Hello, viewer! It's the semifinal and it's patisserie week.
I cannot believe I let you style my hair.
There's just so much you can do with creme pat.
It feels quite solid. Looks great! Really? What, floret head?
Welcome to The Great British Bake Off.
How long's it gonna stay like this? Six months? Six months?!
Come on, Harpo, let's have a cup of tea.
Last time... I think it's gone pear-shaped.
...it was pastry week. Should have paid attention!
And while most of the bakers fell short with their Signature Bake...
They're all over the place, aren't they? Yeah.
...it was Syabira who rose to the challenge with her vol-au-vents...
I think the flavours are beautiful.
...with a Star Baker hat trick.
I don't know if I want to be happy or cry.
I don't wanna present raw pastry!
And with a risky choice of pastry for her show stopper...
You're going to make filo pastry? Yeah. By yourself?
...it was Maxy who became the latest baker to leave the tent.
I had a bad, bad week.
Now... Hello, semifinalists! ...it's patisserie week.
It's about finesse.
The bakers face a dainty but daunting signature...
They're not mini!
...a technical turned on its head... I don't know how they will eat this.
You'd need a very wide mouth.
...and a towering biscuit show stopper.
Stress. But who will stand tall?
That's not gonna hold.
And who will collapse under pressure... Oh, no.
...and miss out on a place. Bye-bye!
...in the Bake Off final?
Oh!
I nearly had a moment there.
How is it four of us? Ah, that is crazy.
Semifinal of Bake Off,
like this is something I would have never dreamt of.
I feel like this is the most nervous I've been.
I need to get to the finals.
I'm, like, one step too close to, like, leave now.
Good luck, lovely. Good luck, mate.
Today feels different than every other week,
because this is the final push,
and it's patisserie, my biggest weakness.
Any little mistakes they're going to tear you apart,
telling you what you've done wrong.
But you just have to fake it until you bake it.
Good morning, bakers, and welcome to the semifinal!
Now, for your Signature Challenge,
the judges would like you each to bake
a batch of six identical mini charlottes.
Your mini charlottes should have a beautifully set filling
encased in a sponge of your choice.
I love mini charlottes. Oh, me too.
Do you wanna play a game of mini charlottes? Yes, please.
Charlotte Church, five foot four.
Charlotte from Sex And The City, five foot one. Oh!
Princess Charlotte, four foot six.
The spider from Charlotte's Web, 16 millimetres. Oh... Yes! You win.
You have two and a half hours. On your marks...
Get set...
Bake.
I have to push myself now.
Semifinals, they're going to expect quite a lot.
The pressure is on for sure, but pressure works with diamonds.
It just feels crazy at the moment to be part of these amazing bakers.
It's patisserie week.
For our signature, we want the bakers to make mini charlottes.
This is quite tricky.
Mini charlottes should have a beautiful
very light golden brown sponge on the outside
with gorgeous mousse or bavarois inside.
The mousse can be any flavour they wish.
It could be chocolate, vanilla, orange, lime.
It's very important for me to finish this.
So I have to make sure that at the end I have enough time to decorate.
This is a chance to really show off.
We want to see a real artistic flair.
It's got to look amazing as if it should be in a patisserie shop.
We've got four great bakers,
but only three of them are going through,
and they have to really work for that place in the final.
Look at you in the semifinal! Whoo!
You made it. Yeah, I wanna... I wanna go all the way, though.
I know. I can taste the final. You can taste it. Yeah.
What does it taste like? It tastes great! Marzipan.
Syabira, good morning. Good morning, hello.
How does it feel coming into this semifinal?
You've won Star Baker three times now. Three times.
Yeah, I did win three times.
It's always a clean slate in the next week.
Tell us about your mini charlottes.
I am making cheesecake mini charlottes today.
It's gonna have peanut butter and berries.
Cheesecake. Yeah.
Peanut and fruit... you wouldn't normally put together.
No, it sounds quite strange to me.
For her left-field mini charlottes,
Syabira will create a ring of savoiardi sponge fingers,
filled with three layers of cheesecake -
blackberry, strawberry and peanut butter.
All along, you've given us unexpected flavours,
and they have really worked,
so I don't think you'll fail this time.
So I trust you entirely.
That's the thing, with three Star Baker in a row,
it's just like more and more has been expected so...
Quite right, you're right - we do expect more and more.
It's so stressful!
The first thing I'm making is the sponge itself,
because my whole dessert will be assembled with the sponge.
The bakers' choice of sponge could make or break their mini charlottes.
So right now I'm making the joconde sponge.
It should be a very, very light, bendable without cracking sponge.
It needs to be robust enough to contain their fillings...
I'm making Polish type of joconde.
So it's going to be a dry, quite airy sponge.
...while still being light, delicate and delicious.
A trick for the ladyfinger is not to flatten the butter.
If you fold too much, too harsh... goodbye to ladyfinger.
But if making one perfect sponge wasn't difficult enough...
Do you know what? Today is not the day to hand-whisk anything.
...Sandro's making two.
At the moment, I'm making joconde sponge,
and I'm going to also be doing a banana sponge,
trying to do that all within the next half an hour.
So my mum makes this banana cake.
It's coated with caramel, and then it's coated again with peanuts.
Definitely flavours that remind me of baking with my mum,
so I'm making my version of it.
Sandro's turning his mum's banana cake
into ambitious mini-charlottes.
As well as his two sponges,
he'll also pack in two mousses, peanut and caramel,
along with caramel sauce, praline crumble
and caramel chocolate ganache.
