Hello, viewer. Welcome to our first-ever Halloween week.
Ewww!
Oh, wow. Look at that.
Ew, the witch's hair. Ooh, that nose.
Oh. Is that prosthetics or CGI?
I haven't been to make-up yet.
Welcome to The Great British Bake Off.
Should I go and look for another job now? Yes.
Last time, the bakers tackled demanding desserts...
Oh, my God! You know, desserts backwards is stressed. And I am.
...and while Sandro was on top of the world... Wow!
Look at that. It is astonishing.
...Syabira struggled with flavours.
It tastes a bit fake. But Carole's puddings collapsed...
Oh, what a disaster!
...and her time in the tent was up. Oh! That's all right.
This time... Woooo! ...it's Halloween week...
Hold your breath. ..with a spine-chilling signature...
This witch has eyeliner problem. I'm scared.
...that's all about apples.
It's like a cauldron. I'll just don't want to ruin my make-up.
Goodness! A terrifying technical...
So sticky. ..that has the bakers feeling the heat.
Is this one on fire?! Ah! Too much!
No, no! They're all burning.
Wow!
And a showstopper...
I don't know whether to be shocked or turned on.
I don't know what's going on here.
It's falling apart.
...that's sure to cause nightmares.
It's not going to hang. Just breathe, breathe.
Happy Halloween!
Yeah, I'm excited about this week.
Gives us a bit more opportunity to be more creative.
The more revolting, the better, you know?
Do you know what? I think my bakes are quite cute, so I don't think
they'll frighten them. If I get put out and I need to do my leaving
speech in this shirt, I'll be well annoyed.
Bakers, welcome back to the tent for Halloween week.
Yes! How do you like them apples?
Well, quite a lot, I hope, because for your Signature Challenge,
the judges would like you each to bake an exquisitely
decorated apple cake.
Apples have been intertwined with Halloween throughout history.
How so, Noel? Well, in the olden days, peasants were put
in a bucket and a giant apple would turn up
and try and pull them out the bucket with its teeth.
Have you been reading books upside down again?
Possibly. You can use any type of sponge you like,
but your hero ingredient must be fresh apple.
You have two spooky hours. On your marks...
...get set... Boo!
I love Halloween. Love trick or treating, love dressing up.
It's an opportunity to be a big kid again.
MIMICS MACHINE WHIRRING
This is Halloween week.
Obviously, Halloween we think of dunking apples, etc,
so we want to celebrate the apple.
We want the apple to be the hero in this cake.
That is how many apples we've got.
I need to stick some spices in there, so cinnamon sticks.
Things like cinnamon go so beautifully with apples,
but I do think the bakers have to be careful because we want
the dominant flavour to be apple.
Ultimately, we want an apple cake, not, and I stress not, an apple
pudding, trifle or an apple dessert.
I really want to see at the end of this challenge an apple cake
that, A, looks amazing and, B, tastes of apples.
Hi, Janusz. Hello. Happy Halloween! Happy Halloween.
I've decided to dress as Noel, but I'm going to call
myself Not Fielding.
So I'm baking in heels today.
Look at those!
I like the eye make-up too. Thank you.
Yeah. Big shout to Syabira. She's done it.
Right. Tell us all about your apple cake. What are you doing?
I've decided to make something my mum would make when I was a child.
MATT: Janusz' mum's apple cake celebrates two varieties -
sharp Coxes flavour the sponge and sweet pinks in the buttercream,
both spiced to bring Halloween heat.
JANUSZ: I'm putting ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg
and allspice.
I want my spices to be recognisable, but not to kill the apple.
OK, well, good luck. Thank you very much. Thank you.
This is chilli. It's Halloween.
You need something spicy.
After failing to impress with flavour last week,
Syabira plans to wow with a cake inspired by her favourite
Malaysian dessert.
Asam boi, which is a sour plum, and also chilli.
So I'm actually trying to bring that flavour together.
She'll spread sour plum and chilli cream cheese icing and Bramley apple
crumble between layers of apple sponge to create a giant
apple-shaped cake.
It's going to be red
and then it has witch eyes and a hat.
PRUE: A witch's hat. Wow.
This is a very ambitious thing. Are you going to finish it in time?
SYABIRA: Yes, I will. Good luck. Bonkers. Sounds like you.
It's going to be great. Good luck. Witchy apple.
While Syabira's putting on a spooky spectacle...
Woooo!
Woooo! Did I scare you?
Yes. Oh, good.
...Maxy's apple cake is somewhat more traditional.
It's apple and walnuts with cream cheese frosting.
Is that cream cheese frosting or is it SCREAM cheese frosting?
Her classic cake features layers of spiced apple and walnut sponge
filled with cream cheese frosting, apple puree and salted caramel,
elegantly decorated with fresh apple and whole walnuts.
I don't love walnuts. Why?
Looks like monkey brain.
Don't think it's a bad thing.
You like eating brains, do you? No. It's a bit Halloweeny.
SHE LAUGHS
I am using Bramley apples.
I think when it's cooked, I think it tastes more apple than any other apple.
Whatever variety the bakers choose...
I have Granny Smith and pink apple,
so it has a sourness to it and a sweetness.
...how it's incorporated is critical
to achieving the perfectly even distribution the judges expect.
I'm going for chunks and, of course, if I grate some of them,
they will kind of like melt.
Initially, I wanted to chop my apples and put them in,
but grating the apples releases the flavour.
This is the Granny Smith going all the way through the cake.
It's very light, this cake,
so the apples have a tendency to end up at the bottom.
Dawn will attempt to suspend her sliced apple within a fragile,
fat-free sharlotka whisked sponge and her toffee apple decorations
will be soaked in blood orange juice for extra creepy colour.
Are you a big Halloween fan?
I do like Halloween, yes. It's good. What you do for Halloween?
Creepy baking. Yeah. And what...
SHOUTS: Matt, what are you doing? Whoa!
Oh, he's scary enough anyway.
