The Great British Baking Show (2010–…): Season 8, Episode 9 - Patisserie Week - full transcript

GBBO.S08E09.Patisserie.Week.srt

Come on, you can do it.
Noel, I need one more egg.

That's what I've been saying.
Come on, you've got one more in you.

I know you can do this.
Come on, chicken,

the fate of The Great British
Bake Off lies up your...

I was just trying to be a bit less
personal. Oh, sorry.

Why do we need another egg anyway?
It's patisserie week.

Come on, Malcolm, please, for me.

Malcolm? The chicken is called
Malcolm?

Yeah, Malcolm Eggs. Any chance
we're wasting our time here?

Getting to the semifinal...



Ah!

..meant conquering forgotten bakes.

Don't leak!

Steven impressed again...

Mmm, I could just sit there
and eat a lot of that.

..but Stacey's bold approach...

Now that's a good colour.

..paid off at long last...

Wow, Stacey, I think that's
a real achievement.

..winning her Star Baker
for the very first time.

Kate was almost history...

I've literally dropped a clanger!

..but it was Liam...
It's raw. ..whose time was up.

I'm just not catching
any flavours at all. OK.



And we said goodbye to
this year's youngest baker.

I'm so sorry. I can look back
and think, yeah, I smashed it.

Now, to reach the final...

Come along, dear.

..the bakers must master...

Oh, it's breaking and melting.
..patisserie...

I've done it wrong, I've done
it wrong, I've done it wrong.

..with three of the most
demanding challenges...

Really pushed for time now actually.

..and one of the closest calls...

Oh, my God!

..the tent has ever seen.

Do not crack on me.

This has been the hardest decision
that I've been involved with

in eight years of the Bake Off.

The semifinals are upon us.

Four bakers remain but next week's
grand final only has room for three.

This week, the pressure
has just tripled.

You've got to be
absolutely perfect here.

One small mistake can cost you
your place in the final.

Patisserie week's about precision
and finesse, so I just hope I've got

enough time to be able to do it,
cos I know I can do it.

Patisserie is very much the kind
of stuff that I love doing.

That's not necessarily saying
I'm any good at it!

I was going to tone it down a bit
this week and then I decided,

nah, I'm not going to
tone it down at all.

In fact, I'm going to tone it up.

Just three more bakes to show
Paul and Prue why they deserve

the chance to become
Bake Off champion.

I hadn't dared think that far ahead
but now it's in very close

reaching distance, to say I'm
a finalist would be amazing.

I want to get to the final.

I want to prove to myself
that I'm good enough.

Let's leave that one there, though!

I am fully aware that I'm here
by the skin of my teeth

after last week. I'm just going
to give it my best shot.

I intend on getting through
to the final.

I thought, I'm here, I might
as well give it a go.

Well, morning, bakers, and
congratulations on making it

to the semifinals.
Just four of you left.

Absolutely no pressure!

I can feel your relaxed
vibes from here.

Now, it's patisserie week so,
for your Signature Challenge,

Paul and Prue would love you
to make 24 choux buns.

Now, your choux buns need
to be light and airy,

filled with two different flavours.
Half of them must be iced

and the other half must exhibit
a perfect craquelin.

That's that crunchy, sugary bit
on top. I love a bit of craquelin.

You've got two and a half hours.

On your marks...
Get set...

Bake!

At least when there's 12 of you,
there's quite a lot of people

to leave. Now, it's like,
this is it, one more person.

The worst thing that can happen
today is the choux buns don't rise,

they're too irregular,
the tent caves in...

We've asked the bakers to make
24 choux buns.

What we're looking for is
a crispy outside,

beautiful and airy on the inside
and the flavours must complement

each other, from the icing
on the top, or the craquelin,

to the unctuous filling inside.

Craquelin.

It's thin dough, goes
on top of the choux pastry

and bakes in the oven with it,

and it comes out with
a crackly, crunchy top.

We're expecting exquisite pastry.

This is their chance to show us
how good they actually are.

Are they worthy to get into the
final of The Great British Bake Off?

I'm making the craquelin topping
first so that I can put it
in the freezer.

It's a mix of sugar,
flour and butter

and you place a little disc
on top of each choux bun.

It's basically a little jacket, a
little jacket for your choux pastry.

As it bakes, as the choux puffs,

it splits it apart,
so you get crackling. Oops!

Good morning, Steven, how are you?

Good morning, very well,
how are you? Very good.

Tell us all about your choux buns.

Craquelin. We've got
a wholemeal coconut top.

Wholemeal?

Wholemeal flour because the centre
is a Key lime coconut cheesecake.

It's almost back to front? Yeah.

Not content with transforming
choux into cheesecake,

Steven's also turning buns into
Bakewell tarts using frangipane,

creme patissiere and raspberry jam.

I know you quite well now, so when
you're a little bit more stressed...

The eye twitches. You just get
little bright red cheeks.

It's been a pretty rough week.

It's a combination of developing
these recipes and knowing that

this carries me through
to the final.

The pressure's on. Thank you
very much, mate. Thank you.

I'm just rolling out the craquelin
between two bits of parchment.

Accuracy is the key
to perfect craquelin.

You have to roll it out
to very thin.

About two millimetres.

Too thick and it will prevent
the choux from rising.

I did rush that a bit and I'm not
sure I've done it very well.

You see, it's still got
some bits of sugar there.

I want to do it again.

I've upped my game for this
and it's just so important.

Good morning, Stacey. It seems to me
you always do twice the work

of anybody, because you
quite often start again.

It doesn't take long, but
I just need to do it properly.

Right, tell us all
about your choux buns.

One's choux-mojis. Choux-mojis?

And the other ones,
I'm doing choux-nicorns.

Choux-nicorns! Can you tell me how
it's going to look like a unicorn?

Well, it's not going to look
like a real unicorn.

Did you just say the words,
"a real unicorn"?

Stacey's cramming her iced
choux-nicorns with multicoloured

creme patissiere and filling her
choux-mojis with banoffee cream

before piping faces onto
yellow-dyed craquelin.