I mean, I worry about this.
Are you going to get it finished on time? Yes.
I mean, look at that. That's taking up half of your bench. Yeah.
How many eggs are you using? 24 of them. 24 eggs?
Cos I'm also making patisserie cream to go on top.
I think I should stop talking.
I think we should go away. Unbelievable.
Good luck. Thank you. Prove him wrong. I definitely need it!
Meanwhile, Abdul's taking a "less is more" approach.
I'm going with tiramisu. It's not too complex.
I kept it simple enough, it's classic.
I rather like the fact that you've chosen quite a simple idea.
Yes. This is patisserie week, so I need to make sure
I have enough time at the end so I can finish it.
Well, I think you're very sensible and I hope it works.
Abdul will need to perfectly execute each element
of his simple tiramisu-inspired mini charlottes
featuring sponge ladyfingers
and pistachio and coffee flavoured creams.
Have you had a little quiet moment
to reflect on the fact that you're in the semis?
It's been a roller-coaster, really.
But when you see yourself having improved so much,
it's kind of awesome to see that. I know, and that's what it's about.
And if we pushed ourselves all the time, we could be Prue Leith.
Yes, it would be very difficult but...
I like to push myself.
I like to push others - when they're not looking!
All the spongey fingers will be piped now.
With my shaky hands, so they won't be neat.
I need six of these ladyfinger.
I'm not doing ladyfingers.
I'm making a joconde that will just seal all the way round.
180...
So those sponges will bake for 40 minutes in 170 degree.
So right now I'm moving on with my... cream-cheese filling.
The bakers' choice of flavours must not only work in harmony...
Who doesn't like peanut butter?
You're probably missing one of the most wonderful thing in the world.
...but every element must be perfectly set too.
This is peanut butter mousse.
There is gelatine.
I did pull back because in practice it was a bit too much gelatine.
Get it wrong, and they could be serving a sloppy trifle instead.
No-one will see. It's my favourite chocolate mousse.
This mousse doesn't have any setting agent.
So I'm basing my mini charlottes on my childhood-favourite candy,
which is a chocolate plum.
Janusz's tribute to his favourite childhood treat
will contain plum and dark chocolate mousse
surrounded by chocolate joconde sponge fingers,
topped with a dome of hazelnut custard.
And he's hoping practice makes perfect.
Have you allowed yourself to think about getting to the final?
I went farther than I have expected myself to go. Really?
Oh, you will not believe how much I've exceeded my expectations.
Really? Yeah, they were really low. Well, how wrong you are!
And yet we all probably thought Maxy would still be here.
I've told Maxy, "You will be the finalist, you know that, girl,"
and she was like, "Don't be silly," and I said, "No, you will be."
You jinxed her! Evil! Syabira, you will be the finalist!
Bakers, you are halfway through
your first semifinal challenge.
I've got time. I've got time.
Hello, semifinalists!
Busy!
87 things at the same time, of course, great!
Creating perfect patisserie... They are done.
...will test the bakers to their limit.
So I'm making the mascarpone filling.
I'm then going to fold it with my caramel.
With so many elements to juggle...
Is someone browning some butter? I can smell burning.
...attention to detail is crucial.
Oh, my God I've burned my caramel. Sad life!
Hello. Hello! Semifinal.
Are you enjoying it still? I really love baking.
Why don't you enter it again next year?
In a disguise!
Oh, cool, of you?
Come in with a beard and really high shoes
and call yourself Olaf.
Right, everything is practically ready to go.
This is the joconde sponge.
You want the ends to meet perfectly.
Patisserie is all about precision...
I've got a ruler, and everything needs to be 5.5cm.
...and the judges will demand consistency across the batch.
Trying to be quick with filling.
I was hoping to set them in the fridge at least half an hour.
The banana sponge will be the bottom layer.
It's nice and moist, it tastes nice.
Mini charlottes, Prue.
You have Sandro, who's gone down 150 different layers and flavours.
Well, he says he's reined it back
but Sandro's idea of reining it back is from, you know, 100 to 95.
This is peanut butter mousse.
You have Abdul, who's gone down a more direct route - less is more.
Caramel is running behind a bit.
Because there's not a lot of complexity,
I need to make sure each element has been executed perfectly well.
And Janusz, I like the idea of the plums in there.
It carries such a beautiful flavour.
So it's half plums, half chocolate.
Hello!
Ah... Is this a little treat for me?
Oi! Don't touch my plums.
But then when you look at Syabira... Peanuts and fruit cheesecake.
It doesn't sound like my favourite thing.
Peanut butter, cream-cheese first.
She's given us a lot of funny flavours,
and they've been wonderful.
Red for strawberry, looking for the equal layer.
I mean, for patisserie week, a mini charlotte is all about delicacy,
that little bit of finesse,
and I want them to really step up this week.
Clearly, I'm not listening to the brief anyway.
It said mini charlottes. They're mot mini.
Mm!
They taste good!
Let it set for half an hour in the freezer.
With their mini charlottes chilling...
My next task is the flower.
...Syabira and Janusz... I'm going to make my custard.
...turn their attention to decoration.
This is caramel ganache.
But Sandro's still building his layers.
The caramel mousse is going to be done shortly.
Still a lot of elements, but I can get all of them done.
And Abdul has barely begun.
I'm now going to start assembling the layers, my mascarpone's ready.
So, yeah, it's going to be... tight.
It's gonna go in the freezer straight away.
It's about finesse.
You wanna be in the Bake Off hall of fame, don't you?
