Folks, it's back.
The Great British Bake Off — perhaps better known in the US by its Yankee alias, The Great British Baking Show* — has graced us with yet another glorious season of breads, cakes, and the triumph of the human spirit.
Bake Off has a reputation for being a warm, comforting show, and rightfully so, but anyone who's clutched a pillow to their chest and watched Britain's best amateur bakers make logic-defying masterpieces under the watchful gaze of a blue-eyed madman while soaring orchestral music plays in the background knows that it can be just a lil' bit nerve-racking too.
It's this tension between complete peace — "everyone loves each other! that mousse will definitely set!" — and utter chaos — "if that mousse doesn't set, it will break me in a way that a year and a half in a pandemic hasn't managed to yet" — that makes GBBO such a perfect show. These elements go together like jam and scones, or Noel Fielding and opportunities to dress up in the opening sketch.
That's why I've decided to break down each episode of this season into its most gloriously delightful moments...
...and its most severely anxiety-inducing ones.
Our journey begins with Cake Week. With that, may I present 13 absolutely adorable moments from this week's Great British Bake Off, plus 11 nail-bitingly stressful ones.
Warning: Spoilers (and potential emotional turmoil) ahead.