Hey, it's chocolate week here on The Great British Bake Off.
My mum always used to say...
IMITATES FORREST GUMP: Life is like a box of chocolates.
She was from Bristol, I think.
But the thing is life is meant to be enjoyed.
But all the better if you share it with someone else.
Noel, I'm not ready to share my life with anyone.
Just a little bit? Welcome to The Great British Bake Off.
Come on, give me of those life nuggets.
Get your own life, you little shrimp.
THEY LAUGH
Last time...
CLATTERING AND GASPING
..the bakers battled on Hollywood's home turf.
Chuffing heck, this is a bit high pressure.
And while Tasha's stunning Showstopper...
You understand bread and I like that. Wow.
..secured her second Star Baker...
I think that's a bit under.
..Dan's was a disaster.
Absolute shocker. It's a bit flat, innit.
But Abbi's stodgy Showstopper...
It's a bit dense.
..sealed her fate and she became the third baker to leave the tent.
I'm going to remember it every day for the rest of my life.
This time...
..it's chocolate week.
I hate white chocolate, it's the bane of my existence.
The bakers take on a torte in the signature...
This looks horrible, don't it?
..tackle a high temperature technical...
Melting, melting, melting.
..and are pushed to their breaking points...
Oh, dearie me.
..in a chocolate box Showstopper.
My heart is breaking right now.
Oh, God.
I am stressing now.
Is Tash all right?
Take as much time as you need, all right? OK.
The hottest day of the year so far for chocolate,
and every year when they do Bake Off it always happens.
There will be a lot of fridge freezer trips.
You'll probably just end up seeing me in the fridge, I can guarantee.
Chocolate's the thing that I reach for when I'm...
When I'm stressed or upset.
The things that you love the most hurt you the most.
I absolutely love eating chocolate,
but to work with it is horrible. It's so messy,
it's so temperamental.
I don't know about chocolate. I will have a meltdown.
Hello, kids, welcome back to the tent. And this week, it is...
I can't remember. What is it this week?
# You're sweet like chocolate
# Boy! #
That's right. It's chocolate week, kids.
So for your chocolate week signature, Paul
and Prue would like you to make
a luxurious chocolate torte made without wheat flour.
Now they say some things can't be torte, but this one must be.
You've got two and a half hours.
On your marks. Get set.
# Bake! #
My children, they love chocolate,
they love eating chocolate torte, so I am making for them.
What is the difference between torte and a cake?
You're asking the wrong person. I'm going to go and find Prue.
Yeah, find Prue.
When we think of a torte it's usually quite a rich cake,
a bit more dense and luxurious.
And that is what we want the bakers to think of,
but it must not have any wheat flour in it.
So they could use chestnut, they can use ground almonds,
whatever they wish,
but it tends to make the cake quite heavy.
And so the bakers have got to be really careful on
the fillings. Something light, raspberries, strawberries, fruits.
It's an opportunity for the bakers
to show off their piping skills, their spinning skills,
their moulding skills.
They can show off a bit. And they should.
Morning, Saku. Good morning. Hello, Saku. Good morning.
Saku, tell us all about your chocolate torte.
I am making a Saku torte.
A Saku torte? Yes.
Of course you are. So what's in that?
It's like sachertorte,
but instead of apricot jam I am using a raspberry jam.
Instead of writing "sacher" I am going to...
Write "Saku". "Saku!"
Saku's personalised twist on
the classic sachertorte will see
raspberry jam sandwiched between
cakes of dark chocolate
and ground almond, finished
with her own name hand-piped
onto dark chocolate ganache.
I practised three times.
The first time the writing went horribly wrong. Right.
Where do you practise? At your house? Yes.
In the middle of the night? Around half one,
two o'clock. Yeah, early hours.
At one in the morning you're baking... Yeah. That's fine.
..Saku torte?
LAUGHTER
I'm popping my ground almonds into my chocolate and egg yolks.
Whichever wheat flour alternative the bakers have chosen
will change the flavour and texture of the chocolate torte.
I'm using ground hazelnuts and I'm also putting some cornmeal
in it as well. It just adds a bit of a denser texture to the torte.
And while ground almonds are
the most popular choice in the tent...
I think that's quite typical for a torte.
If it's not broken, don't try and fix it.
..not all the bakers are playing it safe.
For the torte itself I'm using ground pecans. Ground pecans?
They obviously let out a little bit of oil.
I grind them, actually, one to one with icing sugar, and that way I get
a nice crumb mixture that's very similar to ground almonds.
That's really interesting.
If you're grinding your own nuts, it's always difficult.
And painful.
Grind them up quick. Less pain that way.
PRUE: You boys are just disgusting.
Josh's pecan-based torte will layer chocolate cremeux,
raspberry Chantilly cream and fresh raspberries from his
garden, surrounded by delicately piped chocolate leaves.
Chocolate and pecans and raspberry, they are
a very classic combination. I've not seen
the pecans get used in the sponge before, so I hope they like it.
This looks horrible, don't it?
Josh isn't the only baker taking a risk.
What are you using in there instead of flour?
Uh, egg whites, it's just relying on egg whites, no flour.
Well, that's my favourite to mix, I love that. It's so light.
But it's difficult not for it to squash down.
If you pull it off, it'll be perfect.
Hoping to perfect a flawless flourless sponge,
Rowan's adding espresso and cocoa powder,
and he's giving his torte an extra caffeine kick with
a coffee Swiss meringue buttercream filling.
I'm a coffee fiend.
I can't function as an adult without my four espressos.
Honestly, my heart's going to explode just from the coffee alone.
Whilst Rowan's getting his daily fix...
Pour an extra bit in for Prue.
..Dan's starting chocolate week...
Tickety-boo!
..with something a little stronger.
So I'm going for a Mexican torte this week.
I'm putting a Mexican liqueur in there which is
a guanabana fruit.
And you can have a little taste if you'd like to?
I think it's a bit too early, even for me.
Dan's boozy Mexican torte will combine hazelnuts,
dark chocolate and guanabana liqueur,
topped with fresh fruit and chilli chocolate truffles,
he's hoping to tickle the judges' taste buds.
I think after last week I'd like to see the old Dan come back.
I have sort of reset after last week.
What did you do? Got naked, looked in a mirror,
top of the mountain, tai chi? Yeah.
Thanks, Dan. Head band. Bantz. Thank you very much. Cheers.
