Great British Bake Off: Scarborough's Freya Cox takes on German Week

The 19-year-old got off to a reasonable start in the signature challenge of German biscuits for which she made Lebkuchen - traditional Christmas biscuits - and Zimsterne - star shaped cookies.

Judge Prue Leith praised her flavours but questionned the baking skill.

She said: “They’re certainly chewy Freya, and they’re delicious.

“It is overbaked and the fruit has got a bit burnt but the flavour’s absolutely lovely, especially the lemon.”

Fellow judge Paul Hollywood agreed: “I love the flavours but it is certainly overbaked.”

The technical challenge this week was a Prinzregententorte - a cake made up of eight very thin layers of

German genoise sponge cake, sandwiched with smooth chocolate cream and covered in a chocolate ganache.

The cake is topped with rosettes of chocolate cream and tempered chocolate crowns.

Again Freya placed in the middle of the remaining eight bakers, coming fifth, with her flavours being praised but the presentation not meeting the judges exacting standards.

Paul said of her cake: “It’s a shame it looks the way it does.”

Prue said: “It’s a bit wobbly and the outside is a bit uneven.”

She did however add Freya’s cake had a ‘nice flavour’.

The show stopper challenge asked the bakers to make yeasted cakes.

Freya made a three tier upside down plum cake topped with poached plums and topped with a spiced red wine syrup.

Unfortunately the judges were not impressed with the cake’s appearance.

Prue said: “The syrupy topping is delicious. But there’s an awful lot of dough to topping, and I think it could have done with a little more baking.”

After hearing the news she would be leaving the competition Freya said: “Genuinely, I think it’s the best experience of my life.

“I do feel really proud to have been able to keep up.

“So to get to week five and do it vegan, I feel like I’ve done what I wanted to do being here.”

Paul Hollywood praised Freya at the end of the programme, saying: "

It’s very sad that Freya had to go, she’s done an amazing job, she’s 19 years old, vegan baking and she came halfway.

"There you go, that’s how good she is."