The Great British Baking Show (2010–…): Season 5, Episode 9 - Patisserie: The Semi Final - full transcript
Welcome back to the Bake Off. This is the semifinal, oh, yes,
- and four bakers remain.
- You could cut the atmosphere with a knife.
In which case I recommend serving it with a raspberry bavarois,
candied kumquats, and a crushed nut brittle.
- BOTH:
- Welcome to the Great British Bake Off.
- Last time...
- That is one hell of a snake.
..the bakers tackled the most tricky Technical to date.
- Presumably the wow is when you cut into it.
- It is absolutely raw.
Chetna and Luis impressed...
Nice bit of chocolate work on the top.
Cheers, good health, good health.
HE LAUGHS
..but Richard won Star Baker for a record-breaking fourth time...
Pretty surprising!
..and it was Martha who had to leave the Bake Off tent.
- Now, the four semifinalists...
- Oh, God.
..face the most exacting challenges so far.
This is all about top-notch patisserie.
- 20 layers?
- Is he going to count all 20 in all of them?
Don't have time.
I think I've messed up here.
That is bone dry.
But who will prove they're worthy of a place in the final?
That looks stunning when you cut into it.
Flipping 'eck.
I've seen pastry chefs crumble at making these things,
let alone the bakers in the tent.
- FRENCH ACCENT:
- Zis week we have many layers.
- It is good French, very intense.
- Very complique, I love it.
Like the filo pastry, I will peel away ze layers.
Do not filo me, there is an injunction, don't touch.
- It's patisserie week.
- Oh, yeah.
It's their ninth week in the Bake Off tent and only four bakers remain.
Luis has been praised for his ingenious designs.
It is spectacular, it's what I call a Showstopper.
It's the semifinal and the judges are going to be super critical
because when you're at this stage and you're fighting for a place
in the final, then it's going to be tough.
Chetna's sensational flavours have won her a place in the semifinal.
It's really aromatic.
The flavour - gorgeous.
I think I've earned this place, so I am feeling confident, yeah.
I really can't wait to get in and bake.
Nancy was the first Star Baker of the series, and week after week
she's impressed with her precision...
What perfection.
..and all-round baking knowledge.
Exceptional.
One side of me is saying "Do you know, I've done really well,
"and it wouldn't be too bad if I left."
There's another side saying, "Get a grip. I want to be in the final."
Richard's natural flair for baking...
Now, that's what I call a sauce pudding.
- ..has won him Star Baker four times.
- Amazing.
I'd hate to kind of fall at the final hurdle.
I think it's graft that's got me here.
We'll see how long I can keep going for, really.
Good morning, bakers, and welcome to your semifinal.
- Good to see four Brits in a semifinal of anything, isn't it?
- Yeah. Or just
even get through to the qualifiers.
So, for your Signature Challenge today,
Mary and Paul would like you please to make baklava.
They would like you to make two different types of baklava,
- 24 portions in total.
- Lovely.
They can be rolled, folded or shredded in any way that you like
to create different designs
and you can use whatever flavours that appeal.
You've got three and a half hours to do this. On your marks...
- Get set...
- Bake!
Baklava is a sweet pastry which originated in the Middle East.
Traditionally it's made with filo dough, chopped nuts
and soaked in honey.
I live in north London, we've got quite a big Turkish population.
So, yeah, many shops have got baklava in it. I eat a lot of it.
That's no indicator that mine will be any good, though.
What we're looking for in a good baklava is a fantastic filo pastry
with a gorgeous syrup that binds together a beautiful filling.
If any one of those elements is not there, for me it's a no-go.
I think a filo is one of the most difficult pastries to make.
The most important thing is getting those wafer layers
one on top of the other, butter in-between each one.
This is all about top-notch patisserie -
difficult for a professional, let alone amateurs.
Who makes filo? Nobody makes filo.
It's just a pain because you have to get it really, really thin,
and how much ever you try
you can't get it as thin
as the ready-made because they're done by machines.
Thing is, you read most recipe books and they all say
"open your pack of filo up"...
..so there's probably a reason behind that.
Home-made filo is made from just water, flour, vinegar,
and a little oil.
The key to achieving the paper-thin pastry is a stretchy dough.
You need to give it quite a heavy kneading just to stretch the gluten,
so hopefully it will go out into a lovely beautiful
very, very thin sheet.
Because I'm mixing it for ten minutes, the gluten will build up
anyway and the water will be absorbed.
What I'm looking is for the bowl to be clean, really,
so there's not much sticking around, so it should be pretty much
a self-contained ball of dough.
Chetna is the only baker who's added an extra ingredient to her dough.
- Good morning, good morning.
- Chetna, what's your twist on baklava?
I'm doing two types of baklavas. One is brown filo with cocoa in it.
Using cocoa and chocolate in the pastry to turn it brown,
how do you know when it's actually baked?
Because obviously baklava's all about the flake and the crispiness.
Yes, yes. By eye.
Sometimes your eyes can kid you.
- Don't be taken in by it, just go on.
- No, absolutely.
Chetna's cocoa filo will be filled with pistachios and dark chocolate.
She's also making masala chai baklavas coated with syrup,
infused with Indian spiced tea.
I think you've been very inventive and I can't wait for the results.
- Good luck, Chetna.
- Thank you.
- WHISPERING:
- Maybe I made a mistake.
SHE SIGHS
Oh, well.
Can't think about that right now.
- Good morning, Luis.
- Good morning, all right?
So, what have you decided to do for your baklavas?
First one is a rose and barberry flavour.
I'm actually making them in small muffin trays
and I'm using a star cutter to cut out my filo, so I'll be making
four stars for every hole, and the filo comes out
and you keep rotating them and you get like a flower,
and they're a container for the syrup.
So I've just put a slight slant on it.
As well as his flower-shaped baklavas, Luis is rolling cashews,
almonds and grated carrot in pastry drizzled with saffron syrup.
How many layers are you putting into that?
Well, I do a strip of filo about 33cm long.
- One strip?
- About.
And because you roll it you end up with lots of layers inside.
You're all very organised, you've got your four lots here.
- That is for my filo pastry.
- Get pulling!
Wow, that's Mary's motto.
Thank you very much.
I'm off to keep an eye on her - she's in pulling mode.
Traditionally, baklava fillings are dry
but Nancy has never been one for tradition.
I make muesli, anyway,
and I thought muesli might go into baklava quite nicely.
I've had to soak the oats first which makes it a bit sticky
but if I don't soak the oats it's nearly inedible.
- Morning.
- Morning, Nancy.
- I know you've been practising filo pastry
but is it part of your regular repertoire?
No, I can't say it is, no.
I really think that nobody has made it before.
- I didn't really know what baklava was.
- That's all right, we're honest.
- It's something you wear when you're doing a bank job.
- Yeah.
But anyway, one I'm going to call a breakfast baklava,
the other one, I've called this coffee and chocolate.
Nancy's adding honey to her coffee and chocolate baklavas,
then orange syrup. She's drizzling apple syrup
on her breakfast baklavas.
It's interesting what you've picked,
but it comes down to the shape and the carrier of how you're going to
bring those flavours through. So what shapes are you going to be doing?
- This lot is going to be layered and then cut into triangles.
- OK.
This one I'm going to roll and then squash up
and then cut those into 12.
- So, you're going to bake them in there concertinaed up?
- Yes.
All right, lovely. sounds interesting.
- Hello, Richard.
- Morning.
- Morning.
So, what stage are you up to with your baklavas?
I'm just preparing my fillings. I'm chopping some crystallised ginger
to go into one of mine. I've also toasted some nuts off.
And your second one?
- My other one is going to be a pistachio and rose one.
- Classic.
To complement his pistachio and rose baklavas, Richard's making
walnut and almond ones, with a cinnamon and orange syrup.
You're doing the concertina baklava
and then you're doing the straight round?
Yep, I'm going to make a great big long tube with blitzed pistachios
and whole pistachios in it as well.
Yeah, it's all about getting that... very thin layers,
that's what baklava is all about, and a good bake.
Be truthful, have you ever made filo before?
I've never made filo before. All of my friends, they all thought
I was mad when I said I was making filo, they all use shop-bought.
Good luck, Richard.
SHE MUTTERS TO HERSELF
..50 grams of chocolate chips.
I'm fascinated to see the diversity we've got in flavours,
and I think baklava is one of those things which can be very tricky.
How many people actually make filo pastry?
Chetna is the only one who's doing two different filo pastries.
I'm a bit unsure about the chocolate one, how it's going to turn out.
I think it alters the dough and it alters the bake.
I think Chetna's very brave. Now, Richard's gone down the classic route
but he's doing the concertina one which you scrunch up.
You've got to make sure all the little creases are equal,
it's quite tricky to do.
Moving onto Nancy, I'm not sure what muesli's going to bring to the party.
It'll be rather interesting.
I think it'll get good texture from the oats.
Luis over there, he's cutting out stars
so that he gets a sort of flower-like effect.
The question is, is it baklava? I'm not sure.
I quite like the idea and for me I think I'm going to enjoy it.
We've got four fantastic semifinalists,
it's going to be a fascinating one.
It is very quiet.
Everyone's just got their heads down
trying to get on with this, to be honest.
The key to a fine and flaky baklava is wafer thin pastry,
but it needs to be handled with care.
I'm looking to get four squares that size, out of this piece.
And the trouble is the thinner you go, the more delicate it gets
and soon splits.
I'm aiming to get this flipping massive,
I think is the technical term.
You just start to see the worktop through it
and I think that certainly is as thin as I can get it, anyway.
- Goes like skin, doesn't it, after a while?
- Yeah.
I could just pop this on my face and I'd look 20 again.
Do you know how much I want to pop this on my face now?
I am. I'm not going to. I am...
not going to.
OK, bakers, halfway through. Halfway through.
It's starting to dry.
I need to move a bit faster.
The fragile sheets of filo can be stacked, folded
or rolled around the filling.
This is looking all right, isn't it? I'm quite happy with this one.
These flowers are really intricate.
I could have probably made something simpler but I chose not to.
