The Great Celebrity Bake Off's James McAvoy bakes a cake inspired by His Dark Materials
Behold, the sponge snow leopard.
Fans of His Dark Materials were delighted tonight, when The Great Celebrity Bake Off delivered the dream challenge.
James McAvoy, who plays Lord Asriel in the BBC TV adaptation of the famous Philip Pullman books, was joined by Olympian Kelly Holmes, comedian David Baddiel and singer Anne-Marie, who shared her interesting approach to veganism (no cheese, but chicken nuggets are allowed).
For their showstopper challenge, the famous bakers were given three and a half hours to make "a 3D marble cake that represents yourself in animal form." Of course, if you've already played a character who wanders around accompanied by an animalistic daemon, it won't take you long to decide what to bake...
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Sure enough, James McAvoy chose to bake a cake in the shape of a snow leopard, a nod to Asriel's daemon Stelmaria. "In the past it hasn't gone well, and the snow leopard has looked more like a Highland terrier, which is probably Freudian in some way," James admitted, as he anxiously zested one of 12 limes. This is the Bake Off illustrator's representation of how the cake was supposed to look:
James was nervous, even exclaiming, "That's a sad-looking snow leopard. I love you pussy cat, but you and I are done!" in the final stages of the bake.
But the end result was rather cute, and James named it Brendon after his son - aww! "For somebody who doesn't bake, that's surprisingly good!" said Paul, while Prue couldn't stop smiling. "That is adorable, it's got real personality," she said. Well done, James, who knew His Dark Materials could provide such excellent culinary inspiration?!
The Great Celebrity Bake Off for Stand Up to Cancer continues next Tuesday night at 8pm. To find out what else is on in the mean time, check out our TV Guide.