We're going to see about that. You know what happens, don't you?
What happens? I don't know. Someone pulls the lever,
trap door, you fall down,
and you get initiated into a weird ceremony.
Have you ever seen when people go along on mopeds
and they all get on each other's shoulders? Yes.
Like a human pyramid. Yes.
Yeah, well, Rahul's at the bottom on a moped,
and you all get into a pyramid!
Bakers, you have 15 minutes left!
Time is, like, very short
so I'm just going to go as quick as possible.
There's a lot of worries, actually.
Let me bring out my book of worries at the moment.
I'm gonna just check my mousse, if it's set.
It's nice and set already. Ooh!
I'm going to put this in the freezer and then just hope for the best.
With the moulding, the mousse just is about to set now.
Oh, it's not really that set.
This is just some cream with a bit of the caramel.
Why are they called charlottes? Cos alisha was taken already.
Do you think so? Mm-hm. Mini alishas. Mini alishas.
There was quite a few decoration elements.
I'm going to skip the piping. Just do the chocolate.
Oh, my God. It's just I cannot tie bows without the finger.
How do you tie a ribbon?
Can I have someone's finger?
I need a longer ribbon.
I'm going to need your finger in the middle.
Just put your finger here. Just there? Yes.
I'm going to dust them with icing sugar.
Bakers, you have five minutes left.
Oh, do you know what? I don't wanna tidy up right now.
Ugh!
Finishing touch.
It's not as perfect as I wanted it to be.
The hardest bit is making the bow.
I just want them to look at this and know straight away I've made this.
I've skipped all the decoration, but it doesn't matter.
I can't make the bow to save my life!
Can you hold that one, please, babes?
Yeah, tighter, tighter.
And this is the last one.
Bakers, your time is up!
Please step away from your mini charlottes.
Yeah, we've done it.
Let's go and have a coffee. Do you want this?
Mm! Oh, wow. I like that.
I really hope they don't... split open.
It's time to judge the bakers' mini charlottes.
Hello, Sandro. Hello!
Sandro, we were asking for finesse. Do you think you've pulled it off?
I don't know.
Finesse, I always associate with
something that's slightly smaller, and it is quite chunky. Yeah.
It is a little clumsy, but it makes your mouth water.
Wow. Oh, that looks beautiful.
Well, you've got all of the layers in there.
Let's see about the taste.
It's all absolutely delicious.
It's just so rich and strong.
It's quite overwhelming with the nuts in there and everything else.
There's a lot going on. Yeah.
All the layers are soft but not stodgy,
except the peanut one, it's a little bit gluey.
That's the only one that had gelatine.
But the sponge on the bottom, it's really beautiful.
That's some of the best sponge I've ever eaten.
It's just amazing.
I think I'll take it with me. Thank you, thank you very much.
It took me all my will power not to just go...
I know, right? I really wanna do that.
It looks a bit untidy on the side.
This one, the way it's been tied up. Yeah. It's broken slightly.
But overall, I think they're very sweet and pretty.
There's a lot of flowers.
There is a lot of flowers there, isn't there?
The plum is nicely set,
but the chocolate certainly isn't.
It's too loose.
You should be able to cut right through it and get a slice.
The flavours are lovely - plum and chocolate go very well together.
But the joconde is quite tough, it's much firmer than the middle.
It comes down to the textures.
But I do like it, the flavour's good.
Thank you. Well done. Thank you.
This is peanut butter, strawberry
and blackberry cream-cheese mini charlotte.
They look really pretty.
I do love the outside of this, quite elegant.
How's this tied up? Double knot.
You were in the Scouts, weren't you?
The strawberry cream is not quite holding its shape.
The sponge is delicious, beautiful and light.
Syabira, I think you've got really excellent flavours.
They're unusual, I would never have thought of that combination,
and I think it really works.
But the two creams that you've got your fruit in,
they're not set enough, that's the biggest issue,
cos your bottom layer with the peanut butter is.
Thank you.
It's a little bit messy.
But it looks like a tiramisu.
Let's have a look, shall we?
It cuts well.
Mm!
I think the textures are lovely.
Very, very light.
And I like the fact that the sponge is light too.
The coffee levels are perfect.
They blend beautifully with well-set cream.
Inside and flavour, ten out of ten.
The overall look of it... Not so good.
...not so good. Yeah.
Not quite up to the patisserie-week standard.
Yes, yes. You'd be like that. "This is delicious."
Well done. Thank you. Thank you.
Saved by flavour!
Man, I need to sit with all of you and get some decoration tips.
Just some flowers on it!
I'm happy - at least the insides were great.
They say it's slightly unusual but it does go together.
What does it mean by unusual?
I think this unusual means a good thing.
Prue said it was one of her best sponges she's ever had.
That's my recipe too, ho-ho-hee!
They liked the look, they liked the flavours.
So 50% there, not bad.
Now... it's time for lunch.
The pressure of patisserie week's about to ramp up,
as the bakers once again face the unknown.
Well, bakers, today's Technical Challenge
has been set by the amazing Pruedini!
Any words of advice? Yes, precision is all.
If you aren't precise, this recipe will not work.
OK, as ever, the Technical Challenge will be judged blind,
so the great Pruedini and her beautiful assistant Pauline
will now escape the tent.
For your Technical Challenge,
Prue would like you each to make
four identical
chocolate, hazelnut and raspberry vertical tarts.
Your vertical tarts
should be made up of crisp rings of sweet shortcrust pastry
and filled with semicircles of light chocolate and hazelnut mousse
and topped with a raspberry jelly.
