ELLIE: Last time...
Paint me like one of your French girls!
...the chefs had their second outing...
Back at it again.
...reimagining classic desserts...
The eating sensation is beautiful.
...and brought the carnival spirit with their showpieces.
Hey!
While Ajay and Petra unmasked their finest work...
It's very beautiful and elegant.
..Ben and Jason's homage to Venice... Oh!
Reglue that!
...lacked the drama.
I thought that I'm going for a gala dinner.
But it was Ashley and Kian who came up short...
Does it shout carnival? Not enough.
...and had to leave the competition.
I can't believe it!
LIAM: Now the chefs take on viennoiserie.
It's choux time, baby!
...creating luxurious laminated bakes...
...as the circus comes to town...
Roll up, roll up!
...with a showpiece...
It's an elephant, right?
...that puts innovation...
I don't pray every day...
...and engineering to the test. ..but please be good.
So, who will emerge the ringmasters...
That's beautiful.
...and who will end up this week's... BLEEP!
...sad-faced clowns?
It's pastry week,
and just two challenges stand between the chefs
and a place in the final six.
It's actually my birthday today, so it's quite a nice clay.
Even if, you know, we go wrong, at least there's a positive.
THEY LAUGH
We're more than capable of getting to the final six...
Yeah. ..but you just never know what's going to happen...
Yeah. ..on the day in the kitchen.
If it goes badly, we'll go home, and if it goes as planned,
we'll be bottom two again, back next week.
THEY LAUGH
Oh, my God. But there you go. There you go.
Oh, my God. All in a day's work, really.
I can't do the bottom two again. No, I can't.
I can't. I'm not doing that again.
No, I think it is the week for us to show,
bakery-wise, what we're made of.
Good morning, chefs.
Today is all about viennoiserie - not a word I hear every day.
Think it basically means pastries,
which funnily enough is a word I hear every day,
usually circling my mind around 4pm.
Nom-nom-nom-nom!
Anyway, today, what viennoiserie/pastries
are on the menu?
Chef, today I want 18 identical pain Suisse.
This delicious treat traditionally features a croissant dough
filled with creme pat and chocolate chips.
But play around with your filling.
I like to be pleasantly surprised today.
Note the emphasis on the word "pleasantly".
And, Bench, what have you gone for?
Chefs, I want 24 identical deep-fried savoury brioche doughnuts
with the emphasis on "savoury".
That sounds absolutely banging. I love a savoury pastry.
All right, chefs, you had 30 minutes last night to prep your cloughs,
and now you have a further 3.5 hours to complete your challenge.
Good luck, and your time starts now.
Let's go.
The chefs have already prepared their doughs
and allowed them to rest overnight.
I look forward to finishing up today so that I can celebrate.
It's my birthday.
With many tequilas. ANDREW LAUGHS
The savoury brioche will continue to chill
as the teams tackle the tricky lamination process
for their pain Suisse.
This year, we brought a big mechanical rolling pin
to create the beautiful lamination.
GEROL: Saves hours.
SHE LAUGHS
CHERISH: It saves you a lot of time and, uh, muscle as well.
But if you want to do a good workout, rolling pin it is.
Old-fashioned rolling pin. Yeah. THEY LAUGH
NATHAN: Pain Suisse is one of the most difficult things
to make in the pastry world.
We'll see in two hours. HE LAUGHS
We have asked the chefs to make 18 pain Suisse.
I want to feel the crunchiness and the flakiness from the dough
and the moist and juicy filling.
ANDREW: So, this is a kumquat con fit.
AjAY: Blackberry compote.
Norwegian brown cheese. I think they will like it.
LIAM: In cross-laminated dough,
flaky layers are created on top of the bake
as opposed to on the side as seen in puff pastry.
The lamination has to be so beautiful that I can see it
with my naked eyes.
Morning, chefs.
So, at work, do you actually make your viennoiserie?
We don't do it at the hotel where we're currently working... OK.
...and we haven't done it in a few years.
Not all hotels can afford all this fancy equipment.
This is the only fancy equipment you need, really. Yeah, true.
You do. THEY LAUGH
Could you please take us through your pain Suisse
and what filling are you using today?
All right, so, our pain Suisse
is we're doing a pistachio and kumquat-flavoured pain Suisse.
ELLIE: Despite a lack of viennoiserie experience,
Nathan and Andrew are going big
and bold with green-coloured dough to complement
their pistachio frangipane
and kumquat con fit filling.
Has it worked for you before? Uh, yes, it has. So we...
With the lamination? Yes.
Doesn't get too confused in terms of the colour?
No, no, no. You know, hopefully it works for us.
Thank you very much, guys. No problem. Thank you. Take care.
LIAM: If they are to create irresistibly crisp pain Suisse...
I'm on my last fold.
...it's crucial the chefs get their dough laminated
and in to rest as quickly as possible.
Should be OK.
Once I've started making it again, everything came back to me.
It's like riding a bike.
The demands of the challenge
has more than one chef a little wobbly.
Good morning, pink team.
Have you ever clone anything
as nerve-racking as this competition?
Maybe moving abroad.
That's pretty big. From Philippines to Norway.
Cross-country move.
Why have you ended up in the UK, then?
Love. For cakes or for people?
For a partner, yeah. Aw!
We're not together any more. Oh!
SHE LAUGHS So it wasn't love.