You like girlie things
and things for children?

I didn't want to just have
a boring choux bun.

I wanted to go for something
different. Sometimes you go too far

down the overall effect
and forget about the bake.

It's about finding that balance
between great flavour,

great texture and making it
look like it should be

in the front of any patisserie shop.

Hopefully it'll work
and hopefully you'll love it

and you'll want it for your next
birthday party, Paul.

I'll give you a call.
Thank you, Stacey.

Yeah, happy with that.

That is going in the fridge.

The start of my choux pastry.

Unlike most pastries, choux must
be cooked before it's baked.

It just seems really unnatural
to make pastry in this way.

Twice the chance for it to go wrong.

I've just got the butter melting.

When the butter's melted,
I'll bring it to boil,

put the flour in and then
start making my choux.

Right, this is the craquelin
which needs to go in now.

I'm making the choux. I've got
to get on. I've got to get my

flour ready because that's got to be
poured in at exactly the right time.

You have to add it in one go

and then you have
to beat it furiously.

I'm just trying to avoid
any lumps forming.

It needs to be totally smooth.

You want it to come
cleanly away from the pan.

I'm just treating it quite nastily.

I'm doing a strawberry and rhubarb,

so it's going to have
vanilla craquelin.

The strawberry and rhubarb creme pat
and a white chocolate ganache.

It's got to look like it could be

in a shop front of a little
French patisserie.

Sophie also hopes to bring
the flavours of French patisserie

to her choux, filling her
chocolate fondant iced buns

with a classic vanilla
chestnut mousse.

We went to Paris and I had
the Mont Blanc, which is

a French delicacy and it's
made with a chestnut puree.

Yeah, it's lovely. I think
this particular challenge

plays to your strengths.
It's the kind of stuff that I love.

Does that put more pressure on you?
Yeah, a little bit.

Cos then they'll be like,
"Oh, patisserie, eh? Disappointing."

Are you feeling the nerves?
This week in particular,

little pang in the stomach.
The butterflies are coming? Yeah.

Good luck. Thank you very much.

When it comes to flavours, Kate's
taking her buns on a European tour.

Kate! Hello. Choux buns.

I'm doing Valencian orange and
brown sugar with a craquelin top,

and I'm doing a Bellini one
with a prosecco and peach cream.

How are you making the peach cream?
I'm making a sort of peach puree.

You're not using any
artificial flavours?

I'm using a little bit of prosecco
and a little bit of peach.

Prosecco artificial flavour?

Yeah. Wow, could you just add
prosecco flavouring to fizzy water?

I was made up when I found it!

With her creme Chantilly inspired by
the famous Venetian cocktail

and her Valencian orange
creme patissiere,

Kate's aiming to capture the fresh
flavours of both Italy and Spain.

Sometimes when you've introduced
flavours in the past,

they haven't come through, or
they've come through too strong.

It's about finding that balance
and making sure it's right.

I do think she's got good ideas.

I mean, both of those flavours
could be absolutely fantastic.

Listen to that and you come with me.

Thank you. Thank you, Kate.
All right, thank you.

I'm putting the eggs in now.

This is the most important bit
of the whole thing.

The wrong amount of egg will scupper
choux before it even hits the oven.

If you put too much egg in it,
there's no way you can save it.

You've just got to start
from scratch.

You can't really follow a recipe,
you just have to go by eye.

Over-egg and the mix won't puff up.

Under-egg and the buns
could collapse.

It looks lumpy before it starts
looking OK, so you've just got to

work through
and have confidence in it.

One test for finished choux is...

..that peak should fall over.

A little bit more egg.

A little bit more.

Almost there.

That's good, I'm quite happy with
this, basically how it looks.

I don't know, kind of like that.

Cool. I think we're there.

Right, I need to start piping
these now.

Hello, Kate, are you excited? Yeah.

It is hard not to think
about the final?

I'm not going there.
Do you dream about the final?

Yeah, but I'm not in it!

THEY LAUGH

I do really want to try
to get these equal shapes

and sizes and it is so difficult.

You seem very calm.

That's making me little bit nervy.

I do yoga. Do you do it
with the other bakers?

No, but we should try it.
I'm in. Me and Paul.

I don't know if Paul's got
the sort of right...

He's very flexible. Is he?

Paul is... His forward roll is
honestly better than his Swiss roll,

if I'm completely honest
with you.

Just flatten them out
using a bit of water.

It will encourage it
to grow into a ball shape.

Sophie is particularly good
with this.

Sophie likes patisserie,
Sophie's good at patisserie,

this should be your week. That's
always a bit of additional pressure.

I'm going to put them in now,
just see what happens.

20 minutes.

I've got to get them
nice and crispy.

It's all about cooking time.

Start off with 20 minutes.

And I'm going to monitor them
after that amount of time.

Perfect patisserie isn't just
about precision baking.

Right, we're going to start
on the curds,

jams and creme patissieres
for the fillings.

Paul and Prue will also expect
finely-tuned flavours.

Loads of Valencian orange in there.

It's, like, a bit more sweet.

This is going to be
for my creme pat.

Strawberries and rhubarb
and some rhubarb syrup.

I love this combination.
I just think it's lush.

This is my creme pat.

I'm colouring them
pink, yellow and blue.

When you cut into it,
you'll get a delight.

They look the nuts. This is
the frangipane creme patissiere.

I like this, it's like a little
Alice In Wonderland bottle.

What's happening here?
That's almond extract.

Drink me! If I drink that,
am I going to get small or big?

Not as small as Sandi!

Genetically impossible.

Right, my lovely bakers, you are
halfway through the time

for your choux buns.
Halfway through.

Coming out of the oven.

I'm thinking a couple
of them aren't great.

I think I would have liked them
a little bit more puffed.

They're looking OK, nice and crispy.

Starting on batch two now.

Just piped another load of choux
buns and they're going to have

the craquelin on top. You just want
to have a nice little coating of it

round the edge, so I do quite
a big piece cos I always like

the whole of the bun to be enrobed
in it. You're not stressed, are you?

I'm never stressed. You looked a
little bit nervous earlier on today.

