for Matty

I would say Matty has to pull his things together a bit - I would be worried about Matty. And then Dana as well. Dana is a self confessed untidy baker and, having been in the tent, I understand how important it is to keep some sort of tidiness.

I would be a bit more worried about Dana putting twice the amount of chocolate in her cake in the Technical.

Tip of the week

I would just make sure to follow the recipes to the dot if it's a recipe like the one they got, and watch the temperature and the consistencies. If you heat the chocolate too much when you pour it into the dough, [that's] when the chocolate breaks and at that point, the consistency of the butter won't be that great, and that affects volume in the end.

So treat all your ingredients with respect - I think that's the that's the main thing.

Jürgen answers...

Do you think Amos was the right person to go?

He really had a bad day: his sponges were very dense. He announced that he would make heavy sponges in order for them to be easy to carve, and kind of everyone at Bake Off knows that the judges aren't looking for a dense sponge.

So in a way, it was a combination of a bad day and unlucky choices. I think it was the right decision. I will say I would like to have seen more of Amos.

What did you think of Alison Hammond's Bake Off debut?

I think she brings a nice chemistry to the tent. She very cheerful and I think she's very supportive to the bakers. With the new format, focusing more on the bakers, I was surprised how little the comedians came out, but she seems to have a good chemistry with Noel Fielding as well.

I like it with the focus being on the bakers because it's a baking show and that's what lots of watchers want. I enjoy seeing the way people use their hands and use tools to create some things, and that's one of the reasons the show got popular and I got drawn into watching and finally applying.

A week in the life of Jürgen

Well, this week has been one of the craziest weeks in my life since Bake Off, and I think it's going on like that for a bit longer. So apart from watching the Bake Off and thinking about this column, I have been on a Charity Award from the UBBC.

I've been on two big festivals in the last two weeks. I'll do more food related stuff on the weekend - [I'm] going to food festivals. So you'll see my face around. You won't be able to avoid it and I hope you'll enjoy it!

German Baking: Cakes, tarts, traybakes and breads from the Black Forest and beyond by Jürgen Krauss is available to buy at Amazon.

The Great British Bake Off airs at 8pm on Tuesdays on Channel 4.

Looking for something else to watch? Check out our TV Guide or Streaming Guide, or visit our dedicated Entertainment hub for the latest news.

Try Radio Times magazine today and get 10 issues for only £10, PLUS a £10 John Lewis and Partners voucher delivered to your home – subscribe now. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.

Jürgen on Cake Week

I'm really excited about it. I think they have thought a lot about it with the return to, well some say basics, but more relatable challenges for home bakers and showing more of the actual hands on activities of the bakers as opposed to focusing on hosts and comedians.

The bakers I found are a wonderful group. It's really hard to kind of judge at this stage who will do well and who won't. It's a very coherent group with a nice chemistry.

Favourite bake

Quite a few of the bakes have stood out. Flavour-wise I would have liked to try tropical flavours, even though the sponges weren't so great. Abbi's sheep looked so happy to bounce around on our table, I would say.

I would have loved to try that. I would have loved to try Tasha's - quite unusual flavours with sesame and yuzu. Her robin was also outstanding in design. Lots of things to look forward to.

Least favourite bake

I think Matty and Amos didn't have the best of the days. Probably the least favourite was Matty's dog. Just the colour of his butter cream. Grey doesn't work for me for a cake. It's hard to get black into butter cream really working with normal food colours.

I think he would have to resort to something more drastic, like really coal powder, and then it really doesn't become nice to eat. I understand those difficulties. I was experimenting with those colours going on to Bake Off and decided not to go ahead with it.

Star Baker Dan

I think Dan was really brilliant. I thought [he was] kind of laser sharp, maybe [a] Jedi baker. He really took off there and took the field. I think it's quite a big group of bakers, who are in the brilliant bracket. Dan is definitely one of them.