He doesn't need to creep around.
I'm trying to be speedy as possible because my sponge is baked for
40 minutes, which is quite a while.
The addition of fresh fruit to their batter increases
the moisture content, meaning a longer bake.
The clock's ticking. So the quicker they can get them in the oven,
the more time their sponges will have to cool.
Got a broken wing!
I can't use this arm! Right. Going in now.
Any attempt to assemble and decorate when warm,
could result in catastrophe.
The cakes are in for about 40 minutes. We're right on time.
But Kevin's cake isn't ready to bake.
Yeah, I'm making a streusel cake, so each sponge will have chunks
of apple and streusel on top.
So there's actually quite a lot to do before I get it in the oven.
Kevin will fill his streusel-topped sponges with cream cheese frosting
and top his cake with apples poached in spiced cider and caramel shards.
Do you know, it sounds so delicious.
The crunchy strudel and this sponge.
We should start a band called The Crunchy Streusels.
Ladies and Gentlemen, The Crunchy Streusels. I want to be in that.
It feels like a jazz trio.
MIMICS A TRUMPET
Bakers, you are halfway through!
Sorry I'm late.
Oh, right, I see what's going on. Fine.
I-I actually thought this was Noel.
A bit behind. HUMMING
So that's the sponges finally in. They'll get 30 minutes.
So I just hope I've got time to decorate.
While Kevin plays catch up,
the rest of the bakers press on with fillings and toppings.
Apple spiced buttercream.
It's like a cauldron. I just don't want to ruin my make-up.
Not only must every element work in harmony...
I really love caramel with apple cake.
...it's crucial nothing overpowers the flavour of their apple.
Sour plum and chilli.
It's a risky business, putting flavourings. Wicked.
But in his bid for a second straight Star Baker crown...
I'm using cinnamon whisky.
...it's a risk Sandro's embracing.
These are just going to stick in the, in the sponge.
He'll cover his cake with
caramel glaze, spiced apple and walnut crumble.
And in case his whisky transfusion isn't terrifying enough, a crystal
sugar skull will sit glaring from the top.
Is this is my death mask? And then this...
This is your skull right here.
PRUE: I'm worried about the weight of that skull.
SANDRO: I think he'll be fine. I'm not adding any more to it.
Abdul's also going all out with his decorations. So, I'm making,
basically a bonfire cake.
Logs that are going to be made out of apple dipped in chocolate
and caramel shards represent fire.
Hoping to set the judges' hearts alight,
his bonfire cakes contain apple and almond sponge, cream cheese
frosting and almond streusel,
all wrapped in a delicate piped chocolate collar.
Abdul, you've come as, what, scary Nasa?
Yes!
I'm a rogue astronaut.
What's your favourite costume?
If I really want to scare people and make them unnerved, I would dress
as Paul Hollywood.
Well, they look ready.
OK, go.
You can't hear any sound of it cooking.
It's cooked. The quicker the cakes are out of the oven...
I will cool it for 15 minutes. ...the longer they'll have to chill
before assembly starts.
I'm literally waiting for the cakes to cool, so I can start working on them.
But Kevin's are still baking.
The sponges need to be completely cool,
otherwise the icing will just melt out the sides.
SINISTER LAUGHTER
Bakers, you have half an hour left.
I think you've got a spider in your hair. Really? Yeah.
I'll just... get it out.
Thanks. There you go.
Righty-ho! Should be ready.
Hold your breath.
It's very light, this cake.
It's a bit broken there.
I am frosting it.
Yep. Cake's out.
Just not sure if they're going to be cool enough.
Caramel glaze.
This is apple crumble filling and the sponge.
This is incredibly fragile.
SINGSONG: I don't think it's going to be cold enough.
Are you a big trick of treater? Of course.
Who do you like to dress up as? WHISPERS: A pregnant nun.
A pregnant nun?! That is correct.
Do you get a lot of interest from guys?
Yeah, especially from monks.
The feast of Halloween. Witch apple.
I can't go back now.
Either they like it or they don't.
How long, really, can I get away with leaving for icing?
Maybe five minutes.
Bakers, you have five minutes left.
Maybe I can do it in three minutes.
Dipping apples very quickly in caramel.
Got our caramel, as well, going on the top. Chocolate trees,
you have to handle it delicately or it can just break apart.
Oh, man down! I know how to make it look scarier.
I'm always doing this in the last few minutes.
Oops! Almost dropping an orange on top of my cake!
That is my chocolate drip.
This is my skull. I frickin' like it.
It's just so stressful. How are we doing for time?
One minute left.
Oh, man alive!
This witch has eyeliner problems.
It's just not even.
Definitely learnt not to rush.
You want it to look nice and neat. Add the... Yes!
I'm happy.
Bakers, your time is up.
Looking around the room, I can see really lovely cakes, and it's like,
oh, is mine too simple?
That's so good! I didn't make enough trees.
Oh, they're lovely, though.
Even that wee heat is enough to melt your icing.
The bakers' apple cakes now face the judgment of Paul and Prue.
Hi, Sandro. Hello.
I'm going to take that off a second.
I mean, I know it's Halloween, but I really think that skull
ruins your cake. Oh, really? OK.
It's such a beautiful shape and you plonk a great big skull on top.
What's in this? It's a cinnamon whisky.
That's really got whisky in it.
Even for me, I don't think I'd put any more in.
Maybe I will. Why not?
Why change the habit of a lifetime?
I made a spiced apple sponge.
It's a lovely, moist sponge.
It's an amazing spice cake pudding.
It is. But apple?
Not really. No?
For me, it's not appley enough.
OK.
Well, I can see it's a bonfire.
I like the trees.
It's quite effective. But the caramel shards are a bit thick.
OK. I put grated apples in there and almond streusel.
Good streusel. Good texture.
I think it's a really good cake. You have the whole apples in there,
which do taste of apple, with, actually, a beautifully moist sponge.
I think you did really well.
Thank you.