While it might be too early for Prue,
Dan's found another drinking buddy.
I'm doing a ginger torte with a good amount of booze.
So I've got amaretto and ginger wine inside the torte.
Weird combination on its own, but in cake it works really well.
Tasha's unusual ginger cocktail will be combined
with dark chocolate and ground almonds.
And for an even stronger spice kick, she'll decorate
the torte with piped praline ganache
and ginger mascarpone kisses.
Twice Star Baker.
I mean, that's a big thing. Yeah.
And what I like about this is you're really pushing
the boat out, cos to put ginger with chocolate is clever.
A little bit risky as well. And to get that balance.
You're just piling on the pressure, Paul. Yeah.
Oh, my goodness.
So I'm just now folding in the French meringue.
To avoid serving a flat dense torte...
This is quite a crucial stage.
Cos it's flourless, you're relying on the egg whites, really.
The bakers must fully incorporate all of the whisked egg whites.
To try and combat that density which is just inherent to a torte.
But overmix and the torte won't rise when baked.
I have practised this. The first time it went great.
The second time it collapsed. So now we're on to the third time.
Dana's towering three-layered almond-based torte will be filled
with cherry compote, white chocolate mascarpone buttercream
and candied almonds.
Is it going to taste of cherry chocolate?
I hope so, there's a cherry compote in the middle. You paused.
Why did you pause? Cos I don't like tortes.
I haven't actually tasted it myself.
Good luck. Thanks. Good luck with this one. I know!
In on 160. It's in.
Bake well, be good.
Because it's nuts, it's a bit dense.
It takes ages to bake, like 50 minutes.
While their chocolate tortes may be slow to bake...
Till then I will make the jam.
The bakers have no time to lose
making their light flavourful fillings.
So I'm making a cherry brandy cream filling.
When I was younger my mum, after Sunday lunch, used
to always buy a black forest gateaux,
so I sort of got the inspiration from that.
Recreating her favourite childhood flavours,
Cristy's almond, chocolate and cherry torte will be updated with
a cherry brandy Chantilly cream,
and finished with a white chocolate collar and intricate decorations.
I've got a mould, it's just getting them out.
I had a bit of a nightmare at home. Yeah,
I just hope it works in the tent.
Yeah, I know.
Quite tricky. I'm going to make a few.
Right, OK. A selection.
So we're making mousse with
a little bit of praline going through it,
and then a chocolate cremeux and a glaze.
Hopefully I'm not doing too much.
Matty's ambitious torte will be topped with a chocolate
and hazelnut praline mousse and chocolate cremeux,
all coated in a chocolate mirror glaze.
He's hopeful a crown of carefully tempered
chocolate shards will give him the edge.
So now we're on to the cremeux.
Are you on time? I think so.
Check you out. You're like a proper professional.
This is your week, innit, this week? Stop saying that.
You said that last week and it was an absolute calamity.
Praline white chocolate ganache. That can start setting.
Unless each element is set completely...
Have to make my ganache and get it cool in time,
ready for when I do the assembly.
..once assembled the tortes will slump and sag.
It's all about chilling it, that's the main thing.
But for Nicky, getting her mousse right is make or break.
It's going to have a chocolate almond torte on top and it's got...
On the top? On the top. That's brave, isn't it?
It is brave. This is a wild and crazy time.
Have you tested this, Nicky? I have.
A couple of times and it's set.
Nicky's topsy-turvy torte is flavoured with vanilla rum
and will perch upon her chocolate mousse.
Piped ganache and tempered chocolate shards will complete
her precarious bake.
I love it when they call you brave. Nicky the Braveheart.
You've just got to hope it all holds together. Uh-huh.
You'll be on your horse, at that point, painted blue.
Off I go!
Freedom!
Bakers, you are halfway through. Keep baking.
I can work with halfway through. I feel good.
Just having a little look.
Underbake their tortes
and they'll remain too dense and claggy.
They're about done. I will give them 30 more seconds.
Overbake and they'll become dry and crumble apart.
I think I'm going to come out.
We're coming out the oven.
Call it a day. That's looking good,
it's got a nice crunchy top which is what we wanted.
No major cracks.
Put my bloody tray in wrong. Now it's got a tilt on it.
That is really annoying.
What's happened? I had a bit of a mishap.
As you can see, it's slightly slanted.
I don't think it looks that bad.
You could ski down it, couldn't you? Or sledge down it or something.
A little slope. Yeah, that's it.
Can't use that one. All my truffles are going to roll off.
Always something to test you, isn't there?
Get them in the freezer, so they're nice and solid.
While Dan's starting his chocolate torte once again...
My kind of baking now. Chuck it all in, hope for the best.
..the rest of the bakers are leaving theirs to cool...
But that's the main thing. If that doesn't cool down,
then we're pretty much screwed.
Can I say that?
..and can begin making their exquisite decorations.
Guess what? More chocolate.
I'm tempering my chocolate. And the better the temper,
the quicker the set, the nicer the snap, the brighter it is.
They do like a bit of tempering. It's like showing off in the baking
world. It is a little bit, isn't it? Just tempered these shapes,
everyone. Check this out.
Prue and Paul are expecting
beautiful elaborate chocolate decorations.
Oh, God. Act busy.
But the more intricate the design...
These are for the chocolate nest.
..the greater the chance they could crack.
Oh! OK, they're all cracking.
I shouldn't have chose this mould. What is wrong with me?
I need to redo them.
How are you going, Josh? A bit of a nozzle issue at the moment.
A nozzle issue? Yes, it's setting in the nozzle.
What if I hold you like a baby?
You hold him and I'll hold you.
Did that work? Not really, no.
Surely that's not supposed to happen?
LAUGHTER
GASPING I should go.
Bye-bye. Let's just go.
Right, are you flat and balanced?
Yes, you are.
It's going to be really tight now.
Bakers, I don't want to bother you, but you've got half an hour left.
You've just bothered them.
Like a baking pirate.
With their chocolate sponges cooled...
If it's hot it's going to melt.
..and fillings set...
This is my mousse, it will be fine.
..assembly can begin.
I'm alternating praline ganache with the mascarpone cream.
But the taller the torte...
I've got many layers going on.
..the tougher the task.
So I'm making three layers.
Making sure I get a nice straight cake rather than
a wonky one. No collapses.
I hope the glaze is cool, otherwise it will just melt everything else.
It's actually working.
