I can't get my head round this week. Explain it to me again?
- It's Free-From Week. - What does that mean?
It means this week we've got a vegan bake,
we've got a dairy-free bake and a gluten-free bake.
- Like this stuff here. - Has anyone told Paul yet?
I just told him a couple of minutes ago.
- And he was fine with that? - Yeah, absolutely fine.
Let's scarper.
Actually, that's really nice.
Welcome to The Great British Baking Show.
Now it's the quarter final
Oh, bloody hell.
and Free-From Week.
Nightmare.
With a series of challenges free from dairy
This one's tough 'cause Paul's a proper pudding lad.
- meat - Oh
Why is mine disgusting?
and gluten.
- Organised chaos. - That's fine.
But in order to reach the semi final
How long have we got left?
I'm just breaking my freezer.
the bakers will need to be free from disaster.
I expected better from you.
Week eight, quarter final. Why am I still here?
This Free-From Week, I'm actually quite excited about it.
I never made anything dairy-free or gluten-free or anything like that,
so I don't really know how it all tastes.
My objective for this week is to survive.
Just gotta keep everything as Lizzie as possible.
I'm gonna prove a point that free-from has as little finesse
as all me other food.
Good morning, bakers.
Welcome back to the tent for the quarter final.
- Whoo! - And a celebration of free-from baking.
Free from baking, no baking.
We can just go lie down in hammocks and eat some loganberry jam.
- Let's go. Oh. - No, I think you've misunderstood.
- There's still baking? That's a shame. - Yeah.
For your Signature Challenge,
the judges would like you each to make a batch of eight
identical dairy-free ice cream sandwiches.
The ice cream must be beautifully made
and sandwiched between two perfectly baked biscuits.
Any flavour you like.
Remember, kids, they must be dairy-free.
- You have three hours. - On your marks.
- Get set. - Bake.
I've had ice cream sandwiches. I've never made them at home before.
I don't think anyone is doing a dairy-free ice cream on a regular basis.
The aim is to get an ice cream
that sets, but is still creamy. It's quite tricky.
In this challenge, we've asked them to be dairy-free.
They can use eggs, but obviously the use of cream and butter is out.
I imagine we'll see a lot of coconut milk and oat milk.
This is coconut cream. It's a bit thicker.
It has more fat than coconut milk.
We've asked for an ice cream sandwich because we want a baked element.
It's all about textures.
The silky smooth with the ice cream, and the crispy biscuit.
How are they gonna do it?
We wanna see their characters coming out but, above all, it must taste amazing.
- Hey. - Hello!
Hello, Lizzie.
Tell us all about your sandwich ice creams.
Erm, my dairy replacement is oat milk and, like, fake cream.
And my sandwich ice creams are just vanilla with, erm, some almond brittle in.
Because it's all about, like, when I take my dog on a walk,
I see the Mr Whippy van after, so she's allowed vanilla ice cream.
Oh.
Lizzie's almond, praline and vanilla ice cream
will be sandwiched between dark chocolate biscuits
embossed with a pattern in honour of her dog Prue.
Can you explain the meaning of this?
It's all dogs, 'cause it's about walking my dog.
Are you gonna get a bit of finesse with the pattern?
- Yeah. - How big are these gonna be, the biscuits?
Oh, this is my issue, isn't it? So they are about, I'd say, that lid size.
- I think - That's okay.
- You don't think that's good? - Lizzie, don't you be put off by him.
I never am, Prue. I just don't listen to him.
When I did my research,
dairy-free ice cream sets slightly harder than normal ice cream.
Just trying to get as close to normal ice cream as possible.
The fat, sugar, protein and water content
of the bakers' chosen dairy substitutes
will all affect the crystal formation of their ice creams.
Rather than using whole milk,
I've got a plant-based, erm, kind of cream, and a cashew nut milk.
So it's crucial they've researched how their alternatives
will impact the taste and texture.
The hope is that the tofu will give the creaminess.
And Giuseppe is taking his dairy-free ice cream one step further.
The dairy alternative will be tofu and soymilk.
So, the ice cream itself is vegan and virtually fat-free.
- Wow. - Delicious.
No, actually, it does sound good.
Rustic ginger and maple syrup cookies
will contain Giuseppe's orange ice cream made with silken tofu and soya milk.
One of the biggest challenges
has been to get the ice cream to taste of orange enough.
So I'm using orange juice, orange zest
and candied orange peel to go into it.
I'm also adding a drop of orange essence, and that should be enough.
Also hoping to pack a punch with his flavours
- In goes the coconut milk. - is Chigs.
Gotta chop up nearly 600 grams of mangoes.
I know my mum's probably watching me,
"Why are you wasting all that mango in there?"
Not getting the best yield out of the mango, but I ain't got time, soz.
Sat between two pistachio and cardamom biscuits,
Chigs is hoping his mum's favourite tropical flavours
of mango, lime and coconut shine through.
But taste isn't Chigs' only concern.
Need to make sure it's creamy enough.
'Cause in the practice tent, mine turned into a sorbet
'cause of the water content, 'cause I used different mangoes.
A lot of things will impact this.
- How's the practice gone for this? - I left the freezer door open.
- Good. - So, they all melted in the freezer.
Great.
So, that's how practice went.
I've added all the flavours to the ice cream mix.
But I think I'm ready to go in there.
With the ice cream elements in place
it's time to get churning.
All right. In she goes.
What this will do is keep churning and bring down the temperature.
Because it's dairy-free, you ain't gonna get that proper silky stuff.
You will get a slightly firmer ice cream,
It's getting that balance right, that's gonna overcome that.
And now we wait.
Painful wait and hopefully that will turn into ice cream.
