Last time on Bake Off: The Professionals...
Strike a pose.
The teams fought over fashion...
And what do you think of Benoit's style?
Benoit'd look good in a bin bag. Ha-ha-ha!
...while Bharat and john showcased elegant sugar work...
Look at the number of skills you brought here.
You are the team to beat today.
...Neil and Nicole struggled to stay on trend...
I really just need to get these boxes built.
...but it was Kate and Hayley...
I'm having a nightmare.
...who came undone at the seams...
it just reminds me of ET.
...and had to say goodbye.
You never know, we could be back in a few years.
This time...
Let's go.
With a place in the final six at stake
the teams tackle Viennoiserie...
Croissant king, bro.
Mamma mia! Ooh-hoo-hoo!
Ancl it's all to play for...
Roll up, roll up!
...as they build stunning choux showpieces.
One of the best we've had on this show.
Who will hit the high notes?
Rock and roll, isn't it?
Ancl whose dreams will go up in flames?
Arghg
You burn yourself? BLEEP.
OK, breathe.
Actually can't believe we're still here.
We're so proud and chuffed with how far we've come.
But it's still bizarre.
Thank you.
If we made it through to the final six it would be amazing.
How you feeling? We got this, yeah?
Going all out this week. We wanna win.
That's what we're here for.
It's a once in a lifetime opportunity
to showcase our skillsets to the whole world
so we're gonna give it our all.
Last week was good.
Came first place so, yeah.
Hopefully we hit the top spot again.
Yeah. See what happens. Challenging, challenging week.
It's already quite tough. It's quite intense.
I keep telling Fausto - by the end of Bake Off
he's gonna be sick of me. I will be...!
Good morning, chefs.
This week is all about pastry
and today Viennoiserie is the order of the clay.
Bench, what have you gone for?
Chefs, today I want you
to make 18 identical savoury croissants.
You may choose any shape you like
and your savoury filling is really up to you.
But it must be baked within the dough
and not added afterward.
Your savoury croissant must be also highly decorated.
My eyes want to be treated as much as my tummy today.
A visual feast, no less.
And Cherish what are you after?
Chef, I want you to make 24 identical maritozzi,
a soft sweet Italian bun
traditionally filled with freshly whipped cream.
Your maritozzi must also feature at least one additional element.
Please consider this carefully.
I do not want any clashes of flavour today.
Yes, the world's got enough clashes going on.
A flavour clash could send us over the edge.
Right, chefs, you already had 30 minutes
to prep your dough last night.
You now have a further three and a half hours
to complete this challenge.
Best of luck. Your time starts now.
Let's go.
Savoury croissants. What a bit of cheese, ham, pickle.
What filling are you hoping to eat today?
I'm very open. Easily pleased, I would say.
BOTH: No, you're not! Easily? No.
Who are you kidding?
You don't know me that well. I'm very easily pleased.
They just need to be perfect, that's all.
OK!
To help the teams produce perfect Viennoiserie...
Oh, la la.
...not only were they given 30 minutes last night
to make their dough,
they also have lamination machines available to speed up
the process of creating
the croissant's signature flaky layers.
What the machine is doing is stretching it
to make sure it...they are all level.
I do like doing croissants but I find it very technical.
Viennoiserie's not easy.
But you practice, it you can be really good at it.
When it comes to the Viennnoiserie challenge it's
a very tough one, let's be honest about it.
This is gonna hurt some of our team today.
I made croissants for the very first time three days ago.
So, err, not wildly confident.
The savoury croissant - well, we need to start
with buttery, flaky, nicely baked croissant dough
which has been laminated.
So we get perfect layers throughout the dough.
When it comes to the savoury fillings,
what you do not want is filings oozing out
or evaporating in the thin air
and then you get left with barely anything inside.
With a bit of a double cream, Manchego cheese,
ham to make sure that it's nice and rich.
Whatever they decide to do needs to be delicious
and it needs to be stunning to look at it.
This is a place in the final six at stake
and there are some very competitive minds in there
which will not take a second place very lightly.
Good morning, chefs. Morning. Good morning, chef.
So who's gonna tell us a little bit about
their savoury Viennoiserie?
The savoury croissant is inspired by a caprese salad.
So it's gonna have mozzarella, basil,
balsamic vinegar, some pine nuts, Parmesan.
It's just flavours that we enjoy.
I enjoy it more because Neil doesn't like tomatoes.
OK. So you've clone a Viennoiserie croissant for you.
Ancl for us a little bit hopefully. We like tomatoes, don't we?
Oh, I love it.
To add an extra hit of Italian flavour
to her caprese salad-filled croissants,
Nicole has mixed both fresh and dried basil into her dough
that she's decided to laminate by hand.
You know you've got the machine behind you.
What's going on?
I don't like the machine. So I'm gonna roll it.
Have you clone croissant before?
Three days ago, yeah.
OK. How many turns have you given to your croissant so far?
Three or four I think.
Three or four? Yeah. You don't know.
|'m...|'m losing count now.
Yeah. It seems a bit sticky though, I have to say. I know.
But don't panic though. Yeah, don't panic.
No, I'm not panicking. No-one's panicking. Everyone's calm.