It wasn't love. Do you know what? Cakes will never break your heart.
Exactly. Cakes will never let you down.
Definitely.
Determined to celebrate Gerol's love of Norway,
the team's pain Suisse will contain strawberry jam
and a uniquely Norwegian brown cheese creme pat.
So, what is Norwegian brown cheese? Can we have a taste?
It's technically not a cheese.
It's made out of goat's milk.
It's basically like caramelised milk.
It's actually nice in there. Mm. Mm. I'm glad you like it.
So, we're in for a treat today.
Maybe not from us, but, yeah... THEY LAUGH
ELLIE: Dominant throughout the competition
and no strangers to viennoiserie,
today's challenge could be another chance
for Nay and Petra to succeed.
So, you have won two times. What filling are you using today?
Blackberry, and then small little honeycomb pieces.
I really, really like the little technique
that you've put it in the mould, and you're very comfortable, I presume.
Yeah. OK.
Filled with a blackberry compote,
Ajay and Petra's pain Suisse
will be decorated
with white chocolate namelaka cream
and nuggets of honeycomb.
You guys have only known top spot.
What are we saying? Hat-trick heroes? We go for it?
Yeah, let's go for it. Anyone's game. Eh...
Yes, Liam, we are going for it. Thank you, Petra.
THEY LAUGH
After twice finishing in the bottom two,
Ben and Jason are hoping their knowledge of these bakes
means that this week could be different.
This is where I put my time in the last year and a half,
like predominantly full-time viennoiserie,
and for me, almond praline will give a nice creaminess
I think a pain Suisse sometimes lacks.
Oh, my word, Ben. Can't wait to eat.
Ancl also, it seems that you are very confident with this challenge.
Is it your challenge to lose today?
Yes.
LIAM: Ben's love of lamination will be on show
in a bi-coloured pain Suisse with coffee-flavoured dough,
and a vanilla, almond,
and milk chocolate filling.
It's almond praline. Tasty, though, isn't it?
So, we inject that into the pain Suisse,
and when you cut it...
Oh, you could inject that anywhere you flipping like.
That's absolutely up my street.
Behind, behind.
Having rested, the dough's back out the fridge for yet more lamination.
Your strips need to be thin but not too thin.
When baked, the precision folding should produce crisp,
delicious layers of alternating colour.
I'm glueing them on with just the right amount of humidity.
They're nice and neat.
Water. SPRAY H ISS ES
Psst-psst-psst!
Ajay does that to me. SHE LAUGHS
But the fragile assembly must be handled with the greatest care...
It's a bit wavy at the top.
just going to... going to force it like that.
...as the complex layers can be easily damaged.
just the lamination there is not perfect.
No, no, no. I messed up the lamination.
I am freestyling. HE LAUGHS
VOICE BREAKS: Chefs, you're halfway through...!
SHE CLEARS THROAT
God that was a bit shouty, wasn't it? Yeah. Shall I do the next one? Yes.
BEN: Done.
PETRA: So, we're going to portion it, fill it...
Once painstakingly filled,
the pain Suisse must undergo yet another trip to the prover.
NATHAN: We've got to work fast.
But if the demands of these multi-layered pastries
wasn't enough...
This is the doughnut.
...the chefs still have to conjure up their savoury bakes.
So, our savoury brioche will be a wakame-enhanced brioche dough.
The judges are expecting 24 brioche doughnuts
with utterly sumptuous fillings.
Savoury brioche doughnuts.
I've chosen that beautiful challenge
because I want to see our chef cooking.
Crucially, it needs to be deep-fried.
You want a nice golden-brown colour all around.
They can fill them
with whatever savoury luxurious filling they choose,
but I want plenty of textures happening.
Otherwise, it'd be a bit boring.
Chefs, tell us about your savoury brioche doughnut, please.
We're going to fill it with lobster, yuzu gel, and caviar.
I love the sound of that. All-out luxury.
You can't get more luxurious than those flavours.
What's the trick? What will make it beautiful?
just doing it nice and proper, hopefully.
LIAM: Going all-in on luxury,
Ajay and Petra's lobster,
nori seaweed oil,
and caviar filling will nestle
in a wakame seaweed-flavoured bun.
Petra, do you like luxurious things?
I am happy to have some every now and then.
If it's there, I'd have it, but if not... Yeah.
If not, you're happy with some spaghetti hoops. That's fine.
That could've been a nice filling.
All oozy when you cut into it. I'm imagining it now.
Cheese on the outside.
I've created the best doughnut on Earth.
For their savoury doughnut,
Gerol and Michael are keeping things classic.
We're doing a chicken liver parfait.
Nice and smooth and luxurious.
So, I've got very high expectations. Ooh.
You are a master of your craft...
Oh, yes.
...when it comes to the hot stuff, aren't you? Apparently.
Gerol and Michael's savoury dough will be infused
with smoked thyme,
filled with tried and tested
flavours of chicken and bacon,
and topped with balsamic pearls.
So, viennoiserie, how are you feeling about that?
Yes. So far, uh, it's OK.
Last two weeks, you guys have come in the top two.
Surely, you're going to cap off the heat with a first place.
Yeah. Cos we can't always let Adam's win it.
I know, right? Do you know what I mean?
Ah! SHE LAUGHS
ls Adam's your biggest competition, you reckon?
I think they are.
