Last time...
..it was Party Week. Go, go, go.
# Woo-woo-woo, boop-boop, boop-boo... #
While Matty celebrated with a handshake...
HE GASPS Aww!
Thanks very much.
..and Star Baker...
This is the party I want to be at.
..Dan was in danger...
This is outrageous.
..of heading home early.
Cover it in chocolate and hope for the best.
But it was Cristy...
I've done it wrong.
It's a bit rough and ready.
..whose time in the tent was up.
Cristy, you've done so well.
Now, it's Patisserie Week.
So much going on.
Oh, my days.
..as our semifinalists face a fancy French signature...
Has to look like it's from a Parisian shop, don't it?
Which isn't easy.
Oh, it's so curdled.
Certainly not for me!
..elevate the humble apple tart in the technical...
Oh, my God, I can't watch.
..and create stunning puff pastry showstoppers.
Coming out. Who will rise to the occasion?
I'm really, really pleased. Just get Paul in now.
And who will fold under the pressure?
Oh, my God.
This is the first time I might not actually finish a challenge.
Oh, man.
Just want to go to the pub.
Just three patisserie challenges
stand between our four remaining bakers and a place in the final.
I'm absolutely over the moon to be here.
Worst case scenario, you've made it to the semifinals.
Best case, I go to the finals.
All the best, dudes. Let's do it today.
Boom!
I'm so proud of how far I've come.
The confidence it's given me
to believe in myself in such a short space of time is...
Yeah, it's amazing.
The nerves are really big.
I never in a million years would've imagined I could get this far,
so a place in the final would be absolutely amazing.
Week Nine, it's so bizarre.
I mean, I'm looking around at the other three and I'm thinking,
"What am I doing here?"
I've not labelled it semifinal, I've just kind of thought
about what I need to do.
Hello, bakers, welcome back to the tent.
Unfortunately today, Alison's a little bit poorly
and she won't be joining us, but she'll be back soon.
Now, the good news is you've all made it to the semifinal.
The bad news is it's Patisserie Week.
Now, the judges would love you to make
two batches of 12 financiers.
Your financiers should be worthy of a Parisian patisserie window,
and they can be any flavour you like.
You have two hours to complete this challenge.
On your marks, get set, bake!
It is very quiet in the tent.
Everyone's got game faces on, everyone's very serious.
Time is so important this week.
I need it to make it look decent.
SHE SIGHS Patisserie, patisserie, patisserie.
I'm ready, I'm ready for the challenge.
Our signature bake is a financier.
A classic financier is a little sponge cake
that looks like a little gold bar.
They always have ground nuts in there, usually ground almonds,
and they usually have brown butter in there,
and brown butter is just butter that is heated
until it's on the point of burning.
Burn, my beauty, burn.
It gives the sponge a really nutty, very rich flavour.
Financiers should be quite moist inside
but light at the same time.
It's quite tricky to get them absolutely spot on.
We're asking them to highly decorate their financiers.
Normally it's just a sponge,
but we want them to really take the financier to another level.
It's a semifinal,
we're looking for perfection, elegance, and beautiful flavours.
Hello, Dan. Good morning. Hello, Dan.
So, Dan, tell us all about your financiers.
So, for my first batch, I am doing pistachio with
matcha and pink peppercorn.
Matcha? There's only one teaspoon of matcha going in it.
OK. So, it's... So why are you putting it in at all?
Because it does lend a little bit of flavour to the pistachio.
Paul absolutely loves matcha.
Oh, do you? No.
Dan's financiers,
delicately flavoured with matcha green tea powder,
will be decorated with yuzu gel and tonka bean mousse.
He'll serve these alongside orange and vanilla financiers
topped with macerated peach and fresh raspberries.
Hello, matcha boy. Hello, matcha...
Have you worn a matcha T-shirt?
Yes, yeah, I have actually, yeah.
Paul looked massively enthusiastic about this one, didn't he?
The question is, will he ever admit that he likes something
if it's matcha?
Well, today might be the day.
Yeah, you never know, do you?
So, not only are you trying to win this,
but you're trying to break Paul Hollywood.
Yes, well, he's...
He's done a good job of breaking me, so I'm trying to fight back.
Whilst Dan gambles with matcha...
Looks like something out of a horror movie, doesn't it?
Bleurgh!
..Josh is sticking to some classic flavours.
They're inspired by puddings that I like,
so one of them's gonna be a Bakewell-flavoured one.
It's got ground almonds in the batter, some almond extract,
and the other one is going to be chocolate, hazelnut and orange.
Delicious. How many Star Bakers have you had, Josh?
One.
So, today is your day to catch up with the others.
Um, yeah. Cause they've all had two. Possibly.
In a bid to even the score,
Josh will embellish his Bakewell-inspired financiers with
a vanilla custard buttercream,
fresh raspberries, and flaked almonds.
Whilst his chocolate and orange offering will be topped
with rich chocolate buttercream, and a wafer-thin chocolate shard.
Semifinal. It is, yeah.
Would you have taken semis at the beginning?
Yeah, definitely. Would you?
I'd have taken Week Two.
Week Two? You were never a Week Two person.
Well, I just wanted to get through one week.
We'll see what happens. We'll see what happens.
You're quietly confident though, right?
Erm...
Just quiet.
This is for my hazelnut coffee financiers.
Oh, Tasha's doing coffee?
Bloody hell. That's not what you need, is it?
So, we've gone for a coffee-flavoured one,
so almost like a tiramisu,
and then mango, lime and coconut.
There's a big emphasis not just on flavour this week,
but it has to look like it's from a Parisian shop, don't it?
Which isn't easy, certainly not for me!
Running through the centre of Matty's coffee-flavoured financiers
is a generous channel of chocolate ganache topped
with vanilla mascarpone cream.
He'll contrast these rich flavours with mango,
lime and coconut financiers decorated with mango puree
and a white chocolate coconut ganache.
Oh, wow. You know, I think those are two really great flavours.
Yeah, and Star Baker as well, eh, Matty? Yeah!
So you're brimming with confidence. Yeah, I think it was a nice
confidence-booster in kind of preparation for this week.
Well, I think you've got two very contrasting flavours here
which sound good if you get it spot on and baked well
and neat and piped and decorated. Exactly that, yeah.
I know what I'm doing and it's written down, as is my schedule.
