Professionals get into the kitchen for Bake Off

It’s been reported that the new series may be delayed by coronavirus. A spokesperson said: “We continue to monitor the situation and follow the advice of Public Health England and we will delay filming on Bake Off until it is safe to proceed.”

But while we wait to find out how the latest batch of amateur bakers – and new presenter Matt Lucas, who has been recruited to replace Sandi Toksvig – get on, there is a new run of Bake Off: The Professionals to tide us over.

Admittedly, this series, which as the title suggests, sees professional pastry chefs battling it out rather than gifted home bakers, has never caught viewers the public’s imagination to quite the same extent as the original. When it launched on BBC2 under the title Bake Off: Crème de la Crème, it was arguably hampered by a complicated scoring system and too many contestants.

However, if you haven’t given the new incarnation on Channel 4 a chance yet, this may be the time to check it out. Comedian Tom Allen, who was recruited to co-host alongside former Bake Off contestant Liam Charles, believes that it definitely has the same spirit as the GBBO.

Speaking ahead of his first series, he said: “It’s a heightened version of Bake Off, the standard is much more exacting I suppose.

“The teams put themselves under so much more pressure. They are doing something that they have built their whole careers and life around so there is that added element to it.”

He added: “It has all of that warmth and human interest, the high falutin’ patisserie side is there, but you also get to see the humour, which is a coping mechanism. I call it Bake Off’s bitchy older sister who has been away at university and comes back with a lot of knowledge and a bit of attitude. Passions run high. It’s got that added edge and drama to it.”

The drama begins tonight, as six new teams from top hotels, restaurants and small businesses return, ready to find out which of them are the best patisserie chefs in Britain.

In the first episode, judges Benoit Blin and Cherish Finden challenge them to make two different types of miniature classics: strawberry tarts and fruit salad.

They have just three-and-a-half hours to make 24 perfect and identical versions of each.

In the second challenge, they must transform retro favourite the pineapple upside-down cake into a fine-dining experience, complete with towering edible showpiece sculptures.

Which teams will wow Benoit and Cherish and earn a place in the next heat – and who will be going home? And will anyone who has taken up baking since lockdown find themselves inspired to up their game and start making something a little more elaborate?

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