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Great British Bake Off week six recap: 'Every single male baker is in trouble'

TV & Film Editor
September 28, 2016

SPOILER ALERT: DO NOT READ ON IF YOU HAVEN'T WATCHED WEDNESDAY NIGHT'S GREAT BRITISH BAKE OFF 

Week six of The Great British Bake Off saw the remaining seven contestants battle it out for 'Botanical week,' where, as Tom says: "anything that grows goes!" 

While some contestants were so enthused for the week of flower power that they coordinated their outfits for the occasion (Jane and Selasi, we're looking at you), others were more concerned about the perfection required for the week (cough, Rav). So how did our favourite bakers fare?! 

Jane failed to impress with her showstopper

After all the male contestants in the competition found themselves in a spot of baking bother following a less than impressive technical round, Tom eventually pulled it out of the bag with a stunning show stopper winning Star Baker of the week, while poor Rav was the latest contestant to go home after his blossom cake wasn't quite up to scratch.

Round one – meringues

While viewers on the Twittersphere continued to mourn Val's departure, with one writing: "This show isn't the same without Val getting everything wrong and accidentally baking a baguette," and another writing: "ITS NOT THE SAME WITHOUT VAL #GBBO #BRINGBACKVAL," the bakers wasted no time launching straight into their citrus meringue creations.

Most contestants opted to add ginger to their bake, with Selasi and Benjamina playfully at odds this week after they discovered they were both baking a grapefruit and ginger meringue. Benjamina came out on top after Selasi's meringue was described as "dry" and "too thick," leaving the pair giggling after spying on each other's creations while viewers on Twitter delightfully commented on their chemistry, with one fan tweeting: "May I just say the on-screen chemistry between Benjamina and Selasi is everything." 

Meanwhile, Candice shocked viewers at home with both her lack of a bold lipstick for the first time in the series and the luminous green topping on her lime and coconut meringue, which took a turn for the worse after her coconut became stuck in the piping bag. However, the two-time Star Baker saved the day with her flavours, with Paul Hollywood telling her the "meringue tastes good but looks awful".  

Andrew, Tom and Rav had a particularly hard time with their meringues, with Paul and Mary Berry less than pleased with their final results, while Jane did especially well in the first round with the judging pair praising her stunning lime and coconut flavours.

Round two – Technical herb fougasse  

Tom, who both loves fougasse so much that he takes it to the cinema with him AND won Star Baker on Bread Week, had the technical challenge covered and seemed to effortlessly win the challenge, coming out in first place with his "nice" bake.

Benjamina kept up her consistently good results by coming in second, while Rav FINALLY broke his 'last place' streak in the technical challenge for the first time in three weeks, winding up third. Sadly, fan favourite Selasi brought up the rear in last place, and joked that he needed to pull something "out of the hat" for his showstopper.

© Photo: BBC

Andrew was at the bottom of the competition this week

Discussing the contestants following the technical, Mary and Paul definitively stated that the men in the competition were struggling with the week, saying: "Every single male baker is in trouble". Uh oh. 

Round three – the showstoppers

Candice wowed the judges with the presentation of her four season cake, with each tier representing a different season, though her flavours had a mixed reception. Top baker Benjamina also didn't do as well as she might have hoped, with Mary calling one layer "not quite done". Jane also failed to deliver with her final result, and Paul called Jane's cake "a mess" and "not up [her] usual standard", calling her creation "overbaked".

© Photo: BBC

Selasi won the judges over with his incredible showstopper

However, it was truly Andrew and Rav who were in danger, with Paul calling Andrew's spring elderflower "dry as a bone," while Mary called the elderflower flavour "so subtle [she] can't find it." Rav's cake was also criticised, with Paul calling his simple creation "overbaked" and "samey".

Selasi proved his baking prowess with the show stopper, with Paul calling his layers "perfect" while Mary praised the bake, saying it was "very very moist," to a grinning Selasi. Tom also won the judges over with his floral tea cake, with Mary saying she got a "very pleasant flavour" and Paul calling it "beautiful," winning Star Baker of the week, while Rav went home.

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