Original subtitles

..Danish Week. Ah! Ooh.

This looks fun. Shoo. Shoo. Shoo. Shoo. Shoo. Oh, God.

And it was Ruby... That's delicious. ...who won Star Baker.

I didn't think Bake Off could get any better and it just did.

Oh, man.

But after a Scandi drama...

This is just not right.

The bread's awful. ...Rahul thought his time was up...

I don't deserve to be here any more.

...and it was Manon... You've made a French loaf.

...who had to say au revoir.

I've learnt so much.

I'm a stronger baker and, hopefully, a stronger person.

This week... Semifinal. Ah!

...the bakers must enter the unforgiving world...

Pastry out. Pastry in. Pastry out. Pastry in.

...of high-end patisserie ...

This is not me. Ow! So many things going on at once.

Ooh, chocolate!

...where perfection is king...

Oh, look, beautiful. ...and the smallest mistake...

I'm going rogue. ...could send them home.

Don't have time. Don't have time.

I don't know what I'm doing.

Is Kim-Joy OK?

Oh! The person who is not going through to the final is...

Noel, I'm a little bit worried about this week.

I mean, partly cos it's the semifinal but also it's

Patisserie Week and it's French, I don't really anything about it.

Don't worry, I've got this. I'm half French.

No. Which half?

I don't know my parents never told me.

Oh, OK. It'll be fine.

It's Patisserie Week.

It's the semifinals and in this baking battle royale,

four must be whittled down to three for next week's grand final.

I would love to be in the final.

But also there is that added pressure because the judges

were really harsh last week and you just don't want to disappoint them.

I think it's going to be brutal this week.

The judging, the expectations, so I'm really scared about this week.

I don't want to think about it now

cos it's only going to stress me out. I'm pumped now.

Like, this is... Come on, it's week nine.

I can't believe I'm still here.

If they're to make it to next week,

the bakers must survive three intense patisserie challenges.

I think I can make stuff look pretty and that's kind of a big part

of patisserie

I'm at my brink where I'm, like,

I don't think I've got anything else to give

but, for the final, I will find something from somewhere.

It's going to be emotional.

It's going to be totes emosh.

Hello, bakers, welcome back to the tent.

It's the semifinal.

How tense is that? No. No tension at all.

Er, for your semifinal Signature Challenge,

the judges would like you to make 24 dipped madeleines.

Now, you need to make two batches of 12 madeleines each

and they need to be two different designs and flavours.

Your dipping can be as creative and decorative as you like

but you must produce clean, sharp lines.

Now, as it is the semifinal,

the judges are expecting an extremely high standard.

Can we say semifinal a bit more? I don't think we've said it enough really. Semifinal.

It's the semifinal. Semifinal. Yeah.

You've got an hour and a half for your semifinal Signature Challenge.

It's the semifinal. Yeah. On your marks.

Semifinal. Get set. Semifinal. Bake.

Semifinal. Semifinal. Semifinal. Semifinal. Ah!

It's weird, there just being, like, four of us cos there was 12.

So yeah, that is quite scary.

I never had Madeleine.

Obviously, in India, we don't even know what they are.

It's semifinal week. It's Patisserie Week.

It's all about finesse.

It's about precision.

Madeleines, I think, are deceptively difficult to do.

A perfect Madeleine has its completely classic shape.

It has to show the lines of the mould

so that when you turn it over, you see these perfect ridges.

And on the other side there'll be a hump.

Not a great camel's hump but just a gentle rise.

You've got to get that batter right, right from the start.

You want to light, fluffy Genoese sponge but before you put the batter

in an oven, you've got to chill that batter down so when the batter hits

a hot oven, it blows up and this is what creates a gorgeous bump.

We want all these madeleines to look superb.

So I've got the Madeleines in the freezer

because we've only got a certain amount of time

and to get that bump you would normally chill the batter overnight but... no, no.

The thing that makes Madeleines different from other cakes

is the nice little hump.

That bulbous bump that you get, the little camel hump.

The hump actually looks quite cute.

Because it's a Genoese-style sponge, the traditional Madeleine recipe

relies on air beaten into eggs to give it its rise.

That's my eggs and sugar mixture.

About to whisk that for about five minutes.

Get it nice, light and fluffy.

However, with the all-important chilling time severely limited,

all the bakers are using a modern day short cut.

I am adding one and a half teaspoon of baking powder.

So I have some baking powder going into my plain flour

so it'll help give it a bit of a rise.

I'm trying to get that elusive bump.

Hello Ruby. Hello. Hello Ruby. Hi.

So, Ruby, your madeleines, tell us about them?

My first batch is a raspberry and lemon.

So you have fresh raspberries in the Madeleine batter.

Are you, uh, freezing the raspberry?

No. OK.

No. No.

As well as her unfrozen raspberry filled madeleines,

Ruby will be making an orange and stem ginger flavoured batch,

which she'll dip in dark chocolate and coconut.

Just to pre-warn you

that the judging is going to be quite brutal.

Don't worry, Paul. I can take it. It's fine.

I shouldn't have said that should I? Don't. I mean, don't.

I really am very worried about the judging.

Well good luck, Ruby. Thank you very much.

It's fine. It's fine. You know what you're doing.

Do I, though?

As if things weren't tough enough, Ruby's going head-to-head

flavour wise with two times Star Baker, Rahul.

I am going with quite an original flavour.

I'm using one with lemon and raspberry dipped in white chocolate.

The other is orange dipped in chocolate.

Like Ruby, Rahul's baking fresh raspberries into his batter while

he'll inject an orange curd into the hump of his other madeleines.

Did you ever try it without baking powder

and just using the egg whites?

I did once but it didn't have as high hump as I wanted it to be,

but one of mine is... Should have the hump, the orange one.

And the lemon one doesn't have the hump

because raspberry seeps out lots of liquid.

I'm getting the hump now. Sorry?

