The Great British Baking Show (2010–…): Season 2, Episode 3 - Episode #2.3 - full transcript
- 'Ten people remain in The Great British Bake Off.'
- If I couldn't bake, I don't know what I'd do.
- I'm doing it as well as I can.
- Just doing it this far is great.
- 'Last time...'
- Please!
- '..they pushed themselves to the limit.'
- You can win it one week and be knocked out the next.
- 'With pastry.'
- It looks a mess.
- Really?
- Yeah.
- OK.
- '19-year-old Jason was crowned Star Baker.'
- The salmon flavour is spectacular.
- 'But for the first time in the Bake Off, Jo struggled.'
- Sorry.
- 'And yet again...'
- They're knackered, absolutely knackered.
- '..Rob came close to leaving the competition.'
- You're lucky.
- You haven't seen the best of me.
- 'This week, it's bread.'
- I'm looking forward to a decent loaf.
- I'm looking forward to giving you one.
- 'Paul's lifelong obsession.'
- Someone hasn't followed my recipe.
- 'And some bakers' nightmare.'
Ian! Ian, Ian!
- 'Who will rise to the occasion?'
- I look mental just staring at the oven.
- 'And prove they have what it takes?'
- Does that sound hollow?
- I really don't know.
'To win The Great British Bake Off.'
You know what? This is one thing I might have up on you.
This week, our bakers will be tackling bread.
So dust down your baps. This is Paul's watch.
'The ten remaining bakers are about to face three increasingly complex challenges over the next two days,
'after which, whoever falls short will have to leave the Bake Off.'
Good morning and welcome back, bakers. Now be afraid, be very afraid
because you're on Paul's patch as this week, it's bread week.
Bakers, your signature challenge today is to create a flavoured loaf which is free-form.
That means not baked in a tin.
- You've got three-and-a-quarter hours.
- Tighten up the apron strings, wash your hands. On your marks...
- Get set...
- BOTH: Bake!
This first challenge requires that the bakers create a loaf
which looks good, tastes better and features innovative and complementary flavours.
They have complete freedom with ingredients,
but as this must be a free-form loaf, the only thing they can't use is a tin.
Some of them have not the skill and they've been practising like mad all last week.
Let's hope they achieve good results.
Everybody who makes bread at home knows how tricky it can be.
You've got to make the dough, rise the dough and bake the dough.
Those three things they must do, each one they could fall down on.
The winner last year was the guy that made the best bread on the day,
so the consistency we're looking for is much higher than other weeks
because technically, this is harder to do.
I am feeling pretty relaxed. I've made this bread many times.
And it tastes fabulous.
Mary-Anne has three university degrees, but now devotes most of her time to studying baking.
Everything she's learnt has gone into her ambitious and totally original recipe
for a ploughman's loaf, featuring cheese, fresh onion and a bottle of beer.
Imagine a ploughman out in the field taking his packed lunch.
- This bread, an apple and a drink and you'd be set.
- You certainly would!
How are you getting the cheese in there?
I'm doing big chunks of a nice, really strong Welsh cheddar,
so it doesn't disappear into the loaf when it cooks.
- You do get a nugget of cheese.
- So again a nice, robust, rustic dish from you.
Successful, basic bread dough is a carefully measured combination of yeast, flour, water and salt.
The bakers are free to add any other ingredients they wish at any stage.
And as usual, Holly is already aiming high.
The flavours are Parma ham and caramelised onions in one side
and then just chocolate and hazelnut in the other.
- In the same dough?
- Yes.
Sweet and savoury at either end?
It's easy to take on a picnic. You've got enough to do with all the paraphernalia with babies.
'Holly's obsession with home baking has forced her husband to build new shelves
'for all her recipe books and often she reads them in bed.
'Her signature sweet and savoury loaf is based on a complex brioche dough,
'made by adding eggs and milk to a basic bread dough.'
- The proof will be whether you take a mouthful and you get chocolate and onion.
- That would be a nightmare.
- I prefer two separate things.
- Yeah, me too.
- But in this category, she couldn't do two loaves.
You asked for one loaf. If it doesn't work, you'll say, "I told you so."
- The silverback will attack.
- Yes. Let's wait and see.
Kneading is one of the most critical elements of bread-making.
It stretches molecules of gluten in the dough.
If these are not forced to become elastic,
the dough will not rise and the loaf's structure will be tough and inedible.
A lot of it is having the strength to knead it.
But I use a mixer. It's a lot easier. There's no point in kneading it unless you want muscles.
Urvashi has developed her own short cut.
I've tried different ways of kneading and this one works for me,
so stick to it.
Mum of two and full-time marketing executive,
Urvashi dreams of one day baking for her own delicatessen.
She aims to impress with her signature peppercorn loaf.
It gets to this stage and you panic because you think, "It's sticking to the table!"
- Is there anyone you're thinking about when you're doing that?
- I can name a few people, yeah.
- Do you pretend that the dough is Paul's face?
- No.
And you're just working your fists into his face?
I think, for me, if you use it as something that's horrible,
- you don't get quite so good a food.
- Oh, really?
Climbing fanatic Ben also has a passion for musicals
and has performed in shows across London's West End.
He's hoping to dazzle the judges with his walnut, raisin and rosemary loaf.
It's a very nerve-wracking week. It's Paul's thing.
What I want to do is get something that he would find acceptable, I think is the goal of today.
Hang on, hang on, hang on. Three o'clock, mate.
Look as if you know what you're doing. You do know what you're doing. Hi, Paul!
'With kneading complete, the dough must be proved.
'If left covered in a warm place,
'the yeast feeds on the flour, releasing bubbles of carbon dioxide, causing the dough to rise.
'Unless the bakers factor in enough time for their dough to prove to twice its original size,
'their loaf's crumb structure will be unacceptably tight.'
Bread takes long, but it's not a long time of doing stuff. It's just waiting for it to rise.
'For one of the bakers, this pause in the first challenge is welcome.'
Ian! Ian, Ian!
- This is the beginning of the Bake Off weekend.
- I know.
When his partner Stephan fell ill ten years ago,
Ian quit his job to care for him and while at home, developed his talent and passion for baking.
His signature bake is one of Stephan's favourites -
a courgette loaf flavoured with Caerphilly cheese and thyme.
- What's happened?
- I cut my finger when I was chopping my thyme very delicately.
- Yeah.
I cut the top of my finger. But I think I'm going to be OK.
Will you have to do the whole challenge one-handed?
No, I'm hoping the bleeding will be stemmed enough.
- Do you like your elbow support?
- It's lovely. I think I might ask for that permanently.
'The business of bread-making has always been one of Britain's most dangerous professions
'and working in a mill could seriously damage your health.'
Tom, I've heard that working in a mill is quite dangerous.
- Should I be wearing a protective suit?
- Not today, no.
But you could get mixed up in the machinery.
There is no emergency "stop" button here.
Medieval millers did occasionally lose legs or arms or even heads.
'And if you weren't mangled by the machinery, you could be crushed by the millstone itself.'
Some types of millstone were made not just of one piece of stone, but several smaller pieces of stone,
all held together by a steel band. If that band breaks,
then pieces of millstone would fly out in all directions.
- Seriously?
- We're talking about millstone missiles.
- Have you got your steel band in place?
- Yes. Trust me.
'Flying millstones and the risk of decapitation is just the beginning.'
This flour is the main danger facing us in this mill.
- Why is it dangerous?
- In the right concentration in the air, flour dust can explode.
There would be no warning and the mill would be destroyed.
'And we're not just talking medieval mills.
'In 1965, a massive explosion tore through a mill in London's East End, costing the lives of four people.
'It turns out that flour is a lethal and explosive carbohydrate.'
Mike, why is flour so combustible?
Because it's a carbohydrate
and contains carbon and hydrogen and oxygen
and that enables it to burn.
Take me through how a mill actually explodes. What happens?
There's a lot of flour, very fine particles suspended in the atmosphere.
And if there's an ignition source like the millstones getting hot
or machinery getting hot, you have an explosive mixture.
'To test flour's flammability, Mike has created a replica mill,
'complete with a dusting of flour and a candle to supply the ignition.'
- Mike, much as I trust you, health and safety at all times...
- OK.
- I'm going to use these bellows to force some air...
- OK.
- ..into the tubing and up through the funnel.
- Yeah.
Whoa!
Mike, that's, um... That's pretty impressive, Mike.
It seems to have melted your mill. That's amazing.
- So quick as well.
- So quick, yes.
- Scary.
I felt that from back there. Seriously.
'Don't try this at home.
'The next time you bite into a sliced loaf, think of our early bread-makers.
'To produce our daily bread, they were dicing with danger.'
90 minutes to go in the signature bake.
I think it is rising, but I don't want to push my luck.
With their dough proving, most bakers have moved on to preparing any fillings
for their signature bake.
There's a lot of work, then there's a lull as you're waiting for it to prove.
That's what puts people off making bread. It's time-consuming, then often it comes out as a brick.
Yasmin works with her husband as a childminder, but has had jobs
from receptionist to poetry magazine editor and paramedic.
She hopes the diverse flavours in her North African-inspired loaf will impress.
- It's a white loaf, but I'm adding an Egyptian spice mix called dukkah to it.
- Delicious.
Is it salt, sesame seeds, coriander?
It's cumin, coriander, thyme, sesame seeds, almonds.
I just put it on meat and pizzas.
You've roasted this because it's warm. And that makes the aroma. It's lovely. Hmm!
Once risen, bread dough must be knocked back,
a technique which disperses any large bubbles of carbon dioxide.
This is my favourite bit when it comes out and you see all the little bubbles popping everywhere.
Dough which hasn't been knocked back will produce bread of an uneven texture with tunnelling
and large air holes.
I'm adding green peppercorn. I don't want it to blow your mouth away.
I want it to be a subtle flavour.
Introducing any ingredients to a bread dough risks altering its delicate chemical balance.
- I hope it impresses them.
- Incorrect proportions of an acidic ingredient like onion can retard the yeast,
stopping any rise in its tracks.
I'm intrigued because I've seen these neat little piles of cheese and neat little piles of fried onion.
They're for my tear-and-share cheese and onion loaf.
I'm making little balls. It's got a cheese and onion package inside.
