Original subtitles

Last time... Let's get your meringue on.

..saw the first-ever meringue week.

It's going to be down to the wire.

Jasmine... It's not going to happen.

..landed a new handshake.

I'll do one with my left hand.

Toby got a regular one...

Well done, Toby. ..and the ultimate accolade.

And the star baker is Toby.

Can't believe it. I hope I can keep it up.

Iain's flavours...

I don't like the coffee and I don't like the chocolate.Really?

..put him in the firing line.

Mm! But it was Lesley...

This is the Bake Off and we are looking for good meringues.

..whose time in the tent was up.

I've got over halfway and I'm very proud of myself.

This time...

Ah!

..it's dessert week in the quarterfinals.

Now that's a panic.

With a scorched signature...

Oh, ho, ho, ho!

..a steamy technical...

Ah! Hot.

..and a towering twist of an English classic.

Can't afford for it to fall over.

Who will soar into the semifinals...

Time is ticking away.

That was quite philosophical.

..and who... Come on, come out.

..will have a wobble?

This is the big moment.

Really excited for quarterfinals.

It's like the finals but like not as important, so...

No, it's like the finals but divided by four.

Yeah!

It's the quarterfinals. That's pretty mad.

It's great. What an achievement.

You've got this, come on.

It's so mad to think that there's just five of us left here.

And also such a, like, amazing group of five people.

The other seven were rubbish.

Go on.

Good luck!

I don't think I've given myself time to think about

the fact that I'm actually in the quarterfinals.

Like, I'm kind of speechless.

I did not think I would make it past the first couple of weeks,

so the fact that I'm here is either a miracle

or I'm actually decent at baking.

Dessert week, practice has been indulgent.

I think I've gained weight this week. But I feel jolly.

Ah, welcome back to the tent, bakers.

It's dessert week. This is what Bake Off is all about.

For your dessert week signature challenge,

the judges would like you to make a highly decorated

Basque style cheesecake.

This cheesecake, characterised with a burnished top

and a silky smooth creamy centre, originated from the Basque region

in Spain around the early '90s.

In the early '90s, we were working on Britpop

and they were working on burning cheesecakes.

The judges would like your delicious take on this modern classic.

You have two and a half hours.

On your marks.

Get set.

Bake!

OK.

I actually love a Basque cheesecake,

but putting one together in two and a half hours is really tricky.

I told my mum and she was like,

"Basque cheesecake, they're the best."

Basque cheesecake is very different from

a New York cheesecake, which is quite heavy.

This is as light as anything.

It's like a cross between a very rich set custard

and a very light sponge cake.

I've never actually properly had a Basque cheesecake.

I mean, I know the general concept of it.

Just egg, sugar, cream cheese, all that.

A Basque style cheesecake's all about burnt

or the browning of the top and sides.

It's normally been baked in an oven that's quite high

so it ends up being almost jelly like when it comes out

the oven and that's what we want.

But if you underbake it, it's too liquid,

and as you bring it out and try and release it,

it will just split and fall apart.

It's getting serious now, innit.

It is getting serious to be fair.

You'd never crumble. You're like... Good little pun there from me.

Ultimately I'm looking for an absolutely delicious cheesecake.

We're right down to the last five bakers.

They should be able to do this.

Morning, Jasmine. Hello, Jasmine. Hi, Jasmine.

So, Jasmine, you are now carrying the flag for the women.

Got to stay in there for the girls.

Representing, babes.

No pressure. I know, no pressure whatsoever.

Tell us all about your Basque cheesecake.

I'm going to be doing a lime cheesecake

then I'm going to have some passion fruit mascarpone curdy cream on top

and then some fresh mango on top of that.

You like your passion fruit, don't you?

I love passion fruit.

You've been using it quite a few times.

I know, I can't get away from it.

Last woman standing Jasmine will decorate her lime infused cheesecake

with candied lime peel, mint leaves and sliced mango,

which she'll shape into a rose.

These are my favourite summer flavours

and when it's 30 degrees outside,

all I want is mango and passion fruit.

Makes me feel like I'm somewhere exotic.

And she's not the only baker using exotic flavours.

In the pan at the moment I've got the pulp from 12 passion fruits.

I'm doing passion fruit because I'm passionate

about putting fruit in my bakes.

Morning, Toby.

Hello, Toby. Good morning.

We want to know about your Basque cheesecake.

So I'm doing a passion fruit

and white chocolate Basque cheesecake.

I'm going to do a 50/50 split on the batter

and then I'm going to add white chocolate ganache to half

and a passion fruit jam to the other half.

Lovely.

Tempered chocolate passion fruit shells will sit on top

of Toby's marbled cheesecake.

He'll zigzag whipped white chocolate ganache

and plans a final flourish of crispy sage leaves.

Tell me, how do you feel coming into this week based on last week?

Do you know what? I think I've felt more confident

practising in the build-up to the week?

He seems calm. Well, being star baker.

Well, it's a good feeling.

Good luck.Thanks very much.

Thank you.Thank you.

Oh, yeah, I forgot you were star baker. Yeah. Well done.

That's me. One week and one week only.

To secure their place in the semifinals...

Got the jam, got the lemon, got the sage.

..the bakers must impress with beautifully balanced flavours.

Orange zest and vanilla. It's very tasty.

Too strong and they'll overwhelm the cheesecake.

I'm going to put so much vanilla in

and I've grated the zest of eight limes.

Too weak and they'll taste bland.

Orange extract, orange zest and

a little bit of orange food colouring as well.

Are you doing citrus business?

Citrus business. Everyone's doing citrus business.

You're doing orange, yeah. Yeah, orange.

Orange everything and cardamom.

I actually don't like my cheesecake either.

You don't like it? No, I don't really like cardamom and orange.

Do you like baking?

No, not really. Not at this point.

Do you like me? I love you, Noel.

Iain may not be a fan

but he's still hoping to impress with his Christmas box cheesecake,

festively decorated with candied oranges, orange curd,

mascarpone cream and cardamom tuiles.

I just thought I'd make it look a bit Christmassy.

But not covering up the burnt bits.

Not covering up the burnt bit, yeah. Are you confident?

You know what? I had, my last day of practice went really well.