Did I? Yeah. When?

Was that an accident? Probably
needed the loo or something!

Right, so these sit proudly
on top of their little choux.

This needs to go in now.

In we go.

There's no calming down today.

I'm making a toffee sauce that's
going in the banana choux buns.

I think more than anybody,
I've given myself so much to do.

I'm such an idiot. I'm just about to
start making up my chestnut puree.

This is pulsed from fresh chestnuts.

Still loads to do.
Loads and loads to do.

Peach and prosecco in that, so it's
the normal flavours of a Bellini.

I like how much mess you make.

Do you? I don't agree with them.

Paul always says, "Tidy worktop,
tidy mind," you know.

Clever... I reckon Picasso used to
get paint everywhere.

That's what I mean! I don't imagine
Van Gogh was hoovering, do you?

I've zested some lime into this
pan and so this is going to be

the lime curd.
I've got to get style and substance.

These are my unicorn horns.

Unicorns are pretty and magical
and I love them.

Right, I don't know what's going on.

It's obviously wrong.
It just feels a bit grainy.

I keep doing things wrong.

I'm having a very, very, very, very,
very, very, very bad morning.

Please.

I've got to do it again.
Let's just hope it works this time,

cos I need it to work.

Bakers, you have one hour remaining,
and if you don't finish,

Mr Spoon's going to be angry.

Craquelin bakes quicker
than the pastry it's covering,

so a perfect balance of time
and temperature is more critical
than ever...

OK, they're not far off.

..and it's even harder to tell
if the choux is done.

It should be nice and crispy.

Coming out of the oven.

They're a bit softer, but
the craquelin on top was burning.

I think I should have done them
at a lower temperature.

What was that tap? Do they sound
good? It didn't achieve anything.

I don't know!
They look a bit burnt in places.

The craquelin's come out
really nice.

It's just a case of assembly now,
getting these cooled down.

Bakers, you have half an hour.
Just 30 minutes left.

Really pushed for time now actually.
It's going to be tight.

I need to start piping these now.

Frangipane and jam.
Right, let's get this done.

So I'm filling the buns with
vanilla and chestnut mousse.

So, what's happening here now? OK,
so I'm glazing them quickly. Yeah.

Except I've done it wrong.

I'm supposed to fill them first
before I glaze them.

Done it wrong. I've done it
wrong, I've done it wrong.

This is the peach Bellini.

I feel like I'm your carer and
I'm just coming in to visit you.

So, how's it going for you here?

You're making choux-nicorns?

I'm making choux-nicorns.
OK, I'm going to send the nurse in!

Oh!

Filling up my creme diplomat,
making sure I get them full.

Pierced right the way through
the choux bun.

Oh, and it's come outside.

This is an orange creme pat.

It's limey, which is just
what I wanted.

I don't know how long I've got.

Bakers, you have just
15 minutes left.

Not very much time left at all.

I've got to get these iced as well.

Uniformity is key.

They don't look like something
you'll see in the pastry window.

It's messier than I'd like.

Just trying to get rid of the excess
cos I don't want it to drip down.

They're not identical,
that's for sure.

I've got to show that I can make
something look pretty.

It's going to be a bit of a crazy
dash to the finish line.

Gold leaf makes everything
look better.

Do they look like horns to you?

Pick it up, pick it up, pick it up.

Oh, God!

Right, bakers, your time is up.

Stacey! I'm trying to put them on.

Stacey!

Please place your signature choux
buns at the end of your station.

Oh!

The semifinalists' choux buns now
face the judgment of Paul and Prue.

Hello, Steven.

They look a bit untidy. And burnt.
They're quite flat.

I think your craquelin
was a little bit too thick.

It has restricted the growth.
Let's have a go.

Wow, OK.

I definitely think this
is underbaked.

The choux pastry's too soft.
Very soft.

I think the craquelin has kidded you
into thinking they're ready.

Oh, it tastes great, though! It
tastes exactly like a Key lime pie.

That is absolutely delicious.
It just doesn't look good.

I think you've done this on purpose

so they don't say
style over substance!

THEY LAUGH

The Bakewell ones look very untidy
as well. Yeah.

It's a bit too sweet for me.

Bloody gorgeous, mate!

They just taste heavenly,
but look awful.

I think you have to eat it
like that.

NOEL: Just dim the lights.

They do look beautiful. A very nice
shine on the chocolate.

All of those are the same size.

They do look a little bit flat.
I think it's underbaked. OK.

Do you see how white that is there?
That could be darker. OK.

That's kidding you that it's ready.

So as it's sat and rested,
it's just collapsed slightly.

Let's have a look.

I don't get the rhubarb.
I get the strawberry.

The strawberry's stronger
than the rhubarb. Yeah.

Great flavour, though.
And the craquelin's nice and crisp.

OK, now these look
a bit flat as well.

It's very nice, but I'd have
liked lots more chestnut.

It's drowned by the chocolate.

I almost feel a tinge bit
of disappointment.

Oh, don't say that!

This is the semifinal, and we really
are after absolute perfection.

I think they look really lovely.

All the ones with the brown
craquelin are the same size,

and all the ones with the heart
look roughly the same size.

The craquelin has worked,
I think the colour is good.

It's a beautiful golden brown.

We'll start with
the Valencia orange. Yeah.

This is how I like
to see choux pastry -

soft in the middle and crisp on
the outside.

Mm, very nice orange taste.

The craquelin, it's unbelievable. I
think the filling is delicious, too.

I just think you could've had
more in there.

Now, this is the peach bellini.

That's delicious.
You have that peach in there.

You do get the prosecco flavour.
It really works.

Very, very good. Thank you.
Well done.

Well done. Thank you. Phew!

This one is most unicorn-like.

I had to rush the eyelashes and
things, and then I... Anyway...

NOEL: That's a sentence
you don't hear very often -

"I had to rush
the unicorn eyelashes!"

They are a mess.

Oh, my goodness, look at that.
Oh, come on. Fascinating colours.

I'm not sure it looks delicious -
it looks amazing.