Hopefully, when they rise, they will stick together like a honeycomb shape.
When he isn't studying, 19-year-old Jason is a passionate member of his university's baking society.
His cheese and onion tear-and-share loaf will also feature a cheddar cheese crust.
The dough pieces are too spread apart on the tray.
I don't think they'll join together sufficiently. If you lift up one half, it'll collapse.
I think those balls will struggle to rise.
There's something so satisfying about bread. How old were you when you started baking bread?
I started when we lived in West Africa and I had to cook the bread
because the bread was awful, it was just like cotton wool.
Globe-trotting grandma and retired teacher Janet has worked in Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and India,
but her signature loaf is Swiss - a Zupfe loaf flavoured with Gruyere cheese.
- I was going to weigh it, but I'm so rubbish at dividing in numbers.
- Into three?
- Into six.
A six-strand plait? I want to see this.
My friend in Switzerland makes this every Sunday.
When we used to go and stay, she used to turn out about four of these for breakfast.
- How are you going to do six?
- Over two, under one, over two, then over two, under one, over two.
I'm absolutely enraptured. I could watch this for hours.
Aw!
That's really impressive. I like that plait.
Jo has opted for a loaf that seems more straightforward.
I'm just shaping it out into a rectangle,
so that I can put my fillings in it. You pull it out, rather than roll it.
I don't want to lose any air from it.
Jo has spent 20 years raising her three sons.
They persuaded their mum to enter the Bake Off, so she could do something for her,
but her mozzarella, ham and pepper Stromboli loaf is still all about her boys.
- Have you been working on this all week?
- I make this a lot cos Dylan loves it.
- He has it for packed lunch for school, so sometimes I'll make one the night before.
- Oh, lucky boy!
I used to have Wagon Wheels and a penny wafer if I was lucky.
'To reduce the risk of a filling inhibiting the bread's rise, the dough is proved for a second time.'
- It's a waiting game.
- It is, yeah.
- OK then...
- One hour to go.
- Oh, gosh!
Without a tin to contain it, the re-risen dough must now be shaped before baking.
Oh, that's got a great wobble. It's like a deployed airbag.
I'm looking forward to a decent loaf.
I'm looking forward to giving you one.
Dedicated foodie Rob lives in London and loves trying out new recipes on his friends.
He's created a rye and coriander seed loaf in the bid to redeem his reputation.
- How are you going to finish that?
- With a bit of flour, then I'll slash it.
- What blade?
I'm going to use a bread knife. I've tried using scalpels before, but haven't found anything sharp enough.
Scoring the loaf shapes it by controlling the direction in which it expands in the oven.
- I'm not a confident slasher.
- Unless the cut is smooth, the bakers risk tearing their dough
- which could cause the loaf to collapse.
- It's a bit scary. You just want it to be right.
But you can never, never tell.
Adding water to the oven creates steam, keeping the crust soft at the beginning of the bake
- and allowing the loaf to rise more freely.
- Fingers crossed.
The steam will also dissolve the sugars on the dough crust.
- As the water evaporates, the sugars caramelise, leaving a glossy crust.
- That's it. It's done.
I've done everything I can possibly do.
I'm just going to have to hope now.
Leaving bread to bake too long risks a burnt crust and dry texture.
Too short and all you're left with is a wet, doughy disaster.
I look slightly mental just staring at the oven,
but it's seconds with this thing. It could just go.
It won't win any beauty contests, but it's smelling really nice.
We've got an amazing selection. We've got herbs, spices, cheese, onions.
Different shapes, original methods. We couldn't have had a greater variety.
Yeah.
It should be done. I just don't want it to be under.
There's only one test for a well-baked loaf -
tapping its bottom.
Does that sound hollow to you? I don't know.
- What is it?
- It's like a rye.
It's quite tense. It's not like a cake where you can put a skewer in and know when it's cooked.
You've got to go on sound and I'm never entirely sure what a hollow sound sounds like.
It did not sound hollow, so I'll pop it back in.
TAPPING SOUNDS
OK, I hate to be a "pan" in the backside, but time is up, so stop baking now.
Done.
It's like the worst week in a way. Paul's such an expert in this area. It is pretty nerve-wracking.
It's judgment time.
- Hi, Jason.
- Hello.
- Look at this!
It's baked well. It's nice and soft.
I was a bit concerned that they weren't going to touch sufficient enough to be classed as a loaf.
It's a lovely texture, that, isn't it?
Hmm. It's got a lovely flavour as well.
- I think you've done quite well, Jason.
- Quite well. Notice he can't say "really well".
That looks a fine-shaped loaf. Very bold, isn't it?
It is, yeah.
- It smells lovely.
- Have a smell.
- The coriander comes out very strongly.
- Lovely.
The flavours are excellent. I like that. I like that idea.
What's left with me is strong, strong rosemary.
- Overwhelmed totally by the rosemary.
- Really? I like the rosemary flavour in it.
- Then don't put the raisins and walnut in there.
- OK.
The shape and the seasoning are very good.
You've got nice flavours, but unfortunately, you've left the bottom unbaked.
You have a run of unbaked dough.
- You've got a lovely look on that bloomer.
- Thanks.
I like the crust on that. I'd like more salt in it. Would you?
- Yeah.
- I normally put five grams of salt in a 500 gram of flour loaf.
Personally, I would use 10 grams for 500.
- Right.
- The texture's great, looks great. It's lacking with flavour.
It doesn't look very neat.
- No.
- But it works in so many ways because you haven't been afraid to put colour on it.
With bread sometimes it's a good thing not to be neat. It's nice to be informal.
- All the flavours are coming through.
- Smashing crust.
- Really good.
- Thanks, Mary-Anne.
- Thank you.
It falls apart when it cuts.
- All this separation doesn't look very good.
- It's very tricky, doing this.
- You've got some great flavours going on in there, but it's slightly underbaked.
- OK.
The bake's excellent.
- The coriander is not coming through.
- The coriander seeds aren't coming through.
- It's more the smell I think you get from the coriander.
- Yeah, but I'll expect to taste it as well.
The overall technical ability of making that loaf is very good.
- I hope you carry on in that vein.
- Cheers.
Gosh, this is a whopper, isn't it?
That heavy weight is to do with that.
It's not proved and baked enough. You can see how wet it is. A courgette will always do that.
It will introduce moisture. It will never take it away.
- How much courgette? - About 250...
- That's what's making it...
- It'll never bake.
It looks a great loaf. It's got a nice structure.
You've got the onion marmalade really well cooked. There are still the pieces there. It's a lovely texture.
You've got some nice flavours in there. You've done well.
Phew!
Holly, Jason, Mary-Anne and Yasmin have already staked their claim to become this week's Star Baker.
But Ian, Jo, Janet and Urvashi must improve over the next two challenges.
It's a bit ironic that I started out to create a loaf that wasn't bland and it ended up being quite bland,
so I'm a bit disappointed.
I've made it loads of times before.
I like it, my friends and family like it, so it won't put me off making it, but I was disappointed.
Paul was impressed. I thought it was going to work, so I am happy!
Be it a white, sliced loaf or a crusty cob,
British bread has classically been reliant on wheat.
Not so over the Irish Sea where their first bread was based on an entirely different crop.
"May the enemies of Ireland never eat bread, nor drink whiskey,
"but be tormented with itching without benefit of scratching."
That St Patrick's Day toast shows the Irish love of a good loaf,
but in the 19th century, it took a different form.
The wet Irish climate wasn't great for growing wheat,
so the working classes made their bread with the only crop they had.
The potato grew very well in Irish soils
and even on a small plot of land, you got excellent returns.
One acre would support a family for one year.
It's not surprising that Irish people started making potato breads.
The easiest one to make, and it tastes really good, is potato bread made from mashed potatoes,
a bit of flour, salt and so on,
mixed together and baked over the fire on a griddle.
For the underclasses, the potato was the only ingredient in a very monotonous diet.
The estimates are that an average person was consuming 14 pounds of potatoes per day.
In 1845, disaster struck. Over a warm, rainy summer, potato blight swept the country.
Not only did absentee English landlords prohibit farmers from varying their crop,
the British government failed to realise how serious the famine was and swathes of crops were destroyed.
In Ireland, close to three million people were without their main source of food.
Up to about a million people died of disease and malnutrition
and another million emigrated.
Together, that exodus represented about a quarter of the population.
Times remained desperate until the early 1850s
when hard wheat and bicarbonate of soda were shipped in from across the Atlantic,
giving birth to Irish soda bread.
Soda bread was cheap, easy and quick to make, instantly becoming an Irish favourite.
Even today, traditional bakeries produce up to 10,000 loaves a week, either griddled or baked.
I think we're the only region within the British Isles
that has an ethnic range of breads that people buy on a daily basis.
I would have said that ten years ago soda farls would have declined. In fact, the opposite has happened.
It's so important, I feel, to keep that tradition
and try and get another generation of people wanting to eat it, and we should be proud of it.
Unique, tasty, popular - the bread of Ireland has quite rightly become a national icon.
'The bakers' next challenge involves a bread from another part of Europe.
'It's become wildly popular in this country despite how difficult it is to bake correctly.'
Bakers, now it's time for the technical challenge.
As ever, this is judged blind,
so we're going to ask Paul and Mary to leave while the baking commences.
And breathe easy! I can now reveal to you bakers that your technical recipe for this challenge
is...focaccia,
and to add a little bit of pressure into the mix,
you will be working with Paul Hollywood's own recipe.
We're looking for the perfect focaccia and you've got three and a half hours in which to bake it.
- So on your marks...
- Get set...
- Bake!
Focaccia is an Italian flat bread which originated in Ancient Rome
where it was originally baked in the ashes of the fireplace.
All the bakers have access to identical, but unmeasured ingredients.
But certain details from Paul's recipe are missing.
And they will need all of their baking instinct to fill the gaps.
The crumb structure in a focaccia should look just like that.
It's a quite open structure with big holes, small holes, big holes, small holes.
English bread has very tight, small air holes.
This recipe has lots of water in it, causing this irregular crumb.
To start off with, you put three-quarters of the water into the dough,
then mix that up in the bowl, then you can introduce the rest of the water, a little at a time.
If they add all the water at the same time, it'll turn into a mush.
- That's strange.
- It is weird, isn't it?