So everyone you was patting you on the back. Yeah. Good.

Not here, though.

Which of yous want to pat me on the back? I would love that.

I think I need it right now.

What me? Yeah. Oh, do you want a pat on the back?

A Hollywood pat. Yeah, all right. Well done, mate, yeah. Good luck.

Oh, I really needed that, man. Thank you.

Good luck, Iain.Right, I just need to get this on here.

Oh, that orange is way too strong. Damn it.

Oh, well, it'll be fine.

Whilst Iain plans to dazzle the judges

with his bright orange cheesecake...

Today is all about black through and through.

..Tom is toning it down.

I feel like they're going to look at it and go,

"That doesn't look appetising."

Morning, Tom.Morning, guys, how we doing?

Hello, Tom. So I'm taking burnt to the absolute extreme

and I'm doing a black sesame cheesecake that will be black.

And the sesame flavour is in the... In the cheesecake itself.

Cheesecake. I mean I must say that I'm not quite sure

that it sounds wonderful, but we'll see.

OK.

Hoping it tastes wonderful, Tom's onyx offering will have

a black chocolate lemon on top which when cracked will ooze

a bright lemon curd, his only colour deviation.

There's black everywhere.

Black everywhere. Let it be.

Tom, you're in the quarterfinal.

I know. Quarterfinal.

Feels more intense cos there's just five of you.

Yeah.It's quieter, it's less fun, less noise.

It's less fun? What you on about, it's less fun? I'm here, bab.

You guys help make this whole thing a little bit lighter.

Do you reckon?Yeah, yeah, otherwise if it was just Prue and Paul...

Dry...quaint.

Right, I'm going in the oven. First one in the oven. Ha-ha!

I'm going in. It needs to bake for 45 minutes.

And then it needs to chill almost fully.

So this is going in.

With their cheesecakes in the oven...

I'm at 200. I'll just temp check the middle, keep temp checking

the middle and then, yeah, but it's getting hot so I need to hurry up

and temper some chocolate now.

..attention turns to the toppings.

I'm making a sake plum jam.

Plums, they remind me of my grandad.

I just remember him always eating them when I was younger.

God bless Bernard.

In a tribute to his beloved grandad, Aaron's topping his vanilla

and nutmeg flavoured cheesecake with plum slices,

a sake plum syrup and dark chocolate curls.

I love a plum.

It's like a peach, though. It's hard to get a good one sometimes.

What if you could get a real juicy plum.

Do you like a soft plum or a hard plum?

It's got to be just in the middle, innit.

Yeah. If they're too soft they go a bit tasteless.

If they're too hard, no good, sharp.

No-one wants a sharp plum in their mouth, do they? Very true.

No, you want a succulent plum, don't you?

Yeah, something you can get your mouth around.

Bakers, you are halfway through.

It's a quickie.

Shall we have a quickie? Yeah.

I'm just going to check my cheesecake.

To achieve the burnt top and wobbly centre

that the judges are looking for,

the bakers' oven strategy is key.

Great, so now I've just turned down the oven to 200

so it's got that first blast to start setting the outside.

Bake too high for too long and their cheesecake will curdle and crack.

Love to have my cheesecake out of the oven right now

but that's not happening.

Too low and it won't caramelise or set.

It's not browning at all. I don't know why.

Is your cheesecake browning?

No.

Mine's not either. Does yours normally by this point?

Yeah. Same. Shall we whack it up?

I've put mine on 230.

Yeah, I might do that as well.

All right, I'm going to start an orange curd now.

You're very limited with this because you don't want

to cover up the top too much.

These are just my black chocolate lemons.

Just trying to get this chocolate as dark as possible.

So that it matches the colour of the cheesecake.

The cups are purple tempered white chocolate.

These need to be filled with white chocolate ganache.

Curd is going to be good.

I'm going to save some of this curd because, I don't know why,

just in case. A contingency curd.

Oh, my gosh. Just split it.

It's like white chocolate butter.

My white chocolate cream looks like it's splitting but it looks...

If that was on a dessert island, it's not surviving, babes.

Oh, but it tastes amazing.

It tastes really good.

So good. I'd drink that like a milkshake.

It tastes great. Mm!

It doesn't feel curdled in your mouth at all, does it? Just do that.

But it just looks... Just do that but better.

Ah, cheers.

Do that, elevate.

Ah, got it, got it.

Now I know what I need to do. Thank you.

OK, we're done. Coming out.

Actually maybe another minute. Maybe another minute.

Nice and cracked and burnt and delish.

Now I'm going to get that in the freezer to just start chilling down.

I think it can take another five.

Oh, ho, ho, ho! This is rising like mad.

Wow, look at that.

Shall I grill it quickly to burn it?

I don't know.

Do you know what? I'm not going to.

It looks so much more burnt.

It's got a wobble.

Yeah, it's jiggly enough for me. I think that'll be fine.

I'm literally shaking.

Oh, my gosh, we have a cheesecake and it stands.

Oh, she's big. She's got a good rise.

Oh, God that took forever.

Ah, there we go.

Bakers, you have half an hour left.

Are you wiping your rubber gloves?

You look like you've killed someone and you're cutting them up

so the police don't find the body.

Imagine if we saw Paul's shoe in his proving drawer.

Orange curd.

That's punchy.

This is what I'm going to hide the lemon curd in on the top

of the cheesecake, so it should be a nice little surprise.

Whilst most of the bakers crack on with their decorative elements...

What peel are you doing? I'm doing lime. Orange.

Hmm, I love orange candied peel.

..Toby's still having issues with his whipped ganache.

Oh. Forgot about that and curdled it.

Oh, gosh. This is so stressful. Third time lucky.

Oh, those oranges are looking cool.

I'm really happy with my little twisted candied peel.

I think it will look cute on top. You love a bit of lime, don't you?

I love lime. Do you like margaritas? I love a mojito.

Problem with mojitos is you can drink about 17

then the next day you go, "I'm blind."

I think it's split again. How long do we have?

Bakers, you've got 15 minutes left.

Oh!

15 minutes is not a good amount of time.

Let's see what happens.

Basque cheesecakes are not designed to be demoulded.

There's a reason in Spain they serve them in the paper.

