Eighth contestant eliminated during Great British Bake Off quarter-final

Maxy has become the eighth contestant to leave the Great British Bake Off tent after a tense quarter-final which saw soggy bottoms and 3D spectacles in pastry week.

The latest episode of the Channel 4 show on Tuesday night saw the remaining five contestants tasked with baking 12 signature vol-au-vents, a tricky spring roll technical and a nostalgic showstopper.

Architectural assistant Maxy, 29, narrowly missed a place in the semi-final after failing to impress judges Paul Hollywood and Dame Prue Leith in the technical and with her vol-au-vents.

Following her exit, she said: “Still finding it hard to believe that I actually made it to the tent.

“Having gotten so far in the competition I would have obviously liked to have made it to the finals, however, I am still super proud of how far I managed to come.

“Everything happens for a reason.”

Meanwhile, Syabira continued her star baker streak from last week by being awarded another coveted title in pastry week.

The contestants were first challenged to create a batch of 12 rough puff pastry vol-au-vents with a sweet filling of their choice in two hours.

Angolan-born Sandro, 30, who works as a nanny in London, was keen to impress Hollywood with the judge’s favourite flavour of key lime cheesecake but disaster struck when he realised his oven had not been turned on for part of his bake.

Hollywood said the ginger biscuit in his bake was burnt but felt the flavour was “amazing”.

Swedish-born Maxy struggled with her vol-au-vents, which were filled with chantilly cream and gooseberry jam, as the judges pointed out the pastry base was raw.

But Malaysian-born Syabira, 32, continued her impressive streak with her citrus-flavoured pastry.

Dame Prue said they were “delicious” while Hollywood felt they were two minutes of baking away from “perfection”.

In the tricky technical round, the bakers were instructed to make eight spring rolls alongside a dipping sauce in one hour and 20 minutes.

Sandro came first in the challenge with Dame Prue saying: “Pastry is excellent, delicious and lovely dipping sauce”.

Janusz from Brighton, 34, came a close second but had one missing spring roll – which left him perplexed as he said he made eight but only seven ended up on the plate.

Maxy came last as Dame Prue said her version were “too small, too much pastry, not enough filling”.

For the final showstopper challenge, the hopefuls were tasked with baking an elaborate 3D pie scene inspired by their favourite childhood story or nursery rhyme in four hours.

Electronics engineer Abdul, 29, opted for the adventure novel Treasure Island in a range of sweet apple and blackberry pies as well as savoury curry pies, with Hollywood saying that overall he did a “good job”.

Syabira took inspiration from Jack And The Beanstalk but with a twist to honour her Malaysian roots with traditional home flavours, which Dame Prue said was a “real treat”.

Two bakers chose the children’s story The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle with Janusz creating a unique version by making it in the style of a sausage dog for his own furry friend.

Hollywood said: “Your flavours in all of them are good, I just think the interaction with the crust and the interior is where it fails slightly.”

Sandro stuck to the traditional caterpillar, ambitiously creating 16 pies, but Hollywood felt he had “lost his way with the pastry”.

The Great British Bake Off continues at 8pm on Tuesdays on Channel 4.