Ey, I love it when a plan comes together.
It is a big gamble because the cake sits on the top,
but we'll go large or go home.
A bit of unmelted chocolate. Oh, it's just such a mess.
It looks like a mess, isn't it?
Is it supposed to look like that?
Yeah, it is rough and ready.
No, then just own it. Yeah.
I'm going to conceal the messy edge with the collar.
Get my cake out, take two.
That looks a bit more like it.
Bakers, you've got 15 minutes left.
Bang it straight in the freezer. Let's do this.
Now, the piping. This is really difficult.
My hand's shaking.
SHE GASPS
I messed that!
It's not worked.
It's magic!
Need to do some decorations. My leaves haven't worked.
I'm going to put some of this on here.
Tickety-boo, I've just took that out of the freezer.
Right. So here we go, glazing.
Bakers, you have only one minute left.
Do we, really? Gosh, Paul is going to hate it.
Popping some tempered chocolate on.
I'm finished. I want to eat that.
White chocolate first. Then truffles.
It is really messy.
I'm so embarrassed.
Finished!
OK, bakers, that is your time up.
Please step away from your bakes. Well done.
Where did that time go? Well done.
Go on, Saku.
Did you just put 40 raspberries in your mouth?
That was massive.
The bakers' flourless chocolate tortes will now face
the judgment of Paul and Prue.
Hello, Nicky. Hi, Nicky. Hello. Hi, Nicky.
Straight off I think it looks amazing.
Nicky, I agree. I think it's a little work of art.
It's elegant, it's classy and cool.
And the shine is amazing.
Let's see what it tastes like.
Oh, don't. The proof is in the pudding.
It is.
The mousse is holding its shape, which is great.
Mm, the flavours are great, really strong chocolate.
It probably needed a fruit in there, like a raspberry or
a strawberry or something tart
to break down that chocolate a little bit.
But I think you've done a decent job. Thank you. Thank you.
WHISPERING: Very good.
The outside doesn't look so good. A bit wobbly.
I think if you take the sides off
and look at the top, it looks really nice.
Let's have a look at it and see what it's like inside.
Is this ground almonds in here?
Ground almonds, ground hazelnuts.
The flavour of the cake and the flavour of
the praline mousse work beautifully well together
with that chocolate top. It's lovely.
I love the height, it looks very spectacular.
Oh, drop through.
Oh! Ooh, look at that.
The flavour is fantastic. The cherry flavour's beautiful.
But the cherry and the mascarpone filling that you've got
is a bit weak. If you'd had overnight to set it,
it would have been better.
I like the colour, I like the shine.
The sides, however, are not particularly good. Oh, dear.
This is definitely dessert rather than cake.
It is absolutely delicious.
The tartness of the raspberries come through.
You really get the chocolate.
I mean, it tastes amazing, but it's almost like a pudding, isn't it?
Where are the leaves?
I hate that mould so much. It's in the bin. OK.
It's a little bit messy where the collar joins
the cake, cos you want that nice and smooth.
Well, do you know what, it still looks extremely inviting.
OK. Thank you, Prue.
The cake is a little bit dry. OK.
And very crumbly.
I do think you need more cherries, more cherry brandy.
More chocolate. It's got no real flavour.
Bloody hell. Um... Does that mean it's got no calories in it?
Yeah. No flavour, no calories.
Well, I must say I think it looks very neat and quite original.
A little bit more height would have been nicer.
Don't forget to try your chilli truffle.
Is this going to blow my head off, Dan? Hopefully not.
I don't mind the chilli. I think the texture's too gluey.
It reminds me a little bit of Mexico, but I think it's
a little bit overwhelming on the alcohol.
Yeah, I would agree with that.
I'm not sure that finish looks as good as it could.
Come on, I'm dying for a bite of ginger.
The ginger's lovely and strong,
I like it. But the texture of
the cake is very puddingy, too moist.
The ginger brings the heat,
but what I do get is
a ton of amaretto. For me, it's drowned it.
It's a bit messy.
And the "Saku" written, it probably needed to be little bit more stark.
If you'd done that in white chocolate it would have stood out better.
That's very chocolaty.
The raspberry's coming through.
The chocolate's beautiful and strong.
But it's a little bit too gooey in the middle.
It's quite heavy, and so you can't eat a lot of it.
Very elegant. It is very elegant.
It's beautifully smooth, you've got a lovely shine to it.
The chocolate decorations are good, the pipework is good.
So let's see if it's as good inside as it is outside.
That looks amazing.
Doesn't that look pretty?
I love it, it's very strong on the coffee. Yeah.
I think it's beautiful. Oh, my gosh.
You've got a Swiss meringue buttercream in there
which is like silk. And the level of coffee is spot-on.
I think the sponges have compressed a little.
Your cake was completely flourless, wasn't it? Yeah.
That's why it's compressed a bit.
But overall you've done a very good job. Oh, thank you.
Well done. Thank you very much. Oh!
What the hell?
That couldn't have gone better, really.
It didn't go great.
Yeah, chocolate week, I'm not loving all this.
They said it is not elegant. I accept that.
Just like myself - simple.
That's how I like everything.
Prue called it elegant, classy and cool.
I can go off skipping into the meadows
ready for my technical.
Yes. Bye!
The bakers could practise their Signature Bake,
but they have no idea what awaits them in their chocolaty
Technical Challenge.
Welcome back, bakers.
It's time for your Technical Challenge.
Now this challenge has been set by
the princess of puddings, Prue Leith.
Do you have any words of wisdom?
Yes. When working with
the chocolate you need perseverance and patience.
As always this challenge is judged blind,
so, Prue and Paul, you may now leave the tent, thank you.
They're going to do some gymnastics.
Prue's got a pommel horse. Paul's going to get in his leotard.
OK, so Prue would like you
to make six perfectly baked individual cheesecakes.
Your cheesecakes must comprise of
a caramelised white chocolate
filling, on top of an oaty biscuit base.
Topped with a blackcurrant jelly and white chocolate decoration.
You have two hours. On your marks. Get set.
B to the A to the K to the E. Let's bake, let's bake!
LAUGHTER
I don't think that's a lot of time, though. Two hours to make
a set, baked cheesecake. So there's a lot of pressure to this.
Never made caramelised white chocolate,
never made a cheesecake. So basically I'm in the dark here.
Prue, this looks quite a complicated technical, is it?