They need to be identical, they need to be elegant,
the sort of thing you'd see through a patisserie window.
Boulangers, you have two hours.
On your marks... Get set...
♪ Bake! ♪
What the...?
I have no idea what it's supposed to look like.
What? This is going to be incredibly challenging,
because this is, like, beyond me.
I hope I could smash it, actually.
Prue, patisserie week, vertical tarts.
What on earth are you thinking?
It's the semifinal, we should be pushing them.
So take us through it. It's really delicate pastry.
It's a shortcrust,
but it has ground almonds in it, so it's really tender.
The chocolate mousse actually has
whisked meringue in it to make it a bit moussey,
and then when it's set,
decorate it with jelly, with whipped cream,
raspberries and little tempered chocolate discs.
And gold leaf. Ah...
I thought it was difficult!
So it's not exactly easy.
OK, shall we try?
The pastry's got such a nutty flavour to it, it's delicious.
That's a really rich mousse, isn't it?
Mm, and the raspberry's quite sharp as well.
The trick is the assembly.
If they don't do that carefully and with precision,
that's where they'll fall down. Yeah.
I can see trouble.
I can see trouble in the tent.
First instruction - make pastry and chill.
So I'm currently weighing all the ingredients.
Mix the butter and the flour to get them into crumbly texture.
There's ground almonds.
So this is very similar to the French pate sablee,
it's like shortcrust but with tiny bit of almond in it.
I'm just adding in the beaten egg. It says one to two tablespoon.
Just going to mix it until it's combined.
Oh! This tent gets a bit windy. Perfect!
Yeah!
What on earth is a vertical tart? I don't know.
We're going to have to wait until this is done...
To know what it is. ..to know what it's supposed to look like.
Have you got an image in your mind? Nope, nada. Blind baking. Yeah.
I've been first for two technicals in a row,
and I would really like to get the third.
That would be good, wouldn't it? Yeah.
I haven't got a handshake yet... Have you never had a handshake? No.
Would you like one from me? Meaningless. Thank you. Meaningless.
No, it means a lot to me, man. I kind of need this hand, though.
Oh, yeah, sorry. Thanks!
The dough now is ready.
Happy with that.
So this one needs to be in the fridge
so it's easy to handle.
Next, wash your hands.
Done, and make the chocolate mousse.
So this is the meringue type mousse.
I think I remember how to make it.
The key to an airy mousse
is gently mixing the rich chocolate and hazelnut...
That's the praline paste.
That's 50g.
...together with the meringue.
But care must be taken.
Fold this bad boy in.
Undermix, and it'll be splotched with egg white.
Hmm!
But overmix, they'll knock the air out,
and instead of a light fluffy mousse,
they'll be left with a heavy, dense ganache.
Anything I can do?
Yeah, stay away!
Stay away!
No, it's fine. Bye-bye.
Bye, Syabira!
Bye-bye!
Next, line the two 8cm tart rings with acetate.
Have we got acetate?
Oh, God.
I don't know if this is the right technique,
but I'm going to put the acetate and just cut around it.
Divide the mixture between the two tart rings.
Chill until set.
The mousse is done. I'm just going to chill it.
Now I am going to move on to my raspberry jelly.
I'm going to cook them with sugar and then add gelatine to them.
I have never made jellies before. I have made jams.
No water in the recipe, but that could be a trick.
I think that's not enough liquid.
That's it. No more than that.
And it says smooth - that means I need to sieve them
before I mix them with the gelatine.
That's not a lot of jelly there. I think I done it right.
Oh, how I enjoy these technicals!
Bakers, you have one hour left!
Roll out the pastry and cut four equal strips.
The butter is melting,
because it's really warm and I'm really warm.
So there we are.
It has to be thin but not too thin.
I wanted to make sure they're at least half a centimetre thick,
which is like a pound coin?
I rolled the pastries, and I think I rolled it too thin.
Because there's quite a few left over.
But it's been done, so.
Why do I have rice?
When you bake the tart,
it has to have something to hold the crust on the side.
It is important to have that.
I'm going to bake mine.
Oh, 40 minutes, no, I don't want 40 minutes.
So I'm going to let it bake for about 20 minutes,
then I'm going to check it out, it should be crispy and golden.
That's what they're gonna wanna look.
These are so tiny I have no idea how long to cook them for.
They will not bake for long at all. Eight, maximum ten.
Are you a fan of vertical food?
Not really, this is the first time I've seen vertical food.
It might look super cool. I don't know how they will eat this, though.
You'd need a very wide mouth. Yes.
Bakers, you have... 30. ..minutes remaining.
They are falling apart.
Yeah, that's what happened.
Two of them needs to be rerolled, end of story.
My plan is to put these back in
and see what happens to these ones and then take it from there.
I should have clicked that there's rice in the drawer,
but I didn't realise, so there you go!
Yeah, they're looking really good, actually.
I'm just filling my tarts with rice so they don't flop on sides.
I like what it looks like. It looks really clean.
Yeah, they're definitely gonna break.
Actually, they look fully baked.
Yeah, it's cooked.
I need to be careful not to break them.
Oh, I've got rice stuck to them, great.
These are done.
"To assemble, cut each mousse in half
"so that you have four semicircles."
I think I was supposed to line my shell, like the acetate around,
because that would've made it easier to get it out.
I'm just going to cut my mousse in half.
I hope they fit.
It looks good, it looks good.
That is definitely not half.
"Place one semicircle inside the pastry ring."
