Last time... Keep it up... it was the quarterfinal.
Martin, stop panicking. I'll stop panicking.
With a sub-in for Subin...
Wallace, nice to meet you.
..The Dorchester finally finished a showpiece...
Bravo, I will give you a boom.
Hold... and riding the crest of a wave...
You have the best showpiece.
..Mauro and Daniel took first place.
Are you going to crack a smile? Yeah.
But while Mayank and Dharma nearly crashed out,
it was Caroline and Martin whose dreams were shattered.
Urgh! Out this week.
This time... You are fighting for a place in final.
..four teams...
My heart is pumping. Beep-beep-beep. ..become three...
Oh, my God... as they face a secret challenge...
Oh, slowly, slowly, slowly! ..set by a star guest judge...
What? ..And a Land of the Giants showpiece.
Go big, but go small.
Who'll rise to the occasion?
Hold it, hold it, hold it. And who will come up short?
Is this enough to take you to the final?
Argh!
Just four teams remain to battle it out for
a place in next week's grand final.
We are ready to fight until the end.
I see the final there
and we want to actually reach it. That's it.
It feels really good to be in the semifinal.
I can't believe we're here. A little pastry shop up in Wigan
coming down here to compete against some of the big names.
Come on, north! Come up north, have a little look at what we do.
To secure their spot, the teams face the ultimate secret challenge.
The semifinals and the secret challenge will be very difficult
and we're just hoping it's something that probably we've done before.
You too, Sir.
I just hope it's not vegan.
Yeah, vegan pastry going to be pain in the ass.
Vegan.
We go home.
Good morning, chefs. Welcome back
and congratulations on making it through to
the semifinal where you will face
a secret challenge unlike any you've faced before.
Isn't that right, Cherish?
That is right, Ellie. Chef, please welcome the man
that set the challenge,
one of the most respect chef in Britain today.
The head pastry chef at Harrods Philip Khoury.
What?
Good morning, chefs.
For today's challenge I'd like you
to make one of my favourite creations.
This is Dawn of a New Day.
It's an entirely plant-based dessert that unites conference pears, gently
poached in earl grey tea, with
a velvety dairy-free milk chocolate cream,
earl grey sponge,
chocolate Chantilly and a biscuit crunch.
That sounds delicious. Benoit, anything else to add?
Oui, bien sur. You've all been given all the ingredients
and equipment required to do six perfect Dawn of a New Day
desserts. But remember today you have three judges to impress,
so your job has become 50% harder. Mm.
Very impressive maths, Benoit.
I do what I can.
Chefs, you have two and a half hours to complete this challenge.
Good luck and your time starts now.
This is exciting!
Yes, it is. Are you ready for this?
Absolutely. Can't wait to see what they do.
It's a good one. The surprise challenge is a good one.
Vegan. We guessed it right.
A bit worried.
It's beautiful, I love this dessert.
I've seen it on social media. And I love this chef,
Philip is very good. So I'm excited to do this today.
The teams have all been given identical ingredients
and the same pared back version of Philip's recipe.
Oh, my God, there are so many elements.
My heart is pumping. Beep-beep-beep-beep.
Now they must use their instincts
and years of pastry experience
to recreate six stunning Dawn of a New Day desserts.
Have you heard of this dessert before?
I have eaten this dessert before. You've eaten it?
Well, of course. If anyone was going to have tasted it in
the room it's going to be you. Because you flipping love Harrods.
Yeah. It does look absolutely perfect. It is. So there is quite
a lot of pressure there. So many elements, precision.
In two and a half hours. In two and a half hours.
Wow, wow, wow. What can I say, Philip?
This is elegant, sophisticated and so intricate.
Yeah, they look stunning. Where'd you get this inspiration from?
When I created this, pears were in season.
I thought, "What goes with pear? Chocolate and earl grey."
There are a number of components.
We've got these fresh juicy poached pears.
You should be able to bite into it and still have some texture.
You don't want it to be too mushy.
We've got this thick, velvety milk chocolate cream.
The sponge, you don't want it to be dense or too flat.
And the chocolate Chantilly that goes on top.
Absolutely stunning dessert.
Elegant combination of flavours, full of texture. I love it.
So what is the most difficult to nail?
On paper, this recipe looks like a petit gateau,
but what they don't see on paper is all the detail.
The visual is actually inspired by a sunrise.
This takes a lot of finesse.
Getting that chocolate tempered
and spread beautifully, placing them perfectly, so that everything fits.
Wow, this is such a difficult challenge.
They need to look at every little aspect of this recipe
to make it technically right. A lot can go right, but also
a lot can go wrong. A lot can go wrong. Yeah, I was leading you
into this one. You're right.
Good morning, Mauro and Daniel. Good morning. Our reigning champions.
Yes, you baby! Going into the semifinal,
that's got to be nice. You're like, "Yeah, it was until we got this."
