Caution: Spoilers

“When I come back next week, it’s gonna be full-on honey badger fight. Jasmine’s not having that star baker.” – Aaron, at the end of the episode

“Oh, I can see it squidging.” – Tom, of his freestanding trifle, at the end of the showstopper

Did anyone else find this episode disappointing all around?

For one: I was so excited when I saw that it was Dessert Week, but all of the desserts in this episode were kind of blah. All those cheesecakes, and not a single flavor combination that sounded yummy. And then, gluten-free steamed puddings? And then a bunch of booze-soaked trifles? Womp womp. For two: poor dear little Iain going home. He’ll be fine, I mean he’s like 20 years old, so just a baby, and he’s got a beautiful pole-dancing fiancee and all, so, he has his whole life in front of him. But, I’ll sorely miss seeing him and his Irish elfin antics on this show.

And, for three: Jasmine getting star baker again. It’s just getting boring, at this point! Her bakes are perfect and traditional and classic every time. Everyone else is a little more interesting to watch – Aaron with his avant garde flavors, Tom with his ambitious designs, Iain with his fine arts skills, and Toby’s quirky and fun style – but Jasmine’s just textbook perfection, challenge after challenge. Which I guess is what they’re looking for, on this show, really, and I respect that. But, still. It is kind of cool that Jasmine is the last woman standing this year.

It was wild how this week the placements did a perfect one-eighty from the signature to the technical. In the signature, we had Aaron and Jasmine in the lead, Toby in the middle, and Tom and Iain at the bottom. Then in the technical, we had Tom and Iain in first place, Toby in the middle, and Jasmine and Aaron in the bottom! Which makes things extra tense, going into the showstopper, because you know so much is hanging on that last challenge.

Another perfectly symmetrical thing that I noticed, that I don’t think I’d ever seen in this show before: in the technical, the order in which the judges tasted the puddings was the exact order in which the contestants placed, from worst to best: Aaron, Jasmine, Toby, Iain, Tom. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m pretty sure they were even seated in that order, each in front of their own bake. What a weird little coincidence!

Of note this week: Toby said during the signature that he thinks he will be “one week and one week only” as a Star Baker. I’m curious to see if that will come true. Will Toby win star baker next week, or possibly even the final? I’m sure the winner will be Jasmine, but, I can still get my hopes up. I like Toby a lot, and I love that he’s a fan of Christmas like I am. But I do wonder: how, as a British baker, had he never once made a steamed pudding before?, lol.

I’m also allowing myself to get my hopes up for my favorite, Aaron! He’s been my favorite since Pui Man went home in week three, and he’s still here! He really has a shot! He didn’t do well in the technical this week, but his saké plum cheesecake got perfect reviews, and his champagne-raspberry-chamomile-peach trifle apparently tasted amazing even though the textures were off. He might just win it.

And even if he doesn’t, we’re at the point now – the final four/five – at which all of the contestants are successful. They will go down in Bake-Off history as some of the best. If you make it to the quarterfinal, you’re pretty much Bake-Off nobility, if not royalty. Any one of these contestants could go on to like get a cookbook published or get their own TV show or land a great job somewhere at the drop of a hat, if they wanted to.

One other mildly interesting thing that I learned about this week: “Flipping Nora,” apparently a milder version of the colloquialism “Bloody Nora,” is, according to Google, a phrase “used to express surprise, irritation, or dismay.” Never heard that before in my life. And we heard it from Jasmine, of all people, lol!

That’s about all I’ve got for this week. It was not my favorite episode. Only two episodes left. What do we think will happen? Leave me your comments!

“Claggy” count: 0 (running total: 5)

“Concertina” count: 0 (running total: 1)

High point: Tom’s first technical win! He was saying after the signature that he really wanted to do well in the technical, and then he not only did well, but finally won. He’s been wanting to win one for weeks.

Low point: The lack of a single chocolate dessert in the entire “Dessert Week” episode. Toby did use white chocolate in his marbled cheesecake, but that just barely counts.

The dessert that I would most have liked to eat: Really, none of them. I was so disappointed that all of the trifles were soaked in booze! I don’t do alcohol, so these were all off-limits for me, which was devastating, because Tom’s Greek trifle sounded amazing: fig, almond, and honey – I was so excited about that one! But, in any case, he fell victim to almond extract, which, I literally do not know why any baking show contestant ever dares to touch almond extract for any reason, anymore, and the judges said it didn’t taste that great. Bummer all around. I guess if I had to pick one from this episode I’d go with Tom’s gothic-looking black sesame basque cheesecake, just for the vibes.

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