As their ice cream churns, the bakers can turn their attentions
to the outer layer of their sandwiches.
I've got dairy-free butter in here.
Jurgen has opted for a simple way to ensure his biscuits are dairy-free.
Macarons are, by definition, dairy-free,
but it feels counterintuitive to pour
120-degree hot liquid into egg whites.
And then I need to whisk it until it's cooled.
Jurgen's macarons of egg whites with ground pistachio and almond
will sandwich his banana and coconut ice cream,
combining two of his favourite childhood flavours.
Over the years, when I was testing ice cream parlours in Germany,
I developed my test case for the parlours,
and that was a mix of pistachio and banana ice cream.
You used to test the ice cream parlours?
- Yes. - I mean, is this an official job? Or
Just my internal one.
Right.
Can't have it too big, 'cause obviously the rolling pin's not massive,
so you've got to do two at a time.
This dough is so wet and sticky. I'm just gonna bake them like this
and then I will re-cut them out.
It's like a safety net.
And Crystelle has good reason to be cautious about her biscuits.
I have only done these once because I changed my recipe last minute,
so I am quite panicky about them.
Crystelle is hoping
the earthiness of her cashew milk and coffee ice cream
will complement the nutty flavours
of her tahini and miso replacement biscuits.
I had a really nice cookie recipe
that was chewy, but I just didn't think it froze well.
I've gone for one that you can take a bite, the ice cream doesn't ooze out.
- Sounds good. - What were you doing?
Miso and tahini frappuccino ice cream sandwich.
Yeah.
You know, very simple.
Bakers, you have an amount of time remaining.
That wasn't very helpful.
Well, it's Free-From Week, so I thought I would do a time call
that was free from the relevant information.
Bakers, you're halfway through.
These are gonna go in the oven now.
So, 12 minutes. I'm gonna do six minutes on each side.
Fifteen minutes.
Then I'll swap them round seven minutes in.
So, in we go.
While the other bakers' biscuits begin to increase in temperature
It's still warm.
Jurgen's meringue mix has the opposite problem.
- Hello, Jurgen - Hi, Noel.
- I've been there about half an hour. - Ah, yes.
You look very interested in what's going on in there.
Yes, I'm trying to cool this down.
I had some issues with that in the practice tent.
- Oh, no. - I don't want to repeat that here.
You don't seem to be under pressure, though.
How many Star Bakers have you won now?
- Three. Yes. - Three?
Imagine if Crystelle won three Star Bakers.
Yeah, we would be deaf by now.
They look okay. The biscuits are looking good.
Oh, there we go.
Got a bit of colour round the edge, which I'm happy with.
Oh, I forgot to sprinkle sesame seeds on the top of these,
but it's fine because these can go on the bottom.
There's some funky smells coming from over here.
It's the dark cocoa.
- What percentage is that? - It's black. 100%.
- Hundred percent cocoa? - Yeah.
Oh, my God. It's giving me a stitch.
Do you know what it reminds me of?
- When you-- - Inside of a coffin?
No, I was gonna say Jaguar wee.
- Jaguar wee? - Yeah.
Wow, you're weirder than me. It's official. Jaguar wee.
Still doesn't look like a meringue.
I'll give it a bit more.
But now the machine's blinking, so the ice cream is essentially done.
At least I can start shaping my sandwiches.
The ice cream needs to be set for sandwiching in the uniform shapes
Paul and Prue will be expecting.
Oh, my God, that's so cold.
I use silicon moulds, but the silicon moulds are a bit small,
so this is going to be slightly interesting.
So, I realise in practice that my moulds are very thick,
so I'm only gonna fill them halfway.
And the best way to do that is to use a piping bag.
While Crystelle and Jurgen have changed moulding methods
I was gonna go for a rustic look.
Giuseppe has decided to break the mould completely.
The ice cream is starting to lose consistency,
so I'm going to have to be very quick. Otherwise, I will lose this.
These are gonna go in the freezer.
With the sandwich centres freezing,
it's time for top deck decoration.
Disco time.
I'll go for it now, I think.
But without anything baked yet,
there's no time for Jurgen or his meringue to rest.
In the practice, I didn't whisk the Italian meringue long enough.
I was too impatient.
This has this nice, rough structure that this mix should have.
I'm drizzling my top biscuits with, uh,
tempered dairy-free white chocolate.
Then I'll add the candied orange peel and crystallised ginger.
On the wrong Channel 4 programme here.
Should be on Grayson Perry's art show.
I'm going in. I didn't dry them out in the practice
and they actually came out nice.
How much time do we have left?
Bakers, you have 8,000 wobble mittens
in your tiger chop suey.
- What was that? - That was free from logic.
You have 15 minutes left.
Well, that just gives them time to cool down, doesn't it?
Paul doesn't like glitter.
Who cares what Paul thinks?
This one's tough, 'cause Paul's not the biggest fan of free-from stuff, is he?
He's a proper pudding lad, innit?
Sesame seeds for sprinkling
because I forgot to sprinkle enough on them.
How's it going?
- Oh, I don't know. I just-- - Yeah, whatever.
I knew you didn't care.
Is it going all right?
Oh, I don't know.
See you later.
I fall for this every single time.
They're spreading underneath and moving up.
Let's go for it.
Interesting shape, isn't it?
They shouldn't have this little fringe.
They will have enough time cool, they cool very quickly.
You anxious? I can see you're shaking your legs.
I got that weird feeling that I've got-- I've missed something.
Well, the dairy.
If that's the only thing I've missed,
- I'm Yeah. - You're all right.
How long do we have?
Bakers, you have five minutes left.
Now is the time to add some dairy, I would say.