You're giving me pressure. It is a lot of pressure, isn't it?
And when you've been lumbered with this secret challenge.
Daniel, have you seen the dessert before? Yes.
Are you excited to make it?
Yeah.
Do you feel confident about what you need to do?
It's something new, so we have to be very focusing on what we do.
Yeah, focusing and not talking
to a strange woman with a fancy collar.
At the heart of Philip's dessert is an earl grey infused pear compote.
I love these flavours. I love earl grey.
And as with every element the chefs must produce...
..precision is paramount.
It doesn't say. It just says, "Poach the pear."
Too long, they risk a mushy middle.
Oh, Mayank running! Oh, he's fast today.
Not long enough, they'll be crunchy and lack earl grey flavour.
Are these cooked already? Yeah.
Did you taste it? I tasted it. I thought I could go more,
but I was worried that it might just get over-cooked. All right.
Anything that you are worried about?
The whole composition.
It's a legendary dessert. I don't know how much we're going
to get it close.
Very important, the decoration is so intricate. It's so refined.
Finesse. Refinement has been a little bit of a struggle
with you in the past.
Agreed, Chef. Today you can't do that. This is the proper test
for you, and you are in the semifinal after all. Yes, it is.
You need to nail it and get it right.
Yes, Chef.
I'm weighing out the pear compote that's going to be frozen
into the mould.
To achieve the perfect balance
of flavours, Philip's recipe requires exactly 25g
of poached pears in each dessert.
It's very precise. Oh, my God.
It's very important that we get all the ingredients in
the right amount, to have the same dessert from Chef Philip.
I have no idea how much is this. I'm just, like, popping things in.
We're just getting the pears frozen down.
With so many elements to complete, the teams face
a constant race against the clock.
Every second lost means less time
for that all-important assembly and finishing.
Are the pears ready? No.
Daniel, we need to put it in the dome because we need to...
Yes, Mauro. But, please,
I cannot concentrate if you speak all the time, you know?
I'll get on the sponge, Andy. Yeah, I'm doing the Chantilly. Yeah.
Earl grey sponge.
Mix the dry ingredients
and the wet ingredients separately, then combine.
I'm just blending the earl grey tea, to fold it through the sponge.
Otherwise when you eat it, you will feel the pieces of tea
instead of just the flavour.
This is very thin.
I don't think there is enough aeration into the sponge.
I mean, there is a lot of baking powder so it should raise a lot.
Morning, chefs. Morning, Chef. Welcome back, Subin.
Are you feeling better? Yes, I feel good.
OK, it's great to have you back. How confident are you today?
We're not really confident because we don't really do vegan.
Annie, looking at the recipe, is there anything that you say.
"Oops! I'm not too sure about that"?
Actually it's quite straightforward.
So you think it's straightforward?
It's quite straightforward.
All right. I'm expecting perfection, guys. Patisserie perfection.
Yes, Chef.
With their sponge in the oven...
No idea how long I have to bake it,
but we'll start with 5-6 minutes and we'll see.
..and pears finally poached,
Mauro and Daniel are playing catch-up.
So, Annie, do the Chantilly and I make the cremeux
because I think that will need to set.
While a cremeux, a rich velvety pastry cream,
and a Chantilly cream should be simple for the chefs...
Cremeux. Oat milk.
You boil that, tempered into the creme patissiere powder.
..creating plant-based equivalents
will test their knowledge and intuition to the limit.
I think bring that to the boil. Cook it out and then add the milk.
Add the milk chocolate. And the cocoa butter. Yeah, yeah.
Not done anything plant-based, really.
We're just trying to figure out how he would cook it.
Trying to figure out his recipes.
I'm making a chocolate Chantilly.
The focal point of Philip's dessert is
a gold-glazed dome of milk chocolate Chantilly cream.
The Chantilly needs to be whipped.
To ensure this crucial component holds its shape,
the chefs must take care not to under whip their mixture.
Yep? Oh, yeah.
Last Christmas we have vegan afternoon tea.
If we didn't whip the cream very well
it would start leaking everywhere. Nightmare.
While most of the teams are still moulding their Chantilly domes...
Looks good, Chef. Thanks, Chef.
..Andy and Raf's are already in the freezer...
So this is the cremeux, the sponge and the pears.
..as they put the finishing touches to the base of their dessert.
Andy, happy with that? Yeah.
There's a lot going on on this dessert,
so it's focus ready because if you miss one step
of it, you're going to be in serious trouble.
Good morning, Chef.
Welcome to the semifinal. Who would have thought?
One more step to go and it's the final.
Hopefully. If we can get it right.
That is a big "if" there.
Have you seen this beautiful creation in the social media?
We have, yeah, and I took Andy to Harrods to have a look
at your pastry. Oh, did you taste it there?