Not only must the teams produce
beautifully laminated croissant dough...
Wanna make sure it's perfect.
...but Benoit and Cherish are expecting
bold, innovative flavours, too.
I'm just mixing up the tomatoes, the mozzarella and the basil.
And a wee bit of balsamic.
This is my cheese and serrano ham filling.
Ancl I'm gonna put it in the freezer
and then I'm gonna cut it.
You've got some mustard seeds, you've got some onion,
you've got some ginger, and some fresh curry leaves
to give you that South Asian kind of vibes.
But Tj and Narayan's Indian flavours...
Good morning! This smells amazing.
...face fierce competition.
We're going with chicken tikka croissants. Ooh, nice.
So I've gone Indian.
Is it gonna have a bit of a kick?
just the right amount.
Hopefully the judges agree.
Winner, winner, chicken dinner.
Chicken tikka dinners.
That...that's a good one. ELLIE LAUGHS
Bharat and john are hoping to wow the judges
with their spicy chicken tikka filling
and looking to repeat last week's win, they're not stopping there.
We've spiced our dough as well with onion seeds,
cumin, coriander and a bit of chilli.
And what about the highly decorated, highly finished...?
We wanna see the beautiful sort of onion seeds on it
so we're gonna finish it off just with an egg wash,
we're just gonna keep it nice and clean.
It needs to be impressive to look at. Yeah, yeah,
I mean the execution of it will be sharp.
Whilst all of the teams strive for perfect execution...
I do not like the look of this.
..Tj and seasoned croissant maker Narayan are going
the extra mile to deliver a technically challenging pastry.
Well, he's done cross lamination on the croissant.
So you can see the lines on the top.
The cross lamination, to be beautifully made,
needs to be very sharp. Yes.
How confident are we?
We believe in our skills.
We wanna get first today, to be honest with you.
Oh. We wanna fight back for last week.
Elegantly decorated with coriander cress, onion seeds
and tomato chutney, Narayan will wrap a spiced potato
and paneer cheese mixture in his
ambitious cross laminated pastry which will take every one
of his ten years' experience to get right.
In your lifetime how many croissants have you made?
A lot.
Ball park? 100,000, maybe.
100,000? Maybe.
That's a lot. What do they call you,
do you have a nickname or something?
Croissant king, bro. Kind of.
There's no "kind of". It's either, you are or you're not.
Oh, OK I am.
Narayan's energy is top tier.
Do you know what? I love you lot.
While Tj is banking on Narayan's croissants to give them the edge...
Hopefully we are the only one doing this sort of technique here today.
I hope so. Cos it's not the easiest thing to do.
...Carlos has come up with his own unique two-tone design.
just stretching this green layer on the top.
And I'm going to be ready to roll.
Ancl you've tuned it to
the perfect colour, not fluorescent croissant pastry?
No, it's nice colouring.
Once it's baked, it's going to be a nice colour.
Carlos' colourful croissants will be filled
with classic Spanish flavours -
a Manchego cheese and serrano ham bechamel sauce inside
and dried rocket within the pastry.
I don't think I recall having tasted dry rocket before.
I think in the dough it's going to be nicer.
It's a bit rubbery. It's not very nice actually.
I didn't put that much in the dough, but it's going to be a nice flavour.
I'm going to have to spit it out. Sorry.
“Nan
LIAM: You've had half your time, chefs!
Which means not long till
I can eat over 100 savoury croissants.
They're your favourite, innit? ELLIE SLURPS
We need to start rolling the, the croissants now.
To achieve the flaky layers demanded by Benoit and Cherish...
I need to get perfect lamination.
...the croissants need at least an hour to prove before baking.
It's a mess. Stop panicking.
So the race is on to get them filled and shaped.
Ready? Yeah, yeah, just mixing the fresh coriander,
so you get that nice flavour.
We've got our chicken tikka going in at the top.
Make sure it nice and straight.
But whatever shape they choose...
We have decided to go for a little parcel.
Going for the traditional shape. I like to keep things classic.
...it's crucial the dough's sealed securely.
I'm scared the filling is going to come out.
We had a couple of issues in practice when some of
the croissants bursted open in the oven. Purgh!
Beautiful. Straight to the prover. Get them proving as fast as we can.
We cannot wait a second. OK, let's go.
While the teams rush to prove their croissants...
That's it, I'm ready. I'll be right behind you.
GO, go, go! g0'
...there's no time to rest... They're huge!
...because there's still 24 maritozzi to make.
Let's go.
Traditionally it is a soft bun filled with cream
and clust with icing sugar, but this is a competition.
I want the chef to lift this humble bun into the next level!
Fausto, apparently, he's a pro at making maritozzi. Yeah, of course.
He's, he's Italian. He's Italian so we'd expect that.
I'm feeling happy making them
because my grandma used to make a lot for us.
It need to look identical,
it need to be clean and it need to be sharp.
Nonna, give me the good luck today.
The bun need to be soft, it need to be airy,
it need to be crispy on the top.
We've never actually made maritozzi,
but we've obviously made a lot of brioche buns. I'm going to shape
them and then they're going to go in the prover for a bit.
I do not want to see a bun that is under proved, heavy and dense.
