Game of Scones: How did Stacey do on pastry week?

It was pastry week in the Bake Off tent and Stacey and her fellow contestants started with the signature challenge of four savoury pies. Stacey, inspired by her Grandma Elsie, opted for the distinctly haimishe mince meat, onion and pine kernel filled offerings. And how proud her Grandma would have been as they turned out ‘well baked’ and ‘well filled’ – a ‘proper northern pie’ according to Paul.

The technical challenge, set by Paul, called on the bakers to tackle rough puff pastry with 12 Portuguese tarts, all requiring a crispy, firm base and a perfectly set, smooth custard. Sadly they fared less well, with Paul noting immediately the ‘huge amount of issues’ before him as they set about their judging. Slammed for being half the depth they should be, lacking in custard and looking nothing like the recipe suggested, the flavour was still ‘surprisingly ok’ but it wasn’t enough and Stacey came in sixth place out of the seven remaining hopefuls.

The final chance to wow the judges came with the showstopper; a hand raised family-sized pie with a hot water crust. Stacey’s Indian inspired pie was filled with panner and egg and was topped with glazed mango cubes. However, the added surprise of baking parchment left inside the pie did her no favours and the flavours were all over the place, compounded by a wobbly exterior.

In trouble, but not in too deep, Stacey just about escaped elimination yet again. Let’s hope for more mazel when seven becomes six next week.

You can watch episode six of The Great British Bake Off here