There are a few hurdles to get over.
The really tricky thing is caramelising the chocolate.
They need to stick it in the microwave
and every 30 seconds give it a stir.
Another 30 seconds, give it a stir,
until it gets this straw colour. But don't overdo it.
So they could burn it? Yeah.
Mm, the fact that you've caramelised the white chocolate - it's silky,
it's lovely, luxurious.
And I'm curious to see how they're going to deal
with this white chocolate.
That could catch the bakers out, which in turn
throws their timings out, which in turn ends
in melting messes all over the top.
You're a gloomy fellow.
THEY LAUGH
Instruction number one,
make the biscuit base using the rubbing in method.
So I've just combined the flour and butter.
Then add the oats. Number two,
spread the mixture out on a tray and bake.
I want those oats to get a nice bit of colour on them.
I don't think it's going to need very much,
just get it a wee bit crisp.
Five minutes and then check. Blooming hell, it's hot, innit?
I'll be honest with you, every time I come to this area
my temperature actually goes up.
I do have that effect.
Next is move on to the blackcurrant jelly.
Which very helpfully says, "Make blackcurrant jelly".
Feeling jelly, jelly! SHE LAUGHS
I've left some of the blackcurrants whole for
a bit of texture, to be honest.
It's more civilised, innit, to sieve your jelly.
Hello. Hello. How are you?
I'm good. I'm just going to squeeze my gelatine.
Do you like gelatine? No, this is a pig's trotter.
Oh, is that what it is? Basically.
We should all be just vegan at this point, shouldn't we?
Yeah, are you a vegan? No.
Well, there you are.
So now pour into the lined tray to set.
That's got to go in the fridge surely.
I'm getting them out.
Happy with the biscuit.
Then give it a good old blitz.
So I'm just going to get the biscuit base into the mould.
Equal amounts.
The right amount in each one
didn't end up the way I thought it would. That's OK.
Patted it down, so it's gone nice and set. Right.
Next on the agenda, caramelising some white chocolate.
Caramelised white chocolate. I don't know what it is.
I've done a caramelised white chocolate before. Can't remember
when I did it and what it was for, but I have done one.
Caramelising white chocolate will
test the bakers' knowledge and nerve.
Heat the chocolate in bursts in
the microwave, stirring between each burst.
What's a burst?
Kind of like ten seconds.
Not long enough in the microwave
and it could be grainy and unpleasant.
I'm literally just going to do, like, 30 seconds bursts.
But white chocolate's high sugar content means even
a few seconds too long could mean disaster.
But I'm not going to do any more than 20 second bursts, just cos you
never know, it might start burning.
My burst is 1 minute 30 seconds on a medium.
Nothing's happening.
Oh! Prue did say perseverance and patience.
It should go a browny colour.
Nothing happens. Still looks white.
It's starting to change texture.
I've burnt it. I've burnt my chocolate.
Right, I'm starting again.
Has anyone actually managed it yet?
Yeah, that's me, that is.
I just don't want to push it any further.
Yes. I think we're about there,
so I think I'm going to leave it at that.
Looks good. I don't know if it is the right consistency.
I'm going to leave it now.
MICROWAVE BEEPS
Oh, no. No!
It's burnt, I hate white chocolate. It's the bane of my existence.
I feel like I'm going to set up a charity
for everybody who's ever worked with caramelised white chocolate.
Right, it's fine, we're not going to stress too much about it.
Bakers, you are halfway through!
Right, so now I'm going to beat the cream cheese, add the egg,
mix in my caramelised chocolate, cornflour and cream.
While most of the bakers move onto their filling...
I'm not sure at all what consistency I'm looking for.
..Rowan... I beg of you, please work.
..Tasha... I need to get a wriggle on.
..and Dana are still struggling
to caramelise their white chocolate.
I think there'll come a point where I just give up
and just use white chocolate.
So pour my filling over the biscuits and bake.
They're going in.
Now, obviously there's no bake time. I'm going to start with 30 minutes.
15, and then check.
20. Between 15 and 25 minutes.
So it's a fairly big window.
It's just getting hotter.
You OK? Uh, not great.
I'm very hot.
I'm sweating! I'll fan you down if you want?
It's working wonders, that.
How long we got left of the challenge? 45 minutes.
Do you reckon you've got it in you to do another 45 minutes of that?
Yeah, of course I could.
My chocolate's caramelised
after chuffing half an hour of sodding about
with white chuffing chocolate.
My chocolate's not great, but I'll make them anyway.
My chocolate's been caramelised, so I'm happy.
I've literally just put it in the oven. It's mental.
God, it will be fine.
Sod them.
OK, bakers, you've got 30 minutes left.
My God.
Right, let's have a nosy.
I'm going to give them five more minutes.
They're out, I've no idea if they're cooked or not.
I'm worried about, like, the chilling time.
Get the jelly on, so my jelly doesn't melt.
And then the cream on, so my cream doesn't melt.
I would say they're coming out.
They've sunk. Could be good, could be bad.
I'm just going to wang them in the freezer.
A couple of kids have opted to wear jumpers today on
the hottest day of the year.
I'm sweating at the moment. Literally. It's very hot. So am I!
I match my shirt. My rouge, don't I?
It's hot.
I'm really dizzy.
Is Tash all right?
It's so hot, I think I need some air.
You can take as much time as you need, all right? OK.
Nice and slowly, get up for me.
Unfortunately the heat is taking its toll on Tasha.
Make sure you take nice and slow breathing, OK?
And she's been advised to take a break from the tent.
Is she all right?
Just give yourself a couple of minutes, OK?
There's still a bit of a wobble in the middle.
So I'm going to give it another five minutes.
Two more minutes.
Oh, I don't know.
Bakers, you have 15 minutes left.
Right, I'm getting these things out.
They've got the jiggle which I wanted.
They just need to set fully, but we haven't got long.
Getting them out could be a bit tricky.
Oh, what do I do?
I think they're all right.
Got a slight bit of a wobble on them,
so I think we're potentially looking OK with that.
Hi, darling, how are you? I'm gutted.
Tasha hasn't recovered enough to finish the challenge.
I had a massive migraine last night.
I thought I would feel better this morning, but...
I can see you're not well. Go home, sweetheart.
Go and rest. Come on, I'll walk you back.
Oh. Come on.
Right, so now place set jelly on top of each of the cheesecakes.
Still it is hot, I am really worried.