If the chefs are to achieve light and fluffy maritozzi...
Quickly, quickly, quickly, quickly!
...the buns will need to prove for at least an hour.
How Long's it going to take in the prover, do you think?
I'm reckoning 30 minutes.
CHERISH: Not only does the bun has to be flavoursome,
the cream play an important part. They can add in a curd,
a ganache or a compote.
A soft and airy bun with a silky smooth cream.
Mm-mm! I can't wait to eat them.
Fausto. Hello.
You must be loving life. You're representing Italy today.
I'm praying my maritozzi is rising up enough.
So fingers crossed they're going to work...
So if it all goes down the pan, it's blame your grandmother.
She's going to be annoyed.
Is she like a proper nonna?
She's a proper nonna indeed.
Does she make loads of fresh pasta all the time? Yeah, she does.
Does she wear an apron? She does.
Does she ever go, "Mamma mia"?
She does.
She's ticking all the boxes.
Nonna's recipe calls for a silky smooth cream filling.
Going to be a whipped mascarpone with kirsch.
But Cherish expects the chefs to elevate
the flavours of their maritozzi.
So that is my amaretto cream.
It packs a little bit of a punch,
but we are Scottish, so we go with what we know.
It's got some mascarpone, some whipped cream, icing sugar
and some of the home-made masala chai powder in there as well.
While the rest of the teams finish their fillings,
after a quick 30-minute prove...
They've came up quite big. Slightly over double.
"Neil's buns hit the oven.
15 to 20 minutes at 180. They should cook well.
They seem soft enough.
I think I'll have a nice bun. I think.
Chefs you have one hour until we need your savoury croissants.
We're well on time here. We are.
I'm just trying to think what else we can do to jazz these things up.
Sounds a bit like an insult, "She was being a right savoury croissant."
"She's been a savoury croissant for years!"
Oh, Cherish? Massive savoury croissant.
Oh, no, you didn't! LIAM GIGGLES
Let's get this inside the oven ASAP.
As the other teams' maritozzi hit the oven...
Oh, Mama.
..Neil and Nicole's are on their way out...
You happy? Oh, yeah.
...which means their savoury croissants can begin their bake.
I'm not comparing myself with the rest of the teams.
Maybe they have it in the oven earlier because they are going to do
a lot of things on top. I don't know.
It's a bit concerning how well time is going. It makes me nervous.
This is the chocolate, the decoration for the maritozzi.
A green feather.
just to give it some elevation and some height.
It's just cherry puree and cornflour,
but it's going to be mirror glaze,
and then they will look a real cherry but it's a fake one.
They good? Yeah, I think so.
As the other teams' maritozzi...
They look ready, yeah? Yeah, let's do it.
...make way for the croissants,
the chefs now face an anxious wait
to see if they've achieved the lamination that Cherish
and Benoit are looking for.
They actually look really nice.
But then again, we won't know until we bake it really. Yeah.
But for Nicole....
I'm going to see what the middle of this one's like.
...the wait is over.
We just hope they're crispy.
If they're laminated a wee bit, then we should be fine.
They're flaky. I wish they weren't, like, hollow.
Chefs, 30 minutes remain!
Yeah, they look OK.
The teams' savoury croissants are now out of the oven.
All good. Clear lamination.
And with their maritozzi cooled, filling can begin.
It's ginger and cardamom con fit.
This is my cherry compote.
Smoothing over the cream is the traditional way that they look.
I'm just, like, scraping them really close to my face
so that I can smell it. She's not had any lunch yet.
Dudes, can we have a chat about your croissants?
Because they are the most beautiful thing I've ever seen in my life.
I thought I was the most beautiful thing you'd seen in your life.
Yeah, but that was until I saw your croissants. Ah, OK.
We're just going to keep it nice and clean.
We want to see the beautiful onion seeds on it.
Almost there, just half clipping now.
This is white chocolate and pistachio.
Chefs, five minutes left.
Go, go, go!
You know, I'm running out of time.
Come on, we can do it.
When I'm nervous, I still laughing, you know?
This looks absolutely beautiful.
I don't know what else these need.
Do you think I could pipe tiny little dots on it?
Honestly don't think it needs it.
Ah, they, they collapsed a little bit.
Chefs, you have one minute left. Let's not put.
Let me put a bit more maybe icing sugar.
We can just give it a wipe.
Chefs, your time is up.
NICOLE SIGHS
Please step away from your Viennoiseries.
Very good. Very good.
It's how they taste. It's how they taste.
ls your grandmother going to be proud of you?
It's actually very nice.
The teams' savoury croissants
and maritozzi will now be judged by Benoit and Cherish.
Carlos and Fausto, from Real Patisserie, please come forward.
Well, let's start with our beautiful savoury croissant.
It's a little bit green,
but I see the lamination, which I really like. OK, let's taste.
The croissant is filled with serrano ham
and Manchego cheese, bechamel sauce.
It's gone? It's a bit gone, yeah.
Your croissant is hard and chewy.
As you can see, that is very dense at the moment.
This has good lamination but the execution is a bit of a let-down.
Ma ritozzi.
I can't wait tasting it
because I know they should taste a true taste of Rome.