HE GASPS
What happened?
It's just a bit on the thick side of things.
So I'm going to just make it slightly smaller,
so it can fit in perfectly in there
with one of these.
That one. That one.
If it's a bit wonky, it's gonna go that way.
If it's not straight, it's gonna go back.
At least it stands.
That doesn't look nice at all.
"12, place a strip of jelly along each cut side of the mousses."
But it is so sticky, so I don't know what's the best way of doing this.
The jelly didn't set all the way.
Possibly be due to the amount of water that I added.
How the hell am I going to put this one on top?
It can't be that. It cannot be that!
"Place a strip of jelly along..."
I don't know what that fricking means!
"Along each cut side of the mousse."
"Each cut side", which will be this side.
But then that's not gonna fit, and it says a strip.
What does "along" mean?
That is actually the trickiest part of this.
"To assemble, cut each mousse in half."
That way, so you have... semicircles.
And then it's the cut side.
It goes that way.
Can you just tell me how long we've got, please?
Bakers, you have ten minutes left!
Honestly, I'm really trying to hold back my tears right now.
It looks good. I mean they're standing at least.
Please stay! Can I have my serving plate, please?
To decorate, I need double cream. Doesn't matter how much cream it is.
Shaking!
OK, that's whipped.
This is so difficult.
This is like really complicated patisserie.
Wow.
Uh!
Oh, no! One of my rings just broke.
If I use the mousse as a glue, we can be fine.
How are you supposed to take these in front?
Right, that's much better.
I didn't get away with it fully, but at least it stands, you know?
How many minutes left? Bakers, you have one minute left.
Half raspberry on top.
It's not as shiny as I wanted it to be.
I have never used gold leaf before. How do you apply it?
Oh, don't touch it!
Bakers, your time is up.
Bring your bakes down to the table
and place them behind your photographs.
Oh! Why would you do this to us?
Prue and Paul are expecting four exquisite vertical tarts
with crisp pastry, luscious light chocolate mousse,
and decoration worthy of a Parisian patisserie.
Right, bakers! It's quite impressive.
Yeah, some of them are all right.
OK, start with this one. Well, one's fallen down already.
They do look pretty neat.
They're a bit dark, I think, in places, overbaked.
That's a ganache. It's no longer a mousse.
Hmm!
Tastes lovely, really hazelnutty.
The flavour's good.
But the big problem for me is too stiff.
OK. This looks very neat.
Good colour, uniform.
The chocolate's like a ganache.
It's quite delicious, though.
If we'd said, "Can you put ganache inside a pastry?"
it's spot-on. Yes!
These ones are a bit messier. Dear me, yeah.
The actual pastry itself is very thick.
The jelly's not set.
Mm!
The pastry's good, but it doesn't look good.
No, it doesn't look good.
Now these are slightly underbaked.
I mean, this is not quite the precision we're asking for.
But this mousse looks better.
That's more mousse-like. Mm.
It's underbaked, you see how soft that is. Oh, yeah.
That's a shame cos the chocolate's all right.
Wow.
Prue and Paul will now rank the vertical tarts
from worst to best.
In fourth spot, we have... this one.
Sandro, pastry far too thick, and it was a mess. Yeah.
In third spot, we have this one.
Janusz, the mousse was the best,
but the pastry was really underbaked and soft.
In second place, we have this one. Whose is this?
Abdul, slightly overbaked.
The chocolate was a little bit tough.
Which means, Syabira, the pastry was beautifully neat.
it had the precision we were asking for.
Well done.
So technical, either I'm first or last.
I mean, given my pastries were falling apart,
second is pretty awesome.
That was confusing. That was really confusing.
My comprehension, I could work on that a little bit.
You know it's four of us, I was third.
Still sort of middle!
But tomorrow will show, one crack and you're out.
Just one challenge remains
before Prue and Paul decide who will fail to make the final.
We've got a situation where one of the people
who have been pretty consistent throughout
is in a little bit of trouble - Janusz.
I expect him to bounce back in the show stopper.
But at the moment I'd say he was in the worst position out of the four.
But I think he's not the only one in trouble.
I think Sandro, his flavours are great,
but he never finishes, and it never looks perfect.
He did a lot of work in his signature, didn't he?
Yeah, and that sometimes has been his downfall.
One I'd really root for is Abdul. I mean, he hasn't had Star Baker.
He's gone under the radar a bit, hasn't he?
Yeah, but he's consistently good.
You'd have to say it's Abdul and Syabira in line for Star Baker,
and it's Janusz and Sandro in line for going home at the moment.
Which is an extraordinary thing. Yeah.
I hate to say this but it's all...
Down to the show stopper?
It's all down to the show stopper!
Bakers, it's time for your semifinal show stopper challenge.
Now, today the judges would like you to create
your own visually spectacular take on the traditional Nordic krokan.
An elaborate multi-tiered Swedish patisserie
using almond biscuit dough, marzipan,
and featuring icing and sugar-work decorations.
Now remember, this is your last chance to impress the judges
and secure a place in the final, so don't hold back.
You could just bribe them.
Yeah, Paul's price is 30p and a small slab of toffee.
Whereas Prue, a little more classy. Wine gums.
You have four hours. On your marks...
♪ Get set! ♪ Bake!
A bit nervous but push myself, push myself.
There's no space to be worried. I'm just going to do my best.
Everyone is just so close.
It is very, very skilful person around me here.
And all lads - it has to be done for the girls, isn't it, Sandro?
Girl power, yeah, yeah, yeah, all about the girl power.