Oh, my gosh. It's just so stressful.
While they're still in the freezer, I was putting these on top.
It just needs maximum time in the freezer.
Oh, how am I going to do this? It will melt.
Right, pipe a wavy line of Chantilly cream down
the middle of each of the cheesecakes.
Bakers you've got one minute left, one minute.
Yeah, I'm really happy.
Ah, it's melting.
They're so hot.
Don't know what I'm doing.
NOEL: Bakers...
Melting, melting, melting.
..your time...
Oh, my God.
..is...
..up.
SIGHS
Please bring your cheesecakes down to the gingham table
and place them behind your photographs.
Prue and Paul are expecting six identical elegantly decorated
cheesecakes with a silky, caramelised white chocolate filling.
PAUL: OK shall we start over here then?
These look relatively neat.
PRUE: And they all look identical.
Little bit dark, I think.
Yeah, little overbaked.
The cheesecake filling, it is delicious
but it is a little bit too caramelised.
From the sublime... PRUE CHUCKLES
Well, this one is not very good-looking.
Everything's been piled on top while they're still hot
and everything's just pouring off.
The biscuit base is very good.
It's a bit grainy, the actual filling as well.
The custard filling.
But they all look right size, if I'm looking for a positive.
Now these look quite nice,
although there's a big dip in the middle.
This is down to bringing them out just a little bit too early.
But the jelly looks good,
the decoration, the pipework looks nice as well.
Hmm. The flavour is good.
The caramelisation is correct. Yeah, it is.
Again rushed. It's overbaked.
You can see how dark the white chocolate has gone.
Look at the colour on that. Yeah, it's a bit too far.
Again, they were rushed for time.
It's a shame that they've overbaked it.
These are very neat.
DESSERT SNAPS
Nice snap. Decent colour.
All the layers are very even and neat.
Hmm...
Hmm, smooth filling.
I think that's delicious.
Yeah, it's very good. OK, moving on.
Again it's overbaked.
And the jelly doesn't look as if it's smooth.
It's a bit rough, that. Let's have a look inside this.
It is overbaked, that white chocolate,
it's a little bit grainy on the mouth. Hmm.
It's not as smooth as it could be.
This looks as if it got dropped.
And again, there's been a problem with the heat
and everything thrown on at the last minute.
The actual colour's not bad. It's good, the filling's good.
The base is good. It's nice and smooth inside.
It's a pity cos if this bake had had more time,
I think it would've been a really good one.
The oaty base is not very even.
This side is very thick and that side's very thin.
It is.
Actually, I think the filling's all right.
Yeah, I must say that blackcurrant is delicious, isn't it? Hmm.
NOEL: Paul and Prue will now rank the cheesecakes from least
to most successful.
OK, in eighth spot we have this one. Saku.
They look terrible and overbaked. I think you ran out of time.
In seventh place we have this one.
Cristy, it's a bit of a mess.
But tasted good.
Thank you.
In sixth we have this one.
Josh, just far too dark in the caramel and the bake.
ALISON: Dana is in fifth place,
Nicky's fourth and Rowan comes third.
Wow.
In second spot we have this one, whose is this?
Matty, these aren't too bad. Bit of a dip in the middle.
Which means Dan.
Well, Dan, that is amazing.
Well done.
It's the only one which is perfect, well done. Thank you.
Sun's shining, first in my technical,
yeah it's a good end to the day.
Best I've done so far and I do love cheesecake.
I tasted everyone's about two times over. I feel a bit sick now.
That was awful. Absolutely excruciating.
SHE LAUGHS
SAKU: Why am I laughing? I should cry.
Still there. It's a little hope for tomorrow.
It's a new day, new bake.
Still old me, we'll see.
SHE CHUCKLES
ALISON: Are you happy with how everything's going?
Overall, with chocolate week,
I've been a little bit underwhelmed.
It was difficult yesterday.
Tasha was so upset that she wasn't very well.
Tasha unfortunately had to go. She will be with us next week.
Could someone leave because someone's dropped out?
Yeah, someone still can leave.
Who needs to be worried today?
I think two people,
Cristy and I think Saku are in a lot of trouble.
Depending on the show stopper, I think someone may be going today.
Wow.
Good to see you, bakers,
welcome back it's time for your show stopper challenge.
Today the judges would love you
to make a spectacular edible chocolate box.
Now I don't know about you but when I get a box of chocolates,
I throw the chocolates in the bin and eat the box.
Now your edible chocolate box,
alongside some filled moulded chocolates,
should contain an exquisite perfectly baked chocolate cake.
You have four chocolaty hours. On your marks... Get set...
Bake.
There's a lot to do in four hours.
I just want to get started and do it.
The show stopper this week is a chocolate box cake.
What we're after is to try to find out how skilful
the bakers are with chocolate.
My biggest fear is the box.
If you don't get the temper right you're making everything else harder.
The tempering of the chocolate is all about rising the temperature,
cooling it down sufficiently, before they start putting
all the components together or the whole thing will collapse.
PRUE: The chocolate box is more about precision.
The cake, on the other hand, is about flavour.
But the wonderful thing about chocolate is it goes with so many things.
PAUL: They could do whatever they want. This is their chance to shine.
And there are a few bakers in a little bit of trouble at
the moment and they need to create a little bit of chocolate magic.
Hi, Josh. Hello.
So, Josh, we need to know all about your chocolate box.
My chocolate box. Yes, so I shall be doing a chemistry chocolate box.
What you doing, the periodic table?
So there's going to be a periodic table around the edge and...
You are doing a periodic table. I'm doing different elements around the edge.
The box is going to have chemistry shaped cut outs all the way round it.
NOEL: Josh's formula for chocolate box success includes
a chocolate sponge cake layered with caramel buttercream
and roasted hazelnuts, topped with salted caramel and vanilla
and white chocolate truffles.
And he's hoping his hand-piped decorations will spark
a positive reaction.
I'm going to use the chemical elements to write different words
So I'll do, like, phenethylamine, which is like a neurotransmitter.
So we're going to have vanilla in as well for your...
so you've got in vanilla,
butyric acid, which is what you've got in milk chocolate.
I'm going to have a oleic acid as well hopefully...
Josh, Josh, stop, stop, stop. Sorry, sorry.
Enough now, enough now. You lost me at the last roundabout.
LAUGHTER
Oh, still tempering.