- Oh, gosh.
I've got no idea if this is right.
- Will this make bread?
- Are you sure you should be adding more, Jason?
I've got to try and salvage what I can.
HE LAUGHS
I'll just go with it and see what happens.
Adding flour is risky. It can transform the wet, batter-like dough of a good focaccia
into a conventional bread mix.
Every drop of water should be used.
- I've kind of done that.
- So you are way... Have you got any more water to add?
I've got a bit there, but the dough was wetter than I would have liked.
"Tuck the sides of the dough into the centre. Turn the bowl 90 degrees."
You've got to have faith in the recipe.
The wet dough must be stretched to activate the gluten.
Only oil should be used to stop it from sticking.
- Can I just grab a bit of flour?
- Yeah. Sorry.
The more the dough is worked, the larger the air holes in the bread.
Obviously, Paul knows what he's doing, but at the minute... I really don't know.
Next, the dough must be proved for the yeast to release bubbles of carbon dioxide.
It's during this stage that the amount of water used
will determine just how irregular those bubbles are.
It's massive. Look!
I don't know if it's supposed to look like that.
CLATTER Oh!
Oops!
It's flattened a bit.
It's entirely up to the bakers when to stop proving.
I think that's probably fine.
Next, the dough must be flattened...
and dimpled.
I'm concerned because it says, "Flatten the dough on the tray and add dimples." But it's so wet still.
90 minutes to go.
Timing is now crucial.
During the second proving, the bakers need the dough to double in size again.
But they still need enough remaining time to bake the focaccia correctly.
- It's all right. - Let me see yours.
If it hasn't risen, I've just wasted an hour.
I don't think it's number one, but you never know.
Ladies and gentlemen, you've got 30 minutes to go before your breads must be finished.
The last two ingredients are olive oil...
I'm trying to drizzle, rather than have a flood.
- ..and salt.
- I feel like a chef doing that.
These provide colour and a crisp texture as the focaccia bakes in the oven.
- Fingers crossed.
- No exact oven time has been specified. The bakers are on their own.
I think it's going to be really good because you can see the dimples. Mine's just completely flat.
Oh, this looks good, you know.
OK, that's one minute, please.
- You've got to be proud of that. - I am quite proud of that.
Oh, yes, Janet, yes!
Yeah, right(!)
Bakers, please bring your focaccia up towards the gingham altar to be judged.
The technical bake is judged blind.
Paul and Mary will have no idea whose focaccia is whose.
They're more similar than I thought they would be.
By slicing each focaccia, Paul and Mary will be able to discover
who has achieved the all-important, irregular crumb structure.
- We'll try this one, Mary.
- Mm-hm.
Someone's not been following my recipe. There's too much flour in there.
Those are all even, little tiny holes in that,
not the different sized aeration.
Someone's thought, "Paul's made a mistake here. I don't think I'll add all the water."
The flavour of that one is all right, but there's not enough water in there.
Or they added too much flour and kneaded it.
This has got a crisper top and the aeration is uneven.
- Again too much flour.
- Would you say that that is when they've been kneading it?
- They've added more flour as they thought it was too wet.
- Yeah.
It's the same with that one. It's a dry crumb. It's not wet enough.
This one's quite interesting, actually.
This one looks a bit better.
- You see the strata on that one?
- Yes, it's springy.
- And it tastes good.
- This is a wet dough.
Dimples would be good inside it as well, but don't just go... Put them in right the way down.
That's not bad though.
It's got a nice crust.
Mm-hm.
That's bread-like again.
- This one's a bit bready again.
- It has a nice crust, though.
Hmm.
Paul and Mary must now rank the focaccias from worst to best.
- I'm in total agreement.
- The person in last place is...
this one. That's yours.
- Do you understand why?
- Yeah, not enough water, too much flour.
Number nine, this one here.
When you look at that strata, it's not irregular enough. It's quite dry. It shouldn't be like that.
- For the third technical bake in a row, Janet finishes in the same position.
- Always number eight!
Followed by Jason in seventh place, Holly in sixth, Mary-Anne in fifth
and Rob just beaten by Ben in the battle for third.
- Number two.
- Very good.
- And number one is this.
- APPLAUSE
- She's back!
- That strata, these massive air holes you hit every now and again are great.
That's really nice. That's one of the best ones by far and away I've seen for quite a while. Well done.
APPLAUSE
Obviously, that's how Paul wanted it to come out
and that was the recipe, so thank you to the bread god. Is that Paul?
I can't tell you what made me deviate from the recipe.
I've got to put it behind me and crack on and do the best I can in the next challenge.
If I spoke to my husband, he would say, "You're there, you're good at this, you know you're good at this.
"You just need to forget about what he said and just focus on what you need to do."
'There's just one final bread challenge left for the bakers to impress the judges.'
- Who's in the running for Star Baker?
- I suppose it's Jo.
- I think Holly and Yasmin.
- Who's in the danger zone?
- Ian and also Urvashi.
- I think Janet's got to be in there as well.
The challenge that they've got coming is extremely difficult and this really will sort them out.
We'll ask you to do something a little bit different for the showstopper. It's a two-part bake.
We'll ask you for this first part to make a display bread basket.
For the second part, we need you to fill that display bread basket with 24 rolls.
Sweet or savoury and up to two varieties.
You've got five hours on the clock.
- On your marks...
- Get set...
- Bake!
'This final challenge is the ultimate test of planning, timing and precision.
'Individual rolls require even greater accuracy when it comes to proving,
'flavouring and baking.'
If I know I've done the best I possibly can, I'll be fine.
Urvashi's hopes of staying in the Bake Off rest on her chilli and halloumi rolls
and her lemon and coriander mini loaves.
- What other rolls are you doing?
- Lemon and coriander baguettinis, so little baguettes.
- Baguettinis!
- I like that word - "baguettini".
- Is that your word?
- Yeah.
- Very good.
- They should be quite different. - I hope so.
I'm back in the zone. Once you start bread making, it's quite relaxing.
Survival for Ian depends on his walnut and raisin rolls and cracked wheat logs.
- Nervous about not being wet enough. - Doesn't feel wet.
- Can you add it now?
- You can, but it's a nightmare.
What you're best off doing when you make doughs with additional flavour is to develop the dough first,
then after it's been resting for at least an hour, add your ingredient.
For the third Showstopper challenge in a row, Mary-Anne is experimenting.
I was reading a document I'd got saved on my computer by Eliza Acton.
She used to bake in earthenware pots.
I thought that sounds quite a nice idea.
I presume the clay gets hot and gives a nice crust.
Her herb and walnut flowerpot breads are just the start.
For dessert, there's chocolate and fresh chilli rolls.
It's chocolate dough with chocolate chips.
The overall flavour is chocolate, but there's a little afterglow of chilli.
- I think it works really well. Some of those will disappear. You'll find them in here.
- OK! Bye.
I think I am in control today.
I've written everything down, I've been doing the timing's again. I'm organised and hopefully OK.
It is yet again another ambitious Showstopper for Rob
with blueberry brioche buns and rolls featuring poppy seeds and fresh lemon.
Have you put any lemon juice in or just the rind?
It hasn't got salt! Em, I've put...
- seven lemon rinds and one-and-a-half juice.
- Wow.
- No salt in this dough?
I always add it in in the end. Do the dough and then knead it for, say, eight minutes
- and then the last two minutes, put the salt in.
- Be really careful.
You'll never get salt distributed enough in the dough by hand then.
That's been salted now? Still bland.
Rip a bit of dough out.
- Yeah.
- Don't eat it!
- I just did.
- Don't eat it! Can you taste salt?
- No.
- Can you taste salt?
- I swallowed it too quickly.
- You're not meant to swallow it.
- I know.
- The best way is to dilute the salt in water
and then put it in your dough. More liquid makes it softer, which is good, and it distributes better.
Consistency of size and shape is preoccupying some bakers more than others.
I am just doing my stilton and walnut rolls.
And I'm weighing individually the cheese that goes in, which is just a bit nuts, actually.
But it's got to be done to make sure you get the right amount in each one.
I'm guessing the amount of onion and sage to put in. It's a bit here or there.
I want every single roll to be, um, kind of the exact same shape.
And so I'm weighing out the dough.
I hate all this weighing. 12. Four 12s is 48. Five 12s is 40...
Uh!
Three hours to go in the final challenge.
One of the best things about bread is you can apply so many different creative ideas to one basic dough.
Through the centuries, every UK region had its own bread recipe, especially the Scots,
who even formulated one to sustain their fishermen at sea.
Scotland's fishing industry played a pivotal role in the economy, but an army marches on its stomach
and the creation of a unique bread roll in the 19th century helped to ensure its continuing success.
Fishermen needed high-energy,
long-lasting food for the days at sea. They called it ship's biscuit.
They were very hard and dry because they were basically flower and water and made to last for many weeks.
They used to refer to it as hardtack because these were hard as rocks and utterly tasteless.
No Scotsman will put up with that.
In the 1880s, the fishing industry of Aberdeenshire expanded rapidly
as the numbers of herring boomed. At its peak, 40,000 people worked in Scotland's fishing industry
and around 7,000 boats filled with hungry fishermen were setting sail.
According to Aberdonian legend, a local fisherman approached a baker
and asked him to create something less hard and dry.
What the baker did was take a lump of bread dough, he added some fat, and then he kneaded it.
The result was a high-fat, salty, croissant-like bread roll that would last much longer
than a conventional roll. The Aberdeen buttery was born.
The high fat content, crucial to the success of the buttery, was directly linked to one of Aberdeen's
- most famous exports.
- In the 1880s in Aberdeen,
there were lots of butchers. In their shops was dripping - ideal cheap fat that was readily available
for the buttery. The high fat meant it kept better and tasted better, whether one day old or three weeks.
The buttery was an instant hit. Its popularity soon extended beyond the fishing fleet,
gaining official recognition when it entered the Scottish dictionary in 1899.
And it continues to be a firm favourite amongst the fishermen during their time at sea.
It's got a lot of energy. You're always hungry, constantly.
All the fishing boats still eat them.
It's passed on, generation to generation. Folk like them.
With the average baker selling over 600 butteries a day,
the unique high-fat bread roll remains as popular as it was over 100 years ago.
They look really pretty.