I'm just breaking my freezer.
We have a few air pockets, but it'll have to do.
Press it down, because why not? I've touched it enough.
What I'm actually gonna do just for ease of assembly is, base in.
Oh!
Oh, that's so cute.
That's pretty awful.
And they don't hold together.
Oh. Bloody hell.
And macarons are not right.
Bakers, you have one minute left.
Oh, bugger, am I breaking this biscuit? Didn't think this through, did I?
I haven't moulded the ice cream. In hindsight, I could've.
But I think that this suits the whole shape better.
It just looks like I've been playing in the mud.
I have washed my nails, people of Britain.
I'm a bit annoyed about the air pockets, but otherwise, yeah, happy.
- Happy, happy, happy. - Last bugger.
Bakers, your time is up.
Done. Done, done, done.
Please place your ice cream sandwiches at the end of your workstations.
There is an element of, erm, church decor in there.
Well, there's always another Technical to redeem myself.
It's judgment time
for the bakers' dairy-free ice cream sandwiches.
They're a little uneven. Rather huge.
You've lost a bit of the definition in the cuts.
I think you could've forgotten about telling us about the dogs
because they've disappeared.
Actually, I love the texture.
It's very dry and very crumbly.
I didn't think I was going to like it. I do.
There is a chocolatey hint to it, which is slightly bitter,
which marries it beautifully with the ice cream.
It's got a nice vanilla kick in it, but you've got that praline as well.
I would've blitzed that really small and folded that through
so you'd have ended up with a bit more praline in your mouth.
What you do get is very good, it's just messy.
- Which is normal for you, isn't it? - Yeah.
But I think your flavours and consistency are good.
- Ta. - Thanks, Lizzie.
Thanks, guys.
- They are beautiful, Chigs. - Thank you.
Really beautiful.
- Very professional looking. - Thank you.
Look at that. Neat as a pin.
- The mango. Needs lots more. - Mmm-hmm?
I think canned mango pulp would have been better.
Not a lot of flavour coming from the biscuit.
- Okay. - Erm
Great texture, though.
The ice cream, you do get the mango very subtly.
You do get that coconut as well.
But it's not going to last long, it is very sorbet-like.
But, over all, it is nice. The ice cream just needs more of a punch.
Okay. Thank you, guys.
Did you rest them before you baked them?
I didn't, because the Italian meringue took so long to cool down.
The whole thing about a macaron is the resting that creates the skin
which creates the dome, which you do not have.
- Therefore, you end up with that. - Yes.
But you might have invented something which is very suitable.
This is very chewy.
I like it.
- Chewy and almondy. - Mmm-hmm.
The nuts, you do get beautifully, but the ice cream's the star here.
- Thank you. - It's fantastic.
- Intense flavour of bananas. - Mmm-hmm.
- I think that's lovely. - Hmm.
- Really good, Jurgen. - Thank you very much.
Well done.
Delicious.
It's a nice-looking, very uniform set.
I absolutely agree. It looks tempting and I want one.
Good.
I think the flavour is absolutely lovely.
The texture of the ice cream is a bit light and wet.
- That-- - I actually really like it. Yeah.
I've never had anything like that before.
No, the tahini in the biscuit is akin to a sort of shortbread.
And the sesame comes through quite nicely.
Coffee levels are perfect in the ice cream.
It is very flavoursome and it holds on the tongue as well
which blends quite well.
I think you've done a good job.
I think you've done a really nice job.
- Well done, Crystelle. - Hmm. Thank you.
What?
I think they look lovely. Very interesting. It's almost got a--
Looks like a craquelin. Yeah.
I think you've managed pretty consistent shapes.
Let's have a look.
You said this is made with tofu?
Yes, this is made with tofu and soymilk.
It's definitely not as creamy as I thought it would be.
But the flavour is lovely.
Mmm, texture's fantastic.
It's a very short crispy biscuit, which, just on its own, would be delicious.
But the ice cream is great.
The orange comes through, cooked through. You do get a hit of the ginger as well.
Oh, the whole thing is just delicious.
You've done a great job with that.
I would love that just bashed up in a bowl with a spoon and eat the lot.
It's lovely.
- Very clever. - Thank you.
I don't have any past experience in free-from,
so, this is probably the most pleased I've ever been.
What's new?
It's too big, don't look neat, but they liked the flavours.
I was very nervous about my macarons.
But Prue liked my "invention."
I think the others got amazing feedback on their flavours,
and I didn't, so I need to come out swinging in the Technical.
The bakers were able to practise their dairy-free Signature,
but they have no idea what the Technical will be free from.
You lucky things, it's time for your Technical,
which today has been set by the Prue.
- The Prue, any words of advice? - Yes.
Flavour always matters, but in this recipe it's absolutely key.
Thank you. Well, as ever, this task is judged blind,
so we ask the judges to leave the tent.
Where do you think they've gone?
To the dogs, mate, like the rest of this country.
It's got to the point you can't even put meat in a vegan recipe.
Honestly, you couldn't make it up.
For your Technical Challenge, Prue would love you to make
eight identical vegan sausage rolls.
Your sausage rolls should comprise
of crisp, golden, vegan rough puff pastry,
surrounding a mushroom and walnut filling.
They should be accompanied by a sticky, caramelised red onion chutney.
You have two hours.
- On your marks. - Get set.
- Bake. - Oh, for God's sake.
I've made vegan sausage rolls but not with mushrooms and walnuts.
Who doesn't like a sausage roll?
Haven't made sausage rolls before. I haven't made vegan rough puff pastry.
This is going to be really interesting.
And interesting in every bad sense of the word.
So, Prue, tell us all about your vegan sausage rolls.
