“You fail Paul”: Bake Off breaks the internet with controversial fig roll challenge

What do Kim Kardashian and The Great British Bake Off have in common?

They nearly broke the internet.

Bake Off fans were plunged into a furious Twitter debate over whether or not fig rolls are cakes or biscuits after this year’s amateur bakers were tasked with making the sweet treats during the Biscuit Week technical challenge.

“Twitter is about to go into meltdown,” tweeted one fan. “Fig Rolls: Be they biscuits, or be they cakes? #GBBO.”

Cue the confusion:

But are fig rolls a biscuit? #GBBO #BakeOff @BritishBakeOff pic.twitter.com/WlRy2aRjN1

— deutschmikey ???????????????? (@deutschmikey) September 3, 2019

Are fig rolls biscuits though? #GBBO pic.twitter.com/730lVaC47x

— Shippidd (@UKpounda) September 3, 2019

Arguments were thrown out for fig rolls being biscuits – including one fan who claimed their home in the biscuit aisle in Asda proves they are biscuits:

Are fig rolls are biscuit or a cake?

It’s in the biscuit isle in Asda! ..I rest my case ????????‍♀️ #GBBO pic.twitter.com/tMXyrMupbs

— Clare (@clare_braham) September 3, 2019

Fig rolls are the king of biscuits #GBBO pic.twitter.com/sI991pDad7

— Thomas Mills ????#wearecorbyn (@ecklefecken) September 3, 2019

Fig rolls are in the biscuit section so, they’re a biscuit. #GBBO

— Lauren ???? (@LrnDanielle12) September 3, 2019

But some were adamant that Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith were mistaken – with one claiming Wikipedia lists fig rolls as cakes. And if Wikipedia says they’re cakes…

I mean, Wikipedia says fig rolls are cakes…should they be on #biscuitweek? #GBBO pic.twitter.com/CP9JRbmF5w

— Natasha Kriznik ???? ナターシャ (@NMKriznik) September 3, 2019

Weirdly, when we were on holiday in America, the fig rolls we bought were far more cakey than they are here in the UK, which only adds to the confusion of the biscuit/cake debate ???? #GBBO

— Barbara Taylor (@BarbsieTaylor) September 3, 2019

Fig rolls go hard when they got older so i'd be tempted to say they're a cake.

You fail Paul. You fail. #GBBO

— Bennie and the Jess (@Jess5_11) September 3, 2019

Fig rolls are cakes why are they in biscuit week #GBBO

— Joshua ???????????? (@big_man_joshyy) September 3, 2019

Fig rolls are not biscuits and I'll fight anyone who disagrees with me on this. #gbbo

— Jono Read (@jonoread) September 3, 2019

Thankfully we asked olive editor Laura Rowe to settle the debate: so are fig rolls biscuits or cakes?

“The fig roll is definitely a biscuit,” she told Radiotimes.com. “It’s not like a Jaffa Cake, which has an actual sponge for a base (i.e. that makes it a cake!). It has a firm bite to it, more like pastry, if we’re being pedantic.

“And it has enough integrity to withstand dunking in tea. For those reasons alone, they deserve a place in the biscuit tin.”

So there you have it, fig rolls are biscuits.

The Great British Bake Off is on Channel 4, Tuesdays at 8pm