We didn't unfortunately, no. You didn't? You missed
the opportunity to get ahead there. I know, yeah.
We saw obviously the calibre of it
and we were like, "Right, OK. This is a step-up".
But obviously we're in the semifinal, so it pushes us.
It's a piece of cake, guys. Oh, it's a piece of cake!
Chefs, you are halfway through. Or as Liam would say...
I would also say, "Chefs, you're halfway though."
Oh, my gosh. We are so in sync.
You can tell it's week nine, can't you? Aw.
While Andy and Raf make
a start on their chocolate decorations...
This is going to be the trickiest part.
..the rest of the teams are chasing to get back on terms.
This needs to set in the blaster. Good, good, good, good, good.
Dharma, start the chocolate garnish.
Yeah.
The dessert's crowning glory consists
of six shiny chocolate decorations.
We're trying to get it as thin as we can, cos there's
a lot of chocolate on top.
They're beautiful but very fragile.
So we need to be very careful what we do.
Slowly, slowly. Ooh, slowly, slowly, slowly, yeah.
Mayank, how's it coming along?
Don't ask. I might cry.
We're just struggling with our chocolate garnish.
The chocolate garnish. OK. Yeah, it's quite intricate.
It's all about the delicate touches today. Very delicate. Mm-mm.
Are they coming out all right? Not really.
So that's done, that's done. Golden glaze.
Critical to both the dessert's visual impact
and Earl Grey flavour is a gold glaze that coats
the Chantilly cream dome.
So I've got the reduction from the pears,
gold powder, and then I'm just adding sugar and pectin
to thicken it.
Pectin, activated by heat, gives the glaze
the consistency needed to coat the dome.
Perfect.
Without it, the teams could be left with a golden puddle.
Golden glaze, Chef. No mistakes, otherwise we go home.
Chefs, you have 30 minutes left.
If them desserts are done, let's get them dipped.
So this is the crunchy demerara crumble.
It's going to be mixed in with the chocolate.
As Andy and Raf dip their frozen domes...
The dome is not completely set.
..Mauro's come unstuck.
So I struggle to dip it.
And he's not the only one needing longer in the chiller.
These need to freeze completely.
But while they wait,
Annie and Subin have a plan to stay on track.
We can start to, like, spray the chocolate.
Oh, don't fly away.
Chef Philip will be focused on the details.
The glaze in the middle must be perfect.
The decorations, we need to make sure that
the details are done properly.
Chefs, you have 15 minutes left.
Chef Dharma, start assembling.
Right, you've got cold hands so I'll pass them.
You just give me some moral support.
Do you remember how they stick? It's one in the middle.
So disc, and then two and two, so basically six. Six rays.
I'm just cleaning the rough edges. It has to be neat.
Annie, it's like this. Yeah, in the middle, in the middle.
Subin and Annie... Theirs look different.
They've got golden spikes.
No-one else has got golden spikes over the top of theirs.
Was that a mistake? I don't know.
Trying to stick
the chocolate decoration and my fingerprint is showing.
Do you think they were meant
to spray it gold once you've assembled the desserts?
They are deviating from the recipe which is dangerous/brave. Mm-mm.
Easy, let me do it.
No, no, no, no, no, Daniel. It's two for each side, eh?
Four quarter arches, then one full circle.
You look worried today.
I am worried.
Final, huh? Push. Yes, Chef.
Behind you, Andy. We need to spray them.
Chefs, you have five minutes left.
Let's go, let's go, let's go.
It's just like speckling.
It's very hard to stick because of the gold powder.
This is not sticking. I would not pay for it.
So we're just spraying the last one. Perfect.
Chefs, you have one minute left.
Your hands are shaking, Chef. It's fine, it's fine. Spray, spray.
Just need to fix the tilts.
Quick, quick, quick.
We've got six. Hopefully everything is as it should be.
Hmm?
Chefs, that's it. Time is up.
Please step away from your desserts.
Done. Happy.
Taste it. Mm. Light, actually. Interesting, innit?
Yeah, I did. Maybe I didn't cook it enough?
It's time for the teams' Dawn of a New Day desserts
to face the judgment of Benoit, Cherish and Philip.
Annie and Subin from The Dorchester, please come forward.
So at the beginning of the challenge you both seemed quite confident.
Do you feel the same way coming to the end of it?
Yeah. Everything was smooth.
OK. So I can see a few marks in your decoration.
I observed you were both spraying
the pieces individually before you assembled it,
when the recipe said that you needed to spray them after.
And the gold should have just been a light accent.
But the bottom looks neat and tidy,
the crumble is a good size.
I'm looking forward to tasting it.
Pear's nice and tender.
The Chantilly looks a tiny bit on the soft side,
so you could have just whipped it a tiny bit more.
I really, really like your cremeux.
It is silky, it is smooth,
and you did not overcook the sponge. It is moist, fluffy.