With such a lot of icing,
it's very, very sweet. Yeah.

It's a bit...sickly.

The craquelin,
I don't like the yellow colour.

Just trying to make it a colour,
just trying... It looks like curry.

It looks like curry! It does.
I hope it doesn't taste like curry!

It looks burnt as well. You've got
a dark bottom to the choux bun.

These are banana, cream
and salted toffee.

Mm!

Your flavours inside are good,
but your textures are all wrong.

PAUL SIGHS

Not your finest hour.

The risk I took didn't pay off,

and yet again, I kick myself
for not making it simpler.

A shame that they didn't look great
but not too disappointed.

I'm so pleased about the flavours

cos I lose out on flavour
quite a lot.

Yeah, I'm relatively happy
with those comments.

Well, I'm very happy with those
comments - not relatively happy!

SHE GIGGLES
What am I talking about?

The criticism is definitely harsher
because it's the semifinal.

Nail the Technical -
that's what I need to do.

Wait and see what it is first...

SHEEP BLEAT

What the bakers don't know is that
the recipe they're about to tackle

is the most complicated
ever set for a Technical.

Right, bakers, it's time for
your Technical Challenge.

Now, it's Prue's first semifinal
as well

so who better to set it for you
than her? Any words of advice?

We're after finesse,
elegance, and every element -

and there are lots of them - counts.

As ever, the Technical will
be judged blind,

so we're going to have to ask
these crazy kids to leave the tent.

Off you go!

Prue has asked you to make
nine Les Miserables slices.

This is a traditional Belgian cake

with a pistachio
and lemon joconde sponge,

creme au buerre and
tempered-chocolate decoration.

I know that sounds complicated,
but in reality,

it is complicated.

You have three hours.

On your marks... Get set...
Bake!

CHUCKLING: Oh, my God.
Never heard of it.

This is insane. Look at this -
two pages.

Prue's made it up -
it isn't even a real thing.

She's just making...
I've seen them, they do exist.

Flicked past it in one of my books
once. Probably the kind of thing

I looked at and thought,
"No way am I making that!"

Les Mis was, like,
some tragic story, wasn't it?

So, Prue, why have you chosen Les
Miserables

for the Technical Challenge
in the semifinal?

Because it's about the most
difficult thing I could think of.

One of the difficulties
is getting those layers.

It's quite complicated
how it's stacked up.

The creme au buerre is in three
layers, one of which is raspberry.

Then you have four layers of the
joconde, two of which are pistachio.

Name me three things
that could possibly go wrong.

I could name you 20!
But I'll start with three -

uneven layers, scrambled egg creme
au buerre, overbaked sponge.

But I can go on!

So, make the joconde...

Whisk together 150g of caster sugar
and the whole eggs.

I think this challenge plays
to my strengths...

but so did the choux buns -
apparently.

I need to put in egg whites
super gently.

Don't want to lose the volume.

If I don't do well in this,
I might as well not come tomorrow.

Right, divide the mixture
between two bowls. Flavour them.

This is the lemon zest in this one,

and one's going to
have pistachio paste

and...some green food colouring.

How much food colouring?
That's the question.

So I'm just going to gently streak
a little bit in.

I don't want anything garish because
Prue's asked for an elegant sponge.

Oh, that's very green! I love
the fact it's bright green! Yeah!

You, your shirt, my shirt and that
sponge... Rocking it, rocking it.

Right, let's get these in the oven.
It just says "bake", I bet you.

Yeah, "Bake." Love it.

I don't really know
how long it needs.

Just do five minutes.

I'm going to go eight minutes.

Right, creme au buerre, which
I thought he said creme Herbert,

as in his name was Herbert!

From what I can remember
of GCSE French, buttercream.

So you heat sugar, pour it
into egg yolks, add butter.

We are adding the buerre
to the creme au buerre.

I need it to be quite firm.

NOEL: Firmness is crucial
to a perfect slice.

Although we're on a clock, I do want
to do this bit slowly.

NOEL: If they go too fast...
it could all become a gloopy mess.

I feel like it should be thicker.
I'm stopping for a minute.

I've got a feeling that's not right.

My buttercream's quite runny.
It might be completely wrong.

Oh, no, no.
You've summoned me up like a genie.

I said, "No, no, no." Oh, I thought
you said "Noel." Sorry.

Maybe get it in the fridge.

I'm just starting again. Round two.

I think I was supposed to put it in
slowly over time.

I feel like I've got to get
a move on now.

Bakers, you are halfway through
your Les Miserables slices.

Right, layering.
Putting the jigsaw puzzle together.

Paint this with chocolate.

"And place chocolate side down
in the tin."

I'm reversing the sponge.

It's in. Vanilla creme au buerre.

Pistachio sponges.

It's all about precision.

When you cut into it,
you'll see all the layers.

You want to try and
get them looking pretty.

Uh, it's a little bit too runny.

Topped with one of the pistachio
sponges. It's not very green.

Have you ever done this before?
No, never. Have you? Yeah. Yeah.

I make this all the time
with my kids...

..that don't exist.

Bakers, you've got one hour left.

There's a huge amount
of decoration.

So I've got to temper the chocolate.
But I've never done it before.

I've never tempered chocolate
in my life.

Do you know what I usually do?
Melt it, use it.

To temper chocolate, you heat
it to a certain degree.

You have to raise the temperature
to loosen up all the crystals

and then reform them
by cooking it quickly.

Who would do this? Belgians do this.

Maybe cool it down with some ice,
actually.

Do you know what?
I'm going to do it the sexy way,

using the slab to cool
the chocolate, and then kind of...

give a bit of that.

Pour over the acetate.

Leave to set slightly.

I'd probably stick it in the fridge
if I were setting it

but I don't think it wants to be
in the fridge.

Not a clue. "Score it."

I won't even look round to see
what everyone else is doing

cos I can guarantee you now
it's probably not the same.

WHISPERS: I've no idea
what I'm doing. I can see that.

It's not really scoring very well.
It's not set.

Do you think if we just stand and
stare at something will suddenly...

Yeah.