But it'd be nice to not go home today, to be honest.
If Ben and Jason are to fight their way to a first place...
Put the spice on the garnish, not in this.
...they'll have to come to an agreement on how punchy
to make their Korean flavours.
I promise you I won't go too spicy. Don't do it.
That is hot enough for most people. OK.
And if you go hotter, you'll kill a palate.
OK. OK? Do not go hotter than that. I feel like I'm intruding
in a marital dispute. No, no. You're fine.
Having a bit of a domestic over here. just give us a second.
lfjason gets his way,
the team's brioche will have a spiced Korean pork filling
adorned with pickled daikon radish,
Japanese mayo,
gochugaru chilli, and chive garnish.
Jason, he's amazing at Korean cuisine.
I'm a very intuitive cook.
Unfortunately, it doesn't quite work
with baking. Or an anxious team-mate.
Or an anxious team-mate
that won't let me add any spice. SHE LAUGHS
Not all the chefs are exploring such exotic flavours.
We have what we call a dirty sort of flavour combination
of bacon and cheese.
You could have gone any flavour you like,
and you went, "You know what? I keep it simple."
What's special about this flavour profile?
It's an Isle of Arran cheddar,
so it's a Scottish cheddar. # Flower of Scotland... #
THEY LAUGH Auez'.!
You're praising your little neck of the woods up there.
Glasgow-based Nathan and Andrew
will fill Middle Eastern
dukka spiced dough
with a Scottish cheddar fondue
and top with smoky bacon crumb.
If their bakes impress,
it'll be an extra reason
to celebrate Andrew's special day.
It's your birthday today, no? Yeah, 28.
You're 28? How old were you thinking?
I would've said, like, early 30s, bro.
Yeah, no. Look, tough paper round, mate.
THEY LAUGH I didn't say that.
You said it. I didn't say that. I said that, not him.
Chefs, you have one hour left.
Thank you.
BEN: Jason, fry like you've never fried before, mate.
The judges expect 24 identical doughnuts...
MICHAEL: Between three, four minutes each side.
...consistent not only in size but colour.
just get a nice golden-brown colour here.
But as the pain Suisse comes out the prover,
the chefs are forced to juggle both of their bakes...
Nathan, you sneaky devil. You left the door open.
Did I? You left the prover open. It's fine. I was going anyway.
You're OK. You're fine. NATHAN LAUGHS
...and they find out if their dough is up to scratch.
They haven't proved very much, have they?
But if under proved,
there's a danger butter will leak when baked.
I don't pray every day, but please be good.
18 minutes.
19-minute bake time. 36, 19.
Though the pain Suisse is a waiting game,
frying two dozen doughnuts requires all hands on deck.
Because I'm only doing three doughnuts at a time,
I need to make sure it's definitely the right temperature
so it's evenly cooked.
Every time we've practised, they're never all exactly the same.
Straight in. Straight in, straight in.
Whoa, that's...! Sorry, sorry. Woo!
I have an ugly doughnut for you for saying I'm ugly for my age.
THEY LAUGH
LIAM: Bro, you're beautiful, man.
THEY LAUGH Banging.
Nathan and Andrew aren't the only team
with a dodgy doughnut.
Raw. Raw. It's not hot enough.
You want it hotter? Yeah.
Surely hotter is just going to burn it, no?
Ancl issues with the fryer aren't Gerol and Michael's only problem.
It's very steamy. Yes, lots of smoke.
I think it's the butter cos there's butter dripping.
just worried smoke flavour goes into the dough.
Want to open the door? Let's open it.
In an attempt to preserve their flavours,
the team risk dropping the oven temperature.
I just hope it's not raw inside.
NATHAN: Oh, my goodness.
We made the green really green. That's painful.
It's a bit like St Paddy's Day in there right now.
Chefs, you have 15 minutes to go.
Jason, I need to push another 6O seconds on these, mate.
Push to bake. Push to bake. Trust your instincts.
The doughnuts should be nearly ready.
Few blobs of caviar on.
GEROL: Ay, ay, av!
BEN: I'm going. I'm going.
As the pain Suisse come out of the oven...
Yeah. I'm happy with that.
...the chefs discover if all their painstaking lamination
has paid off.
That's textbook cross-lamination. We can't do any more.
I'm really happy with this. They look really nice.
GEROL: Not brown yet.
MICHAEL: If you're not sure, we've got a few more minutes.
I need to put the jam inside.
How much time do we have left?
You have five minutes left.
White chocolate namelaka.
NATHAN: Worried about the green. Well, ain't no going back now.
Strawberry jam.
Lemon balm.
Little gloss that just brings that sexiness to the eyes, you know?
Chefs, that is the end of the challenge.
WOO!
Please step away from your viennoiserie.
Ah! We've done it.
I'm so tired. HE LAUGHS
Are you? Are you OK, mate?
I'm so tired. You good? It was a lot.
Oh, theirs looks good. Hmm? Ben looks good.
Gosh, it's going to be tough, Chef. Yeah.
Phew!
ELLIE: The teams' savoury brioche doughnuts
and laminated pain Suisse will now face the judgment
of Benoit and Cherish.
Mm.
BEN SIGHS
Ben and Jason, please come forward.
Are you nervous?
HE LAUGHS Yeah.
OK, when it comes to the doughnut, visually,
they are not ground-breaking, so what have we got inside?
