This week was a new one on Bake Off: botanicals week. We weren’t overly sure about the sound of this one from the teaser last week, but let’s see how it all panned out. Here are the highlights:
- The signature bake challenged the bakers to make a citrus meringue pie, using ‘anything that grows’ to add a twist to the dish.
- There was some shocking dress sense in the tent, with some flower-inspired designs going on, but some nice-sounding dishes as well, Andrew’s lime and ginger meringue pie with piped Italian meringue tempting the tastebuds from the mere description alone.
- Tom’s blood orange Halloween pie sounded awful (oranges not being my favourite ingredient!) and Candice’s lemongrass, lime, and vanilla-infused pastry effort sounded divine.
- When all was said and done, it was a bit of a mixed affair, with several bakers struggling with the consistency of their meringue. Benjamina fared really well with her textures and flavours, the grapefruit shining through, and Selasi did similarly well despite a slightly stiff filling. Rav didn’t get as much height as he wanted, with a soft meringue, and Andrew nailed his curd despite having overly thick pastry. Tom, meanwhile, undercooked his pastry and over-sweetened his filling and meringue. A poor showing from him.
- Jane’s effort looked amazing and Mary was a huge fan, whilst Candice was criticised for the slightly shocking lime green appearance.
- And so on to the technical: making two herb fougasse, a type of bread that looks like a leaf and has a lovely herby flavour to it and a nice crunch. This didn’t seem like the most exciting technical challenge, and it proved challenging for the bakers, with even the shaping causing controversy in the tent.
- Selasi really struggled with his effort, as did Candice and Andrew, with Benjamina and Tom coming out on top. Tom looked really shocked at coming out on top in a technical, but he really deserved it.
- Moving on to the showstopper, it looked like Selasi was really in trouble, with Andrew also surprisingly struggling during botanicals week. Paul stated that all the boys were in trouble going into the showstopper, with the girls largely safe.
- The showstopper tasked the bakers with making a floral three-tiered cake.
- Rav really struggled with his bake, feeling flustered throughout. Selasi’s piping looked like it was going to save his bacon, whilst Tom’s was shaping up to be slightly messy but with some inspired tea flavours.
- Candice’s four seasons cake won the admiration of Paul and Mary – she’s shaping up to be a hot favourite for this year’s competition. Andrew’s cake was overbaked and dry and he looked to be in real trouble when he left the judging table. Rav, meanwhile, was torn apart for his boring effort.
- Star baker, really surprisingly, went to Tom, who does seem rather lovely, and it was no surprise at all to see Rav sent home. Andrew looked a little shocked not to have been sent home.
- And so on to next week and dessert week!