You've got the burnt bottom, so I'm happy.

Oh. Just don't want to feed the judges paper.

Slightly terrified.

I need to get this somehow off of here.

Don't like this. Don't like this.

BLEEP.Can someone lift that off the bottom, please, please, please?

Can someone lift the bottom?

I don't think anyone can.

Toby, could you give me a hand for one second?

Pull that wrapper away.

Where, here? That one, yeah, yeah.

BLEEP.

Damn it. It's split.

Oh, dear.

It's the one thing I didn't want to happen.

Going again, third try on the whipped white chocolate.

In here is sake plum gel.

You want it to be quite tart cos the cheesecake's quite sweet,

but I don't want it to be... I want it to be a bit like...

Making a little flower out of mango.

Oh, I'm not really going to be able to think about this too much.

I think I'm just going to have to do it.

But I can still pull it back and cover the splits.

All I've got to do is pop a lemon on top. How hard can it be?

How much time left? Bakers, you've only got one minute left.

Don't panic. Now panic!

Oh, goodness me. I am stressed.

Blackberries. Bit of mint.

The candied oranges turned out pretty good.

Hopefully you won't see the splits.

Oh, my God, my hands are shaking so much.

OK. Oh, crispy sage leaves.

Just a little bit of this mascarpone on the top.

Bit of lime zest. Passion fruit, maybe.

Chocolate curls.

Bakers, your time is up.

Please step away from your Basque cheesecakes.

OK, we're done. Can't say it doesn't look burnt.

Smashed it, mate.

Thanks. I split my ganache twice.

OK, bakers, you can step outside.

Take your plums with you. Well done, kids. You can do no more.

The top of mine split open when I was unmoulding it.

(BIRDS LIGHTLY CHIPRING)

The bakers' burnt Basque cheesecakes now face

the judgment of Paul and Prue.

Hello, Jasmine.

Hello.

Very pretty. Does look really pretty.

Stuck a little round the edge.

Yeah, it's caught a little bit there, hasn't it?

But it's nicely browned. Proper burnt.

I worked for that.

Well, let's see what it tastes like.

It is very delicious and I like the texture.

You've got the zest in there as well. Hmm quite a lot.

And it really carries the flavour through it.

I think you've done a great job with that

because it's quite cooling as well with the passion fruit curd, cream,

it's delicious, and it works well with the interior.

Overall, very nice.

I am trying not to eat it.

I'd like to just get stuck in and finish it.

Thank you, Jasmine.

Thank you.

Looks great. Very neat.

Love the chocolate work on the top.

If it was in a window of a pastry shop, it would attract your eye.

That's what I like to hear.

Yeah. Very good. Hopefully it tastes good.

Well, let's hope so.

It's as smooth as anything.

It's just set but it's holding.

Perfect jelly wobble. It's been baked really well.

You've got the lovely plum sitting on the top

which gives it that little bit of sweetness as well.

But you need that sour cream,

so together it's quite a refreshing eat.

Think you've done a great job with that. It's lovely.

Thank you. Thank you so much. Really beautiful.

Well, I must say it looks as if it's perfectly baked.

Well done. Let's see what it tastes like.

That is rich. Very rich but very delicious.

Needs more citrus. It's, uh,

I'm getting it from the top obviously.

I'm getting the curd from the top but inside I'm not getting it.

It's just not punchy enough. Sure. OK.

Can I eat one of your little... Please, please do. ..numbers here?

It's lovely.Lovely.

That's the sort of thing you want inside.

So you want the cream and then the zest as well.

Yeah. Hmm.Thank you. Thank you.

Hello, Tom.

Hello.

When you described it, I thought that's not going to look attractive.

Yeah, yeah. But you always surprise us, Tom.

A Goth cheesecake.

It's, it's definitely up your street, isn't it?

Here's a handshake. I mean I don't know whether I find it attractive.

Course you do.

Right. Give it a whack.

Ah, look at that.

Look at that!

Wow.

You need the lemon curd.

The sesame flavour is there, it's not overwhelming at all.

No.It's very much a back note.

Because you could argue there is very little flavour in there.

Hmm. Think it's more exciting to look at.

Yeah. Than it is to eat.

Thank you, guys.

I think it's genius.

Thanks, mate.

I like the candied orange.

They look properly candied. Yeah.

Yeah. The bright yellow round, is that...?

That's the orange.

That's just from the orange or has that got...?

No, there was a little bit of food colouring in there as well.

There's colouring.Yeah. I was going to say cos that looks

a little excessive.Little bit.

You've got a lot of zest in there, haven't you?

Yeah. I think it's a bit too much.

It's almost on the bitter side.

It's like you were grating away

and took most of the pith and not much of the zest.

But I like the texture and it's got a wobble.

I think overall the bake is good, I love the decoration.

I don't think you needed that yellow colouring.

To be honest, I think you could've just stuck to the orange slices.

Yeah. Been simpler.Yeah.

Thank you. Thanks, Iain.

These two are taking the pith.

I just put way too much orange into that.

At this point you can't really afford to have negative comments.

I'm going to hope I do well on the technical.

Pretty happy with that, passion fruit cups as well on the top.

Great. Prue did it in one as well. Chucked it back.

That feedback felt quite brutal, I'm not going to lie.

It feels like I've missed their expectations in terms of

what it should've tasted like.

We'll draw a line under that bake,

move on to the technical and just focus on that now.

While the bakers could prepare for their Basque cheesecakes,

they have no idea what awaits in their next challenge.

Bakers, it's time for your technical

and this one has been set by the Duchess of desserts herself, Prue.

Prue, any powerful words of wisdom or advice?

Yes, for this challenge, time is really tight.

You'll have to do a lot of multitasking

and I'd advise that you read the recipe first.

There you go.

OK, as ever, this challenge is judged blind,

so, Paul and Prue, see you later. Vamanos.

For your technical challenge, the judges would love you

to make six gluten-free orange upside-down puddings.

Your puddings should consist of moist, fragrant orange

and cardamom sponge topped with caramelised orange

and served alongside a delicious silky smooth creme anglaise.

You've got one and a half hours.

On your marks. Get set.

Bake!

