Much to her own surprise, Jo scooped the Star Baker prize in the Great British Bake Off Quarter Final. Yasmin was less fortunate though, as her baking mishaps led to her departure from the show despite a poor week for Holly.
Jo’s Rum and Raisin Cheesecake dazzled the judges in the opening Signature Bake, despite taking only 15 minutes to prepare despite a time limit of two and a half hours. “Absolutely delicious,” purred Mary Berry upon tucking into Jo’s offering, with Paul Hollywood describing it as “a lovely bake”.
By contrast, Yasmin’s Amaretto Cheesecake was compared to the “texture of a scrambled egg” by forthright judge Paul. His fellow adjudicator Mary more diplomatically pointed out that the dish was “overbaked on the outside”.
Having never baked a chocolate roulade before, Yasmin was understandably anxious about the Technical Bake. Yet she managed to scoop second place at the end of the blind judging, trailing Jo’s immaculately rolled effort.
The final Challenge – to make a croquembouche – almost scuppered Jo’s ascension as her Limoncello and White Chocolate concoction started to resemble the Leaning Tower Of Pisa following some structural difficulties. Nonetheless, it had a taste “to die for” according to Mary and this proved sufficient for Jo to land the Star Baker accolade.
The judges had a hard call to make between Yasmin and Holly, with the former burning her fingers after numerous issues with caramel. “It was a really bad week for Holly,” stated Paul, with the decision boiling down to the previous Technical Challenges.
Yasmin was ultimately chosen to depart, and she humbly stated that “my baking’s not up to scratch obviously… [but] I’ve had a fair innings and I’m really pleased with how far I got.”
Just four bakers remain for next week’s Semi Final, in which mousse cakes and iced fingers are on the menu. Let’s hope they’ll be licking their fingers and not burning them…