It's a lemon zesty dough,
whipped mascarpone kirsch.
We have a sour cherry, an Amarena compote.
It needs to dirty your mouth!
Is that dirty enough?
Yeah.
The cream - oh, la-la! Bellissimo! Ancl then the cherry,
it is sensational.
Grazie.
The dough is too tight, but the rest...
mamma mia!
Oh, yeah, I can see why you dirty your mouth.
You could dirty your face in there and go, baaf!
Everything is just stunning. This is Italy on a plate. I love it.
You can go back to Italy now. Nonna! Nonna! They like it!
They look very similar.
I wish you could've clone something
a little bit more creative when it comes to the croissant
and also, there is a crucial part I'm missing - the lamination.
So the savoury croissant was based on a caprese salad.
Tomatoes, mozzarella, basil, balsamic vinegar.
But it's not a croissant. It's completely doughy and
your filling is completely lost. All the moisture has gone.
It's quite bland and dry
and you can see that this layer is a bit raw for my liking.
But you know what? You should be very proud of yourself
because you present beautifully, maritozzi.
We have done amaretto and just a touch of coffee cream.
Very, very, very punchy amaretto.
Inside we have a caramel chocolate and coffee ganache.
Chef, I really like the amaretto cream.
It's a bit cheeky, you can feel the heat,
but you keep on craving for more.
I really love it. I really love the coffee,
the mascarpone richness and that toffee
and caramel chocolate - ooh-ha! - at the bottom.
I mean, I could have this all clay.
If only that little bun was soft.
It's dry and dense.
It's a shame.
Does it take me to the world of savoury croissant?
Not really.
All I can see, there's a little bit of the onion seed.
We said highly decorated. It's not quite doing that.
In the centre you've got chicken tikka.
The dough is also flavoured with onion seeds, coriander, cumin.
The big question is do I feel chicken tikka? Yes.
But - and there's a but - it's dry.
I really like the croissant dough,
I think it's very flaky,
however, I think you need a bit of a sauce to pipe in.
OK. Maritozzi.
On the bun itself, there's lemon zest going through it
and then on the inside, we've got a set lemon
and basil cream with mascarpone cream as well,
and then crunchy pistachios.
It looks a bit boring. Let's be honest about it.
But lovely dough, It's very soft, easy to eat.
Potentially one of the best dough today in the kitchen.
Well clone. Filling? Bored.
It's very, very tart.
The lemon and the basil is too sharp for my liking.
Chef, this is AMAZING!
We can see that you have skill and you really want to win.
The cross lamination is on the money.
This looks very sharp.
Thank you. Thank you, Chef.
So what have we got with our savoury croissant, please?
Inside the croissant dough, we baked potato
and paneer filling.
On the top, we have added some onion seed for texture
and tomato chutney.
Chef, this is first-class.
This is what I expect in a competition.
The dosa is there, the potato...
all in all, it's baked beautifully
and I definitely enjoy looking at it.
You are certainly showing off your skills and I like that. Well clone.
What is the filling in your maritozzi, please?
Ginger and cardamom con fit and we have mascarpone,
and we have dipped in white chocolate and pistachio
crunchy glaze.
I really like the bun, I think it's really moist,
it's soft to eat. But what a shame - the con fit,
the cardamom and the ginger, I was craving for more.
It's very simple, plenty of cream.
I wish there was a little bit of freshness, but it looks great.
Thank you. Thank you.
Oh! I think it went really well.
I'm very pleased with the comments and hats off to the croissant king.
It was definitely a game of two halves on this one.
Tomorrow we've got to step it up.
Phew! I am happy-
The judging went very well for me, for my side. Of course!
You know, I had so much pressure on my maritozzi and they liked it.
Fausto came and saved the day.
They were positive about
the maritozzi cos they were delicious,
but, yeah, the croissants were BLEEP.
We pick ourselves up, we dust ourselves off, we keep going.
Tomorrow's going to be even worse! Yeah.
Ahead of tomorrow's all-important showpiece challenge,
the teams have been given an hour to prepare.
So a pretty good start for all of the teams.
Plus, Liam and I learnt the word maritozzi.
IN ITALIAN ACCENT: Maritozzi. Maritozzi!
No, you have to say, maritozzi!
I think if we're going to talk about maritozzi, we have
to immediately talk about Fausto... Yeah. ..doing his nonna's recipe.
It was just like Italy on a plate.
It was so light.
But their croissant was a little bit disappointing?
We could barely feel the Manchego cheese and the serrano ham.
How did Neil and Nicole do?
The dough was just so wrong for the croissant.
But when it came to the maritozzi, you guys seemed
to really love their fillings.
Oh, the amaretto cream, it was delightful!
Based on the first challenge,
is there anyone that's slightly leading?
Tanuj and Narayan are certainly in the lead.
Narayan, he's so skilful!
The cross lamination that he has produced for us - phenomenal.
They really have got their eyes on the prize. Hmm.
I have seen Bharat and John look over,
so they're very aware that these guys are the ones
to beat at the moment.
But it seems kind of close between the other three teams.
There is no team today who has done really badly.
Tomorrow everything is to play for.
Oh. So what do the chefs have to do tomorrow? It is play time!