I also like Abbi with her foraging and her sense of flavours. I think she will deliver some good things. Cristy has a lot of potential. That duck just looked amazing, so I'm looking forward to more of her decorating skills, but also flavour-wise.

Rowan is very unusual with his lobster and quite young, but [he's] a student who did his degree during the week of filming, so he really has resilience. I'm looking forward to a lot of his bakes. I mean Saku is a very interesting baker and Keith is a very nice character in the tent with, I think, lots of potential in his baking as well.

No clear winner

For the finals, I wouldn't say winner, but for the finals, I would say Dan and possibly Abbi. Tasha is a bit of a wildcard, so I will put Tasha in there because she went out with flavours that possibly are a bit unusual for the judges, and where you don't know whether you hit the right spot.

A warning for Matty

I would say Matty has to pull his things together a bit - I would be worried about Matty. And then Dana as well. Dana is a self confessed untidy baker and, having been in the tent, I understand how important it is to keep some sort of tidiness.

I would be a bit more worried about Dana putting twice the amount of chocolate in her cake in the Technical.

Tip of the week

I would just make sure to follow the recipes to the dot if it's a recipe like the one they got, and watch the temperature and the consistencies. If you heat the chocolate too much when you pour it into the dough, [that's] when the chocolate breaks and at that point, the consistency of the butter won't be that great, and that affects volume in the end.

So treat all your ingredients with respect - I think that's the that's the main thing.

Jürgen answers...

Do you think Amos was the right person to go?

He really had a bad day: his sponges were very dense. He announced that he would make heavy sponges in order for them to be easy to carve, and kind of everyone at Bake Off knows that the judges aren't looking for a dense sponge.

So in a way, it was a combination of a bad day and unlucky choices. I think it was the right decision. I will say I would like to have seen more of Amos.

What did you think of Alison Hammond's Bake Off debut?

I think she brings a nice chemistry to the tent. She very cheerful and I think she's very supportive to the bakers. With the new format, focusing more on the bakers, I was surprised how little the comedians came out, but she seems to have a good chemistry with Noel Fielding as well.

I like it with the focus being on the bakers because it's a baking show and that's what lots of watchers want. I enjoy seeing the way people use their hands and use tools to create some things, and that's one of the reasons the show got popular and I got drawn into watching and finally applying.

A week in the life of Jürgen

Well, this week has been one of the craziest weeks in my life since Bake Off, and I think it's going on like that for a bit longer. So apart from watching the Bake Off and thinking about this column, I have been on a Charity Award from the UBBC.

I've been on two big festivals in the last two weeks. I'll do more food related stuff on the weekend - [I'm] going to food festivals. So you'll see my face around. You won't be able to avoid it and I hope you'll enjoy it!

German Baking: Cakes, tarts, traybakes and breads from the Black Forest and beyond by Jürgen Krauss is available to buy at Amazon.

The Great British Bake Off airs at 8pm on Tuesdays on Channel 4.

Looking for something else to watch? Check out our TV Guide or Streaming Guide, or visit our dedicated Entertainment hub for the latest news.

Try Radio Times magazine today and get 10 issues for only £10, PLUS a £10 John Lewis and Partners voucher delivered to your home – subscribe now. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.

Jürgen on Cake Week

I'm really excited about it. I think they have thought a lot about it with the return to, well some say basics, but more relatable challenges for home bakers and showing more of the actual hands on activities of the bakers as opposed to focusing on hosts and comedians.

The bakers I found are a wonderful group. It's really hard to kind of judge at this stage who will do well and who won't. It's a very coherent group with a nice chemistry.

Favourite bake

Quite a few of the bakes have stood out. Flavour-wise I would have liked to try tropical flavours, even though the sponges weren't so great. Abbi's sheep looked so happy to bounce around on our table, I would say.

I would have loved to try that. I would have loved to try Tasha's - quite unusual flavours with sesame and yuzu. Her robin was also outstanding in design. Lots of things to look forward to.