ALISON: Whether the bakers are using dark or trickier white chocolate...
Wanted the white cos I wanted to introduce colour.
You can't really do that with the darker chocolates.
NOEL: It needs to be well tempered in order to build their boxes.
The chocolate's got to be tempered perfectly.
If it isn't it'll just bend, it'll crack, it'll snap.
ALISON: But with Rowan using both dark and white...
We don't have perfectly tempered chocolate, I don't think,
but I'm just going with it.
NOEL: Speed is of the essence.
So I'm doing a paint box for my grandad.
He's an artist.
So I'm just creating the woodgrain now
and then go over it again with white chocolate and fill in the gaps.
Inside Rowan's nostalgic paint box will be a dark chocolate sponge
filled with multiple chocolate orange layers,
including a Swiss meringue buttercream, mousse and orange curd.
Raspberry and orange fondant chocolates
will represent his grandad's oil colours.
When you practised, have you managed to do it well in the time?
It's funny you say that, Paul. I've not quite practised this.
He's been doing his dissertation remember as well.
I have. I've just finished university this week.
Oh, my goodness. Congratulations. So thank you. Wow.
It's kind of get it done as fast as possible
and cover up the cracks afterwards.
I just want to make sure that my panel is as thin as possible.
I want a nice thin delicate box, really.
NOEL: While one half of the bakers are building their boxes out of chocolate panels...
ROWAN: It's meant to be rustic. It's meant to do this.
NOEL: ..Cristy, Dana, Saku and Dan are using moulds to shape theirs.
Putting the chocolate into my moulds
is the most crucial part of the whole thing.
I am doing today an edible treasure chest filled with
the flavours of the Caribbean.
NOEL: Dan's pirate booty will see his moulded chocolate chest
filled with layers of white chocolate mousse,
tropical fruit jellies, coconut dacquoise
and a white chocolate genoise sponge.
His chocolates will be filled with caramel
and rum-soaked raisins and shaped like sea shells.
I love making this because it's like dedicated
to my kids and stuff on the beach and...
My kids are on the beach today.
Mine are as well, yeah. Are they? What are we doing in a tent?
Why are we here?
ALISON: Dan's not the only baker celebrating their inner child.
So I am doing a princess carriage.
Living my childhood dream of wanting to be a princess,
which never came to life. Aw!
Listen, it's still early days. It's still early days.
You never know.
Dana's bringing her childhood princess dreams to life
with a delicate white chocolate carriage
filled with layers of chocolate sponge,
salted peanut caramel and peanut butter and cream cheese mousse.
Her fantasy will be complete with a cookie dough
and Irish cream liqueur chocolates alongside carefully moulded
chocolate decorations.
So I made these.
But the only trouble is trying to get the leg out of the mould.
So far I've been unsuccessful. So we'll see. Handy. Oh, my goodness.
Do you know what? It's because it's almost midnight,
they're turning back into mice. So that's the whole. Ah.
That's the whole situation. Are you Cinderella?
I'm Cinderella today, I am.
NOEL: While Dana's hoping her horses don't turn back into mice...
I need it out the way so I can breathe again.
..Cristy's trying to avoid a broken heart.
I'm doing a heart chocolate box.
I'm dedicating it to my husband, my little soulmate.
Cristy's romantic white chocolate box will be loaded
with layers of hazelnut mascarpone filling
and chocolate and hazelnut sponge -
her husband Ryan's favourite flavours.
Her heart shaped chocolates will contain hazelnut praline
and chocolate ganache.
You need to have a good one, don't you? I do. No pressure.
I think if I had like something to relax me, like a drink.
THEY CHUCKLE
If I could have a team of... Floatation tank.
All right, I can organise that. Don't worry.
No, I definitely can't. Yeah. I'll get on it now. All right.
NOEL: After her own disappointing first day.
This is the cricket bat.
..Saku's hoping not to be BOWLED out of the competition.
This box is for my daughter. She loves cricket.
Saku's cylindrical chocolate box will contain
a pistachio sponge filled with chocolate cream cheese icing.
She's hoping her ambitious plans
to make three different moulded chocolates,
flavoured with pistachio, raspberry and coffee, won't leave her STUMPED.
What's she good at, batting or bowling?
She's a spin bowler.
A spin bowler? That's what I used to do when I was at school.
Ah. I was a spin bowler.
So why don't you do it now?
Bit old. Legs are like breadsticks.
THEY CHUCKLE
Chocolate is tempered.
But I'm just moulding it round these.
While their box elements set...
NOEL: This looks like someone who knows what they're doing.
SHE LAUGHS Shock horror.
..the bakers can now focus on
the chocolate cake that will go inside.
We're going for a chocolate genoise sponge.
Hopefully it's nice, hopefully it's moist.
Genoise sponge will form the base of Matty's cake which will be layered
with raspberry coulis, creme mousseline
and covered in a chocolate mirror glaze.
He's hoping the flavours of his pistachio
and lemon chocolates will keep him in favour with the judges.
Now I think you are on the rise. You have to keep going up.
Yeah, fingers crossed, yeah.
On the RISE. Don't leave me hanging.
Sorry.
THEY LAUGH WHEEZILY
To RISE above this chocolate challenge...
That's going in for 25 minutes.
..as well as producing a box, cake and multiple fillings...
I've never made an orange curd, I'm not worried, are you?
NOEL: The bakers also have at least one set of moulded chocolates to make.
This is the pistachio chocolate.
But while some are managing the workload...
We've done that, we've done that, we've done that, we've done that.
Oh, my days.
..Nicky's hit a snag.
I am trying to make myself salted caramel
and I am trying to bring it back from the brink. It will work.
Nicky's tricky caramel will form
the centre of one of her moulded chocolates,
while the other will be filled with lemongrass and coconut.
They'll sit on top of her chai and orange liqueur cake,
decked with layers of chocolate ganache and hazelnut meringue.
No, it's gone over. It'll be like toffee.
I'm going to be mucking about with this for a bit, I think.
Bakers, you're halfway through.
Oh... Oh, I'm panicking like mad now.
Chocolate week is my week.
I've had a little bit of Rowan's chocolate,
I've had a little bit of Dan's chocolate,
I've had a little bit of Cristy's chocolate.
All I want now is your chocolate. HE LAUGHS HEARTILY
I'll wait for it to melt.
Oh, my word.
It's not baked in the middle, but I have to start the cake.
