Bake Off review: Jürgen on who will win and semi-final's shock exit

It was a shock to many, including RadioTimes.com columnist Jürgen Krauss.

Tasha had won Star Baker twice before and looked set for the final, however, it was Josh who triumphed in the semi-final as he won his second Star Baker accolade and sailed through to the final, alongside Dan and Matty.

Here, Jürgen shares his thoughts on the semi-final, Tasha's exit and his predictions for who he thinks could win The Great British Bake Off 2023.

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

Jürgen on Patisserie Week

Well, they continue in the stance they've had all the Bake Off – absolutely unpredictable! I would have had trouble saying at the beginning who would go out, but Tasha was a bit of a shock. But they all proved that they are capable of wonderful things and they've mixed it up in a way. It was great to see Josh getting his second Star Baker and Dan getting a handshake.

Read more:

• Jürgen warns Dan's "experimenting" could be "downfall" in semi-final
• Jürgen predicts 2023 finalists and shares advice ahead of quarter-final

Favourite and least favourite bake

I would have liked to try Dan's financiers – they really looked lovely! Least favourite would have been Matty's financiers because they really looked dry and I think all of the financiers were a bit big. I wouldn't like to have those.

Financiers are very rich – they are essentially butter, sugar and nuts and you can't eat much of it. So I would have probably gone for half the size and the judges' comments were quite often that they could have made them smaller, which also reduces problems in baking them. Of course, you have less of a canvas for decoration. If you make them smaller, that's another problem!

Josh's advantage

Matty, I think, is a dark horse. He is young, the youngster among the three. He has obviously a lot up his sleeve and I think he actually doesn't know what he knows. So he will be the surprise element. Josh has the finesse, which he showed off with his pastry. He can really create a beautiful end product, even under stress. And he's great with his textures and flavours.

And Dan, he is one who really goes out for unusual flavours, so he goes the extra mile to to impress and to challenge the judges. I really liked his matcha take. Everyone knows that Paul Hollywood doesn't like matcha, and strangely Paul Hollywood was wearing a matcha shirt, so yeah, each of them will bring great elements to the finals. And I predict it won't be an easy judging – that's the only thing that I can predict.

I do think Josh might have the best predisposition to win. But anything can happen! I would be happy with any of them to win. They all deserve it. It's such a huge thing to get into Bake Off. It's a huge thing to get into the semi-final and the final and the stress around the final. I haven't done it but of course I had to prepare for it. You start preparing for the final around week six to seven. It is a lot to take on and really, hats off to all of them.

What the viewers don't see

We saw Dan helping Tasha during the Showstopper – those things happen all the time if there's time to do that. And not all the helping actions make it onto the screen. But it is a very nice gesture. And it is nice by the producers to show that. There's a lot more going on in the hours of the bake that you don't get to see. Like, small little things, questions thrown across the room, banter.

It's probably more concentrated during the semi-finals but because the production team and contestants have been together for weeks now, they know each other and they start knowing each other's gestures and body language, so there's a lot more going on. And most of that won't make it into the narrative on TV because an hour on the screen isn't long for an experience that lasts all weekend for the bakers.

I find that this series, they show the bakers a lot and I like that visual – a lot of what actually happens on the benches. I do like that. They didn't show so much of the background stories, which is also interesting and kind of strange because I still don't know. I haven't looked up what certain bakers are doing in their private life. But I like the angle of showing much more of what happens on the benches. So it is really a show about baking more than it was in the past two years.

Tip of the week

Jürgen answers...

Was Tasha the right person to go?

Yes, I've watched the episode twice. And unfortunately, she was the most inconsistent in this show. Her financiers weren't bad. I'm sure nothing was bad in this episode, but the appearance of the raspberry buttercream wasn't that great. And the Technical was a problem of course, and then not being able to finish the Showstopper due to choice of materials. I think this type of puff pastry was a Technical last year. Sadly, it was the right decision.

Did Tasha's exit bring back memories for you leaving in the semi-finals?

It was eerie to watch it again and more than in other episodes, I really noticed the distance between the benches. So baking in the semi-finals is a lot more like working on your own little island and it is a really quiet tent most of the time.

Tip of the week

Financiers are actually not that difficult to make. So, go ahead, try them! If you bake something that uses a lot of egg yolk, you'll have whites left over and financiers are quite straightforward. You need a lot of egg whites for those. In terms of the pastry, there was an awful lot of puff pastry and lamination in the whole series. So I think this was the third or fourth challenge where they needed to make some sort of laminated pastry. For that pastry, it takes time. It takes a lot of cooling. Don't rush it!

A Week in the life of Jürgen

I'm coming to London to meet a few chefs in some big department store to have a look at a few things that will happen in December. So that's going to be fun! I'm preparing for a few online appearances, I've got something coming up with the German British society. And I've got something coming up with Milk Street cooking school, so I've got a lot of admin to do about that and a few outstanding posts for Instagram and things like that.

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

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

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