The bakers went in all guns blazing to the ‘Bake Off’ tent this week. And guns were exactly what they needed for the signature challenge – baking 12 identical rye rolls. Rye flour has a particularly low gluten content so the bakers had to knead like they’d never kneaded before to work up the protein level. Martha’s date and walnut rolls sounded scrumptious, but Paul couldn’t help sticking his oar in when she mentioned an innocuous egg wash. He wished her luck, as his face contorted with incredulity, and called the decision, ‘daring’. Norman – who struggled in biscuit week with one boring batch after another – fell short on inventiveness yet again with caraway seed and sultana rolls. He insisted he’s no Heston Blumenthal, but really Norman, they weren’t asking you to cook the blasted things with liquid nitrogen.

Luis and Kate both shone – and not with sweat from all that dough pummelling. Luis made two types of dough – one fennel and parsnip, one carrot and chocolate – and wound them together to make clever croissant-shaped rolls, while Kate worked her orange and cardamom dough into knots and doused them with heavenly orange syrup. She might have had a few mishaps in weeks one and two, but Kate’s slowly rising (like her shiny dozen) to the top of the pack. As Paul predicted, the deep brown colour on Martha’s rolls belied their under-baked insides. The judges also strung up Norman for the homely nature of his flavours.

This week’s technical was a doozy – it was Paul’s ciabatta recipe. Mel and Sue tried to wheedle some advice out of the maestro and all he would say was a rather portentous, ‘be patient’. In a stroke of ace dramatic timing, rain started lashing down the sides of the ‘Bake Off’ tent as the bakers debated whether to prove the loaves at room temperature or in the balmy proofing drawer. Kate didn’t succumb to sheep syndrome and left her dough firmly on her work station, earning her the best tasting and looking loaf and first place. Jordan, aka ‘Captain Chaos’, made the fatal error of rubbing olive oil onto his dough’s surface instead of flour and ended up with a golden brown exterior instead of a crisp, floury shell and last place.

A stuffed loaf was all the judges asked for in the showstopper. Never have we wished TVs had scratch and smell technology so desperately, what with Martha’s sunflower-shaped bread encasing a wheel of Epoisse cheese, Nancy’s ‘fry up’ loaf, a novel way to eat an English breakfast if there ever was one, Richard’s homemade pesto pinwheels and Chetna’s white loaf packed with spiced peas and curried potatoes. Swoon.

While all the bakers used strong white flour, Luis added saffron for his crown-shaped, Roscon De Reyes – a traditional Spanish bread eaten around Epiphany – which was studded with green olives around its circumference. While Luis’ creation was precision personified – he even used tweezers to dot on gold leaf! – Caption Chaos was living up to his nickname. His berry cheesecake brioche loaf looked like a hot mess of jam and soggy dough. Kate’s presentation was breath-taking – her prosciutto, olive and coriander dough was twisted so threads of flavour and colour ran through it – but she rolled it too tightly which meant its inside was inedible. Paul left enough time for an advert with a hulking pause before poking his finger into the raw dough. Norman’s ‘showstopper’ looked like a giant chicken pie instead of bread centrepiece and unfortunately his ‘exotic’ pesto filling gave his loaf a soggy bottom. This was also Jordan’s downfall. His berries and released so much fruity juice that his bread had mulch for insides and he was sadly the third baker to be turfed out of the tent. Luis was rightly crowned star baker for his regal effort and stellar flavour combinations. Long may he reign!

If watching Mary and Paul break bread has whetted your appetite, here are a few easy recipes to try at home…

Olive soda bread

Fruity tea bread

Courgette, lemon and Parmesan bread

Shallot flatbread

Mary Berry's rosemary and sweet potato bread

And don't forget to check out our cheat's guide to this week's recipes.

Image: BBC/Love Productions/Mark Bourdillon