Yeadon school worker impresses judges on TV’s Great British Bake Off

On Twitter, Emma Thompson said: “I’m annoyed to find out that numerous Great British Bake-Off contestants aren’t amateurs and have previous experience”. However, it turns out that it’s just a trailer, and the tidy-bearded one is the focus of an upcoming episode of the BBC celebrity genealogy series.

She was highly critical of her work and would often make me beat the sugar and butter with a wooden spoon until it was “just so”.

The first challenge saw the bakers have to create a batch of 24 identical biscotti – biscuits full of flavour and that had a crisp crunch. Will anyone in the baking tent forget they need to be baked in the oven twice? Admit it – that’s why we love it.

Flora Shedden with Mel in the Bake off tent. Although he seemed to be getting into his stride with his maccaron and Black Forest gateau hybrid showstopper, his Madeira cake was compared to “chewing on wallpaper paste” by Paul. So many times we have only realised after that we should have fanned the biscotti.

The 19-year-old Scot, who is set to start a History of Art degree next month, was bemused in Wednesday’s second episode when the contestants were asked to bake a type of biscuit called an arlette in the technical round.

The Technical Challenge is to whip up some arlettes – French puff pastry delights with cinnamon swirled in. Who knew it was the name of the mother of William the Conqueror?

The 66-year-old said that competing in the Bake Off had been on her bucket list, adding: “Every moment was a fabulous experience for me”.

Broome, who runs the personalised gift firm with her husband and a team of seven, said the sales uplift from the show lasts until Christmas. Because the small creative firms that sell through us largely make their products in the UK, they can respond quickly’. Oh, and the biscuit box must be made of different biscuit to the biscuits that are inside the biscuit box. Paul says he’s looking for good lamination and impressive architecture.