IT has had a week to bed itself in so now is a good time to talk about Bake-off.

That’s the Great British Bake-Off to the uninitiated but I should imagine if you haven’t seen it by now, it just isn’t your idea of entertainment.

As an amateur baker myself, knocking up treats for hungry colleagues, friends and family, I take my hat off to every single one of those who have had the courage to head into that marquee over the past however many series.

There is a world of difference between creating a passable lemon drizzle or Victoria sponge and what they are expected to come up with in that tent.

Hours worth of effort and planning, thought and precision, all brought to the one moment Prue and Paul smash it all up and deliver their verdict.

This week the latest cohort faced biscuits with the showstopper being a 3d structure, made out of said food stuff.

There were varying degrees of success.

I just don’t care how glorious the flavours were, or how lifelike it looked, no part of me would be wanting to eat the structure depicting a spider coming out of an egg, complete with sugar spun cobwebs.

This saved Helena, after her witch fingers in the signature task and fig rolls in the technical left her in dire need of a good result in the showstopper which just goes to prove the power of this final challenge.

Somewhat cruelly, Paul goes on and on about how good they have to look, but then completely dismisses them if there is anything slightly amiss with the snap or break of it and then trots out his oft repeated line about how the bake has to be the most important aspect.

Quite hard to concentrate on that when you have to bake a squillion very fragile elements in order to create a life like replica of the Alhambra, for example.

There were a great many deflated personalities, not least Henry, going great guns with his signature dish and fig rolls only to be brought up short by his underwhelming biscuit church organ.

You have got to admire his quick thinking though when Paul whined about not being able to see its “keys” - the organ was not in use so the lid was shut.

Jamie was not so lucky with his guitar.

As the field is whittled down we will probably get to see a bit more of the bakers’ personalities coming through but until then we are being treated to a few somewhat excruciating clips of what they like to do in their spare time.

Priya does pilates and vet Rosie rides her horse.

There isn’t much need for these since the actual baked goods seem to give the viewer more of an insight into their lives.

Flavours and themes are often inspired by treasured memories and connections to loved ones.

A dropped ice cream cake in reference to summer trips to the seaside, a tortoise shaped biscuit sculpture in tribute to a childhood pet.

I get more from those than seeing David jogging into a cafe or Henry settling down with a book (he is studying for an English degree)

This current series is also showing how the presenting partnership between Noel Fielding and Sandi Toksvig is really coming into its own.

Like a couple of giggly school kids they never go too far, always managing to keep their banter warm and respectful of the stressful tasks at hand.

And, crucially, they don’t mind making fun of Paul. A lot.