Steamed puddings, I've never steamed a pudding before. Bad start.

I've made orange and cardamom stuff,

haven't made orange and cardamom pudding. This should be fun.

I think I know what I'm doing.

There's a lot of instructions. I'm trying to take it all in.

A lot of multitasking and I don't do great with multitasking.

Cos my hair goes everywhere.

Orange and cardamom puddings, proper old school.

I think this is a great challenge.

I think it's a tricky challenge,

cos you haven't given them the bake times.

No, we haven't. Their biggest problem is going to be getting

the bake right. They're steaming these sitting in a bain marie

and it's really important to get that water level at the right height

because if it's just at the bottom it won't cook the top.

On the other hand, if it's too full, it'll be like it was at school,

stodgy and wet.

Shall we?Beautifully baked.

It's moist and it's a real proper crumb.

The intensity of that orange blended with the ground almonds,

I love this. This is so good. Just the right level of cardamom.

I'm not too sure whether I'm eating a cardamom or a bug.

For the syrup, make a wet caramel using 30g of caster sugar.

I want it to be a nice deep colour so you get

the flavour, but not too deep that it's burnt.

One more second.

That looks all right, so pour in the boiling water.

I'm going in.

Add sugar and bring to a golden syrup consistency.

You all right Toby? How's it going?

Do you like puddings? I do love a pudding.

Actually, when I was younger, I always used to have little pots

of steamed pudding that you have in the microwave.

Me too. One minute.Yeah.

They're so easy to cook.So easy.

I mean, who would do this?

I wonder what would happen if you just went, "Ah, I'm not doing it."

Yeah, maybe I could put my feet up. Yeah, come back.

Just see how it goes. Yeah, cheers.

This is smelling delicious.

Add some syrup into each of the prepared pudding moulds,

reserving the rest in a pan. Nonspecific about measurements.

So I'm going to assume that you don't need too much egg

cos otherwise it could make your sponge wet.

How much do you fill in?

I'm going to put a little bit more syrup in there.

Slice and prepare the oranges and place one in each mould.

So let's get out a nice little cookie cutter. That is perfect.

I'm keeping the skin on my orange, it'll be fine.

He says before he inadvertently messes it up.

If I can get that over there, how much?

Uh, you can have all six of these puddings.

OK.

Oh!

Oh, let me have a go.

That's how we roll. That's how we roll.

Just stop, walk away. How do you feel about that?

She just beat you at your own game. In one. Unbelievable.

I think it was the angle.

So make the sponge using the orange puree

and then pour into the moulds.

Butter and sugar are in there now.

So that's just going to get pureed. That's the plan.

Come on, get on with it.

I want it to be as smooth as possible.

A velvety puree will give their gluten-free creations

a deliciously moist texture.

Put it in the big blender and now I'm putting it in the wee blender.

It's getting there.

But if the oranges have been boiled too far,

they'll release excess juice

increasing the risk of a soggy sponge.

That is perfect.

I thought I would get more puree through. It's just juice.

Ground almonds, self raising flour

and I'm going to put a teaspoon of cardamom in.

I put three quarters of a teaspoon in there.

It's super punchy, like, you have to be so careful with it.

Two large eggs. That looks quite pale and fluffy.

And now I'm going to add this puree. This is quite wet.

Batter's done, now I'm going to ladle.

I need to work very, very quickly.

55 in this so do the same for all of them.

But I've done the calculations really wrong. Flipping heck.

Cover with paper and foil.

This is about not letting it ever get too much aggressive heat

and keep the steam in.

Anyone good at knots?

How's my knot tying? Not very good.

I need to move quickly. Oh, God, the shaky hands.

Bakers, you are halfway through.

How much of a bain marie do we do? High?

Or not high? I'm just going to do it not all the way up

but just like relatively high.

What I need is a little bit more boiling water. Ah! Hot.

Overfill their bain marie

and water could flood the tins as they bake,

ruining the puddings.

I'm going to do enough to get close to the bottom

but not touch the bottom.

I feel like that's the right thing to do.

Underfill and the batter won't steam leaving their sponges raw.

I'm going to go just to the bottom.

I'm feeling if I go any higher I'll be boiling them.

Need to go in. I need to go in.

Great, they're in the oven.

OK. How long are these going in to bake for, then?

I'm going to give them close to 40 minutes.

I'd want to cook the orange for like an hour

but alas we don't have the time, sadly.

Meanwhile squeeze the juice of the orange ends into

the remaining syrup and flavour with cardamom,

reduce to a pouring syrup consistency.

This is first time using cardamom forever

and I've used it twice in one day.

That's half a teaspoon's worth.

So I'm just going to reduce this syrup down, gooey bit.

Next is make the creme anglaise.

Vanilla pod, whole milk, double cream, that can go on just a warm.

You crack an egg really well. I think you're cracking.

Uh...

Get out of here.

Three medium eggs, beat those up with the sugar.

Now that's heated up.

I'm going to carefully pour it into my egg yolks.

I'm going to pop it back onto the heat and try

and thicken it up a good wee bit.

To achieve creme anglaise with a silky smooth texture,

it requires gentle heating and constant stirring.

It's very thin. Do I keep going?

I like custard that you can stand a spoon in.

I'm going to cook it off a little bit more.

Take their eye off the ball for a second

and it will split and become lumpy.

Oh, my God. Oh, my God, I totally forgot about my custard.

By the looks of it we might have got away with it, but let's see.

This is what I mean about I'm not good at multitasking.

Bakers, you have 15 minutes left.

15? Flipping Nora!

Shall I take them out? I don't know!

I have no idea if they're done. Oven drama.

I've put my oven up to 170

and I think I'm basically going to leave them in for as long as I can.

I'm just going to do the test where you cover the back of a spoon.

That's nice. I'm glad I caught that one.

Oh, it's got a lumpy bottom. I think that's overcooked.

I am also overcooked. Going to blend it.

Custard's done. I'm going to tweak this syrup now.

That could do with more cardamom.

I'm just going to sieve this syrup so it's not got tonnes of bits

in it. Oh, no, I think that's runny.

Right, I'm going to stop that now so done everything.

I really want to take them out but it was quite a wet sponge.

Much rather be overbaked than underbaked.