We're looking for eight perfectly identical vegan sausage rolls
with really well laminated, crisp rough puff pastry.
What fat do you put in the pastry? Because you can't use butter.
No, it's a vegan block.
It's got almond, coconut and rapeseed oil
and then you treat it just like butter when you're making rough puff.
I'm really quite impressed because it has made really nice little laminations.
They'll struggle with this,
with the vegan block, which tends to melt very quickly.
If they chill it enough, they'll be all right.
You just have to keep chilling it.
Mmm! Together with the chutney, it's delicious.
The pastry is beautifully light.
And it's really flaky. You wouldn't know it was vegan pastry.
Well, it's the quarter finals.
And I think this is a very challenging Challenge.
It's certainly more difficult than a straightforward sausage roll.
So, "Number one: Make the dough for the rough puff."
Uh, we got flour, vegan block, salt and water.
I've never used vegan block before.
It's got a very odd appearance.
It's going to be interesting to see what it looks like.
I'm worried about the puff pastry because I can't remember the last time I made it.
I'm looking for the whole thing to bind together.
There you go.
And you see now it's clumping up. I don't want to overhydrate the flour
'cause it'll become too sticky to work with.
The dough needs to be firm
but a little bit pliable.
I feel like maybe I didn't put enough water in my pastry.
Just gonna go with it and hope that it works.
"Number two: Laminate the dough using the frozen vegan block."
It looks like tofu, it's weird.
It laminates, so once you roll it out,
it creates layers, and then, in the oven, the butter melts
and creates steam which puffs the pastry up.
Do you like laminating?
- I like makin' a puff pastry. Yeah. - Do ya?
- This is actually-- - That's why you're making me one?
Yeah.
"Complete four single turns."
I have no idea what that means.
I'm gonna go for a normal book fold.
A third of it over, another third over and turn it. Gotta do that four times.
I don't know if it'll be the way they want it to be, but it'll be laminated.
That's fold number two.
Why is mine disgusting?
Close the sides in so nothing comes out.
Is this for the puff business?
This is for the puff business and this is a bad thing here.
Butter come through?
- The butter leaked out. - Oh, no.
- What could that mean? - Bad lamination.
Bad lamination.
What could that mean?
- We want loose laminations. - Eh, Star Baker?
What could that mean?
"Cross Paul." Paul be cross.
And now I'm going to wrap this and chill it.
It needs to be resting in between folding.
So I'm gonna be putting this in the fridge for another ten minutes.
Let the butter solidify again.
If the butter melts, it'll ooze out in the oven.
I wanna keep it chilled so it stays in the pastry.
What am I doing?
"Finely chop the mushrooms and walnuts, fry the onions."
I like a veggie sausage roll, but I don't normally make the middle bit.
I get the veggie sausages and smush them with a fork
and throw them in some puff pastry.
- Easier, isn't it, than all this faffing? - Something savoury for a change.
- Yeah, exactly. - Paul loves savoury.
He won't be able to resist getting his sausage roll fingers onto sausage rolls.
Onto the sausage rolls.
That's how he measure out the sizes.
He puts his index finger down.
I do a lot of cooking at home.
I usually do this at least once a week
'cause my son Georgio's favourite pizza is mushroom pizza.
Once I've got that in the pan, I'll go back to my pastry.
"Four single turns."
I might be doing double turns.
I'm very confused with lamination.
That's it.
Turns done.
I will save this now until later.
Bakers, you are halfway through.
- What was that? - That was free from comedy.
We're good at that.
Jeez, already?
"Number four: Add the lentils, miso, flaxseed,
lemon juice, parsley, sage and thyme."
That's quite a complex recipe.
Mmm! Tasty!
Miso! Hello, old friend.
This is different from this morning's,
but I guess this is what gives it the meaty flavour
that you miss from actual meat.
Parsley, sage and thyme.
Do they do sausage rolls much in Italy?
Ah, yes! They call them differently. They're called rustici.
- Ru rustici? - Rustici.
- Rustici.
- Good enough!
Rustici! Rustici!
- Don't do the-- - Rustici!
- There you go. - Rustici.
Everybody make your rustici!
Rustici!
I love the voice.
That's my mixture done. I'm happy with that.
Let's get this pastry out and rolled out.
We have to carve eight rectangles 10 centimetres by 15 out of this.
So it needs to be relatively thin.
Damn it! Is that not enough pastry?
At this point, it's just getting stuff done, isn't it?
It's dodgy as, but it's eight.
I've got off-cuts. See what I can do with this.
For God's sake, come on, Crystelle!
"Cut ten diagonal slits
through the top half of the pastry rectangle."
Six seven
Eight nine ten.
I'm gonna start makin' the sausage rolls now.
Gross.
I was gonna measure this out, but I don't have time.
This is not gonna look neat.
It is very rushed.
And seal. I mean, this is shoddy, isn't it?
Paul's going to be, like, "The crimp on that is awful."
Have you made vegan sausage rolls before?
Yeah, me little sister is, like, a veggie vegan.
- Is she? - Yeah, she's dead cool.
All the dead-cool kids are vegan, aren't they?
- Yeah. - Are you vegan?
- No. - Okay.
I'll leave it there.
All right, glaze. One tablespoon of almond milk,
and one tablespoon of agave,
which I'm gonna eyeball. There.
Why do I always end up rushing in this?
Ah Ooh!
Goin' in.
They'll have to go in.
I mean, they're disgustingly ugly.
I'll check after 20.
Until they're brown.
That's a bit of a rush.
You have half an hour left.
Half an hour. Let's go, go, go, go.
"Make the caramelised red onion chutney."
More choppin'.
- Sizzle. - Balsamic vinegar.
