Oh, Nadiya, noooo! Not the bubble gum! I am glad she got star baker - I'm not sure who else they could have gone with, really? Tamal maybe, because his éclairs stood up, but he didn't have as stellar a first day. And poor, poor Paul - he just couldn't get the banana flavour right. If banana extract is anything like what we have over here, it's vile. Ugh, ugh, so wrong. (I have a theory that Paul Hollywood, being a bakery kid, only got the really, really ripe bananas, and now anything that isn't basically rotting tastes insipid. I base this on my dad, who was a greengrocer's kid - he's the same way about bananas, they're no good until they're sagging and going black.)

Flora tries too hard! And I think she needs to dial back the flavours - she was really heavy handed with the herbs. I think if you're using thyme on one recipe, you need to leave the herbs out of the second. Basil OR thyme, not both. If she stuck to the actual assignment, she'd have a much better run. She could still be there for the finals, but I think one of Tamal or Ian or Nadiya would have to have a flaming disaster, AND she'd have to do really well.

I think we've got our top three now, though. I'm glad Ian's most likely made it through. I love how dedicated to construction he was. Corrugations for strength!

I want to make choux buns or something this weekend. Inspired by all the éclairs.