It's the semifinal, our show stopper is a krokan.
It's a celebratory Swedish wedding bake.
It's like a wedding cake,
but it's made with very intricate almond biscuit dough.
Crisp on the outside and a bit chewy in the middle.
And it is absolutely delicious.
It's almond flavour, of course, because it's made of almond flour,
but I'm also adding lemon zest and a bit of lemon extract
to get that flavour up and running.
Of course, they can do any flavour they like,
but we want it to be tall, celebratory, elaborate -
a real show stopper.
I'm using at least 6kg of ground almonds
and 6kg of icing sugar, but that's a lot.
The krokan has to be a minimum height of 60cm,
so structurally, it has to be sound.
They've got to get their bake right.
Overbake it, and you're going to lose that chewiness.
If they underbake it, it'll be too soft on the outside
and the whole structure will come tumbling down.
I'm in a bit of panic mode
to make sure that all the dough goes well.
This is the last challenge before the final.
Get this wrong...
...they're going home.
Hi, Sandro. Good morning. Hello, Sandro. Good morning.
Sandro, we need to know about your krokan.
My super ambitious krokan.
PAUL SIGHS Is it? Is it super ambitious?
So, this is an ode to Africa and to the UK -
where I was born and where I was raised.
It's almost like a thank you
for accepting my mum all those years back, with two kids,
single mum. If it wasn't for that, I wouldn't be here right now.
Fantastic. That's lovely.
Sandro will use two flavoured doughs -
raspberry and pistachio, and rhubarb and custard -
to construct his ambitious krokan, featuring Big Ben's clock face,
a map of Africa and the London Eye.
He'll bring his highly detailed design to life
with intricate piping, marzipan and sugar decorations.
The last couple of weeks, you've been pushing yourself,
which is good. But you've fallen a little bit flat. Yeah.
Now today, you've gone down a very intricate route again.
We want to see absolute perfection today.
I'm aiming for it, aiming for it. Absolute perfection.
You are one bake away from the final!
Good luck. Good luck, Sandro. Thank you. Thank you.
Use the force. Yes.
While Sandro's structure celebrates his life...
Today I am making double-helix krokan.
...Syabira's is dedicated to life itself.
My specialise is computational biology.
I would analyse data to understand the human genome,
so my krokan, it is celebrating DNA.
She'll create chromosomes from classic almond dough
and flavour each of the 50 biscuits that form
her DNA helix with rose and pistachio.
Decorated with colourful icing and marzipan, her towering design
will be supported by nothing more than thin biscuit rods.
It is a quite risky structure.
It has to be perfectly straight
and it has to be precisely arranged up to the top.
To keep the balance between the two? Keep the balance.
Honestly, it failed for the first three times that I tried.
Oh, my goodness. Wow. OK.
But the fourth one stayed standing for three days. So, hopefully.
Well, good luck. Wow.
Any hope of assembling a solid structure rests on
the bakers' ability to roll
and shape every one of their biscuit building blocks...
This is gonna be helix.
...with pinpoint accuracy.
So, it all has to be 14cm long.
This is the raspberry and pistachio dough.
So, I'm just making squared bases.
I want to make sure it's precise,
they're all the same thickness.
So, I'm putting the exact same amount of dough with each one.
But not all of the bakers are rocking the rolling pin.
I'm going to pipe my individual pieces.
That's why I printed these templates,
so I can easily follow them.
My plan is to make, like, a rocket shape.
I'm basically celebrating my passion
and humanity's achievement of getting to space.
Full of fresh flavours,
Abdul's ornate rocket will be made
from lemon dough,
with orange-zest space-themed marzipan decorations,
and he'll add a splash of colour
with sugar stained-glass windows.
Wow, look at the ambition of this!
Hello, Matt. Fantastic shapes.
This requires so much energy.
But then this is your last chance to impress the judges, isn't it?
It is. You've been the dark horse here because I don't think
you've had a handshake or a Star Baker, have you?
No, no, I haven't. This is why I'm like, "How did I make it this far?"
It just feels... Well, you only have to look at what you're doing
to see how you've made it this far. Look at it.
This is one of the most ambitious things
I've seen attempted since I've come into the tent. No way! Really?!
Yeah. In that, I would include Paul Hollywood trying to smile.
This is the most demanding bake... OK.
...the semifinalists have faced so far.
That's gonna go in for about 12 minutes, but I think
I'll bake these ones for a bit longer cos they are the base,
so I do want it to be a bit more strong.
The key here is making the biscuits strong,
but actually, it has to be soft and gooey still in the middle.
But if they're to achieve the krokan's trademark texture...
The key to the texture is the right time in the oven.
...they must walk a time and temperature tightrope.
Gonna switch them around, so they get even colour.
My timer's ending, but they're still very light.
I might bump up the temperature, maybe.
Dude, may I ask what temperature are you baking at?
I put mine up to 180.
But that's not all...
One out, one in, all the time.
...consistency will be crucial...
This is the hardest part, batch baking.
It's gonna be nonstop today.
...with every biscuit baked to perfection.
I'm making 19 different pieces. It is a lot.
This is just isomalt.
I've decided to make something colourful.
First tier will be a celebration of the gay flag.
My design is Brighton Pride.
Janusz's three-tiered krokan is an explosion of colour.
Sitting atop his Pride flag-inspired base will be pink
and blue hearts, as well as black and brown musical notes
to celebrate both the transgender
and black, Asian and minority ethnic communities.
These look great.
Not really patisserie, is it those colours?