As your famous plan. Oh, you've got your schedule as well?
Always helpful. Always got a plan.
I'm looking forward to it, mate. Good luck. Cheers, thank you.
While Matty hopes to replicate last week's win...
Full-on feel like I'm a kid at school.
..Tasha's looking to bounce back.
I am trying to redeem myself from last week's Viennese whirl disaster,
cos the flavours were good.
Textures and presentation left something to be desired,
so I'm making raspberry and pistachio financiers.
Tasha's redemptive financiers will see her pistachio sponges decorated
with raspberry Swiss meringue buttercream
and fresh raspberries.
While hazelnut and coffee financiers topped with coffee,
chocolate ganache and caramelised hazelnuts,
complete her opening bid for a place in the final.
So, how far have you got?
Batter's chilling in the fridge, and my piping bags,
and I'm going to pipe it into my tins
and pop it in the oven in about ten minutes. Perfect.
I do love these moulds. They look like miniature coffins.
The sort of thing Noel would lie in.
Right, what am I doing now?
I'm about to start piping the financiers.
These bite-sized cakes are traditionally baked in small,
rectangular moulds.
DAN: So, we have in here orange financier.
The shallow depth allows the batter to bake perfectly
in a matter of minutes.
You just need to get them as even as possible.
If they've got different quantities in, they're gonna look different.
I'm just gonna put some fresh raspberries
on top of the almond one.
But having chosen deeper moulds,
Josh and Matty must take care not to underbake their financiers.
I feel like everyone's quiet. Quiet in here, isn't it?
It's eerie a bit, isn't it? Yeah, a little bit.
I don't really like silence either.
I know, it feels a little bit serious.
It is, isn't it? Little bit grown up.
Yeah, it's not a bit of me.
LAUGHTER No, me neither.
Bakers, you are halfway through.
TASHA: OK, these are going in now.
As the first bake of the semifinal gets under way...
15 minutes.
They'll probably need a little bit longer.
15 minutes.
Might need another five for the pistachio ones.
Oh, I ain't started the timer.
Call it 16 minutes.
..attention turns to toppings and decorations.
Italian meringue buttercream,
which is the crucial bit cos it's what's gonna flavour
both of my things, so the big thing to do is being able to
get them in, out, cool and be able to do the decoration.
And while Prue and Paul are expecting exquisitely presented patisserie...
They want Parisian windows-type stuff, don't they?
So, you know, it's gonna be finesse, a bit of precision...
..it's also a chance to add extra flavour to their financiers.
That's my Swiss meringue buttercream.
Raspberry puree, that will go in there.
It splits, and it looks quite scary, but secret is to just be patient.
Are you happy to be in the semifinal?
Yeah, I never thought I'd be here, it's bizarre.
You only have to beat one of these people
and you're in the final. I know.
Who do you think you could take out?
I thought you said last week you was gonna turn some ovens off for me.
Whose do you want me to turn off? Josh?
He's very clever, though.
He probably checks his oven, unlike me.
Dan won't notice till it's too late. LAUGHTER
What about Tash?
Fridge and oven, she's very good. LAUGHTER
This would be more fun than the actual show if we did this.
Bakers, you have half an hour left.
Oh, good.
It's the semifinals, guys. Let's dig deep.
A perfectly-baked financier has a crisp, eggshell-like exterior.
Yeah, I'm really, really, really pleased with them.
Good. Skewer comes out nice and clean.
Coffee and hazelnut sponges I think are done.
The pistachio ones are in for another five minutes-ish.
..but spend too long in the oven
and they'll lose their moist centre.
Problem is, you don't wanna overbake these batches
because they'll be tough as old boots, as Paul likes to say.
I'm just going to give them another minute or two.
Pistachio sponges, these ones are really deceptive.
They look like they're done
but they're sometimes quite stodgy in the middle.
I don't think I've overbaked so far in practice,
so there's still time, I guess.
Oh, God.
You good? Multitasking.
Whew. Lot going on here.
Yeah, there's a fair bit. I've skewered some hazelnuts.
Are they quite hard to skewer? Surprisingly soft.
Oh, they're soft. Would you like to try? No. No.
It's too much for me.
Imagine if I'm good at it.
I'll have to start baking, no-one wants that.
Right, I think we're ready to go.
We can begin with the decoration.
Come on.
What you putting on there, mango?
Peach. Peach. Slipping and sliding. I know, I know.
This is like The Krypton Factor. It is.
"If you can put tiny slices of slipping and sliding peach
"onto these oblong sponges..."
Yes, "You go onto the next stage."
Right, they're coming out.
That's dark enough for me.
I think they look all right.
Oh, I don't know.
I don't know if that's baked enough.
How long have we got? OK, bakers, ten minutes left.
So, this is the tonka bean mousse.
It's gonna be extremely, extremely close, this.
I just wanna cut out a little wedge for the ganache.
Oh, I hope that's cooked.
I'm just gonna get this yuzu gel on here.
This is my chocolate coffee ganache.
I'll put the chocolate in the middle
and then pipe over the top.
Do you think your pipework's come on since you've been in this show?
Yeah, probably.
I mean, I was no good at it before,
and now I'm, like, not as no-good.
JOSH: It's not too bad.
Buttercream's curdled.
Don't have any other choice but to pipe. Got no time.
Chocolate over the top, just to give it a nice finish.
DAN: Just put these mint leaves on.
Oh, it's so curdled.
I really wish I had time to re-whip this buttercream.
DAN: Got a bit of colour on my, uh, raspberries.
Bakers, your time is up.
Please step away from your bakes.
I think mine are underbaked.
Oh, look at these little beauties.
Curdled my buttercream.
It's all right, my mousse is lumpy, so don't worry.
The bakers' financiers now face the judgment of Prue and Paul.
Hello, Matty. Hiya. Hiya, Matty.
Well, straight off the bat, they look very good.
Both look uniform, cos you've used a similar pattern on both.
All right, let's start with coffee.
So, there's a chocolate ganache,
coffee liqueur, and vanilla cream with some walnuts.
I like it. Pretty strong.
I really like your flavours.
I do think it's overbaked.
Overbaked? OK. Yeah, it's a little bit dry,
and I expect a little bit of moisture there,
and there just isn't.
Let's have a look at the... This is the...?