JASON: We have a Korean barbeque-inspired pork mince filling
topped with a pickled daikon radish.
Korean food is actually quite spicy,
and I was looking for that kind of heat,
but it's just not enough seasoning.
That's on me.
But the doughnut brioche is beautiful.
It's nice and moist,
and for that I give you a little "boom" - boom!
THEY CHUCKLE
OK, Chef, the pain au Suisse,
I can see the cross-lamination is ever so beautifully done.
So, you have an almond praline-infused creme patisserie,
and then on the outside we've gone with a coffee nap page.
I really love the filling.
It's nice and rich,
and the cross-lamination is exactly what we were looking for.
Thank you.
This set the benchmark for the rest of the teams.
So, we“ done. And on that bombs he“, go home.
Thank you, chefs. No, not home literally.
Back to your table. THEY LAUGH
Allez. Oh, my gosh. Allez, allez. Oh!
Thank you, GUYS-
Can you relax, please? Can you relax?
The brioche savoury doughnuts could have been clone more elegantly.
You could have really filled it generously
for vibrant, excellent visuals.
AjAY: That's lobster, caviar, wakame-flavoured brioche.
It's a taste of sea in this brioche.
I really, really like your wakame, though. I love it.
But the pain Suisse, the cross-lamination,
it's not very tidy.
It's a shame.
PETRA: So, you have a blackberry filling inside.
Then honeycomb glaze, white chocolate namelaka,
honeycomb pieces,
and blackberry soaked in lemon syrup.
HE EXHALES It's beautiful.
This lovely little honeycomb... that was nice.
I really like the chocolate namelaka that you put in.
It blends very well with the blackberry.
However, the lamination is not as precise as we like it to be.
But well clone. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you.
The brioche savoury doughnuts, visually, it's a little bit boring.
ANDREW: We have crispy bacon on top.
The dough is infused with dukka spice,
and then inside we have an Isle of Arran cheddar.
The filling, I love it, love it, love it.
With your cheese gooey and the crispy bacon,
my tongue is actually hip-hopping at the moment.
But I didn't smell or taste that dukka spice,
which leaves me a bit flat.
Looking at your pain Suisse, the lamination,
this is not enough in terms of the finishing touch.
NATHAN: It's a pistachio frangipane
with a bit of kumquat con fit on the inside,
and then obviously garnished with the same on top.
Really?! Ooh-hoo-hoo! THEY LAUGH
Ooh! Oh, my goodness.
Who wants to eat something green like that?
Now you need a pair of sunglasses. Ooh!
I can't open my eyes.
THEY LAUGH
The green puts me off a little bit.
I'm not getting excited with your flavour.
Why not just cook the kumquat with half of the sugar?
At the moment, it's sweet, sweet, sweet, sweet.
That's all I taste.
Ultimately, there's a lot of elements
which are not being clone correctly.
What a shame when you look at your brioche,
there's different colours.
The temperature control in your deep fryer
is not as even as we like it to be.
MICHAEL: So, you've got a liver parfait
with a red onion, bacon, chilli jam
and a thyme dough.
No problem with the filling.
HE EXHALES SHARPLY You can breathe.
I love it.
Duck liver parfait, luxurious,
and I like the acidity, the onion, pickle.
Looking at your pain Suisse, the lamination is nice.
Inside is a Norwegian brown cheese creme patisserie
and a strawberry jam.
Inside, it's not cooked.
OK.
To the Norwegian people, I love your brown cheese.
Oh, wow.
And the strawberry 'ram 'rs perfect.
The dough is totally wrong, though.
They are flat. It's not baked.
It's a shame, because everything else is beautiful.
Come on. You tried your best, yeah? Thank you.
That's the most important thing.
I know you can do better than that, OK?
Are you OK? Yeah.
Yeah. Thank you.
Michael, a little hug?
A little daddy's hug.
Is she OK?
I don't like seeing people do badly.
We knew that this was always going to be our hardest week, yeah?
00f! I think that was tough.
We're definitely last, and we've got a lot to do
to make up that ground.
Worst birthday ever! THEY LAUGH
Um, I totally agree with the judges' comments, yeah.
The green was just too intense.
Not everything went perfectly to plan,
but it's always good someone knocking you down a little peg.
That's why I always try stay quite humble.
BEN: Strong start, I think. So, much better than last week.
Yeah, I think it's finally...
"finally showing that we are here for a reason.
LIAM: In order to prepare for tomorrow's showpiece challenge,
as always, the teams have a golden hour
to create elements that require setting overnight.
It feels like things have shifted a little bit today with positions.
So, Ben andjason, who haven't necessarily been able to back up
the talk that they've had, have had a really good day today.
CHERISH: Oh, my goodness. They are leaders of the pack.
For me, he made the best pain Suisse today.
I will say Ben and Jason have got a little bit
of a comfortable cushion
that could keep Ben quiet
for a little bit. THEY CH UCKLE
We've got Adam's, Nay and Petra.
The cross-lamination, it wasn't great to look at,
but when it came to eating,
the sensations were there and beautiful.
A couple of teams did struggle.
Nathan and Andrew.
It looked like someone had chopped up Kermit
and put it inside. The Incredible Hulk or something.
Gerol and Michael, they struggled, and Gerol, she was very upset.
I don't think they're as confident
because they don't do viennoiserie at work.