I'm getting the hump now. What do you mean?

He's joking. Good luck anyway, Rahul.

It's the semifinal. No pressure at all.

As well as delivering on the classic hump, to succeed today the bakers

have to take the flavour of their madeleines to a whole new level.

This is actually a mint teabag.

It gives it a really, kind of, delicate mint flavour.

So this is my orange batter.

Just adding the zest of something really lifts a bake.

What's that there? A bit of lemon? Bit of lime.

A bit of lime. For the mojito.

Ah, craziness. Craziness.

Now, uh, surely there's alcohol in here somewhere? I know you well.

In it goes. OK, what is it? Uh, this is spiced rum.

Oh, a bit of pirate. A bit of pirate rum.

Well, both my, uh, madeleines are cocktails so, you know...

I love that about you.

Briony's cocktail cakes are one part espresso martini

to one part mojito. Along with run,

the sponge is flavoured with lime zest and mint tea.

We're not going to get tea leaves in our mouths are we?

You do get a few but they're very fine.

I went through a lot of teabags to find ones that wouldn't get stuck in your teeth.

Well, good luck, Briony. Thank you. I will do my best. Thank you very much.

Cocktails? Come on. Yeah. Come on. Who doesn't like a cocktail?

Absolutely. Prue's all over this.

With their batters made, despite the race against the clock,

the bakers have to find time to chill them.

I'm just going to put it in the freezer for 20 minutes

We've only got an hour and a half for this challenge,

so ten minutes will do.

Semifinal. Yeah, what about it?

What will that mean?

Will you be excited? I'll be really excited.

Look, how shocked would you be?

Let's be honest, I didn't think you'd get past week two.

I didn't think so either.

So semifinal, yeah.

I gotta stay focused.

I've not made them before so I'm not really sure, you know,

what makes a good Madeleine?

She might be unfamiliar with these small French sponges but

Kim-Joy's aiming for perfection

with her lemon-dipped ginger madeleines

and her orange flavoured versions,

which will be transformed into cute little bunnies.

I knew there would be animals in there somewhere.

I couldn't let you down, Prue.

Well, if you get the flavours right, you'll be doing really well

because we know that you will decorate very accurately.

Get your flavours right. You're very arty. Very good eye.

Ah, that's nice coming from you.

Your stuff looks beautiful, always.

Bakers, you are halfway through. Halfway through.

The semifinalists can only hope their batter is sufficiently chilled.

I think I have to go with it because I don't really have much option, do I?

Wait any longer... Oh sweet Lord.

...and they won't have time to bake and decorate.

This is the lemon one.

This one definitely needs a little less.

Consistency is key if they're to get the classic Madeleine shape.

Not ideal but I think maybe it's the flour I've used.

I've used double zero so I think it's too fine.

I guess you'll only really know when it's come out.

For me a Madeleine has got to have that characteristic bump, obviously.

But not a huge hump.

No and, again, I worry because they're all actually using the baking powder method.

See it almost distorts the overall look of the Madeleine.

OK.

And the other thing is,

all this business of putting raspberries in is a bit of a risk.

It's going to be interesting to see how they cope with this.

It's only an hour and a half.

There's not much room for manoeuvre.

If you get it wrong, you can't do them again.

Yeah.

And they're going in for about ten minutes.

These first few critical minutes in the oven will reveal

if they've done enough to create the hump.

It's the temperature difference that gives it that bump.

The batter being cold, the tray being cold.

The bake is ridiculously important in a Madeleine.

It has to be spot on.

I shouldn't have put the raspberries in.

Bakers, you have 30 minutes left.

Half an hour. I love watching you work. Powerful. Yeah.

Right, uh, what am I doing?

As this is Patisserie Week...

There's no time to even breathe.

...artistry and finesse are all important.

So many thing going on at once. Ooh, chocolate.

So the bakers must use the remaining precious time

to create the all important finishing touches.

No. No. No. Ah! It smells good. What's in there?

That's basically orange curd.

Semifinal.

Yeah, I'm not really thinking about that because then I'll panic

and everything is going to go wrong.

So I'll just be... Not think about what it is, and then we'll see.

Yeah, I'm pretty much getting every other word.

That's it really.

Apart from the one you need? No.

Nothing there at all.

OK, we've decided to stop communicating.

Sorry? Oh no. They're just not humped at all.

They've got a hump.

Yeah, the rise looks good.

Just 30 seconds.

What's happened? Mine are so flat.

I think it's definitely the flour.

Think I'm going to go for it.

Yeah, they look nice.

I'll get these out.

Kim-Joy's look incredible.

I think they're good. I'm happy.

Look at that Madeleine.

It looks amazing.

Yeah. It's a good rise. These didn't go to plan.

This is not right. I shouldn't have put the raspberries in.

They look all right. They look nice.

But I just put a little less batter, that's it.

I'll go and get the red cocoa butter one.

All right. Don't worry. I'll man the fort.

They do look a little bit small.

Is that good or bad?

You're not supposed to cut madeleines but I'm going rogue.

Just keep doing it. Keep doing it.

Bakers, you have 15 minutes, just 15 minutes. Ah!

I am sat down now so that means it's decoration time.

The judges are expecting two batches of exquisitely decorated Madeleines.

Quickly, quickly dip these.

He's a bit wonky. He's a bit wonky.

Getting them right is all about precision.

You're running. Why you running?

Not long left and I've got 12 bunnies to pipe.

Just on its own, a great sentence.

I like doing, like, cute stuff, you know, that kids would like, as well.

It makes me happy.

OK, that was very shaky.

Oh I'm going to get absolutely annihilated.

Bakers, you have one minute, just one minute.

My hands are shaking so, so badly.

It's not in any way set.

Oh no, no. There is no point doing that. No point doing that.

Just go with the freeze dried raspberries straight ahead.

They just don't look as pretty as everyone else's.

Bakers!