In practice they was, like, double one of those sponges.
Yeah, I'm just going to redo it.
NOEL: While Matty and Saku remake their chocolate sponges...
I am stressing now.
..Rowan...
I'm so behind I could scream.
..and Nicky...
Take three on the caramel.
And I haven't even done the lemongrass bit yet.
..are having to scale back their plans.
I've gone rogue. I'm just doing the one. I'm going to stick to orange.
Do you know what?
Even if I got just one set of chocolates out, I'd be happy.
But no matter how many chocolates the bakers are making...
I'm doing a couple in silver, couple in gold.
So these go inside the treasure chest.
..Paul and Prue are expecting a thin, shiny, tempered chocolate shell.
Don't you just love this bit? I love this bit.
It is quite fun it's just a messy job.
And I'm, I'm not a fan of cleaning so.
DAN: Absolute outrageous amount of mess I'm making today.
NICKY: It's like a bomb's hit it.
This is ridiculous.
Oh, my God, it's really messy here as well, isn't it? I know.
What are you...? Rowan's a mess, you're a mess.
I'm going to have to do some cleaning lessons with you lot.
This is popping candy. Cos obviously every carriage ride,
there would be fireworks somewhere.
So I've got my rum and raisins which have been
macerating at home for a couple of months.
CO is copper.
No, it's cobalt.
You can tell I got a D in chemistry, can't ya?
NOEL: You all right, Saku?
Not really.
I don't think I've ever seen anyone put anything in the oven that fast.
12 minutes, go.
Just breathe.
SHE EXHALES That's it, breathe.
EXHALES
THEY CHUCKLE
Bakers, you have one hour left.
Shiver me timbers and help me, I've got an hour left.
I'm going to start assembling.
NOEL: For the bakers with moulded chocolate boxes...
CRISTY: Let's hope this goes well.
..it's the moment of truth.
SAKU: Oh, I'm really scared now.
It's always come out of
the mould and for some reason, oh, now it's not.
I'm just going to cut it out you know. It's got to work.
My heart is breaking right now.
So far all right.
Perfect timing, Noel, thank you.
I don't want to watch you do that again, it was too stressful.
I'm shaking.
I can breathe again.
There we go.
My life's depending on this.
Whilst half the tent can now begin constructing their cakes...
DAN: Fruit in.
..the other half still have to hand build their boxes.
Sweating now. This is the moment.
NOEL: But if the chocolate panels haven't been properly tempered...
I'm just a bit worried these aren't tempered right.
Let's see if we can actually assemble it.
..they'll be too soft and the box will collapse.
It's not set properly.
It's fine. It is what it is.
Oh...
Oh, dearie me. I've got such shaky hands.
Feels like it's doing its stuff.
I've only done it once though. 100% record.
HE LAUGHS
Oh, this isn't tempered right. Oh, God.
I don't know what to do.
Think I'm going to have to do some more tempered chocolate.
I'm just praying that I've got enough time.
My cake and my truffles are there. I just haven't got a box.
How long have we got?
Bakers, you only have half an hour left.
I hope it's done.
While Saku and Matty's remade sponges are baked...
How to cool this down?
..as well as finishing the cakes...
Nothing brown and log-like looks pleasant, does it?
NOEL: Saku's still got three sets of moulded chocolates to make.
I don't know if I can finish this.
Come here, you can do this. I know you can. Oh. No.
You've got this. Thank you. You've got this.
This is diabolical.
Wow, you've made a sofa. A small sofa.
What's happening here?
Oh, what a mare.
DANA: They're lying down horses.
I'll have to get the legs out separately.
Right we can do this, can't we?
These chocolates have got to come out.
They are not coming out,
they're not tempered right. One out.
JOSH: I've got some panels now at least,
it's better but I'm just short on time now, aren't I?
Two out.
What can I make out of this?
Boom town.
Hello. How you doing?
I'm all right, yeah.
They look amazing.
You're smashing it today. See you later.
Take it easy, go for it.
SHE LAUGHS
I do not know how on earth
I have managed to put a box together.
How much time we got left?
Bakers, you've just got one minute left.
I've got to get Alison's name piped on the side somewhere.
ROWAN: It looks like my grandad sat on it,
instead of opened it to paint.
CRISTY: Feeling happy. I've not had a disaster.
DAN: Saku, do you need a hand with anything?
Yes, take these, out of the... Turn these out. Yeah.
Go on, you get cracking I'll do this.
I can't get it off the board.
Sod it mate, get it in.
OK, bakers, your time...
Come on, Nick.
..is...
It's in, it's in.
..up.
Please step away from your edible chocolate box cakes.
This is the worst thing I've ever made.
LAUGHS
Oh, my God.
NOEL: It's judgment time for the bakers' chocolate box cakes.
Matty, it's time for your show stopper.
I think your box is beautifully engineered, but lost all its shine.
Hmm. Right, let's get the top off.
Well, now this is nice and shiny.
Moulded chocolates are perfectly tempered.
Inside it's got a chocolate genoise sponge,
with a chocolate creme mousseline, raspberry coulis.
The raspberry's delicious. And the textures are spot on.
To put raw raspberries in often will make it too wet,
and you've done it very well. Thank you. Well done.
What's in the white chocolate? That's like a lemon mousse
and the dark chocolate's pistachio cream.
I'd pay a lot of money for a box of those.
Thank you. Good job.
Well done. Thank you.
Well done, you.
PRUE: It's so neat and it's so beautiful.
Wow. Oh, that looks amazing.
The passion fruit is such a good idea
because it's glittery, it looks like jewels.
So this is my tropical entremets, consisting of genoise sponge,
a coconut dacquoise, white chocolate mousse,
passion fruit jelly,
with salted caramel and rum and raisin chocolates.
Hmm, flavours are wonderful.
They are. Really fresh, but it's not carrying a lot of baking in there.
It's really a dessert, isn't it?
Your salted caramel chocolate is delicious.
Got a lovely shine on it as well.
I think it's really impressive.
It's more impressive from a distance... Yeah.
..because you can't see the lack of the details. I agree.
It's a shame you couldn't put the legs on. They've had a long day.
There's not much of a shine on that cake, is there?
The cake is delicious,
but the nuts and the caramel far too pale.
It needs to be much richer in colour and that brings more flavour.
Have a look at one of these, Prue.
So we've got cookie dough and pretzel
and an Irish liqueur cream filling.
