Boo!
Hello, Freddie Mercury!
Hello, David Bowie or Bow-wee or--
- Either's fine. I never knew myself. - Hmm.
You come down for the show?
Yeah, yeah, I come every year as it goes, yeah.
It's nice being a ghost,
'cause you don't have to wait for it to come on TV.
You can be invisible, go in the tent and watch it as it happens.
Exactly. And if you want to get involved, just knock a cake over.
Bit of fun.
- You do that? - Do you remember Sura?
- Oh, last year, with Dave? - Yeah, that was me.
Oh, very good! Very good.
- Hello, Elvis Presley. - All right, guys?
- Have I missed anything? - No, it's about to start.
Oh, hello, Buddy Holly.
I'm Prue Leith.
Oh, sorry, you look just like my mate Buddy Holly.
Stop messing about, boys, and start the show.
Sorry, Buddy. I mean, Prue.
Welcome to The Great British Baking Show.
Hey-o!
This time
with places in the final up for grabs
You want this so bad it's eating you up inside.
the bakers must produce impeccable patisserie
We're certainly stepping outside of the home-baking skills.
with a multi-layered Signature
Oh, God! I feel like I'm giving birth.
a fiendishly French Technical
I ain't got a clue what's going on.
and an epic five-hour Showstopper
that pushes the bakers
God, please don't fall.
Let's see how it fits.
to breaking point.
Oh, my Lord! I don't think I can take much more of this.
Clearly, the least capable baker.
Most likely to go out this week, patisserie's not really my thing.
But enough of the negativity.
I just need to enjoy it, 'cause the worst that could happen is
I go out as a semi-finalist and that's not too shabby.
- It's nice and quiet. - Yeah, I know.
Eerily quiet.
I'm not surprised I'm standing here.
I'm shocked that I'm standing here.
I had to buy new clothes
I didn't expect to make it this far.
Of course it would be extremely exciting to be in the final.
Patisserie Week. The tasting grade should play to my strengths.
The "looking" grade, that's where I need to hone my skills.
This week, I do feel a bit out my depth.
In the practice tent, I made the mistake of looking at the others' bakes.
It was like, "Oops, what have I got myself into?"
Hello, bakers. Welcome back to the tent,
and congratulations for reaching the semi-final.
For your semi-final Signature Challenge,
the judges would like you to bake eight patisserie-style layered slices.
Your layered slices need to be identical,
and, when cut into, they should hold their form,
displaying those beautiful layers.
The judges will be looking for technically flawless, high-end bakes.
Basically, you just have to make Pat Isserie very proud.
Who's Pat Isserie?
He's a plumber from Bolton. He loves this show.
Oh, that's nice!
Hi, Pat, if you're watching.
You have three hours.
- On your marks. - Get set.
Bake!
The judges are expecting flawless, patisserie-style slices.
They must have been looking for words that would scare the hell out of us.
You can't afford to make any mistakes in any part,
and I make a lot of mistakes.
I love Patisserie Week
it gives the bakers a chance to show how skilful they can be.
Going on for the semi-final.
Going to measure ingredients precisely and not lose track of what I'm doing.
We're asking for eight identical layered slices.
I think there's going to be nine layers in total.
We want those lines to be visible, clear and absolutely impeccable.
This is all about finesse. Exquisite flavours.
This is my yuzu curd.
It's a kind of cross between a grapefruit and a lemon.
It is a bit of a risk.
The four bakers, they've all had a handshake,
and they've all been Star Baker at least once.
So, we do have the best of the best in the tent at the moment.
- Hello, Crystelle. - Good morning.
Crystelle, tell us about your Signature slices.
It's got coconut and black sesame dacquoise,
a yuzu curd, black sesame and almond Joconde,
and a white chocolate and coconut Italian meringue buttercream,
and those layers are repeated.
Then a layer of white chocolate ganache
piped with whipped cream.
- Very simple. - Very, very simple.
Crystelle is going way beyond the three layers demanded by the brief.
She'll use sesame to flavour not just her four layers of sponge,
but a caramel brittle that sits on piped Chantilly cream,
designed to help balance the sharp yuzu curd.
You're one step from the final.
You have to think about that
but you have to put that right out of your mind.
I don't want to feel pressure. I want to bake and enjoy it.
What else do you want? World peace?
- And a full-body massage. - World peace, er,
an end to the pandemic.
That's an absolute lie.
You want this so bad, it's eating you up inside.
- Well - Anyway, good luck. Bye-bye.
All of the bakers are including a whisked sponge called a Joconde.
A Joconde is just with egg whites and a bit of fat.
And some sort of nut put through it, so you could have almond or pistachio.
There is no leavening agent,
so you wanna make sure you put enough air into both your whites and your yolks.
This looks perfect to me.
This now has the flour and almonds.
You just want to be gentle, but quick.
If you're too rough, it won't rise, 'cause you knock all the air out.
This is going in the oven immediately.
It's a very thin sponge, so it cooks very quickly.
And in my notes it says, "Watch."
Big mistake! Big mistake!
Big mistake!
- Giuseppe, good morning. - Good morning, guys.
What have you done here?
I just put my batter into the oven for baking,
and realised the flour is here.
Well, at least you realised before.
- Phew! - Tell us all about your layered slice.
My layered slice
is inspired to a quintessential Italian cake which is tiramisu.
Bravo!
Giuseppe's giving his tiramisu slice a twist with a layer of sultanas
stewed in Marsala wine between the traditional coffee-soaked sponges,
and mascarpone pÃ¢tÃ© Ã bombe.
He'll be hoping no other ingredients are forgotten.