Your time is up.

It's just rubbish.

I knew yours would be super cute, Kim-Joy. They're adorable.

How did you get that huge hump?

You've got a good hump on you, Kim-Joy.

I'll tell you that for nothing.

Oh, God, what an atrocious mess.

HE INHALES AND EXHALES DEEPLY

Overall, I think they look amazing. There's lots of lines...

Yeah. Yeah. ..it's defined.

That's the perfect hump for this.

What do you think of these, Prue? When you see the two together,

you think, obviously, those have risen better.

Yeah. It's the same batter. It's just the raspberries. Yes.

It's very good.

The raspberry perfectly balances the white chocolate.

It has affected the overall look, but to counter that, you've

managed to put in raspberry that creates a great amount of flavour.

OK, well, let's try the orange one with the chocolate.

Yes. It has a little bit of orange curd in the middle.

I don't know... Some of...

Look at that. I can see that, right in the middle.

That's absolutely delicious. Thank you. I mean, really good.

You've managed to put the feathering on.

The hazelnut really marries well with it as well.

That's a great madeleine. That is a real little triumph.

Well... Very good. ..triumphant!

Thank you, Rahul. Thank you.

Rahul? Rahul?

Stop grimacing. Smile!

Oh, BLEEP!

Hello, Ruby.

Hello. Hey, Rubes. Hi. Hello, Rube.

They're a little bit of a mess. There's a disaster on both of them.

Looks like it's been fried, almost.

Too much butter on the inside of your tray.

Not much of a hump. Yeah.

It's got almost the texture

of a slightly underbaked polenta cake. It's heavy. Right.

I think your flavour's fantastic. You have got orange,

you have got the stem ginger. Yeah.

It's a shame it doesn't look great, but the flavour of it is very good.

This is the one with the raspberry in it? Yeah.

Same thing. Bit sad. Flavour's amazing, though.

Not your best. No. Thank you.

Flavour's good. I mean, I'll take that.

If I'm being honest. I'm gonna take that as a win.

I like your rather zany icing, but we were looking for perfection.

The hump's actually not bad.

It could be a little bit bigger, but it's not bad.

That looks like nice sponge, doesn't it? Mm.

I'm not getting the lime. No? OK. Just the mint?

I'm struggling with the mint as well. Ah!

If you said that was vanilla, I'd believe you. Oh, OK.

But espresso martini, surely that's gonna be the one.

Hmm? This will be stronger. Yes.

I love the coffee bean flavour.

Thank you. It's just delicious.

That sort of crunchy, strong coffee.

It's a shame about the colour. It is a bit too dark.

Yeah. But I think the flavour's fantastic.

Oh good. OK, thank you.

As I expected,

they're beautifully iced and they're very neat and very uniform.

But I can see immediately

that you've got too much baking powder in there.

You've got a big bump at the back.

You see the way they're almost... It's pregnant.

I'm not getting a massive amount of flavour in that one. No.

You certainly get the citrus in the icing.

You don't get any flavour from the madeleine itself.

It's almost not enough sweetness and not enough lemon.

Hmm. Be fascinating to see what the other one's like.

And that's the orange one. You can actually smell the orange.

The flavour's much better. OK.

Beautiful orange in the sponge.

The orange icing complement each other.

These ones, I love. Yeah. Orange is a big hit.

Half good! Thank you.

Thank you.

Don't know, I don't really know what madeleines are meant to be like.

I just thought the bigger the hump, the better.

I had been worrying about the lack of hump, bump,

lump, whatever you want to call it.

Can I ask you something? Why are people laughing about hump?

The bakers are about to take on high-end patisserie in the longest

ever Technical seen in the tent.

Hi, bakers. Welcome back to your Technical Challenge,

which today has been set for you by Prue.

If you don't like it, I do have her e-mail address.

Any advice, Prue?

You've all got a freezer. Use it.

There we go, and indeed off you two go.

What are they up to today? Prue is gonna give Paul a makeover.

Wow. He wants to look like a geisha girl.

That is not gonna be a stretch.

OK, for your Technical Challenge,

Prue would like you to make a torta setteveli.

This patisserie must be comprised of seven layers.

Two light chocolate Genoise sponges,

a silky smooth hazelnut bavarois,

crunchy praline base and a chocolate mousse.

A lot of words there you didn't know what they meant. Most of them.

You have three and a half hours for this almost impossible task.

On your marks... ..get set... ..bake!

Oh, my good lord.

Never heard of it. Never made it.

Don't know what half the elements are.

It's the kinda thing you'd see in a shop and think,

"Wow, that's complicated.

"I won't bother making that."

I really don't like Technicals.

So, Prue, torta setteveli.

What a fantastic looking cake for the semifinals.

I know, it's beautiful, isn't it?

In English, it's called the seven veils cake.

I mean, it's an absolute indulgent, decadent feast.

Let's have a look at these layers.

I know, I'm so excited about them.

Look at that.

It has two layers of chocolate Genoise

and two layers of hazelnut bavarois,

a praline crunch layer

and a chocolate mousse on the top.

Where can they go wrong with this cake?

The main problem will be timing as always, because this cake is

in and out of the freezer so that the next layer will set.

And then at the end, we want this perfect mirror glaze.

It has to be just set and silky.

Gorgeous.

Even a professional patissier

would be under huge pressure to produce this.

We are asking the near impossible.

It says to make the Genoise batter.

Trying to get as much air into it as you possibly can.

Gotta watch everyone. Everyone's on their game, you know.

Especially that guy.

That looks super.

It's really holding its shape.

So I've got to very carefully fold this flour and cocoa

into the eggs and sugar.

I hope that's OK.

I'm a bit worried now.

Just hope I've not knocked out too much air now.

Bake.

Right, 25 minutes, I think.

God, I'm so hot already.

For the praline, toast the hazelnuts and make praline.

I love an instruction like that.

