Great British Bake Off 2024: Leeds baking star Kim-Joy reveals what cast of new series can expect
Leeds’ very own Bake Off star has revealed what the upcoming cast of contestants should expect from this year’s series.
Kim-Joy, who lives in the city with her partner and won hearts when she appeared in the 2018 series of the popular TV competition, said that she will be watching when the programme returns on Tuesday (September 24).
She did Leeds proud after making the final alongside Ruby Bhogal and winner Rahul Mandal - but admitted she still gets flashbacks when watching the show, which are not always pleasant.
“I love Bake Off,” she said. “I love seeing the technicals and what people create and the challenges, although it’s stressful for me to watch – so I’ve got to be ready.
“Seeing people pick up their bake and walking up to the gingham altar – that moment waiting for feedback is like, argh!”
No one will be judging Kim-Joy’s bakes this season, but she’s well-versed in the Bake Off lexicon and so is well placed to decode what judges Prue Leith and Paul Hollywood might be saying.
She put together this guide of the lingo, for people new to the show -
Soggy bottom
“Everyone knows what soggy bottom is, right? It tends to apply to pastries like a lemon tart – if your pastry on the bottom is soggy rather than crisp. You want to blind bake it so it’s nice and crisp – and never soggy, because soggy is bad.
“It doesn’t tend to apply to like cakes or bread – it can do, but it’s mostly pastries.”
Tempering
“Tempering is referring to chocolate. I always love the phrase tempering because it sounds like your chocolate’s angry, like it’s got a temper and you need to make it behave.
“But that kind of is what tempering is – you melt your chocolate and it gets a bit angry – if we let it set, it’s not very good, because it’s angry. [It’s] chocolate that’s all soft and doesn’t have a nice snap.
“But if you temper it, then you make it behave, and do all these temperature stuff and stirring it, feeding it chocolate, then it sets with a nice snap and shine.”
Proving
“In real life, it’s like you’re proving yourself. But in baking life, [when] you are proving your bread, it is rising.
“You prove it before you shape it, then you shape it, then you prove it again. I always think of it as your bread is proving itself that it’s going to be good bread.”
Creme pat
“A creme pat is short for creme patissiere, which is like custard basically. I would think of it as a piping custard. Creme anglaise is like a thinner custard – they’re all just fancy ways to say custard.
“I like eating a creme pat. I don’t actually enjoy making a creme pat that much, because I don’t enjoy stirring things on the hob. I get bored and impatient.”
Claggy
“Claggy is not a good word to hear. You want ‘moist’ in your bakes, but claggy is like there’s too much moisture, combined with a denseness that is not appetising.
“It does sound bad, but sometimes you kind of enjoy having a little bit of claggy – like a bread and butter pudding. That’s always claggy, but it’s good.
“But claggy is when it’s moist and dense – but in a bad way.”
Bake Joy: Easy And Imaginative Bakes To Bring You Happiness by Kim-Joy is published by Quadrille on August 29, priced £16.99. Photography by Ellis Parrinder.