That's all folks ...
Prepare yourself for even more anxiety – if that is physically possible – in next week’s final, when Rhik returns. Thanks to everyone for joining in BTL, even if half of you were eating bananas and Haribo and not fine French treats!
Rosie is going home :(
She’s gutted but happy. But, naturally, also very gutted
Star baker: Alice
In a semi-final wonderland
If only ...
If only Helena were still here she’d put something amazing in this bullshit glass case. A shrunken head. A haunted eyeball. A rat-king. #GBBO
— Waffle (@BelgianWaffling) October 22, 2019
Poor Rosie. She’s turned it around but it doesn’t seem to be quite enough ... while Alice keeps the judges sweet with her cake and increasingly pained facial expressions.
Steph/Steff is in the clear (mais oui) but David’s not got the judges root-ing for his root veg monstrosity
BTL, emilyscatnaps asks whether David’s bake really has parsnip icing. It does, Emily. And – worryingly – it seems to be a bit old heap of cake. Quelle horreur (as Paul may if anyone had committed to the whole patisserie thing).
A chocolate whatnow, Alice?! Do not Google that, mes amis ...
Is anyone else finding Noel and Sandi’s interludes essential tonight, as everyone else in the tent excudes sheer anxiety from every pore?
Steph’s barely made macarons, she says, presumably in the same way that all those kids who barely revised for their A-Levels at schoo magically got 5 A*s ...
David’s grated beetroot and parsnip cake sounds great at £15 a slice in a local vegan cafe but this is patisserie week. Where’s the cream, David?! Where are the super-shiny fruit?! Paul Hollywood does NOT eat slabs of cake!!
Between Alice’s Save Our Oceans cake and the fact that she’s a geography teacher, David Attenborough should be VERY worried.
I feel quite bit sad that Rosie’s not seen her family lately, but at least she’s got Noel there talking about castrating pigs to help her along, which I imagine is a big help
They’re looking for an artist and an architect too?! Can we just stick with baking please, Paul ...
Showstopper: sugar glass cabinets and cakes
Alice Through the Looking Glass puns, assemble!
Also, is no one eating any lovely patisserie treats tonight? I don’t think I’ve even seen any cake BTL!
Everyone’s feeling the (oven) heat tonight, right?
I have never watched a series of bake off where so many bakers have been close to tears. there's something about the pressure in the tent this series. #gbbo
— Scott Bryan (@scottygb) October 22, 2019
Mon dieu! (Someone’s got to make those French references) Rosie has clawed her way back to first! While Steph/Steff served up scrambled eggs. What a world!
In fact, everyone is struggling. There’s way too much going on here. What’s crème chiboust?! I did a French degree and am considering asking for a refund ...
Rosie is struggling, but will she have enough time to re-do that creme pat?!
Rosie’s creations are going to the graveyard of choux buns which – coincidentally – is where Helena was from.
Does anyone else think David has a bit of ‘street artist drawing Andrew ‘Hot Priest’ Scott from memory’ about him? Or is it just me?
Technical: Gâteau St Honoré
What’s better than a croquembouche? A croquembouche in pastry!!
For everyone BTL going ‘ooh, they look like nipples’, do grow up I think you might have a point
Do let me know what sweet treats you’re eating tonight (and whether you’ve bought them/whether you’re a star baker in training). I have some raisins in.
No, there isn’t a gas leak in your living room – Noel Fielding is currently discussing animal castration with a vet on a baking show while the country wobbles like a poorly–set domed tart.
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BTL, smellthecoffee101 BTL says “Wearing a tie for Henry’ ... Whats the showstopper today - ‘memorialising Saint Henry through the medium of pie .... and Interpretive dance’?” To which I say ... yes it is! You don’t know who wins the show by any chance?!
Because Bake Off is a product placement-free zone, you won’t have any clue that – shock – the bitter aperitif David is using to make the jelly for his domes is Aperol, that drink only old people drank before about 2015 and which is now pumped directly into the country’s water supply.
Just noticed that the necklace in the picture says ‘Steffi’. The plot thickens, like the pâte sablée ...
Finally cracked who Steph reminds me of, too: Claudia Winkleman. Fun-sized edition. Also, did we confirm whether her name is in fact spelled Steff? It seems to have caught on BTL...
Paul saying je ne sais quoi gives one a certain je ne sais … cringe ...
Signature: domed tarts
Because sugar tastes better when it’s spherical
The bakers are all wearing ties in Henry’s honour, but they’ve ended up looking like a group of teachers doing a ‘hilarious’, mid-life crisis-induced end-of-year prank. Verdict: overbaked
And we’re off! But not before a quick recap of pastry week, which saw lovely young Henry – a classic ‘nice boy’ in mum-speak, presumably with a dark secret/rich interior life/delete as appropriate – eliminated and released back into the wild/Durham University.
To SnailyWhaley BTL with the spare Gü chocolate and vanilla cheesecake, have you got the Guardian’s address?
Hello and welcome to the Bake Off liveblog, semi-final edition! The inimitable host Rhik Samadder is unfortunately unavailable, but you’ve got me instead (wahey!) And so on to the semi-final – and it’s patisserie week, mes amis.
Tonight, we’ll see whether the bakers can make delicious, delectable pastry creations, or whether they should stick to buying them from a shop like the rest of us. Who will butter up the judges and who will flake out of the competition? On y va!
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