On Thursday evening the ten Koekedoor contestants were taken back to a childhood memory of the fairground and the circus. They were challenged to prepare three items relating to this theme, and they were under pressure to prepare each task within the allocated time, given that one contestant would have to go home at the end of the programme.

The three categories of the challenge were stated upfront by the judges Elizabeth Cloete,  Mari-Louise Guy, and Tiaan Langenegger, each holding candy floss in their hands to represent the circus theme:

1.  Tuisgebak/Home baked

The challenge was to make 24 perfect pieces of fudge in an hour, and the contestants were allowed to use their own recipe. Śanet said that she did not like circuses, but she was lucky to have her Tannie Elza’s recipe for fudge. She added pistachio nuts to her fudge. Each contestant had a special secret way of making fudge, and shared these with the viewers. Wessels, for example, said he adds more butter, as well as some vinegar, and makes the fudge in the microwave. He had a small hiccup in making it, it burning, so he sieved the liquid, calling it his ‘Crème Brûlée fudge’. He was praised for it by the judges, in having added roasted pecan nuts.  Kanya said that her secret in making fudge is stirring it. Elmarie had her mom’s recipe book with her, to which her dad had added notes, when he took over the baking in their household. She added almonds to her fudge. Tara too makes her fudge in the microwave, and reminisced about her dad taking her to the circus as a child.  She had to put her fudge in the fridge to set. Martie used a ‘bazaar recipe‘ for her fudge, making it in a cost-effective way.  She had made a huge potful, and had to pour some off as well as place it in the fridge to make it set. It was not her most successful fudge-making attempt. Anja made the fudge with yoghurt and baking soda. Wessels said that one must watch fudge all the time, as one would a baby. Wilandi made a praised batch of brown sugar ginger fudge. Kanya’s salted caramel fudge with roasted pecan nuts received praise. Poor Suretha was told that hers was the ugliest fudge made!

2.  Fyngebak/Advanced technique challenge

For this challenge the contestants had to bake judge Mari-Louise’s Funfetti-Piñata cake, of which they were not shown the cake until at the end of the challenge. They were given a recipe, and had four hours in which to bake the cake. The middle section of the cake was a ‘fopkoek‘, being a faux one with black fondant covering the polystyrene section, creating a blackboard effect. The cake top was made with candy floss.

This cake was a severe challenge, and most of the contestants struggled with covering the faux cake with the black fondant, as it kept falling off their cakes. Kanya started off badly, losing count of the number of eggs she had added to her bowl. Then she added egg yolk to her separated egg whites in error, which meant that she had to start all over again. Suretha started singing, to calm her nerves.

The judges evaluated each cake, and as an amateur viewer it felt as if none of them were perfect. Suretha’s cake was unequal, while Martie had not done much fondant work in the past. Sanet received praise for her good fondant work. Tara’s cake had not baked through enough, she was told. Wessels’ cake did not have equal layers. Anja’s fondant was judged to be sloppy.  The top cake had a cavity into which they had placed sweets, including Smarties, whereafter the cake was iced. The sweets poured out when one cut slices of it.

3.  Pronkgebak/Flaunt it challenge

The contestants were taken back to the circus theme in a different way, by having to make six toffee apples, and be innovative in decorating them. I missed why some of the contestants referred to Faberge egg designs for their toffee apples. The toffee apples were made in red, green, gold, and a blue green mix. Sanet brought the circus ringmaster into her design. Wilandi did beautiful garden-themed designs on her green apples. Wessels had created a peacock look to his toffee apples. Corli had decorated each apple uniquely. Sanet created an edible apple stick, walking the extra mile.

The contestants went from one challenge to another, and were not given feedback after each challenge as to who made the best item in each section. It was frustrating hearing who the top three winners and the overall winner of the day were, without getting specific feedback about each of the three challenges of the day. All the contestants were called together, and Wilandi was praised for her good and creative designs; Corli was told that she makes mistakes, but that she knows where she needs to improve; and little could be critiqued about Sanet’s work, making her the winner of the day, especially with her Tannie Elsa’s fudge. Suretha was criticized for her untidy workstation, and for not meeting the timing deadlines. Martie was acknowledged for persevering despite not having much experience with the techniques which had to be used in this episode. But it was Elmarie who was the first contestant to be sent home, and she herself acknowledged that she had been out of her depth in this episode.

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