The sponges are made with Cox apples
and then the buttercream is pink apples with spices.
I'm not getting any apple flavour.
I am getting the spices.
It's a shame because I think the sponge is lovely.
And you know what? The texture of the buttercream is lovely.
I love the idea of the puree, but again, the spices have killed it.
If this was a spice cake challenge, you'd win it.
Misses the brief. Yeah. Well, it misses the apple.
Yeah! Thank you, Noel. Thank you. Er, Janusz.
It's a very light sponge.
I put some toffee apples and some whipped cream on top
and it sunk a bit, yes. I'd say quite a bit.
Yes, quite a lot. How did you put the apple in here?
I put a layer of apple, another layer of apple to distribute it.
I'm not getting a lot of apple. OK.
Got it down at the bottom.
I actually really like the apple on the top!
Toffee apples are so powerful, they make the rest
of the cake rather dull. OK.
It does look a bit of a mess. I promised a lot.
You did it, obviously, when it was warm.
That's the reaction between cream cheese and the hot cake,
and it just pours out. It's like lava. Yeah. Yeah.
So tell us about your apple cake.
Well, it's an apple streusel cake flavoured with almond.
Apples are beautiful in it with the almond, especially with cream.
Yeah. It tastes amazing.
It's a bit like a trifle.
Just delicious, isn't it?
But we wanted a cake, not a pudding.
If I'd walked into a room and saw that, I'd know that was your cake.
It's got Maxy written all over it.
I mean, it is neat as a pin.
I love the decoration on the top, the little apple strips. Thank you.
So I've made a apple and walnut cake, and I've topped the top layer
with some caramel.
I think that's a really good cake.
Really good. Thank you. The apple comes through beautifully.
Walnut is that texture at the end.
I think you've done the apple justice, actually.
Well done. Oh, my God. Thank you. Thank you so much.
Thank you. Well done, Maxy.
WHISPERS: Well done. Thank you.
I'm not sure about the face.
It's sort of gone all over the place, innit?
I love the face. I mean, for heaven's sake, it's a witch,
of course she can be crooked. It has eyeliner problems today.
Yeah! It's a hot day.
This is my favourite snack of apples, sour plum and chilli.
I love it.
Really powerful flavours.
Sour plum is perfect.
The cake is beautiful. And it's so light.
I was going to say I didn't get the chilli. It's just come in.
I'm not sure about the face, nevertheless...
Oh, thank you! Oh, I'm glad.
I enjoyed that. I think you deserve that.
Chilli is the thing that gets me.
It's a real triumph. The flavour's back!
Well done. Thank you.
I'm very pleased. First, the handshake
and they said my flavour is back!
I just feel super, super happy.
I'm over the moon.
Yes, you did, you got one!
I'm pleased for Maxi and Syabira. Syabira's first handshake.
It's just a shame.
Apart from the obvious construction issue,
they had a lot of nice things to say about it,
which was really sweet of them.
I don't think it was a disastrous judging, but I'm really worried
that at this stage, you really need to nail it
and I didn't.
And my technicals have been very up and down, so I've got to throw
everything at this.
While the bakers were able to practise their signatures,
their next challenge is a total mystery.
Bakers, it's time for your Halloween Technical Challenge, which today
has been set by Paul.
Paul, any words of advice?
But please say them in your scariest voice.
HIS NORMAL VOICE: There are two... Ah! It's too scary!
There are two very distinctive textures you have to get right
in this recipe and allow time for setting.
You have to figure that one out yourself.
As ever, the Technical Challenge will be judged blind.
So we're going to have to ask Freddy Prueger and Paultergeist
to leave the tent.
For your Technical Challenge,
Paul would like you each to make eight s'mores, the kind of sweet
treat you might have round a campfire
while telling scary stories.
Your s'mores should have a gooey toasted marshmallow
and a creamy dark chocolate ganache
sandwiched between two digestive biscuits.
No more instructions, please! It's too scary!
You OK? Yeah, I'm fine.
I'm gonna tell them how long they've got.
You gonna be fine with this? Yeah, yeah. Absolutely.
You have two hours. On your marks... Get set...
MATT SQUEALS
...bake?
Goodness.
S'mores. Shmores... schmorshs?
All righty. S'mores, they're a distinctly American confection.
I've never had one, but I've seen it in the movies.
I've never made marshmallows or digestives.
I'm completely lost!
So, Paul. S'mores. It's a great challenge, actually.
And the reason why I said about the two contrasting textures
is obviously the marshmallow and then the actual biscuit itself.
The biscuit's straightforward enough.
It's about rubbing all the dry ingredients with the butter,
adding the liquid, bringing it together.
The next thing is obviously the marshmallow,
which is basically whipped Italian meringue.
You've got to add gelatine.
The key thing is, once you've added the gelatine, is leaving it to set.
Now, if they don't, the whole thing could collapse.
We want it to be as neat as possible.
We want the chocolate in there as well.
Not too much, you don't want it flooding down the side.
But then you want this blowtorch
around the outside of the marshmallow.
Now, they could go wrong with this,
because if they add too much heat, it's going to melt.
So very lightly. And it just looks beautiful.
Ultimately, you're meant to eat it like this.
I don't know that I can. You get absolutely covered
in chocolate, marshmallow and a little bit of crumbs of biscuit.
I think it's lovely. It is. But hold back.
We've got another seven to try in there.
First I need to make the biscuit dough and chill.
I have made digestive biscuits before, but...
No, you just buy them.
I'm just looking for a biscuit dough,
something that holds together and isn't too crumbly,
so that when I roll out, it will still hold its shape.
Hello. Hello!
Did you get a handshake?
I did.
Right hand, I haven't washed it since then. Can I touch it?
No! Aaaah!
I need some of that power.
That Paul power? What did it feel like?
I was surprised. Did you look into his eyes when he shook your hand?
No, I didn't, I was just like, "Thank you!"
I'm more happy because they said my flavours is back, so...
Wow.
I think this is about right.
