MICHAEL Chakraverty had quite a difficult time with the challenges that came his way in Dessert Week on The Great British Bake Off.
And after proving his worth in the Bake Off 2019 tent in Bread Week, when he received a Hollywood handshake, here's how he got on in week six.
Who is The Great British Bake Off 2019 contestant Michael?
Michael, a 26 year old theatre manager and fitness instructor, was taught to bake by his mother.
She gave him handwritten recipes passed down from his great-grandparents, to encourage him to take up the skill.
Despite being born in Newcastle, Michael considers himself Scottish as he moved to Scone in Scotland at age seven and studied in Edinburgh.
He has tried every discipline in baking, but his strengths lie in cakes and pastry and he is inspired by the flavours of his Indian heritage.
The fitness instructor uploads pictures of his bakes on his Instagram page here.
What has happened to Michael in Bake Off so far?
- Week One, Cakes – Michael chopped up his fingers as well as his ingredients in the Signature Challenge and he came a lowly 10th in the Technical Angel Cake challenge. But his Treasure Chest Showstopper was described as a design any kid would be happy with on their birthday.
- Week Two, Biscuits – Despite his fear about Biscuit week, Michael managed impress the judges enough with his Lemon & Rosemary biscuit bars. But Prue couldn't handle the chilli levels in his 3d biscuit sculpture.
- Week Three, Bread – He got the coveted first handshake of the season from Paul Hollywood for his stunning Keralan Star tear and share bread. And his Mediterranean camp fire scored bread went down a treat as well.
- Week Four, Dairy – Michael took a big risk in Dairy Week and it didn’t pay off at all as he watched on in horror when his sour lemon cake with raspberry cheesecake swirl split in half and got ripped into by the judges. However, he managed to bring it all back with his pistachio and lemon, rosewater and mango mishti Showstopper.
- Week Five, The Roaring Twenties – Paul and Prue loved his mango, lime and ginger custard pies with ginger shortcrust and mango gelee discs but the baker was in tears as he struggled to make Beignet Souffles in the Technical challenge, coming in one from last. His Showstopper lacked flavour despite looking great.
- Week Six, Dessert Week – To kick things off Michael created a Dark Chocolate Meringue did very well and Paul and Prue loved it. His Showstopper was a Black Forest Bombe which was described as looking like "the Queen Mum's hat". It got mixed reviews from the judges – they liked the taste but not the look.
What has Michael said about The Great British Bake Off 2019?
Michael went out on a limb and applied for the new series one night as he was “a bit bored”.
Luckily for him, he made it through the audition process and said of being accepted: “When I found out, it was a mixture of shock and blind panic!”
As for his first week on the show, he said: “We all bonded immediately as bakers, and getting to know everyone was so lovely.
“Everyone was so open, warm and understanding, and we made a family the first time we met.”
He expects his grandma will be “totally speechless” to learn he has signed up to appear on the show.
When is The Great British Bake Off next on?
The Great British Bake Off is back on Tuesday (October 8).
You can catch the action on Channel 4 at 8pm.
Bake Off is expected to run for 10 consecutive weeks and the final is likely to be in November 2019
What is the Great British Bake Off prize?
With all the drama, sweat and tears that the dedicated bakers go through, you would expect they would be aiming for some grand cash prize, but the answer is no.
The winning prize is just flowers and a cake stand, at least that's what has happened so far.
Previous Bake Off contestant Martha Collison, who reached the quarter-finals in the 2014 series, confirmed to Barrelhouse: “Everyone is so surprised and thinks there must be some secret cash, but all we really get is a bunch of flowers and a cake stand.
“But then, you also kind of become a national treasure just by doing it because everyone in Britain loves the Bake Off so much.”
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