Mango, lime and coconut.
Your flavours are so good, Matty.
That is better. Do you know what it is?
You didn't have to make them so thick.
You could have almost halved the sponge. I think that's right.
It's actually too much cake versus topping.
But I think you've got real grown-up flavours.
HE LAUGHS No, they are.
"Grown-up flavours."
Well done.
Thank you.
On first glance, they look absolutely lovely.
Second glance, you look as if you've dropped one or two of them.
Yeah, they look, uh, rough.
These look beautiful, though.
So this is a coffee and hazelnut financier
and then the ganache is chocolate and coffee.
Mm.
I think that is absolutely delicious, Tasha.
Thank you. Melts in the mouth.
The ganache is really luxurious and decadent.
I think the flavours, they're spot on,
and more importantly, the bake is perfect.
You've got a little bit of moisture in there as well,
which holds on the tongue.
Delicious. OK. Really good.
This is pistachio, isn't it?
Pistachio sponge with raspberry Swiss meringue buttercream.
I love raspberry and pistachio together.
The sponge has just that little bit of resistance.
Do you think it's just slightly overbaked?
It has gone slightly over, unfortunately.
And actually, it could've been much neater on that one.
Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. Well done, Tasha.
Thank you.
I do think they look very good.
I think your size might be a little bit tall.
Just a little bit.
This one's a Bakewell-inspired financier
with custard flavoured Italian meringue buttercream on top.
Did you add almond essence as well? Just a fraction, yeah.
I think a tiny bit too much. Hmm.
It should be a hint, and it's quite overwhelming.
It still tastes delicious,
and it's got that thing that I love, which is the slight chewiness.
Hmm. And nice and moist and soft in the middle. Yeah.
Let's have a look at your chocolate.
It's hazelnut chocolate and orange
with a chocolate Italian meringue buttercream on top.
Flavour is delicious.
However, the financier itself is slightly dry.
A financier should almost melt in the mouth. It's great flavour.
Ah, can't complain about your flavour. Flavour's good.
Thank you very much.
They do look beautiful.
They're very neat, Dan. Thank you.
You were worrying about finesse, and they look beautiful.
Ah, thank you. They do look very, very good.
I think we'll have a look at the Japanese-inspired one first.
This is the tonka bean with the pink peppercorn
and pistachio and matcha and... Everything else.
That's beautiful. Is...is it? Clever, yeah.
Matcha hits right at the end. Tonka bean's there.
The choice of fruit I like on there as well.
That is delicious. All of it's delicious.
Oh, thank you. Phew.
Let's look at the peach, orange... And raspberry. Yeah.
Mm.
That's beautiful. Oh...
Really nice.
It's like a celebration of citrus, and it pops,
and it's beautifully baked.
It's got moisture there.
That's the perfect financier for me. Very good.
I think it's a triumph. Well done, Dan.
That's great, thank you very much.
What a time to get a handshake.
That went a bit better than expected, didn't it?
There's a lot of chat about getting a handshake off Paul.
I mean, I'd like a fist bump off Prue, personally, but...
You know, I might see if we can get one off her tomorrow.
Dan's done amazing.
We've known for weeks that patisserie is his week.
It's the one that he's been really looking forward to,
and he's shown that straight away, hasn't he, today?
No redemption, but that's OK.
Every week, I feel like I learn a little bit more,
and every week I'm reminded that I know absolutely nothing.
I thought they was underbaked.
Nope, over!
One bake down, two to go,
and the pressure in the tent is about to rise
as the bakers face another gingham-wrapped unknown.
Hello, kids. Welcome back to the tent.
Today, your technical challenge has been set for you
by the wonderful Prue.
Prue, any words of advice?
This recipe is so delicious, you can hardly go wrong with the flavour.
So, what Paul and I are going to be looking for
is exquisite presentation.
As ever, this technical challenge will be judged blind,
so we're gonna have to ask these two joyous poppets...
Thank you...to leave the tent. NOEL CHUCKLES
For your technical challenge, Prue would love you to make
a tarte aux pommes.
If you didn't do GCSE French, that is an apple tart.
Your apple tart should consist of
a short, buttery pastry case,
filled with a smooth almond frangipane and apple puree,
topped with glazed apple slices arranged in a way
that's very pleasing to the eye.
You have two-and-a-half hours.
On your marks, get set...
..bake!
I had a feeling it was gonna be something like this.
I can't remember how to do it, though.
This is giving me strong memories of Pie Week, actually.
Blind baking went wrong in Pie Week.
Pie Week? Pastry Week.
Really don't wanna cock this one up like I did last week, to be honest.
Four weeks ago, you could finish fourth
and you'd be like, "Get in there."
Now, like, you finish fourth, it's like doomsday, isn't it?
Tarte aux pommes, I think this is a great challenge for the semifinal.
It's my favourite dessert. I absolutely love it.
I mean, to get a perfect apple tart like this,
it actually has to go in the oven three times.
The first time's for the blind bake,
and that's probably the most important one,
because otherwise you'll get a soggy bottom.
And actually, that's the thing that really starts
to achieve the correct colour.
They then bake again a layer of frangipane, just to set it a bit,
and then they add the apple puree and the apples to bake.
I think it's about the finesse.
The apples have to be really, really thin,
otherwise, A, they don't get baked enough,
and secondly, they look all clumsy.
It's gorgeous, isn't it? Mm.
Frangipane is absolutely delicious. It is.
And that could easily be because
it has three tablespoons of Calvados in it,
but I haven't told them how much to do,
so it'll be interesting to see how cautious they are.
That's a real celebration of apples right there.
It's beautiful. Yeah.
"Make, and blind bake, a pastry case."
Very informative.
I'm just mixing flour with the butter.
There's two methods. This one...
..and this one.
Maybe I should do this one.
My hands are quite warm, so...
That's a poor excuse for being lazy, ain't it?
But you want to keep it short, so you don't want to overwork it.
That's why I've done it all by hand.
Who makes the best apple tart, northerners or southerners?
Definitely... French people.
I've got some French in me.
Have you? Oh...
I'm quite moody. I've got a big nose. I've got a big nose.
Me and you have got some schnozzers, haven't we?
We have, haven't we, mate? Yeah. Strong leaders.
Strong leaders, yeah. Gods.
Caesar, Zeus.
See you later.