I've never actually made praline,

but you just make a caramel and chuck it over nuts!

Come on. Cool quickly.

When the praline is set, make a paste.

So I guess you just blend it all up.

Right, so that's the praline paste.

I'm just onto the hazelnut bavarois now.

What's a bavarois? Someone tell me.

It's basically custard set with gelatine.

Do you know what a bavarois is? No.

I think I'm the only one in here that doesn't. I don't think so.

Noel and I are leading the way of people who don't know what...

Yeah, but you guys present. We're not bavarois people?

You're not supposed to be bavarois people. You don't have to be. No.

Good name for a band though, Bavarois People.

For the hazelnut bavarois, mix 175g of the praline paste

combined with milk and 300ml of the cream.

Make a custard. Just keep whisking.

Keep it smooth.

Remove from heat, stir in the gelatine.

Whisk the cream to soft peaks and fold into the custard.

It smells fantastic.

I have no idea what I'm doing, but it smells amazing.

Chill. OK.

I'm just making the praline layer.

65g of very melted chocolate.

Add a... feua... feuolle... feua... feua... feuilletine

and remaining praline paste. Set aside.

It's like a really posh Rice Krispies cake, isn't it?

I think that's it.

The bakers now have two and a half hours remaining

in this epic Technical Challenge.

Right, let's get this cake out.

Looks OK. It's not flat!

It should be done, to be honest.

Yeah, I think it's all right. It's risen.

Do you talk to it?

I think he's saying he's cooked.

Wow. That's rude. That cake was rude to me.

Oh, what did he say?

I can't say on camera.

Wow!

That's so rude. You don't even know my mum.

See you later. Good luck.

Just need to figure this through, because I've got to assemble.

This is very... I don't know to say it...

..little bit nerve-racking as well.

Slice the sponge horizontally.

Place one slice in the bottom of the cake tin.

Spoon the praline crunch.

Each layer needs to be equal.

OK, I think that's about as even as I can get it.

Then add half the bavarois.

If it doesn't set, then I can't really put anything on top.

It's still pretty runny, so freezer is the way forward.

It's gonna take ages to set.

The freezer is my friend. It is. Right.

Bakers, you are halfway through. Wow. I didn't see you,

cos you sort of blend in today with the background.

So, chocolate mousse.

I've never done a chocolate mousse.

First, make a chocolate ganache with 100ml of cream.

The thickness of the ganache depends on the ratio of cream to chocolate.

It's a bit liquid.

Whisk the 250ml remaining cream and fold into the ganache.

I don't know how to get it thicker. I think I just put it in the whisk.

I think this should work.

I've just really got to zoom.

OK, that's all wrong, I think.

I just don't know how to make a thick chocolate mousse.

That's it. I'm going home.

Oh, no. Is Kim-Joy OK?

You OK? Yeah.

I think I'm just ready to go home.

I've never made a chocolate mousse. I don't know what I'm doing.

You all right? No.

You hate Technicals, don't you? Yeah.

Is it going all right?

No. Ooh, no.

You're gonna be OK though, right? I'll be fine.

I'm just gonna chuck a glaze on it,

even if I don't get the mousse on it.

I know I'm gonna be last place, but I'm gonna try,

cos I'm not getting a mousse on there.

It's gonna be all right.

Bakers, you have one hour, just one hour.

Right, what have I got left to make? Mirror glaze.

I have done a mirror glaze before.

They literally show every single flaw.

Basically, whisk cocoa powder and double cream,

sugar and water and bring them to a boil.

Add in the gelatine now. Big blob of gelatine.

And it is my first-ever mirror glaze.

Maybe it's a little bit too thick. It's quite gloopy.

OK. Yeah, it's definitely set.

It's done.

Yeah, they've set, which is really good.

So it needs to be covered in chocolate mousse.

Basically trying to get it smooth as quickly as possible.

Freeze until set.

I'm trying to make the chocolate mousse again.

I just don't think Technicals are my thing.

How much time's left?

Bakers, you have half an hour remaining, half an hour.

To decorate, make tempered chocolate curls.

Scaring me a little bit.

I'm gonna try and temper chocolate. LOL!

It should be about 32, I think.

Oh, no. This is annoying. I stupidly make it too hot.

Hello. Hello. It looks like you're gonna cry. Don't cry.

I'm trying not to. I'll cry for you.

No, please, don't cry for me.

Please, don't cry.

Please, don't cry on the chocolate.

This is for the chocolate curls.

Is that what it is? It's not very curly, but...

..they look all right. They're curls and they're chocolate.

Oh, I should have done it the other way.

This looks like a disaster.

Freezer. I'm just gonna leave it a minute.

Not that it's gonna set in a minute.

There's only 15 minutes left

of this complex three and a half hour Technical

and all the bakers have yet to apply their seventh and final layer.

The mousse is frozen now. Let's get this glaze on it.

One baker is still struggling with her sixth, the chocolate mousse.

Argh!

Come on. Please, cover.

Something is wrong here.

The mirror glaze has just set too much.

It's not good. It's not good.

Come on.

All the way.

It's kinda gone quite gloopy.

Bakers, you have five minutes, just five minutes. Argh!

It's a bit liquid. But actually, that might be spreadable.

Man, that looks such a mess.

I just have to go with it now.

Bakers, you can do this.

I'll literally just smudge it round so I get something on there.

I can do a tidy up on the board.

Put some hazelnuts on.

There's the chocolate curls to go on.

Bakers, you have one minute remaining.

That is not going to be set.

Right, bakers, your time is up.

Please bring your torta setteveli up.

Rahul, bring your tortoise settee up here.

Paul and Prue are looking for perfectly glazed torta settevelis

that when cut will reveal seven even layers

of sponge, bavarois and mousse.

Hmm.

Shall we start with this one? We've got a shine.

Struggling a little bit to get the chocolate down by the side.

Very dark chocolate, that. It is dark though, isn't it?