With two hours to go, the rolls are ready to come out of the oven,
- but not all have gone according to plan.
- They're meant to have risen more. I think the yeast died.
- They should be double the size.
- A number of factors can affect this,
but the key addition to be wary of is salt.
When mixing it with yeast and flour, it's crucial that the salt and yeast do not mix as salt kills yeast.
The bakers must now turn their attention to their display baskets.
These can be made with a non-edible salt dough or an edible bread dough.
- I've made this three times at home. I'm just hoping it's neat enough and it works today.
- What are you doing?
Basically, there's a criss-cross, then circles and these will go in and out of them.
- Latticed within that?
- Yeah.
Hold your hands out.
Oh, no, no, no! We need to do some work on this.
I need some mantra, to workshop. Would an expressive dance help?
- I need to just find a way of calming...
- Calming me down.
- Calm the central nervous system down.
- Are you doing a round basket?
- On this thing.
I hope to have two ropes there.
And two ropes there. And in-between have three ears of corn that come down from the centre.
- I've got a pair of scissors! - It's totally different.
It's Planet Janet, Mary.
Janet is the only baker using a tricky wholemeal dough basket
to go with her apple and walnut granary rolls and her sage and red onion cottage rolls.
The basket is my only concern.
In wholemeal flour, the gluten level's lower,
which means the glue can break.
- So this is the triumphant wreath that goes atop the basket?
- It'll be stuck over the top.
This is great. Is this a heavy salt crust?
- It's very, very salted to keep it together.
- It'll get a colour on it?
- No, it doesn't colour.
- Will I be criticised for that? Probably.
- It's best not to wonder.
Best to say everything will be criticised and then not to worry!
- Wow!
- Hello.
- That looks like a hat to go to Ascot!
- Yasmin's intricate basket will be filled with pesto bread
and coconut rolls.
- Is this a salt dough?
- It is. I've made it twice. I made it with bread flour
and I could tell it was much stiffer because it's a stronger flour.
- I've gone back to plain flour.
- Why?
- Because it was really stiff
- and not pliable at all.
- Just add more water.
- ..I like it like this.
- Yeah, she wants to do it.
- You prefer plain flour?
- This is one thing I might have up on you.
15 years of childcare teaches you something about salt dough.
- Play-Doh!
- She's laying down the gauntlet.
When I look at that basket, I'm not seeing overall master plan. What's the end goal?
- I thought big and chunky actually looks more like bread.
- Yeah.
- And looks like a bread basket,
which I figure is what they want. But I just want to get it in and started, then it holds its shape.
The baskets are first baked at a low temperature so the dough hardens.
After the initial bake, the basket should be solid and free-standing when the mould is removed.
Whoa! Is that Janet's?
That's amazing!
Take a look at it - it's collapsing.
I've got to try to put this piece on the top and put it back in the oven.
Just say a prayer for me.
OK, that's 10 minutes remaining, everyone. Just 10 minutes.
Time may be running out, but remove the baskets too soon and they might not be strong enough for the rolls.
Em...
It's not as elegant or as lovely as I'd like it, but hopefully with a nice egg wash
it'll look like bread.
- Now what are those shapes there?
- Little duckies.
- Of course!
Yes. So I'm hoping if my bread rolls aren't any good,
my strategy is to create a diversion. Baking for survival, you know?
I could be going out. All you can do is get in here and do your best.
The whole thing's collapsed. I'm very disappointed.
I don't know what I can do now. It's just gone completely.
Don't worry. You see, these things are sent to try us.
This basket is a thing of great beauty. Or do I wear it as a hat?
It's like trying to make a jigsaw with no picture to go with it.
I'm very sad, really.
Some of these baskets are causing great trouble. They do need a different skill to make them.
It's danger zone for a few people. You've got a few of them now.
OK, that's one minute, everybody. One minute remaining.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is it. Please move away from your baskets and the breads therein.
Your time is up.
Mary and Paul must now judge each baker's offering individually before discussing who they think
should leave the Great British Bake Off.
Yasmin, please step forward.
Technically, your basket looks great. I was a bit worried about the amount of holes.
- What have we got here, Yasmin?
- - Sweet bread with coconut. - Very light.
They're delicious. They taste great. It's the texture and the smell of that crumb. It's really nice.
- Are these the pesto?
- Yeah.
Pesto goes well with bread, I think.
- The bake is superb and the basket is really, really nice.
- Thank you.
- What do we have here, Ian?
- The little ones are walnut and raisin
and the back are cracked wheat.
This was a very tight texture when you were rolling it out.
And what have we got? A tight-textured roll.
And these little fellas, I'm not getting flavour.
The whole thing looks really posh, but the actual rolls when you get into them,
that ones very close and there's not much flavour to that.
The basket looks great. Technically, very good. It's very well done.
It tastes very good, but for some it might be too crusty.
- That's lovely.
- It's beautiful.
- It's well-baked.
Looks good. I'd like to see them a little bit smaller, but technically all good.
Wow!
- Wow.
- You've nailed it.
- On visual appearance.
- Thank you.
- It looks great.
Those chocolate ones I'm fascinated to taste.
The texture of it is moist, but it is, on your mouth, very, very dry.
I don't find it dry. I find it a lovely texture.
The only thing it needs is butter.
Did you design the basket to lurch forward like that?
I'd like to say yes, but no.
- It needed more support.
- Remind us about them.
A lemon and poppy seed roll.
- Salt.
- Mm. As stated earlier, you need more salt.
All I'm getting is lemon. That's it.
These look sadly underproofed.
They stopped proofing. I don't know if the yeast died.
- They're absolutely solid.
- I have to do my job.
- You've got too much salt in there.
- Oh? OK.
The salt must have tipped in there.
I must have put salt instead of sugar. That's what's caused it.
The most important part of baking is weighing up. Mess up there, you mess up the whole line.
It's a great-looking basket and it's edible.
- Lots of flavours in there.
- A little bit over-baked on the ones at the back that you've tucked in.
The basket looks a bit, em...
sparse.
- This is the lemon.
- The lemon and coriander.
- The coriander doesn't come through.
- Do you remember the recipe?
10 grams of salt... Actually, no, it would be 5 grams of salt.
- Yes, that's more like it!
- Yes, it would be 5 grams of salt.
I toyed with putting more in, but I don't like a lot of salt in it.
I thought it was the right amount.
Salt is your killer every time.
- Chilli and halloumi.
- These are chilli rolls to me.
- Yeah, they are.
Halloumi will just get murdered.
- Last but not least...
- Ah, Janet.
- Because of the gluten levels in wholemeal flour, it's not strong.
- OK.
- That's part of why it collapsed.
- Sometimes disasters happen. - Yeah.
- Can you tell me what we've got here?
- These are sage and onion.
- That's lovely and springy.
- The bake is great, texture superb.
- Thank you.
- It needs a little bit more salt and a few more onions.
- Thanks, Janet.
- Thank you.
'They have to make the decision,'
but it should be on merit. And, you know, if I don't deserve to stay, that's fair enough.
By no means a bad judging. Whether it's enough to keep me in remains to be seen.
I would be slightly shocked if I went, but I did horrendously last week, so it wouldn't be unexpected.
I'm disappointed, I'm scared now still that I'll be the one to go home. He didn't like the flavours.
It does make me feel quite upset that I seem to be getting it right on the textures and construction
and not right on the flavour.
It's decision time for Paul and Mary.
Have you had a chance to consider who this week's Star Baker is?
I think that Yasmin has really pulled the stops out.
She's finished with a finale of beautiful rolls
- and a beautiful basket.
- Yes.
I also think Mary-Anne has done particularly well. She's got some fantastic ideas.
On the other end of the scale, who might be in danger?
I think Urvashi performed not so well. She tried so hard. She was dedicated and dying to do well,
- but she didn't quite get there.
- She was second from bottom on the focaccia.
Rob has got to be in there again. After last week, I'm very aware of everything Rob does.
His basket today collapsed and the flavours were not good.
Ian's not had a brilliant weekend.
- Ian was bottom in his focaccia. His courgette bread...
- So heavy, that loaf.
I remember lifting it and I thought, "What's in this?"
- And today we had two rolls which looked immaculate.
- What a disappointment!
It's very important to us - as well as looking brilliant, it's got to taste good.
Janet with the disaster of her basket has got to be in there. She's been middling.
As we start reducing numbers down, you sharply become in the target zone.
The pool of danger zone people is quite large - four, potentially.
You have your choice between Rob, Janet, Urvashi and Ian.
- For me, it's very, very close.
- Mm.
- Do you think that two or one should go?
- Good question.
You know the score by now.
The judges have decided on their verdict. Let's start with the positive. The judges felt somebody
really, really impressed so the person we are giving the title of Star Baker to is...
Yasmin.
Well done, Yasmin. well done.
Sadly, of course, as you know,
there is a person or maybe two people...
that have failed to make the grade this week.
And those two people are...
Ian
and Urvashi.
We're very sorry to see you go.
Urvashi went because, sadly, she was very poor on her flavours.
She made a beautiful-looking loaf, but it didn't have enough flavours.
I'd have loved to stay in the competition a little bit longer, but it is a competition.
There's obviously things they've seen in other people, but not in me.
I've given it my best shot every week.
It has, in a funny kind of way, given me confidence, so overall I think I'm happy.
Ian left today because he was ranked bottom in his signature loaf and bottom in the focaccia.
Today, although his breads did look OK, there was no substance to them. There was no flavour.
Yeah, I'm gutted and disappointed and I'm a bit sad,
but I will always have a love of baking.
If anything, this has added to it.
I can't believe I got Star Baker on the bread week. It's the ultimate accolade.
I am really proud of myself.
And I can't wait to tell my husband!
Losing two people has made it more real that it could be you at any point.
Only one person won't go through it - the winner.
Start practising in the morning.
- Next time...
- You never know.
- ..it's the battle of the biscuits.
- Crunch time in the signature bake.
- I can't bear to look.
'Mary Berry sets a tortuous technical challenge.' Brandy snaps!
It's hard to fill in. Oh, no. God.
And a Showstopper that features nearly 1,000 macaroons.
I personally think that's enough.
- Whose cookie is about to crumble?
- Jason's doesn't work, really.