You've delivered a beautiful dessert to us. Mm. Thank you.
Chef, did you bring a ray of sunshine in here? Yes, you did.
I really like the chocolate. You spread it so super thin.
Really great definition.
We're looking at some really good work here.
Shall we? Proof's in the pudding.
I'm going to take the most beautiful one.
When I cut it through, it's so sexy when I hear the...
I think it's a tremendous effort.
The pears are the perfect texture.
They're all the same size and they're nice and chunky.
The texture of your cream are bang-on.
The Chantilly is set well.
The only part I miss is a little bit more crumble,
but considering you've never done that dessert before, you've done
a really good job. Well done, guys.
Hmm, it's a bit cha la la, isn't it, Chef?
Unfortunately, for a dessert like this one, there are
elements you cannot afford to go wrong with.
One of them is the glaze on the dome
because this is where the colour comes from,
this is where the story comes to life,
and that's the part which has gone wrong for you today.
But let's taste it.
The chocolate cream is luscious.
That Chantilly looks fantastic, really nicely whipped.
But the pear's very slightly overcooked.
OK. Again, the glaze not only compromised the visual,
but I believe compromised also the way it tastes.
I don't feel the Earl Grey as much as we should.
It's a big one to mess up.
Come back stronger tomorrow.
Thanks. Thank you very much.
It's OK. Tomorrow we'll do better.
Unfortunately, we have the same little issue with
the two of you and it's the finesse of work.
In particular, obviously, the Chantilly has an issue,
but also the chocolate is very rough.
You can see how the chocolate's been joined
and they're not exactly aligning.
The Chantilly looks like maybe it just needed
to have been whipped a bit longer. It's a bit on the soft side.
There's just a few little details that are
a little bit rough that let the whole thing down,
but I look forward to trying it.
I've got beautiful flavours of pear and chocolate,
but not enough Earl Grey.
Your poached pears haven't been poached enough. Mm.
So they are crunchy and they taste like fresh pear.
All the components are there,
but that attention to detail is lacking.
Thank you Chef, thank you. Well done, guys. Thank you, Dharma.
We try hard, but of course it's the semifinal.
Even one mistake will top you off,
so I think we're sitting at the bottom.
The secret challenges seem to be cursed.
But we've been there before. Stay calm, we have tomorrow.
Let's focus on tomorrow.
Ahead of tomorrow's showpiece challenge,
the teams have been given a golden hour to prepare.
So was it Dawn of a New Day, or was it Dawn of the Dead?
I've added drama. Killer joke.
Nice. They did pretty well, though.
Yes, considering it's a very difficult challenge.
Andrew and Raf had a pretty good day today.
They've had a little bit of a rocky time last week,
but now they seem to be back on track.
Annie and Subin. OK, their decoration might not have been
spot-on, but when it came to their flavours and their textures?
They've done a good job. I was super proud of them because they said
they are not very confident with plant-based desserts.
Then you've got Mauro and Daniel, and you could just see that they
were so cross with themselves.
I was disappointed.
All chefs should be able to execute a pectin glaze.
And also Mayank and Dharma, it's not very neat to look at.
We've had this before. What a shame.
So it feels like Harwoods are at the top,
but as for the rest, it feels like they're all potentially at risk.
So it all kind of lands on tomorrow. So tell us, what are they up to?
Well, they have to recreate a miniature village table scene.
The Land of the Giants. So they have to become story tellers,
as well as being great pastry chefs.
I'm very excited. I want drama tomorrow.
Gigantic drama.
I like that. Give me a five.
The teams have one last chance to stake their claim to
a place in the final.
Welcome back, chefs. Just one challenge remains before
the judges decide which three teams will make it through
to the final. So Benny B, tell us more.
Chefs, today you must create
an entirely edible miniature village table scene, inspired by
the theme Land of the Giants.
Chef, incorporating into your table scene must be enough buche entremet
for 40 people, along with other complementary elements.
You must tell a compelling story, revealing your dessert one by one
along the way.
So make a great dessert, come up with a brilliant story
and tell said story fantastically.
Whoa, you've got a lot to do!
Right, chefs, you've already had one hour to prep last night.
You now have a further four hours
to complete this challenge. Best of luck. Your time starts now.
This is a showpiece of gigantic proportions.
We've gone full-on crazy this week. Given ourselves a lot to do.
Not only must the teams' miniature villages be entirely edible,
but they must contain hidden treats and beautiful buche,
a type of log cake dessert.
We don't really do table scene.
My soul has left my body already, so...
This is a big one.
Oh, 100%. The village to build and a buche as well for 40.
For 40 people. That's a huge "bush"!
Well, actually it's a buche.
Don't spoil the fun.
I'm nervous. It's the Land of the Giants.
How will we be able to finish this gigantic thing that we've planned?
Fe-Fi-Fo-Fum! I want to be the giant for once in my lifetime.