How can you possibly forget to add flour to your batter?
This is the tension playing tricks on me.
At least Giuseppe only has one sponge to contend with.
I'm toasting my desiccated coconut before I add it to my dacquoise.
Crystelle is making life doubly difficult,
incorporating a second baked layer to her slices.
Once I've got the baked elements and the buttercreams and curds done,
it's then a case of assembly.
Now, I'm doing a billion things at once.
Happens to me all the time, man.
You're coming out.
Good texture.
Five more minutes. I'm gonna overbake it a bit
I'm gonna soak it in syrup, so it can hold its integrity.
I am making a raspberry and chocolate slice.
I want to make sure the flavour of the raspberry comes across
more than the chocolate, 'cause chocolate can be overpowering,
but I want that raspberry to punch them round the face.
With a slender layer of chocolate ganache
sandwiched between Joconde sponges,
supporting a raspberry mousse, thin coating of raspberry jelly,
and delicate decorations,
Chigs' slices will be the epitome of Parisian elegance.
Over the weeks, you've got better in your finesse.
- This should play to your new strengths-- - Fingers crossed.
If you want to get through to the final, only one person can do that.
Just me. I know.
- Good luck. - Thank you, guys. Appreciate it.
- Good luck. - Cheers, Matt.
That meant a lot, that they've noticed my finishing is getting better.
But the pressure's there definitely now.
I can't get him saying that, and then me make an absolute mess of this.
It's called "Murder at the Opera."
A variation of the opera cake.
Chigs isn't the only baker with a blood-red theme to his slices.
My wife came up with the name.
She tasted the beetroot, thought it was crazy,
er, but then really liked it.
JÃ¼rgen's opera cake-style slices will feature two buttercreams,
beetroot and cassis,
separated by coffee liqueur-soaked Joconde layers,
coated in a chocolate glaze and pierced by tuile daggers.
I like the opera. Probably my most favourite
is Alban Berg's Wozzeck it's multi-layered.
It has a lot of hidden things, bit like my bakes.
Gonna take out these bad boys.
It's got a nice crust, which is good it will stop it from going soggy.
Gonna get my mousse on the go.
How long we got left now?
Hey, Matt. Can my friend do the time call?
- Sure. - Introducing Sharky Sharkerson.
You ready, Sharky? This is your big moment.
They'll do what you gotta say, go!
Hello, bakers. You're halfway through the challenge.
By the way, I'd like to say, sharks get a very bad rap.
All right, that's enough.
Unbelievable. I told him to stick to the script and project.
Bakers, you're halfway through.
In classic patisserie style,
the judges are expecting silky-smooth soft-set elements
to complement the sponge layers.
My meringue is turning into meringue buttercream,
'cause I'm throwing in lots and lots of butter.
Three of the bakers are making meringue-based creams
A pÃ¢tÃ© Ã bombe is Italian meringue made with yolks rather than whites.
that require heating to pasteurise the eggs.
- How do you know when that's done? - When it's at 60 degrees.
Forty-five.
Fifteen to go!
This is television.
It's a time-consuming step that Chigs has decided to avoid.
In the mousse, I've got raspberry puree, sugar and gelatin leaves,
and whipping cream.
And he's already started constructing his layers.
It'll go in the freezer for the initial chill. I'll take it out,
put my jelly on it, leave it in the fridge for half an hour, 40 minutes.
De-mould it, cut it, decorate it.
That's it. Finished.
That's gonna go in the freezer now.
Fifty-two, 53--
Excruciating.
I'm blending the mascarpone cream
into the pÃ¢tÃ© Ã bombe.
I feel like we did that together. I hope we get to the final.
- Yes. - We're now a baking duo, right?
- We're a baking duo, yes. - Like Batman and Robin.
I feel like you're Batman and I'm definitely Robin.
Yeah, that's good.
I'm dividing up the buttercream to flavour it.
Beetroot pulp.
I'm murdering my buttercream.
Time is getting tight.
The cooling down of the elements is holding me back.
- What's going on in there? - That is sultanas drying out.
It doesn't look appealing at the moment.
Yes, a bit like a poo-ey porridge at the moment.
I didn't want to say that but
- Well, I didn't. - that"s-- Oh, okay.
While the rest of the bakers start to assemble their layers
Oh, God!
Chigs is already working on his finishing touches.
That's about a millimetre, maybe two millimetres, of jelly,
so that should set pretty quickly.
I'm not gonna lie, I will be gutted if I got kicked out now.
If it's rubbery, or the ganache is too thick,
the sponge isn't cooked properly, then you're out, pretty much.
Bakers, you have half an hour left.
- You're done? - I've got to decorate it.
- I have to wait for this. - How long is the chilling time?
As long as I can get.
Just need to be careful here.
Yeah, boy.
Right. Freezer.
The sultanas are not as cold as I'd like them to be.
But I can't wait.
It smells really good. I'm looking forward to try this one.
These are the little decorations to go on top.
Caramel and sesame seeds.
It's ridiculous when you think about this in the cold light of day.
A man making chocolate triangles
to impress an orange man with very blue eyes.
- Think about that, let that sink in. - Fair enough.
This is tuile paste.
We don't know what the murder is,
we just have the evidence as blood and dagger.
I'm gonna need ten minutes to do the final assembly,
so can you give me the ten minutes call?
Going in.
And I really have to watch that. It's so easy to burn.
I wanna get it out.
Bakers, you have ten minutes left.
This is very close.
The bakers have been told to ensure their slices are identical.
Going well so far.
I think that one's going well-er than that one.
Yeah, this bit here These are the things they'll pick up on.