- And whose biscuits will bring an end to their Bake Off?
- The train is coming. I'll just let it hit me.
- If I couldn't bake, I don't know what I'd do.
- I'm doing it as well as I can.
- Just doing it this far is great.
- 'Last time...'
- Please!
- '..they pushed themselves to the limit.'
- You can win it one week and be knocked out the next.
- 'With pastry.'
- It looks a mess.
- Really?
- Yeah.
- OK.
- '19-year-old Jason was crowned Star Baker.'
- The salmon flavour is spectacular.
- 'But for the first time in the Bake Off, Jo struggled.'
- Sorry.
- 'And yet again...'
- They're knackered, absolutely knackered.
- '..Rob came close to leaving the competition.'
- You're lucky.
- You haven't seen the best of me.
- 'This week, it's bread.'
- I'm looking forward to a decent loaf.
- I'm looking forward to giving you one.
- 'Paul's lifelong obsession.'
- Someone hasn't followed my recipe.
- 'And some bakers' nightmare.'
Ian! Ian, Ian!
- 'Who will rise to the occasion?'
- I look mental just staring at the oven.
- 'And prove they have what it takes?'
- Does that sound hollow?
- I really don't know.
'To win The Great British Bake Off.'
You know what? This is one thing I might have up on you.
This week, our bakers will be tackling bread.
So dust down your baps. This is Paul's watch.
'The ten remaining bakers are about to face three increasingly complex challenges over the next two days,
'after which, whoever falls short will have to leave the Bake Off.'
Good morning and welcome back, bakers. Now be afraid, be very afraid
because you're on Paul's patch as this week, it's bread week.
Bakers, your signature challenge today is to create a flavoured loaf which is free-form.
That means not baked in a tin.
- You've got three-and-a-quarter hours.
- Tighten up the apron strings, wash your hands. On your marks...
- Get set...
- BOTH: Bake!
This first challenge requires that the bakers create a loaf
which looks good, tastes better and features innovative and complementary flavours.
They have complete freedom with ingredients,
but as this must be a free-form loaf, the only thing they can't use is a tin.
Some of them have not the skill and they've been practising like mad all last week.
Let's hope they achieve good results.
Everybody who makes bread at home knows how tricky it can be.
You've got to make the dough, rise the dough and bake the dough.
Those three things they must do, each one they could fall down on.
The winner last year was the guy that made the best bread on the day,
so the consistency we're looking for is much higher than other weeks
because technically, this is harder to do.
I am feeling pretty relaxed. I've made this bread many times.
And it tastes fabulous.
Mary-Anne has three university degrees, but now devotes most of her time to studying baking.
Everything she's learnt has gone into her ambitious and totally original recipe
for a ploughman's loaf, featuring cheese, fresh onion and a bottle of beer.
Imagine a ploughman out in the field taking his packed lunch.
- This bread, an apple and a drink and you'd be set.
- You certainly would!
How are you getting the cheese in there?
I'm doing big chunks of a nice, really strong Welsh cheddar,
so it doesn't disappear into the loaf when it cooks.
- You do get a nugget of cheese.
- So again a nice, robust, rustic dish from you.
Successful, basic bread dough is a carefully measured combination of yeast, flour, water and salt.
The bakers are free to add any other ingredients they wish at any stage.
And as usual, Holly is already aiming high.
The flavours are Parma ham and caramelised onions in one side
and then just chocolate and hazelnut in the other.
- In the same dough?
- Yes.
Sweet and savoury at either end?
It's easy to take on a picnic. You've got enough to do with all the paraphernalia with babies.
'Holly's obsession with home baking has forced her husband to build new shelves
'for all her recipe books and often she reads them in bed.
'Her signature sweet and savoury loaf is based on a complex brioche dough,
'made by adding eggs and milk to a basic bread dough.'
- The proof will be whether you take a mouthful and you get chocolate and onion.
- That would be a nightmare.
- I prefer two separate things.
- Yeah, me too.
- But in this category, she couldn't do two loaves.
You asked for one loaf. If it doesn't work, you'll say, "I told you so."
- The silverback will attack.
- Yes. Let's wait and see.
Kneading is one of the most critical elements of bread-making.
It stretches molecules of gluten in the dough.
If these are not forced to become elastic,
the dough will not rise and the loaf's structure will be tough and inedible.
A lot of it is having the strength to knead it.
But I use a mixer. It's a lot easier. There's no point in kneading it unless you want muscles.
Urvashi has developed her own short cut.
I've tried different ways of kneading and this one works for me,
so stick to it.
Mum of two and full-time marketing executive,
Urvashi dreams of one day baking for her own delicatessen.
She aims to impress with her signature peppercorn loaf.
It gets to this stage and you panic because you think, "It's sticking to the table!"
- Is there anyone you're thinking about when you're doing that?
- I can name a few people, yeah.
- Do you pretend that the dough is Paul's face?
- No.
And you're just working your fists into his face?
I think, for me, if you use it as something that's horrible,
- you don't get quite so good a food.
- Oh, really?
Climbing fanatic Ben also has a passion for musicals
and has performed in shows across London's West End.
He's hoping to dazzle the judges with his walnut, raisin and rosemary loaf.
It's a very nerve-wracking week. It's Paul's thing.
What I want to do is get something that he would find acceptable, I think is the goal of today.
Hang on, hang on, hang on. Three o'clock, mate.
Look as if you know what you're doing. You do know what you're doing. Hi, Paul!
'With kneading complete, the dough must be proved.
'If left covered in a warm place,
'the yeast feeds on the flour, releasing bubbles of carbon dioxide, causing the dough to rise.
'Unless the bakers factor in enough time for their dough to prove to twice its original size,
'their loaf's crumb structure will be unacceptably tight.'
Bread takes long, but it's not a long time of doing stuff. It's just waiting for it to rise.
'For one of the bakers, this pause in the first challenge is welcome.'
Ian! Ian, Ian!
- This is the beginning of the Bake Off weekend.
- I know.
When his partner Stephan fell ill ten years ago,
Ian quit his job to care for him and while at home, developed his talent and passion for baking.
His signature bake is one of Stephan's favourites -
a courgette loaf flavoured with Caerphilly cheese and thyme.
- What's happened?
- I cut my finger when I was chopping my thyme very delicately.
- Yeah.
I cut the top of my finger. But I think I'm going to be OK.
Will you have to do the whole challenge one-handed?
No, I'm hoping the bleeding will be stemmed enough.
- Do you like your elbow support?
- It's lovely. I think I might ask for that permanently.
'The business of bread-making has always been one of Britain's most dangerous professions
'and working in a mill could seriously damage your health.'
Tom, I've heard that working in a mill is quite dangerous.
- Should I be wearing a protective suit?
- Not today, no.
But you could get mixed up in the machinery.
There is no emergency "stop" button here.
Medieval millers did occasionally lose legs or arms or even heads.
'And if you weren't mangled by the machinery, you could be crushed by the millstone itself.'
Some types of millstone were made not just of one piece of stone, but several smaller pieces of stone,
all held together by a steel band. If that band breaks,
then pieces of millstone would fly out in all directions.
- Seriously?
- We're talking about millstone missiles.
- Have you got your steel band in place?
- Yes. Trust me.
'Flying millstones and the risk of decapitation is just the beginning.'
This flour is the main danger facing us in this mill.
- Why is it dangerous?
- In the right concentration in the air, flour dust can explode.
There would be no warning and the mill would be destroyed.
'And we're not just talking medieval mills.
'In 1965, a massive explosion tore through a mill in London's East End, costing the lives of four people.
'It turns out that flour is a lethal and explosive carbohydrate.'
Mike, why is flour so combustible?
Because it's a carbohydrate
and contains carbon and hydrogen and oxygen
and that enables it to burn.
Take me through how a mill actually explodes. What happens?
There's a lot of flour, very fine particles suspended in the atmosphere.
And if there's an ignition source like the millstones getting hot
or machinery getting hot, you have an explosive mixture.
'To test flour's flammability, Mike has created a replica mill,
'complete with a dusting of flour and a candle to supply the ignition.'
- Mike, much as I trust you, health and safety at all times...
- OK.
- I'm going to use these bellows to force some air...
- OK.
- ..into the tubing and up through the funnel.
- Yeah.
Whoa!
Mike, that's, um... That's pretty impressive, Mike.
It seems to have melted your mill. That's amazing.
- So quick as well.
- So quick, yes.
- Scary.
I felt that from back there. Seriously.
'Don't try this at home.
'The next time you bite into a sliced loaf, think of our early bread-makers.
'To produce our daily bread, they were dicing with danger.'
90 minutes to go in the signature bake.
I think it is rising, but I don't want to push my luck.
With their dough proving, most bakers have moved on to preparing any fillings
for their signature bake.
There's a lot of work, then there's a lull as you're waiting for it to prove.
That's what puts people off making bread. It's time-consuming, then often it comes out as a brick.
Yasmin works with her husband as a childminder, but has had jobs
from receptionist to poetry magazine editor and paramedic.
She hopes the diverse flavours in her North African-inspired loaf will impress.
- It's a white loaf, but I'm adding an Egyptian spice mix called dukkah to it.
- Delicious.
Is it salt, sesame seeds, coriander?
It's cumin, coriander, thyme, sesame seeds, almonds.
I just put it on meat and pizzas.
You've roasted this because it's warm. And that makes the aroma. It's lovely. Hmm!
Once risen, bread dough must be knocked back,
a technique which disperses any large bubbles of carbon dioxide.
This is my favourite bit when it comes out and you see all the little bubbles popping everywhere.
Dough which hasn't been knocked back will produce bread of an uneven texture with tunnelling
and large air holes.
I'm adding green peppercorn. I don't want it to blow your mouth away.
I want it to be a subtle flavour.
Introducing any ingredients to a bread dough risks altering its delicate chemical balance.
- I hope it impresses them.
- Incorrect proportions of an acidic ingredient like onion can retard the yeast,
stopping any rise in its tracks.
I'm intrigued because I've seen these neat little piles of cheese and neat little piles of fried onion.
They're for my tear-and-share cheese and onion loaf.
I'm making little balls. It's got a cheese and onion package inside.
Hopefully, when they rise, they will stick together like a honeycomb shape.