You can see a lot of the layers. Fairly even as well, aren't they?

It tastes great.

The chocolate's very rubbery. It's sort of PVC overcoat.

It is. It's like a pair of incontinence pants, you know?

OK, next one.

That mirror glaze is beautiful.

Fairly even as well. And it's right over.

But what does it look like inside?

The layers look good. Beautiful.

The mousse layer is delicious. The bavarois is good.

If you look at this, this thing, you can just pull away and it melts.

It's soft and edible.

That is very nice.

Right, moving on. There is a shine,

and it sort of covers all of it, so it looks fairly neat.

But obviously the chocolate went on

when the mousse wasn't quite set enough.

So you've got a bit of marbling there.

Ooh, very nice layers.

Although where's the mousse?

That mousse seems to have blended in with the top, hasn't it?

Yes, there is very little mousse. That mousse is very thin.

Mm.

Good praline. Nice bavarois.

Not enough mousse.

Now, there's obviously been serious issues with this chocolate mixture.

There was obviously a bit of a rush near the end.

It's got a nice shine to it though.

This is nearly as dark as that first one.

It is. Yeah, I know. And as rubbery.

You can't eat that chocolate coating, it's too rubbery.

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

OK, in fourth spot...

..is this one. It's me again.

Rahul, you didn't cover the whole cake with the chocolate

mixture and it was a bit like rubber.

In third place we have this one.

Briony, you know the outside was very rubbery.

Got that. Yep.

In second spot is this one.

Me.

I actually quite like this cake. The layers were very neat,

although there is very little mousse there at all.

I didn't have much time at the end, so I put the mousse on,

put the glaze on, that's why it's kind of merged a bit.

But nevertheless, it did taste good and it looked pretty elegant too.

Which means that this is number one.

Yay, Ruby!

The mirror glazing is perfect.

Layers were delicious.

That's a beautiful cake. Thank you.

What happened there, then?

I'm really surprised at that. Never made a bavarois before.

Turns out it's delicious.

I cannot believe I got second.

I was convinced I was gonna be fourth.

I thought about giving up for about ten seconds, then I was, like, no.

It's OK.

As soon as something good happens, something bad just comes behind it.

I think it's anyone's game, to be honest with you.

Genuinely think it will very much be on the Showstopper tomorrow.

We often sit here and say, you know, it's all to play for

and the Showstopper is gonna be the thing but genuinely feels that way.

Exactly. It's almost as if we needn't have bothered with yesterday. Don't tell them that.

Don't tell them that because they were working very hard.

Kim-Joy was crying. I know but that's gone. Yeah.

They just have to put their all into the Showstopper.

It's extraordinary because, if you think what happened yesterday,

Rahul and Ruby just flipped didn't they?

You don't mean they went crazy.

You mean Ruby did very badly in the Signature

and then did brilliantly in the Technical.

And Rahul the other way round.

Kim-Joy's slightly stronger because she's been the most consistent.

Briony's probably in the weakest position.

I think it's going to come down to personality.

Kim-Joy had a real wobble yesterday and it's whether she can hold it together.

Rahul doesn't believe in himself.

See I think the steadiest one of the four is Briony.

She has the personality.

She's comes back fighting and I wouldn't be surprised at all

if she did go through.

I don't want any of them to go.

I've become so fond of them.

Can't we have...?

I know you old misery guts but I am very fond of them.

Can't we have four in the final? No.

The semifinalists now face the most complex patisserie challenge

in Bake Off history.

Morning, lovely bakers, and welcome to your semifinal

Showstopper Challenge.

Today, Paul and Prue would like you to create a Parisian window

filled with 36 patisseries.

Your Parisian window must consist of three types of pastry.

Choux pastry, pate sucree, and puff pastry mille-feuille.

Have I said that right? Mille-feuille.

Ah, so very nearly there.

The flavour and decoration of your patisseries is entirely up to you.

You have five hours.

On your marks. Get set. Bake.

This semifinal Showstopper is taking the bakers

out of the home kitchen...

Patisserie is all about finesse.

This is not me.

...and thrusting them into the high-end world

of professional Parisian patisserie...

I'm the most likely one to crack under pressure.

...where there's no room for error.

I'd definitely say this was the toughest challenge,

for absolute certainty.

We've got five hours but

there's literally no time to stop in that five hours.

No joke around for me.

I need to get my head down and just get cracking with it.

When you think of patisserie, you actually think of those beautiful

Parisian pastry shops with amazing, exquisite cakes in the window.

I'll be judging this one certainly as a professional baker.

So they need to get as close as possible to pure perfection.

Usually, I rank flavour right at the top but the thing about

pastry is that they are the luxury at the end of a meal,

you're no longer hungry, so they have to look so appetising

and so beautiful that you can't resist them.

Although the bakers have five hours for this colossal challenge,

they can't rest for a moment.

It's a bit of a marathon. Pastry marathon.

They have a number of different flavour elements to create.

Actually, I'm gonna put the jam sugar here now.

As well as three different types of pastry.

Oh.

The trickiest of which is the puff pastry for mille-feuille.

I'm doing a rough puff as opposed to a full puff.

So I'm grating in the butter, as opposed to laminating it.

Kind of like a quick version of puff.

This fast track to flakiness should allow the bakers to achieve

the trademark multiple layers but in half the time.

These are just going into chill now.

After a poor start to her semifinal...

Go big or go home.

...Briony's the only baker

choosing not to take the rough puff shortcut.

This is a full puff.

Definitely pushing myself more.

But you've got to, though, it's the semifinal,

you just can't go safe and hope for the best.

Everything's riding on it today, for sure.

Briony's full puff pastry will take centre stage in her coffee

and walnut flavoured mille-feuille.

Her window display will also have

a black forest gateaux inspired tartlet with chocolate domes

and funky red choux pastry eclairs.