It's making me angry thinking about them picking up on that.
If they do pick up on that, I'll sweep Paul's legs.
Like I'm in Cobra Kai.
It's cutting okay.
Oh, God! I feel like I'm giving birth.
Sorry, not that I've ever done that before.
Now is the main bit, just wanna make sure they're all the same size.
Commit to the cut.
Oh, yes.
Come on, cack-handed Lil, you can do this.
Look at that one. That's a good one, innit?
This should be fine. I'm shaking.
You have one minute left!
I can't stop shaking.
It should go like that.
The buttercream isn't as set as I wanted.
And they're not exactly the same size.
The more I look at them, the more I'm not happy with them.
Neat enough, I think.
Bakers, your time is up!
Yeah, just a second.
Please place your slices at the end of your stations.
You all right?
Mamma mia!
The bakers' layered slices are ready to be judged
by Prue and Paul.
- Chigs. - Hi.
- It looks good, Chigs. - Thank you.
I like them a lot. You've managed to create nice, sharp lines.
- Very Parisian. - Making my mouth water.
emm, I like the sponge in there. The sponge is good.
I think you've got just enough chocolate there to marry it with the raspberry.
- Mmm. - Are you serious?
Absolutely.
Thank you.
I was a bit nervous that chocolate is quite strong.
Then I took it with the raspberry, and it's perfect.
- Yeah. - So, that was all right, then.
- Well done. - Thank you very much.
- Thank you, Chigs. - Thank you, guys.
- Not bad. - Thank you.
Very nice, JÃ¼rgen. The layers look stark, sharp.
The daggers make it,
'cause it does look very different from a traditional opera cake.
Thank you.
I think that's sensational.
- Thank you. - The textures are absolutely perfect.
I like it, but I don't love it.
The flavour I do get is coffee. And a bit of chocolate.
I cannot taste anything else.
Beetroot will bring colour and sweetness, but it won't bring flavour.
Textures are spot-on, though, I'll give you that.
Pity I'm not the one who hands out handshakes.
- Thank you. - I'll give you two.
They're very unusual.
Really striking.
- Exotic caterpillar colours. - That's exactly what I was going for.
I hope so.
It's quite an unusual texture the dacquoise is really chewy.
Yuzu is such a beautiful flavour.
But then you're left with the sesame
and that gorgeous texture of the creams and the sponges going through there.
Oh, my God.
Well done.
Crystelle, that's absolutely deserved it's very striking.
It's absolutely delicious. It's a little bit of genius.
I've never had anything like that before.
- Well done. - Thank you so much.
- Thank you. - Well done.
- What's happening to my life? - You haven't woken up yet.
- This is a dream. - Yeah.
It's really very elegant, and looks very stylish.
the Joconde is soaked, it's so soft.
- It's just delicious. - It is.
How annoying is that?
The masala wine in there,
and the stewed sultanas gives that little bit of body to it.
Sorry, I don't understand anything you're saying.
I'm just trying to fight back
I don't think I've ever had an afternoon in the tent as satisfactory as this one.
- Wow. - Three handshakes!
- Excellent. - You're gonna have to retire.
- Well done, mate. Amazing. - Thank you.
- Sorry, JÃ¼rgen. - You got a handshake from me, all right?
I'd have given you one.
Okay.
Going from, "My slices don't look as polished
as I would have liked them to be,"
to handshake, I was ecstatic.
Well, when he took out his hand,
I just thought of my family jumping for joy
I literally told them yesterday, "This isn't going to be my week."
And they went, "Crystelle, be positive."
So I'm kind of being positive for them, really.
And I'm really happy. As a collective, we've done really well.
Don't mean nothing today, handshake don't mean anything.
Just giving them out willy-nilly.
There were three handshakes in the tent. I didn't get one.
The judges were divided.
Bottom line, I'm in trouble now.
For the bakers, the pressure of Patisserie Week is about to rise
as they face their toughest Technical yet.
Hello, bakers. Welcome back to the tent.
It's time for your Technical Challenge,
which today has been set for you by the adorable Prue.
- Prue, ay words of wisdom? - Yes. Use your time wisely.
And remember that setting and chilling are really important.
As ever, the Technical Challenge will be judged blind.
So we're gonna have to ask these two to leave the tent.
Bye-bye.
Where do you think they're going?
Prue's taking Paul to a safari park
so he can be released back in with the gorillas.
Oh. Yes, I heard about the new silverback breeding programme.
That's great.
Now, for your Technical Challenge,
Prue would love you to make a Sable Breton tart.
Your tart should consist of a Sable Breton pastry
topped with raspberry confiture and piped pistachio creme mousseline.
It must be filled with fresh berries
and decorated with gilded meringue kisses and chocolate curls.
You have two hours and 45 minutes.
On your marks.
- Get set. - Bake.
Ay, caramba. Look at all this stuff.
I've heard of Sable Breton.
I think, essentially, we know what we're doing.
I ain't got a clue what's going on.
I don't know anything they said besides pistachio and fruit.
Semi finals, then, Prue, and you've chosen a Sable Breton tart.
- It's quite complicated, isn't it? - It is.
They have to do quite a lot of things.
They've got to make a Sable Breton bottom,
which is a very thick biscuit.
And then there's a thin layer of raspberry confiture,
French for jam.
And then mousseline flavoured with pistachio.
Then the raspberries and strawberries,
meringue kisses, and curls of tempered chocolate.
So where could they go wrong with this?
They might not understand that this thing doesn't have sides.
They just cut the pastry out, plonk it in the tin to get that nice edge.
Right. That could catch them out.