But you're in the semis, so you can do what the hell you like.
You wanna be in the final, don't you? Well, of course I want to be
in the final. But I see the people around me.
It's anyone's game. Just depends on who has a good day.
This looks amazing.
And it's as messy as ever, which is a good sign for you.
It is a very good sign. Good luck. Thank you, thank you.
Bakers, you are halfway through!
I would've liked all the biscuits
to have been baked within the first two hours.
I've got a lot to do and not much time.
These are the chromosome.
Chromosome is like a bag that contains all your DNA in it.
If you untangle your genetic structure, which is your helix,
you will have about 67 billion miles of DNA. How mad is that?
Krokan, I think this is a really exquisite challenge
for the semifinal.
It's really difficult.
When you think that Syabira is trying to do
the double helix,
I don't know how she's going to manage that.
The structure itself is quite ambitious - I would admit that -
so if I muffed it, I'm not through for the final.
If Syabira's doesn't fall over, she could win.
This does play to Syabira's strengths
and also, actually, Janusz's. He's building Pride.
The layers have to be really carefully brought together.
All is good, all is good, all is colourful, all is pretty.
Once isomalt is in those hearts, I can start assembling.
My money's on Abdul.
The rocket? That looks quite...
It does look amazing, quite spindly.
I'm almost done now. There's the last pieces.
I just think he's so precise,
organised and it's a really good idea.
I mean, then you've got Sandro building, well, essentially Big Ben
with all the bits.
I would be surprised if Sandro finishes, though,
because it's just so complicated.
I'm sure he'll finish it, but to what level of finesse?
They keep underestimating me.
I'm being ambitious with it. I'm going for it.
I'm going for perfection.
Just 90 minutes remain.
That's the last one.
That should be enough for the whole entire helix.
Come on sugar, cook.
I'm using the caramel to just glue
the structure together cos caramel's really strong.
I have to start assembling.
This is the most nerve-breaking part.
My hands are shaking.
Oh, this one's not meeting. Move! Move quickly!
That's better.
I am glueing this main structure together now.
This is gonna be the central pole of the helix.
It has to be super straight,
so it is how precisely I can arrange this together,
so that it wouldn't fall down. No room for wonkiness.
But while Syabira's, Sandro's...
Africa's sticking just fine.
...and Janusz's structures take shape...
Yep.
...Abdul's still baking.
That's the last one that's going in.
I'm just gonna do my decorations as quick as possible.
I am running behind.
Time, time, time again.
Bakers, you have one hour left!
Stress. Right.
These are the chromosome.
Just making my marzipan decoration -
my stars and planets and astronauts -
and then start assembling it.
Oh, it's taking shape, isn't it?
And what's the purpose of having this cup here?
It's gonna hold what I'm about to put on.
It's all good. It's all good.
Ooh!
This cup's not great, innit?
No. I nearly had a moment there.
I'm doing the double helix. It's gonna spiral to the top.
I'm just trying to make sure they're all vertical,
all straight,
and also make sure my caramel doesn't burn.
Making more glue.
My eyes are burning.
What a different life it would be if you were that tall.
I like your little purple gloves.
You look like a Batman villain.
So, I have the flat edges
and now it's just time to start sticking them together.
Seems to be holding really well at the moment.
So, this is the London Eye. It's custard and rhubarb.
That's not gonna hold. It's too weighty.
Oh, this is huge! This is what it's about right.
I'm gonna do a lot of pipework now. Pipework.
Pipework, make the dreams work. Everyone's dug in deep,
pulling off some business.
I mean, Janusz's one looks like perfection.
Beautiful, isn't it? You can't even see the caramel.
Look at my caramel mess, but I'm gonna hide this.
Get in the zone, get in the groove.
Got an amazing structure. Now make it look pretty.
Bakers, you have half-an-hour left!
Nearly there with the assembly
and then move on with some of the decoration.
My royal icing is Brighton Gin-flavoured.
Janusz, I need some help.
Syabira, I'm coming. What do you need me to do?
I need to put this on the top here.
I'm not sure if it's stable enough.
OK. Gonna lift it and you help.
I'm gonna hold the...
I'm holding the biscuit on the bottom.
Yeah, can you hold it?
Yep. Crazy Syabira, of course.
I'm just doing some pipework.
Just to add some decor and definition to some of the bits.
So far, so good. I have just the final top bit left now
and then I'll go back to my marzipan.
Colour them, stick them, finish this, finish this.
My marzipan's falling off!
After I've finished my hearts, I will get piping.
Every single heart needs to have a white outline.
That's the isomalt, to bring some colour, cos I'm gonna do blue,
white and red for the flags. It's coming together.
But I'm trying to cover up the imperfections.
I need to show that I can finish things off.
Bakers, you only have five minutes left.
Lots to do, lots to do.
These look an absolute mess though.
This is marzipan with ground pistachios.
I'm stamping the letters of the DNA.
The code in the genome contains four different letters - G, C, T and A.
You all right? Getting a bit stressed.
Got enough time? Hmm. Doubt it.
I'll do what I can do though. I'm not gonna give up.
How long do we have left? You have one minute left.
Isomalt is gonna go on. Blue, where's the blue?
Where's the blue gone?
I wish I had royal icing.
That's the red.
Hasn't come out how I wanted it.
This one keeps drooping down.
OK, bakers, your time is up.
And breathe.
And we can breathe as well now. God.
Whoa, man! You pulled off the DNA. High five. Look at that!
Beautiful.
I hope it didn't fall down though.