I haven't made a chutney. Not so sure about the flavour.
- How much chilli does it say? - I did a whole chilli.
- One red chilli, finely chopped. - I don't know how much to put in.
I'm gonna go with that much.
Oh! Ooh.
Spicy chutney.
It needs to get all gooey and sticky. How long have we got?
Bakers, you have ten minutes left.
They're rising. That's a good sign you've done something right.
My pastry looks like short crust pastry.
And I laminated it.
Get more colour! Get more colour!
I'm just turning the tray.
This is bad.
You didn't see it.
Bakers, you have one minute left.
That's it. Coming out.
I'm doing it!
Yeah, looks done to me.
Oh, yummy! Don't these look appetising? Oh, dear, oh, dear.
They're done. So, another try.
These ones look better.
Hot! Hot! Hot! Hot! Hot!
It looks and tastes good.
I'd eat that.
Bakers, your time is up!
Nightmare.
Please bring your bakes to the table
and place them behind your photograph.
Paul and Prue are looking for eight crisp and beautifully laminated
vegan sausage rolls.
Made with vegan rough puff pastry,
and served with caramelised onion chutney.
- Bit of a mixed bag, isn't it? - Let's start with this one?
There should be a better glaze on the top.
I'm happy with the colour. It's very thin.
But they've sealed the edges as well as the front.
- The flavour is okay. Good balance. - Mmm.
Actually, the um, onion chutney is good as well.
I like the mixture inside because it's crumbly and soft. Lovely!
Okay, moving on to these pasties.
I mean, they're meant to look like sausage rolls.
It's a bit rough and ready.
The flavour's not bad, actually. Did get a mouthful of nuts.
The onion chutney looks good.
I think the vegan shortening has run out of it.
So it's rather tough.
I know, there's a lot of chilli in that.
My nose is running 'cause of the chilli.
Wow! Milk, please!
You can have some oat milk.
Happy with the chilli.
That's a lot of chilli. Right.
This one is a lot better looking.
I think these are flat, but they all look pretty much the same.
Problem is the seals are so big.
Good mushroom flavour.
Mmm! Mushroom flavour is there.
I think they're a bit overbaked.
- A bit dry. - Mmm.
Moving on, this one is definitely overbaked.
- But the lamination is quite good. - Yeah, the lamination you can see.
It's definitely overbaked, but the flakiness is excellent.
It's dried out the interior, so it's drawn the moisture out from the mushroom.
On to the last one.
- They're a bit big and clumsy. - They are.
- The colour looks nice. - Mmm.
- It's a bit dry. - I like the flavour.
- It is okay. - It is herby, but I like it.
Okay.
Paul and Prue will now rank the vegan sausage rolls
from worst to first.
In fifth place, we have this one.
Crystelle, not good shape, not good glaze, too much chilli.
- Crystelle, come here a minute. - Oh, good God.
- You want me to try that chutney? - He'll give you a handful.
- I actually did, I-- - Did you try it?
- I kept the seeds in. - You want more than that.
Oh.
I did try it.
I mean, I'm okay with spice but--
Oh, I wish I had your timing.
I apologise.
In fourth spot, we have this one.
It's a bit of a mess, Jurgen.
It's all over the place. It's too thick and untidy.
Third place, we have this one.
Lizzie, they all look quite good.
But they are very overbaked.
Second, we've this one.
Giuseppe, it's not bad.
They're just too flat and you've used too much seam.
It needs to be bolder and a thinner seam.
Which means, this one is in the first place.
It looks good, it tastes good.
It's moist inside and the chutney is lovely.
Bravo!
And the winner gets to eat all of Crystelle's chilli.
Oh, my God, first! I feel like I've got a full house now.
I've got a handshake, I've got a Star Baker,
first in the Technical.
I'm well happy. I needed that after this morning.
Not my finest hour.
I feel like I'm definitely in the running to go home.
But I just hope and pray tomorrow is a better day for me.
It's pretty level. Even playing field, yet again.
So it all counts on tomorrow.
It's exciting, isn't it?
That was a Technical
in which you weren't very happy with anyone, were you?
This was the week we needed Freya, really.
She'd have loved doing that.
The Signature over all was good. They all did well.
But, for me, at the front is, of course, Giuseppe.
He's the one to beat.
I mean, the likes of Chigs, who did well in the Technical, could catch up.
But Giuseppe, if he drops it, they're all going to be on him.
The problem is, I can't see Giuseppe taking his eye off the ball.
Who's in trouble?
Both Lizzie and Crystelle, coming into the Showstopper,
are the ones down at the bottom.
Crystelle is just so erratic.
She could be a bit more consistent instead of genius or terrible.
But Lizzie is almost determined to not be neat.
And I want to strangle her because she's a good baker,
- she's great-- - Be good TV.
- You must stop killing people. - Strangling the baker.
We've talked about this.
Hello, bakers. Welcome back to the tent.
It's time for your Showstopper Challenge.
For your Free-From Showstopper Challenge,
the judges would like you to create a visually spectacular, gluten-free
celebration cake.
It needs to be beautifully decorated,
and your cake must have at least two tiers.
Like the two tears I shed for my gluten brothers
who've been cast aside for the wants and vagaries of fashion.
You have four hours.
- On your marks. - Get set.
Please do bake.
The gluten-free revolution began in the 1950s,
when it was linked to a host of medical conditions.
My sister-in-law, she's intolerant to gluten,
so she avoids it as much as possible.
Gluten can be found in all flour made with barley, rye and wheat.
A sponge traditionally uses plain flour. They haven't got that option,
so they've got to think, "What flour am I going to use?"