It's piece montee challenge, so choux buns
and we must have fun. There's a lot to play for. Oh... Very good.
We will see who is on top of the game tomorrow.
Oh, yes!
Welcome back, chefs.
I hope you've recovered from yesterday,
because today, the choux must go on!
Yes, it's time for a choux showpiece challenge. Cherish.
Chefs, your showpiece must feature two different batches
of choux buns, shaped and flavour differently.
80 each, 160 in total.
Ancl as for the structure, you may only use nougatine
to support it. No traffic cone this year.
No. That would be really silly. Benny B, what's the theme?
The theme of your showpiece is play,
so, chefs, whatever you decide to do, it must be fun...
or you might be done.
Well, this choux-d be a good one.
Ooh! Chefs, you had a hour last night to prep
and now you have a further four hours
to complete this challenge. Good luck and your time starts now.
Let's do this.
Sorry, excuse me.
We need to rush.
My God! They're not hanging around.
They flew. They're not here to play.
It's play but there's no play really, is there? It's all work.
Yeah, grown-ups don't really play.
Although, I think you're a child still, so you play. Yeah.
With your bowling and your gaming
and all that Twister you play.
Twister? What is that?
Where you have the different colours on the ground and you have a wheel.
Oh, I like that! Yeah. I think I'd be very good with it.
Not in that dress though. Oh, no, not in that dress.
I look like Spiderwoman.
OK. With the clock ticking... Let's go.
...the teams waste no time preparing the star of
the today's showpiece, the choux pastry.
OK. I'm going to put this in the oven. Sure. 170 we said, yeah? Yeah.
Ancl while most made their choux in last night's golden hour...
We froze down all our shapes for quickness,
cos you can cook them from frozen just fine.
...Tanuj and Narayan are making theirs fresh.
Push, Narayan, let's go.
Fortunately it's not just croissants that are Narayan's speciality.
He's the king of choux as well. Let's see.
CHERISH: This challenge is all about
choux pastry.
It is crucial for the chef to cook the choux to perfection.
They're looking good. Yes, for now.
Choux is very temperamental. Anything can happen really.
Undercook, the choux will collapse.
Overcook, the choux will be very dry.
Pipe the choux too small, there will be not enough filling.
Give me a hollow choux bun, I will not be very happy.
But beautiful choux are just the beginning.
I am making nougatine, which I'm really not confident about.
Nougatine is a tough one. Very hard to handle. Very hot.
When it comes to the nougatine, they can also play.
They can colour the nougatine.
What we do not want is just a brown showpiece.
It has to be extraordinary to look at.
Today is all about play time.
The chef can be flamboyant
and playful with this challenge.
Because they are fighting for a place in the final six.
Chefs, good morning.
Hi, Liam. Good morning. How's it going?
You guys yesterday, the maritozzi.
You must be over the moon, Fausto.
Yeah, Italian pride there.
Love that. So, yesterday was serious business
but today it's all about play. What's the idea?
We decide to go for sand castles. OK, cool.
I always liked to go to the beach and play sand castles with my clad.
It's a kind of fond memory for me.
Do you know what, I'm not a massive fan of sand?
You know what it is, when the sand goes in between your toes
and your fingers - I hate that. That's true.
Yeah, that's not the fun part, yeah. No.
Carlos and Fausto's day at the beach
features a nougatine bucket covered in fondant iced shell shaped choux,
filled with coffee creme diplomat
and caramelised banana jam.
To represent the sand,
they'll fill craquelin covered choux buns
with pistachio cream and lemongrass gel.
Pistachio and lemongrass is quite intriguing.
I've not tasted that before.
It's a bit of a play time for my tongue.
But your sand showpiece, is it fun enough?
Is it colourful enough?
Because you're fighting a place in the final six.
So the sand is brown but the bucket is green.
The shells are a bit pink and white.
I'm a bit bored, I have to say.
Once it's built up
I hope you guys enjoy and have fun with it.
LIAM: While Carlos and Fausto
attempt to bring fun to sun filled clays at the Spanish seaside...
I love the beach, I love the sands,
I love holidays, so a day on the beach, why not? Love it.
...Neil and Nicole's showpiece is inspired by memories
of hiding from Scotland's famous dark skies.
Back to the childhood when, obviously, it's a nice rainy clay.
We were locked indoors - we used to play board games.
Snakes and ladders, I used to play it with my gran and grandad.
I can be competitive but I'm not overly competitive.
I'm sure there'll be family or someone watching this going,
"Yeah, she is."
Ancl competitive spirit is just what Neil and Nicole will need
to climb their way to the top spot.
Their four tier showpiece will feature nougatine boards
covered in playing counter and snake shaped choux pieces.
What kind of fillings do we have for those?
The counter shape we are going to do an amaretto and cherry
and in the snake we are going to a do a white chocolate and tonka bean.
I know everybody tries to give you tonka a lot
but it's a flavour that is close to my heart
and with the white chocolate I think it works.
I'm not against the idea of tonka bean
but tonka bean on its own, uh, ooh!
But let's hope for the best.
I hope so!
THEY LAUGH
Not only must the teams wow with beautifully balanced flavours...
We have black sesame creme pat with yuzu curd. It's kind of sharp.
