The 4th episode of Season 2 of Koekedoor had an interesting twist, in that it was load shedding focused, the contestants not being allowed to use the electric stoves in the Koekedoor kitchen. Unusual too was that none of the eight contestants was eliminated in the episode on Thursday evening, and that one of them won the Smeg oven.

1. Tuisgebak/Home Bake

The Koekedoor kitchen was filled with lit paraffin lamps, giving an old-fashioned romantic atmosphere. The contestants were told to prepare 24 items of an item without baking it in the oven, or using any electrical equipment such as beaters. Family recipes were used by the contestants, and the items made included Suretha’s grandmother’s recipe for date squares, Kanya’s chocolate cookies, Anja’s date balls with orange rind, Tara’s condensed milk and peppermint crisp biscuits, Wessels’ peanut butter balls, and Wilandi’s rum balls.

Suretha was filmed in a tearful moment, reminiscing about her previous stove, which she had to leave behind when the family moved to a new house recently.  She does not yet have a new stove, and it was clear that she would love to win the Smeg.

2. Fyngebak/Advanced Technique Challenge

As in other episodes, the contestants were given a recipe for a Fyngebak cake, but were not shown the end result beforehand. Talented baker and judge Mari-Louis Guy set the contestants the challenge of preparing a Brooklyn Blackout cake (main photograph above) from New York, a cake baked in the Second World War. Testing challenges were baking the cake, making the chocolate pudding for inside the cake, the chocolate ganache on the outside, and the chocolate Chanel rose made from chocolate pasta. The contestants were given three hours to bake the cake. Kanya said about the Fyngebak challenges: ‘Fyngebak is my nemesis’.

The contestants used different starting points. Wilandi first baked the cake, so that it could cool down. Sanet started with the chocolate pudding filling. Anja started by making the Rose. Each of the contestants seemed to have struggled to make a perfect Brooklyn Blackout cake, based on their own feedback, as well as that of the judges. Wilandi received praise for her cake, described as having a ‘good construction’ and being ‘solid’.

3.   Pronkgebak/Flaunt It Challenge

Continuing with the load shedding theme, the contestants were challenged to prepare a crêpe cake, made of 24 layers of crêpes, each crêpe prepared over a gas flame. Once again the contestants were given three hours to complete this challenge. Crêpes were described as being a little more special, so they contain more eggs and even Brandy. Suretha’s pear and custard crêpe cake looked beautiful. Corli received high praise for her chocolate crêpe, mascarpone and strawberry crêpe cake, also beautifully presented. Wilandi added colour to her layers. Sanet added Chai tea. Wessels had a Mardi Gras memory from living in the UK, and used the colours of blue, yellow, and green as his inspiration for his crepe cake. Wessels said that one’s first pancakes never come out well, much like bowling in cricket! Sanet became tearful when she shared that they bake pancakes for the first tooth of her children, but she was not present for this. Kanya’s vanilla Mille crêpe cake stood out because of the individual crêpe roses she had made for the top of the cake.

The judges Elizabeth Cloete, Mari-Louis, and Tiaan Langenegger cut the crêpe cakes, and here the weaknesses of most of them came to the fore. Anja’s cake fell apart; Sanet’s was described as looking neat and having an interesting Chai taste. Each contestant had tried to outdo the other to make something really special.

The bottom 3 contestants were named as Wilandi (weakest performance), Suretha, and Sanet.  The top scorers were named as Kanya and Wessels, while Corli Botha was named the episode winner, and therefore the winner of the Smeg stove.

Koekedoor, kykNET, channel 144 on DStv. Thursdays 20h30 – 21h30. www.kyknet.dstv.com Twitter: @Koekedoor

Chris von Ulmenstein, WhaleTales Blog: www.whalecottage.com/blog  Tel 082 55 11 323 Twitter:@WhaleCottage  Facebook:  click here Instagram: @Chris_Ulmenstein