And they have to watch their setting and chilling.
That creme mousseline really has to be thick enough
not to run down the sides, but soft enough to get the perfect shape.
It almost looks like a sponge.
It does.
It's buttery and light like a shortbread.
- Not as sweet as a shortbread. - No.
It's gorgeous. The French know what they're doing.
- I know. - Aren't they annoying?
I do like the mousseline, the texture's lovely, it's nice and light.
I'm not sure how the bakers are going to deal with this.
From the Sable to the mousseline,
will they be able to get their timings right? I don't know.
But it is the semi final. We know they're very good.
So, let's go and see.
So, I'm starting with the Sable dough, 'cause that needs to chill.
The first step is, "Whisk the egg yolks and caster sugar."
"Add softened butter, and then the dry ingredients."
This is fancy butter, it's Brittany butter.
I suppose that's what makes this breton tart a breton tart.
I'm just adding the dry ingredients.
I think the key here is just not to overwork the dough
like any shortcrust.
I do it by hand I can be gentler than the machine.
I want to keep the dough very short.
That's the dough done, I think.
Now, it says "chill." I don't know if I should freeze or fridge it.
I think I'm gonna put it in the fridge. It says "chill," not freeze, so
Okay. Oh.
Right. That's step one done.
- Hello. - Hi, Noel.
Well, I just thought that was wrong.
Everyone getting a handshake except for JÃ¼rgy-pops.
But I feel like you're strong enough
- I should be-- - to rise from the ashes.
I should be able to.
I just thought I'd check in, see if you're all right.
You seem fine.
You're not going to get caught up in all the hysteria, are you?
It's not your style.
- You're the jazz baker. - Hmm.
Just probably go back
and play some Miles Davis on your trombone, right?
- Something like that. - You, silhouetted against the moon--
- I'm gonna get some raspberries. - Okay, bye-bye.
Sable done. For meringue kisses, make meringue.
Okay, so one medium egg white.
Probably should've used a smaller bowl.
How is this looking?
Still really runny. I don't know if I'm doing this right.
Looks done.
I might start again.
I just feel like that's not looking like what a meringue should look like.
I'm making these very small,
'cause the smaller they are, the quicker they will be to bake.
Is there a piping nozzle here? Have they given us a nozzle?
Nope.
This looks more like the meringue we know and love.
Can't fit any more on. Let's go.
These are gonna take about--
I don't know. I'll have to keep checking.
Okay, meringue kisses are done. Right. Make the raspberry confiture.
Oh, it's a piping nozzle to make the meringue kisses.
Now they're in the oven, I can't do anything about it.
All right. Step number three, we make the raspberry confiture.
Raspberry confiture. Am I saying that right? "Confiture."
Raspberries, jam sugar and pectin.
That's just jam. Right?
Confiture is like a jam, but it's got bits of fruit.
It's a bit more rustic.
Right, okay. "Make pistachio paste and use--"
What?
"Use to make pistachio creme mousseline."
Creme mousselini. Right. emm--
Creme mousseline is creme pat, with additional butter.
I've got my egg yolks, flour and sugar here.
And I'm just tempering this with vanilla-infused milk.
This is done.
While it's still warm, I think I put the butter in.
Just going to make sure that butter all melts into there.
- Hey, Matt, how's it going? Good? - Good, thanks.
- How's it going for you? - Yeah, all right.
I'm making some sort of creme mousseline.
Named after the, er, Italian dictator Mussolini.
But that's what I thought, it was called creme Mussolini.
- They said, "No, Chigs, that's wrong." - Yeah.
How'd you feel about the handshake?
Yeah, it was good. I was happy. And then--
- Everyone else got one. - Crystelle got one.
And then he got one.
That's extraordinary. I don't think that's ever happened in the tent.
- Never? - I don't think so.
I don't watch this show.
I watch the other side.
Good.
I'm assuming that's the right stage to add the pistachio paste.
Now, it doesn't say how much to put in.
I added my pistachios to the creme mousseline.
- That is looking good. - Whack it all in.
They want pistachio taste, I'll give them pistachio.
Looks good to me. Certainly green.
Mmm, oh! Tastes really pistachio-y.
Just needs to chill now. I'll pop this in the fridge.
Bakers, you are halfway through.
Approaching one hour
that the meringue kisses have been in the oven.
Gonna take them out.
I don't want them to brown. Ah, there we go. They're done.
They're perfectly baked.
They, er, look good.
It's not really French patisserie, is it, that colour?
They're not supposed to be brown like that.
- Oh, my God, look at JÃ¼rgen's. Perfect. - I'm happy with them. Next step.
"Roll and cut the Sable dough to fit the tin."
I'm assuming this dough is gonna have to be really thin.
Just trying to gauge if the tart needs sides.
It just says, "Roll out the Sable dough and fit it in the tin."
I just don't know if it's supposed to be a sideless pastry.
I just don't know.
Do you go up the sides or just put it in the bottom?
Sable Breton is usually baked as a thick layer,
as far as I remember.
I'm not gonna do the sides.
I'm gonna roll it out so it just fits the circle.
Right.
This dough melts literally in your hands.
Right. We're in.
I expect that to bake for 25 minutes.
I'm gonna say, this thickness, about 20 minutes.
So I'm gonna be heating this at least 20 minutes.
Okay, I hope that was the right thing to do.
- But it's in now. - What was I gonna do now?
Er, chocolate.
"For chocolate decorations, using the acetate rectangles,
the long edge of the chocolate cone,
and narrow glass to make chocolate curls."
Oh, tempering chocolate. I can do that that.
Right. That needs to melt.