At this stage it's about professionalism

and that's the way you've got to approach it,

as a professional now not as an amateur. Oh no, I know.

It's quite difficult to make that jump. Yeah, absolutely.

I've been having a look at trendy patisserie at the minute in Paris

and places like that. It's quite trendy, it's quite colourful.

I like putting a bit of a twist on things. I don't like doing your bog standard.

Good luck. Thank you very much. Thank you, Briony.

Having never been to France, Rahul's patisserie research

has been limited to his local high street.

I've just been to a few that is around Sheffield and looking

in the windows and said, "Oh, my God, it's so, so pretty."

So I'm just going for that kind of look. Very traditional look.

I'd love to be a patisserie chef

but I wanted to keep the price

very down-to-earth so that everybody can afford it.

Not, like, charging £10 for a piece of mille-feuille.

In his bid to become the people's patissier, Rahul is keeping costs

down with some uncharacteristically pared back recipes.

He's playing it safe with lemon and blueberry mille-feuille,

caramel eclairs and classic glazed fruit tarts.

This is pate sucree for my tartlets.

Pate sucree's like a sweet shortcrust pastry.

It's very, very short but very buttery.

Hmm, I should have rolled it a little bit thicker.

Hello, how are you? Alive.

Alive? Are you though? Let's check.

Check it.

Not sure. There's no pulse.

The perfect French tart should have thin, crisp pate sucree..,

Ooh, yeah.

...baked to perfection.

Going in.

They're blind baking at 175 for about 15 minutes.

With pate sucree in the oven...

Ah, what else I'm doing?

...the bakers must use every precious minute to prepare their fillings...

This is a creme patissiere for my tartlets.

...which must not only be silky smooth

but show off the bakers' flair for flavour.

This is my lemon verbena filling.

Verbena leaf is a really intense lemon flavour.

It's quite sherbety.

In a bid to keep things simple, Rahul's creme pat will form

the basis of all three of his pastry fillings.

Ah, OK.

No pressure.

Whereas Briony is continuing to throw everything at the challenge.

Just keep going. There is no time to rest.

She's attempting the most ambitious tart filling in the tent today.

It's gonna have a dome of dark chocolate filled

with a cherry mousse and then inside that a little cherry jelly.

Really nervous about things not setting.

Just gotta keep going. Keep going. Don't stop.

Bakers, you are halfway through your Showstopper Challenge.

Shall I do it in French? Yeah.

La plume de ma tante est dans le bureau!

Is it two and a half hours gone? Literally?

The tarts are done.

After blind baking,

Ruby and Kim-Joy's tarts need further time in the oven...

Just bake that now.

...for their fillings.

Ah. Done. Done.

Not done yet.

Need to do.

Those who opted for the simpler rough puff

can now prep their mille-feuille for the oven.

I'm gonna bake it as a sheet like this.

However Briony's choice of full puff means yet more rolling and resting.

I'm just very aware of the time, like,

you go at the rate of knots, but you still end up behind somehow.

Just keep rolling out my puff.

I've ticked most of the things off on that list. You're fine.

Don't, no. Don't write on that.

OK. Just get on the floor.

Just, basically, get out my way.

I think these might be ready.

In this ultimate test of batch baking... I'll take these out.

...the oven must now make way for the mille-feuille.

They're going 200 degrees centigrade for ten minutes.

Baked between sheets to prevent the puff pastry rising too much.

As if they didn't have enough to juggle...

I'm very good in doing so many things together.

...the bakers must now start work on their third pastry.

Trying to multitask and get my choux on the go.

Adding yet another stage to this already herculean challenge.

Making choux is really tricky

and I have failed so many times making choux.

I just hope this time it's going to work.

There's so much to do.

It is a case of who's got the stamina to keep on going.

Ah. Oh.

I've ran a marathon. Of course I've got the stamina.

Morning, Ruby. Morning. Hello Ruby. Hello!

There was tension yesterday. Yes. Has it ramped up even more today?

I can't... I've not even realised there's three other bakers in here.

That's how in the zone you end up getting.

You just block everything else out and do what you've gotta do.

How are you going to be displaying your patisseries?

I am...have based it on a bouquet of flowers.

That's how I'd like my window display to be.

So that's what the freesias are about? Yeah.

Ruby's floral window display will feature

strawberry and mint flavoured mille-feuille

accompanied by chocolate and hazelnut Saint-Honores

and lemon verbena tartlets, topped with meringue and edible flowers.

You've chosen pretty punchy flavours, verbena being one,

which carries a hell of a punch, which is fantastic.

One word of advice.

Just make sure the flowers don't detract... Yeah.

..from the beauty of your bakes. I will not allow that to happen.

She doesn't like too much stuff that's not edible. Noted.

Thank you, Ruby. Thank you.

Kim-Joy's also come equipped to decorate with miniature

floral bouquets and, despite the workload,

she's added yet another element to her choux.

This is gonna be my craquelin. What is craquelin?

It's like biscuit on a choux pastry. I knew that. Yeah.

I know a lot about baking.

I'm gonna bake everything I've learnt in one day and eat it all.

Yeah. And then collapse and then sleep for a thousand years.

I'm behind. I can tell you that for nothing.

I'm gonna start piping.

This is gonna take so much time.

So, Kim-Joy, tell us about your French window?

I'm doing 12, like, little religios. Sorry, what is it?

Religieuse.

Religieuse. It basically looks like a nun.

Kim-Joy's choux nuns will have a crunchy craquelin topping.

Her mango and passion fruit tarts will be decorated with

meringue and fresh fruit, her mille-feuille will be

flavoured with lemon and blueberry and have a feathered icing topping.

You came back from a wobble yesterday.

That must make you feel good about yourself? Definitely, yeah.

I think that might be my proudest moment.

Just having that wobble and still going.

Well, good luck, Kim-Joy. Do the best you can.

Thank you so much. Bye.