I'm obviously building up my layers of filo and then layering each layer
with butter, so that's one, two, three, yep.
With less than two hours left,
the semifinalists need to crack on with the next 12.
12 done, 12 more to go.
This is the second batch. The carrot just gives them
a bit of sweetness and also a bit of moisture inside.
This is chocolate and coffee. I'm just putting some honey in it.
So, I'm working with my chocolate filo.
When I made these baklavas at home, it was slightly more difficult
to roll it really, really thin.
I'm slightly intrigued, and if I'm honest,
a little bit worried about how you're going to roll this.
Luckily, I've got myself a sheet to roll it with,
so hopefully I'm going to get it started by hand
and then pick the sheet up and it should roll up perfectly.
Oh, nice. Good work with the gingham! That is beautiful.
Ta-da!
What are you making?
In no way is that legal.
In no way can we allow that to be shown on television.
It's going to be cut up into little pieces.
In what way does that make it better?
Bake-lavas, you've got an hour on your baklava.
They're probably OK.
Those are nicely brown.
while the final batch bakes, the next stage is the syrup
which binds together the pastry and the filling.
I'm looking for a fairly thick pouring syrup because too thin
and it just drenches the pastry and makes it soggy.
Oh, it smells amazing, the masala chai.
I have got strong flavours but they should like it.
I think I've messed up here.
The honey and the chocolate have sort of boiled up
and come up through the middle. Nightmare.
Some baklava you find is very pale, some has got a lot of colour on it.
I'm sure that there will be a colour card that you have to put on
and Paul will know what it is and I don't. I'll find out soon.
I'm warming to that young man.
I don't know who he is or why he keeps turning up to the tent
but there's something about him.
Inscrutable.
Yeah, I'm really happy with these, yeah.
But I'm worried about the other one.
I'll be all right if I can get this done
in the next ten minutes or so, should be OK.
I'm a little bit worried about this second batch.
My only saving grace is that they've got to be gooey anyway,
and they need a crispy top.
I've got a crispy top.
OK, bakers, one minute to complete your sheets.
Oh, God, I'm making a right pig's ear of this.
They don't look too bad, do they?
Just slightly on the edge of delirious at the moment.
They lack finesse.
OK, bakers, that's it.
Move away from the baklavas, please. Chet, stop drizzling.
Luis! Luis!
HE LAUGHS
I'm done.
They look very pale.
Traditionally, it should be quite a rich golden brown.
Go for the muesli first.
It's holding itself quite well,
the syrup is binding everything together.
I like that the moment the knife touched that,
you got the crisp crunch which I expect from baklava.
I think it tastes good, the texture is there, you've got the crisp
on the bottom and the top and the middle. Right.
Those look a little bit soggy,
but you do want that nice sticky glaze on top.
You can see a couple of layers in there.
It's a really nice strong coffee taste to it.
I think the flavours are good. Overall, you've got what baklava is.
- And you have been very original.
- Thank you.
- Now, these baklava cups...
- Yes.
- ..as opposed to baklava.
- They are.
The question is, is it baklava?
I looked up lots of different baklavas and I had seen ones
like that where they'd used the filo to make a container for the filling.
When I initially look at it, it doesn't look like baklava.
But it's meticulously done.
- That is bone dry.
- OK.
And I'm not actually getting all the layers, either.
Right, let's look at these.
You should have several layers of the very, very thin filo
- before you roll it up.
- Sure.
- You've just got one layer
and it looks a little bit on the thick side.
- The flavours are great, but the pastry is just wrong.
- OK.
They look the classic baklava shape.
Let's have a look at this one on the top, then.
It cut well there.
You've left sensibly the pistachio nuts in nice big pieces.
Now, I like that.
The flavour is delicious, very traditional, you've got it bang on.
I think that's a winner and I love all the layers.
Right, let's have a look at this one.
You have got the great concertina, great flavour.
It's under-baked slightly, such a shame,
because the flavour of both of them are excellent.
- They look a bit heavy.
- OK.
But they are all perfectly formed.
The colour's good.
I'm missing the layers because normally when you eat baklava
you've got all this syrup oozing out and I've just got the syrup
on the top which in turn makes it a little bit dry.
It's because the pastry layers are so thick that it can't penetrate.
Now, moving onto the chocolate ones. Interesting for a baklava.
- It's predominantly filling.
- OK.
I'm not getting the layers.
- The taste of it is delicious but the layers are just not there.
- OK.
I just feel so proud to be here and whatever happens, no,
I do not want to go home.
I like things to look nice but I thought it was a bit like
trying to display 12 bread rolls.
That's how it felt for me,
in that they weren't a thing of beauty, particularly,
and I don't really like it, baklava, at all.
I was expecting tough judging and I got tough judging.
So, as long as I feel as though I've done my best and I've presented
something that looked good, you know, then that's a positive for me.
I feel happy with where I've got to, not to say that I'm complacent
and I'm happy to go, but I feel pretty vindicated.
I came in here thinking I was all right at baking and, yeah,
I think I probably am all right at baking, aren't I?
After a rocky morning, the pressure is on each semifinalist
to excel in the next bake.
Hello, bakers, welcome to your semifinal Technical Challenge.
Now, this is one of Paul's recipes.
- Paul, any words to say for the bakers?
- Good luck.
- Thank you. And now go.
- Are you going to keep me?
No, Mary, I'd like to keep you but the traditions and conventions
- of the show say we must now turn you away.
- Off she goes.
- Off she goes.
So, bakers, you will be baking a Schichttorte.
- What?
- A Schichttorte.
- Well, they might make a good one, you don't need to say that.
- I know.
Listen, it's a little German tricky patisserie, OK?
We don't know anything about it, we don't know how to make it
but all I do know is thus -
you have two hours in which to make your Schichttorte.
- On your marks...
- Get set... BOTH:
- Bake!
As usual, it's something that we've never heard of...
I've never heard of, anyway.
Schichttorte. Schichttorte.
A Schichttorte is a German layered cake and there are a lot of layers.
20 layers?!
SHE LAUGHS
Only 20 layers to do.
The number of layers isn't the only unusual thing about a Schichttorte.
"Preheat the grill..."
It's a grilled cake. That's going to be the tricky thing.
I've never ever grilled a cake.
Gosh.
What the bakers have got to do is make a simple batter,
and then inside the tin put a layer of the sponge in there,
and then they pop it under the grill.
We've asked them to do light, dark, light, dark, all the way through.
What we're testing them on is a bit of concentration skills.
Cos don't forget there's 20 layers.
And that's an hour of watching a grill.
- Would you like to see inside?
- I would like to.
- Now, that cut through like butter.
- It does indeed.
That is quite amazing. They're wafer thin.
And that's what we're looking for, we're looking for something
that screams consistency.
You can see aeration in each layer even though the layers are
so thin, it's not heavy in any way.
I do hope that they achieve the same as this.
It's a fairly standard cake mix.
It says to cream together the butter and sugar, so that's what I'm doing
and while that's happening I'm just separating my eggs.
"Add the lemon and vanilla." Got those.
"Add the egg yolks, add the flours and add the egg whites."
So I'm just making sure that'll be whisked up, then I'll do those.
Should work.
"Now add the egg whites."
Don't want to knock too much air out. I'm not going to mix any more
because this seems quite a good batter-y consistency.
That's it.
- WHISPERING:
- I think that looks all right.
I don't know what anyone else is doing.
This looks OK.
- She's a bit competitive, is old Chetna.
- What?
HE LAUGHS
I've mixed up my mixture. Very wet, isn't it?
I'm going to work out exactly how much each individual pancake weighs
and hope for the best, really.
50 grams a layer, that's not much.
That can't be right, can it?
I don't know, love. It doesn't look enough, does it?
Well, that's better.
Spread it out with the old spatch.
Such a small amount of batter.
Bit like making a pancake, I suppose.
Yeah, yeah, yeah...
"Grill until light golden,
"add more mixture and grill until dark golden."
So that's how you've got to go light, dark, light, dark.
Paul's recipe doesn't state what temperature
or for how long the bakers should grill each layer.
I've just put it on high.
Because I think if it's about browning the top,
there's no thickness in it at all.
I'm not timing it, to be honest, on the layers.
I'm just doing it by eye.
It's not golden. Maybe they need longer than we think.
I don't know what the temperature of the grill should be or...
SHE SIGHS
I've got the grill on full whack,
so it should be pretty hot in there.
We'll see. Crikey.
I think that's sort of golden.
It's cooking, it's cooking. Yes!
"Add more mixture and grill until dark golden."
So I've done the light golden, now I'm going to do dark golden.
"Continue until you have 20 layers alternating in colour."
OK, that's done.
It's taking ages to cook and at this rate
I'm never going to do it in time.
I've done the first layer for five minutes
so what I'm going to do is do the second layer for seven minutes.
So I should get a darker brown.
SHE EXHALES
Dark golden.
I think that's number three.
I'm just writing down which layer I'm on
because it's 20 layers, light/dark, light/dark,
and if you didn't write it down you'd just completely lose track.
Light, dark, light, dark, light, dark.
So that's number three, right. So this is number four.
That's light.
- GERMAN ACCENT:
- OK, my little darlings, you have one hour left
and you will be very punctual because we are so efficient!
You have one hour.
I'm going to have to get my skates on.
That's going to take ages, 20 layers.
Should I whack up the temperature?
Schichttorte might be a new concept to our bakers in the tent,
but it actually comes from a very old tradition in Germany
called Baumkuchen, which is the pride and joy of one small town.
Hansestadt Salzwedel is known for beautiful buildings.
It's part of Germany's Timber-frame Road which stretches nearly 3,000km.
But it's also known as Baumkuchen Town.
Baumkuchen is the most difficult of the traditional German cakes to make.
The name itself means "tree cake"
and it's the ultimate test of a German baker's skills.
Unlike the domestic version of this,
which the bakers are struggling with under a grill,
Baumkuchen are cooked on a spit.
This bakery uses an original recipe from 1807 with a batter mixture
of flour, butter, sugar and around 40 eggs per cake.
