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THE LAST CURDLE

Bake Off 2019 Dairy Week: Five things we learned as Phil Thorne was eliminated

THERE was a new challenge in town on episode four of The Great British Bake Off as the bakers were set some hard tasks in the first ever Dairy Week.

Here are all the best moments that went down in the legendary white tent as the contestants tried to impress Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith.

 The first ever Diary Week took place on GBBO
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The first ever Diary Week took place on GBBOCredit: Mark Bourdillon/ Channel 4

Five things we learnt from Bake Off 2019 Week Four

WARNING: Contains spoilers from episode four of Bake Off 2019

1) Trying something moo

You wouldn't be wrong in thinking that dairy already plays a big part in most of the other weeks but as they headed into the tent contestants admitted focusing on just dairy made them appreciate all it encompasses.

Henry Bird said: “I didn’t realise that dairy is not only a cow. There’s goat, sheep, buffalo, horse…”

Paul explained: “This week we wanted to celebrate, but more importantly, we wanted to bring in cultured milk which can be used to moisten cakes.

"Where they’ve got to be careful is that by adding cultures they could overbake the cake and dry things out making it to be like cardboard inside.”

For Dairy Week, the group had to make a decorative Signature Bundt cake in which the mixture used cultured dairy product such as butter, buttermilk or yogurt in order to make a moist sponge.

The Technical challenge was 12 Maids of Honour (aka a lemon curd tart) which dates back to the Tudors – and something Henry VIII loved so much that he kept the recipe under lock and key.

While the intricate Showstopper task was to make Indian milk desserts called Mishti, which are found at the centre of Indian weddings and celebrations.

 The bakers did all they could to avoid curdling under pressure
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The bakers did all they could to avoid curdling under pressureCredit: Mark Bourdillon/ Channel 4

2) Goth a lot of love

With their matching jet black locks and love for all things dark and wonderful, Noel Fielding and Helena Garcia could easily be a match made in heaven.

And the pair were happy to joke about that during various moments together in the tent.

While she was making her almond and buttermilk ghost cake, Noel professed his love for the baker and she in turn joked that she had already told her husband that she would leaving him for the host.

The pair joked about getting married on Halloween and having ghouly babies together.

3) Handle with care

Michelle Evans-Fecci was the centre of attention after she accidentally broke her cake presentation tray.

While trying to get her baked cake out of the elaborate tray, Michelle managed to break half of the plate.

As she reacted in horror to the accident, she nearly lost her whole cake - with Michael Chakraverty rushing to the rescue as it almost slipped off the remainder of the plate.

The Welsh baker apologised profusely to the production staff but luckily no real harm was done.

Meanwhile Michael also got off to a terrible start after his lemon cake split in half when taking the freshly baked creation out of the tray.

He lamented: “It cracked and cut right down the middle. Pretty much my worst nightmare. It’s unrescuable.”

And Henry was left red-faced when his attempt to get creative with his mishti showstopper ended with him serving melted ice cream that was a real dud.

4) The fourth Star Baker

Before we had to say goodbye to another baker, Steph Blackwell got her time in the limelight as Star Baker.

It was a great week for Steph who excelled in all three challenges this week - well she was best of a bad bunch in the Technical.

She thrilled Paul and Prue with her sensational choice of flavours.

The judges loved her Chocolate and raspberry buttermilk cake, even if it was a tad too rich.

And they thought her attempt at the Maids of Honour Technical challenge was much better than the rest.

While her trio of rose and pistachio, mango and date and walnut mishti had a "lovely combination of flavours" and even had Paul congratulating her for her "clever" choices.

5) The fourth contestant to get the boot

Phil didn't have the worst time in Dairy Week but his decoration in both the Signature Challenge and the Showstopper really let him down in the end.

His simplistic garden-inspired mishti elderflower rockery and pistachio roses with blueberry butterfly failed on all fronts for Paul and Prue.

At the end of the episode, Noel had to send Phil home - much to the annoyance of many fans.

Phil said: "Dairy Week - Curse the Dairy Week! Still I had a good run, and I have met such an amazing group of people.  Fantastic, I have absolutely loved every second of it!"

On Phil’s leaving, Paul said: "Phil was particularly shocked, and he had justification to be shocked because it was that tight, it was that close.

"He struggled in his Showstopper, which is why sadly, Phil had to leave."

When is Bake Off next on?

You can get your next fix of the show on Tuesday, September 24.

It will, of course, be on at 8pm.

You can watch previous episodes NOW on .

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