Turn that into a dough, wrap it in clingfilm,
stick it in the freezer, and then I'm gonna roll it out.
Five to ten minutes.
Get that gluten to chill out, man.
"Make a textured apple puree."
I'm very aware that they might cook down,
but also I don't want to have to cook them forever,
and I have previous of undercooking fruit.
I don't want it to be mushy.
Anyone in your family got a nose as big as mine?
Play rugby, so I've seen people with far worse noses.
What's your worst rugby injury?
Um, fractured my skull.
I've got a titanium mesh just under there, yeah.
Have you got a titanium skull?
When I came out of the operating theatre,
someone had written in Sharpie,
"Do not press," on my head.
If you see a sign saying, "Do not press,"
what are you gonna do?
Well... You're gonna press, right?
Well, good job you weren't there, then.
Apples are softened, I'm quite liking the look of them.
Is it pureeing down? It's mushing down.
Oh, I think we'll leave it at that.
Probably roll out my pastry now.
I think this will definitely be important.
I want to get it to maybe about three mil.
I'm saying that like I know what three mil looks like.
It's about a pound thickness.
It's a crumbly pastry. That's not good. Very crumbly.
You don't want cracks, either, so you've gotta be quite delicate.
Take a bit off this, do a bit of DIY work down here...
OK, I'm gonna use all of these beans,
try and get them right into the corners.
It doesn't tell you how long to bake it for,
it just tells you to bake it at 170.
Be good to me.
Maybe 12 minutes for a blind bake?
I don't bloody know.
Key to the perfect tart,
the pastry case needs to bake for 25 minutes.
Start with ten minutes, see how it's doing, check again.
Anything less, and the bakers risk ending up
with the dreaded soggy bottom.
20 minutes.
It's a very, very big tart case,
so if the pastry isn't baked when the filling goes in,
I don't think it'll ever bake.
So, I'm gonna get started on my frangipani.
Frangipani? Frangipane? Frangipane.
I have never made frangipane before.
It's just cream, butter and sugar,
and then mix in your egg and almonds.
Beat that baby in.
Flavouring it with apple brandy, Calvados.
I'm thinking a tablespoon.
I want to get the flavour but I don't want to affect the mixture
because it might get a bit runny.
I'm gonna go half a tablespoon.
Prue likes a drink, don't she, so maybe 50 mil?
Screw it, two tablespoons.
Done it.
Could be good, could be bad?
OK, that's ready to come out.
Now, I want to give it a little minute or two.
Still not dried out yet.
Yeah, another five minutes, yeah, I think.
I maybe should've gone longer but I don't want it to be dried out
and I don't want it to burn, cos it has to go in again twice.
SHE SIGHS
Bakers, you are halfway through,
halfway through your technical challenge,
or technical sha-longe, as Paul Hollywood calls it
when he's trying to impress.
Looks quite a nice colour.
Not too much shrinkage on it either.
Got a crack.
Oh, bloody hell.
Any cracks in the pastry, and there's a danger
the filling could leak out, and the case collapse.
Happy with it?
Not really, no.
A few cracks, so I've got a funny feeling I might be coming fourth.
Have you ever won a technical? I beg your pardon? I've won three.
Oops.
Yeah, I'm really pleased.
You can just see it beginning to have a little bit of colour
on the bottom there.
I need to get a shimmy on, really, so I'm gonna slap this in, like so.
"Bake the frangipane and the pastry case."
Whack it back in the oven. How long for?
Probably until Josh takes his out.
"For the topping, core and halve the red apples.
"Slice thinly into two to three millimetre slices."
They want it looking really good, don't they?
That's obviously the whole point of patisserie.
They're miles too thick.
My chopping isn't exactly the most even.
How long's that cook for?
Does anybody know? Can anybody tell me?
Absolutely no idea what I'm looking for.
Maybe a bit longer? No, no.
I don't want them so it's overdone.
It's firm to the touch and spongy, and it should be.
He's a bit rough. Looks like a dog's dinner, don't it?
"Spread the apple puree over the frangipane."
No idea if I'm meant to wait for it to cool.
I'm gonna go with no.
"Working from the outside edge of the tart, arrange the apple slices
"skin side up in a concentric overlapping circle."
I'm baffled by those instructions.
What's a concentric circle when it's at home?
How do I do this?
It's just losing its way slightly.
SHE SIGHS Not easy.
I feel like this is more your thing than mine, artistic.
I like these with the kink in them.
You like a kinky apple?
Is that nature or was that you?
Kinky apples. Shall we start a band?
"I'm gonna see the Kinky Apples tonight."
Don't forget to bring silver wellies, yeah?
And some sort of hat. See you on the Pyramid Stage.
Josh's looks absolutely top, don't it?
Oh, that's how he's... Yeah, yeah.
Oh, man, his is dead good.
Needs to look really, really pretty.
Oh, it's awful.
That's what I should've done.
Yeah, doesn't look too bad.
Bakers, you only have half an hour left.
Oh, no!
Going in.
Right, 25 minutes.
I think that's going to be in there as long as we've got left.
SHE SIGHS Right.
"Glaze the tart with apricot nappage."
Do you know what a nappage is?
No, nor do I.
It's probably nap-ahge.
Depends where you grew up, I guess.
Or we could just say, "Apricot glaze."
It's jam sugar.
I've just chopped up the apricots.
And then a few tablespoons of water, gonna reduce.
So, I think it's gonna be quite thin, but also sticky.
Shiny, but brushable.
JOSH: There we are, one nappage.
Bakers, you only have five minutes left.
Oh, I don't want to take it out.
I'm just gonna give it maybe another minute.
Let's whack her up.
Yeah, I'm gonna take it out.
It's gonna have to come out.
I'm just giving the old nap-ahge a go.
Looks a bit rough, doesn't it, but?
It's really soggy.
I'm really happy with that.
I'm not so happy with having to take it out whilst it's piping hot,
but there we go.
Bakers, you only have one minute left.
I don't know if that's baked enough.
Oh!
Popped straight off.
That was horrible.
Oh, my God, I can't watch.
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no...
Oh, my God. It's just falling apart.
Can I help?
OK, bakers, your time is up.
Oh, man.
Just want to go to the pub.
Please bring your tartes aux pommes
down to the gingham tablecloth
and place them behind your photographs.
