After last week’s highly questionable innovation, we’re back on safer ground with a tried and tested theme. However, somewhat surprisingly (at least to me), chocolate week has made only three previous appearances, although there are signs of a recent pattern emerging as it alternates an annual outing with its temperamental cousin caramel.

‘I feel like I know what I’m doing, so fingers crossed it all goes to plan, says Nadia. It’s precisely the kind of optimistic comment programme editors love to include to herald the likelihood of impending doom. Jasmine confides, ‘I am so scared of chocolate,’ which implies she’ll probably do pretty well.

Six edible cups of chocolate mousse are this week’s signature challenge, which must also include a baked element. Nataliia responds with generous mugs of dark chocolate mousse and joconde sponge, complete with ruby chocolate handles. Prue is a big fan of the layer of berry compote and its ‘lovely punchy flavour’ and though Paul agrees it’s ‘delicious,’ he’s ‘not sure about the setting of the mousse.’

A perfect mousse texture also eludes Toby, who’s hugely relieved to find his slightly cracked chocolate oranges get a better reaction from the judges than expected. ‘Oh gosh, isn’t that good,’ exclaims Prue, as she bites through chocolate mousse and orange gel to reach his orange liqueur-soaked Earl Grey sponge. And just to avoid any doubt, she confirms, ‘I especially like the booze.’

Swigging straight from Iain’s cherry beer bottle, Prue thankfully leaves enough for him to just about complete his chocolate beer goblets of Black Forest flavours. With time running out, he begs for extra seconds to top his creations with Chantilly cream but is firmly told to step away from the bowl. ‘The cream would have made a difference,’ concedes Prue, although she confesses to ‘trying not to eat it all’ regardless.

Listening to what Lesley is packing into her chocolate cups, Paul’s normally bright blue eyes begin to glaze over. ‘Mascarpone cream, chocolate mousse, coffee liqueur, little sponge biscuit, walnut praline, whipped coffee and white chocolate ganache, caramelised banana,’ she lists, nearly forgetting to mention her chocolate biscuit spoons. ‘I like the flavour, but it’s very busy,’ he concludes.

Clearly in two minds about maximalism, Nadia makes a last-minute decision to ditch her cups decorated with Lambeth-style piping in favour of something plain. Surveying the now hastily assembled selection, filled with white chocolate and strawberry mousse, pistachio cream and a Viennese biscuit crumb, Prue’s verdict is a little crushing. ‘Quite interesting, but a bit messy,’ she says.

Jasmine keeps it simple and achieves a ‘very neat, very beautiful’ finish to her chocolate hazelnut mousse cups with a praline core and delicate leaf tuile. ‘A real pleasure to eat,’ says Prue, and though Paul agrees ‘the taste is good,’ he’s still looking for a firmer texture.

Two bakers go for the takeaway option, creating perfectly tempered facsimiles of paper espresso cups. Aaron fills his with chocolate mousse and coffee caramel, adding adorable white chocolate lids and super cute sablé biscuits shaped like mini almond croissants. Despite a slightly soft mousse, Prue says the flavours are ‘heavenly’ and Paul admits, ‘I love the whole look of it. Tom leaves his lidless and finishes his dark chocolate mousse with a marsala-laced white chocolate froth and arty dusting of cocoa. ‘Beautifully thin chocolate, perfectly set mousse,’ praises Prue, and Paul rounds things off with a handshake.

There’s more than a touch of MasterChef about this week’s technical challenge and, when Paul advises the bakers to ‘choose wisely,’ there’s even a hint of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Tasked to make a white chocolate tart without a recipe, the bakers have five minutes to choose their ingredients from ‘the gingham pantry,’ which is really just the tent’s big front table with extra fabric.

Several bakers struggle to select flavours that will complement the white chocolate. Some aren’t sure about ganache ratios or shortcrust ingredients.

Coming in second place, Jasmine’s tart is ‘overwhelmed’ by a dark chocolate topping, and she finds herself eclipsed by Lesley’s purer lemon thyme curd creation with white chocolate shards. It isn’t quite set but has a ‘good base’ and proudly ‘celebrates’ the white chocolate.

At the other end, hefty pastry that Prue describes as ‘like fortifications of a castle’ puts Nadia in last place. ‘I just think I’m a bit out of my depth,’ she says, still crossing her fingers for ‘a better day tomorrow.’

So tomorrow comes, and with it the challenge of a chocolate fondue display with edible dipping pot and baked elements. Essentially, it’s the signature challenge writ large, replacing the mousse with a chocolate sauce. However, the bakers approach their task with admirable originality.

Recreating the place where he intends to propose to his girlfriend, Iain crafts a magical landscape of bourbon steps and honeycomb rocks that pave the way to a chocolate tree and a little river of Irish cream liqueur. ‘It looks like something straight out of Lord of the Rings,’ says Paul, and Prue agrees ‘it’s lovely.’

Part tree, part fountain, Jasmine sensibly builds her display with bowls of chocolate sablé that allow her amaretto and dark chocolate sauce to flow with finesse. ‘Just full of flavour,’ says Paul, as he and Prue dunk their fruit financiers and brownies. ‘Honestly Jasmine, that’s a really excellent display,’ commends Prue, whilst Paul briefly checks his chocolatey fingers before offering his hand to the delighted baker.

Nataliia’s showstopper has disaster written all over it, but thankfully in a good way. Her edible model of the last days of Pompeii features choux and cake boulders that are dramatically immersed in the chocolate and raspberry lava flow from a Rice Krispie Vesuvius. ‘I think it looks amazing, says Paul, adding it also has a ‘fantastic flavour.’

‘There’s a bit of engineering that needs tweaking,’ advises Paul, as Lesley’s fondue runs off course in her complicated chocolate and isomalt rockpool. ‘Dry’ cake and ‘gritty’ buttercream are also problematic, but her dipping biscuits are judged ‘perfect.’

He’s even less complimentary about Toby’s chocolate campsite. ‘You’ve over-fried them,’ he splutters, tasting one of the baker’s churros, and though the pistachio and amaretto dip is judged to be ‘nice,’ Prue concurs his graham crackers are ‘a bit hard’ too.

By now, we’re getting used to Tom’s mastery of edible construction, and his pistachio chocolate ocean scene with towering lighthouse is typically impressive. However, his marvellously monstrous sea creatures appear to be hogging the pool. ‘It’s delicious… but I’d like to have tasted the fondue,’ Paul concludes.

‘I think the tempering of your chocolate is exceptional,’ says Paul, admiring the shine on Nadia’s stylish (but shattered) stilettos. Her savoiardi biscuits ‘needed a longer bake’ but their chocolate counterparts are judged ‘delicious.’ ‘You got halfway there and just ran out of time,’ the judges conclude,’ which, as Nadia exits the tent, is as much an assessment of her competition duration as it is of her final bake.

So, this week’s bravura performance comes from Aaron. His tempered chocolate grand piano is filled with a sour cherry and chocolate sauce and served with perfectly pitched accompaniments of sesame and five spice Florentines and orange sablé violins. ‘Incredible… what you’ve done is really special,’ declares Paul, and the Star Baker gets a standing ovation.