The risk is can we then get it up in time?

How much time do we have left?

Bakers, you have five minutes left.

Oh, this is so nervy.

It's coming out. Oh, it's hot.

These are coming out.

I'm just going to do it.

Right. Skissors.

Need to work out how I'm going to turn them out.

Little bit of force. They are literally wet.

They're so hot.

OK. Not mad at that.

Bakers, you've got one minute left.

I need to get a move on.

Blowtorch to caramelise the orange slices.

Flipping heck.

Is it caramelised? That's not looking caramelly.

I think these look good, not great.

Then coat the puddings in syrup and serve.

Pour syrup over.

Damn it, these are too thick.

Oh, no, they're sinking.

Do I have a tiny spatula?

Bakers, your time is up.

Mm-mm.

Please bring your puddings down to the gingham table

and place them behind your photographs.

Oh, mate, those look flawless.

Can't wait to smash one of those bad boys.

It's judgment time for the bakers' gluten-free

orange and cardamom puddings.

Paul and Prue are looking for six flawlessly steamed sponges

crowned with a shiny syrup,

caramelised oranges,

served with a silky creme anglaise.

Start with this one. They do look a bit tatty.

The caramelisation of the orange, I mean, it's broken up a bit,

hasn't it, but it is there.

The sponge looks a bit rough, doesn't it?

It looks under-steamed. How's the flavour?

Tastes nice. The orange comes through nicely.

The problem is it's quite raw, that, in the middle.

Yeah, I must say the creme anglaise is lovely.

It is good. These look a bit neater.

I think the syrup could've been a little thicker.

Again a little under-steamed.

They're a little bit soggy there down at the bottom.

Definitely soggy.Yeah. The flavour's good again.

And it's quite attractive.

Let's have a look at this.

That's not bad. Yeah.

I quite like the top.

Yeah, I do too. Yes, that has been neatly done.

Nicely blow torched. Some are higher than others.

I know. I think that's just more mixture went into that.

Yeah, have a look at this one.

Oh, that's better.That's a better bake, yeah. Much better.

Orange comes through really nicely.

That is really nice. And it's good creme anglaise.

Absolutely. Now I quite like the look of these.

Hmm. And because that syrup is thick enough,

it's sitting there shiny and nice.

I like the oranges on the top.

The oranges look really nice, but it's not so nice to eat the rind.

Yeah. I do quite like that sponge.

It's slightly underdone but it's pretty good.

I like the custard, I like the sponge. It just...

Needed to take the pith. Yeah.

Yeah. They should take the pith.

Moving on. Quite like the streaks from the syrup on the top,

very attractive. Nice height. What does this look like?

Bit of torching.

It's a little runny. Oh, yeah, look at that.

Nicely steamed.Yeah.

Cracking flavour.

Hmm. Nice, deep flavour.

Mm. Overall I think that's decent. Flavour's good,

it's intense, I like the custard, done a good job. Interesting.

The judges will now rank the orange and cardamom puddings from last...

That was good.

Slightly underbaked but not as much as these two.

..to first place.

Right. In fifth place we have this one.

Aaron, it was just underbaked.

Not in the oven long enough. Either that or the water not hot enough.

Fourth spot we have this one.

Whose is this? Jasmine. It's very damp inside all the way through it,

and that's the big issue.

And in third place we have this one.

Who's that? Toby.

It's really quite good. Properly steamed.

In second place we have this one.

You needed to take the pith off,

but otherwise you managed to get it baked.

Sorry about the pith.

Which means, Tom.

These are pretty well faultless little steamed puddings.

They're as neat as a pin, you've got a thick enough syrup,

depth of flavour, very good.

Thank you so much. I'm so happy.

Cos the best I've done is fourth, so to come first in a technical,

that is more than I could've asked for.

That said, it really means nothing.

Because I did not smash that signature

and it's all to play for tomorrow.

This morning, I gave them too much pith

and this afternoon I've given them too much pith,

so I've just, I've taken the pith today.

Aaron and I, like, did really well this morning in the signature,

and then like in the technical we both came, like, bottom two.

So we've like completely swapped.

I feel like it all rests on tomorrow.

Hmm, yeah.

(BIRDS LIGHTLY CHIRPING)

We're on the wrong side to high five.

We could just do a little one.

Ooh!

And then there were five.

I mean, they're doing really well, aren't they?

Uh, there's a bit of movement this week.

Tom's was quite impressive looking.

But unfortunately that was style and substance.

I thought it was really beautifully executed.

Unfortunately it didn't taste great.

I do think that Iain struggled a little bit

with his flavour as well. He put so much orange in.

Yeah. So it became bitter.

What makes it difficult is that Iain and Tom came first and second

in the technical. Yeah, I know.

I do think the only person in a decent position is Toby.

Oh, good.Because he's been the most consistent.

Yeah. It's getting to the point now where it could literally be any of

the bakers who are leaving.

Well, it's definitely going to be one of them.

Hello, bakers. Welcome back to the tent.

It's time for your show stopper

and your last dessert week challenge.

Now after this, unfortunately, one of you

are going to have to "dessert" us.

That's actually quite sad, isn't it?

Yeah. For your show stopper challenge,

the judges would love you to make

a sensational, celebratory, freestanding trifle.

The judges are looking for an elegant and sophisticated

multi-layer dessert, inspired by the classic trifle,

which consists of a jelly,

custard and baked element.

Now, the judges will be looking for something bold

and highly elaborate, much like themselves.

You've got four and a half hours.

On your marks. Get set.

Bake!

Trifle. The most trifling of desserts is the trifle.

Whoa, no! We lost an egg yolk.

Let's keep our work station nice and tidy today.

After black gate, yesterday we don't need more of that.

Today's show stopper challenge is my favourite pudding of all time,

which is a good old English trifle.

This is a freestanding trifle. Now, a freestanding trifle

is all about setting.

It's about the setting of the jelly,

it's about the sponge being robust enough to be able to carry

all that weight.

As we all know, a trifle is delicious cos it's kind

of sloppy and wet and lovely.

That does not line up all that well with making a freestanding trifle.

It's going to be really tempting to put gelatine into the custard,

extra gelatine into the jelly.