You've just got to wait till
it's that perfect consistency

so that you can score a line and
it won't close back up again.

Right... "Leave to set in
the chef's rings."

Why have they given me two rings?
You can have a wave of...

And then it would have to be like
a curled triangle?

I can't envisage it.

Ah, I get it now.

I'm really overthinking this!

Bakers, you have half an hour left.

"Remove the cake from the tin."

Come on! Come along, dear.

This is not where I want to drop it.

Oh, all the chocolate's peeled off.

"Divide into nine equal squares."
I'm terrible at maths.

Three times three is nine, isn't it?

"Top with
freeze-dried raspberry powder."

I'm going for the "put as much on
as possible".

What on earth is going on with this?

This being the semifinal,
there's a constant worry,

but I hate worrying cos
it doesn't get you anywhere.

Uh! It's breaking and melting.

I've never seen such a mess.

Bakers, you have one minute left.

Right, bakers, time is up.

Please bring your Miserables
up to the table.

Paul and Prue are looking for nine
elegant Les Miserables slices

with defined layers, firm but smooth
creme au buerre

and light, airy joconde sponge.

Right, we'll start with this one.

I rather like the harsh colouring
because it looks so pretty,

but the chocolate is
a bit of a mess.

Let's see what it tastes like.

The creme au buerre is quite nice,
and so is the joconde.

It just needed to be...neater.

Right, moving on. I quite like this,
looks very neat.

I'm very impressed with
the chocolate. I agree.

And it's held its shape beautifully.
Let's have a quick look.

It cuts very nice.

Joconde's good, it's light,
it's airy.

Pistachio is there as well.
It's lovely.

Moving on to this. It looks untidy.
There's no definitive layers there.

This raspberry in the middle looks
a right mess.

It tastes lovely,

but it's hardly the elegant
patisserie we were after.

Right, moving onto the last one.
This looks quite neat, actually.

But, pistachio could have done
with being a little bit greener.

The chocolate curl
is a bit too gold.

It should just be a tiny dusting.

The sponge on that - do you think
it's light and airy?

It's not the best.

Paul and Prue will now rank
the slices from worst to best.

OK, in fourth spot is this one.
Whose is this?

You've lost all the definition,
and it just looks highly untidy.

In third place is this one.

It's good, but it's not
the best sponge.

In second place is this one.

It was very tight between two
and three. Your sponge is better.

And that leaves Sophie.

It's a very beautiful
Les Miserables. Congratulations.

I really needed it, so I'm really,
really chuffed about that.

What happened there?
Tomorrow's a new day.

I always say this when I do
really badly in the Technical.

I am SO relieved.

I have to get my head down
and work super hard.

I'm just disappointed in myself.

Tomorrow, for me,
is incredibly important.

Just one more challenge stands
between the bakers

and a place in the final.

Semifinal week, patisserie
week, how is that going?

The pressure was ranked up,
and I think they all felt it.

Look at Sophie.

I thought her flavours were not
particularly good in the Signature.

And yet, her miserables...

They were perfect.

I think Stacey struggled
in the Signature.

She's really feeling the pressure.

The choux buns just weren't
good enough.

Steven's flavours yesterday in the
Signature Challenge were delicious,

but they did look a mess.

We've always said flavour is THE
thing that really matters. It is.

The flavour wins out over aesthetic.

Absolutely.
So, Kate has been seesawing again.

She had a brilliant
Signature Challenge.

I think her flavours were fantastic.

Loved the prosecco in her choux bun
and the craquelin on the top

was absolutely perfect.

But, unfortunately for Kate,
she then came bottom of Technical.

It's really tricky coming into
the Showstopper.

They know three of them are going
to go through to the final.

And that is a very, very big thing.

To get to the final, the bakers
must take on the most fragile,

show-stopping structures
they've ever faced.

Well, morning, bakers, and
welcome to your very last challenge

before we find out who is
going through to the final.

For your Showstopper Challenge,

Prue and Paul would like you to
make a sculptural centrepiece
out of meringue.

The judges would like to see
at least two different types

of meringue, either French,
Swiss or Italian.

Your meringue masterpiece must be
embellished with dessert elements.

You have four hours and 45 minutes
to create your fantastic,

sensational meringue Showstoppers.

On your marks...
Get set...
Bake!

Showstopper in the semifinal now.

Nuts!

It is a bit more serious.
Not nearly as much banter.

We want them to make
a sculptural design in meringue.

They have to almost be architects
and engineers as well as bakers

because they've got to design
this thing to support itself.

Choose the wrong meringue,
the whole thing will collapse.

They must also have some dessert
element like curds,

and mousses or creams.

Because a meringue is so sweet,
I would like to see

something with a bit of acidity.
It must taste fantastic.

They've got to come up with
something that brings their
personality into the bake,

books their seat into the final of
The Great British Bake Off.

I think everybody is
up against it today.

Next week is the final. I don't
want to think about it, though.

I've got meringue to make.

I need to nail
the whole thing today.

Absolutely need to nail
every element of it.

Good morning.
Good morning. Hello, Stacey.

Tell us about your
meringue centrepiece.

I'm doing Flamingos In Love.
NOEL: I'm in already.

So I'm hopefully going to have two
flamingos looking at each other.

Do you know what a gang
of flamingos is called?

A flamboyance of flamingos.

Is it? Mm.
PRUE: Are they self-supporting?

They're going to be relaxed,

chilling out on the grass
after a swim. Right!

Then you don't have to do the legs.
Well, I'm not silly!

Stacey's French meringue flamingos
will perch over chocolate boxes

filled with raspberry and lemon
mousse and vanilla panna cotta,

guarding their
Italian meringue nest.

I've practised this a lot.
I'm only just going to try my best.

Hold your hand out.
Do what I can do. I'm OK.

I don't really shake.
Oh, I am now, aren't I?

"I don't really shake!"

So I've got my Swiss meringue
in there.

Using the thermometer
to gauge the temperature

and when it gets to 50 degrees,
take it off the heat.

I'm doing French meringue.

I'm just slowly adding in
tablespoons of caster sugar.