The chefs today have to create an entirely edible miniature village.
We need to feel like giants.
And as usual we want more than that.
The chefs have to tell us
a magnificent story, revealing their dessert one-by-one.
I'm going to add some secrets, some mystery. Secrets? Ooh!
I love mystery, especially when I can eat it afterwards.
I want to be able to live in their showpiece.
It needs to be interactive, it needs to be fun.
And incorporated within that scene, all teams will have
to hide a beautiful buche.
This is the bus to hide our buche.
It need to be exciting, when I taste it.
I do not want a boring log cake.
These lemons are from Amalfi, fantastico.
We've got high expectations.
They will have to earn their space in the final,
and that's their last opportunity to do so.
We really need to push ourselves, do our best.
Chef, go big or you will be going home.
Go big, but go small. So that's... Yeah, confusing.
Good morning. How is Daniel today? Good morning. Good.
How did you feel about yesterday? Very bad.
Very bad. Yeah. Why very bad?
People eat first with their eyes, so if it's not fine at
the beginning, you don't want to go further.
A little mistake caused a big disaster,
so it's a lesson for the next time.
Well, can you tell us
a little bit about your inspiration for your miniature village.
Yes. A little village in the Alps in Italy.
It's called the New Curon.
The bell tower comes out of the water? Yes, it's beautiful.
Mauro and Daniel's recreation of
the drowned village of Curon will feature a lake filled
with Earl Grey creme anglaise,
Black Forest flavoured trees,
lemon and almond cake houses,
and a pear, ginger and yuzu train-shaped buche.
There's a lot in your story.
How are you going to bring your village to life?
I will make you do a guided tour of the village with me and Daniel.
Daniel? Ho-ho-ho!
Daniel, the tour guide. I never pictured you doing a tour guide.
Assistant, assistant. No, he's only assistant.
You be there to collect the coin at the end, wouldn't you?
Yeah, exactly. The tips at the end.
Andy and Raf are also heading to the Alps.
We are doing a model ski village.
Me and Raf met skiing.
Bezzy mates. You know, talking about pastries going down
the slope. It was quite romantic.
Bringing back memories of the birth of their bromance,
their ski village will have slopes lined
with marshmallow and crumbly streusel topped trees,
leading to a sticky toffee pudding apres ski bar,
where orange liqueur jelly shots
will sit on tables made from
raspberry and mulled wine buche.
What are you like on apres ski? Is it a little bit wild?
We like a bit of a dance to some cheesy apres music.
In your ski boots? In our ski boots, obviously, yeah.
Is it a little bit wild?
What happens on the slopes stays on the slopes, Ellie. Yeah.
While Andy and Raf embrace high altitude hooch...
We have a Jell-O shot.
A bit of Dutch courage before they get on the mountain.
..Mayank and Dharma are going tee-total.
He's obsessed with drinking tea,
and I've lived in Darjeeling so we're doing like
a Darjeeling tea-inspired tea village.
So today you're fighting for a place in final.
What would be the thing you need to be very careful with?
Finishing, and make Chef Cherish say, "Oh, la la, this is amazing."
Their ambitious tea village will feature
a train carrying rose, raspberry
and pistachio chocolate bars,
and tea cups filled with
passion fruit cremeux.
Their hills covered in green tea sponge
will conceal masala chai
and brown butter sponge buche.
Who's going to be the story teller? Is it a sort of duo or...?
Mayank is a very good storyteller. I am a professional bard.
That's what I do. I tell stories.
Whenever I'm late for work, I tell him stories.
I'm a professional story teller. So you're a professional blagger?
Yeah. Yes!
As the rest of the teams head for the hills...
I'll do the snow now, Raf. Yeah, mate.
..Annie and Subin are throwing themselves in at the deep end.
We decide to make it under sea theme.
We are making a lot of sea animals,
and there is like a bus going around the city,
and then the stingray is coming to eat them
and you're going to be one of the stingray.
You've lost me totally.
Their underwater table scene will include seals
and crabs made from marshmallow,
choux turtles filled with hoji tea
and blackberry cream,
and shark cookies flavoured
with seaweed and soy caramel.
And while some of their flavours are as left field as their inspiration,
they're playing safe when it comes to their buche.
We have vanilla caramel and then vanilla cremeux,
vanilla mousse. It can be boring just vanilla,
so we're adding pecan praline.
OK, so vanilla and pecan, that's it? Yeah. It's going to be pretty plain.
I really like the recipe and I really like the flavour.
Anyway, you've got plenty to do and not much time left.
Good luck, guys.
Fe-fi-fo-fum, half your time has been and gone!
This is the buche. I want to make it look like a train.
With their buche setting... Where's your "bush"?
It's in the fridge. Good. Keep it cool. Nice cool bush.
..the teams can turn their attention to
the other elements they'll need to bring their table scenes to life.