Because you want it to stand rigidly.

I have bloomed an absolute metric tonne of gelatine.

Too much gelatine, it'll be like rubber.

Too little gelatine, it's going to split and fall apart.

I've got almost double the quantity of gelatine

that you would normally use.

Can't afford for it to fall over.

But for me, it's all about colour, vibrancy and flavour.

Picking a couple of hero flavours,

running that through all the layers,

and making everything just work together as one.

Just want to make sure it's punchy and delicious, you know.

We are looking for four bakers to go through to the semifinal

next week, and we do have five very good bakers.

This is going to be tricky judging.

Morning, Tom. Morning.

Hello, Tom. Tom, tell us about your trifle.

So on holiday, my mum made us this just amazing dessert every night

when we were in Greece, and it's literally just figs,

toasted almonds, honey and Greek yoghurt and that's it.

So I'm just trying to take those flavours

and just level them up into...

Oh, right...a very wobbly trifle.

Hoping to win back the judges, Tom's trifle will feature layers

of almond sponge soaked in creme de figue

and Greek yoghurt mousseline,

topped with a decorative jelly olive branch.

I like the sound of this. This is going to be unusual.

I do trust your flavour combinations,

your flavour levels I've questioned recently.

I think that that is probably, after yesterday's feedback,

my one small concern.

Thank you. Good luck.

And Tom's not the only baker celebrating a family favourite.

I'm making a classic sherry trifle with a bit of a twist,

cos I'm using elderflower, but this is based on

my Nanny Mo's sherry trifle that she makes for Christmas every year.

A tribute to his nanny Mo's famous Christmas trifle,

Toby's layering sherry-soaked sponges

with strawberry jam and vanilla custard.

Wrapped in a decorative festive collar, it will be topped

with an elderflower jelly poinsettia dome.

Is it a boozy trifle?

Yes, yeah, so...

Yes, Prue. There you go, grandma.

Yeah, yeah. Let's all get dwunky on trifle.

Come on. Trifle has to have booze in it.

Yeah, I know, but there's levels of booze. Yeah.

When it enhance or when it overwhelms. And less is less.

Yeah, I'm enhance, Prue's overwhelm. More is more.

I'll try and meet you somewhere in the middle. Thank you. Great choice.

Thank you very much.

So this gelatine looks pretty well dissolved now to me.

I'm going to pour that into my kilo of honey.

To cement their place in the semifinals,

their freestanding trifles must also deliver on flavour.

It isn't me if I don't have a wee bit of alcohol

so we have some Marsala wine.

And there's one baker in particular

going all out to impress the judges.

So this is for my champagne jelly.

I do like champagne but I do not like trifle.

It's diabolical. It's a pariah of the dessert world

as far as I'm concerned.

Hi, Aaron. Morning.

Tell us all about your trifle.

So my trifle is called trifle haters' trifle,

because I hate trifle.

You can't hate trifle! It's the best.

You're weird. I just don't like it.

You know what? You're in trouble here

because it's my favourite pudding and it's his favourite.

It's my favourite as well.

Aaron may hate trifles,

but he's pulling out all the stops

with layers of raspberry curd,

chamomile custard and peach compote.

Wrapped inside a chocolate collar,

it'll be topped in champagne jelly

and vanilla Chantilly cream.

I love a trifle.

Do you, actually? I love a trifle.

What's wrong with you trifle-loving people?

What, you don't like trifle? I do not.

Are you serious? God, do you like me?

Love you. Oh, that's fine.

Course. Oh, my God.You're not a trifle, you're not a trifle.

Well...

That's not what all the men say.

I've got a lot of layers going on here.

When it comes to freestanding trifles, stability is key.

We're just going to set these in the fridge.

Oh! So allowing enough time for your jelly to set

is a priority.

So I'm going to put this through a cheesecloth

and in the freezer.

So I'll get the strawberry juice but not any of the bits.

So it'll make a super clear jelly, hopefully.

The name of the game today is strawberry.

Jasmine's also holding nothing back,

with multiple layers of limoncello-soaked sponge,

strawberry jelly and vanilla bavarois,

finished off with lemon curd cream and fresh fruit.

So when you practised this,

you managed to get everything set in time?

Yes. I've cut down my gelatine a bit.

But I want it to hold so it wobbles a bit.

But it doesn't completely collapse.

Don't want it like rubber, but then you don't want liquid.

It's that sweet spot. Good luck, Jasmine. Thank you.

Thank you.

So now I think I'm going to start my sponges.

I have had a few problems making this, though.

The most basic sponge ever.

So hoping that doesn't happen today.

Hmm, spongey sponge. Those almond sponges,

there's a lot of almond in them.

So hopefully really make sure that that comes through.

So this is my pistachio joconde.

Literally just a joconde sponge, with pistachios in it.

Very, very straightforward.

How are you going to elevate your trifle today, Iain?

I've got a big dome with jelly arcs that I'm injecting in.

Nice.With, uh, these wee boys.

Yeah, I think, I think Toby's doing that as well.

Toby has it as well, yeah.

Have you been like conferring with each other?

We have. I don't know if he told you, I saw his first iteration

of this trifle. It looked like intestines coated in bile.

I'm joking!

Hoping his dessert is somewhat more elegant,

Iain's trifle is inspired by his favourite Sicilian city, Taormina,

with layers of cannoli discs and strawberry

and Marsala jelly wrapped inside a decorative Sicilian style collar.

On the very top, I have a lemon jelly in a dome,

that's going to have a Sicilian sun in jelly art on it.

A Sicilian sun? Sicilian sun.

As opposed to the sun.

Yes, because the Sicilian sun actually comes out,

and it's not covered with clouds. Does it come out in the day?

Yeah, I think so, yeah.

If it came out in the night, it would be the moon, wouldn't it?

Whoa! Would it?

Sorry, Iain, these guys have just taken off.

It looks very lumpy. So I think I'll bake it,

carry on as normal, and then I might remake it as well.

They're in.

Check it in 15 minutes.

Let's do.. Oh, God, let's do 12 minutes there.

Bakers, you are halfway through.

You've got two hours, 15 minutes left. Make that jelly wobble.

So now I'm going to move on to the creme pat.