You can do all sorts of flours,
but because they don't have gluten,
they tend to make a cake that easily breaks apart
and it's quite a good idea to give it more solidity
by adding quite a lot of eggs and butter.
There is a lot of eggs on the go today.
Twenty-five? It's an omelette cake, basically.
I expect the texture to be the same as a traditional cake.
They really need to bring their A-game to get through to that semi final
and get a chance to get into the final this year.
- Hi, Crystelle. - Hi, good morning.
Tell us about your gluten-free celebration cake.
It's dedicated to my grandma,
who's celebrating a very big birthday this year.
Before my sister's engagement, she planned out her dress for my sister's wedding,
and hanging on the back of her door.
So, I'm going to pipe my grandma's cascading dress.
- Goodness. - Wow.
Going all out, cause I'm on thin ice,
and I really want to prove myself and stay.
As well as an ambitious full-length gown piped in buttercream,
Crystelle is sandwiching Jaggery creme pat between her gluten-free sponges,
flavoured with coconut, walnut and cardamom.
This is cardamom from home which has been roasted and ground to a fine powder.
Here we've got rice flour.
I've found that rice flour, funnily enough, works okay,
so I just went with rice flour in the end.
To make their sponges,
most of the bakers are using a gluten-free alternative
to traditional flour.
Coconut flour absorbs liquid like mental.
And for fluffiness, are mixing in a key additive.
So this is Xanthum gum.
Clearly, I know loads about it. I can't pronounce the stinking thing.
It's a natural product.
And it acts as a stabiliser and a binder.
Like gluten in wheat flour.
But for his gluten-free creation
I've tried to stay away from the additives and tricks you can use.
Mostly because I'm not familiar with them.
Giuseppe has a different strategy altogether.
I'm using a recipe which is naturally gluten-free.
It doesn't include any flour.
But, by whipping the egg white separately,
I'm incorporating a bit more air and giving it more fluffiness.
His plan to go flour-free is a risk,
but it's not just the sponge that may fall flat
if he doesn't get the gluten-free version of Black Forest Gateau just right.
As far as I know,
the Black Forest is Paul's favourite cake and Prue doesn't really like it
Oh.
so I've put myself in a very awkward position.
You've split the judges, which is definitely the right thing to do.
On week eight.
- Good luck. - Wedge them out.
Yikes.
Like Giuseppe
I'm going to add the apple cider vinegar now.
You won't get the acidity of the vinegar, you'll get a background of it.
Won't be like your fish and chips.
Chigs is also pinning his hopes on a gluten-free version of a popular classic.
I'm making a two-tiered red velvet cake.
So, my cousin is gluten-free. He's been gluten-free for,
I think, about two years now.
So, he was my guinea pig for this cake.
I got a good review from him.
So, it's all riding on him for this to turn out well.
Featuring an ornate filigree chocolate collar,
his two-tier red velvet cake will be filled with strawberry jam
and alternating layers of chocolate and vanilla cream-cheese frosting.
- Are you fan of free-from baking? - I don't know how I feel about it.
- Really? - It's all right.
I'd rather have the full-fat stuff.
So, I'm doing two tiers,
and each tier I've got three layers of sponge.
So, six layers of sponge in total.
With multiple sponges
So, these are all going to go in.
each requiring a different bake time
These should be done within 30 minutes.
That's going to take another 15 minutes on top cause it's a thicker cake.
anything less than total precision,
and they can kiss goodbye to cakes with a uniform texture.
So, they're going at 160, for 25 minutes.
I'm gonna have to rotate them.
But for his super-size Showstopper
I'm going for the three tiers.
it's even more of a challenge for Jurgen.
So, white chocolate, milk chocolate and dark chocolate.
That means three sponges of each colour for each tier.
Means nine sponges.
I calculated for 80 people.
It's going to be really big.
To up the chocolate ante even further,
Jurgen will be separating his sponges with chocolate buttercream
and decorating with chocolate ombre, and a chocolate ganache drip.
My inspiration is my wife.
She loves chocolate cakes and she's
always screaming for the perfect chocolate cake for her birthday.
So, this is inspired by that.
While Jurgen's out to impress his wife and the judges
with the sheer size of his Showstopper,
Lizzie is taking a more philosophical approach.
I'm celebrating being different. It'll be a representation of my brain.
Because I've got quite a few SEN issues.
SEN is special educational needs.
Dyslexic, dyspraxic, ADHD and concentration disorder.
I think people who are slightly different need to be celebrated,
and represented.
I just love the idea of it all being your personality. It's great.
And the decorations also, you know, like the '70s shag rugs that you get.
- Yeah. - That's what it's going to look like.
Rice paper thins
covered with a jumble of letters and numbers to represent Lizzie's dyslexia
will protrude from two tiers of coconut flour sponge
filled with pineapple jam
and coated in a kaleidoscopic shag pile of Italian Meringue Buttercream.
You know, like, brain force, like I get a lot of brain force,
that's what that's meant to represent.
Concentrate on your decoration, your finesse. All right?
It's gonna be my brain. There's gonna be no finesse to it.
- Organised chaos. - That's fine.
Cake should be ready.
I'm coming out.
With numerous bakes to juggle
I think Cake Tetris.
For another two minutes.
and a long list of fillings and decorations to get ready
Cream cheese, 400 grams, come on. There you are, that'll do.
the bakers now face a multitasking minefield.
Got the cake baking in the oven,
so I'm also making the cherry jam.
You can't have a Black Forest without some kirsch.
Coming out and going in.
But nobody is feeling the pressure more than Jurgen
One.
who is yet to make all his cake batter.
Two.
Three.
So, I need to keep my head together.
I'm going to whisk up my third sponge, which is my chocolate sponge.