Dough is done and I'm going to chill it.
Right. I'm going to crack on with the marshmallow now.
Marshmallows are really just an Italian meringue.
I'm guessing it's with gelatine.
I don't really know how to make it.
Whip your egg whites, add hot sugar,
keep on whipping. Done.
Are you a fan of s'mores?
I've never had a s'more.
Too sweet for me.
I know the sweetest thing I've ever eaten. Yeah?
When I was a little kid,
my mum had sweeteners that you put in your coffee,
and I ate a couple of those. Ooh!
All my hair fell out. Are...
KEVIN GIGGLES
Stiff peaks. I think we're there.
I need to bloom the gelatine.
Gelatine is key to the marshmallow structure.
Let's hope this works.
But adding it at the right time is crucial.
I'm not going to put the syrup inside the meringue.
Unless their gelatine is dissolved completely,
the bakers could end up with a marshmallow monstrosity.
Oh, shoot!
I forgot my gelatine.
Did I forget something?
I feel like I've forgotten something.
I forgot to put gelatine in there. Damn!
I forgot to put the gelatine in!
What happens now?
I was going to put it in the syrup.
I don't know if I've ruined it.
Hello, Dawn of the Dead.
You all right? Did you get a handshake?
No! Made good toffee apples, though, apparently.
But the cake was rubbish. I love toffee apple.
Dentist's nightmare, though, the toffee apple, innit? Oh, God, yeah.
That's why I've got so many fillings.
I've got fillings that go right down my back tooth
and all down one leg.
Really? Yeah. That's impressive.
Into my long toe. That's very good. That's very impressive, I must say.
Which is my second toe, because I'm an amphibian.
I think we're just about there. Righty-ho! That's setting.
Looks nice and bouncy.
I don't know what I'm looking for, to be honest.
I'm just going to stick with it.
Next, I'm going to roll out biscuit dough.
I'm quite pleased with my dough.
We're looking for 16 of these bad boys.
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight...
They're all sticking to the paper. I'll re-roll it.
Oh, what a mess.
Now the stamping will be fun.
It's very delicate.
They're all different shapes. But, you know, it'll be fine.
That one can be hidden at the bottom.
Let me bake them. The instructions doesn't say how long.
Good luck, biscuits. Do me proud.
Noel, are you OK? Yeah. My gerbil died.
I'm so sorry to hear that. It's not that, I'm not bothered about that.
It's just, he's haunting me. Ooh!
Aww... Hello!
Ow! Still bites.
Bakers, you are halfway through. What?!
Oh, my goodness.
What am I doing? Ganache, ganache.
Classic ganache is half and half.
So it's half double cream and half chocolate.
The ganache should be set, not a watery ganache.
So it needs time to be in the fridge.
Oh, it's so liquidy.
Pop that in the fridge for a minute.
What's going on with these biscuits?
So looking a bit pale and squidgy.
Just a bit more, I think.
Paul's gonna say it's not golden enough.
I'm trying to get it more to his tan,
so I'm just going to give it another two minutes.
Think they're ready. Yeah.
I feel like they are digestive-y biscuits.
These are just starting to go golden around the edges.
I think that's the sweet spot.
They could have been more uniform. They're looking pretty good.
Have you made digestives before?
No. This is the first time I'm making them.
I mean, they're so cheap.
You're just like, "hmm, I'll just go buy it."
There's your passion as a baker coming out!
Bakers, you have 15 minutes left.
Oh, my goodness.
Panic, panic.
Turn the marshmallow out. Cut out eight rounds of marshmallow.
My marshmallow is definitely wrong.
It's not as stable as it should be.
It's set from the outside, but I think from the inside,
it's still very wet and sticky.
Hmm... SIGHS
Risky.
SIGHS SHARPLY
I'm going to get it done in time if it kills me.
Um... This isn't easy.
So sticky. Come on, baby. Get out.
This ain't looking too pretty!
Chocolate...
It's assembly time.
I'm just giving the ganache a bit of a spread.
I wish I'd set the chocolate first.
They did the right thing by cooling theirs cos my one's quite... soft.
Hoo...
Oh, no, no!
It's a pain in the ass to assemble.
They don't like mess.
That one's not great. They're just not looking uniform.
Bakers, you have one minute left.
OK. I have to be careful now.
I'm looking for a golden colour.
Is this one on fire?!
Doing a bit of touch-up.
Ah, too much!
No, no! They're all burning.
This just don't stop dripping.
I wish I'd set my ganache.
No! Why are you doing this to me, man?
Bakers, your time is up.
Not bad.
A mess is what this is.
Please bring your s'mores down to the gingham table
and place them behind your photograph.
Thank God it's over. I think I've cooked it too much.
Paul and Prue are looking for eight s'mores
with crisp digestive biscuits,
silky chocolate ganache,
and a beautifully toasted marshmallow centre.
They have no idea whose are whose.
We'll start with this one.
Straight off, lost the definition in the biscuit.
Yeah.
I like the biscuit.
But the marshmallow does melt a little bit too readily.
It's more meringue than marshmallow.
OK. Moving onto this one.
Nice bit of colour on that biscuit.
I think they look nice, too.
I like the way it's torched.
This has got much more definition on the biscuit.
And it's got a little bit more chew.
A little bit more goo to the marshmallow as well.
Moving on. Bit all over the place.
Colour looks a bit light as well.
They're not identical, are they? No, they're not.
It's a bit rubbery, that biscuit.
Marshmallow is too soft, and the biscuits also are slightly too soft.
It is. This is definitely chocolate drips,
which we didn't intend.
No, the chocolate has gone everywhere.
All down the side.
The biscuit's all right.
It's very soft marshmallow.
It disappears almost instantly. Moving on.
The colour is perfect on the side.
And also, they all look exactly the same
and the definition is really good.
Just that one's lost a bit. Mm.
The chocolate is the right consistency.
Texture's perfect, I think. It is.
The chocolate's perfect, neat as a pin.
