This week the tent went back in time to the Victorian era and was the week that my favourite, Mat, had to leave the tent (my support has now shifted to Nadiya!) and the week that Tamal was finally crowned Star Baker; I wonder if he managed to wear Ian’s ladyfinger crown?

The Signature was a Game Pie and those pies were huge. Flora’s was so large that she struggled to get the internal temperature up to the safe region of around 70°C with it being 26°C at one point. It seems she fell into the same problem of doing too much and she just crammed way too much filling in there. Mat used the classic mould to give the perfect Victorian feeling and decorated with dolphin antlers, to quote Paul Hollywood. But his pie was very well received much like Tamal’s Middle Eastern Game Pie. Unfortunately Nadiya, who had usually been on point with flavours, overpowered the meat with spices and the judges weren’t fans. Ian, being the class swot he is, made his own gelatine. Yep he made his own gelatine.

For the Technical, the bakers had to make a Tennis Cake, a dense fruit cake topped with marzipan, sugarpaste and royal icing made to look like a tennis court. 3 hours was a tight time limit to bake a dense fruit cake and Mat’s fruit cake was raw and dipped, although that wasn’t the most notable part of this technical for Mat, who baked his royal icing net in the oven. Nadiya managed to secure first in another technical (hurray!) but Mat, Ian and Flora came in the bottom half.

With so much on the line for Mat, the Showstopper Charlotte Russe was his chance to claw things back. Ian topped his Charlotte Russe with a crown fit for Queen Victoria and the flavours of his rhubarb and ginger filling also impressed. Tamal stuck with his strong flavours pairing cardamom with berry and even risked not putting a sponge base in his Charlotte, leaving it simply jelly and bavarois. It was a tough bake for Paul, whose jelly hadn’t set and spilled everywhere when the judges cut into it; it was tricky to watch as the jelly dripped down! However Paul went authentic Victorian by carving apples into swans!

But for Mat, it seemed the pressure showed as his lady fingers started to break. It just wasn’t Mat’s week and I think his lack of knowledge started to show and this would only get worse as the show progresses into the quarter finals next week. It’s such a shame that Mat had to leave, I really thought he would make it to the end and even though I’ve never met him, I feel so proud that he got so far! A normal man who managed to bake his way to Week 7!

Next week it’s the Quarter Finals and the bakers must go from 5 to 4. With double entendres aplenty with the Cream Horn Signature, tricky timing with the Mokatines and a tense time with a Religieuse a l’Ancienne, this is sure to be an episode you cannot miss!