This is a great place to be,
sandwiched between two beautiful Baumkuchen,
here in the nexus of Baumkuchen production,
where patisserie meets rotisserie in a very beautiful way.
Oh, this is the Queen of Baumkuchen, Saskia I.
I think she'd make a lovely bride for Prince Harry, don't you?
Hennig's Bakery produce around 20 Baumkuchen a day.
Head baker Maik Suske has been making them since he was 15.
- Will you show me how to make one, Maik?
- Yes.
- You make four of these.
- OK.
And the fourth. OK.
Brilliant. Oh!
- You must...
- Right, so it's ready to start.
So, those original rings make the shape of the Baumkuchen, OK.
- Shall we try together, Maik?
- Yes.
Brilliant. Sideways.
This is very much like Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore in the film Ghost.
Something quite beautiful going on here.
Nice, it's like a dance. Baumkuchen dance.
Amazing.
The cake takes 24 hours to cool down
and then is covered in fondant icing or chocolate.
Now, Maik, I've eaten a lot of cake in my time but I think even 11 kilos
might be a bit too... Actually, no, we'll get it in hand luggage.
Come on, to the airport.
Back in the tent, time is running out to complete the Schichttorte.
I am panicking because I've got half an hour left.
I've got still ten layers to go.
I am up to number 16.
I've lost count of layers.
I'm trying to get ahead so I'm trying to work in-between
these layers. All right, get these glazes done, then.
I've just read the instructions for chocolate glaze
and they're quite clear, it says "make the chocolate glaze".
SHE GIGGLES
Very precise.
I think the term for making a chocolate glaze is winging it
because...just throw it all in and hope it turns into a glaze.
Because it's got butter in it and golden syrup,
it's probably a pouring glaze that you pour... Oh!
That you pour over and then it'll set.
But if the glaze isn't cooled to the correct temperature, it won't set.
I remember reading somewhere, if you're doing a glaze, it's usually
around 30 degrees when you pour it on and it's just nagging me at the
back of my head, so if it's nagging me I need to listen to the voice.
TIMER BEEPS
I think the layers are going to be determined by how much stuff
I've got left but, strictly speaking, I've got four left to do
but I don't think I'll have enough.
This is number 19.
Don't have a lot of time.
I might not get 20.
Who's counting?
As if. He's going to be counting, all right.
I don't think he's going to take it apart.
He'll cut it, Richard.
If he cuts it, he won't see 20 layers in mine.
- Luis, I'm excited.
- 20.
- 20!
- We're in, we're done, let's get it in there.
- Boom!
I may as well do 18 and then have time to glaze it and stuff.
I've got 17 minutes left, so now I've got six layers to go.
Don't have time.
- Good, that looks great.
- That will do.
Look at that, it rises very much just to nearly
the top of the tin in a perfect way.
Right.
It's pretty good, isn't it?
Oh, dear. I know how it feels.
That's what happens to me every night
after I take my trousers off, thank goodness for that.
So you've got 20 layers?
No, I haven't got 20, I've got 18.
Are you worried that you haven't got the last two?
I can't really help it, I've got no time.
No, just go with what you've got, absolutely.
For the chocolate to sit smoothly on the top
the cake should be sealed with an apricot glaze.
This is apricot jam, usually used for sticking stuff on cakes.
I'm hoping it'll be used for sticking the...
sticking the glaze on.
You coat it in the jam and I think it stops crumb coming out
and affecting your glaze.
Funf Minuten, meine lieblings. Five minutes.
The temperature, I wouldn't say is ideal for decorating. I'd more
say it was an absolutely atrocious temperature for decorating.
It's probably a cake that you actually don't do the sides,
but there you go.
SHE SIGHS
It's gone very quiet.
There's so much to do, who's going to talk?
One minute on the Schichttorte.
End it! Das ist alles.
Please bring the 20 layers up to the gingham.
Mary and Paul are looking for 20 alternate layers,
a glossy glaze and decorative vanilla icing.
We're going to start with this one.
It's got a lovely shine on the icing.
The vanilla looks OK. There's not much chocolate down the side here.
You can definitely see the layers. Right.
Oh, he's actually counting them.
Is he going to count all 20 in all of them?
I need to brace myself.
18 layers on that one. Chocolate hasn't quite set.
It's a good taste.
Still warm, that's why the icing is dripping down a little bit.
Let's move onto number two. I like the decoration on the top.
Its got a lovely glaze, it's a good height,
I think it's a very professional finish.
Let's have a look inside.
Very, very good layers.
And, of course, they have got the light
and the dark all the way up which looks very beautiful.
It's got 20. I just hope it tastes good.
Nice flavour.
Very impressive.
Now, this one's had some issues.
Lop-sided, not much chocolate down the side.
I'm getting 17 on that one.
The bottom sponge is a hard crust.
See how over-baked it is there?
The flavour's OK
but I think there was issues with the sponge on that one.
Right, finally the last one.
I quite like the webbing on the top.
Lovely shine on that.
Interesting alternate layers.
There are 20 but they are very, very thin.
And that is in mixing the cake.
But the layers are there and it's got a nice shine on it.
In fourth place, is this one. Who's that?
Me.
It was dropping to one side
and I think we only had about 17 layers.
In third place is this one.
You didn't get the required layers, you just never got the height.
And in second place, who's that?
That was nearly up there,
we reckon there were 20 layers there, well done.
Thank you.
In first place, Luis.
Well done. The layers were all there, nice and even.
And the decoration on top was good, pretty faultless.
Thank you.
That just shows you that anything can happen here.
Never heard of it, never made one before, came first.
I've never baked a cake under a grill before.
No idea.
'I've only done toast under a grill.'
So, yeah, I'm quite pleased with the outcome, actually.
Cor, it was a bit of a chore, wasn't it?!
'Yeah. I'll take second'
and run away happily and never ever cook that ever again.
'I am worried because'
my morning didn't go to plan and, you know,
I came fourth right now, so everything really rests on tomorrow.
I won't be sleeping well tonight.
After a good afternoon for the men,
the women have some catching up to do.
Everything rests on the Showstopper.
Good morning, bakers. And welcome to your last bake before the finals.
Now, today Paul and Mary would like you to make entremets.
They're very, very small
and fine cakes that would grace the window of a French patisserie.
The judges would very much like you to make two different types,
12 of each.
You've got five hours on the bakery clock. On your marks...
- Get set.
- Bake.
This complex bake will test the semifinalists on their design
skills and their time management.
It is top-end stuff, and it does look amazing.
If I can do it.
This is really the high-end of patisserie.
I want to see how many skills and techniques they can show us.
Each entremets has to be a work of art,
it just has to have such a polish and a finish, that is
better than they've done in any challenge before.
We're looking for precision, we're looking for beauty,
we're looking for elegance in beautiful small cakes.
I've seen pastry chefs crumble at making these things,
let alone the bakers in the tent.
For each little entremets, the bakers need to use a variety of
techniques to create layer upon layer of different textures and flavours.
- Morning, Luis.
- Morning.
Luis, what have you chosen as your two entremets?
I'm making a pomegranate and pistachio cake which is pistachio
sponge and it's got a layer of a pomegranate molasses cream inside.
The second one I'm doing a cherry and chocolate entremets, and when you
cut through it you'll see the cherry centre perfectly in the middle.
The cherry centre will be surrounded with chocolate mousse
on a shortbread base.
To top his pistachio cake, Luis is creating a novel pomegranate jelly.
You've got a long time to do this
but where do you see the problems are going to be for you?
Jellies are tricky, trying to get them from the mould
perfectly onto the top of a round cake is a bit fiddly.
Working with mousse is fiddly as well, especially in a hot tent.
- All right, buddy, good luck.
- All right, cool. Thank you very much.
- Good luck, Luis.
- Thank you.
Nancy is also incorporating jelly into her entremets.
So the first thing I've got to do is get the jellies made,
and then get both of these in the freezer
and then I can concentrate on the mousses.
Good morning, Nancy.
Morning, Paul. Morning, Mary.
Tell us about both of them.
Right, I'm doing a lime mousse with a chocolate biscuit at the bottom,
passion fruit jelly.
- Oh!
- And then the raspberry one is almond sponge at the bottom,
then a layer of mousse, then a layer of verbena jelly,
then another layer of mousse and then a dark chocolate glaze.
Nancy's adding mint to her verbena jelly
and decorating with raspberries.
Her lime and passion fruit entremets are coated
with a white chocolate glaze.
I always find that slightly disappointing
because you've got the chocolate, the green and the yellow.
Actually, the colours would look quite fascinating
but you've covered the whole thing in white chocolate.
Yep.
Are we seeing the layers?
No, the whole thing will be glazed.
I thought, for me, entremets is when you cut through,
when you see the layers.
From the outside you don't see anything.
You should, yeah... Well, I dunno.
Those glazes are going to be difficult, particularly
the white chocolate one because it's temperamental and it's a warm day.
Kermit in a liquidiser.
HE LAUGHS
These will be dots on the sponge,
then I'm going to cover it with another colour of sponge, as well.
- Hi, Richard.
- Hi, Paul.
What is that?
This is the sponge layer for one of my entremets,
I'm doing a grapefruit almond and vanilla one.
This will be the sponge that encases a grapefruit mousse.
- Grapefruit.
- Yes.
Interesting flavour, can be quite refreshing, you can
lose the flavour though quite quickly.
I know, you lose the flavour out of the mousse quite easily.
I've had to boost it up quite hard but I've done this as a kind
of comparison to my other entremets which is a hazelnut latte one.
Richard's making chocolate sponge and Italian coffee buttercream for
his hazelnut entremets.
His grapefruit ones have a grapefruit mousse, topped with grapefruit jelly.
Here you've got the natural outside of your lovely spotted sponge,
are you putting anything round the sides of your other one?
No, hopefully, I'm going to leave them open so you can see some
lovely crisp layers as you go... Hopefully they'll be crisp.
- Good luck, mate. I want to see that grapefruit come through.
- Me, too.
- Good luck.
- Thanks.
- Good morning, Chetna.
- Morning, Chets.