No, no, no, no. Don't say that.
There is more that I could've done.
But I'm happy with how it turned out.
My red sugar just fell off.
Oh, no.
It's time to judge the bakers' show-stopping krokans.
Abdul, would you like to bring up your Showstopper, please?
Oh, my hands are so sweaty right now.
Please don't drop that!
I think it looks
absolutely magnificent.
And I love the little spaceman.
I think it looks great. You've managed to achieve
the symmetry beautifully, all the way down.
And you've got some nice detail in there. I love the isomalt windows.
Very clever.
It does feel like vandalism, breaking it up.
Breaking things like that!
All that work.
I think the biscuit's delicious. It's almondy. It's chewy.
It's got a good colour.
So, all these are marzipan, these little stars?
Yes. They're all orange marzipan.
Mmm. That's delicious. Is that made with essence or with..?
There's orange zest in there...
Hmm. It tastes fresh. ...as well as some essence. Yeah.
That's really nice, that. Abdul, I think you've done
a terrific job. Well done. Thank you.
It's absolutely wonderful.
I think your design is amazing. The colours are incredible.
And the chromosomes, are they actually supporting
the whole structure? Yes.
It is just amazing.
I made the base with almond krokan
and the top with pistachios krokan.
I think the flavours are all absolutely spot-on,
but the baking varies. Some of them are a little too dry.
The main stand bit is OK. It's slightly chewy in the middle.
The pistachio tastes amazing. The almond tastes amazing.
But they're both overbaked.
Thank you. Thanks, Syabira.
I think the bottom tier is beautifully neat,
well executed, and the way you've put the different colours
inside there, I think it really works.
I just think it's slightly untidy as you go up.
The hearts are pretty even.
These ones are closer together than those ones.
Well, let's see what it tastes like.
Mmm, delicious flavour.
I want to see if I can taste the gin in the icing.
'Course you do!
Flavours are excellent. They are a bit overbaked.
They're not chewy enough.
The best bit I've found was just here, where it's a little bit
softer. But it's lost its crisp.
You've gone from slightly over to slightly under.
And we're trying to look for something bang in the middle.
I do like it. It's mad.
It's sort of all over the place, like a Monty Python krokan.
We have the whole of Africa here. The whole of Africa.
There's red and blue isomalt for the UK flag,
but the red isomalt fell off.
It does look as if you've overdone the caramel...
Most definitely. ...like it's almost burnt.
What's the tang in that? That's rhubarb and custard.
Mmm. Wow, yeah.
Africa's raspberry and the pistachio.
It's more raspberry than pistachio. But the texture's beautiful.
I mean, every part has got a softness to it,
which is exactly how it should be - crispy on the outside,
soft on the inside.
Chewy, with flavour.
It's just a little bit all over the place.
Yeah, I would've wanted it a bit more finessed,
especially with being the week it is.
Well done, Sandro. Thank you, Sandro.
It wasn't as bad as I thought it would go.
And, for once, Paul actually seemed really impressed with the flavour.
Hopefully, I've done enough to save myself a place in the finals.
I've got this feeling that I am today in the bottom.
I know that patisserie is my weakness, so it's gonna be
a challenging decision, which one is going home.
Well, that was an amazing Showstopper. Yeah.
All four did really well.
Syabira's helix looked extraordinary.
I mean, that is an insane idea, right? Amazing.
The problem with that design is,
you've got small bits of biscuit, so it was slightly over baked.
She won the Technical and had a good Signature, didn't she?
Syabira has had a really good couple of days. And the same with Abdul.
Fantastic. I thought his textures were all spot-on.
It's Syabira or him, isn't it, for Star Baker? Yeah.
But by the very virtue of the fact we're talking about Syabira
and Abdul for Star Baker,
we are now looking at Janusz and Sandro to go.
It comes down to little differences.
Can I just say as well, this is the worst time to go home?
But one of them has to. Yeah.
Let's hold hands.
It's inconceivable to think that we will be saying goodbye to
one of you, but we will.
Three of you have made it to the final
and one of you is Star Baker.
And this week, the Star Baker is...
Congratulations, Abdul. APPLAUSE
That means I've got the horrible, horrible job of announcing
the person who is leaving us,
and this is just the worst time to go home.
But the person who's leaving us this week is...
...Janusz.
Doesn't surprise me.
And Janusz is leaving the tent!
You are a really good baker. You're not only a good baker,
you're such a lovely guy.
I am not upset.
The best three bakers are left, clearly.
We're going to miss you so much. I know.
It was an amazing time with amazing people.
Guys, you're in the final!
I don't know, man. It's crazy. It's just crazy.
In the final and just Star Baker as well, like... unbelievable.
Well done, mate. Thank you. See you in the final.
This is just awesome to see
because it just shows that I have been improving
and this gives me confidence that I belong with the other two bakers.
You did so well. Thank you.
I'm very happy. It means everything.
It's something that I wouldn't think I could achieve.
Congratulations. That was close.
I'm relieved. I'm happy that Paul and Prue see something to be able to
hold me a space for the final.
Congrats!
That's just where I wanted to get to.
Yeah.
Happy tears.
Oh, mad.
Next time...
I'd like to invite the three finalists to come and join us here.
This is the calm before the storm. Going to get messy.
The winner... They are overcooked.
Oh, man. My bread! I don't know if you're baked, mate.
...of The Great British Bake Off...
Stress!
How many minutes do we have left? I can feel myself shaking over here.
Please, please, please don't. ...is...
Are you a Star Baker in the making?
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