The Great British Bake Off: Fans fume hit show has 'gone too far' with 'ridiculous' school technical challenge

The hit Channel 4 baking competition show returned for week four and transported the amateur bakers in the famous tent back to school. The contestants were challenged with whipping up famous recipes that remind all Brits of their school days, and the technical featured one beloved cafeteria item.

Our bakers were instructed to make a ‘school cake’ to a recipe created by judge Prue Leith. This is a simple sponge with water icing and sprinkles - however in classic technical fashion, the task wasn’t quite as simple as it seemed.

With very little instructions, the bakers soon came to realise that they wouldn’t be able to grab a jar of hundreds and thousands to top their creation with, but that they would actually need to make the sprinkles themselves.

Viewers took to social media to share their astonishment at what was being asked of the amateur bakers. One fan said: “I’m not saying that Bake Off has gone too far but making them make sprinkles is the most ridiculous thing they’ve ever made contestants do.”

Another said: “Making sprinkles from scratch seems like a punishment.” Another astonished fan added: “Next week on [Bake Off] they'll be smelting iron ore to make their own baking trays. Making sprinkles, honestly.”

Viewers also admitted that they had never thought about the process that goes into making the edible cake decorations, with one fans saying: “Mad that you can actually MAKE sprinkles. I thought they just appeared on the shelves at Tesco.”

Last night’s episode of The Great British Bake off saw one more baker leave the tent. Spoilers ahead for those who haven’t watched yet!

Unfortunately, it was time for Jessika to hang up her apron, after she failed to impress judges Prue Leith and Paul Hollywood with her 'Red Wine Rendezvous' flapjacks in the signature bake and placing seventh out of nine in the technical bake. She also found herself getting the chop after turning out her 'Prehistoric Pantry' Summer Fête Stall in the showstopper challenge.

Meanwhile, for the second week in a row, Jasmine was crowned Star Baker. Fans have already singled her out as an early front-runner in the series. One fan said: “She's getting good at this, ya know. It's back-to-back Star Baker crowns for Jasmine, who has definitely come out on top form tonight. She's one to watch.”