This one's a bit messy. It's a little bit messy.
The colours are right on the side.
The biscuits are really nice,
but they're quite well baked, aren't they?
Any longer and it would have been too much.
They're not the best-looking things, but the textures are nice.
Moving on to the big issue.
The marshmallow is a disaster,
but the biscuits look really perfect.
Biscuits are good. The marshmallow is terrible.
That's a shame.
Paul and Prue will rank the s'mores from last to first place.
OK, in seventh spot,
we have this one.
Abdul. Big problem with the marshmallow.
Yeah, I decimated them with the burner.
Really? Yes, they came out like...
You just superheated them and they melted? Yeah.
Right, in sixth place, we have this one.
Maxy. The texture was just a little bit too soft.
In fifth place is Dawn,
Sandro is fourth,
and Kevin third.
In second place, we have this one.
Who's that?
Janusz. This is a really nice s'mores.
Lovely texture. Just a little bit of definition,
not looking perfect.
And in first, we have this one.
APPLAUSE
Syabira!
You were 95% there.
Just one never really had the definition,
but everything else was really nice. Perfect. Well done. Thank you.
I am very, very happy that it worked out well.
Although Paul said it's 95%, it's A-plus, still.
Coming second, it's a really good result.
And I'm really happy for Syabira,
because she needed this confidence boost.
Sad life. All I needed to do was lightly use the burner.
But I was like... MIMICS FLAME-THROWER
That went so-so.
Not great, not good enough.
Potentially, I'm in trouble.
The competition is just incredibly fierce.
I don't feel in a particularly strong position
because the morning was rough, and even coming third in the technical,
I don't think there was much in it,
so I need to have a really good Showstopper.
Just one challenge remains before Paul and Prue
decide who is this week's Star Baker,
and whose time in the tent is up.
Good morning, bakers.
Hope you're having a happy Halloween.
I hope you haven't been scared by any ghosts
or spooked by any spectres.
I hope you haven't been shocked because you've seen some ghoulies.
Noel, you're looking a bit pale.
Did you see some ghoulies? I did see some ghoulies, and so did Prue.
Was this in Paul's dressing room? Yes, it was.
I'm so sorry.
OK, bakers, for your Halloween Showstopper,
the judges would like you to make a hanging lantern.
Think trick or treat, think jack-o'-lantern.
And when smashed open, must reveal an array of sweet treats inside.
You have four hours.
On your marks... Get set...
...bake!
Feeling good, feeling excited for today.
Actually, I am quite nervous because it's a Showstopper.
The last thing you want to do is be doing it badly.
Didn't have a strong day yesterday.
So I can't do anything short of my best work.
Any less, I'm done for.
The bakers could really have fun with this.
We want them to make a hanging lantern
out of whatever they wish.
Structurally, has to be sound, but it's got to taste good as well.
It has to be robust enough to hang,
but fragile enough to crack it with one bang of a rolling pin.
So that sweet treats can tumble out like a pinata.
We want at least two varieties.
This is Halloween, so we're expecting maybe eyeballs,
fingernails, witches' hats, noses.
I've got my blood-berry coulis.
As always, timing will be really crucial
because it will be tricky enough to make and bake sweet treats
and the lanterns,
but then they've got to decorate them
and they have to have time to do it exquisitely.
I want to see Halloween hanging in a lantern
with maybe a few windows and a bit of light.
That's not difficult, surely!
Morning. Good morning. Hello, Janusz.
Tell us about your hanging lantern.
I've decided to celebrate horror movies.
So I'm making a popcorn box with scary decoration.
And I'm going to hide two different truffles.
Trick or treat truffles.
Janusz's truffles will be hidden within a popcorn box lantern
built from almond sable biscuit,
and feature a treat flavoured with spiced pumpkin
and a trick containing pistachio and crickets.
Cricket? Cricket? Yes. They're going to be made with cricket powder.
And then with smoked whole crickets inside to provide the crunch.
They grind down really nice, actually.
They're more like peppery, aren't they?
Yeah, they make quite good flour.
Sorry, what, are we just talking about insects here?
We are. And you know what, insects are going to be the future
because they're easy to farm, cheap, very ecologically sound.
And they're pretty nice as well. They taste like you're eating bacon.
I think that's very original.
I'm looking forward to that. Thank you. Thank you.
Poor Jiminy Cricket!
Would you like one? No, I would not!
JANUSZ LAUGHS
I love scary movies.
We usually watch scary movies all the time.
My boyfriend used to do ghost hunting
and we always watch paranormal stuff.
We do enjoy our scary pleasure!
CHUCKLES
NOEL: And it's scary pleasure Syabira's planning to serve up.
Her spider made from spiced biscuit
will contain peanut cookie Frankenstein fingers
and mummy shortbreads featuring a unique flavour combination.
I'm making an orange shortbread with white truffle maple syrup
cream cheese filling.
It's a little bit like a gamble, that one is.
Are you nervous today?
Yeah, because... Hold your hand out.
She's shaking!
It's another handshake before baking!
ALL LAUGH You just did it!
You'll be fine. Enjoy it. You've done really well so far.
You're having a good week. Thank you, thank you so much.
But Syabira's spider isn't the only eight-legged Showstopper
in the tent.
My bake is called Arachno-FOMO,
as in fear of missing out.
Because we were never allowed to dress up as anything scary
for Halloween like zombies or vampires.
We're Christian, so we had to dress up as something benign.
One year I got dressed up as a clock with a mouse running up it,
as in Hickory Dickory.
We've got a friend that's a Christian as well, and his mum
sent him out trick or treating dressed as Toulouse-Lautrec.
Kevin's spider will be made from orange and five-spice sugar cookie
with choux pastry legs and marshmallow eyes.
Inside the beastie's belly
will be toffee apple macarons and hard-boiled peanut sweets.
Do you like spiders in real life? No.
Everyone thinks I like them because of the way I dress and because
I look gothic, but I actually am quite scared of spiders.
