Great British Bake Off 2016: Rav leaves the tent and Tom is named star baker in first ever Botanical Week
Just six bakers remain in the competition after a closely-fought episode
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Your support makes all the difference.Botanical Week has been and gone on The Great British Bake Off, with flower power proving too much for one of our bakers.
Rav Bansal, university support worker and lover of all things coconut and lime, was waved goodbye by Mel and Sue after failing to impress with his floral showstopper. The 28-year-old from Kent confessed at the start of the episode that he is "not the neatest" baker and in the end, his presentation skills simply could not match up to Selasi's piped roses (or 'salsa dancer' shirt, to be fair) and Candice's multi-flavoured sponges baked using her Nan's handwritten recipe.
The signature challenge saw the seven remaining bakers battle to make the best citrus meringue pie, sparking plenty of debate over whether to bake or blow torch. Basically, they had to create their own version of the tent. The baking action, however, was instantly overshadowed by Candice's lack of red lipstick. Natural in keeping with the theme, some viewers suggested? Perhaps. Regardless, she was still rocking quite the pout.
Next up for the technical was a French fougasse, which Tom enjoys as a "cinema snack" and excelled at once again, securing his place as this week's star baker. He was also star baker in the official Bread Week, so we might as well just start calling him Paul Hollywood Jr. Selasi came last, with Rav coming third and Tom winning.
Then, it was showstopper time, with the bakers asked to make visual extravaganzas with floral flavours. "I don't do pretty with my bakes," declared Rav early on in proceedings and, despite a valient attempt at sugar flowers, he lived up to his word with his underwhelming blossom cake.
Andrew tried in vain to convince Mary that she could taste the elderflower in his sponge to no avail, while Benjamina had a similar probably with tea. Jane's three-tier effort was described as "looking like mashed potato" by an unnecessarily cruel Paul (we thought it looked delicious) while Selasi and Tom blew everyone away with "every layer perfect".
Last week’s pastry challenges saw former primary school headteacher Val Stones leave the show, while PE teacher Candice Brown was crowned star baker for the second time.
The Great British Bake Off airs on Wednesdays at 8pm on BBC1, followed by An Extra Slice on Fridays at 9.30pm on BBC2
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