What is that? Is it the popping candy?
Oh. ALISON: Yeah, I can hear it.
It's just very sweet.
It's not the neatest work that you've ever done.
No. I've had a mare.
They're a bit weird in colour, aren't they?
Hmm. What's in the blue one?
That's an orange fondant.
Ish. There's a hint.
OK.
It's a chocolate cake,
with a chocolate orange Swiss meringue buttercream
and an orange curd.
Ooh, that's delicious.
The flavour's great, but it's a bit of a mess. Yeah.
Do you know what? If we came to your house
and had a slice of that you'd think it was perfect.
Ah, hmm, I'd kick off.
LAUGHTER
But you're not invited, Paul. Thank you very much.
Thank you.
You've got a box that's not tempered properly... Yeah.
..which is why it's lost all its shine.
When you're doing piping like this you have to be
so precise and that's not precise enough.
I think the piping on this side's really good, it says "Alison".
I think it's fantastic.
I think the sponge is baked beautifully well.
Not carrying a huge amount of flavour.
That's because the hazelnuts are so strong.
I would complain that I've got too many nuts in my mouth.
LAUGHTER
Let's try this white one which is again?
White chocolate and vanilla
and this one's got the caramel chocolate and hazelnut.
Very nice. Hmm.
Oh, that's delicious.
Well, I think this is a little triumph.
I think the box looks amazing. The tempering is really impressive.
The shine. The shine is fantastic.
Thank you.
Where are all your truffles? There's just three of them.
Yes.
They weren't quite all capped,
so I thought I'll give you three nice ones.
CHUCKLES
The cake, the meringue, the nuts in there. Hmm.
It is an extremely rich cake.
Hmm. Do you know, I love the richness and I love the flavours.
Delicious. What is in here?
Salted caramel.
Certainly is.
Really nice.
Who's the third one for?
Do you want it?
Well caught. I like it.
Thanks, Nicky.
I love the box. It's perfect, isn't it?
Beautiful, really beautiful.
Did you manage to get it out without a crack or anything? Very good.
Thank you. Right, let's have a look at this.
It's a chocolate cake with a chocolate and mascarpone filling.
Well, it's very chocolaty.
I just think the texture is a bit solid.
It is, it's a bit dry in the mouth.
OK. But these are nice and shiny.
The praline's nice. Oh, good.
That's nice chocolate, yeah.
Hmm, coffee's lovely. Both very good.
I think the box structurally is very good.
It's a nice looking box.
It's a shame the shine's not there
cos that would've looked really good.
Ah, there's the cricket bat. Isn't that a perfect cricket bat?
You've struggled a little bit with the chocolates, haven't you?
Yeah. Maybe you should've just done one type, rather than three.
See what the cake's like.
Cake is milk chocolate and a pistachio.
I love the pistachio flavour.
It is a bit dry.
I think the flavour, however, is beautiful.
Is this one...? Coffee.
Coffee. Hmm, certainly is. I like that one.
But the chocolate is a bit soft. Still pretty delicious.
Well done, Saku. Thank you very much.
Thank you. Thank you.
It was far better than what I thought,
but I'm done with chocolate.
No more chocolate. In my life. Ever.
That was a nice way to finish the day off,
sun's out, got a result like that.
I'm happy with that. I don't know about Star Baker.
But definitely as close to getting it as I have been.
I feel proud of what I presented.
But I think off the back of yesterday,
I could possibly be going home.
The stress ride continues.
So Paul, Prue, how impressed were you with the show stoppers?
Matt's cake was one of the best because it was light.
It still tasted chocolaty and delicious.
We wanted the chocolate to be in the cake as well as the box. Yeah.
And when we did get a chocolate like Nicky, it was really punchy.
I don't know about you guys,
but I was quite happy seeing Dan come back.
Well, thank goodness for that.
This was utterly delicious.
But there was hardly any cake in it.
The one I was so disappointed about was Rowan.
His box was a complete mess.
He was in line for Star Baker.
So I think it ended up with for me between Nicky and Matty.
So who needs to be worried today?
Definitely Cristy, definitely Saku.
Coming into today, they weren't doing particularly well
and, actually, both of them are much of a muchness.
Saku's was quite dry but the flavour was good.
And Cristy's quite dry but the flavour was good.
So they're almost identical.
But the fact that Tasha's not here...
We have to decide whether someone should go,
or we leave it for another week.
And that's what Prue and I have to sit and go through again
and have a chat and see where we are.
I'll be honest with you, Josh,
the fact that he used my name, for me, is the winner.
You need to try that,
cos I guarantee you'll have a problem with his nuts.
ALISON CHUCKLES
Hello, bakers.
I've got a lovely job of announcing this week's Star Baker.
And the person who is Star Baker this week is...
..Matty.
OVERLAPPING CONGRATULATIONS
Unfortunately,
I've got the awful job of announcing who is leaving today.
So, the baker leaving the tent today is...
..none of you.
You're all staying.
However, next week, two bakers will leave the tent.
Thank you, guys.
OVERLAPPING CHATTER
I'm so happy.
I am buzzing, yeah.
Also a little bit of a confidence boost as well.
You were right.
You have this week.
Matty has been getting better and better.
I think he really deserves Star Baker.
A bit better next week, please, Saku.
I will try my best.
Phew! Such a relief.
Goodness gracious, I can't remember why I'm here.
I'm just so over the moon to have got halfway, it's just mad.
It was between Saku and Cristy that was going to go,
and I think with the fact that Tasha
didn't do too well in their first challenge,
it wasn't fair that someone left.
It's pastry week next week and the pressure will be on all the bakers
because two will be leaving.
ON PHONE: Hello. Bab, I won Star Baker.
Oh, my God. Oh, I'm so proud of you. Thank you.
On the week where we thought you were going out.
We?
LAUGHTER
Next time..
I've got cramp in my hands.
..it's pastry week.
Two people are going home this week.
Oh, I know. It's so, so scary.
They'll need to keep their cool with a steamy Signature...
Oh, no.
..avoid faux pas while recreating a French classic...
Look at it, it's flat like a pancake.
Oh, she's going to hate it.
..and demonstrate pie-making artistry.
There's a bit of a planning issue happening.
Could you grab these two ends? Yeah.
And I'll grab this and we left.
Oh, it's just... Look, it's broken. Oh, God.
What are we going to do?
Subtitles by Red Bee Media