They're not my biggest fear? What's your biggest fear?
Well, the same as any musician.
Child prodigies. Child prodigies?!
Aye. NOEL LAUGHS
Good answer!
Put that in Room 101.
This is my gingerbread dough for the lantern.
Whatever the bakers choose to build their lanterns from...
I'm making gingerbread. I'm bringing cinnamon, allspice,
ginger, nutmeg.
...not only must it be delicate and delicious to eat...
It contains almond flour,
but I've added some almond extract just for extra kick.
...but when suspended, sturdy enough to hold their treats too.
A lot of people use gingerbread because it's nice and strong.
I prefer working with sugar cookie.
It's got high sugar content so it makes it quite firm.
This is sort of like a gingerbread,
but it's using carbon black cocoa powder,
which bakes coal-black.
So kind of gives you a head start, really,
when you're trying to do a black cat.
Dawn will construct her ferocious feline
filled with monster macarons and raspberry jelly eyeballs
by carefully joining
her two baked biscuit domes
to create one seamless sphere.
I need to make it meet.
So it's important to not cut corners
and just take whatever time you need.
It's not the neatest, but should be OK.
That's biscuits in.
As the bakers' lanterns start to hit the heat...
Bake well.
...in a bid to stand out from the crowd...
I'm just melting some chocolate here so I can make a chocolate sphere.
...Sandro's chosen to avoid the oven altogether.
I think I'm the only person using chocolate.
I'm a rebel by nature.
Sandro will transform his chocolate sphere
into a skull-encrusted disco ball,
containing no less than five different treats,
including chocolate orange palmiers,
nutty orange florentines
and chilli chocolate fudge cookies.
You know, you only have to do two sweets.
I know, but I'm trying to impress here!
And how many skulls are you actually making?
About 200 skulls.
What?!
200?
Wow. Good luck, Sandro. Thank you.
I thought you was going to be doing it with, like, actual skulls.
I did try to find them, but I got kicked out of the graveyard.
MATT SCOFFS Next time.
Next time, please.
Such a fan.
I mean, I just loved you in Jason And The Argonauts.
Bakers, you are halfway through.
Oh, my gosh. Halfway through?
It's a real pleasure to work with you guys.
The biscuits are done.
I'm taking it out from the oven.
♪ They're coming out! ♪
Before the bakers can start to construct their lanterns,
they must allow their biscuit to cool and firm up.
It's a bit well done.
It will be covered in chocolate ganache
so you won't see that it's overbaked.
I just hope it doesn't taste overbaked as well.
But they can't stop for a second... Cookie time!
...as they still have sweet treats to create.
I'm adding some espresso powder.
I'm also going to add cayenne pepper.
A whole lotta heat. It is Halloween!
It's going to be a cricket truffle.
So the powdered cricket tastes a bit more savoury,
which is contrasting to white chocolate and pistachios.
Powdered crickets, the insect.
They rub their legs together, don't they? They do.
Do you rub your legs together?
I do rub my legs together!
And I used to jump a lot, but not so much now.
While Janusz hopes to hit the mark
with his creepy-crawly confectionary...
I am making brownie truffles and pumpkin macarons.
...Maxy's going for cute and cuddly.
Sort of basing it on my childhood memories of Halloween
so it's not going to be too gory.
As well as monster brownie truffles and pumpkin spiced macarons,
Maxy will make meringue ghosts and tuile biscuit bats,
but with so many elements to bake,
her orange and cinnamon shortbread lantern is yet to hit the oven.
Just rolling out my biscuit dough.
I really need to get these baked as soon as possible.
Yeah, I've got quite a lot to do.
This is the ultimate juggling act.
I'm just making the florentines
and melting some more chocolate for the skull.
Not only must the bakers ensure every texture is spot-on...
These are hazelnuts.
I've done florentines before,
and I just found that they're not nutty enough.
You've got the chewiness. You've got the crunch.
Just started on the jelly eyeballs.
The judges will demand perfectly balanced flavours
across the bakes, too.
This is raspberry flavouring.
Need to go really carefully with that.
If you put too much in, it will be hideous.
These are the mummy biscuits.
It's orange shortbread biscuits.
Bit of truffle.
I just like the combination of white truffle and orange.
It's weird, but this is the time
that you're going to try all the weird combination flavour
and see what the judges think.
Do you like it? Do you not like it? Do you like it? Do you not like it?
Syabira is not the only one taking a risk.
I'm now making my date balls.
It's rose water that's going in
and you can already smell it so it smells pretty nice.
But not content with one contentious flavour...
I'm making brandy snaps.
...Abdul's doubling down.
I'm going to dip them in matcha white chocolate,
which is a bit risky because the judges don't like matcha.
Abdul will add almond nails to his matcha-dipped brandy snaps
to create witch's fingers
while his rose water and spice date balls will become witch's eyes,
both encased in a gingerbread lantern.
I'm basically trying to multitask over here.
I'm trying to make the brandy snaps and my date balls.
I think I'm running a bit behind schedule, actually,
about ten, ten minutes.
Bakers, you have half an hour left!
Oh, I think your family's here.
Oh, yeah. I invited them down to meet Paul and Prue.
It's my Auntie Jean in the red.
GROANING
I'm just multitasking and trying to do so many things at once.
It's going to be quite tight.
This is a Frankenstein finger.
I'm using classic traditional Malaysian peanut cookies.
Peanut is definitely a hero flavour for this one.
Erm, what have I got left to do?
Bake the choux pastry spider legs,
glaze the macaron shells, finish and clean up the boiled sweets.
And you're doing five things?
Three so far have been done, and I've got just two to do.
I am on track. I've got the florentines done.
They're quite thick,
so I'll call them florentine cups, because if I don't,
Prue's going to say, "Oh, it's a bit thick for a florentine."
Are you feeling the stress?
Yeah, I'm definitely feeling the stress.
What are these going to be?
Little monsters.
Well, they're massive.
You're working fast, aren't you?