This is jaggery, which is from my grandma.
It's almost like a really dark brown sugar.
I use it a lot when I'm cooking just to sweeten curries and stuff.
- Week 8, quarter finals. - Yeah.
You have a good Showstopper, you're in the semi finals.
It is absolutely mad.
You can do it, as well. You've got skills.
Noel, this is the nicest you've ever been to me.
I'm really shocked. Usually it's, "Why are you here?"
- I know you respond to a bit of banter. - I do. I am, my--
If I said to Jurgen, you know, "Why are you here?"
"Because I'm an efficient, powerful scientific baker."
"Why are you here?"
And I'd go, "Good point. I'd better get my coat."
Right. This is the last of my cakes now.
That's cooled.
Oh, so hot.
There's no more baking left to do.
So now it's all about stuff cooling down and decorating.
Last three.
It's about time.
Bakers, you have one hour left.
What's happening here?
Oh, we're free from the tent.
Oh.
It's nice out here. The nature.
Nice.
Shall we strip off?
Again?
- Yeah. - Yeah.
All right, I'm gonna start building now.
It looks baked.
It is, uh, chewy inside, which is what it's supposed to be.
There's another plate spinning. I'm coming out.
Cooling times are usually the limiting times.
Oh, it's going to be tight.
Okay. That is pineapples, jam and lime.
It is the chocolate cream cheese
and it's not runny, which I'm really cool about.
So these are amarena, black sour cherries. They're very flavoursome and powerful,
so if you put too many,
you might end up pushing the balance of flavour a bit too far.
Cake number two.
This is whiskey and apricot.
Look at you go!
Whoops. Sorry.
No, it's all right. I'm-- It's very refreshing.
It's not the worst thing to be sploshed on.
No. No, I can definitely think of worse things.
- Yeah? - Yeah.
Right. I need to decorate the hell out of it,
which is going to take me about ten years.
It's going to be all covered up in mirror glaze.
I want to see loads of colour.
And then, like, very textured.
I love a good rose.
This is going to be a messy exercise.
It is very satisfying, isn't it?
So, this is the ganache for the chocolate drips
on the bottom layer.
It's all the things going on in me brain.
Some people think, ADHD,
you gotta be crazy, you know, loads of energy,
but it's like you've got too many thoughts in your head
and you don't actually know what to think about.
So it's all about colour and, you know, like brain fuzz.
Looks like a tricky stage.
Better for my presence.
Absolutely.
You might not believe it, but you are a calming influence.
That's never been said before.
Oh, that's a bit wonky, isn't it?
- And this is the second tier. - Oh, it's the second-- Wow.
How big is your cake?
- It's big. - Big.
You can get inside it?
- Ah, not quite. - You're gonna ride it in?
Oh, I'm not gonna talk now,
'cause I don't wanna get blamed for that when that goes
This is stressful territory, but I'm just gonna Oops.
go on as quick as I can.
Bakers, you have 15 minutes left.
I feel like I need to hurry up a bit.
Wow. I'm feeling so nervous.
What's wrong with me? Stop it.
Pipe faster.
Right. So, that's the bodice.
This chocolate is for the colour.
That will get wrapped around the top layer of the cake.
I have to tidy up the edges with lots of Chantilly cream.
You understand why you see me move very fast?
Yeah? I'm on track.
My grandma,
she hasn't had many opportunities to wear a nice dress.
So I think this will be almost like the dress that she never got to wear.
Do you think this counts as finesse?
So, I need the ganache to run down the sides of the cake.
Nerve-wracking bit now.
Shall I just move it from A to B? I'm gonna have to.
There's a breeze. I'll wait for it to go
because it's gonna knock over my cake, I can just feel it.
How much time left?
Bakers, you have one minute left.
Oh, come on.
- I've gotta peel this off now. - The breeze is still there.
Unfortunately, I can't move until that breeze has gone.
Gotta put the decorating strawberries on top.
Finished in a hurry, huh?
We are staying very still.
Bakers, your time is up.
Done. Drop mic.
Please step away from your bakes.
I feel like I've done a gymnastics routine.
It looks unbelievable. Look how neat that is.
It's supposed to be my grandma's dress.
What! Your grandma's got a dress like that?
- Well, not that - Go on, Gran.
Well done, everybody.
Who thought I could decorate a cake like that?
God, I'm getting emotional. I'm so bloody proud of you.
- Don't start crying, I'll cry. - I'm not gonna cry.
- I will cry. - Oh, bless you.
After four hours making gluten-free celebration cakes
with a place in the semi finals at stake,
the bakers now face the judgment of Paul and Prue.
Crystelle, would you like to bring your Showstopper up here?
Gotta go for it.
Try not to walk like an idiot.
It's a great-looking cake.
It's quite witty, too. I like the little bodice.
- Thank you. - Shall we see inside?
Love the roses.
- Think you've done a great job with that. - Thank you.
Mmm. I love the texture.
- It's quite nutty and moist. - Mmm-hmm.
You wouldn't know it's a gluten-free cake at all.
No. The bake is beautiful.
It's the whole coating and the icing go beautifully with the sponge.
If I have one criticism,
I think that it's very heavy on the buttercream.
But you need that against the cardamom.
If you get a mouthful like that
Oh, I don't know, I like that.
You'd be perfectly happy with it.
I think you've done a great job.
-Well done. Thank you. - Thank you so much.
Very neat. Very beautiful.
I don't know.
It's the top, it's just a little bit awkward for me.
It hides a lot when you pipe like this.
Oh, okay.
My cake is inspired to the flavours of the Black Forest,
that is, cherry, chocolate and, uh, cream.
It's actually a bit gluey.
