College of West Anglia pair sadly fail to impress on Bake Off: The Professionals

It was a short and not so sweet appearance for two local chefs when they were eliminated in the first round of a national TV show.

Alex Harrison and Stacey Martin, who are catering lecturers at the College of West Anglia’s Wisbech campus, found themselves up against stiff opposition in the first episode of Channel 4’s Bake Off: The Professionals on Tuesday (25).

The pair struggled to compete against some of the top patisserie cooks in the country when judges Cherish Finden and Benoit Blin asked the teams to create their own versions of two miniature desserts.

They had to create Italian classic the Tart Piémontaise - which includes hazelnuts, dark chocolate and cream. Secondly they had to come up with a modern twist on a jaffa cake, their version of which was described as a "car crash" by judge Cherish Finden.

And finally for the showstopper contestants were asked to create a sculpture centrepiece on the theme of strawberries and cream.

Unfortunately Alex and Stacey, who have worked together at the college for the past 10 years mistimed their creations and blamed their over ambitious ideas for affecting their finished desserts - and that ultimately led to them being the first team out the Bake Off door.

As they left Stacey described the judges' feedback as "a true reflection of what we presented - it was harsh but fair."

She said: “We want to show our students that we are not afraid of failure, that you can only rebuild, pick yourself up and get better from your mistakes.

She added they had had a “fantastic few days” that were stressful, hard work and “eye opening”.

You can watch the full episode on catch-up All 4 now.