The whiTsons’ KiTchen

“Is everyone else panicking?” wailed Sophie. Of course they are, it wouldn’t be Bake Off if there wasn’t high drama, frustration, pressure, tears just below the surface and I’m sure I saw several naughty words mouthed under bakers’ breath.

As a biscuit baker herself, the Doyenne admitted she was a teeny bit out of her depth when it came to fortune cookies. Mind you, Liam wasn’t much better – “What the hell’s this?” – when faced with the instructions. Some got it, others just didn’t.

I’d not heard of Noel – but then he’s not heard of me. I reckon he’s really got a grip on what the presenter’s job is. He did the right thing jumping in to shield Liam from Paul’s acerbic comments about his sandwich biscuits.

If he can just put a steadying hand on that Sandi Toksvig and curb her dreadful puns I reckon we’re on a winner here.

Prue Leith turned out to be pretty nippit – “Raw batter is not much fun”, was her devastating put-down of Chris’s fortune cookies as his fortunes bombed.

The Doyenne got positively lyrical – “Biscuits bring out the romance in the bakers”, she enthused.

There was loads of creativity in the Show Stoppers challenge. Could be there’s more future in inventing new board games than shredding your nerves on Bake Off.

For me, a winner was Chris’s whisky, orange and chocolate filling but that’s probably a tribal thing.

But best of all, they all look out for each other and lend a hand when they can.