Morning.
So, what are you up to?
I'm doing my first entremets first. It's chocolate, orange
and hazelnut entremets.
So in the bottom I've got a hazelnut dacquoise,
then on top of that is feuillantine praline paste, chocolate.
Then there's a milk chocolate cream, then there's an almond sponge,
then there is an orange custard.
- Anything else?
- And then there's going to be caramelised oranges.
Hang on a minute, can we just start from the bottom?
I'm losing the will here.
Chetna's ambitious chocolate and orange entremets have six layers.
She's also making cappuccino cakes with a cocoa sponge,
coffee syrup and coffee flavoured cream.
- I think you have a lot going on.
- Yes, lots going on.
I hope you remember which layer goes where because I'm a bit muddled.
It sounds good but it's all about getting those layers set.
- Good luck, Chetna.
- Thank you.
Mary and Paul are testing the bakers' ability to juggle numerous
techniques, under intense time pressure.
I think there's 10 or 11, if I've got enough time,
different processes.
So it'll be fairly difficult.
Too many things going on.
But I knew that when I chose it so it's not like...
I knew what I was getting into.
Running the two entremets hand in hand at the moment
so while one thing's doing, the next one's setting up cooling or...
Yeah, I'm just trying to keep up with both of them.
How many processes? You got a mousse?
Two mousses, biscuits, sponge, two glazes, two jellies,
chocolate pieces.
Out of fingers, done, done. We're done.
All right, raspberry mousse.
Three sheets of gelatine.
The bakers need to prioritise the layers which need to set.
My mousse is egg yolks whisked over a hot bath,
and then fold in chocolate, fold in cream
and I add gelatine, as well, to set it because it's so hot in here.
You've got a danger of it melting when you push it out of its mould.
This is quite runny, but I've had to put
a lot of grapefruit into it to achieve the grapefruit flavour,
so it'll set, it's just whether or not it makes the sponge go manky.
When the mousse is set, it'll be quite robust,
you'll be able to cut through it and it'll hold.
I'm just going to whack these in the freezer now, just give them
half an hour.
OK, bakers, halfway through.
This is the orange cream and I'm going to let it set
because that's one done.
Are you staying on time?
Am I on time? I don't know.
I don't know whether I'm Arthur or Martha this afternoon.
- That's it.
- That's got a nice colour on it.
Ah!
Silly. Yep, it's done.
It's ridiculous but that green makes me so happy. I can't even tell you.
I feel like I should rub some calamine lotion onto this.
Yeah, they look a bit angry, don't they?
To soothe the pox.
With two hours to go,
Luis is making the top layer for his chocolate mousse.
Chocolate and cherries are one of my favourite things to put
together, so that was always a good starting point.
Nancy's concentrating on the bottom of her raspberry ones.
These are my sponges, and I'm handling it really
when it's a bit too hot but I've got to, cooling time is a luxury.
I'm making the creme cappuccino which is a custard mousse.
So I'm making like a coffee custard.
Everything's got cream of some shape or form,
so with the heat, that's my worry.
Richard is making buttercream for his hazelnut mocha entremets.
There's a lot of butter goes into this.
I'm hoping that it will become nice and glossy and smooth and I'll
be able to spread it on my entremets with no particular problem.
SHE EXHALES
I'm just assembling one of my entremets.
I just overheard Luis say he's assembling one of his entremets.
Nowhere near there.
Nancy's the only baker ambitiously making two different glazes.
This is a white chocolate glaze, so I've got white chocolate,
condensed milk, gelatine, sugar water and glucose.
And this makes a thick pouring glaze.
I think my biggest stress is going to be my glaze has not been
cooled enough.
If they're too warm, they'll probably just run off.
Creme cappuccino is ready so I'm going to pipe it.
Then put it in the fridge to set. It does need some time to set.
Right, into the freezer.
FRENCH ACCENT: Bakers, you have ze demi heure left for ze entremets.
Half an hour left on your entremets.
I'm really pleased with these
because the stress of trying to get a mousse to set... Flippin' 'eck!
It is not set.
Nope, it's not set.
I should put them in the freezer.
This is the mascarpone cream stage. It's all gone on,
it's looking fairly flat. I might just scrape a few edges off.
That is beautiful.
Oh! It's a pure calorie soup.
Mmm!
Look, my hands are shaking.
I'm feeling the pressure of cutting them right, damn right I am.
What you have to do with the jellies is to get them out of the mould,
it's just heat the case of the mould to just loosen them.
If you leave it in the hot water too long,
the jelly will completely go back to liquid form.
If it's not in there long enough it won't come out the mould.
Are you happy, Chets?
I am happy, but I've just opened the other one
and that's not set so it's gone back in the freezer.
- And they're the ones coming out of the moulds, aren't they?
- Yes.
And they can't go "pfft!" on a semifinal Showstopper?
I'm just going to stick this back in the fridge,
I don't want this melting too.
This is done and dusted.
There's chocolate going everywhere! Oh, dear.
Dear, dear, dear.
Bakers, one minute to go,
one minute to go on your semifinal Showstopper.
OK, that's it, the bake's over, bakers.
Step away from your entremets s'il vous plait.
Chocolate everywhere.
It takes a lot of guts to be able to show all the layers.
Thank you.
I think the finish is very good, can't wait to get inside.
Right, we'll try the hazelnut.
I can see every layer, every flavour.
It's delicious, chocolate works well,
the nuts coming through there are beautiful.
That is extremely good.
I love that crisp base, it really is very exciting to eat.
Let's have a look at the dotted one.
Very neat, very subtle colours.
I could do with a little more flavour in the mousses.
Grapefruit is very difficult to convey in something like that.
But your consistency is perfect.
What a professional selection you've done for us.
These are interesting.
- There is a problem with the chocolate not going all the way down to the bottom.
- It's too warm.
Yep. These, I'm not so sure about.
I think the decoration's not particularly striking,
so what we'll do is we'll start with this fella.
That looks stunning when you cut into it.
I do like that little square, looks pretty good.
It's a lovely texture, you've balanced it beautifully.
It's refreshing, and I think you've done well with that.
- Thank you.
- Right, let's have a look at this one.
The chocolate and the lime really work well together.
The sharpness of the fruit comes through. I just think
the appearance on both of them has fallen a bit low for your standard.
Luis, I think they look really sensational.
They look very elegant.
Right, I think we'll start with the pomegranate.
You've got your definite layers there.
I love the flavour.
The pomegranate jelly is delicious, I would have liked to have
seen the sponge a little bit thinner, it works, though.
Right. Let's try the cherry and chocolate.
The rich chocolate married with the sourness of the cherries, works.
That's a very, very good little entremets.
Thank you very much.
You've got a perfect glaze on the top, I think just well done.
Thank you very much.
Now, these I'm looking forward to.
I like your chocolate work on the top,
they look bulbous with the weight of the top.
Wow, that's got a kick to it, hasn't it?!
It's the most beautiful cappuccino, lovely.
It is very good, could have been a bit neater
but the flavours you've got in that are fantastic.
- Well done.
- Thank you.
- This one looks all right.
I would have liked a lighter colour. As you see your layers,
I'm missing some because the colours is all blended.
It's quite split on the top.
I was expecting tons and tons of flavour.
There is a tang of orange right at the end
but then it's more like a chocolate cream sponge.
I'm losing the orange because what I'm getting is a chocolate cake
mixture all the way down and you're so good on your flavours normally.
What a cracking semifinal. I mean, what results.
Who has impressed you, then, this weekend?
I think Luis has done some amazing flavours.
The Showstopper, he did all right actually, that sour cherry
and chocolate was delicious. I thought
the sponge on the larger one was too thick.
When you look at it in comparison with Richard's where he's
gone to the trouble of putting the polka dot all the way round
the outside of the sponge, that's the sort of thing which
really sends it off the rails and makes it exquisite.
I think that Richard has done perfection over there,
I mean, his layers are so clear and distinct.
So the men have done well,
do you think the ladies have matched them this semifinal?
Nancy was third on the Technical
so she let herself go slightly on the Technical, and these
really don't look as good as they should and she said that herself.
They do look a little bit uneven.
I thought Chetna missed it slightly on the Showstopper.
I was disappointed in the chocolate and orange
because you're not getting layers.
It's the semifinal, one of them will be sadly leaving us
today and at the moment you're looking at Nancy
and Chetna in a bit of trouble.
Bakers, I've got the great job this week, because they did
finally, after much wrangling, manage to pick a Star Baker.
Now, this week's star baker, well, it's such a new experience
to say this, I don't even know how I'm going to phrase it.
But let's just say this person
knocks the spots off everyone else this week.
Richard, congratulations, well done, you're Star Baker.
- Fifth time.
- Well done.
I feel really sad to have to do this,
losing somebody in the semifinal is always awful for all of us.
And I'm really sorry to say that the person who will not be
joining us next week is...
..Chetna.
'I will take away so much,'
such amazing memories and friends
and so much knowledge.
'It's one of the best experiences of my life.'
Chetna's a very good baker but she didn't quite find her form this
'week and today she just didn't have'
the panache that the others had.
She was, unfortunately, the weakest one but in a very strong pack.
Richard's attention to detail is the reason why he got Star Baker.
'You can hardly believe those builder's hands have produced'
such delicate results.
I wasn't expecting to be Star Baker, I was expecting to not go.
'Finish line's in sight, I reckon I've got'
a chance of winning.
'I'm a finalist,'
me!
'I am absolutely speechless, I can't get my head round it.'
And I keep crying and I don't do crying.
'Never in my'
wildest dreams.
Sorry.
My family are going to be...gosh...so excited that
I've got to the final.
Next time, it's the final.
You only get one go.
I'm not happy with that.
And the three remaining bakers...
- Not putting you off, am I?
- No not at all.
..face their last three challenges.
It's just one panic after another, isn't it?
But who will bake their way to glory?
I would vote for Richard.
That's this weekend up the Swanee.
I'd put my money on Luis to win.
I've definitely gambled with time.
If I had to choose one, I'd definitely pick Nancy.
My hands won't keep still because they're too nervous.