I'm just making the marshmallows for the trees.
Streusel, it's going to go into
the marshmallow to give it some texture.
I'm making the choux pastry turtles.
It's so green. It's the ninja turtle.
So I'm going to fill with the hoji tea pastry cream.
It's like roasted matcha. It can be very strong.
Darjeeling tea milk infusion is going in my chocolate for
the tea ganache.
It's going to become like a dirty pond.
This is the lake. It's Earl Grey tea infusion.
We want to maintain a kind of natural colour,
so I'm not going to cover it too much.
Yeah, they don't like eating blue, but when you're doing
a lake you've kind of got to do it blue.
Do you want to start building the houses? Yeah.
Daniel is preparing the village.
Slowly, slowly he will start to stick all the elements together.
With less than two hours left...
I must speed up!
..and a colossal amount still to produce...
So I'm making the bus stop.
..even the smallest set-back...
The streusel just destroyed the marshmallows.
..could spell disaster.
I think the recipe's wrong.
It's not, mate. Let me do it. I'm serious, man. We haven't got time.
What happened?
We are way behind our plan.
The teams have just 90 minutes to create their Land of
the Giants table scenes.
Oh, why's it so slow? Why's it so slow?
While Andy's deflated marshmallow is back on track...
Did you use exactly the same recipe, Andy? Yeah.
What have I done wrong, then? I don't know, mate!
Daniel and Mauro's railway bridge faces a rush repair...
OK, Daniel, you need my help?
..and Mayank and Dharma are falling behind.
Faster, Chef Dharma, please.
This week is super exciting.
They are fighting for a space in the final.
Yeah, they are very focused and under pressure.
Mayank and Dharma, they are building us a tea village.
A lot of things going on today.
But I'm a bit worried about the attention to details, their finesse,
because they have to deliver something well finished
and impressive to look at.
I think I have to adapt the design
because I won't be able to finish it on time.
Annie and Subin's underwater
village. I really like the taste profile.
I'm making the soy sauce caramel that's going to be inside
the seaweed cookie.
For their buche they've gone vanilla with vanilla with more vanilla.
As long as it tastes good.
Well, it's going to taste like vanilla.
Daniel, can you go on with something else?
Otherwise we're not going to finish. I need to build up the tree.
Mauro and Daniel, they are very, very focused.
I've never seen Mauro so tense. Argh!
Because they did not do well yesterday.
Today we need to astonish the judges.
It's that flooded little village. Let's hope they do it justice.
I'm currently making the sticky toffee pudding.
That's the apres ski bar. Andy and Raf, they are in the zone.
I'm just doing the skis and the snowboards.
I snowboard and Raf skis.
I'm the cool one, he's the sexy one.
Last week we commented that their showpiece is not interesting enough.
This time they go for it.
Got to push on now. Let's knuckle down and get it done.
Chefs, you have one hour left.
Oh, my God.
At this stage you always feel like you're a bit behind
because there's a lot to do.
For the teams it's the final push...
This is marshmallow. It's a vanilla flavour.
..as they race to complete every element...
For a person who's so grumpy, I can make something cute.
..ready to start constructing their table scenes.
The limoncello goes in the lemon and almond cake.
This is Cherish.
That's Cherish? "Cha la la." What do you mean, "Cha la la"?
Oh, look, you've just done a little crabby. So cute!
It's all looking different, like this one.
Well, no crabs are equal. Yeah.
My crabs always look different.
Quickly. Get the buches.
Are they in the fridge? Freezer.
I'm just spraying my dessert now.
How did you take this out? Score it inside.
Can you spray the buche yellow?
It's ready to spray? Yeah.
Chefs, you have 30 minutes left.
What? Quite delayed.
Just start building the village where you are now, Raf. Yeah, yeah.
Go, go, go.
I've prepared the base and then we build up everything around.
This is the first time we're putting it all together.
Passion fruit cremeux.
I was supposed to start my assembling,
but I haven't been able to do that. I am still stuck
with my production. We are way behind.
Daniel, can you put the...? Mauro, one thing at a time, eh?
Yeah, yeah, sorry.
How are you feeling? Stressed. Stressed? Yes.
Yes? Yes. I feel like I'm just going to get yes's and no's
from you guys today. Today, yes. Yes, yes!
The ski lift needs sticking together as well while you're doing that.
I am almost there.
Just put them on randomly.
We've got our elements, we just have to assemble the piece.
Where's your bus stop? Do bus stop, bus stop.
Right, let's get trees on, buches on.
Have you seen the crumble, Daniel?
Crumble the boat, the tower.
Just do the front.
Yep.
Snow to cover that up. Caramel in that.
Chefs, you have five minutes left.
No!
Hold it, hold it, hold it.
Sorry!
Mist, mist, mist.
Quick, quick, quick. Gentle, gentle.
Speed up, speed up.
