Viewers of The Great British Bake Off were divided on Wednesday after bakers were asked to make Jaffa Cakes for their technical challenge on 'cake week,' sparking the quintessentially British debate about whether Jaffa Cakes were in fact cakes or biscuits. Meanwhile others were divided in opinion after show judge Paul Hollywood dunked his Jaffa Cake into his tea much to the shock of co-judge Mary Berry, leading to a passionate online discussion about whether dunking Jaffa Cakes was acceptable.
In the episode, Paul dunks his Jaffa Cake into his tea with Mary watching him disapprovingly, who then says: "we don't do that in the south, you know."
Mary was shocked when Paul dunked a Jaffa Cake in his tea
Many viewers seemed to agree with Mary, with one writing: "Paul Hollywood dunks his Jaffa Cakes in tea. This is unacceptable. Just dunk a Digestive instead you savage," while others were in strong support of Paul, with one tweeting: "Dunk your Jaffa cakes @PaulHollywood that's how it's done up north! #GBBO."
Now the experts are weighing in on the issue, jokily called 'Jaffer Gate,' with McVitie's Brand Director Kerry Owens saying: "Only Brits could be so passionate about this issue, and they have spoken – Jaffa Cakes are not for dunking!
"As the experts of all things Jaffa Cake (and dunking) we tend to agree – the sponge base just isn't robust enough to hold up in a hot drink. However, Paul is the nation's expert of all things baking so maybe we'll see him starting a new trend."
McVitie's Kerry Owens suggested that Paul could "start a new trend" by dunking Jaffa Cakes
The Great British Bake Off kicked off its new series on Wednesday and was watched by a record-breaking 11.2 million people, with many famous faces turning to Twitter to give their opinion on the opening episode.
Gogglebox's Scarlett Moffatt wrote: "I already care about some of the #GBBO contestants than some of my actual family members," while Vicky Pattinson joked about Mary's reaction to a contestant making a gin drizzle cake, writing: "I knew Mary Berry was my spirit animal… You see her eyes light up when that geezer said he's popping gin in his drizzle?!"