When he isn't studying, 19-year-old Jason is a passionate member of his university's baking society.
His cheese and onion tear-and-share loaf will also feature a cheddar cheese crust.
The dough pieces are too spread apart on the tray.
I don't think they'll join together sufficiently. If you lift up one half, it'll collapse.
I think those balls will struggle to rise.
There's something so satisfying about bread. How old were you when you started baking bread?
I started when we lived in West Africa and I had to cook the bread
because the bread was awful, it was just like cotton wool.
Globe-trotting grandma and retired teacher Janet has worked in Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and India,
but her signature loaf is Swiss - a Zupfe loaf flavoured with Gruyere cheese.
- I was going to weigh it, but I'm so rubbish at dividing in numbers.
- Into three?
- Into six.
A six-strand plait? I want to see this.
My friend in Switzerland makes this every Sunday.
When we used to go and stay, she used to turn out about four of these for breakfast.
- How are you going to do six?
- Over two, under one, over two, then over two, under one, over two.
I'm absolutely enraptured. I could watch this for hours.
Aw!
That's really impressive. I like that plait.
Jo has opted for a loaf that seems more straightforward.
I'm just shaping it out into a rectangle,
so that I can put my fillings in it. You pull it out, rather than roll it.
I don't want to lose any air from it.
Jo has spent 20 years raising her three sons.
They persuaded their mum to enter the Bake Off, so she could do something for her,
but her mozzarella, ham and pepper Stromboli loaf is still all about her boys.
- Have you been working on this all week?
- I make this a lot cos Dylan loves it.
- He has it for packed lunch for school, so sometimes I'll make one the night before.
- Oh, lucky boy!
I used to have Wagon Wheels and a penny wafer if I was lucky.
'To reduce the risk of a filling inhibiting the bread's rise, the dough is proved for a second time.'
- It's a waiting game.
- It is, yeah.
- OK then...
- One hour to go.
- Oh, gosh!
Without a tin to contain it, the re-risen dough must now be shaped before baking.
Oh, that's got a great wobble. It's like a deployed airbag.
I'm looking forward to a decent loaf.
I'm looking forward to giving you one.
Dedicated foodie Rob lives in London and loves trying out new recipes on his friends.
He's created a rye and coriander seed loaf in the bid to redeem his reputation.
- How are you going to finish that?
- With a bit of flour, then I'll slash it.
- What blade?
I'm going to use a bread knife. I've tried using scalpels before, but haven't found anything sharp enough.
Scoring the loaf shapes it by controlling the direction in which it expands in the oven.
- I'm not a confident slasher.
- Unless the cut is smooth, the bakers risk tearing their dough
- which could cause the loaf to collapse.
- It's a bit scary. You just want it to be right.
But you can never, never tell.
Adding water to the oven creates steam, keeping the crust soft at the beginning of the bake
- and allowing the loaf to rise more freely.
- Fingers crossed.
The steam will also dissolve the sugars on the dough crust.
- As the water evaporates, the sugars caramelise, leaving a glossy crust.
- That's it. It's done.
I've done everything I can possibly do.
I'm just going to have to hope now.
Leaving bread to bake too long risks a burnt crust and dry texture.
Too short and all you're left with is a wet, doughy disaster.
I look slightly mental just staring at the oven,
but it's seconds with this thing. It could just go.
It won't win any beauty contests, but it's smelling really nice.
We've got an amazing selection. We've got herbs, spices, cheese, onions.
Different shapes, original methods. We couldn't have had a greater variety.
Yeah.
It should be done. I just don't want it to be under.
There's only one test for a well-baked loaf -
tapping its bottom.
Does that sound hollow to you? I don't know.
- What is it?
- It's like a rye.
It's quite tense. It's not like a cake where you can put a skewer in and know when it's cooked.
You've got to go on sound and I'm never entirely sure what a hollow sound sounds like.
It did not sound hollow, so I'll pop it back in.
TAPPING SOUNDS
OK, I hate to be a "pan" in the backside, but time is up, so stop baking now.
Done.
It's like the worst week in a way. Paul's such an expert in this area. It is pretty nerve-wracking.
It's judgment time.
- Hi, Jason.
- Hello.
- Look at this!
It's baked well. It's nice and soft.
I was a bit concerned that they weren't going to touch sufficient enough to be classed as a loaf.
It's a lovely texture, that, isn't it?
Hmm. It's got a lovely flavour as well.
- I think you've done quite well, Jason.
- Quite well. Notice he can't say "really well".
That looks a fine-shaped loaf. Very bold, isn't it?
It is, yeah.
- It smells lovely.
- Have a smell.
- The coriander comes out very strongly.
- Lovely.
The flavours are excellent. I like that. I like that idea.
What's left with me is strong, strong rosemary.
- Overwhelmed totally by the rosemary.
- Really? I like the rosemary flavour in it.
- Then don't put the raisins and walnut in there.
- OK.
The shape and the seasoning are very good.
You've got nice flavours, but unfortunately, you've left the bottom unbaked.
You have a run of unbaked dough.
- You've got a lovely look on that bloomer.
- Thanks.
I like the crust on that. I'd like more salt in it. Would you?
- Yeah.
- I normally put five grams of salt in a 500 gram of flour loaf.
Personally, I would use 10 grams for 500.
- Right.
- The texture's great, looks great. It's lacking with flavour.
It doesn't look very neat.
- No.
- But it works in so many ways because you haven't been afraid to put colour on it.
With bread sometimes it's a good thing not to be neat. It's nice to be informal.
- All the flavours are coming through.
- Smashing crust.
- Really good.
- Thanks, Mary-Anne.
- Thank you.
It falls apart when it cuts.
- All this separation doesn't look very good.
- It's very tricky, doing this.
- You've got some great flavours going on in there, but it's slightly underbaked.
- OK.
The bake's excellent.
- The coriander is not coming through.
- The coriander seeds aren't coming through.
- It's more the smell I think you get from the coriander.
- Yeah, but I'll expect to taste it as well.
The overall technical ability of making that loaf is very good.
- I hope you carry on in that vein.
- Cheers.
Gosh, this is a whopper, isn't it?
That heavy weight is to do with that.
It's not proved and baked enough. You can see how wet it is. A courgette will always do that.
It will introduce moisture. It will never take it away.
- How much courgette? - About 250...
- That's what's making it...
- It'll never bake.
It looks a great loaf. It's got a nice structure.
You've got the onion marmalade really well cooked. There are still the pieces there. It's a lovely texture.
You've got some nice flavours in there. You've done well.
Phew!
Holly, Jason, Mary-Anne and Yasmin have already staked their claim to become this week's Star Baker.
But Ian, Jo, Janet and Urvashi must improve over the next two challenges.
It's a bit ironic that I started out to create a loaf that wasn't bland and it ended up being quite bland,
so I'm a bit disappointed.
I've made it loads of times before.
I like it, my friends and family like it, so it won't put me off making it, but I was disappointed.
Paul was impressed. I thought it was going to work, so I am happy!
Be it a white, sliced loaf or a crusty cob,
British bread has classically been reliant on wheat.
Not so over the Irish Sea where their first bread was based on an entirely different crop.
"May the enemies of Ireland never eat bread, nor drink whiskey,
"but be tormented with itching without benefit of scratching."
That St Patrick's Day toast shows the Irish love of a good loaf,
but in the 19th century, it took a different form.
The wet Irish climate wasn't great for growing wheat,
so the working classes made their bread with the only crop they had.
The potato grew very well in Irish soils
and even on a small plot of land, you got excellent returns.
One acre would support a family for one year.
It's not surprising that Irish people started making potato breads.
The easiest one to make, and it tastes really good, is potato bread made from mashed potatoes,
a bit of flour, salt and so on,
mixed together and baked over the fire on a griddle.
For the underclasses, the potato was the only ingredient in a very monotonous diet.
The estimates are that an average person was consuming 14 pounds of potatoes per day.
In 1845, disaster struck. Over a warm, rainy summer, potato blight swept the country.
Not only did absentee English landlords prohibit farmers from varying their crop,
the British government failed to realise how serious the famine was and swathes of crops were destroyed.
In Ireland, close to three million people were without their main source of food.
Up to about a million people died of disease and malnutrition
and another million emigrated.
Together, that exodus represented about a quarter of the population.
Times remained desperate until the early 1850s
when hard wheat and bicarbonate of soda were shipped in from across the Atlantic,
giving birth to Irish soda bread.
Soda bread was cheap, easy and quick to make, instantly becoming an Irish favourite.
Even today, traditional bakeries produce up to 10,000 loaves a week, either griddled or baked.
I think we're the only region within the British Isles
that has an ethnic range of breads that people buy on a daily basis.
I would have said that ten years ago soda farls would have declined. In fact, the opposite has happened.
It's so important, I feel, to keep that tradition
and try and get another generation of people wanting to eat it, and we should be proud of it.
Unique, tasty, popular - the bread of Ireland has quite rightly become a national icon.
'The bakers' next challenge involves a bread from another part of Europe.
'It's become wildly popular in this country despite how difficult it is to bake correctly.'
Bakers, now it's time for the technical challenge.
As ever, this is judged blind,
so we're going to ask Paul and Mary to leave while the baking commences.
And breathe easy! I can now reveal to you bakers that your technical recipe for this challenge
is...focaccia,
and to add a little bit of pressure into the mix,
you will be working with Paul Hollywood's own recipe.
We're looking for the perfect focaccia and you've got three and a half hours in which to bake it.
- So on your marks...
- Get set...
- Bake!
Focaccia is an Italian flat bread which originated in Ancient Rome
where it was originally baked in the ashes of the fireplace.
All the bakers have access to identical, but unmeasured ingredients.
But certain details from Paul's recipe are missing.
And they will need all of their baking instinct to fill the gaps.
The crumb structure in a focaccia should look just like that.
It's a quite open structure with big holes, small holes, big holes, small holes.
English bread has very tight, small air holes.
This recipe has lots of water in it, causing this irregular crumb.
To start off with, you put three-quarters of the water into the dough,
then mix that up in the bowl, then you can introduce the rest of the water, a little at a time.
If they add all the water at the same time, it'll turn into a mush.
- That's strange.
- It is weird, isn't it?
- Oh, gosh.
I've got no idea if this is right.
- Will this make bread?
