'The Great British Baking Show' Season 4 Episode 5: Pastry Week

We’re at the halfway point of this season's The Great British Baking Show competition and eight accomplished amateur bakers remain. This week, contestants were presented with three painstaking pastry challenges. I don’t know about you, but just the thought of trying to produce flaky layers of buttery pastry makes me want to lie down.  No doubt our bakers are made of sterner stuff!

Before we jump into the fray of grievous buttery harm and frangipanic, let’s review what occurred during last week's batter battle. Star Baker Benjamina stood out from the crowd with her tasty signature bake of red onion chutney, brie and bacon Yorkshire puddings. In the technical round, her lacy pancakes were the fanciest of them all and her tropical churros showstopper was beautiful in flavor and structure. Kate, on the other hand, had a self-professed shocking weekend punctuated by undersized puds and sad, greasy churros bunnies. Regrettably, Kate was chosen to depart but she graciously looks forward to watching her fellow bakers’ progress.

A new week means a fresh start and what better way to begin than with the most important meal of the day. For the signature round, the bakers were asked to make twenty-four breakfast pastries – two varieties, a dozen of each. Paul Hollywood warned their biggest concerns would be time management and butter leakage.