Oh, that looks amazing.
How did you do that?
I don't know, mate.
Prue and Paul are expecting
four beautifully decorated tartes aux pommes,
pretty enough to grace any Parisian patisserie,
with a short, buttery pastry case,
a flavourful frangipane and apple puree filling,
topped with beautifully arranged slices of apple.
We start with this one, Prue, uh, bit of a split here.
It's a bit clumsy. Yeah, it's sort of lost it.
Yeah, clumsy's a good word for this.
Hmm. The pastry may be cracked, but it's very nice,
and it's properly baked.
Frangipane's not very strong.
Could be stronger. Yeah.
Right. This one's quite neat, isn't it?
Very neat, and the apples are beautifully arranged.
Pastry, I would say possibly could have had a little bit longer
in the oven, just to put a bit more of a flash of colour.
The pastry's actually crisp on the bottom... Yeah.
..but a bit soggy there.
Right. Now, moving on to this...disaster.
This struggled to come out of the tin, didn't it?
And it looks very messy.
I think this perhaps wasn't baked blind enough.
There's no colour on that at all. No, it's very raw.
Mm.
The flavour's OK,
I just think the pastry's let it down a little bit.
Right. OK, this is quite neat.
You've got a bit of a split there.
All the worst bit's been put that way, which is...
Obviously, I'd do exactly the same if it was me.
That melts in the mouth, that pastry.
It's delicious.
The apples are very nicely, thinly sliced, they're nicely arranged...
Oh, it's lovely.
Prue and Paul will now rank the apple tarts from worst to first.
In fourth place, we have this one.
Tash, big problem with the pastry.
It just fell apart, and the shape wasn't as good as I expected.
And in third place, we have this one.
Dan, it looked a bit clumsy
and the pastry had cracked a little,
but it was delicious.
In second place, we have this one. Whose is this?
Matty, pretty good actually. Very, very neat.
It just needed a little bit longer in the oven. Very, very good.
Which means, Josh,
this is the best one. It was absolutely lovely.
First in a technical,
it's taken nine weeks, but got one now,
so I'm over the moon.
I'm really pleased with that.
I saw Josh's, to be fair,
and I thought, "Yeah, that's good."
Yeah, third, I'm happy with that,
because there was absolutely nothing between them.
It was like splitting hairs, to be honest,
and the financiers couldn't have gone any better, could they?
So I've had such an ace day, it's been brilliant.
What a disaster.
Last place, so tomorrow I need to try
and not let the stress get to my head.
I could very easily go home.
Just one challenge remains for our bakers to secure
a place in the final.
So, obviously Alison's still not with us.
She's still poorly, unfortunately,
but it was a great start to the semifinals.
It certainly was.
Dan got a handshake.
I think he came back yesterday.
I think he's been on a bit of a sabbatical,
and he's popped back to see what's going on.
Well, it's a good time to pop back, semifinal. Yeah, semifinal.
But the other three are right there biting his heels.
I mean, looking at the technical, we had Josh in first,
but in the signature, the Bakewell tart,
I do think it was a little bit artificial. Yeah.
Technical, Matty came second.
He did, and then we look at the signature bake,
great flavours in both.
His sponge was a little bit dry.
And then you had Tash in last place.
I would never have said Tasha could make such a mess
of such a simple thing as an apple tart.
Tasha needs to pull it back in the showstopper today.
It's very tight this week.
You just can't call it at the moment.
It is all down to this last challenge.
So exciting!
Hello, bakers. Welcome back to the tent.
It's time for your showstopper challenge.
Today, the judges would love you to bake
an exquisite millefoglie,
which is the Italian equivalent of the French mille-feuille.
Now, I know how to say it in Italian and French,
but I don't know what it is. Paul?
It's a highly decorated pastry with buttery, flaky layers.
Amazing. You have four hours.
On your marks, get set, bake!
Let's do it, everybody.
There's so many elements that have got to go right today, isn't there?
The pastry's, like, first and foremost.
Lamination's just about holding your nerve, making sure that you
give yourself enough time to do what you need to do.
Puff pastry, if I was doing it normally at home,
I'd do this over a couple of days,
I wouldn't be ramming it in to four hours.
It's gonna be a manic one.
It's actually my birthday today.
It's a memorable one, for sure.
I've not had a birthday like it,
and probably never will again.
The showstopper challenge in the semifinal is a millefoglie.
This, traditionally, is an Italian celebration cake.
These things are highly decorated and taste incredible.
What we want is at least four layers of puff pastry,
real puff pastry, not rough puff or cheat's puff, proper puff pastry.
This is all about timing.
It's about producing those gorgeous laminations that we want inside.
I am just rolling out my butter.
Once my dough's rested in the fridge,
I'll then start doing the laminating.
The trick is to keep chilling the pastry,
because, of course, all this rolling and folding warms the pastry up.
If it gets too warm, the layers disappear.
So, I'm alternating all day between the fridge and the freezer.
Fingers crossed it'll all be all right.
It's very difficult.
There's nowhere to hide on this,
because all the layers are there, stark, and everyone can see it,
so any problems, they will show up straight away.
This has to be perfection.
Morning, Dan. Good morning. Hello, there. Hello.
It's handshake Dan! Hello!
Dan, tell us about your millefoglie.
So, I am doing my take on a tiramisu... Oh, lovely.
..and it's gonna be in the shape of an electric guitar.
Why like a guitar? This is for a gig I missed last week,
Sam Fender. I bought my tickets thinking,
"Oh, you know, I'll never get this far, I'll be all right,"
and here I am, so...
Hoping to strike a chord with the judges,
Dan's tiramisu-inspired showstopper will contain layers
of coffee and chocolate creme diplomat
and amaretto mousse,
topped with a bright blue mirror glaze
to recreate the guitar of his musical hero.
The flavours sound great.
Now, this is a showstopper in the semifinal,
and you want to get into the final.
Is this gonna be the one that'll push you over the edge to get you in?
I think it's the best one I've done so far,
but it's all on the pastry today. I really want it to be good.
Good luck. Thank you very much, cheers.
Thank you, see you later. Good luck, Dan.
Might get a first turn done, actually.
With their dough rested and butter blocks chilled firm,
the bakers can begin the lamination process,
key to producing puff pastry's signature crisp, flaky layers.