I want to make sure all of the sugar
dissolves in the egg whites,

otherwise it could leach or crack.

By the end it should be nice
and sort of glossy and firm.

So, mine's actually going to be
a tutu, a ballet tutu,

so it's just a kind of throwback
to my ballet days,

a long time ago, now.
I think a lot of people who

maybe I served with would have
no idea that I could bake.

My dance friends couldn't believe
I was joining the Army.

My Army friends couldn't believe
I used to dance.

I'm always surprising people.

Sophie's tutu skirt will support
a nine-layer Opera cake,

her super-sized take on the
classic French coffee gateau,

encased in a Swiss meringue bodice.

So did you used to do ballet
when you were a little girl?

I did, yeah. Not even that little.
I did it until I was about 20.

When I was six, my mother sent me to
the Royal Copenhagen Ballet School.

Oh, wow! I had three lessons
and they asked me to leave.

On what grounds?
I was not any good at it.

Well, they let me do it for
20 years before going...

"You're really not..."
You're a bit tall for it as well?

Tall and a little bit wide as well!

For his ambitious design,

Steven's been inspired by altogether
more cheerful childhood memories.

This whole design is
based around the song

that our nana would sing to us.

The name of it is Some Air Over The
Rainbow and it's a hot-air balloon,

a rainbow hot-air balloon.

Suspended above a lemon
Italian meringue pie cloud

will be Steven's
multilayered balloon,

loaded with macarons,
creams and curds,

and made from a soft style
of French meringue.

I want that crunch, the powder...
PRUE: And a little bit of softness.

And the softness.
How are you going to suspend it?

Central dowel rod. Each disc will
sit through the dowel rod, but

hopefully the shape of the
piping should reduce the cracking.

The cracking is a danger, isn't it?
Hide it slightly, yeah.

Very ambitious, Steven. I know.
NOEL: Who's going in the basket?

Originally, when I first thought
this up, Paul, Prue, me, you,

but I think I'll just leave it
empty.

That's quite poignant. It's a drone.
No-one's flying this one!

Rainbows are rare enough...

Now I'm just adding a touch of
colour cos it's going to be
a pastel rainbow.

..but this semifinal Showstopper's
been graced by not one, but two.

I think that's the nature of
meringues, isn't it?

They are bright, they are bold.
It's a given, really,

that everyone's going to be
doing that sort of thing.

Good morning, Kate. Morning.

Tell us all about your
meringue centrepiece, please.

OK, so, I'm going to do a meringue
rainbow, which is obviously going

to be multicoloured,
going into two pots of gold.

NOEL: I'm looking forward to
this rainbow.

PRUE: It's a lovely idea.

Kate's Swiss meringue rainbow
will stretch over a sky

of Italian meringue clouds,
carved fruit and meringue kisses.

And each rainbow colour will have
its own distinct flavour.

I am using natural extracts
in the meringue.

What's that colour?
That's going to be purple.

I'm colour-blind, actually.
NOEL: Are you?

Yeah. That would explain...
quite a lot, fashion-wise!

You know you're wearing
a pink shirt now, right?

I'm doing red and orange, which is
going to make, like, a bright pink.

I like pink!

I do like pink. Pink, red, orange,
yellow, green, blue, purple.

I think purists might have
something to say about it.

So it's two rainbows going
on over there.

Flamingos here and a tutu.

This is the gayest challenge
of all time! It really is!

One hour gone...

Let's get this started, shall we?

..and piping can begin.

So, I'm piping the French meringue
into little ruffles.

I AM shaking, you know.

A steady hand is critical...

as imperfections now could lead
to unstable structures later.

I'm just piping it on freehand.
Don't want it to crack.

The neck's super important.
Really don't want cracks on these

because they've got to stand
up for themselves.

And once meringue sets,
there's no going back.

It's just about trying to create
shape in there,

cos it should maintain this shape.

I'm just going to form the base of
the tutu skirt.

The rainbow itself is,
like, one piece.

It should be able to support itself.

These are the central layers.

I don't want to think about it
falling over.

Worst nightmare for a baker!

This is Swiss meringue. It's good
for things like sculpting.

The height of precision, now.

You paint the inside of the piping
bag and it comes out like that.

I'm now piping the bodice.

I didn't actually have many tutus.

I performed, like, once in a tutu.

I'm just worried that's not
quite thick enough, that's all,

I don't want it to crack.

I'm just colouring them.

I wrote a song about
a flamingo once.

I'll sing it to you if you win.
I would love you to.

Now they're going in.

It's more like a drying-out
process than baking them, really.

A meringue's texture can
alter radically

depending on how long it bakes.

Low temperature
for as long as I can.

The longer the bake,
the chewier the middle

but the sturdier the materials
for building.

It's going to be in the oven
for about two hours.

Let's see what happens
after two hours.

It's going to go in the oven for
about two and half to three hours.

I'm doing these at 150 for an hour.

I tried it low and slow and it
just turns to toffee.

It's not how I like meringue.

Meringues in the oven...

Dropping them on the floor.

..it's onto the dessert elements...

Blueberry jam. Just getting that
on the stove now.

..that should show off
their flair for flavour.

Cocktail time!

So this is a variation of
a cocktail called a lemon drop.

If you remember back to the song
Somewhere Over The Rainbow,

"Your troubles melt
like lemon drops."

So, I've got my ganache, so the hot
cream's gone in there and it's
just melting the chocolate.

I haven't been to an actual ballet
for quite a while,

but always staring
at pictures and videos.

Making my raspberry mousse
and also my vanilla panna cotta.

If you're going to do a flavour,
do a flavour.

Do you know what I mean?
If you're going to put it in,
make sure they can taste it.

Passion fruit always
freak me out a little bit.

At what stage did someone decide
that they were going to eat that?

Chopping that,
and then I'll start on my cream.

Just going in here?
Yeah. Yeah? Yeah.

Oh, no! No? Is that the wrong one?

Can you imagine if you turned that
on there? It'd come flying out.

What would happen? Would it?
That's it, it's clicked in now.