It's good to break that sweetness of the sugar and the sesame.
...but flawless textures, too.
I'm going to blitz the lemongrass gel I made yesterday
and it goes with the pistachio cream.
You would think pistachio and lemon,
I like it - finger crossed for the judges too.
Bharat and john are also jumping on the citrus train...
Almond praline cream with a blood orange gel, so quite zingy.
...with a filling they hope will strike a chord with the judges.
Our theme for play is music.
Music is a big part of our lives in the kitchen
and I used to play with my uncle's guitar. Terrible player by the way!
Along with sugar ribbons and roses, Bharat and John's electric guitar
will sit at the centre of a musical stage built from nougatine
and choux, almond praline and blood orange eclairs
and dark chocolate and morello cherry buns.
WOW!
Bit of rock and roll, isn't it?
Rock. Yeah!
I see the guitar is made out of sugar.
Last week you brought sugar work and chocolate work together.
This time we're going to find out what the others can do as well
with sugar work. You showed us what you can do. But they will too.
Yeah.
Soko, they had the upper hand last week because they did sugar
and we want to do the same and show off our sugar skill basically.
LIAM: But in their bid for top spot
Tj and Narayan aren't stopping there.
We wanted to add colour to the nougatine
just to give it a more vibrant look.
If we just push, we can definitely achieve that.
With games to play and prizes to win,
Tj and Narayan will bring the fun of the fair
to their showpiece,
and they'll attempt to excite with their flavours too.
Black sesame praline and yuzu curd eclairs
and choux buns filled with banana creme diplomat
and tangy tamarind gel.
Why do you choose tamarind?
Because tamarind, I use it for my savoury in salad.
Yes, but tamarind goes so well in desserts as well.
In India we have banana and tamarind chutney
and it gives a sweet and tangy flavour.
So, are you going to be a hit of everyone again today?
Yes. Gosh, you are very, very competitive, aren't you?
Oh, I'm very competitive.
Chefs, you are halfway through your play themed showpiece.
This is going to be tighter.
As the teams put the finishing touches to their fillings...
This is amaretto creme pat.
We just pour it to taste.
Glug, glug, glug, 9W9!
It's nice and punchy.
The coffee diplomat could be more set
but I'm going to have to whip a bit more.
...and the first batches of choux exit the oven.
Choux is looking very, very nice.
Same size. Same height. Perfect.
Attention turns to nougatine...
Nougatine takes a long time.
Phew!
Come on.
...but Neil's caramel has been cooking for over an hour and a half.
This is not going to plan.
Going to start filling my eclairs now.
First, I put the banana ganache,
and then I finish up with the tamarind gel.
We really like that flavour. We hope the judges will like it.
As the rest of the teams push on,
Neil's caramel is finally cooked.
just whack 'em in.
Now the race is on...
Oh!
...to get back on track.
Oh, come on!
BLEEP
Argh.
You burn yourself? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I do it all the time.
OK, breathe. HE EXHALES
Because it's too hot, very difficult to manage, you burn yourself.
Mm-hm. Yeah, cool down a little bit. OK.
You OK? I'm in pain.
Argh.
LIAM: The teams have less than 90 minutes
to complete their play themed choux showpieces.
This is the nougatine tins for the tin can smash.
Smash the tins with the bowl and you win a prize.
Me and Narayan both love going to the funfair.
That's how we grew up.
Ancl while most finish filling their choux...
It's 70% dark chocolate cream.
Oh-ho!
Oh, yes.
...and roll and cut their nougatine, ready for assembly.
Oh, that looks so sore. It is.
Neil's burnt hand means Nicole's working solo,
and they're falling behind fast.
One hour 30 remaining
and I'm still making creme pat.
Well, it's all to play for today with the showpiece challenge.
We have Tj and Narayan. The funfair.
This showpiece is going to be packed with skills.
I like the energy and I like how competitive they are.
We can do this, bro. We've got this.
Snake and ladders, Neil and Nicole.
Neil is not confident at all with working with nougatine
and it puts pressure on him.
I heard you burnt yourself. I'm good.
Not got time for pain!
Talking about the flavour profile, tonka bean is one of his favourite.
But they're not playing with my favourite.
They need to balance this one well.
Bharat and john. They're building us a stage.
Ancl then the beautiful guitar.
We're filling our almond praline choux buns.
They're bringing classical flavours,
blood orange and praline and chocolate and cherries.
You think it's safe? Well, it's safe,
but they can still do it beautifully.
Carlos and Fausto, the theme is clay at the beach.
Colour wise it might be a little bit dull.
But I do like the sound of the pistachio and lemongrass.
Actually quite intrigued how they taste like.
Kids love the beach, don't they? Yeah.
I remember my sister digging a big hole and she's older than me.
She wouldn't let me help her dig
so I jumped in the hole and weed.
Thank you. THEY LAUGH
Something to think about
if you don't like what the judges are saying later.
Chefs, you have one hour remaining.
What does play mean to you?
Fight Club.
No further questions.
One hour left. Push, Narayan, a little bit.
With construction already under way,
Tj and Narayan have a head start on the competition...
just dipping the choux bun.
This is caramelised sugar.