One more wire, one more wire, one more wire.
Leave it. You're pushing the bridge.
Right, those little lights.
Just stick them, we don't have time. Oh, don't scare me! BLEEP.
Put chocolate on top.
That's enough, enough, enough.
Chefs, your time is up.
Yeah, that's it. Looks fine.
Please step away from your miniature villages.
Thanks, Chef. Good job.
They did nice.
Well done, mate. Smashed it.
Four incredible Land of the Giants table scenes...
..made in just five hours.
Andrew and Raf from Harwoods Patisserie, please come forward.
So this is our model ski village.
So we're going to ski down the mountain
and then back into our apres bar.
Before we start skiing first is safety, so we
need to take our helmet.
It's a little Jell-O shot, mandarin
and orange liqueur, just to get you warmed up. Mm. Fresh.
Quick, I'm skiing now. Give me more!
Onto the chairlift.
They're going to crash. I'm OK, we'll lift you up.
What a crash.
So we got you to the top of the mountain, hopefully.
Off we go and crash into the tree. Oh, no, I've crashed!
We've got a little marshmallow tree
with some almond streusel for you.
So now, Benoit, on the black run. "Vive la France!" Ooh!
Onto the table.
Land into our apres bar
and we have a sticky toffee pudding with a caramel in the centre.
Gooey. Oh! Ooh, look at that.
Every time we go to an apres bar,
we grab some mulled wine, get outside,
and have a little dance in the snow.
The apres bar tables here, that's the buche.
So we've got a spiced sable with ginger and cinnamon,
and we've got a raspberry mousse with a mulled wine gel
and fresh raspberries.
Chef, I am so thrilled.
Love the snow, someone actually skiing down
the slope there. Overall, very good effort.
However, we want to see a little bit more refined finishing.
I look at the little chalet for instance. This is a bit basic,
and those trees. Mm, lovely texture. Absolutely zero flavour.
I don't see the point, but there's nothing wrong with
a good sticky toffee pudding
and you guys have brought it in a very interesting way. I love it.
When it comes to the buche itself, there is a lovely combination
of flavour. I think the first taste for me is mulled wine,
and then the beautiful raspberry.
All in all, I've enjoyed my little ski trip with you guys.
Well done. Thank you, chefs. Cheers.
Did I shout the "Vive la France" too loud? Yeah.
I was getting excited.
Our inspiration has come from under water sea village.
It's a normal day for the villagers, so they are
going to take the bus to go to work,
and then suddenly the sting ray just come over to attack them.
We're killing the little characters you've created today.
Is that the story? Yeah.
So first they'll attack the very cute seal.
Cos they always attack the cutest.
Then next they'll attack a shark biscuit.
It's seaweed cookie with soy caramel. Doo-doo-doo.
And last they're attacking the turtle.
Inside is the hoji tea pastry cream with blackberry compote.
Is there anything else to attack?
Get the rolling pin and you can smash this bus.
Oh, la la, I like that! This one.
There is a log under there, isn't there? Ah! Oh, nice!
It's pecan sponge, pecan crumble, vanilla caramel
and vanilla cremeux.
There is also pecan praline that I piped.
I think, overall, very simple idea but it's super effective.
I like the visual. I find it lots of fun.
Having said that, what makes a village?
House. We're stretching the brief a little bit on this one.
When it comes to the little treats, my favourite one has to be
the seaweed sable. Very buttery
and that soy caramel in the middle is fantastic.
My disappointment is those little baby seals.
It's actually quite boring. No excitement at all.
What a shame. If you have to cut his head off, he might as well taste
of something.
The turtle, I didn't really enjoy eating.
The taste profile is really strong.
When it comes to the dessert itself, this has
the potential to be a fantastic dessert.
On this occasion, though, it hasn't
been technically executed as it should be.
Everything is a little bit thick, everything is a little bit firm.
It's just too much sponge for me.
Thank you very much, guys. Thank you. Thank you, Chef.
So, first of all, buongiorno. Benvenuti... Grazie mille.
..to the tour guide of New Curon.
After passing through the bridge, you will go down to
the valley.
We can admire the beautiful cherry trees.
This is black forest, vanilla Chantilly, chocolate biscuit cream
and cherry compote.
Once you reach the village centre, you will see the typical houses.
Oh, my goodness. It's tiny. I'm a giant now.
Lemon and almond cake.
Now we are at the lake. Earl Grey creme anglaise with
a vanilla crumble.
So, the tour is finished. If you want to go
and take the train to go back home... Oh!
..the buche is cream cheese with lemon and ginger.
Inside there is a pear compote,
yuzu gel, an almond financier,
and at the bottom a crunchy digestive base.
Well, I have to say I really enjoyed my tour with you, Mauro.
You took me to Italy
and your beautiful bell tower story works for me.
The more you tell me the story, the more intrigued I am.
