Melancholic music and shots of falling foliage herald the first ever Autumn Week on Bake Off. Yes, we had Halloween Week a couple of years ago, but this immediately feels a somewhat more sombre affair, probably destined to have a sad ending.

The tent temperature has barely had time to warm up from the icy blasts of week one and the bakers are already being challenged to channel the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness into a comforting sweet autumnal pie.

Justifiably proud of his apple slice artistry, Dylan is prepared to cover only a little of his work with the most modest of pastry lids. As the only baker attempting a rough puff, he’s disappointed not to get full credit for his skills, and though the judges appreciate the pie’s added flavours of cider and walnut, Prue says the ‘pastry’s a bit tough’ and Paul decides ‘it’s burnt.’

Georgie insists she’d normally make her pumpkin and pecan praline pie even spicier, but it’s far too much for the judges. ‘Cut back a little bit,’ advises Paul. ‘Cut back a lot,’ coughs Prue. The spice level in Sumayah’s butternut squash, pecan and spelt pie is also judged to be ‘slightly too high’ but her ‘great decoration’ is a winner.

Nailing a ‘perfect’ for his skilful blend of spices, Christiaan’s speculoos-inspired pastry encases layers of pumpkin, almond paste and poached quince. Prue says it ‘looks beautiful’ and Paul agrees the flavours ‘blend beautifully’ too. Noel calls for a stewards’ enquiry on the absence of a handshake.

‘Exquisite’ is how Paul describes Nelly’s apple pie filling that’s packed with poppyseeds too. She warns that the baking powder in her Slovakian pastry can make it unpredictably puffy, but underbaking turns out to be the bigger problem.

Pastry is also an issue for Illiyin. Paul says the top is ‘raw’ and Prue decides ‘it’s a bit of a failure.’ However, she loves the filling of poached pears, ginger and blueberry jam, ‘A nice pie… shame about the bake,’ Paul concludes.

Proudly opting for her mother’s shortcrust recipe made with margarine and lard, Gill’s family classic of apple, blackberry and ginger pie is deemed ‘almost unimprovable’ by Prue.

Sadly, Gill has less success with this week’s technical challenge of a vegan parkin. ‘I had baking powder in my hand… did I put it in?’ she asks herself. The disappointingly flat brown square that emerges from the oven clearly answers that question.

If, at this point, you sense a notable tremor, it’s probably households across the north of England collectively shuddering at Prue’s idea to pimp up the perfectly plain and simple slabs of parkin with white icing and crystallised ginger.

‘That’s last place secured,’ bemoans Gill, and sadly she’s right. Illiyin gets top marks for a well risen cake, good spice level and neat (but, in my view, superfluous) decoration. 

Now, there’s a time and a place for decoration, and the showstopper challenge is it, as the bakers have four hours to create a vegetable cake that celebrates an autumn festival.

Determined to restore her reputation, Gill creates a clever combination of parkin and carrot cake, which she calls ‘parrot’ cake. Strikingly decorated with a buttercream bonfire, treacle biscuit rockets and meringue fireworks, Paul says it ‘looks great, tastes good too,’ and Prue concurs ‘it’s lovely.’

Georgie’s impressive tree trunk scene of a carrot cake, filled with spiced pumpkin and pecan praline is judged to be ‘a little damp’ by Prue, but ‘flavour wise, spot on’ by Paul.

Showcasing linguistic skills along with her baking talent, Illiyin enjoys saying ‘Día de los Muertos’ to describe her skull-topped courgette and carrot cake, with orange mascarpone and walnut praline buttercream. Prue simply says it’s ‘delicious.’

‘Neat’ but ‘pretty morbid looking’ is Paul’s opinion of Christiaan’s all-black cake with ghoulish ‘stained glass’ sugar windows. Once inside, the parsnip, apple and celeriac sponge, with marrow jam and maple buttercream casts its spell on the judges and Paul says, ‘I love it.’

His favourite cake of the week, however, turns out to be Sumayah’s. Beautifully decorated with ‘leaves’ of dehydrated beetroot and parsnip, her similarly flavoured cakes are sandwiched with treacle and cinnamon buttercream and encased with a delicate tree-like chocolate collar. ‘She is one hell of a baker,’ says an astonished but appreciative Prue. Paul responds with a handshake and the revelation that he’s taking some of the cake home with him.

‘It doesn’t look like it’s celebrating much,’ says Paul of Dylan’s all-white peacock cake inspired by Diwali. Despite its imperfect finish of cardamom cream cheese icing, the baker should be a little relieved to have something to present, having unsuccessfully attempted to play keepie-uppie with a beetroot sponge that fell on its way to the fridge. ‘I do like the flavours inside,’ admits Paul, but crestfallen Dylan expects to be sent home.

However, it’s the wonderfully irrepressible Nelly who suffers that fate. Resplendent in a twiggy tiara, that seems to grow extra foliage as the episode progresses, her cake celebrating the wisdom of older women is judged to be ‘exquisite’ in appearance, but ‘overcomplicated’ in its flavours of spinach, plum, chocolate and avocado.

As Sumayah secures her second Star Baker award, Nelly proudly exits the tent saying, ‘I’m leaving with my crown on.’

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