Kirsch and the cherries are very strong.
The cherries are pretty sporadic.
The sponge is quite stodgy.
- Is this a Chantilly? - Yes.
I would have done an Italian meringue. That would've worked beautifully well.
Underwhelmed.
- Mmm. - Mmm.
I expected better from you.
I do think it looks great.
- Thank you. - You got good drops
on your naked cake down at the bottom.
The colour's worked. It's a nice job. It looks like a crown.
There's a lot of detail in it. It's really impressive, isn't it?
Let's see if we can chop into this bad boy, shall we?
The layers are lovely and distinct.
I love it.
It's spot-on. It's a great chocolate sponge.
And, actually, you've got a lot of buttercream in there.
- Mmm. - But it works.
Cream-cheese frosting again, that's, like, cooling on the tongue.
That's a nice cake.
I can't fault it. I think it's lovely.
- Thank you. - Great job, Chigs.
- Thank you very much. - Well done.
Who knew right at the beginning
that you could produce that in the quarter finals?
I know. Thank you very much. Appreciate it.
I would have never known that was a chocolate cake.
I think it looks absolutely beautiful.
The whole effect with the drips you've got
are all perfect and so is the piping.
- Oh, that looks so beautiful. - Wow!
That apricot with the chocolate sponges
is beautiful. It's really nicely baked.
- It's not dry at all. - Mmm-Hmm.
I also think the buttercream is beautifully light.
- Thank you very much. - Well done.
- Well done, JÃ¼rgs.
- Matches his T-shirt. - Yeah.
Ombre T-shirt.
Well done. Really good.
This is my celebration of being different.
I mean, that is just amazing.
And the rice paper offshoots are just so beautifully done.
Look at the tiny little letters and numbers.
I love it. It reminds me of something from the cartoon The Yellow Submarine.
I've never seen a cake like it. I don't think any of us have.
So, it's a lime Swiss meringue and a coconut cake with pineapple jam.
You really need to eat the buttercream with it
because the pineapple is very strong and there's a lot of it.
I do get a hint of the lime. And you need that in there.
You've got the coconut in the sponge as well,
which you can taste.
- Yes, the coconut's good. - And you've got the pineapple.
I'd have that on my 40th any day.
When it eventually comes round.
Okay.
- I think it's wonderful. - We asked for exquisite and finesse.
And we got it.
I knew you could do it.
- Thank you. - Ta.
Well done.
It's just fantastic.
- Oh, my God! - I know.
Oh, my God. Finesse!
I got finesse.
I've won Bake Off in my mind.
I don't know how I'm doing this.
Paul's comment was that he couldn't fault it.
So, really overwhelming.
Happy, really happy.
Mine was a bit of a disaster.
I think that puts me, you know, in an awkward position,
despite having done quite well yesterday.
I'm not sure what to expect, to be honest.
I'm very happy that went well, but I don't feel safe at all.
I'll cross my fingers, my toes, say a prayer.
And, hopefully, my grandma, who I dedicated my cake to,
is saying a prayer for me, too.
Wow. The world has turned upside down.
Four extraordinary Showstoppers and Giuseppe didn't really impress you.
- The middle was no good at all. - It was stodgy.
But I think, ultimately, Giuseppe was in a strong position anyway.
Giuseppe had done enough prior to these two challenges to save himself.
- Yeah. I think Giuseppe's safe. - What about Jurgen?
Those layers of the white, milk and dark chocolate.
- Clever. - And they were beautifully done.
- It was a delicious cake. - So he's gotta be in line for Star Baker.
Absolutely. And I think Jurgen stepped up, but he's not the only one.
Chigs. The cream cheese frosting, the buttercream,
the sponge itself.
- Beautiful. - This was a faultless cake.
Well, let's talk about Lizzie's.
She made a cake and a pet at the same time.
The time she spent, you know, creating that bear rug,
we all knew she could come up with something with finesse.
- I think she's done it. - It's a complete triumph.
Now, Crystelle came into today in trouble.
Did she do enough with her Showstopper?
Problem is, everybody else has done the same.
They've all done really well.
But Crystelle and Lizzie are absolutely neck and neck.
I think you've got to look at it, generally, as bakers,
which one deserves their place in the semi final?
Well, bakers, you have made the judges' lives quite difficult this week
because all five of you are terrific bakers
and all five of you have had moments of real excellence in the tent this week.
But we do have to separate you.
And I'm lucky in that I have the job of telling you
which one of you is going to be Star Baker.
I'm delighted to say that Star Baker this week is
Chigs.
- Well done. - Well done!
I've got the horrible job of announcing the person who's going home.
And, as Matt said, it was so close.
You've all been so fantastic.
The person who's leaving us is
Lizzie.
No. No. No. No. No, no, no, no, no, no!
I feel really proud of myself. I'm really happy. Oh, God.
I was so overwhelmed to even get here and now I'm, like, a quarter finalist.
And now I'm dead Scouse 'cause I'm crying.
- Bloody Technical Challenges. - You were so good.
Thanks. Oh, God.
It's such an amazing experience,
oh, to, like, meet the people that I've met and, like,
learn everything.
You did really well.
It's really sad to see Lizzie go, someone from my neck of the woods.
She's been a bit up and down over the weeks,
but, actually, this week, she did really well.
The problem was she came up with an ace when everybody else did as well.
I am proud of myself. It's, like, happy tears.
I can't wait to go and walk my dog, to be honest.
I can't believe I got a Star Baker.
Getting one was brilliant, but getting two? Wow!
It feels good
and I just get more and more confident week on week.
Semi final of The Great British Bake Off.
I don't think it's going to sink in for a while.
Semi finals!