They haven't got enough experience behind the viennoiserie.
You know, we all have our weakness, I guess.
What's your weakness, Benoit? I knew you'd say that.
THEY LAUGH I knew you'd say that.
I don't have one.
just one challenge stands between the chefs
and a place in the final six.
Welcome back, chefs.
It's showpiece time again,
and just like yesterday, today is all about pastry -
choux pastry to be exact.
So, judges, please, tell us more.
Chefs, your choux showpiece
must feature two batches of choux buns.
80 of each, 160 in total.
But each batch must be different in shape and flavour,
so think carefully about your fillings,
and whatever design you're coming up with,
it must be structurally supported by nougatine.
And, Cherish, is there a theme to this?
Cos I would actually like to suggest designer shoes,
because then it could be the chichi shoe choux showpiece challenge.
Thank you. I'm very proud of that.
I like that.
Today, the theme is the circus,
so we want you to channel your greatest showman
and create the most colourful, flamboyant,
and exciting cirque de choux imaginable.
Oh, "cirque de choux".
Yes, that is actually better
than chichi shoe choux showpiece challenge.
Fair plaY-
Right, chefs, you've already had one hour to prep for this.
You now have another four hours to complete this challenge.
Best of luck. Your time starts now.
I don't think I've ever been to a circus.
I think as a child, I've been.
I've been to the Cirque du Soleil. It was at the Royal Albert Hall.
So, what would you be if you were in the circus?
I'd probably be, like, a scary clown.
GEROL: It's not going to be a circus without a clown.
I'd take the money at the box office.
Yeah, there you go, cashing in.
£15, please. Only take cash.
HE LAUGHS
Clowns, I've never really found them interesting.
I like them in horror movies, but to watch, not so much.
HE LAUGHS
This week, we have a circus showpiece.
We want to see all the fun and all the colours of the circus.
The circus means fun, vibrant.
It's about getting those colours in and getting that flamboyance
that I think especially Cherish will be looking for.
Whether they bring in an elephant or a tent,
or maybe a drum, or maybe perhaps a big lion that roars... Rarrr!
It's choux time, baby!
To hit the ground running,
Ben andjason and Gerol and Michael made,
piped, and froze their choux in the golden hour
and now just need to get them in to bake...
Choux recipe is butter, milk, water, sugar, and salt.
...while Ajay and Petra and Nathan and Andrew
have settled on the risky strategy of making choux fresh today.
Perfect choux buns, well, beautifully baked,
nice in colour, nice in texture, a little crispy on the outside,
soft in the middle, with enough space to be filled nicely.
I'm just doing the sticky toffee apple filling.
This is, uh, like, caramel popcorn that you eat at the circus.
CHERISH: What I want to see is the chefs relate
the flavour profile with circus.
That will put a big smile on my face.
Most of our showpiece is constructed out of the nougatine.
Then we're going to stick all the choux to that.
I want the chefs to be very creative with the nougatine,
but they need to think about the structure
because I do not want the showpiece to collapse today.
Big cha-la-la.
Good morning, chefs. BOTH: Morning.
Good morning, chefs.
Please tell us about your circus showpiece.
So, we're going for one of the amusement rides
on the outside, which is a carousel.
The theme today is circus, not funfair with the circus.
OK? What about the choux buns?
We went with the flavours from a circus,
so you generally have caramel popcorn at a circus.
Um, and then the other one's going to be a take on kind of
the candied apple that you get.
LIAM: Andrew and Nathan's popcorn ganache eclairs
and toffee apple choux buns
will adorn a fairground carousel
of almond nougatine decorated
with colourful isomalt ropes
and discs.
If you were in the circus, what would be your act?
Uh, trapeze artist.
I've clone, like, gymnastic type of things.
Can you do the splits? Once upon a time.
I'm too old for that now.
Oh, wow. Whoa! Oh, God, no!
Oh, God, no!
When you pipe choux into a mould and bake it,
you get a more even bake,
especially with the craquelin on top.
To provide decoration and texture,
all the chefs are applying a thin cookie-like dough
known as craquelin on top of their choux.
The craquelin helps to bake the choux evenly.
We're doing yellow and red.
BEN: Top choux pastry going in, yeah? JASON: Yeah.
To impress the judges
the chefs need perfectly puffed-up choux.
GEROL: I bake them 160 in 16 minutes.
Without a crisp airy structure,
there won't be any room for fillings.
BEN: Top choux's in. Top oven is on.
Good morning, chefs.
Morning. Morning. Choux buns. Yes.
This one looks OK, this one in the middle.
They were extra. Oh, they're extras. Yeah.
So, you've got some good ones somewhere. Yeah. Yes.
OK, I hope so. Ancl tell us about your choux.
So, the flavours of the choux are Timur and raspberry.
ls there any reason why you chose Timur?
Does it go with the circus theme?
Uh...
Or is it just because you like it? Well, just cos I kind of like it.
Taking some risks. Oh, I like that. Go big or go home, huh?
ELLIE: Timur is related to spicy Szechuan pepper.
Ajay and Petra are combining it
with a raspberry compote.
Balanced on a sugar pillar,
their nougatine circus tent
will hide malt namelaka choux buns
and a sugar elephant inside.
If you had to be in the circus, Ajay,
what would your act be?
Juggler? Trapeze?
I cannot juggle.