Who is it going to be?
The winner of the Great British Bake Off 2014 is...
- and four bakers remain.
- You could cut the atmosphere with a knife.
In which case I recommend serving it with a raspberry bavarois,
candied kumquats, and a crushed nut brittle.
- BOTH:
- Welcome to the Great British Bake Off.
- Last time...
- That is one hell of a snake.
..the bakers tackled the most tricky Technical to date.
- Presumably the wow is when you cut into it.
- It is absolutely raw.
Chetna and Luis impressed...
Nice bit of chocolate work on the top.
Cheers, good health, good health.
HE LAUGHS
..but Richard won Star Baker for a record-breaking fourth time...
Pretty surprising!
..and it was Martha who had to leave the Bake Off tent.
- Now, the four semifinalists...
- Oh, God.
..face the most exacting challenges so far.
This is all about top-notch patisserie.
- 20 layers?
- Is he going to count all 20 in all of them?
Don't have time.
I think I've messed up here.
That is bone dry.
But who will prove they're worthy of a place in the final?
That looks stunning when you cut into it.
Flipping 'eck.
I've seen pastry chefs crumble at making these things,
let alone the bakers in the tent.
- FRENCH ACCENT:
- Zis week we have many layers.
- It is good French, very intense.
- Very complique, I love it.
Like the filo pastry, I will peel away ze layers.
Do not filo me, there is an injunction, don't touch.
- It's patisserie week.
- Oh, yeah.
It's their ninth week in the Bake Off tent and only four bakers remain.
Luis has been praised for his ingenious designs.
It is spectacular, it's what I call a Showstopper.
It's the semifinal and the judges are going to be super critical
because when you're at this stage and you're fighting for a place
in the final, then it's going to be tough.
Chetna's sensational flavours have won her a place in the semifinal.
It's really aromatic.
The flavour - gorgeous.
I think I've earned this place, so I am feeling confident, yeah.
I really can't wait to get in and bake.
Nancy was the first Star Baker of the series, and week after week
she's impressed with her precision...
What perfection.
..and all-round baking knowledge.
Exceptional.
One side of me is saying "Do you know, I've done really well,
"and it wouldn't be too bad if I left."
There's another side saying, "Get a grip. I want to be in the final."
Richard's natural flair for baking...
Now, that's what I call a sauce pudding.
- ..has won him Star Baker four times.
- Amazing.
I'd hate to kind of fall at the final hurdle.
I think it's graft that's got me here.
We'll see how long I can keep going for, really.
Good morning, bakers, and welcome to your semifinal.
- Good to see four Brits in a semifinal of anything, isn't it?
- Yeah. Or just
even get through to the qualifiers.
So, for your Signature Challenge today,
Mary and Paul would like you please to make baklava.
They would like you to make two different types of baklava,
- 24 portions in total.
- Lovely.
They can be rolled, folded or shredded in any way that you like
to create different designs
and you can use whatever flavours that appeal.
You've got three and a half hours to do this. On your marks...
- Get set...
- Bake!
Baklava is a sweet pastry which originated in the Middle East.
Traditionally it's made with filo dough, chopped nuts
and soaked in honey.
I live in north London, we've got quite a big Turkish population.
So, yeah, many shops have got baklava in it. I eat a lot of it.
That's no indicator that mine will be any good, though.
What we're looking for in a good baklava is a fantastic filo pastry
with a gorgeous syrup that binds together a beautiful filling.
If any one of those elements is not there, for me it's a no-go.
I think a filo is one of the most difficult pastries to make.
The most important thing is getting those wafer layers
one on top of the other, butter in-between each one.
This is all about top-notch patisserie -
difficult for a professional, let alone amateurs.
Who makes filo? Nobody makes filo.
It's just a pain because you have to get it really, really thin,
and how much ever you try
you can't get it as thin
as the ready-made because they're done by machines.
Thing is, you read most recipe books and they all say
"open your pack of filo up"...
..so there's probably a reason behind that.
Home-made filo is made from just water, flour, vinegar,
and a little oil.
The key to achieving the paper-thin pastry is a stretchy dough.
You need to give it quite a heavy kneading just to stretch the gluten,
so hopefully it will go out into a lovely beautiful
very, very thin sheet.
Because I'm mixing it for ten minutes, the gluten will build up
anyway and the water will be absorbed.
What I'm looking is for the bowl to be clean, really,
so there's not much sticking around, so it should be pretty much
a self-contained ball of dough.
Chetna is the only baker who's added an extra ingredient to her dough.
- Good morning, good morning.
- Chetna, what's your twist on baklava?
I'm doing two types of baklavas. One is brown filo with cocoa in it.
Using cocoa and chocolate in the pastry to turn it brown,
how do you know when it's actually baked?
Because obviously baklava's all about the flake and the crispiness.
Yes, yes. By eye.
Sometimes your eyes can kid you.
- Don't be taken in by it, just go on.
- No, absolutely.
Chetna's cocoa filo will be filled with pistachios and dark chocolate.
She's also making masala chai baklavas coated with syrup,
infused with Indian spiced tea.
I think you've been very inventive and I can't wait for the results.
- Good luck, Chetna.
- Thank you.
- WHISPERING:
- Maybe I made a mistake.
SHE SIGHS
Oh, well.
Can't think about that right now.
- Good morning, Luis.
- Good morning, all right?
So, what have you decided to do for your baklavas?
First one is a rose and barberry flavour.
I'm actually making them in small muffin trays
and I'm using a star cutter to cut out my filo, so I'll be making
four stars for every hole, and the filo comes out
and you keep rotating them and you get like a flower,
and they're a container for the syrup.
So I've just put a slight slant on it.
As well as his flower-shaped baklavas, Luis is rolling cashews,
almonds and grated carrot in pastry drizzled with saffron syrup.
How many layers are you putting into that?
Well, I do a strip of filo about 33cm long.
- One strip?
- About.
And because you roll it you end up with lots of layers inside.
You're all very organised, you've got your four lots here.
- That is for my filo pastry.
- Get pulling!
Wow, that's Mary's motto.
Thank you very much.
I'm off to keep an eye on her - she's in pulling mode.
Traditionally, baklava fillings are dry
but Nancy has never been one for tradition.
I make muesli, anyway,
and I thought muesli might go into baklava quite nicely.
I've had to soak the oats first which makes it a bit sticky
but if I don't soak the oats it's nearly inedible.
- Morning.
- Morning, Nancy.
- I know you've been practising filo pastry
but is it part of your regular repertoire?
No, I can't say it is, no.
I really think that nobody has made it before.
- I didn't really know what baklava was.
- That's all right, we're honest.
- It's something you wear when you're doing a bank job.
- Yeah.
But anyway, one I'm going to call a breakfast baklava,
the other one, I've called this coffee and chocolate.
Nancy's adding honey to her coffee and chocolate baklavas,
then orange syrup. She's drizzling apple syrup
on her breakfast baklavas.
It's interesting what you've picked,
but it comes down to the shape and the carrier of how you're going to
bring those flavours through. So what shapes are you going to be doing?
- This lot is going to be layered and then cut into triangles.
- OK.
This one I'm going to roll and then squash up
and then cut those into 12.
- So, you're going to bake them in there concertinaed up?
- Yes.
All right, lovely. sounds interesting.
- Hello, Richard.
- Morning.
- Morning.
So, what stage are you up to with your baklavas?
I'm just preparing my fillings. I'm chopping some crystallised ginger
to go into one of mine. I've also toasted some nuts off.
And your second one?
- My other one is going to be a pistachio and rose one.
- Classic.
To complement his pistachio and rose baklavas, Richard's making
walnut and almond ones, with a cinnamon and orange syrup.
You're doing the concertina baklava
and then you're doing the straight round?
Yep, I'm going to make a great big long tube with blitzed pistachios
and whole pistachios in it as well.
Yeah, it's all about getting that... very thin layers,
that's what baklava is all about, and a good bake.
Be truthful, have you ever made filo before?
I've never made filo before. All of my friends, they all thought
I was mad when I said I was making filo, they all use shop-bought.
Good luck, Richard.
SHE MUTTERS TO HERSELF
..50 grams of chocolate chips.
I'm fascinated to see the diversity we've got in flavours,
and I think baklava is one of those things which can be very tricky.
How many people actually make filo pastry?
Chetna is the only one who's doing two different filo pastries.
I'm a bit unsure about the chocolate one, how it's going to turn out.
I think it alters the dough and it alters the bake.
I think Chetna's very brave. Now, Richard's gone down the classic route
but he's doing the concertina one which you scrunch up.
You've got to make sure all the little creases are equal,
it's quite tricky to do.
Moving onto Nancy, I'm not sure what muesli's going to bring to the party.
It'll be rather interesting.
I think it'll get good texture from the oats.
Luis over there, he's cutting out stars
so that he gets a sort of flower-like effect.
The question is, is it baklava? I'm not sure.
I quite like the idea and for me I think I'm going to enjoy it.
We've got four fantastic semifinalists,
it's going to be a fascinating one.
It is very quiet.
Everyone's just got their heads down
trying to get on with this, to be honest.
The key to a fine and flaky baklava is wafer thin pastry,
but it needs to be handled with care.
I'm looking to get four squares that size, out of this piece.
And the trouble is the thinner you go, the more delicate it gets
and soon splits.
I'm aiming to get this flipping massive,
I think is the technical term.
You just start to see the worktop through it
and I think that certainly is as thin as I can get it, anyway.
- Goes like skin, doesn't it, after a while?
- Yeah.
I could just pop this on my face and I'd look 20 again.
Do you know how much I want to pop this on my face now?
I am. I'm not going to. I am...
not going to.
OK, bakers, halfway through. Halfway through.
It's starting to dry.
I need to move a bit faster.
The fragile sheets of filo can be stacked, folded
or rolled around the filling.
This is looking all right, isn't it? I'm quite happy with this one.
These flowers are really intricate.
I could have probably made something simpler but I chose not to.
I'm obviously building up my layers of filo and then layering each layer
with butter, so that's one, two, three, yep.