While most bakers puff pastry is coming out...

I think it's all right.

...and choux pastry going in...

So that's going in at 220.

...Briony is playing catch up.

This is the puff pastry.

Just keep going.

There's no time to rest.

Choux is going to be last minute, I tell you now.

Bakers, you have one hour left.

Right, let's go. Come on, kids, you can do this.

Need to get the choux pastry done cos now it's gonna be,

like, pastry out, pastry in, pasty out, pastry in.

Wow! What you doing? Basically, cutting my strawberries in half.

There is a huge amount of work to do.

It's gonna be really tight. Stay, feel free to stay to see me dooming.

Dooming? Yeah. Is that a new thing? Probably, yeah.

All the kids are dooming.

Craquelin looks good.

Don't have time. Don't have time.

Just got to keep going. Ow!

Ow! You all right, Rubes?

Literally burning every fingertip I have.

Uh, how are you doing in here? Oh, my God.

Uh, how are you doing in here? Oh, my God.

Such giant puff. Seriously.

Way too puffy.

It's not browning very well either, which is a bit annoying.

cos I need the oven pretty sharpish.

Is this all your work darling? All of this? All of this!

That's like a full bakery.

You look ahead of the game.

Shh! Don't let the game hear that.

For three of the semifinalists...

I don't know if I've got enough time.

...the painstaking task of assembling...

Well, I have left to do a lot.

...and decorating.

I don't know if I can finish.

..their 36 pastries...

Literally just not stopping. Not even stopping for air.

...can now begin in earnest.

Yeah, I'm not piping very well cos I am just rushing.

Oh no, it's not good. What do you mean?

The pastry's not cooked properly. Look, it's properly raw inside.

Oh! No way of putting it back in? No.

What happens if you do that? Does it burn? Don't know.

See how this one's quite doughy in the middle, as well.

It'll be all right. OK, it's all good, it's all good.

It'll be all right. Keep going. Carry on.

Bakers, you have half an hour left.

Half an hour, people.

It's not good. All right. I need to get these in otherwise they're gonna be raw as well.

They'll probably turn around and say

that's just way too tall for a mille-feuille.

But Paul can say what he wants to say.

Right, I'm gonna get my tarts done

and then least I've got one thing done.

This is just so, so bad.

Just have to go with that.

OK, eclairs piping.

Oh, my back!

It's not going to get full completely

because I just don't have time.

They're not even filled.

The fruit's not sitting on the dome like it did at home.

They look rubbish.

So I'm just doing what I can now cos I need to move onto

the mille-feuille, with my raw dough, so yay me!

Can I have a pastry brush... I guess...? Pastry brush?

Yeah. I'll get you one.

What is a pastry brush?

It's basically a brush. For painting pastry? Yeah.

Something like that. For brushing pastry?

Like a toothbrush but longer?

I'll ask someone else. OK.

I don't know that I can actually able to glaze my tarts.

Might just have to leave it like that.

I definitely can't do the feathering on top.

Just got no time.

Right bakers, five minutes,

just five minutes of the five hours are left.

These are edible flowers.

What an epic disaster this is.

I know they look rubbish. Just gonna have to do.

For God's sake. Please stick. Please stick. Please stick.

Bakers, your time is up. Please step away from your bakes.

Oh! Well done!

Well, that's what I call a mighty cock up!

Oh, my God!

Wow!

They look incredible.

judgement of Paul and Prue.

The whole thing about French patisserie is about how

delicate they are, how small they are.

These are all quite chunky and in fact I look round and there's a

lot of big stuff here and I wouldn't necessarily agree with the size.

You can almost half every one of these. It's all about delicacy.

It's about punching a big flavour in a small exquisite cake.

OK, let's start with the mille-feuille.

A dry top on mille-feuille?

I know. I ran out of time. I'm so sorry.

It looks very dull.

I know.

You could have cooked it a little longer.

If you do a mille-feuille, the pastry has to be totally crisp.

The good news, Kim-Joy, is that the flavour is absolutely wonderful.

Ah. And these, I don't like the look of them.

They're all broken up.

What you should have done is chosen Italian meringue

and then blowtorched it.

Pastry's lovely, and I love the filling.

OK, let's move onto the choux.

They don't look too bad. Maybe a little bit burnt in places.

Yeah, it's caught a little bit. It's a little bit dark, isn't it?

Wow that's a terrible way to kill a nun.

One of the real difficulties with choux pastry is filling it

properly and that's properly filled.

It has got a nice orange flavour.

It is quite tart and I like that.

I don't agree with that craquelin though.

Problem is when you bake with craquelin is when you're baking it,

it colours quicker than the actual choux itself and so you bring it

out the oven thinking it's ready and that's not necessarily the case.

I think overall the idea was there on all of them, but I think

the execution hasn't been as good as it could have been. No.

Well, I must say, they are very pretty and beautifully decorated,

I would say with the exception of the Saint-Honores.

I think the caramel is much too thick.

I love the idea, but again, they're just too big and these are huge.

OK. Yeah.

But, um, it's all down to the bake now and flavour.

The puff pastry looks really nicely baked and I'm hoping it'll be

not soft in the middle.

These layers are good. They're very well baked.

There's not a wet bit in there at all.

It's just dry and it's flaking.

That's how it should be. Beautiful. Thank you.

Really good.

I love the mint.

The mint is just delicious. It's delicate, isn't it? Delicious.

OK. OK.

Next one.

What is the pastry underneath?

It's a shortbread.

Flavour's delicious. It is clever. The choux buns are baked well.

The flavour in there is pretty good. The chocolate filling is lovely.

Your base is fantastic, cos that is just crispy all the way through.

I think you've done a good job with that.

Pipe work's good. I think the choice of meringue is good,

but I don't like fruit that's unglazed.

OK. Any fruit that's unglazed looks unfinished.

That lemon curd is so powerful and so strong.