Put the butter block in,
completely encasing, so it's got no avenue to escape.
Working quickly is crucial.
It's a stubborn old mule to roll.
The longer they take...
God, there's so much of this stuff.
..the warmer their butter and dough will become.
Temperature can be your worst enemy.
If it's too hot, the butter, it'll, like, seep out,
so you don't get that puff.
If it's too cold, it will crack, and then the butter seeps out.
While most of the bakers have opted for the traditional method
of encasing the butter inside the dough...
This is my butter packet.
..in the pursuit of an even flakier pastry...
That'll go in the freezer.
..Tasha's treading a different path.
I'm doing inverse puff pastry.
That's the one where the butter goes on the outside?
That's right. It's supposed to be much more difficult.
Yeah, I like making my life difficult.
Tasha's tricky puff pastry will sandwich layers of lime
and mint mojito mousse and mango curd,
elegantly decorated with a white chocolate cup
containing a delicate mango rose.
Wow.
Well, your flavours are always great,
your textures are spot on.
It's the finishing we're worrying about.
Me too.
OK, so concentrate today on getting that little bit of finesse.
This is Patisserie Week.
Also, you're one bake away from the final.
No pressure. Oh, don't....
Oh...
Just doing my first envelope turn.
One third down.
Then another third up.
So, I'm quite happy with that so far, actually that's pretty good.
I'm gonna pop that in the freezer for a bit.
As Dan, Josh, and Matty's pastry hits the fridge
to firm up ahead of the next turn,
Tasha's is ready for its first inverse fold.
It's really cold.
Oh, God.
Have to crack...
I'm so glad he saw that crack.
The butter's too hard,
so it's really hard to roll.
So, I'm gonna zest my limes,
and then I'm gonna go back to the pastry.
SHE SIGHS
Right, so, I'm gonna make the various fillings.
I need to get cracking on with this now
so that I can get it all chilled in time.
To reach the heights of patisserie perfection demanded by Prue and Paul,
not only must every one of the bakers' flavours sing...
I put the coffee in there just to infuse.
..they must work in harmony with one another, too.
And not too overpowering,
just a nice coffee flavour to complement me amaretto mousse.
I'm doing mango curd, and I'm also making a mojito curd,
so we've got lots of lime juice and zest,
mint and rum.
It's not REALLY rummy, it's just a hint.
While Tasha and Dan strive to balance their boozy fillings...
Lovely, lovely amaretto.
..Matty's decided to go all in.
It's three tiers, all alcohol.
Limoncello, Marsala and amaretto.
The flavours are from an Italian dessert.
Zabaione?
Maybe?
Matty's Italian tipples will flavour three creme diplomat fillings,
drizzled with lemon and plum curds,
and piped between layers of puff pastry discs
to create a three-tiered Italian wedding-cake-inspired millefoglie.
I look forward to this.
This is a play on alcohol levels, not getting them too much.
Yeah, for sure. And that's tricky with three.
Also finding the right levels for Prue and Paul,
cos they've got different levels.
No, you shouldn't worry about the booze,
it's just how it tastes, you know?
That's been Prue's mantra for years.
NOEL LAUGHS "Don't worry about the booze."
One day, I'll punch him.
Thank you, Matty. Thank you.
Uh, I'm a bit behind already.
Pastry, it wants another turn,
but hopefully this one's a bit smoother than the last one.
This will be fold four. Two from being done.
This is looking really good, I'm really pleased with it.
It's blended really well.
You can see all of the layers all the way through that,
so I'm really, really pleased with the pastry.
It's better even than when I did it in my last practice.
I'll do a final turn, and then I'll start rolling it out.
Something's so wrong with this pastry.
Oh, God.
Bakers...
Don't tell me I'm halfway through, whatever you do.
Bakers, you are halfway through.
Holy mackerel.
Wish I had another hour.
As Tasha struggles on with her pastry...
Why did I do inverse?
That was a really stupid thing to do.
..the rest of the bakers have finished their final folds.
I'm gonna start shaping it and getting it in the oven now.
Whatever the shape the bakers have chosen...
So, I had a look at Sam's guitar online.
It's like a blue Fender Stratocaster, I think it is.
..sharp, clean cuts are a must
to ensure their pastry puffs up perfectly in the oven.
I'd say you can see layers.
They might say different.
But while Paul and Prue will expect beautifully risen
baked sheets of puff pastry...
Conscious where we're at with the time now,
so I want to make sure we can get all these in.
..when it comes to patisserie, precision is paramount.
You don't want them to be too thick,
cos when you have a mille-feuille, they're quite thin layers.
That's why you've got the sheet on there,
to sort of weigh them down.
Right, time to bake.
Oh, it's not on!
Ahh!
Josh's sheets of puff pastry will contain layers
of lemon creme diplomat,
blackberry curd and blackcurrant jam,
decorated with home-grown berries
and piped buttercream peonies,
dedicated to the woman responsible
for him entering this year's Bake Off.
This was the celebration for a person in mind,
so I've done it for my nan, and I've gone for
the colours that I associated with her a lot,
yellows, purples and pinks.
So far, showstoppers have been your strong point.
I've really enjoyed putting them together.
Well, you've thought about it, and you are good at showstoppers.
You've only got one problem,
and that's there are three other bakers who are damn good too.
Yeah, they're incredible, yeah.
Good luck, Josh. Thank you very much. Good luck.
Just 90 minutes remain.
So, I've got two in, and then I'm gonna get these two prepared,
bang them in the fridge, ready to go in as soon as they come out.
I start with about 15 minutes, and then I sort of check them
every five minutes after that.
At least until they're lovely, golden and crisp.
Two of the layers are in the oven at the moment.
This is plum curd, which is,
it's quite nice, it's a bit tart.
Right, cut this in half.
Oh, my God.
Tash, you all right?
There's no layers in my pastry.
My puff pastry is a disaster.
No, don't say that.
I cut into it, and there aren't any layers...
Oh, no.
..which is like the most important thing, so...
Might something miraculous happen in the oven?
We can pray.
PAUL: Millefoglie. I think this is a great challenge.
Yes, there are one or two things that worry me a little.
I mean, Tasha, I'm worried about her pastry,
because I've never done pastry the way she's doing it. Hmm.
Tasha's some amazing flavours,
but she struggled a little bit with timing,
and she's got to get this one right.