I'm scared of heights, to a degree.
What about lion tamer?
If you can cope with Petra in a bad mood,
you might be all right. HE LAUGHS
But Ajay and Petra's elephant won't be the only dumbo on display.
Building an elephant standing on a ball, essentially,
which Ben's got an excellent name for.
What's the elephant's name, Ben? It's Chenoit.
Oh, a mix between "Cherish" and "Benoit".
She's colourful, she's flamboyant... Yeah.
...but she's also powerful and stern.
So, hopefully... OK.
...she'll be a good match for the others.
Ben and Jason's nougatine elephant
will balance on a ball
of toffee apple choux buns
filled with apple and yuzu compote.
The animal will be adorned
with elaborate sugar work
and smores-inspired eclairs
filled with chocolate flavours,
and finished with a coating
of marshmallow.
Apricot marshmallow sits on top of your choux bun?
Yeah, so, the eclairs will be clipped in the marshmallow.
Then we'll torch it so you get a little bit of that smokiness. OK.
Ancl that will be placed on the elephant? Yes.
Wow. Let's hope for the best.
I'm happy with the brown sugar elephant.
Going to blow some balloons as well for the top of the tent.
ELLIE: The judges are expecting the chefs to showcase sugar work...
Yay! These look amazing. Yes!
...in both their showpiece structures...
That's the stand the whole showpiece is going to be based on.
We don't want it soft. Otherwise, it'll collapse.
...and decorations.
This is just going to be some garnishes
to just add some wacky shapes and colours,
cos when you're at a circus, the whole theme is wacky.
Gerol and Michael's sugar work
will include a hand-painted past ill age clown.
MICHAEL: We are hoping to take on a jack-in-the-box.
Is it circus-like, jack-in-the-box?
Jack-in-the-box is normally a clown.
We've got the clown hands, the clown feet.
OK, tell us about your choux.
Today, we made sweetcorn pastry cream.
Sweetcorn in Asia,
we use a lot of sweetcorn as a dessert,
so it's actually quite common for us, isn't it? Yes.
It's sort of our take of popcorn.
LIAM: Gerol and Michael's red nougatine jack-in-the-box
will be coated with toffee apple choux buns
and sweetcorn and blueberry eclairs,
and festooned with sugar work novelties.
If you had to be a circus act, what act would you be?
Maybe a mime.
What, these ones?
MICHAEL LAUGHS Oh, there you go.
SHE LAUGHS
Right, the tubes are nice and level, all the same size.
To give their showpieces structure...
ANDREW: This is the nougatine - just caramel and almonds.
...the chefs will use nougatine.
The last time I made it was about 15 years ago, and then two days ago.
It's notoriously temperamental,
only workable when the sugar is dangerously hot.
My hands are burning.
Getting the perfect shape...
HE GASPS It fits like a glove.
...is both hard work...
...and a fine art.
It's just fallen. It's got warm.
We're going to put that in there.
Let's not cry over spilt milk.
Chefs, you are halfway through.
Which, considering how long we've given you,
is actually quite a long time.
It is, right? Yeah. Two hours. Chop chop.
Yeah. OK, go for it.
As the choux comes out...
Yeah, looks good so far. Oh, BLEEP!
...it's now the chefs find out if their bakes are up to scratch.
Yeah, they've come out quite nicely.
just trim the craquelin a little bit,
but beyond that, we're OK.
If their recipe is even slightly wrong...
...their eclairs and buns won't have the right height or texture.
BEN: The eclairs look great, JASON: Thank you, kindly.
GEROL: Looks good.
Eclairs didn't turn out the way I wanted them to.
Maybe the mix was a bit too soft.
Corning through behind.
The chefs have an hour and a half left
to conjure up their stunning circus showpieces...
BEN: Choux's all out of the oven, yeah?
JASON: Yeah, choux's out of the oven.
...built from 160 choux.
So far, so good.
But Ajay and Petra's eclairs haven't risen to the challenge...
The eclairs collapsed.
...so to save time,
they are risking making the same mix slightly differently.
I'm going to put them back in, but we'll put the oven up higher.
All the structural pieces are built now.
With their nougatine kit of parts prepared,
the chefs can begin to assemble their designs.
It's a lot of nougatine that we're doing,
and we've got to build it quite high.
Yeah, there's a lot of engineering today, isn't there? Yes.
Bakers as well as builders, then. Yeah.
THEY LAUGH
It is not an easy challenge today.
Spectacular is what we're looking for.
Jason, the arm itself, let's do the arm first. Mm-hm. There.
Ben and Jason... Yeah, a juggling elephant.
I like the design
because it places us exactly in the circus mind.
just need to hold that for a minute, OK? OK holding that?
I'll put some sugar around the base of it.
Make sure that join is really strong.
NATHAN: I'm just kind of glueing the roof together,
and then we're going to stick the round choux on the top of this.
Crossbasket Castle, we've got Nathan and Andrew.
They are making a carousel.
Yeah. Is this enough?
There doesn't seem to be a lot of sugar work
or anything else other than the choux bun and the nougatine.
It's a time for them to show their skill set.
ANDREW: I'm just sticking the choux onto the nougatine.
The Royal Air Force Club, Gerol and Michael,
they've got a jack-in-the-box.
Clown head coming out of it. Is that going to be circus enough?