And as far as the five little elements, I really enjoyed.
In particular, this one. The flavours are beautiful.
I didn't know that I can eat the lake until I tuck it in.
Oh, my goodness, the Earl Grey and the crumble.
If the lakes in Italy are all tasting like that,
I am moving there tomorrow.
But come to the buche, it's a little bit too cold
and that's a problem, cos when you get to
the jelly in the centre it was a bit frozen.
Is this enough to take you to the final
with yesterday's result? We shall see.
Thank you. Thank you.
We've taken the theme from a tea garden from Darjeeling,
which has come from India.
So this is the story about a lady called Subin.
So she wakes up in the morning
and walks down her tea plantation hill, made of matcha moss
with raspberry jelly. Mm-mm.
And then Subin goes to work,
and she takes a train.
And while she takes the train, she takes
a quick snack which is a rose, raspberry and pistachio bar.
And then she goes to the tea factory where she tries
to take a cup of tea.
It's a passion fruit cremeux in a chocolate cup.
She goes back home and goes down the valley,
and there's a tea ganache with almond crumble.
And while she's relaxing, the giants come in
and break the entire village. Ah, there you go.
Break. Damn!
I feel a giant now.
Our buche has a masala chai mousse with a feuilletine crunch,
a cream mousse, butter and bread sponge,
and at the bottom it's a sable.
Well done. Thank you.
Today you deliver something colourful, joyful,
and what makes a massive difference to your showpiece is
the fact that you decided to colour your houses there.
The little extra treats, I have to say, this one,
the rose flavour is a little bit on the strong side.
I will find it a bit sickly.
What I really like is this
passion fruit cremeux, this is my cup of tea.
And that little ganache works very well. A little bit too firm, though.
Your buche over here, I really like the chai tea. It's very flavoursome.
Though, I think that the sponge is a little bit too dry.
So we see technical imperfection with you still,
but you've refined your work a lot more.
So we are very, very proud of you.
Well done, guys.
We'll stay.
Based on their performances over both days, Cherish
and Benoit must now decide which three teams will go through to
the final and who will be leaving the competition.
Well, he was a great story teller. He was so good, wasn't he?
I think they enjoyed it.
I got into it a little bit too much.
"Vive la France" in a Bolton accent. Whoa!
This is a sight to look at, isn't it? Mm.
They progressed very well.
You know, they've delivered something complete.
There was a time when I was feeling that I am
going to present like just one hill,
but somehow we just pushed, pushed, pushed to finish.
Some of the element is not quite well executed.
Not with the finesse, but just crawled to the end.
Clearly today, a great day.
Yesterday they were not
so happy about the work they've done. Hmm!
Somebody did better yesterday, somebody did better today.
I really hope we can come back next week.
That's my dream, and I hope it's going to happen.
Yesterday was quite a good day. However, today it's a half-half.
We are thinking we are at the bottom, I would say.
We really want to go to the final,
but, you know, it's not up to us to decide.
A lot to consider, I guess.
Benoit and Cherish have made their decision.
The judges thought the team in first place held on for
the win after an extremely strong secret challenge yesterday.
That team is...
..Andrew and Raf from Harwoods Patisserie.
Well done. You're through to the final.
The team in second place,
Mauro and Daniel from The Landmark London.
Congratulations, you are also through to the final.
Which leaves us with Annie and Subin from The Dorchester,
and Mayank and Dharma from St James' Court.
After much deliberation, the judges have decided that
the team leaving us tonight is...
..Mayank and Dharma.
We are so sorry to see you go.
You've been absolutely fabulous.
But to everybody else, congratulations.
Congratulations!
I had a really great time in the competition,
though it was stressful.
Well done. Hey, one of the best showpieces you guys have done.
My original partner decided to back out,
but Chef Dharma, at the end moment, stepped in
and he's like, "Don't worry, I'll support you."
And I troubled him a lot.
I'm not easy to handle. So, yeah, he's been great.
Dharma, you're the best.
And I'm proud of him. Aw!
See you next week, big boy.
Second, but in the final. We are happy.
Considering what happened yesterday, today we made a miracle.
Well done, Subin.
We're going to the final.
OK.
Let's do this.
All you've got to do now is beat two more people. Smashed it. Thank you.
Bossed it. Bossed it. We're through.
Can't believe it. Unbelievable.
We're here finally.
First place going into the final - amazing.
So, yeah, let's bring it. Let's do it.
Bring it on.
Next time...
Going to need to spray. OK, spray, spray.
Argh, BLEEP.
Yesterday was close and today I think it's even closer.
And the winners...
I have a lot to do, so no more questions, please.
..of Bake Off The Professionals 2023 are...
Steady, steady, steady, steady.
It is so flamboyant and so extravagant,
and it's so showy. This is what the competition is about!
Well, it wasn't too bad.
Subtitles by Red Bee Media