GBBO episode 4: The good, the bad and the ugly

By Izzy Brimeau

Last week we were left with the sweet morsel of information that episode four would be about all things caramel. Cue mental montage of decadent cakes drizzled with caramel, churros being dipped in caramel sauce and soft, buttery melt-in-your-mouth caramels… What wasn’t there to be excited about?

Find out which bakers had sweet successes and which found themselves in some sticky situations with this week’s roundup of the good, bad and ugly GBBO moments…

The good
Liam’s Tetris millionaire shortbreads with peanut butter caramel. Yes, peanut butter caramel. That’s one computer game I could get nerdy about. Just dreamy.

I wasn’t a fan of Noel’s creepy smiley shirt last week but I did find his dessert shirt amusing. Wouldn’t wear it myself, but interesting to look at. Did anyone notice his badge with a picture of himself? Hilarious.

The pouring of the caramel over the cakes. Mmmm, give me a bowl of that sauce.

How glossy was Sophie’s mirror glaze? I don’t know about you but I was impressed she managed that perfect glossy sheen, plus cake, plus caramel. She is, for the most part, a baking wizard.

Liam’s second amazing bake for the week – his buttercream, ginger and caramel layer cake. How do I get myself one of those?

Kate’s Bonfire Night-inspired cake was so good that wise Queen Prue asked for the recipe. It’s no great surprise that Kate won star baker this week, but some people are asking (and it’s causing a degree of Bake Off tension) if it should have been Liam?

The bad
The stress I felt as the bakers made their caramel. Watching, watching, boiling, boiling, knowing all the time it could suddenly crystallise, harden, be grainy with undissolved sugar… Phew. I’m relieved we made it out of caramel week without a breakdown.

The moment when Tom poured his chocolate into his caramel and it split *gasps in horror*.

The grainy, mushy caramel that ALL the contestants created in the technical challenge (stroopwafel).

All the jokes about dipping nuts in caramel… Please stop.

Steven’s crown cake that looked SO great and led to such disappointment. Oh how the cake king has fallen (pun intended).

The ugly
Sophie’s lop-sided, oozing millionaire shortbreads. I’d still devour the plate…

There were a lot of ugly moments in the showstopper challenge – sunken cakes, crystallised caramel and awkward concentration faces.

Prue loved Stacey’s chocolate and coffee caramel cake with the butterfly decoration but I thought it resembled the artwork of a preschooler.

Poor Tom and his gluey hummingbird cake resulted in him leaving the Bake Off tent for good, and it (almost) reduced me to crying…

And next week? I don’t know if you’re ready for this… That’s right folks, it’s jelly week – I’m all a-quiver…