...and Bharat and john are hot on their heels.
We'll build the choux base
and then we'll assemble.
What one have you got? I've got the amaretto.
But Neil and Nicole are still struggling to get back on track.
We would've been well ahead if I hadn't BLEEP my finger,
cos I can only move half speed.
And they're not alone.
We need to rush.
I'm having a little bit of trouble here, Fausto. Give me two minutes.
Carlos and Fausto's nougatine isn't ready...
I need to do the fondant.
...and neither are their shell shaped choux.
I'm going to stick the choux into the mould
and I'm going to freeze it down so it's going to retain the shape.
We are not going to make it.
One hour is not enough.
Across the kitchen...
Ready? Yeah.
...the battle for sugar supremacy has begun.
Amazing work.
How's sugar looking? Yeah, it's nice. Nice!
With their iced choux shells in the freezer...
I'm going to do the structure now.
...Carlos and Fausto have finally begun building.
You can start sticking all the choux.
In practice it kind of held.
I've no idea if this going to, though. Ugh!
Chefs, you have 30 minutes left!
30 minutes.
Benoit and Cherish are fully immersed in this play theme.
Yeah, he's outside pushing her on the swings.
Oh, adorable.
Have you done the darts, yeah? Very good, bro, very good.
My God, that snake's enormous.
Ahh!
That'll fit.
Oh! Tight there.
Take it to the presentation table before you stick the other one on.
You got it? Yeah. You sure? Yeah.
Take your time, yeah. Take your time.
Still need to stick the other ones, the shells.
Ready?
Go.
Little bit to the left. Yes, that's it, that's it.
That's perfect.
As the rest of the teams' showpieces take shape...
How is it? Yeah, all good. All good.
...Carlos and Fausto's seashells are out of the freezer.
We need to demould.
Oh, God. What is going on here?
It doesn't come out. No.
Bkxwtorch.
Blowtorch.
Extremely concerned.
And Neil and Nicole have a problem, too...
None of the supports actually reach the boards so all the boards
are actually just leaning on choux.
These ones down the bottom are going to start to crush.
No, this is not working, Fausto.
I cannot even remove them. They are breaking as well.
I don't know what I'm going to do.
Chefs, 15 minutes until play time!
Let's get the decor on. Shall we do guitar first?
Yeah, like that.
We need to hurry up because we need to start sticking stuff on.
We need to start sticking these ones.
Which one? All these. They are horrible.
Yeah, but it doesn't matter.
We need to present 80 of them!
Fausto, keep pushing, man.
Start sticking, yeah. We got this, bro, we've got this.
Shall we put the sand?
It's leaning!
Leave it.
Teddy bear.
Put another on.
It's taking forever. I don't know what to do here.
Chefs, you have one minute to go.
just put the rest. Yeah.
This angle. Towards this side.
He's lost his tail.
This fondant is absolutely horrendous.
SIGHS
Let's put the teddy here. That's it.
Whatever happens, we went down fighting, we gave it everything.
Chefs, that's it! That's the end of the challenge.
Please step away from your showpieces.
It was a big push.
Absolutely hideous.
Whatever happens, you had to do 75% of that yourself, yeah?
Proud of you. I'm in BLEEP pain!
Four spectacular choux showpieces
playfully produced in just five hours.
Tj and Narayan, please come forward.
Well, roll up, roll up, have fun at the fair.
Come to my stall!
Well, I'm going to be short and sweet.
One of the best choux showpieces we've had on this show.
Very colourful. Thank you, Chef.
This is an invitation to play.
There is bags of skills going on in there, I love it.
Really well clone. Really well clone. Thank you, Chef.
Your choux buns guys, what have we got?
The eclair has a banana ganache
and it also has tamarind.
When it comes to the visual of the eclair itself I'm a bit bored,
but what's going on inside - wow, banana! Pow!
Cream is silky, it's smooth,
and then hit in with the tamarind which is acidic.
I absolutely love it.
Second one, what else?
We have inside black sesame diplomat with yuzu.
I think it's going to be a matter of personal taste here.
Black sesame, it takes a little bit over,
but the texture is absolutely beautiful.
I think your black sesame is not enough
because if you're going to put it on the menu
I need to taste black sesame.
Perhaps the balance was right in the middle.
To please Cherish and to please me.
I hope so.
But well clone. BOTH: Thank you.
Best choux showpiece in the whole of Bake Off history.
That's massive.
Oh, massive.
A lot of work,
a lot of technique has been thrown into your showpiece.
However, do I know that it is a stage? Not quite.
I'm a bit bored
because I see a box and I see a guitar in the middle.
We are used to seeing your sugar work skills
and for some reason I was expecting a little bit more today.
Careful not to play too safe. BOTH: Yeah.
OK. So, the eclairs are chocolate cream made with 70% dark chocolate
and a morello cherry gel.
The first bite is chocolaty and then fruity.
I thought that it's going to be too sweet but I was wrong.
Really nice work.
For me, personal taste, it's a little bit too bitter.
The dark chocolate is a bit too strong.
Otherwise, the texture is lovely.
The eclair is baked correctly so well clone.
Could you take us through your choux, please?
The choux bun is almond praline with blood orange gel.