Maybe we could take someone out.
Less competition!

I do a brilliant impersonation
of Paul - listen to this.

PAUL'S VOICE:
Bakers, you're halfway through.

Yeah, we're good to go.

Steven? Is that all your meringue
done already? Yeah. Oh, my God.

The meringues are cracked slightly
and I know that it might
come back and bite me.

The more fracture lines
in the meringue...

I've got some cracks already.

..the less stable
their final structures.

Cos of the dome shape,

it's just pulled down from
the weight of the meringue.

It's pretty annoying.
I don't have time, really,

to faff around redoing it, so...
just go with it.

Just getting my ingredients ready
for my Italian meringue.

This is the last one.

I'm making the nest out of Italian
meringue and I'm blow-torching it.

It's just adding hot sugar
to whisked egg whites.

It's suddenly got very hot
in here again.

It's unbelievably hot.

And if making meringue
in a sweltering tent
wasn't tricky enough...

I'm like, actually, really,
really hot.

..two bakers are about to make
their own lives even harder.

Working with chocolate is
not my thing.

I haven't done this before.

I only need one egg.
This is the basket.

I thought meringue was difficult

but working with chocolate
is even worse,

especially when it's
350 degrees Celsius outside.

I'm going to stick it
in the freezer.

It'll be good if that works.

I do a pretty mean Prue impression.
Oh, yeah?

PRU'S VOICE:
Bakers, you have one hour.

OK, that's really scary!

Come out.

It could've been a bit neater,

but I needed to get them
in the oven.

The bakers now face their most
nerve-racking construction so far...

They're very, very, very delicate.

There's a huge amount of risk.
Meringue hates being touched.

..knowing just one slip
of the hand...

..and their delicate building
materials will shatter.

A lot of the fracture lines
I'm putting buttercream on

so I'm hoping that, structurally,
it should still work.

I'm going to check out my chocolate,
so I'm just going to whack it down.

This isn't working.

Oh! Oh, my God!

Oh! I did crack it.
I cracked my head off.

The fact they're sticking to another
one will hopefully be all right.

I'm just, like, decorating it now.
I'm just using gold dust

just to give it, like,
a little bit of a sheen.

The heat is killing me.
Pressure's on.

PRUE: Most of them have got
a bit of cracking.

Stacey, one of her
flamingo necks cracked.

This I've managed to put back on.
Still not set.

PAUL: I noticed Sophie's
has cracked quite badly.

The intricacy is quite impressive.

It's going to be a bit of a frenzy,
assuming nothing goes wrong now.

Looking at the colours in Kate's,
I think the vibrancy's there.

Steven's looks quite
a weight to be held up.

I'm not clear on how
this is going to look.

Or whether it will all
stay together.

A little bit stressful.

From now on, every action could
make or break the centrepieces...

I'm going to start
assembling the insides.

..as each element added puts more
strain on their fragile meringue.

I've got the ganache and then
a mousse, and that three times.

Bakers, you have half an hour.

Just 30 minutes remaining, bakers.

This is supposed to be a nest.

Right, creams.
Not a lot of time left.

Little bit of a gap.

That's cracked as well now.

Oh, right.

That's not good.
Not good at all.

Not great.

This is the mousse.

Does he have to be here now?

STEVEN: The heat's starting
to rise a little bit

and I can hear it around
the room as well.

You all right? Cracks.

I'm going to try and cover them up.

Oh, look at my basket!

Ugh.

That's how hot it is in here.

It is literally melting chocolate.

It's holding!

OK, bakers, you have
five minutes.

Five minutes.

This is horrible to watch.

I'm a bit worried about this one
cos it's got a crack in it.

It's just sitting quite nicely
on itself.

Stop faffing around with it,
that's what I need to do.

It's very, very fiddly.

Start piping anywhere there's
sort of a hole or a crack.

God, that crack is bad, isn't it?

Just got to get the clouds on.

They're supposed to be kissing.

Oh, my God.

I hate rushing.

One minute left.

Argh, do not crack on me.

Bakers, unfortunately
your time is up.

Step away from your Showstopper.

Please put your Showstoppers
at the end of your benches.

The semifinalists'
meringue centrepieces

now face the judgment
of Prue and Paul.

My showstopper wasn't as good as it
has been, but hopefully it's enough.

It doesn't look too bad.

If this is the end of
the road for me,

I'm leaving happy
with what I've done.

I don't really know how it
stands up to anyone else's.

All I know is,
the rainbow stands up.

There's so much there that's wrong.

I hope they see the effort
that went into it.

Sophie, please bring up
your meringue centrepiece.

It looks like a hat.
Oh, no, it's not, it's a tutu!

It does look like a hat.

I would love to see you wear that.

What, the tutu or the hat?
Seriously, I'm game for both.

I think the design
is very, very good.

I think your piping is good.

I think the bake on the bottom...
Is that the French meringue? Yes.

It's split an awful lot.

Wow.

Very nice meringue. The Swiss
and the French is very good.

Baked well, as well. Crispy, which
is what you need it to be, the base.

How many layers have you got
to this opera cake?

Nine, I think. It should be seven.

Well, you know, I had to fill it up.

Mmm.

Is that not good?
It tastes amazing.

The coffee mousse lightens
it up, because the ganache

is quite heavy,
because it's so thick.

If you'd done the ganache
a little thinner, it would've been

ten out of ten.
Well, I'm highly impressed.

Awesome. Very well done.
Thank you very much. Thank you.

SHE EXHALES
Thank God for that.

Kate, would you like to bring up
your meringue showstopper, please?

PRUE: Oh, wow!

It's colourful. A bit childish.

The colours are just amazing.

They just shine out at you.

I just love the look of it.
I think it's fantastic.

The rainbow itself
is a little uneven.

You need it to be neater. Yeah.

Every single colour
is a different fruit flavour.

Definitely raspberry.

I like that.

Yeah, I get the different flavours.
They're a bit like sweets.

I think it's wonderful.

I've got an Italian meringue
on the bottom,

which I've lightly blowtorched.

Delicious. The flavours, the creams,
the Swiss meringue,

all absolutely lovely.