It's verbena. Yeah. It's that concentrate. It's a strong flavour.

If you'd had maybe a raspberry coulis, that would have been enough,

because the pastry's baked really well.

This pastry looks a little bit thick.

You know, we're looking for delicacy and this is massive.

I mean, this is colossal.

It just looks a bit clumsy, doesn't it? Yeah. No, I agree.

Oh, dear, the mousse has run. Oh dear.

Yeah.

Potent flavours. The flavours are OK.

Your tart case is quite chewy.

Oh right, OK. And... Too thick.

These look OK. If they were smaller, they would be really nice.

I could see that in a Parisian shop. I'm sorry about... What are these

filled with? I didn't have time to fill them. I'm really sorry.

So this is just plain pastry with... what's this? That's lemon creme pat.

Quite a lot of salt in the pastry.

Oh, really?

Yeah, it's very salty.

I probably put two teaspoons of salt in instead of sugar,

the way today went! And then the mille-feuille, your pastry is raw.

Yes. Yes. Um...

It is very raw. Yeah.

Coffee creme pat,

it's got a nice flavour, but you've cooked it too much. Oh, OK.

I like those flavours, and with the caramel particularly,

it's nice but, um, it's actually also quite salty.

Maybe you were thinking salted caramel.

Did you mix your salt and sugar up today? I don't know, maybe I did.

Sorry. Briony, don't say sorry to us.

I mean, it's to you you have to say sorry,

cos you can do much better than this. I know I can.

And this was not the time to get it wrong.

You can't put that in a shop when it's not finished.

To glaze them at the end of this would have taken you, minute?

If that. If that. Yeah...

And after five hours, you couldn't do it.

That is an absolutely classic French tartlet without the glaze.

I think the flavours are good.

I think your base is a little bit thick.

OK, we'll try the eclair.

That will not be completely full.

I think the flavour's lovely.

That has got a bit of salt in it too, but not too much.

Pastry's a little soft, but I think it's about right.

But the top isn't very neat.

No. Caramel's all over the place.

I don't like the flavours.

It's boring.

It really is boring.

I wouldn't go as far as to say it's boring,

but it's certainly not the most exciting eclair I've ever eaten.

This one here is the one that worries me the most. Yeah.

Oh, great flavour.

Wow.

I didn't think I was gonna like that at all. It's delicious.

Really good.

It looks hideous, but it tastes amazing!

OK.

With that cream inside and the blueberries and with that bite

coming from the curd is just stunning, isn't it?

Thank you, Rahul. Thank you, Rahul.

Some of them were nearly there.

They had all the elements.

But some of them were way off the mark.

Rahul hasn't had a particularly good day.

The pastry tastes alright, but it looks terrible.

I don't know what's happened to him,

because he's definitely gone a bit backwards.

Let's talk about Briony for a minute.

I was really surprised, because Briony knew that today was the day

she had to pull out all the stops and usually that's the sort of

challenge that makes her do the best stuff.

It doesn't help if your salt and your sugar gets confused.

I mean, I'm not a baker, but I'm gonna guess...

I think that's exactly what happened.

I think Ruby overall has done well.

I love the idea of the choux, the,

the Saint-Honores with the biscuit base, cos actually that worked.

Had fabulous flavours, and that pastry was beautiful,

but I think it looks awful. I think, uh, the idea of the religieuses,

which Kim-Joy did, was pretty good. The flavours were there. I just...

on a personal opinion, I didn't like the craquelin on the top.

But if I had to choose one of all of these things to eat...

Yeah, which one? ...it's probably the one that looks the worst,

which is Rahul's mille-feuille.

It was sensational flavour.

Shall I go for it? Yeah, it's delicious. Is it good? Go on.

You can't get it into your mouth!

I mean, they're big -

For Sandi, these are like double decker buses.

That's the biggest thing I've ever eaten!

You won't have to eat again now until next week. No.

No. That's it.

Well done, my lovely bakers, for getting through the semi-final.

I've got a good job this week, of announcing the Star Baker.

The person who is this week's Star Baker and who will definitely

be going through to the final is...

..Ruby.

APPLAUSE

I knew it.

On a roll, baby girl.

On a roll. Oh, my God!

Yeah!

So my job now is to be completely professional and not cry at all.

Uh, it's tricky because, uh,

we are so fond of all of you and the person who is going home

has been a complete force of nature in this tent.

And I'm afraid the person who is not going through to the final...

...is Briony.

It's OK. I'm so sorry. It's OK, it's OK, it's OK.

That's the right decision. My friend, I'm so sorry.

Thank you for you kind words. It's OK.

Sad to not be going through to the final, but so happy with

how far I've come.

Like, my God, in so many ways.

What an experience.

Oh my God, my musketeer!

Nobody wanted to see Briony go, because she has been so good

at coming back when things have gone wrong.

Yeah I still love baking. I love baking more than ever.

Knowing that I can do more than I ever thought I could.

I don't often say that I'm proud of myself, but I am.

I'm proud of myself.

Can't believe that.

The person who never baked a single cake till his 29th birthday

is a finalist in Great British Bake Off.

Well done guys! Come here! Oh, guys....

I actually think there's gonna be a fantastic final next week.

We've got three great bakers.

Each one of them have this very artistic flair.

If they bring their A game, that is gonna be

the best final ever, I promise you.

I bet you're shocked.

You're shocked. You can tell me.

I was hoping Ruby would get Star Baker,

cos then we've all got two Star Bakers.

So it must be, like, the most evenly balanced final ever.

Right?

Next time...

Please could I ask our three wonderful finalists to come forward.

CHEERING

The winner...

of The Great British Bake Off...

Oh, I've got to breathe.

Oh, please don't collapse.

Please don't collapse. Please don't collapse.

..is...

Breathe, Rahul.

You're not breathing. Yeah, I know.

I'm just... Breathe.

Are you a Star Baker in the making?