- Are you sure you should be adding more, Jason?
I've got to try and salvage what I can.
HE LAUGHS
I'll just go with it and see what happens.
Adding flour is risky. It can transform the wet, batter-like dough of a good focaccia
into a conventional bread mix.
Every drop of water should be used.
- I've kind of done that.
- So you are way... Have you got any more water to add?
I've got a bit there, but the dough was wetter than I would have liked.
"Tuck the sides of the dough into the centre. Turn the bowl 90 degrees."
You've got to have faith in the recipe.
The wet dough must be stretched to activate the gluten.
Only oil should be used to stop it from sticking.
- Can I just grab a bit of flour?
- Yeah. Sorry.
The more the dough is worked, the larger the air holes in the bread.
Obviously, Paul knows what he's doing, but at the minute... I really don't know.
Next, the dough must be proved for the yeast to release bubbles of carbon dioxide.
It's during this stage that the amount of water used
will determine just how irregular those bubbles are.
It's massive. Look!
I don't know if it's supposed to look like that.
CLATTER Oh!
Oops!
It's flattened a bit.
It's entirely up to the bakers when to stop proving.
I think that's probably fine.
Next, the dough must be flattened...
and dimpled.
I'm concerned because it says, "Flatten the dough on the tray and add dimples." But it's so wet still.
90 minutes to go.
Timing is now crucial.
During the second proving, the bakers need the dough to double in size again.
But they still need enough remaining time to bake the focaccia correctly.
- It's all right. - Let me see yours.
If it hasn't risen, I've just wasted an hour.
I don't think it's number one, but you never know.
Ladies and gentlemen, you've got 30 minutes to go before your breads must be finished.
The last two ingredients are olive oil...
I'm trying to drizzle, rather than have a flood.
- ..and salt.
- I feel like a chef doing that.
These provide colour and a crisp texture as the focaccia bakes in the oven.
- Fingers crossed.
- No exact oven time has been specified. The bakers are on their own.
I think it's going to be really good because you can see the dimples. Mine's just completely flat.
Oh, this looks good, you know.
OK, that's one minute, please.
- You've got to be proud of that. - I am quite proud of that.
Oh, yes, Janet, yes!
Yeah, right(!)
Bakers, please bring your focaccia up towards the gingham altar to be judged.
The technical bake is judged blind.
Paul and Mary will have no idea whose focaccia is whose.
They're more similar than I thought they would be.
By slicing each focaccia, Paul and Mary will be able to discover
who has achieved the all-important, irregular crumb structure.
- We'll try this one, Mary.
- Mm-hm.
Someone's not been following my recipe. There's too much flour in there.
Those are all even, little tiny holes in that,
not the different sized aeration.
Someone's thought, "Paul's made a mistake here. I don't think I'll add all the water."
The flavour of that one is all right, but there's not enough water in there.
Or they added too much flour and kneaded it.
This has got a crisper top and the aeration is uneven.
- Again too much flour.
- Would you say that that is when they've been kneading it?
- They've added more flour as they thought it was too wet.
- Yeah.
It's the same with that one. It's a dry crumb. It's not wet enough.
This one's quite interesting, actually.
This one looks a bit better.
- You see the strata on that one?
- Yes, it's springy.
- And it tastes good.
- This is a wet dough.
Dimples would be good inside it as well, but don't just go... Put them in right the way down.
That's not bad though.
It's got a nice crust.
Mm-hm.
That's bread-like again.
- This one's a bit bready again.
- It has a nice crust, though.
Hmm.
Paul and Mary must now rank the focaccias from worst to best.
- I'm in total agreement.
- The person in last place is...
this one. That's yours.
- Do you understand why?
- Yeah, not enough water, too much flour.
Number nine, this one here.
When you look at that strata, it's not irregular enough. It's quite dry. It shouldn't be like that.
- For the third technical bake in a row, Janet finishes in the same position.
- Always number eight!
Followed by Jason in seventh place, Holly in sixth, Mary-Anne in fifth
and Rob just beaten by Ben in the battle for third.
- Number two.
- Very good.
- And number one is this.
- APPLAUSE
- She's back!
- That strata, these massive air holes you hit every now and again are great.
That's really nice. That's one of the best ones by far and away I've seen for quite a while. Well done.
APPLAUSE
Obviously, that's how Paul wanted it to come out
and that was the recipe, so thank you to the bread god. Is that Paul?
I can't tell you what made me deviate from the recipe.
I've got to put it behind me and crack on and do the best I can in the next challenge.
If I spoke to my husband, he would say, "You're there, you're good at this, you know you're good at this.
"You just need to forget about what he said and just focus on what you need to do."
'There's just one final bread challenge left for the bakers to impress the judges.'
- Who's in the running for Star Baker?
- I suppose it's Jo.
- I think Holly and Yasmin.
- Who's in the danger zone?
- Ian and also Urvashi.
- I think Janet's got to be in there as well.
The challenge that they've got coming is extremely difficult and this really will sort them out.
We'll ask you to do something a little bit different for the showstopper. It's a two-part bake.
We'll ask you for this first part to make a display bread basket.
For the second part, we need you to fill that display bread basket with 24 rolls.
Sweet or savoury and up to two varieties.
You've got five hours on the clock.
- On your marks...
- Get set...
- Bake!
'This final challenge is the ultimate test of planning, timing and precision.
'Individual rolls require even greater accuracy when it comes to proving,
'flavouring and baking.'
If I know I've done the best I possibly can, I'll be fine.
Urvashi's hopes of staying in the Bake Off rest on her chilli and halloumi rolls
and her lemon and coriander mini loaves.
- What other rolls are you doing?
- Lemon and coriander baguettinis, so little baguettes.
- Baguettinis!
- I like that word - "baguettini".
- Is that your word?
- Yeah.
- Very good.
- They should be quite different. - I hope so.
I'm back in the zone. Once you start bread making, it's quite relaxing.
Survival for Ian depends on his walnut and raisin rolls and cracked wheat logs.
- Nervous about not being wet enough. - Doesn't feel wet.
- Can you add it now?
- You can, but it's a nightmare.
What you're best off doing when you make doughs with additional flavour is to develop the dough first,
then after it's been resting for at least an hour, add your ingredient.
For the third Showstopper challenge in a row, Mary-Anne is experimenting.
I was reading a document I'd got saved on my computer by Eliza Acton.
She used to bake in earthenware pots.
I thought that sounds quite a nice idea.
I presume the clay gets hot and gives a nice crust.
Her herb and walnut flowerpot breads are just the start.
For dessert, there's chocolate and fresh chilli rolls.
It's chocolate dough with chocolate chips.
The overall flavour is chocolate, but there's a little afterglow of chilli.
- I think it works really well. Some of those will disappear. You'll find them in here.
- OK! Bye.
I think I am in control today.
I've written everything down, I've been doing the timing's again. I'm organised and hopefully OK.
It is yet again another ambitious Showstopper for Rob
with blueberry brioche buns and rolls featuring poppy seeds and fresh lemon.
Have you put any lemon juice in or just the rind?
It hasn't got salt! Em, I've put...
- seven lemon rinds and one-and-a-half juice.
- Wow.
- No salt in this dough?
I always add it in in the end. Do the dough and then knead it for, say, eight minutes
- and then the last two minutes, put the salt in.
- Be really careful.
You'll never get salt distributed enough in the dough by hand then.
That's been salted now? Still bland.
Rip a bit of dough out.
- Yeah.
- Don't eat it!
- I just did.
- Don't eat it! Can you taste salt?
- No.
- Can you taste salt?
- I swallowed it too quickly.
- You're not meant to swallow it.
- I know.
- The best way is to dilute the salt in water
and then put it in your dough. More liquid makes it softer, which is good, and it distributes better.
Consistency of size and shape is preoccupying some bakers more than others.
I am just doing my stilton and walnut rolls.
And I'm weighing individually the cheese that goes in, which is just a bit nuts, actually.
But it's got to be done to make sure you get the right amount in each one.
I'm guessing the amount of onion and sage to put in. It's a bit here or there.
I want every single roll to be, um, kind of the exact same shape.
And so I'm weighing out the dough.
I hate all this weighing. 12. Four 12s is 48. Five 12s is 40...
Uh!
Three hours to go in the final challenge.
One of the best things about bread is you can apply so many different creative ideas to one basic dough.
Through the centuries, every UK region had its own bread recipe, especially the Scots,
who even formulated one to sustain their fishermen at sea.
Scotland's fishing industry played a pivotal role in the economy, but an army marches on its stomach
and the creation of a unique bread roll in the 19th century helped to ensure its continuing success.
Fishermen needed high-energy,
long-lasting food for the days at sea. They called it ship's biscuit.
They were very hard and dry because they were basically flower and water and made to last for many weeks.
They used to refer to it as hardtack because these were hard as rocks and utterly tasteless.
No Scotsman will put up with that.
In the 1880s, the fishing industry of Aberdeenshire expanded rapidly
as the numbers of herring boomed. At its peak, 40,000 people worked in Scotland's fishing industry
and around 7,000 boats filled with hungry fishermen were setting sail.
According to Aberdonian legend, a local fisherman approached a baker
and asked him to create something less hard and dry.
What the baker did was take a lump of bread dough, he added some fat, and then he kneaded it.
The result was a high-fat, salty, croissant-like bread roll that would last much longer
than a conventional roll. The Aberdeen buttery was born.
The high fat content, crucial to the success of the buttery, was directly linked to one of Aberdeen's
- most famous exports.
- In the 1880s in Aberdeen,
there were lots of butchers. In their shops was dripping - ideal cheap fat that was readily available
for the buttery. The high fat meant it kept better and tasted better, whether one day old or three weeks.
The buttery was an instant hit. Its popularity soon extended beyond the fishing fleet,
gaining official recognition when it entered the Scottish dictionary in 1899.
And it continues to be a firm favourite amongst the fishermen during their time at sea.
It's got a lot of energy. You're always hungry, constantly.
All the fishing boats still eat them.
It's passed on, generation to generation. Folk like them.
With the average baker selling over 600 butteries a day,
the unique high-fat bread roll remains as popular as it was over 100 years ago.
They look really pretty.
With two hours to go, the rolls are ready to come out of the oven,
- but not all have gone according to plan.