With less than two hours left,
the semifinalists need to crack on with the next 12.
12 done, 12 more to go.
This is the second batch. The carrot just gives them
a bit of sweetness and also a bit of moisture inside.
This is chocolate and coffee. I'm just putting some honey in it.
So, I'm working with my chocolate filo.
When I made these baklavas at home, it was slightly more difficult
to roll it really, really thin.
I'm slightly intrigued, and if I'm honest,
a little bit worried about how you're going to roll this.
Luckily, I've got myself a sheet to roll it with,
so hopefully I'm going to get it started by hand
and then pick the sheet up and it should roll up perfectly.
Oh, nice. Good work with the gingham! That is beautiful.
Ta-da!
What are you making?
In no way is that legal.
In no way can we allow that to be shown on television.
It's going to be cut up into little pieces.
In what way does that make it better?
Bake-lavas, you've got an hour on your baklava.
They're probably OK.
Those are nicely brown.
while the final batch bakes, the next stage is the syrup
which binds together the pastry and the filling.
I'm looking for a fairly thick pouring syrup because too thin
and it just drenches the pastry and makes it soggy.
Oh, it smells amazing, the masala chai.
I have got strong flavours but they should like it.
I think I've messed up here.
The honey and the chocolate have sort of boiled up
and come up through the middle. Nightmare.
Some baklava you find is very pale, some has got a lot of colour on it.
I'm sure that there will be a colour card that you have to put on
and Paul will know what it is and I don't. I'll find out soon.
I'm warming to that young man.
I don't know who he is or why he keeps turning up to the tent
but there's something about him.
Inscrutable.
Yeah, I'm really happy with these, yeah.
But I'm worried about the other one.
I'll be all right if I can get this done
in the next ten minutes or so, should be OK.
I'm a little bit worried about this second batch.
My only saving grace is that they've got to be gooey anyway,
and they need a crispy top.
I've got a crispy top.
OK, bakers, one minute to complete your sheets.
Oh, God, I'm making a right pig's ear of this.
They don't look too bad, do they?
Just slightly on the edge of delirious at the moment.
They lack finesse.
OK, bakers, that's it.
Move away from the baklavas, please. Chet, stop drizzling.
Luis! Luis!
HE LAUGHS
I'm done.
They look very pale.
Traditionally, it should be quite a rich golden brown.
Go for the muesli first.
It's holding itself quite well,
the syrup is binding everything together.
I like that the moment the knife touched that,
you got the crisp crunch which I expect from baklava.
I think it tastes good, the texture is there, you've got the crisp
on the bottom and the top and the middle. Right.
Those look a little bit soggy,
but you do want that nice sticky glaze on top.
You can see a couple of layers in there.
It's a really nice strong coffee taste to it.
I think the flavours are good. Overall, you've got what baklava is.
- And you have been very original.
- Thank you.
- Now, these baklava cups...
- Yes.
- ..as opposed to baklava.
- They are.
The question is, is it baklava?
I looked up lots of different baklavas and I had seen ones
like that where they'd used the filo to make a container for the filling.
When I initially look at it, it doesn't look like baklava.
But it's meticulously done.
- That is bone dry.
- OK.
And I'm not actually getting all the layers, either.
Right, let's look at these.
You should have several layers of the very, very thin filo
- before you roll it up.
- Sure.
- You've just got one layer
and it looks a little bit on the thick side.
- The flavours are great, but the pastry is just wrong.
- OK.
They look the classic baklava shape.
Let's have a look at this one on the top, then.
It cut well there.
You've left sensibly the pistachio nuts in nice big pieces.
Now, I like that.
The flavour is delicious, very traditional, you've got it bang on.
I think that's a winner and I love all the layers.
Right, let's have a look at this one.
You have got the great concertina, great flavour.
It's under-baked slightly, such a shame,
because the flavour of both of them are excellent.
- They look a bit heavy.
- OK.
But they are all perfectly formed.
The colour's good.
I'm missing the layers because normally when you eat baklava
you've got all this syrup oozing out and I've just got the syrup
on the top which in turn makes it a little bit dry.
It's because the pastry layers are so thick that it can't penetrate.
Now, moving onto the chocolate ones. Interesting for a baklava.
- It's predominantly filling.
- OK.
I'm not getting the layers.
- The taste of it is delicious but the layers are just not there.
- OK.
I just feel so proud to be here and whatever happens, no,
I do not want to go home.
I like things to look nice but I thought it was a bit like
trying to display 12 bread rolls.
That's how it felt for me,
in that they weren't a thing of beauty, particularly,
and I don't really like it, baklava, at all.
I was expecting tough judging and I got tough judging.
So, as long as I feel as though I've done my best and I've presented
something that looked good, you know, then that's a positive for me.
I feel happy with where I've got to, not to say that I'm complacent
and I'm happy to go, but I feel pretty vindicated.
I came in here thinking I was all right at baking and, yeah,
I think I probably am all right at baking, aren't I?
After a rocky morning, the pressure is on each semifinalist
to excel in the next bake.
Hello, bakers, welcome to your semifinal Technical Challenge.
Now, this is one of Paul's recipes.
- Paul, any words to say for the bakers?
- Good luck.
- Thank you. And now go.
- Are you going to keep me?
No, Mary, I'd like to keep you but the traditions and conventions
- of the show say we must now turn you away.
- Off she goes.
- Off she goes.
So, bakers, you will be baking a Schichttorte.
- What?
- A Schichttorte.
- Well, they might make a good one, you don't need to say that.
- I know.
Listen, it's a little German tricky patisserie, OK?
We don't know anything about it, we don't know how to make it
but all I do know is thus -
you have two hours in which to make your Schichttorte.
- On your marks...
- Get set... BOTH:
- Bake!
As usual, it's something that we've never heard of...
I've never heard of, anyway.
Schichttorte. Schichttorte.
A Schichttorte is a German layered cake and there are a lot of layers.
20 layers?!
SHE LAUGHS
Only 20 layers to do.
The number of layers isn't the only unusual thing about a Schichttorte.
"Preheat the grill..."
It's a grilled cake. That's going to be the tricky thing.
I've never ever grilled a cake.
Gosh.
What the bakers have got to do is make a simple batter,
and then inside the tin put a layer of the sponge in there,
and then they pop it under the grill.
We've asked them to do light, dark, light, dark, all the way through.
What we're testing them on is a bit of concentration skills.
Cos don't forget there's 20 layers.
And that's an hour of watching a grill.
- Would you like to see inside?
- I would like to.
- Now, that cut through like butter.
- It does indeed.
That is quite amazing. They're wafer thin.
And that's what we're looking for, we're looking for something
that screams consistency.
You can see aeration in each layer even though the layers are
so thin, it's not heavy in any way.
I do hope that they achieve the same as this.
It's a fairly standard cake mix.
It says to cream together the butter and sugar, so that's what I'm doing
and while that's happening I'm just separating my eggs.
"Add the lemon and vanilla." Got those.
"Add the egg yolks, add the flours and add the egg whites."
So I'm just making sure that'll be whisked up, then I'll do those.
Should work.
"Now add the egg whites."
Don't want to knock too much air out. I'm not going to mix any more
because this seems quite a good batter-y consistency.
That's it.
- WHISPERING:
- I think that looks all right.
I don't know what anyone else is doing.
This looks OK.
- She's a bit competitive, is old Chetna.
- What?
HE LAUGHS
I've mixed up my mixture. Very wet, isn't it?
I'm going to work out exactly how much each individual pancake weighs
and hope for the best, really.
50 grams a layer, that's not much.
That can't be right, can it?
I don't know, love. It doesn't look enough, does it?
Well, that's better.
Spread it out with the old spatch.
Such a small amount of batter.
Bit like making a pancake, I suppose.
Yeah, yeah, yeah...
"Grill until light golden,
"add more mixture and grill until dark golden."
So that's how you've got to go light, dark, light, dark.
Paul's recipe doesn't state what temperature
or for how long the bakers should grill each layer.
I've just put it on high.
Because I think if it's about browning the top,
there's no thickness in it at all.
I'm not timing it, to be honest, on the layers.
I'm just doing it by eye.
It's not golden. Maybe they need longer than we think.
I don't know what the temperature of the grill should be or...
SHE SIGHS
I've got the grill on full whack,
so it should be pretty hot in there.
We'll see. Crikey.
I think that's sort of golden.
It's cooking, it's cooking. Yes!
"Add more mixture and grill until dark golden."
So I've done the light golden, now I'm going to do dark golden.
"Continue until you have 20 layers alternating in colour."
OK, that's done.
It's taking ages to cook and at this rate
I'm never going to do it in time.
I've done the first layer for five minutes
so what I'm going to do is do the second layer for seven minutes.
So I should get a darker brown.
SHE EXHALES
Dark golden.
I think that's number three.
I'm just writing down which layer I'm on
because it's 20 layers, light/dark, light/dark,
and if you didn't write it down you'd just completely lose track.
Light, dark, light, dark, light, dark.
So that's number three, right. So this is number four.
That's light.
- GERMAN ACCENT:
- OK, my little darlings, you have one hour left
and you will be very punctual because we are so efficient!
You have one hour.
I'm going to have to get my skates on.
That's going to take ages, 20 layers.
Should I whack up the temperature?
Schichttorte might be a new concept to our bakers in the tent,
but it actually comes from a very old tradition in Germany
called Baumkuchen, which is the pride and joy of one small town.
Hansestadt Salzwedel is known for beautiful buildings.
It's part of Germany's Timber-frame Road which stretches nearly 3,000km.
But it's also known as Baumkuchen Town.
Baumkuchen is the most difficult of the traditional German cakes to make.
The name itself means "tree cake"
and it's the ultimate test of a German baker's skills.
Unlike the domestic version of this,
which the bakers are struggling with under a grill,
Baumkuchen are cooked on a spit.
This bakery uses an original recipe from 1807 with a batter mixture
of flour, butter, sugar and around 40 eggs per cake.
This is a great place to be,
sandwiched between two beautiful Baumkuchen,
here in the nexus of Baumkuchen production,
where patisserie meets rotisserie in a very beautiful way.
