One of the greatest tragedies that can hit The Great British Baking Show tent is the utter collapse and ruin of a lovingly-baked Showstopper cake. It’s happened before — perhaps most famously with poor Ruby Bhogal‘s meme-making cake collapse — and it happened again on The Great British Baking Show “’70s Week” on Netflix this week. Although the unlucky baker put on a brave face, it ultimately was no good and they were sent home despite how delicious both Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith found the collapsed gateau.
**Spoilers for The Great British Baking Show “’70s Week,” now streaming on Netflix**
The Great British Baking Show bid farewell to Illiyin Morrison this week. The 31-year-old midwife from Norfolk struggled in the Signature Challenge with a structurally unsound stack of profiteroles and came second to last in a “cruel” Technical, but it was ultimately the unlucky demise of her Peach Melba-inspired Showstopper that sent her home.
“I’ll have to laugh or I’ll cry,” she said surveying the final product. And it’s a tribute to Illiyin as a competitor that she had the fight in her to hold her head up high and present her collapsed cake to Paul and Prue. So much so, even Paul pointed out that other bakers didn’t have the balls.
Let’s back up for a quick second, though. This year’s quarterfinals of The Great British Baking Show challenged the bakers to get groovy with their designs and to embrace the flavors, colors, and textures of the 1970s. While Paul, Prue, and oldest remaining baker Gill Howard could all recall the vibes of the decade, the rest of the tent was out of luck. Dylan Bachelet, for example, wasn’t even born in the 20th century! (He was born in 2004 and now I feel closer to death!!)
Early on, though, Illiyin embraced the challenge that the 1970s provided. For her Signature Challenge — a stack of at least thirty profiteroles, designed according to a ’70s theme —Illiyin wanted to pay homage to the Afro. While everything went well with her choux pastry and flavors, she struggled when it came to building the stack itself. When she presented her otherwise delicious profiteroles to Paul and Prue, she needed a jar of white chocolate to prop it up.
For the Technical Challenge, Paul Hollywood asked the five remaining bakers to make their best Banoffee Pie. The twist? The sadistic judge didn’t give the bakers any instructions whatsoever, prompting Illiyin to yell, “He’s so out of order!” While Gill came in last place, Illiyin was judged just behind her for a “clumsy” pie. Meaning, it would all come down to the Showstopper.
Illiyin’s plan was ambitious, but the first signs of issues came when her genoise sponge came out of the oven with odd folds. She explained it away and even said it wasn’t something for her to stress over, but her problems were not over, yet. During the crucial decorating process, Illiyin realized to her dismay that her ganache had split in the mixer. While she had already coated her base cake in ganache, her top tier was unfrosted. With less than an hour to spare, her only option was to use buttercream instead, meaning the cake would be frosted with two different types of frosting.
Matters only got worse as time ticked away. Realizing her cake was structurally unsound, Illiyin attempted to mitigate the issues by decorating it while it was still in the fridge. When time ran out, she hoped it would firm up in the cold air of the refrigerator before judging. Alas, the final product was a disaster. The top tier had completely fallen over.
Naturally, everyone in the tent rallied around Illiyin. Noel Fielding helped her arrange what was left of her cake while the other bakers comforted her. “Hold your nerve,” Georgie Grasso told her. “Queen face.” It would be advice that would serve Illiyin well when she brought her ruined bake to Paul and Prue. Both judges admired how great her gateau tasted and Paul particularly admired her grace.
“We’ve had people who have messed up a bake in the past and have thrown things in bins,” Paul said, cheekily referring to the franchise’s first true “scandal,” “Bin-gate.” “Illiyin, she didn’t throw it away, and she brought it to the table, which is what you should do.”
Nevertheless, Illiyin’s mistakes were too many to ignore. She was sent home, while Georgie secured the honor of Star Baker.
While Illiyin’s departure was obviously emotional, the always pragmatic baker admitted there was a silver lining. “At least you don’t have to go home and practice patisserie,” she said with a chuckle. “Even all these feelings of sadness, underneath all that is an immense sense of pride.”
“This is an exceptional competition with exceptional bakers and to have been part of it, that’s quite special.”