This is the bit. This is the magic. Watch this.
Little prayer to the chocolate god.
Please!
- And I'm not gonna touch it. - Please make me good.
I don't want the wrath of Paul Hollywood.
Look at that. Boom.
Well for now, so good so far.
Give me a shout when you're gonna put that in there
'cause I want to see that.
- Come on. - That looks okay, actually.
- What the hell? - Look at that.
You were supposed to call me back. We had a deal, an agreement.
- Sorry. I'm multitasking already. - You forgot me, didn't you?
- What do you think? - Yeah, I liked it.
But I'd have liked it more if you'd have let me watch.
It's had 20 minutes. Yeah.
Oh, man.
The sides have collapsed in.
Quite frankly, that is not patisserie standard.
I think it's looking good.
It needs to be golden, like a nice shortbread.
Right. Do I stick this in the freezer? 'Cause it needs to chill.
I want to cool this very quickly
so that I can put the fillings and the decorations on it.
Bakers, you have 15 minutes left.
"To assemble, spread remaining confiture over the Sable base"
"leaving a one-centimetre pastry border."
This looks delicious.
Just a massive Jammie Dodger, innit?
"Pipe the pistachio creme mousseline over the confiture and chill."
All right, I'm gonna wait this has not set yet.
Ooh. It's very thick.
So I'm gonna do just big fat stars.
Oh, careful.
Right. I need to chill this again. How long do we have?
Bakers, you have five minutes left.
I don't think I have time. I should just start assembling.
Now the question is, should I go for a pattern?
I think it should be a fairly random arrangement.
I'll go for a pattern.
My creme pat's not setting.
I'll just put it on. Nothing I can do about it.
Ah, I'm losing all the definition. It's turning into liquid.
There you go. Now it's time to glaze this.
Surely that's enough strawberries for that tiny little tart.
Nah, it's just not set.
Everything's just oozing back out. This needs to go in the fridge again.
Meringues. Let's get gilding.
This is gold leaf.
Look, I'm shrinking. Can you see I'm shrinking?
Oh, this is going from bad to worse.
Bakers, you have one minute left.
It looks a mess.
I can do this. I can do this.
This doesn't look like French patisserie.
Do I pipe more? Maybe I'll just do a little.
Bakers, your time is up.
That's it.
Oh, my God, I don't even think my local corner shop would sell this.
Please bring your bakes to the table and place them behind your photograph.
Prue and Paul are looking for patisserie perfection.
Each Sable Breton should have a thick, crumbly base
topped with raspberry confiture
and beautifully set pistachio creme mousseline,
elegantly decorated with fruit, gilded meringue kisses
and chocolate curls.
- They all look very different. - Hmm.
This one looks pretty.
But the base is very, very thin.
- Should be much thicker than that. - Yeah.
The baker's tried to make it like a conventional tart.
- Not flat. - Yeah.
Where's the rest of the strawberries and raspberries?
It's a little bit dense on the biscuit, but it does taste quite nice.
Moving on. From the mousseline upwards, that looks good.
But that base is very, very thin.
That looks a bit overbaked.
Let's have a look. I think it is slightly overbaked.
Actually, it tastes quite good.
Everything else is good. I'm just not happy with that biscuit.
The mousseline on this is terrible on number three.
And those meringue kisses are not well piped.
And that mousseline has not set at all has it?
This is not a proper biscuit base, it's a bit soft.
- Hmm. It's underbaked. - Mmm.
Not helped by very wet mousseline, which will make it soggy anyway.
- Hmm. - Okay.
This is very pretty.
And it has got small little Italian kisses.
I'd like to see more of a dome of the fruit.
And inside
very thin.
I think the baker's tried to make it like a conventional flan.
- Flavour's good. - Hmm.
Okay.
Prue and Paul will now rank the Sable Breton from worst to best.
All right, in last place is this one.
Chigs, underbaked, mousseline is not set.
But besides that, it's fine.
Cheers.
In third place, we have this one.
Crystelle, the biscuit is a little thin, but the flavour's nice.
In second, we have this one.
- Whose is this? - That's me.
Giuseppe, the Sable was far too thin, but the overall appearance was quite nice.
Which means, JÃ¼rgen, the biscuit base is a fraction overbaked,
but otherwise it's a very good Sable.
- Thank you. - Well done.
That went very well.
What a relief.
I certainly will sleep better tonight.
Second last is not great.
But I just didn't want to come last
that would have put me in a really scary position.
The Technical was a disaster.
That's probably my worst bake.
Out of the 26 bakes we've done, that's my worst one.
Very, very happy. Second position. Fantastic.
The first day was very positive,
which is a good position to start the second day.
The Showstopper of patisserie is very difficult.
Er, I expect a very tense day tomorrow.
I do better with my back against the wall,
so I'll come out swinging tomorrow.
There's just the Showstopper Challenge left
before Prue and Paul will decide who will be crowned Star Baker
and who'll miss out on a place in the final.
Okay.
Hello, bakers, welcome back to the tent. It's time for your Showstopper Challenge.
Yes, the judges would like you to create a spectacular themed banquet display,
comprising of at least 12 individual entremets desserts,
arranged around a beautifully crafted edible centrepiece.
You have five hours for your entremets desserts.
Minus the three and a half hours that me and Matt come 'round
and witter in your ear about any old nonsense.
- Yeah, sorry about that. - On your marks.
- Get set. - Bake!
Getting into my zone. Feeling confident to pull this off.
I'm ready to fight and do my best and enjoy it, most importantly.
It's Showstopper time,
and we've asked the bakers to produce a themed entremet display.