I'm going to try to get the hole
in the middle of the roof of the circus tent.
I love their design, that circus tent.
But if Ajay and Petra don't get their choux right,
they will be in trouble.
AjAY: I'm going to give it another two minutes.
I think they might be walking a very tight rope at the minute.
How are things going?
Good.
Uh, all right. Yeah.
Why did you why did you look at Petra, then, Ajay?
She's scaring me. HE CHUCKLES
LIAM: Chefs, you have one hour left.
Push, push, push, yeah?
We've got a lot to get together.
Crisp perfectly-sized choux is only the beginning.
I'm just filling the choux now with our white chocolate whip,
and then I'm going to put a bit of apple gel in it.
just have to work as fast as possible.
It's crucial the chefs deliver delicious fillings within.
Here we have orange
and spiced rum gel going into the choux.
I've already put my salted caramel pastry cream in,
and now I'm just topping up with my apple compote.
This is our eclair choux pastry,
so we've got a dark chocolate creme pat with a macadamia praline.
And then we're going to dip the top in an apricot meringue.
AjAY: The second batch of eclairs
are looking a lot better than the first.
We're going to start building the choux around everything now.
NATHAN: Yeah, I'm going to start sticking now.
I'm basically sticking a row of flat ones to the pillar.
It should give us a ball-ish.
It's an elephant, right? It's an elephant.
I can see the trunk.
It'll have a good outfit like Cherish in a minute.
What's the outfit?
Red, white, orange, yellow sugar.
Ancl it's going to be standing on top of a platform as well, yeah?
Yeah, yeah. It'll be on top of that.
As the circus structures start to grow,
it's now the chefs find out if their engineering is up to the job.
Push all the way to the end, yeah? Yeah.
One more ribbon on this side,
and then I'm going to come and help you.
BLEEP!
AjAY: Bit worried about this now.
Oh, gosh. Petra and A jay's one is very on the wonk.
Chefs, 30 minutes until the circus comes to town.
Final sprint, Gerol, yeah? One last push, yeah?
I'm going to do some trapeze across the kitchen.
I'm going to grow a beard.
BEN: Jason, it's not releasing very easily mate.
We have to twist it out.
AjAY: I'm terrified of picking it up.
PETRA: Let's just carry on. Move it? Shall we move it? Yeah.
NATHAN: OK, let's carry.
BLEEP! Thank BLEEP God. Oh, my God.
NATHAN: OK, let's stick the top on. Can you hold it?
There. Stick those there.
Yes? No?
Left. To the left, Chef.
AjAY: Put something underneath it to make it stand straight.
NATHAN: This is going to fall off.
BEN: I'm going to need to touch the meringue up at the end.
Roll up, roll up!
15 minutes to go!
Until the greatest show...piece.
Very good.
BLEEP!
BEN: Get these on, no matter what.
just stay the whole time cool, calm, collected. JASON: OK.
PETRA: Can I put the roof on?
GEROL: This is the focal point of the showpiece, so I want this on.
We'll at least get the top done.
They're not really sticking
because of the marshmallow, to be quite honest.
Chefs, you have one minute to go.
That is leaning so much.
It's uglier than she was in practice.
BLEEP me.
Chefs, your time is up.
Please step away from your showpieces.
Ah!
NATHAN: BLEEP mess.
BEN: It's not the best-looking version
of the showpiece, but it's standing.
Not great. Not great at all.
GEROL: I think it is the column that's, uh, too soft.
Ajay and Petra's.
Three incredible nougatine towers,
dozens of choux buns and sugar work decorations,
all constructed in five hectic hours.
And one proving how difficult sugar work can be.
May and Petra from Adam's, come on up.
OK, chefs, the elephant in the room. What happened?
Our casting sugar probably wasn't taken
to a high enough temperature,
so it's soft, and then over time it started to slowly...
Gradually...
HE WHISTLES "tilting,
and eventually, it collapsed.
Otherwise, I like what you were trying to do.
But the choux pastry, they are very flat, very small.
So, what have we got?
PETRA: The bun is filled with malt namelaka,
and you have spiced rum gel inside.
OK, the choux pastry's under baked. It feels a bit too soft.
But the cream is beautiful and silky.
As I say, with you guys, taste will always be nice.
Ancl the other one, it doesn't look like a choux pastry.
It looks like a sponge. A bit flat.
It's a raspberry compote
with a Timur white chocolate ganache.
Same story. The choux pastry, too tight.
There's barely enough space for the filling to go in.
The raspberry gel is beautiful.
The Timur is a little bit too strong as well.
The pepper, at the moment, I can feel a numb sensation on my palate.
You could have drawn back a little bit.
OK, we've got to consider this. Thank you very much.
Thank you. We'll see you a bit later, yeah?
OK, I think, first of all,
I can see the elephant and I can see the choux.
However, it wasn't as elegant as I like it to be.
You have potentially the best choux pastry in the kitchen today,
and they are covered really poorly with marshmallow.
JASON: So, the choux pastry is inspired by the toffee apples
you get in the circus.
So, we have a caramel ancl hazelnut creme patisserie
with a pink lady and yuzu gel.
Your flavour profile is very subtle, and I can't taste the yuzu.
For me, it feels a bit dry. Flavours - I like the flavours.
So, what have we got next?
So, we have a smores-inspired choux pastry.