This is a whole lot of vanilla.

I feel like I am actually genuinely a little bit at risk

of having similar feedback today as yesterday, about the flavours.

So I'm just going to dial up and make sure I overcompensate.

I'm going to curdle my custard on purpose,

and then I'm going to blend it and I'm not telling the judges

about that. But it works.

Almost goes a bit scrambled egg-ish. Gross.

This is my chamomile custard.

I just need to make sure the texture is right.

That's the one thing which I am apprehensive about.

How are you doing? Are you good?

Time is ticking away.

That was quite philosophical.

Time's ticking away for all of us. This is your week.

Is it? To shine. I hope so.

Sweet prince. Sweet golden prince.

Come on, let's look around this tent just for a second.

World War Two pilot.

Short king.

Lanky Disney star.

And...

No words.

Thanks, Noel. There's no words.

Speechless!

Look at that, perfect. Beautiful. Smoothest custard ever.

Whoa. That's busy.

Beep-beep-beep! That's to check the sponges.

They look OK,

they've probably got enough height on them for me to get

a couple layers out of each one which is what I need.

We're done. These just need to chill.

Springy to touch.

This is like double the height that they were at home.

Don't know if that's a good or a bad thing.

Yeah, happy with that. That is just going to now chill.

Bakers, you've got one hour left.

No, 55 minutes.

Bakers, you've got one hour left.

No, 55 minutes.

Going in with the limoncello. Quite a lot.

With less than an hour to go...

Just blackening the almonds.

..the bakers still need to complete their remaining elements...

Going to fry a cannoli disc. Yeah.

..before they can start assembling their freestanding trifles.

This is the template for my collar. I love Christmas.

I feel like I've made life hard for myself

by doing a wrap around collar.

This is like the heavy lifting of my design.

So it needs to be quite nice.

This is like a sort of an almond avalanche.

It is. This is the messiest I think you've ever... Well done.

It's so messy and it feels like the floor's crunchy as well.

Oh, it is, cos I put some almonds on the floor.

This could be the work of a baking genius.

Could be. You know who wouldn't like this?

Uh... Paul Hollywood.

I might actually start chucking it together.

I'm layering up.

With their trifles comprising of multiple layers...

So there'll be five layers in total.

..when it comes to assembly, it's vital they manage their time wisely.

Little bit of crackage but nothing to worry about.

I'm a cake maker not a joiner.

Any delays...

Sherry, free pouring the sherry. Stop.

I feel like that's probably enough.

..could jeopardise their place in the competition.

It's sherry, it's creme de figue, it's quite sweet.

Makes me a little bit nervous.

Nothing bad ever happens on Bake Off.

Just need to reiterate that,

keep telling myself nothing bad ever happens on Bake Off.

Especially not to me.

I've never had anything bad happen on Bake Off.

BLEEP.

I'm so glad I moved my cake.

I literally, as I said nothing bad ever happens on Bake Off.

The tent tried to finish you off.

Jesus!

This is the most stressful part of the entire thing.

All the figs in the world.

I've still got quite a bit to do.

Cream border.

This is stressful.

I feel like the strawberry's going to fall out.

All right. Jelly's in.

Add some more creme diplomat.

Massive Jammy Dodger.

Everything's riding on this jelly setting.

Put this back in the freezer.

Hopefully that'll set quite quickly.

Right, put it in the fridge for a bit.

I really need the last 20 minutes for that

to just sit in the freezer

and set as hard as it possibly can.

I've got to do my jelly art.

Not sure if my jelly looks like it's setting properly.

I'm just melting these bore holes

with the aim that they'll be olives.

Yeah, that's getting there.

Right, sick. What time are we on?

Bakers, you have ten minutes left.

Now that's a panic.

Onto the final bits.

Ooh!

I don't have a good feeling about this one.

Oh, gosh, this is so stressful.

My trifle's bowed but it's standing. I just need to pipe.

Oh, I don't know if this is going to be a tiny, tiny bit too small.

This is the big moment.

Oh, yeah.

I feel like I should pipe along here as well. Cover up the joins.

I just don't have a good feeling about the stability of this at all.

Strawberry Santas.

Little sprinkle of the greens now.

Come on, come out. It's so close.

Oh, no. It's stuck.

Oh, I'm so annoyed about that.

Just going to take it off at the last minute.

My adrenaline is sitting so high.

Because I feel like it's about to fall apart.

Can you just hold a finger right there

while I just put my gloves on? Yeah, yeah.

Oh, God's sake.

OK, here comes the moment.

Oh, this cream is flowing down the side as well.

OK, so far it's holding.

It looks, it looks secure.

Bakers... Oh, my God.

..your time is up.

Please step away from your incredible show stoppers.

Oh!

Well done, dude. It was so difficult.

I know.

Oh, I can see it squidging.

I'm so gutted about that jelly.

(BIRDS LIGHTLY CHIPRING)

It's judgment time

for the quarterfinalists'

freestanding trifles.

Jasmine, would you like to bring up your show stopper, please?

Worked out really nice. It's pretty solid.

Really beautiful.

I mean, that is remarkable. Oh, wow.

You've basically made a huge Victoria sandwich.

More like a cake but it's a trifle, which is crazy.

The sponge is absolutely delicious. Lovely flavour.

You've got your jelly spot on,

there's not too much gelatine in there.

It's holding up quite nicely and the sponge is still moist.

It's just a lovely flavour.

You could eat quite a lot of that. But...

I'm trying not to.

The lemon curd works beautifully.

So overall I think you've done a fantastic job,

and it's still holding with two massive slices out of it,

so well done. Mm. Thank you.

Take it away before I eat any more.

I think it looks magnificent.

I think you've done the jelly on top of the peaches perfect.

The inset, that with the fruit, looks beautiful on the top.

Looks very neat and precise.

It's all holding very well.

The chamomile is a little bit too rubbery

and the raspberry one is a little bit too soft.

Oh! The sponge is very dry.

You break down each element, there's something afoot with all of it.

Flavour wise, I think you're spot on, though.

The top bit with the champagne jelly is delicious.

I love the flavours. But in order to taste the chamomile, you really have

to just have the custard, otherwise the raspberry would be

a bit overwhelming.I mean, all of it actually tastes delicious.