Now, this is going to be
one of the most difficult challenges they've ever done in the tent.
I didn't know what a flipping entremet was.
Entremet. This is not normal stuff.
An entremet is a delicate dessert.
It's layer upon layer of beautiful textures and flavours.
What I'm looking for more than anything is finesse.
When you cut into them, they must look absolutely staggeringly pretty.
We're certainly stepping outside of the home baking skills here.
It's very complex, gonna be a long day.
The bakers do have five hours,
but this is the semi finals so we want to see what they can do.
The more skills they can show us in this banquet display, the better.
Oh! Need to stop doing that to myself.
There are a few bakers fighting for their place in the final.
And I can't call who's gonna go through.
But it's gonna be interesting.
- Giuseppe, hello. - Buongiorno.
Tell us all about your entremet display.
So, my display's gonna be inspired
by a city that I've lived in for about ten years in Tuscany.
That's Pisa.
So, the centrepiece is gonna be a representation
that requires some imagination of the Leaning Tower.
Giuseppe will fashion his leaning tower
from puffed rice and marshmallow
while his domed entremet will feature a chocolate custard and cherry insert
surrounded by pine nut bavarois.
- That all sounds very Tuscan. - It does. Sounds delicious.
- That was the plan. - And have you practised this?
Er, if I'm honest, start to finish? No.
So if it comes out wonky, I got a justification.
Making a raspberry pulp.
This is the basis for my raspberry jelly as well as the raspberry Bavarian.
JÃ¼rgen, too, has been inspired by his love of architecture.
My bake is the Torii gate in the sea.
It's a Japanese gate.
Typically, they are at the entrance to Shinto temples.
And when I was young, I got a children's, er, encyclopaedia.
One picture in there that particularly fascinated me
was a picture of this Japanese temple gate.
JÃ¼rgen will construct his Torii gate from gingerbread
whilst a fleet of Japanese entremets boats will contain layers of genoise sponge,
raspberry jelly and no less than three Bavarian creams,
white chocolate, raspberry and matcha.
I occasionally love matcha, but mostly it's too strong for me.
It can be an acquired taste,
but I find when you activate the matcha,
you need to heat it to about 80 degrees in some liquid.
Does that make it milder?
It makes it milder. It takes the grassy flavour away.
Your flavour combinations are normally very good.
It's a very original idea. Lovely.
- Thank you. - Sounds amazing, good luck, JÃ¼rgen.
At five hours,
this is the longest challenge the bakers have faced so far.
I've got a lot to do today.
Entremets are about multitasking until you almost faint.
I'm building the Bavarian inserts.
The insert is the first thing that I have to start making,
'cause that needs to freeze
before I can start working on anything else around it.
- Next. - Pine nut bavarois.
Not only must every flavour pack a punch
Roasting them releases a lot of flavour.
This little bunch of pine nuts is flavouring 12 entremets.
they must also work together in perfect harmony.
This is matcha powder.
I need to make the matcha Bavarian.
Matcha flavour shouldn't be overly strong,
but it should balance the tartness of the raspberries.
But that's not all.
I've added four sheets of gelatin.
When it comes to textures, patisserie demands perfection.
The texture of Bavarois is very difficult to get right
it needs to be very soft.
But it's very easy to overdo the gelatin element
and get it too thick and rubbery.
Okay.
And, with a place in the final at stake
I am doing vanilla and coconut cremeux centres.
Crystelle's taking no chances.
When in practice I did them, they set, but I was worried they set a bit too much.
I'm going to do two almost-identical batches,
but one has just got one less sheet of gelatin.
Crystelle's vanilla and coconut cremeux centres
will be encased by mango bavarois and a punchy passion fruit jelly.
Her tropical entremets will surround a wedding-themed centrepiece
dedicated to sister Chantelle,
whose nuptials have been sadly paused by the pandemic.
- What are you making? - This is a Swiss meringue.
I'm doing a little meringue flower arch.
- Real arch, can you get under it? - Er, yeah.
- Can you limbo under it? - If you limbo really far down.
You look like you're dressed to limbo.
Yeah, I actually once won a limbo competition on holiday.
- I'm deadly serious. Of course I did. - Of course you did.
I feel like I might have limboed at a party
- and was quite good at it. - Really?
We should do a limbo-off.
If you get-- If you get to the final, we'll do a limbo-off.
Oh, well, that's not gonna happen. I mean, yeah, yeah.
Deal.
- Hi, Chigs. - Hey, Paul. Hi.
Crystelle's not the only baker
putting family at the heart of their entremets display.
My Showstopper is called, "The Apple Doesn't Fall Far from the Tree."
It's based around an apple tree my grandparents had in their garden.
We used to play around it as kids.
So my centrepiece is going to be in the shape of a tree.
Nestled under his cinnamon-biscuit apple tree,
Chigs' entremets will be filled with a caramelised apple insert,
caramel and white chocolate mousse,
and coated in a dark chocolate shell and shiny red mirror glaze.
This has never worked for me in practice.
Don't say that in front of the judges.
Why would you do it then?
It hasn't worked when I set the chocolate around it,
I put a stick in it to dip it.
When I take the stick out, it always cracks.
So, today, I've never tried it, I'm gonna use toothpicks instead.
- Good luck, Chigs. - Thank you, guys.
Do some praying.
I love that you're living on the edge.
You have to!
I have practised it, it's just something's always gone wrong.
Today is the day I need to pull it out the bag.
Bakers, you are halfway through.
I feel like my legs are getting longer, no?
No.
All the elements are done now.
I've gotta get the entremets in the freezer,
setting for as long as they can
so they hold their shape when I take them out of the moulds.