She's got to finish it.
It's got to look and taste incredible.
Gotta keep going.
It's the Bake Off tent.
Things happen.
DAN: Keep going, keep going, keep going.
Just put everything into it.
What I like about Dan's is that he's actually shaping the pastry,
but are you not worried about the idea of a mirror glaze on top?
I like the idea of a mirror glaze,
but it's about the texture of it sometimes.
It can be a bit rubbery.
If you check out his guitar, it's a pretty similar colour.
A bit like Josh with blackberry and blackcurrant and lemon,
the flavours sound great,
but for me it's about the setting on those things.
I imagine he's going to have to put a bit of gelatine
into each of his layers, because the curd won't stand up
to the weight of other layers on top.
He's got to keep the level really flat.
15 sheets of gelatine. That's gonna go into here,
which seems a lot, but then again,
I'm making a very, very large batch of it.
But then you've got Matty.
Whoa.
Matty is my biggest concern when it comes to flavour.
He's using all the alcohols you can think of.
It's a dangerous thing to do.
Some amaretto.
Need to be cautious with quantity.
The thing about cooking with alcohol is you should never be able to feel,
"My God, that's full of booze."
Hmm. You should just think it tastes wonderful.
I don't want to eat his millefoglie and think, "I can't drive now."
IN MYSTERIOUS VOICE: Bakers, you have an hour left.
One hour.
NORMALLY: That was the spirit of bread.
I'm so behind.
Pastry needs to bake.
Still got mango curd to make.
This is the first time
I might not actually finish a challenge.
Everything is now in the oven.
I need it to be cool before I assemble anything.
So much going on. Sorting out my curd,
whipping that cream, getting them out of the oven,
getting more in the oven.
I'm just making my amaretto mousse.
That's a gelatine mix gone in with the amaretto.
Gives it a nice bit of body and hopefully a bit of strength
to withstand the leaning tower of electric guitars.
This is the limoncello diplomat.
It's a bit soft, but I'm hoping...
Should be all right.
Looking very good. I think I might...
I think I might give it another couple of minutes.
Then it's gonna be done, but it looks really nice.
Nice and golden, nice and puffy.
DAN: Happy with that.
These look nice. Happy?
I'm looking at the colour of Dan and Josh's,
and theirs are dark!
Maybe I'll put them back in. You want them to be crisp.
Look how dark theirs are compared to mine.
Yeah, I know but what if Paul goes, "Theirs are too dark"?
You'd be kicking yourself.
What are your baker's instincts telling you?
Copy them.
Ah, if that's the right colour you're gonna hurt yourself. I've lost my bottle.
As Matty's pastry goes back in to bake,
Tasha's is finally ready for the oven.
I can do it. I can do it.
So, now what I need to do is I need to make the mango curd,
so I'm going to do that as quickly as I can.
I want to start assembling, so I'm gonna try and
trim these ones down to size.
I like to trim it down,
cos it sort of, like, shows off your flakiness underneath.
This is the mirror glaze.
See me barnet in that.
Oh, yes!
It's like the Brothers In Arms album.
Yeah!
Plum curd just kind of heating away now.
Need to do it at a speed that doesn't cook the egg, though.
Hurry up, hurry up and thicken.
This is the tuile for the top of the guitar.
It's a wood effect.
Got the four sheets now.
Just need to do a bit of assembly, don't we?
Right, I'm gonna start building up my bottom layer now.
Amaretto mousse on here, full layer of.
As the rest of the bakers' millefoglies start to take shape,
Tasha's oven...
It's a miracle! ..contains a surprise.
I see layers.
You see layers? I see layers.
Told you, weird stuff happens in the oven.
We don't know what's going on in there.
It's a box of heat.
So, there's a lot of butter in there, but there are layers.
Back in the game!
Bakers, you only have half an hour left.
Oh, my days.
Right, they're coming out.
Pastry's looking good.
My concern now is getting it cool.
Middle layer, limoncello diplomat,
plum curd, chopped walnuts.
Amaretto mousse on here. It's a wee bit loose.
I'd like it to be a little bit more set
but I'm just happy that I'm at the stage to decorate at this moment.
This is the blackcurrant jam.
Need to cool.
This is the coffee and chocolate.
It's a bit more stable, this,
so in hindsight, should've put this one on the bottom, shouldn't I?
I'm not too happy with this.
There's bit of oozing, but I have a plan.
Hide with fruit.
I'm quite pleased with how it's all coming together.
I've just got to do that last leg
and then I can just quickly move on
to doing buttercream flowers on top.
That mousse isn't set.
Just melting.
Bakers...
15 minutes left.
Whoa!
What am I doing now? Fondant.
Just gotta assemble that.
Let's have a lovely day, relaxing baking.
Yeah, why not?
This is madness.
Oh, ya beauty!
Other weeks, you've been able to get by with maybe being
a little bit sloppy.
Oh, it's a bit big.
This week, if they say that it looks a bit messy,
it's a dagger to the heart,
and it's making me nervous.
Bakers, you have five minutes left.
No rush.
Job done. Not doing any more to it.
Ah, it's not set.
Anybody need a hand?
Need a hand?
Paper over the cracks.
My balloons aren't set,
so I'm trying to get the chocolate out of the balloons.
Oh, right, OK. Do you want to have a go?
I like a challenge.
Bakers, you have one minute left.
A peony is the look I'm going for.
BALLOON POPS Oh...!
Right, that'll do.
Worst layers ever, but...
I'm all done.
I'm really, really pleased.
It's not dipping, is it?
Just get Paul in now.
Yeah, steady hands, steady hands...
Oh!
OK, bakers, your time is up.
Please step away from your bakes.
You did it, babies. SHE SIGHS
You did it.
Well done, everybody.
Awesome.
Oh, Josh, that's incredible.
DAN: Yours looks lovely, Matty.
Just wish that cream was set a little bit more.
It's time to judge the bakers' millefoglies.
Josh, would you like to bring up your showstopper, please?
Josh, it is a thing of beauty.
The lamination that you've achieved is exceptional.
It flakes, and it's flat.
It's not dipping, and I like that. Like you said.
Let's have a look inside, shall we?
Beautiful.
Phew.
Look at that. I want to clap. It's so perfect.
JOSH GIGGLES
I think you've done an amazing job with the pastry.
