Croydon’s Sue Perkins may not have made it to the tent for week two of the Great British Bake Off but south London’s trio of hopefuls hit the sweet spot.

Rav, Jane and Benjamina all made steady progress in a testing week which saw them making a variety of biscuits.

The signature bake of round one required the bakers to make a batch of 24 identical iced biscuits.

Erith baker Rav’s coconut and lime Union Jack bunting biscuits looked a bit clumsy but were praised for their taste, which bizarrely reminded Paul Hollywood of a Thai green curry.

Our two ladies both went floral in this challenge, with Vauxhall teaching assistant Benjamina producing tasty chocolate orange bouquets with just the right balance between biscuit and icing and Beckenham garden designer Jane’s almond-flavoured flower pots only half iced but described by Mary as ‘an altogether nice biscuit’.

The unseen technical challenge sees many bakers come unstuck but Rav, Benjamina and Jane performed strongly, finishing sixth, third and second respectively. This week it was the Viennese Whirl.

A strong final round could have seen any of our trio named star baker – an accolade picked up by Jane last week – but another contestant’s stunning creation blew them out of the water.

Candice’s gingerbread pub, complete with pool table and sticky ginger cake carpet, took Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood’s breath away and snatched star baker status.

Inspired by her family on the south coast, Jane constructed a sculpture of Hastings old town which was spicy but a bit soft. Rav’s Christmas fairground didn’t go quite to plan and Benjamina’s New York was messy but tasty.

It was bad news for Welsh baker Louise, though, who lost a tough battle for survival with Val after the church she made in the final round – a replica of the one she is to be married in next year – collapsed as the last minute.

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