The Joconde sponge is ready.
That was close.
Mango bavarois is here. I'm gonna fill these.
Then put my cremeux inserts inside.
I put the apple pie insert in and I'm topping up with some more mouse.
The cherry's a perfect colour for this. It gives it a nice burst of flavour.
Just in the centre and it's very chewy.
The whole thing is very soft so you need something with more bite.
These seem a little bit wobbly, but--
Oh! They're set.
This is genoise sponge.
I need to set the jelly on top of this this sponge
before I can get the entremets built.
Freeze baby, freeze.
Jelly's in.
- Right. Done. - Biscuit.
Preparing the dough for my centrepiece.
It's gingerbread. It is wonderful dough to work with.
This is a simple cinnamon biscuit.
I'm gonna bake it for a bit longer so it's crispier and snappier as well.
I don't want it to be like gingerbread, where it's soft.
And while JÃ¼rgen's intricate Japanese Temple gate
requires batch-baking nearly 40 individual pieces of biscuit
Going in for ten.
I'll do this thing again.
Chigs' time-saving tree design
- The template for the biscuit. - consists of just two pieces.
Twenty minutes.
But Giuseppe and Crystelle's centrepiece
I'm making my big edible wreath.
requires no oven time at all.
This is puffed rice, the bricks and mortar of my leaning tower.
Puffed rice is very light,
so it's a good option for constructing things.
It's not heavy, so it shouldn't collapse.
With his first batch of gingerbread in the oven
and jelly layers set
Okay, here we go.
for JÃ¼rgen, entremet assembly can finally begin.
I'm very slightly behind.
I need to get the entremets frozen,
otherwise they just stick to the mould and crumble.
- What're you doing? - Hello. I am smoothing down a candle.
So, how's your bake going? Have these been baked yet?
They have been baked.
They're little doves which are going to go on top of my entremets.
I'm just putting the candle in the hole.
- emm - So it's gone in the hole.
and I'm just going to, emm, smooth it down.
Oh, my Lord, I don't think I can take much more of this.
Bakers, you have an hour left.
That's a good colour. That's a great colour,
Possibly a little bit overdone, but better overdone in this one.
Nice and stable. That's the last lot.
Now I'm smoothing out the two logs.
This will be the main tower, and that smaller one will be the top.
This is Swiss meringue.
You put two different colours in one piping bag
and out pops a little swirled beauty.
How are you, JÃ¼rgs? Nice colour.
- Wonderful, isn't it? - That is an intense red.
That's like hell.
Well, it's a gateway to something else.
- Gateway - to the final.
Is that what you're doing? Clever boy.
Might be. I don't want to put the letters on the wall, so to speak.
I feel like you're building your own metaphor.
Indeed.
If I overbake this, this whole thing can crack.
So it's a very tricky thing that I've decided to do for my structure.
We'll see how it fits.
Yeah, baby.
I hit it!
Don't worry, it's okay. Just stick it together with icing.
I need to make sure the entremets set. Need to take them out of the moulds.
They're completely frozen. They're very well set, which is good.
They feel really soft, and I don't know why,
but I'm just gonna have to go with it. Oh, God.
Just stay calm Crystelle, stay calm.
Okay.
Houston, we've got sails.
Assembly time, definitely.
This is isomalt.
I'm using it to stick my Torii gate together.
Doing a very abstract swirl. Okay, I have to glaze my entremets.
Breathe, woman. Okay.
Noel told me he thinks you look like Robert De Niro.
- Can you do the impression? - Which one?
You talking to me?
- Are you talking to me? - Is that from Taxi Driver?
Yeah, that's Taxi Driver.
- Can you do that? - I can't do the face.
- No. - I can certainly do the--
- Yeah. - Is it stuck?
Oh.
- Yeah. I'll go and get - Get it sorted out.
- Cheers. Thank you. - Good luck with your bake.
The thickness of the glaze is just right to cover everything.
Now I'm gonna dunk.
It still ain't perfect, but it's the best I've ever had it.
Engineering begins.
Going over it more than once.
I'm ruining this, jeez.
This is not going well.
JÃ¼rgen. You all good?
One piece is missing.
I'm sure I cut it out.
Without this piece, it won't go up.
How much time?
Bakers, you have half of an entire hour left.
Oh, this is going to be super tight.
This is just madness.
Just suddenly realised I have a lot to do and really not a lot of time.
- Yes. I'm happy with those. - I've gotta quickly make some apple stems.
So I'm doing pine cones, roses, leaves, made out of butter cream.
They're coming out.
That is the missing bit slotting right in now. Yeah?
- Yeah. - Yes! JÃ¼rgen.
It's not red enough, it's gonna be a Pink Lady.
Breathe, breathe, breathe.
Oh, for God's sake, no.
This is gonna be so tight.
Never underestimate an Italian engineer.
When it comes to make wonky buildings, we're always first in the game.
Ooh
Going in for the glaze.
Please don't crack.
Oh, come on.
I don't think that's gonna stay.
It's gonna have to stay.
Oh, God, please don't fall, please don't fall.
Bakers, you have one minute left.
This is getting tight.
Come on.
Ah, it's breaking.
Weddings are goddamn stressful. Maybe it's a sign I shouldn't get married.
I'm proper shaking.
Bakers, your time is up.
Please step away from your bakes.
- Well done. - Well done, kids.
That was a monster challenge.
That was epic.
Look at JÃ¼rgen's, it's unbelievable.
Does it surprise you?
That was the most intense thing.
I just want to say well done to you all.