It's a bit of a splat
of flavour and colour.

For me, it sort of
freaks me out a little bit.

You have to release your mind.

This is an absolute celebration

of fruit and cream and meringue.

That is Kate on a plate! Yeah!

I love that. Thank you.
Well done, Kate. Thank you.

Stacey, would you like to bring
your meringue showstopper

up to the table?

A centrepiece needs to be easily
recognisable for what it is.

They are obviously birds.

It's quite simplistic,
but you've thought it through well.

I hope it tastes as good
as it looks.

It's a nice meringue, that.
Very good.

It's chewy.

Now, this is the Italian meringue.

It's just too sweet and sticky

and you can only bear
a little bit of that.

It's just very, very soft.

One is filled with a vanilla
panna cotta and raspberry coulis,

and the other is filled with
a raspberry and lemon mousse.

It's like a takeaway dish, isn't it?
It is, it is!

It's probably not the best thing
in the world,

but it is very practical
for what it does.

It's just very tart. Sorry, too much
coulis. It's very nice.

You have the sweetness underneath.

It's very creamy.

That's quite tart as well.

All of that meringue is so sweet,

you really do need something
sharp to go with it.

Well done, Stacey. Thank you.
Thank you.

Steven, please bring up
your meringue centrepiece.

It was a hot-air balloon
and a basket.

It got too close to the sun!

Icarus! Exactly, yes.

The colours are just lovely.

I love those pastel shades.

I imagine if the chocolate basket
was in still intact,

you'd get it,
but just looking at that,

I would think it was a tree.
NOEL: A psychedelic tree.

Yeah, a psychedelic tree.
I wouldn't think it was a balloon.

What happened with the cracking?

It took one crack and then
the weight just...did that.

That shouldn't have happened.

If you make a centrepiece, you need
it to last for four or five hours.

OK. So, the top one is an Eton mess.

Balsamic strawberry
and a clotted cream.

The flavour's nice.

Execution, probably not,
and that comes down to the bake.

What you should have done was bake
it for longer to dry it out totally,

to give it a more stable base.

It's such a pity,
because it's so delicious.

Now, this is the Italian.

That's the Italian meringue
with the lemon drop pie.

It's so good, isn't it?

It's great.

Very light.

I love the flavours.
They taste amazing.

I mean, beautiful.

I just think the method,
the way you've done it,

is not up to normal Steven standard.

Thank you, Steven. Thank you.

NOEL: Prue and Paul must now decide
who deserves Star Baker

and who must miss out on the chance
to become Bake Off champion.

Showstopper. It's the semifinal -
couldn't be more important.

Who stood out for you?

I really like Kate's
because it looks fantastic.

The colours are wonderful.

I thought the flavours and
textures - spot-on.

What about Sophie? Sophie showed the
most skill in the Showstopper with

the meringue, which is perfectly
baked and exactly the right texture.

So does that mean that Sophie and
Kate are both in line

for Star Baker? Yes.
But it is ridiculously tight.

I have to say,

I'm really none the wiser in terms
of who is going to be leaving us.

Coming into today, Stacey was in a
very difficult position.

She was down at the bottom.

I think when you break it down,
what she has done is very simple -

she has piped a flamingo,

baked them off and leaned them
against a couple of puddings.

But it does look like a centrepiece
and it tastes delicious.

I think Steven has been so
ambitious that

he hasn't quite achieved it.

I loved the colours and I loved the
flavours.

If it's not clear-cut, which it
seems it isn't,

do you then give yourselves the
luxury of having a look back?

Initially, we've got to look at this
weekend very closely, and then

if that still doesn't draw any
obvious answers and it's so close,

then, yes, we have to look back
retrospectively on the whole series.

It's only happened a couple
of times.

This is utterly horrifying.
It's so close.

You just don't want to make
the wrong decision.

I just wanted to say before you hear
the results,

this has been the hardest decision
that I've been involved with

in eight years of the Bake Off.

Right, let's start with
the good news.

So, I get to announce Star Baker.

This was a person who delivered
Les Miserables and made everybody

extremely happy, who danced away
with the Showstopper.

This week's Star Baker is Sophie.

That means I've got the horrible job
of announcing which one of you guys

is not going to make it to the
final, which, at this stage, I know,

is the cruellest blow.

It was so tight, as Paul said.

Sadly, the person who won't be
joining us in the final

of The Great British Bake Off is...

..Stacey.

Sorry. OK.

Sorry about that. It's OK.

So close.

You did an amazing job.
An amazing job.

I'm pleased I've gone out on a high,
you know.

It was really, really difficult
decision for them and that's great.

PRUE: I think Stacey should
be really,

really proud of what she's
achieved. I mean, she'll be

disappointed today, but truth is,
she has done something remarkable.

I can go back to being a good mum,
so it's OK.

I could've waited another week,
but it's fine.

It's fine.

I had accepted my fate.
I was going. I was going home.

But I'm in the finals.
I cannot believe it.

I cannot believe it.

We have three great bakers
going into the final.

They're exciting, they're vibrant.

They bring new flavours,
new textures into the tent.

I think the final should be amazing.

Thanks.

I got Star Baker in week nine,

but it's now all about the final, so
actually what happened today kind of

doesn't mean anything any more,
cos it's all about next week.

I'm expecting someone to come over
and go, "We're only messing.

"Go on, off you go."

PRUE: You made it through to the
final.

KATE: Hiya, Dad. Are you OK?
PHONE: Hi, Kate. Are you OK?

I got put through to the final.

HE CHEERS OVER PHONE

Nine weeks of trying harder than
I've ever tried in my life.

I want this more than anything.

I think they were happy for me!
SHE LAUGHS

Next time...

I'd like to ask the three finalists
to step forward.

The winner of
The Great British Bake Off...

I haven't breathed,
I haven't looked up.

..2017...

No pressure. ..is...

HE EXHALES SLOWLY

HE EXHALES

Are you a Star Baker in the making?

If you'd like to apply for the next
series of Bake Off, visit...

Subtitles by Ericsson