- They're meant to have risen more. I think the yeast died.
- They should be double the size.
- A number of factors can affect this,
but the key addition to be wary of is salt.
When mixing it with yeast and flour, it's crucial that the salt and yeast do not mix as salt kills yeast.
The bakers must now turn their attention to their display baskets.
These can be made with a non-edible salt dough or an edible bread dough.
- I've made this three times at home. I'm just hoping it's neat enough and it works today.
- What are you doing?
Basically, there's a criss-cross, then circles and these will go in and out of them.
- Latticed within that?
- Yeah.
Hold your hands out.
Oh, no, no, no! We need to do some work on this.
I need some mantra, to workshop. Would an expressive dance help?
- I need to just find a way of calming...
- Calming me down.
- Calm the central nervous system down.
- Are you doing a round basket?
- On this thing.
I hope to have two ropes there.
And two ropes there. And in-between have three ears of corn that come down from the centre.
- I've got a pair of scissors! - It's totally different.
It's Planet Janet, Mary.
Janet is the only baker using a tricky wholemeal dough basket
to go with her apple and walnut granary rolls and her sage and red onion cottage rolls.
The basket is my only concern.
In wholemeal flour, the gluten level's lower,
which means the glue can break.
- So this is the triumphant wreath that goes atop the basket?
- It'll be stuck over the top.
This is great. Is this a heavy salt crust?
- It's very, very salted to keep it together.
- It'll get a colour on it?
- No, it doesn't colour.
- Will I be criticised for that? Probably.
- It's best not to wonder.
Best to say everything will be criticised and then not to worry!
- Wow!
- Hello.
- That looks like a hat to go to Ascot!
- Yasmin's intricate basket will be filled with pesto bread
and coconut rolls.
- Is this a salt dough?
- It is. I've made it twice. I made it with bread flour
and I could tell it was much stiffer because it's a stronger flour.
- I've gone back to plain flour.
- Why?
- Because it was really stiff
- and not pliable at all.
- Just add more water.
- ..I like it like this.
- Yeah, she wants to do it.
- You prefer plain flour?
- This is one thing I might have up on you.
15 years of childcare teaches you something about salt dough.
- Play-Doh!
- She's laying down the gauntlet.
When I look at that basket, I'm not seeing overall master plan. What's the end goal?
- I thought big and chunky actually looks more like bread.
- Yeah.
- And looks like a bread basket,
which I figure is what they want. But I just want to get it in and started, then it holds its shape.
The baskets are first baked at a low temperature so the dough hardens.
After the initial bake, the basket should be solid and free-standing when the mould is removed.
Whoa! Is that Janet's?
That's amazing!
Take a look at it - it's collapsing.
I've got to try to put this piece on the top and put it back in the oven.
Just say a prayer for me.
OK, that's 10 minutes remaining, everyone. Just 10 minutes.
Time may be running out, but remove the baskets too soon and they might not be strong enough for the rolls.
Em...
It's not as elegant or as lovely as I'd like it, but hopefully with a nice egg wash
it'll look like bread.
- Now what are those shapes there?
- Little duckies.
- Of course!
Yes. So I'm hoping if my bread rolls aren't any good,
my strategy is to create a diversion. Baking for survival, you know?
I could be going out. All you can do is get in here and do your best.
The whole thing's collapsed. I'm very disappointed.
I don't know what I can do now. It's just gone completely.
Don't worry. You see, these things are sent to try us.
This basket is a thing of great beauty. Or do I wear it as a hat?
It's like trying to make a jigsaw with no picture to go with it.
I'm very sad, really.
Some of these baskets are causing great trouble. They do need a different skill to make them.
It's danger zone for a few people. You've got a few of them now.
OK, that's one minute, everybody. One minute remaining.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is it. Please move away from your baskets and the breads therein.
Your time is up.
Mary and Paul must now judge each baker's offering individually before discussing who they think
should leave the Great British Bake Off.
Yasmin, please step forward.
Technically, your basket looks great. I was a bit worried about the amount of holes.
- What have we got here, Yasmin?
- - Sweet bread with coconut. - Very light.
They're delicious. They taste great. It's the texture and the smell of that crumb. It's really nice.
- Are these the pesto?
- Yeah.
Pesto goes well with bread, I think.
- The bake is superb and the basket is really, really nice.
- Thank you.
- What do we have here, Ian?
- The little ones are walnut and raisin
and the back are cracked wheat.
This was a very tight texture when you were rolling it out.
And what have we got? A tight-textured roll.
And these little fellas, I'm not getting flavour.
The whole thing looks really posh, but the actual rolls when you get into them,
that ones very close and there's not much flavour to that.
The basket looks great. Technically, very good. It's very well done.
It tastes very good, but for some it might be too crusty.
- That's lovely.
- It's beautiful.
- It's well-baked.
Looks good. I'd like to see them a little bit smaller, but technically all good.
Wow!
- Wow.
- You've nailed it.
- On visual appearance.
- Thank you.
- It looks great.
Those chocolate ones I'm fascinated to taste.
The texture of it is moist, but it is, on your mouth, very, very dry.
I don't find it dry. I find it a lovely texture.
The only thing it needs is butter.
Did you design the basket to lurch forward like that?
I'd like to say yes, but no.
- It needed more support.
- Remind us about them.
A lemon and poppy seed roll.
- Salt.
- Mm. As stated earlier, you need more salt.
All I'm getting is lemon. That's it.
These look sadly underproofed.
They stopped proofing. I don't know if the yeast died.
- They're absolutely solid.
- I have to do my job.
- You've got too much salt in there.
- Oh? OK.
The salt must have tipped in there.
I must have put salt instead of sugar. That's what's caused it.
The most important part of baking is weighing up. Mess up there, you mess up the whole line.
It's a great-looking basket and it's edible.
- Lots of flavours in there.
- A little bit over-baked on the ones at the back that you've tucked in.
The basket looks a bit, em...
sparse.
- This is the lemon.
- The lemon and coriander.
- The coriander doesn't come through.
- Do you remember the recipe?
10 grams of salt... Actually, no, it would be 5 grams of salt.
- Yes, that's more like it!
- Yes, it would be 5 grams of salt.
I toyed with putting more in, but I don't like a lot of salt in it.
I thought it was the right amount.
Salt is your killer every time.
- Chilli and halloumi.
- These are chilli rolls to me.
- Yeah, they are.
Halloumi will just get murdered.
- Last but not least...
- Ah, Janet.
- Because of the gluten levels in wholemeal flour, it's not strong.
- OK.
- That's part of why it collapsed.
- Sometimes disasters happen. - Yeah.
- Can you tell me what we've got here?
- These are sage and onion.
- That's lovely and springy.
- The bake is great, texture superb.
- Thank you.
- It needs a little bit more salt and a few more onions.
- Thanks, Janet.
- Thank you.
'They have to make the decision,'
but it should be on merit. And, you know, if I don't deserve to stay, that's fair enough.
By no means a bad judging. Whether it's enough to keep me in remains to be seen.
I would be slightly shocked if I went, but I did horrendously last week, so it wouldn't be unexpected.
I'm disappointed, I'm scared now still that I'll be the one to go home. He didn't like the flavours.
It does make me feel quite upset that I seem to be getting it right on the textures and construction
and not right on the flavour.
It's decision time for Paul and Mary.
Have you had a chance to consider who this week's Star Baker is?
I think that Yasmin has really pulled the stops out.
She's finished with a finale of beautiful rolls
- and a beautiful basket.
- Yes.
I also think Mary-Anne has done particularly well. She's got some fantastic ideas.
On the other end of the scale, who might be in danger?
I think Urvashi performed not so well. She tried so hard. She was dedicated and dying to do well,
- but she didn't quite get there.
- She was second from bottom on the focaccia.
Rob has got to be in there again. After last week, I'm very aware of everything Rob does.
His basket today collapsed and the flavours were not good.
Ian's not had a brilliant weekend.
- Ian was bottom in his focaccia. His courgette bread...
- So heavy, that loaf.
I remember lifting it and I thought, "What's in this?"
- And today we had two rolls which looked immaculate.
- What a disappointment!
It's very important to us - as well as looking brilliant, it's got to taste good.
Janet with the disaster of her basket has got to be in there. She's been middling.
As we start reducing numbers down, you sharply become in the target zone.
The pool of danger zone people is quite large - four, potentially.
You have your choice between Rob, Janet, Urvashi and Ian.
- For me, it's very, very close.
- Mm.
- Do you think that two or one should go?
- Good question.
You know the score by now.
The judges have decided on their verdict. Let's start with the positive. The judges felt somebody
really, really impressed so the person we are giving the title of Star Baker to is...
Yasmin.
Well done, Yasmin. well done.
Sadly, of course, as you know,
there is a person or maybe two people...
that have failed to make the grade this week.
And those two people are...
Ian
and Urvashi.
We're very sorry to see you go.
Urvashi went because, sadly, she was very poor on her flavours.
She made a beautiful-looking loaf, but it didn't have enough flavours.
I'd have loved to stay in the competition a little bit longer, but it is a competition.
There's obviously things they've seen in other people, but not in me.
I've given it my best shot every week.
It has, in a funny kind of way, given me confidence, so overall I think I'm happy.
Ian left today because he was ranked bottom in his signature loaf and bottom in the focaccia.
Today, although his breads did look OK, there was no substance to them. There was no flavour.
Yeah, I'm gutted and disappointed and I'm a bit sad,
but I will always have a love of baking.
If anything, this has added to it.
I can't believe I got Star Baker on the bread week. It's the ultimate accolade.
I am really proud of myself.
And I can't wait to tell my husband!
Losing two people has made it more real that it could be you at any point.
Only one person won't go through it - the winner.
Start practising in the morning.
- Next time...
- You never know.
- ..it's the battle of the biscuits.
- Crunch time in the signature bake.
- I can't bear to look.
'Mary Berry sets a tortuous technical challenge.' Brandy snaps!
It's hard to fill in. Oh, no. God.
And a Showstopper that features nearly 1,000 macaroons.
I personally think that's enough.
- Whose cookie is about to crumble?
- Jason's doesn't work, really.
- And whose biscuits will bring an end to their Bake Off?
- The train is coming. I'll just let it hit me.