Oh, this is the Queen of Baumkuchen, Saskia I.
I think she'd make a lovely bride for Prince Harry, don't you?
Hennig's Bakery produce around 20 Baumkuchen a day.
Head baker Maik Suske has been making them since he was 15.
- Will you show me how to make one, Maik?
- Yes.
- You make four of these.
- OK.
And the fourth. OK.
Brilliant. Oh!
- You must...
- Right, so it's ready to start.
So, those original rings make the shape of the Baumkuchen, OK.
- Shall we try together, Maik?
- Yes.
Brilliant. Sideways.
This is very much like Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore in the film Ghost.
Something quite beautiful going on here.
Nice, it's like a dance. Baumkuchen dance.
Amazing.
The cake takes 24 hours to cool down
and then is covered in fondant icing or chocolate.
Now, Maik, I've eaten a lot of cake in my time but I think even 11 kilos
might be a bit too... Actually, no, we'll get it in hand luggage.
Come on, to the airport.
Back in the tent, time is running out to complete the Schichttorte.
I am panicking because I've got half an hour left.
I've got still ten layers to go.
I am up to number 16.
I've lost count of layers.
I'm trying to get ahead so I'm trying to work in-between
these layers. All right, get these glazes done, then.
I've just read the instructions for chocolate glaze
and they're quite clear, it says "make the chocolate glaze".
SHE GIGGLES
Very precise.
I think the term for making a chocolate glaze is winging it
because...just throw it all in and hope it turns into a glaze.
Because it's got butter in it and golden syrup,
it's probably a pouring glaze that you pour... Oh!
That you pour over and then it'll set.
But if the glaze isn't cooled to the correct temperature, it won't set.
I remember reading somewhere, if you're doing a glaze, it's usually
around 30 degrees when you pour it on and it's just nagging me at the
back of my head, so if it's nagging me I need to listen to the voice.
TIMER BEEPS
I think the layers are going to be determined by how much stuff
I've got left but, strictly speaking, I've got four left to do
but I don't think I'll have enough.
This is number 19.
Don't have a lot of time.
I might not get 20.
Who's counting?
As if. He's going to be counting, all right.
I don't think he's going to take it apart.
He'll cut it, Richard.
If he cuts it, he won't see 20 layers in mine.
- Luis, I'm excited.
- 20.
- 20!
- We're in, we're done, let's get it in there.
- Boom!
I may as well do 18 and then have time to glaze it and stuff.
I've got 17 minutes left, so now I've got six layers to go.
Don't have time.
- Good, that looks great.
- That will do.
Look at that, it rises very much just to nearly
the top of the tin in a perfect way.
Right.
It's pretty good, isn't it?
Oh, dear. I know how it feels.
That's what happens to me every night
after I take my trousers off, thank goodness for that.
So you've got 20 layers?
No, I haven't got 20, I've got 18.
Are you worried that you haven't got the last two?
I can't really help it, I've got no time.
No, just go with what you've got, absolutely.
For the chocolate to sit smoothly on the top
the cake should be sealed with an apricot glaze.
This is apricot jam, usually used for sticking stuff on cakes.
I'm hoping it'll be used for sticking the...
sticking the glaze on.
You coat it in the jam and I think it stops crumb coming out
and affecting your glaze.
Funf Minuten, meine lieblings. Five minutes.
The temperature, I wouldn't say is ideal for decorating. I'd more
say it was an absolutely atrocious temperature for decorating.
It's probably a cake that you actually don't do the sides,
but there you go.
SHE SIGHS
It's gone very quiet.
There's so much to do, who's going to talk?
One minute on the Schichttorte.
End it! Das ist alles.
Please bring the 20 layers up to the gingham.
Mary and Paul are looking for 20 alternate layers,
a glossy glaze and decorative vanilla icing.
We're going to start with this one.
It's got a lovely shine on the icing.
The vanilla looks OK. There's not much chocolate down the side here.
You can definitely see the layers. Right.
Oh, he's actually counting them.
Is he going to count all 20 in all of them?
I need to brace myself.
18 layers on that one. Chocolate hasn't quite set.
It's a good taste.
Still warm, that's why the icing is dripping down a little bit.
Let's move onto number two. I like the decoration on the top.
Its got a lovely glaze, it's a good height,
I think it's a very professional finish.
Let's have a look inside.
Very, very good layers.
And, of course, they have got the light
and the dark all the way up which looks very beautiful.
It's got 20. I just hope it tastes good.
Nice flavour.
Very impressive.
Now, this one's had some issues.
Lop-sided, not much chocolate down the side.
I'm getting 17 on that one.
The bottom sponge is a hard crust.
See how over-baked it is there?
The flavour's OK
but I think there was issues with the sponge on that one.
Right, finally the last one.
I quite like the webbing on the top.
Lovely shine on that.
Interesting alternate layers.
There are 20 but they are very, very thin.
And that is in mixing the cake.
But the layers are there and it's got a nice shine on it.
In fourth place, is this one. Who's that?
Me.
It was dropping to one side
and I think we only had about 17 layers.
In third place is this one.
You didn't get the required layers, you just never got the height.
And in second place, who's that?
That was nearly up there,
we reckon there were 20 layers there, well done.
Thank you.
In first place, Luis.
Well done. The layers were all there, nice and even.
And the decoration on top was good, pretty faultless.
Thank you.
That just shows you that anything can happen here.
Never heard of it, never made one before, came first.
I've never baked a cake under a grill before.
No idea.
'I've only done toast under a grill.'
So, yeah, I'm quite pleased with the outcome, actually.
Cor, it was a bit of a chore, wasn't it?!
'Yeah. I'll take second'
and run away happily and never ever cook that ever again.
'I am worried because'
my morning didn't go to plan and, you know,
I came fourth right now, so everything really rests on tomorrow.
I won't be sleeping well tonight.
After a good afternoon for the men,
the women have some catching up to do.
Everything rests on the Showstopper.
Good morning, bakers. And welcome to your last bake before the finals.
Now, today Paul and Mary would like you to make entremets.
They're very, very small
and fine cakes that would grace the window of a French patisserie.
The judges would very much like you to make two different types,
12 of each.
You've got five hours on the bakery clock. On your marks...
- Get set.
- Bake.
This complex bake will test the semifinalists on their design
skills and their time management.
It is top-end stuff, and it does look amazing.
If I can do it.
This is really the high-end of patisserie.
I want to see how many skills and techniques they can show us.
Each entremets has to be a work of art,
it just has to have such a polish and a finish, that is
better than they've done in any challenge before.
We're looking for precision, we're looking for beauty,
we're looking for elegance in beautiful small cakes.
I've seen pastry chefs crumble at making these things,
let alone the bakers in the tent.
For each little entremets, the bakers need to use a variety of
techniques to create layer upon layer of different textures and flavours.
- Morning, Luis.
- Morning.
Luis, what have you chosen as your two entremets?
I'm making a pomegranate and pistachio cake which is pistachio
sponge and it's got a layer of a pomegranate molasses cream inside.
The second one I'm doing a cherry and chocolate entremets, and when you
cut through it you'll see the cherry centre perfectly in the middle.
The cherry centre will be surrounded with chocolate mousse
on a shortbread base.
To top his pistachio cake, Luis is creating a novel pomegranate jelly.
You've got a long time to do this
but where do you see the problems are going to be for you?
Jellies are tricky, trying to get them from the mould
perfectly onto the top of a round cake is a bit fiddly.
Working with mousse is fiddly as well, especially in a hot tent.
- All right, buddy, good luck.
- All right, cool. Thank you very much.
- Good luck, Luis.
- Thank you.
Nancy is also incorporating jelly into her entremets.
So the first thing I've got to do is get the jellies made,
and then get both of these in the freezer
and then I can concentrate on the mousses.
Good morning, Nancy.
Morning, Paul. Morning, Mary.
Tell us about both of them.
Right, I'm doing a lime mousse with a chocolate biscuit at the bottom,
passion fruit jelly.
- Oh!
- And then the raspberry one is almond sponge at the bottom,
then a layer of mousse, then a layer of verbena jelly,
then another layer of mousse and then a dark chocolate glaze.
Nancy's adding mint to her verbena jelly
and decorating with raspberries.
Her lime and passion fruit entremets are coated
with a white chocolate glaze.
I always find that slightly disappointing
because you've got the chocolate, the green and the yellow.
Actually, the colours would look quite fascinating
but you've covered the whole thing in white chocolate.
Yep.
Are we seeing the layers?
No, the whole thing will be glazed.
I thought, for me, entremets is when you cut through,
when you see the layers.
From the outside you don't see anything.
You should, yeah... Well, I dunno.
Those glazes are going to be difficult, particularly
the white chocolate one because it's temperamental and it's a warm day.
Kermit in a liquidiser.
HE LAUGHS
These will be dots on the sponge,
then I'm going to cover it with another colour of sponge, as well.
- Hi, Richard.
- Hi, Paul.
What is that?
This is the sponge layer for one of my entremets,
I'm doing a grapefruit almond and vanilla one.
This will be the sponge that encases a grapefruit mousse.
- Grapefruit.
- Yes.
Interesting flavour, can be quite refreshing, you can
lose the flavour though quite quickly.
I know, you lose the flavour out of the mousse quite easily.
I've had to boost it up quite hard but I've done this as a kind
of comparison to my other entremets which is a hazelnut latte one.
Richard's making chocolate sponge and Italian coffee buttercream for
his hazelnut entremets.
His grapefruit ones have a grapefruit mousse, topped with grapefruit jelly.
Here you've got the natural outside of your lovely spotted sponge,
are you putting anything round the sides of your other one?
No, hopefully, I'm going to leave them open so you can see some
lovely crisp layers as you go... Hopefully they'll be crisp.
- Good luck, mate. I want to see that grapefruit come through.
- Me, too.
- Good luck.
- Thanks.
- Good morning, Chetna.
- Morning, Chets.
Morning.
So, what are you up to?
I'm doing my first entremets first. It's chocolate, orange
and hazelnut entremets.