Least favourite bake

I think Matty and Amos didn't have the best of the days. Probably the least favourite was Matty's dog. Just the colour of his butter cream. Grey doesn't work for me for a cake. It's hard to get black into butter cream really working with normal food colours.

I think he would have to resort to something more drastic, like really coal powder, and then it really doesn't become nice to eat. I understand those difficulties. I was experimenting with those colours going on to Bake Off and decided not to go ahead with it.

Star Baker Dan

I think Dan was really brilliant. I thought [he was] kind of laser sharp, maybe [a] Jedi baker. He really took off there and took the field. I think it's quite a big group of bakers, who are in the brilliant bracket. Dan is definitely one of them.

I also like Abbi with her foraging and her sense of flavours. I think she will deliver some good things. Cristy has a lot of potential. That duck just looked amazing, so I'm looking forward to more of her decorating skills, but also flavour-wise.

Rowan is very unusual with his lobster and quite young, but [he's] a student who did his degree during the week of filming, so he really has resilience. I'm looking forward to a lot of his bakes. I mean Saku is a very interesting baker and Keith is a very nice character in the tent with, I think, lots of potential in his baking as well.

No clear winner

For the finals, I wouldn't say winner, but for the finals, I would say Dan and possibly Abbi. Tasha is a bit of a wildcard, so I will put Tasha in there because she went out with flavours that possibly are a bit unusual for the judges, and where you don't know whether you hit the right spot.

A warning for Matty

I would say Matty has to pull his things together a bit - I would be worried about Matty. And then Dana as well. Dana is a self confessed untidy baker and, having been in the tent, I understand how important it is to keep some sort of tidiness.

I would be a bit more worried about Dana putting twice the amount of chocolate in her cake in the Technical.

Tip of the week

I would just make sure to follow the recipes to the dot if it's a recipe like the one they got, and watch the temperature and the consistencies. If you heat the chocolate too much when you pour it into the dough, [that's] when the chocolate breaks and at that point, the consistency of the butter won't be that great, and that affects volume in the end.

So treat all your ingredients with respect - I think that's the that's the main thing.

Jürgen answers...

Do you think Amos was the right person to go?

He really had a bad day: his sponges were very dense. He announced that he would make heavy sponges in order for them to be easy to carve, and kind of everyone at Bake Off knows that the judges aren't looking for a dense sponge.

So in a way, it was a combination of a bad day and unlucky choices. I think it was the right decision. I will say I would like to have seen more of Amos.

What did you think of Alison Hammond's Bake Off debut?

I think she brings a nice chemistry to the tent. She very cheerful and I think she's very supportive to the bakers. With the new format, focusing more on the bakers, I was surprised how little the comedians came out, but she seems to have a good chemistry with Noel Fielding as well.

I like it with the focus being on the bakers because it's a baking show and that's what lots of watchers want. I enjoy seeing the way people use their hands and use tools to create some things, and that's one of the reasons the show got popular and I got drawn into watching and finally applying.

A week in the life of Jürgen

Well, this week has been one of the craziest weeks in my life since Bake Off, and I think it's going on like that for a bit longer. So apart from watching the Bake Off and thinking about this column, I have been on a Charity Award from the UBBC.

I've been on two big festivals in the last two weeks. I'll do more food related stuff on the weekend - [I'm] going to food festivals. So you'll see my face around. You won't be able to avoid it and I hope you'll enjoy it!

German Baking: Cakes, tarts, traybakes and breads from the Black Forest and beyond by Jürgen Krauss is available to buy at Amazon.

The Great British Bake Off airs at 8pm on Tuesdays on Channel 4.

Looking for something else to watch? Check out our TV Guide or Streaming Guide, or visit our dedicated Entertainment hub for the latest news.

Try Radio Times magazine today and get 10 issues for only £10, PLUS a £10 John Lewis and Partners voucher delivered to your home – subscribe now. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.