Each week, Northern Slant are preparing to bring you the latest run down of Britain’s most loved baking show by self-confessed GBBO addict Jayne McGlaughlin.

In a first for the Great British Bake Off, Week 5 brought us spice week. I’m not quite sure what I thought spice week would entail, but it was more mildly spicy than flaming hot.

The Signature this week was to make a ginger cake. Possibly an ode to Ginger Spice? (I promise that will be the first and last Spice Girls joke.) Paul said that he wanted to find the perfect balance of ‘heat and warmth.’ Another impossible task for the bakers because really heat and warmth are just the same thing.

As always, Kim Joy was a delight. She said that ginger is a ‘homely’ flavour and as it reminds her of home she made a mini gingerbread house which looked incredible. According to Prue and Paul it had an amazing texture and surprise surprise Kim Joy got a Hollywood handshake. As someone on Twitter pointed over, Hollywood handshakes are dropping in value as fast as the value of the pound against the euro. Goodness knows what situation we’ll be in next series after Brexit. This week there were 3 handshakes during the Signature judging alone. I get that the standard is improving, but surely then the level needed for a handshake should increase too? I also know that I am far too invested in this topic so I shall move on.

Once again Karen was throwing some booze into her bake and her Bonfire Night inspired ginger cake was flavoured with cinder toffee and brandy. Although Prue is usually a fan of the boozy bakes, she said that there was far too much alcohol in Karen’s cake. I don’t think we would have caught Mary Berry suggesting that though. Rahul also made a Bonfire Night inspired caramel ginger tiered cake which was loved and adored by the judges, probably about as much as I, and the rest of the world, love and adore Rahul. It’s quite a Northern Irish thing to not be able to accept compliments but Rahul just takes it to another level and continually apologises for being so good at baking. There are not enough heart eye emojis in the world.

Poor Dan had a disaster with his ginger and lemon cake as the batter split and, in his words, looked like cheese. Not really what you want in your cake. He got quite flustered but pulled himself together and started again but with the tight timing already, he ended up producing a leaning tower of ginger. And Terry. Poor Terry. His cake wasn’t cool enough and had to present his caramelised pear and ginger cake wearing an unintended skirt of cream dripping down the sides.

The Technical was another unheard of bake. The bakers had to make two different types of Ma’amoul – an ancient Arab filled pastry or cookie made with dates and nuts. They sound slightly like fig rolls but as Briony said, ‘who blooming knows.’ Terry had another melting disaster and his ma’amoul somehow melted. This seems quite impressive really but apparently Prue and Paul didn’t agree and he came 8th. Karen and Jon also didn’t do very well but Ruby, Dan and Rahul came top of the leader board.

In an unheard of twist, one of the judges also left the tent this week. Prue wasn’t well and was unable to be there for the Showstopper. Maybe she was hungover from all of the booze in Karen’s ginger cake.

For the spice week Showstopper, the bakers had to make a spiced biscuit chandelier that could be hung as a centrepiece. It had disaster written all over it from the beginning. Jon dedicated his bake to his family again and made it in honour of his daughter’s 21st birthday, flavoured with cinnamon and chilli jam as well as marshmallow. Questionable. Unfortunately it ended up a little messy and unfinished but the flavour was good. Jon also made his for his daughter’s 6th birthday and it was a triumph, complete with purple iced butterflies, although Paul said the flavour could have been better.

To Paul’s horror, Rahul’s included 150 biscuits. But, of course, it was beautiful and although it was messy in parts, the biscuits were fantastic. Briony’s biscuits were meant to taste like a turmeric latte but sadly they weren’t a hit with Paul and he said they lacked flavour. Karen took her inspiration from a school reunion and flavoured her biscuits with liquorice and cardamon. When Paul said that her biscuits were a little chunky Karen, in her normal sassy way said, ‘we’re big girls in Pontefract.’ Terry took on a massive challenge and his chandelier was an ode to the 12 days of Christmas. As we all could have predicted, Terry took on too much and some of his biscuits were burnt and he kept breaking the necks of his doves.

It was no surprise that Terry and Karen were the bakers to leave the tent this week and Kim Joy was crowned Star Baker – finally! In his emotional comments after leaving the tent, Terry said that he had been struggling since he lost his wife and the bake off had given him something to focus on. It was just a lovely reminder that bake off is just so much more than the drama and competition. Karen said that she is looking forward to travelling round in a caravan now that her bake off journey is over. I would pay good money to watch a programme consisting of Karen and Terry on the open road in a motorhome. If someone doesn’t commission that show, they are missing a trick.

Week 6 is pastry week so prepare yourself for a game of soggy bottom roulette. Tune in at 8pm on Tuesday.