Kate Lyon, Steven Carter-Bailey and Sophie Faldo have made it through to The Great British Bake Off’s semi-final, with Stacey Hart becoming the latest baker to leave the show.
In what may have been the closest call yet, judge Paul Hollywood branded it the ‘toughest decision ever’, and was forced alongside co-judge Prue Leith to regard her whole stint in the process, rather than Tuesday’s episode alone.
The nail-biting ninth episode saw the remaining four contestants battle it out, tasked with creating patisserie-themed delights.
Ready, steady, cook! Kate Lyon, Steven Carter-Bailey and Sophie Faldo have made it through to The Great British Bake Off’s semi-final
And Kate, Steven and Sophie managed to impress the judges with their creative concoctions, sailing through to next week’s semi-final.
Kate, a 29-year-old health and safety inspector from Merseyside, is a food historian and amateur blacksmith, who was crowned Star Baker in Caramel Week for a Sticky Toffee Apple Caramel Cake which impressed judge Prue so much, she even asked for the recipe.
And despite a tough stint in week seven, she came back in week eight, delighting both judges with her cocktail-flavoured choux buns.
The end of the road: Stacey Hart became the latest baker to leave the show in what judge Paul Hollywood branded it the ‘toughest decision ever’
But her fruity rainbow showstopper divided opinion: Hollywood said the multi-flavoured, technicoloured masterpiece freaked him out, but Leith told him to loosen his mind and described it as ‘Kate on a plate’.
She will be competing against Steven, a 34-year-old marketer with a hat-trick of Star Baker titles, for masterpieces including a 100-piece biscuit chess set and BLT sandwich.
Despite making it through to the semi-final, last week was a close call for Steven, who Hollywood said had not performed to ‘normal Steven standard’.
Competition: Kate, a 29-year-old health and safety inspector from Merseyside is a food historian and amateur blacksmith, and was crowned Star Baker for a Sticky Toffee Apple Caramel Cake which impressed judge Prue so much, she even asked for the recipe
Though he consistently impressed judges and viewers with his culinary skills, his choux buns were described as looking ‘awful’ and the heat in the tent caused the chocolate basket on his hot air balloon showstopper to melt away.
However he managed to delight presenter Sandi Toksvig with a second rainbow-inspired colour scheme, prompting her to joke that it was the ‘gayest’ baking challenge of all time.
The final baker to make it through is Sophie Faldo, a 33-year-old stuntwoman and former army officer.
Will he crack? Steven, a 34-year-old marketer with a hat-trick of Star Baker titles, which included a 100-piece biscuit chess set and BLT sandwich
The show saw special success for Sophie, who was crowned star baker after winning the technical challenge and leaving the judges ‘highly impressed’ with her ballet tutu showstopper.
Unlike her meringues, she refused to crack under pressure, cleverly using icing work to mask the damage to the meringue bodice, which she filled with a nine-layer opera cake.
Meanwhile Stacey Hart’s elimination came as a shock, after she scooped the title of Star Baker last week.
Tough-talking! Sophie Faldo, a 33-year-old stuntwoman and former army officer was crowned star baker after winning the technical challenge
Paul Hollywood admitted it was the most difficult decision he had ever made on the show and revealed that he had to make the rare move of assessing her performance throughout the whole series, rather than the one episode, before making the choice.
But Stacey took the elimination on the chin, admitting that she was ‘relieved’ to escape the tension of the competition.
‘At the beginning of the episode I said that if this is the end of the road for me, then I am leaving happy,’ she admitted following her exit.
Her fruity rainbow showstopper divided opinion: Hollywood said the multi-flavoured, technicoloured masterpiece freaked him out, but Leith told him to loosen his mind and described it as ‘Kate on a plate’
Success: He managed to delight presenter Sandi Toksvig with a second rainbow-inspired colour scheme, prompting her to joke that it was the ‘gayest’ baking challenge of all time
Nothing half-baked about her: Sophie left the judges ‘highly impressed’ with her ballet tutu showstopper
Last week saw the series’ youngest contestant Liam Charles eliminated, after his Forgotten Bakes- which saw the contestants tasked with baking four ‘Bedfordshire clangers’ failed to impress the judges.
The 19-year-old student, who has delighted fans with his laid-back quips and impressive flavouring skills throughout the Channel 4 contest, was the latest to leave in Tuesday night’s quarter-final.
But despite his loss, the student admitted he cannot wait to take his new-found friends to Nando’s chicken restaurant as he was named the latest baker to leave the show.
The Great British Bake Off series final will air at 8pm next Tuesday on Channel 4.
Sent packing: The Great British Bake Off ‘s youngest contestant Liam Charles, 19, left the competition during Tuesday night’s nail-biting quarter-final