Who knew marshmallows could cause this much controversy?
On The Great British Baking Show's Halloween Week episode, which dropped Oct. 21 on the streamer, the remaining bakers were asked to make eight s'mores for their technical challenge—in which the contestants are presented with all of the necessary ingredients and a very basic recipe.
Seems simple enough, right? Oh, quite the contrary.
It became immediately clear that the tent's idea for a s'more wasn't really a s'more at all. The recipe called for "digestive biscuits" instead of the traditional graham cracker and a giant marshmallow sandwiched between the biscuits and two layers of chocolate ganache.
Fans of the show took to social media to voice their shock and horror, with one viewer tweeting, "Great British baking show calling THESE s'mores makes me feel real patriotic and defensive," and another remarking, "Was there really not a single American around to coach them on proper marshmallow/chocolate/cracker ratio?!"
Let's just say the desired finished product wouldn't be caught dead around any campfire. So, what went wrong?
"We do quite often get into trouble because we don't quite understand the cultural references," Great British Baking Show judge Prue Leith exclusively explained to E! News. "It's all good-humored. Nobody minds other people looking a bit of an idiot. I'm absolutely not an expert on s'mores. I've always though they were a sort of snack and they could be any flavor."
Indeed, The Great British Baking Show has already come under fire this season for its Mexican Week, which called for the bakers to haphazardly make tacos while hosts Noel Fielding and Matt Lucas made tasteless jokes and shook maracas.
While the s'mores debacle wasn't quite as culturally insensitive, Prue explained that it really came down to a severe lack of familiarity with a very important ingredient.
"We don't have graham crackers in the U.K.," Prue said. "I'm sure you can buy them in some specialty shops. I think quite a lot of people use digestive biscuits, which are not really like a graham cracker."
Well, you can say that again!
Still, Prue was happy to take the criticism in stride—and learn something about a classic American delicacy along the way.
"The whole idea is for the bakers to make their own interpretation," she said. "If it's a bit off kilter, well, it's quite fun. I quite like it when the public says, ‘That's not a s'more!'"
We think they all heard it loud and clear.
New episodes of The Great British Baking Show drop Fridays on Netflix.