Thank you. It literally crumbles in your mouth.
However, I think you've slightly overbaked it by minutes. OK.
You've been really clever about the amount of gelatine you've used
because it could so easily have been rubbery.
And it could've oozed out as well with the weight, so...
You've done it beautifully.
And I very seldom disagree with Mr Hollywood,
but I don't think the pastry's overbaked.
Thank you very much. Lovely, thank you. Thank you, Josh.
Well done.
Well done, Joshy.
You've had a bit of a squeeze on that,
and the reason is your chocolate is heavier than your cream.
If you'd flipped it round, that wouldn't have happened.
As soon as I put it on, I thought,
"I should've put that on the bottom."
Yeah. Exceptional decoration on there, though.
I think it's so imaginative, and I love the shape,
and you can see the lamination.
The flake's good.
Cream is delicious.
The flavours are fantastic.
There is a tiramisu feel to it.
The coffee is just the right level.
But I don't think the mirror glaze works.
It looks beautiful, but it's very rubbery.
Oh, is it? OK.
Thank you, Dan. Cheers, thank you very much.
Well done, Dan. Thanks.
Well done, mate.
Well done.
It does look like a celebration.
Centrepiece, isn't it?
Yeah, but I think you made a little mistake here.
Did you use a cake tin to cut the pastry? Yeah.
The trouble is that the cake ring will squash the pastry.
It squashes and seals. It'll grow...
Yeah. ..but it won't grow at the edges.
But you can see that the pastry is laminated.
It is splitting into layers.
I don't like your puff pastry.
It's a bit too rubbery.
If it was baked right through, it would be better.
It should be flakier than that. OK.
I think you've shied off from giving it a little bit of colour.
Now, this one is the Marsala. That one's Marsala, yeah.
That's delicious.
I love the flavours. You're spot on with that.
Puff pastry, I'm not convinced about.
Thanks, Matty. Thank you.
Well done, Matty. Thank you.
Good flavour. We'll see.
I like the pipework, I like the decoration,
but it's not particularly square.
No, I had to rush at the end, I had some problems.
You never had a chance to cut it?
No, I was trying to get them cool as quickly as I could. Right.
I didn't want the fillings to melt.
You've got a great lamination all the way through.
That lamination is incredible.
It's flaking beautifully.
Let's have a look inside, shall we?
I mean that really does look delicious, doesn't it?
What's this?
The mango curd.
It's very grainy.
Tastes lovely, but it's not quite as silky smooth as the other two.
I think you've done well with your lamination
and your flavours are good,
but that mango curd isn't right.
Thank you. Sorry. Well done, Tasha.
Yeah.
Not ideal.
I'm disappointed in myself
because I know I could do better.
But...gotta keep your chin up, so...
The flavours, they liked.
Ah, it's just the pastry.
Not enough colour, and the way that I cut it.
All makes perfect sense now, doesn't it?
Once you know, you know.
That could be the issue.
That could be a problem.
Yeah.
Well, that was an interesting showstopper.
I really enjoyed them. Josh's one...
Epic. I think his flavours were really good.
The look of it was perfect, and beautifully laminated.
So, overall, in line for Star Baker.
Dan has done well, too.
I loved this, cos it was so original.
Slight rubbery mirror, but it's so thin.
And it's so thin you can't even...
But it was worth it for the effect of that guitar.
Yeah. It was beautiful, wasn't it?
So, I think it is between Josh and Dan.
I think Tasha and Matty are in a more precarious position. I agree, I agree.
What I liked most about Matty's,
I loved the flavours, I loved the way he made it look.
I just had a big problem with the puff pastry.
It needed longer in the oven.
But let's look a little bit closer at Tasha's.
The lamination is really nice,
that flake and crumbliness.
The biggest issue was the curd.
It didn't have that satiny smoothness, that's for sure.
So it's very close between them,
but we've got to pick the three best bakers
to go through to the final.
Get a fork, and we'll have a go. Yeah, let's try again, shall we?
You're going back in?
We are nothing if not devoted to duty.
We've got the tea. Bring on the cakes.
Bakers, well done.
That was a particularly tough week.
Patisserie's not easy,
but you all did amazingly.
There can only be one Star Baker, though,
and this week's Star Baker is...
..Josh.
APPLAUSE
Ah, onto the hard bit.
We'd love to take you all through to the final,
but we can't do that, so this is really heartbreaking.
The person who's leaving us is...
..Tasha.
Come here.
SHE SIGHS
It's OK.
Sorry, Tash.
You did really well. Really well. I knew it was me.
Thank you.
I'm just emotional.
Just starting to say goodbye to people,
and that's when it just really hit,
and...
You done amazing, Tash. Oh, thanks.
They're amazing people. They really are friends for life.
That's a really special thing about Bake Off,
it is the most supportive and loving environment.
It's changed me, realising I can do so much more
than I realised that I was capable of.
Yeah, it's a special place.
I'm very lucky to be part of it.
Well done, come here. Well done, mate.
Oh, my goodness. I can't believe that at all.
Star Baker, semifinal, that is...
That is...incredible.
PAUL: Welcome to the final.
The final? My nan would be so happy.
She'd have come down next week as well, so...
Yeah, really chuffed.
Thanks, Paul. Come here. Welcome to the final, eh?
Thank you very much.
It's so exc... I mean, obviously, I can't get the smile off my face, can I?
So exciting. Walking out next week,
and everyone, like, you know, all the bakers'll be there,
their families, my family's going to be here.
Hopefully make them proud as well, really,
with what I've done on the quiet!
Hey, Matty. Well done, pal.
Who'd have thought it?
My mind is doing backflips.
I don't know, I've never told anyone that I feel like I'm a good baker,
but I definitely am growing in confidence.
Just want to give a good account of myself, you know?
I don't want any catastrophes,
and then people are looking like, "How's he got here?"
So, a fair few days of practice coming up.
Next time...
There can only be one winner.
THUNDER CRACKS This is it, the storm is coming.
Let's see how I get on.
Eurgh! Why's it doing that?
The winner of the Great British Bake Off...
Don't want it to lean.
This is the part where... CLATTERING
..where I said about trusting your instinct.
I don't...I just...I don't know with it.
Oh, no, I didn't dust them in icing sugar either, did I?
..goes to...
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