Sort of have to!
I've got thousands of things to do.
Really? Yeah.
This is the raspberry jelly worm.
I want that bite, the chew.
Everything that gummy worms gives you.
So these are the fingers.
That's the final piece of the puzzle.
OK, assembly.
So now I have to put the lantern together, put the sweets in,
decorate the popcorn.
If I'm watching a horror movie, I would definitely go for popcorn,
but I would buy it in the supermarket!
This is the backs of the eyeballs,
so I'm just putting a bit of melted chocolate on.
How's it all going?
Tried to do too many things and I've run out of time.
I've got to join this together
but it's extremely wonky-looking.
I'll just take off the rough edges
and it'll pop together.
I've got to just see if I can make it meet.
Oh, God.
There's some gaps. But what can you do?
I'm flattening the top, just to make sure that it lies flat.
What I don't want is it's going to be all wonky.
I'm coating this with chocolate,
like a texture of a spider skin.
That looks good, Syabira.
Thank you, Sandro.
That is a perfect ball right there.
I plan to completely cover the entire ball with skulls.
This just isn't sticking.
We're struggling. Just going to make some buttercream really quickly.
I need options at the moment. It's very dodgy.
Ah, it cracked!
That's a big old crack right there.
What crack?
Bakers, you have 15 minutes left!
Going to pipe the centre of these macarons.
This sweet peanuts just need to come out the mould.
And then I just need to ganache the spider and put it together.
HE LAUGHS NERVOUSLY
It's going to break.
BLEEP
This isn't going to be hanging on anything.
It'll be hanging by a thread.
Oh, these are so sketchy.
These smell gorgeous!
Flake lamination.
A bit chewy.
It's falling apart.
Oh, man alive!
I'm cutting through to make the hole.
I'm really trying. I think I need a drill.
Where are you, switch?
Oh, yeah.
DRILL WHIRS
I don't know whether to be shocked or turned on.
I don't know what's going on here!
If I could just get it to hold together,
I can get the eyes on at least.
That's not going to hang.
It's not going to hang.
It's OK. Just breathe. Breathe.
This is popcorn with white chocolate.
Ooh! Look at those. Are they moustaches?
No, they're supposed to be spider legs.
Disco ball.
Wow!
Is it spooky now?
Come on, stick.
Bakers, you have one minute left!
Time to hang you, babes.
Get off!
Oh, so sticky.
So I decided to cut the florentines in half
because they won't go in as a whole.
It won't hang, so... Oh, my God.
Bakers! Your time is up.
Please step away from your Halloween Showstoppers.
That is shocking.
Well done, everyone. This is wicked.
Syabira, get out.
That looks amazing.
HE EXHALES
Man alive.
It's like a horror movie itself.
I can't look at it.
That...
It looks like...
Oh, you're digging deep here.
No, no, no!
THEY LAUGH
It's judgment time for the hanging Halloween lanterns.
Sandro, would you like to bring up your hanging lantern?
Do you need a hand? Should be fine.
Not with those guns.
It looks fantastic.
This is something that you could buy in a supermarket.
The skull ball is just amazing,
but the treats are all a bit big to go in your lantern.
They are indeed. It is florentines but halved.
OK.
Wow!
There you go. They are as well.
That looks like solid caramel.
Oh, my God!
MUFFLED: It's a bit thick.
The florentines taste amazing. Just too thick.
OK. What about the chocolate fudge cookies?
There's coffee and chilli.
Bit of coffee. A bit of chilli. Yes.
Yeah.
Ergh...
I've just found the trick in this lot.
Yes. That's far too potent.
Wow.
That is really... I can't eat anything else
cos I won't be able to taste anything else.
It's clever.
The box is very neat as well.
And I love the popcorn. And the eyes look really well made, too.
Right...
Let's try the biscuit first.
The biscuit has a lovely almond flavour.
It's lovely. It's quite short as well.
There's thick truffles.
This is the one with the cricket flour.
And a whole cricket inside as well for a crunch.
Just casually threw that in there.
It's a bit too sickly sweet for me.
I think you should have had more crickets in there.
The crickets have got quite a nice savoury flavour.
It would have balanced it better.
Next thing you've got pumpkin spice.
Mm. Over-spiced. Which is a pity because I like the textures.
I'm just concerned about some of your flavours going wayward.
Mm. Shame.
What happened to the lid?
Unfortunately, a zombie came into the tent and smashed it.
We saw them, actually. Yeah. They are Noel's family, though.
It's a bit of a mess, but it is hanging.
I like the biscuit.
It's not too sweet, and it's very orangey.
The bake's got a nice crunch to it.
Almost shortbread-like.
Right. Give it a whack.
The treat's pumpkin spiced macaron.
It's delicious macaron. Thank you.
Soft in the middle, crunchy on the outside.
And just the right amount of pumpkin spice.
I also made brownie monsters.
Chocolatey, nutty.
It's extremely dense.
You couldn't have too many of them.
They're very rich. Tasty but they are massive for what you need.
If they'd been tiny, the denseness wouldn't have mattered.
The lantern looks neat as a pin.
Well constructed, seems pretty solid.
Shall we have a taste?
Softer than I thought it would be, actually. OK.
I think it could have been baked a little bit longer,
but the flavour is delicious.
Are you ready? It mightn't break.
You're right! Again!
Dramatic!
Oh, that's so satisfactory, I tell you.
All right, so we've got witch's fingers.
Brandy snaps. Brandy snaps. Covered in matcha white chocolate.
Lovely flavour with the matcha.
I'm not normally a great matcha fan, but I think that is perfect.
It's nice and thin, and the almond is delicious.
Right. This is the dates? Yes. The date ball inside.
The texture is good, but all I'm getting is rose water.
OK. It's too strong.
If you'd pulled that back a bit,
allow all the other flavours, the pistachio, to come through,
the dates to come through, I think you would have been onto something,
but it's just overwhelming.
Well, it's quite scary.
Really scary!