I'm actually quite bored eating it.
The praline that you put in, I was hoping that you put in more.
There are some very good things, though.
The blood orange gel in the middle...
EXCITED WHISTLE Now you get my attention!
All in all, it's good work but nothing very exciting. Thank you.
Thank you, chefs.
First of all before I even go any further, how is your hand?
It's all right. Sure? Better than the showpiece so...
But I want you to stand up very proud, both of you,
because there is a showpiece. You tried very hard.
That's the spirit that we're looking for.
OK. Your choux pastry, what have we got?
In the choux bun we've got amaretto creme pat and cherry gel.
I think the amaretto and the cherry marriage together beautifully.
However, I need it a little bit more refreshing.
The cherry gel is not present enough,
I feel the amaretto like...a lot.
We are in a competition - this is not ground-breaking.
What about the second one?
In the snake we've got white chocolate and tonka bean.
That's supposed to be a snake, is it?
Yeah, they're very special snakes. You only see them in Scotland!
THEY LAUGH
Oui, oui, oui.
I really don't mind the tonka bean and the chocolate,
but it's so sweet.
I'm not enjoying myself at all here.
Doesn't look great and, for me, it doesn't taste great.
Thank you for your hard work. See you later. Thank you very much.
Thank you, chefs.
I'm proud of you. Busted your arse.
All right, do you have enough choux, 80 of them?
Uh, we had almost all of them
but we didn't have them here
because we couldn't take it out from mould. Sorry.
So, from the first glance does it take me to the beach?
Not quite.
I see some little seashell there,
something which looks like sand,
but there's not enough to really sell me your story.
Yeah. But, anyway.
Could you please take us through your choux?
The craquelin bun is filled with coffee diplomat
and a caramelised banana gel.
The choux pastry is baked correctly.
I like the flavour of coffee.
The banana I feel,
but I find something grainy. It's not very smooth.
I also find that the cream is a bit to the soft side.
Would you take us through your eclair, please?
The eclair is pistachio,
mascarpone whipped cream and lemongrass gel.
The pistachio flavour for me is the best here.
Pistachio and lemongrass - who would've thought that it would
match together? But it works.
You have actually introduced me to a new pairing.
You know about your flavours, guys.
But this is for a place in the final six.
Have you clone enough? We shall find out soon enough.
Cheers, thank you.
BLEEP
Maybe we're not going to the next one. No.
LIAM: Based on how they performed across both challenges,
Benoit and Cherish will now rank the teams
and decide who will make it through to the final six.
Wow. What a showpiece.
They've blown everybody out of the water.
It was probably the most intense five hours of my life
but all that hard work really paid off cos I wanted to showcase
that we are here to win.
I'm a bit disappointed, to be honest.
It's just a box.
Nougatine's not our strong point.
Hopefully we get through but we'll see what happens.
You never know, isn't it?
Well, they did try their best, didn't they?
At least they produced something.
It's not of the best calibre.
I mean, to be fair, it could've went worst.
I could've lost two fingers! Yeah.
From beautiful maritozzi yesterday
to Pisa Tower today.
I think they can do better than this.
I don't know happened here.
We are prepared to go home, really.
Yeah. Couldn't look at the showpiece, actually.
But they like the flavour profile.
So, you never know.
ELLIE: Benoit and Cherish have made their decision.
The judges thought the team in first place has set the bar
for the whole competition as we move into the final six.
Congratulations...
...Tj and Narayan from Intercontinental London the O2,
you are through to the next stage of the competition.
The team in second place -
Bharat and john from Soko Patisserie, congratulations.
You're through to the final six.
Which leaves Neil and Nicole from Balbirnie House
and Carlos and Fausto from the Real Patisserie.
After much deliberation, Benoit and Cherish have decided that
the team who'll be leaving the competition tonight is...
...Neil and Nicole. Sorry, guys.
Congratulations to the rest of you, we'll see you in the final six.
Oh, bonny Scotland!
I'll miss you lad.
We knew, we knew, we knew were going home.
Sad that we're going
because we've made such good friends here.
just that we'll miss you guys a lot.
Lovely, lovely people we've met.
My little flower of Scotland. Well clone.
Proud of what we've done.
Give it a year or two and we'll come back,
show that we can go further next time. Aye.
We are going to miss Neil and Nicole a lot.
I was ready to go home already
and now I need to think about next challenge.
We are going to the final six. Feels good.
Congratulations, mate. Well deserved number one.
Feels amazing. I'm just so happy with the feedback
and entering top six with a first place - I am over the moon.
The final six, here we come!
Great achievement but the hard work starts now.
We are going to meet the other three teams now
so we've got to work even harder
to make sure that we come out on top every time.
Next time...
Yessss! I'm not intimidated.
...the two heats collide...
Oh! Think we have the same mind.
...to tackle chocolate week.
It's not disgusting!
Nice that we're competent at our jobs.
And something's up... In my kitchen!
..as a mythical showpiece...
Half spider, half woman.
...sends everyone sky-high.
I can feel it clawing up my hand. Ugh!
But whose beasts will soar into the quarterfinal?
Boom!
And who will come crashing back down-to-earth?
You know what, I'm literally suffering.
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