So in the bottom I've got a hazelnut dacquoise,
then on top of that is feuillantine praline paste, chocolate.
Then there's a milk chocolate cream, then there's an almond sponge,
then there is an orange custard.
- Anything else?
- And then there's going to be caramelised oranges.
Hang on a minute, can we just start from the bottom?
I'm losing the will here.
Chetna's ambitious chocolate and orange entremets have six layers.
She's also making cappuccino cakes with a cocoa sponge,
coffee syrup and coffee flavoured cream.
- I think you have a lot going on.
- Yes, lots going on.
I hope you remember which layer goes where because I'm a bit muddled.
It sounds good but it's all about getting those layers set.
- Good luck, Chetna.
- Thank you.
Mary and Paul are testing the bakers' ability to juggle numerous
techniques, under intense time pressure.
I think there's 10 or 11, if I've got enough time,
different processes.
So it'll be fairly difficult.
Too many things going on.
But I knew that when I chose it so it's not like...
I knew what I was getting into.
Running the two entremets hand in hand at the moment
so while one thing's doing, the next one's setting up cooling or...
Yeah, I'm just trying to keep up with both of them.
How many processes? You got a mousse?
Two mousses, biscuits, sponge, two glazes, two jellies,
chocolate pieces.
Out of fingers, done, done. We're done.
All right, raspberry mousse.
Three sheets of gelatine.
The bakers need to prioritise the layers which need to set.
My mousse is egg yolks whisked over a hot bath,
and then fold in chocolate, fold in cream
and I add gelatine, as well, to set it because it's so hot in here.
You've got a danger of it melting when you push it out of its mould.
This is quite runny, but I've had to put
a lot of grapefruit into it to achieve the grapefruit flavour,
so it'll set, it's just whether or not it makes the sponge go manky.
When the mousse is set, it'll be quite robust,
you'll be able to cut through it and it'll hold.
I'm just going to whack these in the freezer now, just give them
half an hour.
OK, bakers, halfway through.
This is the orange cream and I'm going to let it set
because that's one done.
Are you staying on time?
Am I on time? I don't know.
I don't know whether I'm Arthur or Martha this afternoon.
- That's it.
- That's got a nice colour on it.
Ah!
Silly. Yep, it's done.
It's ridiculous but that green makes me so happy. I can't even tell you.
I feel like I should rub some calamine lotion onto this.
Yeah, they look a bit angry, don't they?
To soothe the pox.
With two hours to go,
Luis is making the top layer for his chocolate mousse.
Chocolate and cherries are one of my favourite things to put
together, so that was always a good starting point.
Nancy's concentrating on the bottom of her raspberry ones.
These are my sponges, and I'm handling it really
when it's a bit too hot but I've got to, cooling time is a luxury.
I'm making the creme cappuccino which is a custard mousse.
So I'm making like a coffee custard.
Everything's got cream of some shape or form,
so with the heat, that's my worry.
Richard is making buttercream for his hazelnut mocha entremets.
There's a lot of butter goes into this.
I'm hoping that it will become nice and glossy and smooth and I'll
be able to spread it on my entremets with no particular problem.
SHE EXHALES
I'm just assembling one of my entremets.
I just overheard Luis say he's assembling one of his entremets.
Nowhere near there.
Nancy's the only baker ambitiously making two different glazes.
This is a white chocolate glaze, so I've got white chocolate,
condensed milk, gelatine, sugar water and glucose.
And this makes a thick pouring glaze.
I think my biggest stress is going to be my glaze has not been
cooled enough.
If they're too warm, they'll probably just run off.
Creme cappuccino is ready so I'm going to pipe it.
Then put it in the fridge to set. It does need some time to set.
Right, into the freezer.
FRENCH ACCENT: Bakers, you have ze demi heure left for ze entremets.
Half an hour left on your entremets.
I'm really pleased with these
because the stress of trying to get a mousse to set... Flippin' 'eck!
It is not set.
Nope, it's not set.
I should put them in the freezer.
This is the mascarpone cream stage. It's all gone on,
it's looking fairly flat. I might just scrape a few edges off.
That is beautiful.
Oh! It's a pure calorie soup.
Mmm!
Look, my hands are shaking.
I'm feeling the pressure of cutting them right, damn right I am.
What you have to do with the jellies is to get them out of the mould,
it's just heat the case of the mould to just loosen them.
If you leave it in the hot water too long,
the jelly will completely go back to liquid form.
If it's not in there long enough it won't come out the mould.
Are you happy, Chets?
I am happy, but I've just opened the other one
and that's not set so it's gone back in the freezer.
- And they're the ones coming out of the moulds, aren't they?
- Yes.
And they can't go "pfft!" on a semifinal Showstopper?
I'm just going to stick this back in the fridge,
I don't want this melting too.
This is done and dusted.
There's chocolate going everywhere! Oh, dear.
Dear, dear, dear.
Bakers, one minute to go,
one minute to go on your semifinal Showstopper.
OK, that's it, the bake's over, bakers.
Step away from your entremets s'il vous plait.
Chocolate everywhere.
It takes a lot of guts to be able to show all the layers.
Thank you.
I think the finish is very good, can't wait to get inside.
Right, we'll try the hazelnut.
I can see every layer, every flavour.
It's delicious, chocolate works well,
the nuts coming through there are beautiful.
That is extremely good.
I love that crisp base, it really is very exciting to eat.
Let's have a look at the dotted one.
Very neat, very subtle colours.
I could do with a little more flavour in the mousses.
Grapefruit is very difficult to convey in something like that.
But your consistency is perfect.
What a professional selection you've done for us.
These are interesting.
- There is a problem with the chocolate not going all the way down to the bottom.
- It's too warm.
Yep. These, I'm not so sure about.
I think the decoration's not particularly striking,
so what we'll do is we'll start with this fella.
That looks stunning when you cut into it.
I do like that little square, looks pretty good.
It's a lovely texture, you've balanced it beautifully.
It's refreshing, and I think you've done well with that.
- Thank you.
- Right, let's have a look at this one.
The chocolate and the lime really work well together.
The sharpness of the fruit comes through. I just think
the appearance on both of them has fallen a bit low for your standard.
Luis, I think they look really sensational.
They look very elegant.
Right, I think we'll start with the pomegranate.
You've got your definite layers there.
I love the flavour.
The pomegranate jelly is delicious, I would have liked to have
seen the sponge a little bit thinner, it works, though.
Right. Let's try the cherry and chocolate.
The rich chocolate married with the sourness of the cherries, works.
That's a very, very good little entremets.
Thank you very much.
You've got a perfect glaze on the top, I think just well done.
Thank you very much.
Now, these I'm looking forward to.
I like your chocolate work on the top,
they look bulbous with the weight of the top.
Wow, that's got a kick to it, hasn't it?!
It's the most beautiful cappuccino, lovely.
It is very good, could have been a bit neater
but the flavours you've got in that are fantastic.
- Well done.
- Thank you.
- This one looks all right.
I would have liked a lighter colour. As you see your layers,
I'm missing some because the colours is all blended.
It's quite split on the top.
I was expecting tons and tons of flavour.
There is a tang of orange right at the end
but then it's more like a chocolate cream sponge.
I'm losing the orange because what I'm getting is a chocolate cake
mixture all the way down and you're so good on your flavours normally.
What a cracking semifinal. I mean, what results.
Who has impressed you, then, this weekend?
I think Luis has done some amazing flavours.
The Showstopper, he did all right actually, that sour cherry
and chocolate was delicious. I thought
the sponge on the larger one was too thick.
When you look at it in comparison with Richard's where he's
gone to the trouble of putting the polka dot all the way round
the outside of the sponge, that's the sort of thing which
really sends it off the rails and makes it exquisite.
I think that Richard has done perfection over there,
I mean, his layers are so clear and distinct.
So the men have done well,
do you think the ladies have matched them this semifinal?
Nancy was third on the Technical
so she let herself go slightly on the Technical, and these
really don't look as good as they should and she said that herself.
They do look a little bit uneven.
I thought Chetna missed it slightly on the Showstopper.
I was disappointed in the chocolate and orange
because you're not getting layers.
It's the semifinal, one of them will be sadly leaving us
today and at the moment you're looking at Nancy
and Chetna in a bit of trouble.
Bakers, I've got the great job this week, because they did
finally, after much wrangling, manage to pick a Star Baker.
Now, this week's star baker, well, it's such a new experience
to say this, I don't even know how I'm going to phrase it.
But let's just say this person
knocks the spots off everyone else this week.
Richard, congratulations, well done, you're Star Baker.
- Fifth time.
- Well done.
I feel really sad to have to do this,
losing somebody in the semifinal is always awful for all of us.
And I'm really sorry to say that the person who will not be
joining us next week is...
..Chetna.
'I will take away so much,'
such amazing memories and friends
and so much knowledge.
'It's one of the best experiences of my life.'
Chetna's a very good baker but she didn't quite find her form this
'week and today she just didn't have'
the panache that the others had.
She was, unfortunately, the weakest one but in a very strong pack.
Richard's attention to detail is the reason why he got Star Baker.
'You can hardly believe those builder's hands have produced'
such delicate results.
I wasn't expecting to be Star Baker, I was expecting to not go.
'Finish line's in sight, I reckon I've got'
a chance of winning.
'I'm a finalist,'
me!
'I am absolutely speechless, I can't get my head round it.'
And I keep crying and I don't do crying.
'Never in my'
wildest dreams.
Sorry.
My family are going to be...gosh...so excited that
I've got to the final.
Next time, it's the final.
You only get one go.
I'm not happy with that.
And the three remaining bakers...
- Not putting you off, am I?
- No not at all.
..face their last three challenges.
It's just one panic after another, isn't it?
But who will bake their way to glory?
I would vote for Richard.
That's this weekend up the Swanee.
I'd put my money on Luis to win.
I've definitely gambled with time.
If I had to choose one, I'd definitely pick Nancy.
My hands won't keep still because they're too nervous.
Who is it going to be?
The winner of the Great British Bake Off 2014 is...