Yeah, guys, well done. Do you know what? I'm proud of us.
Yeah.
It's judgement time for the bakers' showstopping entremets displays.
JÃ¼rgen, would you like to bring up your Showstopper, please?
Love the gate. It's very authentic.
The colour of the entremets don't really draw you in.
It's a bit bland.
This shape is perfect for those little Japanese boats,
but if you'd had time, you could have piped some detail on them
or something to have made them stand out a bit more.
Hmm.
That's very interesting.
Different layers of taste, one after another.
Your raspberry jelly's got a nice kick to it.
And that matcha is hidden by the raspberry.
There's still a hint, but the raspberry comes through.
You didn't want it the other way, it would've been dry on the palate.
- Thank you. - Well done.
Well done, JÃ¼rgen.
Thank you.
Giuseppe, you said you hadn't even practised this.
It's just amazing. It's leaning more than the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
I think I made the leaning tower wonkier than it is.
These look fairly straightforward on the outside.
All the work, of course, with an entremet, is on the inside.
- Yeah. - Oh, lovely.
- Beautiful green. - Hmm.
The bavarois is very delicious,
but the pine nut's not coming through very well.
Oh, okay.
Without that cherry, you really would be hunting for flavours.
Having said that, all your textures are spot-on.
Thank you.
Well done.
Well done, Giuseppe.
- It's very impressive. - Thank you.
I'm knocked back by the purple colour. They look more like a plums.
I should've put more red colouring in the glaze.
- Pink ladies, that's what they are. - Yeah, right.
I love that they're sitting on a biscuit.
And the biscuit looks well baked as well.
Hmm.
It's exceptional.
Your apple has got a little tartness to it.
You can taste the caramel in the bavarois as well.
And you have that slight bitterness from the chocolate.
So you've got all the flavours correctly balanced
to create an apple scene with the tree.
You've really been on a journey, haven't you?
You started baking last year.
Look what you've done. That is very, very, very good.
- Thank you, Paul. - Thanks, Chigs.
- Well done. - Thank you very much.
Well done, Chigs.
Come on, you smashed it.
- That's stunning. - Love the colours.
If it was in the middle of a wedding table,
all eyes would be upon it.
What I'm interested in is those entremets,
they look like works of arts.
Mmm.
That, Crystelle, is flawless.
- I don't know what I can say. - It's just beautiful.
The passion fruit is really strong. The mango much silkier. It is lovely.
- Absolutely lovely. - Thank you. Sorry.
- Thank you, Crystelle. - Thank you so much.
Well done.
Thank you so much.
It's really emotional
it always means more to, emm, get good comments
on a bake that means a lot to you, that's dedicated to someone. emm,
so I'm just really proud of myself.
I'm speechless at the moment
and a little taken aback by the comments they've given me.
If I was to go out now, I could walk out smiling.
I don't know how they're going to call it.
Yesterday, there were three handshakes and I won the Technical.
And, today, all these very positive comments.
There were four Star Bakers in there.
Simple as that.
We've become friends over almost two months.
We are very proud of each other.
As a collective, we've done very well.
I don't know what's gonna happen. It's a very, very close call.
Wow. There are four really impressive bakers in this tent.
I do not envy you the task of having to separate them.
What's almost unique, we're picking the worst of the best.
It really is difficult all of them tasted fantastic.
Crystelle.
Look at the layers in that. The coconut biscuit.
- The glaze is stunning. - Yes.
And Chigs, look at the amount of skill in that.
There's a biscuit, a crumble.
There's a wonderful chocolate case, which is not easy to do.
JÃ¼rgen was clever with the matcha and the raspberry.
- A bit boring to look at. - And then you come down to Giuseppe.
My only complaint with this.
- I love the beautiful colour. - So neat.
And the cherry is fantastic.
My only complaint? I couldn't taste the pine nut.
So we're in a very unusual position, where--
You could argue for any one of these.
This is the worst time to go home as well, so it's horrible.
Yes, it is. It's really hard.
I don't know how you're gonna make this decision.
Ah, bakers,
this is such a precarious point in the competition.
Obviously, everyone wants to get to the final
and it's so close at this point, it's just crazy.
I've got the amazing job of announcing Star Baker.
The person who is Star Baker is
Crystelle.
- Oh, my God. - Why are you surprised?
Why are you so surprised?
- Oh, my God. - You just smashed it.
Okay.
I'm afraid to say
that the person who will not be making it into the final,
and who will be going home is
JÃ¼rgen.
No.
What?
Sorry, mate.
I feel kind of okay,
I I kind of saw it coming.
I think the others are more shocked than I am.
Oh, my gosh.
JÃ¼rgen, you've been an inspiration, really.
- Like one of the most - Oh, JÃ¼rgen.
incredible bakers ever.
You were amazing.
It's been incredible.
It's been an absolute pleasure to have you with us here.
Really enjoyed being here. I made friends for life.
And I will be with them
in In spirit.
- See you in the final. - Thank you so much, Paul.
emm
shell-shocked is an understatement.
Hi, Star Baker.
It's just, I don't think it's really hit me, really. It's mad.
Star Baker in Patisserie Week. I'm in the final.
Just a lot of things that don't make sense.
You're in the final.
I ain't got a clue what I'm doing here. How has that happened?
I'm so shocked. I don't know what to say.
I am now cacking it.
I am scared sockless.
But I'm really, really--
Happy's not the right word, I'm over the moon.
I just want to make the best out of it and have a jolly good time next week.
Hi, is everyone there?
- Yeah. - emm, not good news.
You're not gonna see me for another week I got Star Baker!
I know, guys, I'm in the final.