But it's very messy.
OK. Do your worst.
Go on, Prue, give it some.
Hey!
Is it gingerbread?
No. It's sugar cookie with orange and five-spice.
Ganache is delicious.
Biscuit's lovely and crisp.
Are you eating the macaron? Mm-hm.
Very sweet, but good flavour.
It's a bit crispy, though. You want it to be a little bit chewy inside.
Yeah. They weren't my strongest macarons.
What's this made of? It's butterscotch with salted peanuts.
It's just sweetness rather than flavour.
And it needs to be finished properly.
I think somewhere with the nuts sort of hanging out...
I think it's... I think it's all right.
MATT: That's normally Prue's territory, saying things like that.
The whole thing just needed more time, more effort, because each
individual bit is not perfect. Mm-hm.
It may not hang. You can try.
Oh, please. Yay!
APPLAUSE
Erm... It's a bit messy, isn't it?
Yes, it is. The two halves aren't perfectly together,
but the general idea is impressive.
Well, let's look inside, shall we?
Well, that worked.
It's black cocoa powder biscuit.
It's got a bit of cardamom in there as well.
But only a very small amount.
Very hard. Can't really taste anything.
Oh, OK. It's nice and thin,
which is just as well because it is rock hard.
Now, the issue I have with the macarons,
they're a little bit too simple.
I wanted to do a lot more detail on the face. I thought there'd be a lot more going on.
That's just chocolate ganache? Yeah. With a bit of brandy in it.
Again, that's quite simple. Yes.
Chewy in the middle. Shiny on top.
Good.
Eyes.
I must say, the jelly eyes are really beautiful.
Because the jelly is unsweetened, it's just texture.
But you do get the chocolate.
I just think it's all a little bit, dare I say, basic.
I think it looks amazing.
I mean, really stunning,
even down to the green light coming from the mouth.
It is astonishing to look at
and everything is very neatly and delicately done.
That's unbelievable.
The dark chocolate is bitter enough to work really nicely
with the ginger biscuit itself, which is exceptionally crunchy.
Do you want to smash this one, Prue?
Whoa! Whoa!
And it's still holding.
Sinister finger.
That peanut biscuit's lovely.
Crumbly. The peanut kick is just perfect. Beautiful.
So this is orange...
...and white truffle cream cheese filling.
Oh, too much truffle.
Why did you put truffle in there? Why did you put truffle in there?
It's not working?
It did have flavour. I'll give you that.
Syabira! You're off your head, honestly.
Orange and truffle does not go in a biscuit.
I accept that they don't like the white truffle in an orange,
but it's fine.
White truffle!
It is very good comments, and I'm very happy with it. I don't want to
jinx it, but I was hoping for Star Baker this time.
That went pretty much as expected.
I reckon I'm not only in danger of going home,
I think it's a pretty foregone conclusion.
I'm bracing myself, to be honest.
I'm kind of trying to get my head
around the idea that I might not come back next week.
Well, we've learned something from that Showstopper,
which is that when Dame Prue has too much sugar,
we need to keep that rolling pin away from her
because she will whack anything in sight and will eat any creature.
Loves a cricket.
But I thought that overall, one person did better than anybody else.
And I would say Syabira. Yep.
Now, when you look at the circumstance we were coming into today...
Yeah, because she'd had a handshake.
Yeah. And she won the technical.
She won the technical. There you go.
I mean, she's unstoppable. That's the long and short of it.
So does she have any competition for Star Baker?
For the first time, no. There's not going to be a shock.
The ideas of all of the bakers were very sound.
I just thought there was a little bit of a rush job
on some of these bakes.
I mean, Kevin's spider looked such a mess.
For me it's Kevin and Dawn who are in a bit of trouble.
I didn't think Dawn really did enough. Coming into today
I would have said, you know, at the bottom of a very tight group,
it was Dawn and Kevin sitting down at the bottom
and I think we're still looking at those two now.
Hello, bakers.
Luckily, I've got the great job of announcing Star Baker this week,
and that person has had an amazing week.
Handshake, first, in technical.
Great showstopper. Syabira.
WHOOPING AND APPLAUSE
Now, I have the less fun job of announcing who is leaving us,
and we obviously are growing closer to all of you
and so this person will really be missed, actually.
I'm sorry to say that the person who is leaving us this week is...
...Dawn.
It's fine.
Poor Dawn.
Well done, Dawn. You did well.
Game over.
I really don't want to shed tears over it,
because it's just been the most amazing experience,
really one of the absolute best experiences of my life.
I can't wish for more than that, you know.
There's a tear. Look. Don't let anyone see that.
My kids will be like, "Mum doesn't do emotion. What the hell's going on?"
I'm really, really proud of what I've done.
And I've had fun. Such fun.
You OK?
Dawn was a saint.
In my head, I was already gone.
And, yeah, mmm... I didn't expect that at all.
Now I'm in the top half of the bakers.
That's another weird feeling. I wasn't expecting that either.
And well done, Syabira. What an amazing week.
Thank you. Amazing week.
I feel very happy and grateful to get the Star Baker.
It's a great feeling. You deserve it, girl. You deserve it.
But that's a scary place to be, honestly,
because the only way is going down.
So I'll try to maintain it.
Going to miss you. I'm going to miss you. Brilliant.
I'm really sad to see Dawn go. She's funny.
I love her.
It's been lovely having you in the tent. It's been a pleasure.
I just remembered you're not a hugger. Oh, you're not a hugger?
Not really. Remembered that too late. It's torture!
Group hug! Let's kill Dawn!
LAUGHTER
Come on.
Next time...
Is there such a thing as too much custard? No.
...the bakers attempt to conquer custard as it's poured...
Float, baby, float.
...layered... Super jiggly.
...and frozen. I'm ready for you, ice cream.
Whose custard is set for success?
That custard gateau is impressive.
And who... Oh, no!
...will have their final wobble?
Oh, no.
My ice cream didn't set. It's like water.
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