It's the textures I have an issue with. OK.

It's plumped out over Christmas, hasn't it? Yeah.

I love the decoration. The inlay is quite effective.

Love the Father Christmases. I've never seen that before.

It does look really nice. Jelly's gone a bit awry, hasn't it?

It didn't fully release from the bowl.

Yes! Well done.

Elderflower jelly is delicious.

It's quite strong, but if you have it with a mouthful

of something else, it'd be perfect.

Your sponge is rock hard. It's very dry. Really? Oh.

I think less sponge would've been better in this.

More custard, less sponge,

but I do love all the flavours in this.

And it's funny, which I love.

Yeah, it's a shame about the jelly on top.

But it did taste good. It tastes really good.

Thank you, Toby. Cool. Thank you.

Well done.

Tom, I think it looks absolutely magnificent.

Thank you. I think it's amazing.

Too big, I think. Your sponge layer is... Too big?

..pretty thick. Yeah.

But it is very neat.

Let's hope it tastes great.

With a cake this big, how do you cut into it?

You've done it. Fantastic.

Look at that.

So this is almond sponge, so ground almonds?

Ground almonds, some almond extract, vanilla extract.

Bit too much extract.OK.

You could call that an almond trifle,

because that essentially is all you can taste.

In fact, it's all pretty bland except for the sponge.

We're not getting a lot of fig,

because English figs don't have very much flavour

and it's dominated by the almond.

Love the design, love the set up.

Flavours and textures, for me, not there.

The jelly top looks amazing.

Is it bulging a bit?Yeah.

I love the inlay on the sponge. It looks very nice.

That jelly looks particularly good.

What's the jelly on the top meant to taste of?

It's a slight, slight bit of lemon. No! No flavour.

There's no flavour. It tastes like water.

Does it actually?

Yeah, there's no flavour in there.

The joconde is quite firm.

The thing is about that joconde, it doesn't taste nice. OK.

The cannoli I like, actually. It added something to it.

Normally, you can rely on you to do very good, punchy flavours.

Flavours are all quite pale,

except the sponge which I like the flavour of.

I don't agree with my fellow judge here.I'm glad.

I like the whole concept.

You're just a bit short on flavour. Thank you.

Thanks, guys.

Well done.

That didn't go well. Not, like, at all.

I think that was the worst feedback out of everyone there so, yeah.

It is what it is. It's fine.

That was just a really average piece of food.

The almond took over, and it just all became a bit dry,

so it's like these small decisions you make suddenly have massive

implications down the line.

(BIRDS LIGHTLY CHIPRING)

Well, that was quite tense, if I'm honest with you both.

Really tense. I was a little bit disappointed overall.

Iain's, I didn't like the sponge, didn't like the layers.

I don't think a lot of the flavours were coming through strong enough.

That jelly on top had no flavour at all. It looked good, though.

I did like the look of it, it's like Art Nouveau.

It's like the '70s. It's really unusual.

You've got to back it up. Yeah, yeah. You have to back it up.

Likewise with Tom, Tom's was quite upsetting because it,

it showed so much promise. Yes, it did.

And I'm sorry, but the almond extract dominated

every single layer.

Don't forget, for me, as well in the signature yesterday with Tom,

his signature, however effective it may look, didn't carry much flavour.

So we've got a strange situation

where Tom's again down at the bottom.

Iain's down there with him this time

and I think those two are the ones in trouble.

I think Aaron did a fairly good job in the show stopper

and saved himself.

Aaron, by the way, had wonderful flavours all through his trifle.

I think Jasmine's done a great job

and I think that Toby is sort of lingering a little bit.

At this moment, we're trying to hunt for who are going to be

our four semifinalists. Yeah.

And we're looking at layers now.

But the standard's great, isn't it? I mean, they're beautiful trifles.

I noticed that some of them were like getting fatter as well.

Why was that happening?

Like us. Like us in the show.

I mean, Iain's looked like me as like a...

This week. It's cos it's week eight!

That's what happened to us.

It's like they need to undo their zip.

Yeah, that's why it's gone like that.

Congratulations, bakers, on dessert week.

You did so, so well.

I've got the great job of announcing this week's star baker.

This week's star baker is...

Jasmine!

How many is that? Is that four?

Well done, Jasmine.Come on!

That means I've got the really tough job

of announcing the person who is leaving us.

At this stage, it's a horrible job,

because we love you all and you're all brilliant bakers.

But the person who is leaving us this week is...

..Iain.

Short king! Short king!

No!

I knew it.

I'm very proud of making it this far.

I never thought I'd make it past the first couple of weeks,

so to make it to the quarterfinals

is something I couldn't have ever thought of.

Big man!

Oh!

We've had the best group of bakers, I think.

It's been fantastic. I've made really, really good friends.

We always have a laugh,

and it's just been fantastic.

I'm gutted, mate.

I have no idea how I keep doing this.

Honestly, I can't believe I'm going to be in the semifinals.

Well done, Toby.Thank you so much.

Don't thank me, thank you. You did it.

We live to see another week in the Great British Bake Off.

What a time to be alive.

Can't believe it's semifinals!

Wow!

How the hell have you done it?

Who would have thought you would have got here?

When I come back next week,

it's going to be full-on honey badger fight.

Jasmine's not having that star baker!

It was really close. I know!

Scraped through this week.

Got to get the flavours right. Yeah, 100%.

Paul cannot turn around next week and say he doesn't know

what the main flavour of something is.

It's got to punch him in the face.

Well done.

Star baker just felt so out of the realms of possibility

for this week, and I honestly cannot believe it.

I knew you'd get star baker again!

I'm through to the semifinals!

I don't want to think about it too much, cos then I'll start

thinking about what I actually have to do between now and then,

but oh, that's cool!

Next time...

They've all burst, every single one.

..it's the semifinal.

Squeaky bum time.

Go on, go on, go on, go on, go on, go on.

Who can perfect patisserie?

This is about intricacy...

This is not ideal.

..and delicacy.

And who will fall...

Um...

This is tense, this is.

..at the final hurdle?

So close.

I can feel my place in the final slipping away.

No!

I can't accept that.