So, we've got a dark chocolate creme patisserie
filled with a macadamia praline with an apricot marshmallow.
OK, for the marshmallow, I really like the taste profile,
but it's very heavy, and that's all stuck on my hand.
Good effort, but it's not there.
The filling inside is OK,
so I think, ultimately, a lot of technicality and effort
has gone into your work, but there is the refinement element
that you guys need to work on. Yeah.
Thank you very much. Thanks, chefs. Thank you, chefs.
Was it all bad? I think it was OK.
So, overall, we have a showpiece.
However, it's very stagnant for me.
There isn't any life.
Do I see the circus? Yes.
I see it because of the clown.
Without the clown, I don't know where I am.
Choux buns.
GEROL: So, the yellow is a sweetcorn pastry cream
with blueberry jam.
OK.
Overall, taste-wise,
it's actually quite intriguing to eat,
because sweetcorn blueberry it's actually quite nice.
The eclair hasn't puffed up enough.
I've got one side with the blueberry jam,
the other side with the sweetcorn cream.
I wish there was a little bit more of a combination when you eat it.
So, the red one is a sticky toffee apple.
It's a caramel pastry cream and a three-apple compote.
I like the flavour profile of your compote.
However, I miss the texture of the apple.
At the moment, I eat it, I don't remember it.
Am I transported into a world of toffee apple?
Yes, but is this good enough to go forward? We'll see.
Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you, Chef. See you later.
I have to say, it's an imposing structure,
but is it making me think circus?
Not by the slightest.
It does look more like a bedside table lamp.
I think you need more work in it
to make it a little bit more flamboyant,
a little bit more fun.
Visually, your choux buns, the baking is OK.
NATHAN: The choux buns are apple and white chocolate.
The texture of your cream is beautiful and silky.
The white chocolate flavour of your whipped ganache,
I'm not too keen on.
ANDREW: So, this is a caramelised popcorn cremeux.
I think it's quite bland. I don't taste the popcorn.
I crave the popcorn.
This is good, but it's not there yet.
A little bit like your showpiece, and on that bombshell...
Thank you, chefs. Thank you very much. See you later. Thank you.
I know what kind of lampshade he's talking about.
My gran had one pretty similar.
LIAM: Based on both challenges,
the judges will now rank the teams and decide who they want
to take through to the final six.
What a shame the showpiece collapsed.
I'm guessing we'd be the bottom two.
The choux buns, lovely flavour,
but the choux pastry wasn't puffed up enough. Yes, yes.
Would be really nice to be in the top six.
Did it take us to the world of circus?
It's a massive lamp. I said that it's a mushroom.
Well, I think we showed good basic skills,
but I'd say I'm pretty nervous.
Yesterday, they had really a good clay,
but the big question is, was yesterday just a blip?
Not as good a day today,
but I'm still happy with how we did in the grand scheme of things.
I think it's the first week we've started to perform, to be honest.
This is good skills.
ELLIE: Benoit and Cherish have made their decision.
After two days of testing challenges,
the judges have ranked this heat's order of excellence
from first to last place.
The judges thought while there could only be one winner this week,
the competition behind them was incredibly tight,
but congratulations...
...Ben and Jason -
you are through to the next round of the competition.
The team in second place are...
...Gerol and Michael from the Royal Air Force Club.
Congratulations. Well done. You're through to the next round.
Have you said a little prayer yet? THEY CH UCKLE
Which leaves Nathan and Andrew from Crossbasket Castle
and May and Petra from Adam's.
After much deliberation, Benoit and Cherish decided
that the team who'll be leaving the competition tonight is...
...Nathan and Andrew.
Congratulations to the rest of you.
We'll see you in a couple of weeks' time.
Thank you.
Obviously, really disappointed. Somebody has to get eliminated.
And for the past two days, we didn't put our best foot forward.
We're very proud.
I think we can leave the competition with our heads held high.
Nathan and Andrew from Crossbasket Castle
has left today because they had two bad days.
You have to go back home very proud of what you have clone,
and perhaps work these details.
It's been a massive learning curve as a whole.
Well clone. Thank you.
MICHAEL: You deserved that. You really did. Well done.
It's been a nice boost to go into the final six coming first.
I think it shows us why we're here.
A nice change for choux... For sure. "For choux".Jesus!
BEN LAUGHS
Ben and Jason have been pretty much all the time
at the bottom of, uh, the ranking of this competition,
but they were on it from the get-go,
and they delivered beautiful viennoiseries to us,
so they are on top today because of that.
Well done, Michael. Thank you.
Congratulations. Cheers. Thanks very much.
Second again. Second again.
Seriously!
Always the bridesmaid, never the bride, yeah, but there we go.
AjAY: Through, just about. It feels great, yeah.
Really happy we are going through,
and hope we're going to show a better side of us next week.
This is going to be a very tough competition moving forward.
The final six is not an easy place to be.
LIAM: Next time...
Ooh!
...a brand-new batch of teams...
Such a pressure!
This is going to be like a Russian roulette.
...attempt to fight their way to the top...
I'm actually a black belt in karate.
...with a Benoit favourite...
I can have this all clay. They're, like, so phallic!
...and aim to baffle the judges...
Hopefully, it's a trick to the eye for them.
...with a deceptive trick-of-the-eye showpiece.
It's falling apart. Can I...? SHE GASPS
Oh!
Oh, gosh!
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