Great British Bake Off 2018 episode 7: The biggest talking points from vegan week
From Kim-Joy's foxy friends to a dramatic cake collapse
The bakers were in for their biggest challenge yet as The Great British Bake Off tackled vegan week for the first time ever, with contestants throwing out the eggs and butter to seek alternative paths to a rich texture and a nice crumble to their pastry.
Although the challenges didn't turn out disastrous across the board, the episode saw some of the most (genuinely quite) nail-biting moments of the series, with a dramatic cake topple causing emotions to run high in the tent.
Now that, hopefully, the remaining bakers have had a chance to breathe a sigh of relief, we look back at all the biggest talking points from the episode.
Kim-Joy's woodland animals win the day
This week's Star Baker was ironically, as host Noel Fielding pointed out, the one baker who found a way to bring animals into the tent on vegan week: Kim-Joy, of course! Her Showstopper celebration cake was littered with adorable foxes, while her Signature tartlets managed to squeeze in some squirrel designs on the top.
Although her Showstopper was a bit pudding-y, according to the judges, and her meringues needed more fruit, her squirrel tarts proved to be a winner with the judges. She even received the all-important Hollywood handshake.
Vegan week proves too much for Jon
Jon, sadly, was the one to go home this week, largely for entirely failing to get to grips with the concept of vegan week. His Technical meringue was criticised for its lazily done piping and runny cream, and he simply ran out of filling for his Signature tartlets.
That said, although his "Only Fools Eat Horses" Showstopper celebration cake was labelled a pitiful sight by the judges, with its drooping checkerboard design, it actually turned out to be quite flavourful.
A cake collapse!
As was teased on the episode's preview, vegan week didn't fail to deliver on the dramatics, as the most dreaded moment for any baker became a reality and Ruby's Showstopper celebration cake toppled over just as the competitors were leaving the tent. As Paul pointed out, Ruby's mistake was layering the heavier chocolate layer on top of the lighter lemon layer. Also, the top layer was distinctly larger than the bottom one, which may have been a contributing factor.
Then again, this isn't CSI and no one's about to carry out an autopsy on a chunk of cake, so maybe we'll never know.
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A second (off-camera) collapse!
However, it turned out Ruby wasn't alone in her despair: Rahul's cake had also caved in on itself, although disappointingly off camera and in a fridge so we couldn't experience the dramatics for the second time around.
Noel Fielding for Doctor Who?
Noel jokingly uttered the words "I'm a Time Lord" and now the internet has already lined up a replacement for whenever Jodie Whittaker wants to hang up her screwdriver.
Catch-up below with the rest of the events of this week's The Great British Bake Off (please allow a moment for the liveblog to load).
The Great British Bake Off airs on Channel 4 every Tuesday 8pm
Paul Hollywood & Prue Leith both treating nutritional yeast as if it's an alien microbe. You're professional chefs! Even I know what nutritional yeast is and 90% of my meals involving putting a thing in a can on toast.
Noel Fielding interrogating Kim-Joy because she has "the air of a vegan" there. As we all know, if you're a woman with a fringe and glasses, you are not only a vegan, but you also ride a little bicycle around town with a bell and a puppy in the basket.
Is it all over for Jon? Will he make it out of vegan week with his dignity intact?
Prue went all the way to "poetry" for Rahul's tartlet. But no Hollywood handshake? That one goes instead to Kim-Joy. And Jon? Turns out vegan baking is "not his thing", as the judges determine. Prudent observation there.
For the Technical challenge, the bakers are being tasked with creating a delicate vegan pavlova. Which is basically a meringue with a bunch of fruit on top of it.
Kim-Joy is in last place with her "boring" meringue. Manon is in second, with Rahul in first place. Bravo, Rahul! This is the first time he's come first in the Technical challenge.
The Showstopper is challenge is a fairly broad "vegan celebration cake", which we already know is going to be Kim-Joy's dream. What quirky animal will she make this time? The nation waits with bated breath.
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