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.
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).
9 things we learned from the first episode of this year's GBBO
The IndependentA spoiler free look at this year's opener“We were surprised. There’s a lot more information [about vegan bakes] in the episode. If you’re worried about changing to vegan, just watch it and you’ll see. It shocked me.”
Great British Bake Off – Pastry Week, as it happened
The IndependentBriony triumphed as Star Baker thanks to her showstopping pie, while Dan left the tent following a few timing mishaps
Prue Leith admits she doesn't have a passion for baking but a passion for eating cakes
The IndependentNever one to sugarcoat her words, The Great British Bake Off judge said she 'prefers savoury cooking to baking'
The Great British Bake Off airs on Channel 4 every Tuesday 8pm
