Hello, it's Dessert Week.
I wonder where Matt is.
Welcome to The Great British Baking Show.
[chuckles] Cherry Bakewell,
have you seen Matt Lucas?
[Matt] No, I haven't.
- Can you tell him I'm looking for him?
- [Matt] Okay.
- I love you a little bit.
- [Matt] I don't mind you.
[Noel] Now, the quarter final.
Oh! Help, help, help.
[Noel] It's all about desserts.
Jeepers creepers. That's not awful.
[Laura] They're not set. Great.
- [Noel] The bakers hope cheesecakes...
- Whoa...
[Noel] ...don't leave them
feeling cheesed off.
They're sinking back in on themselves.
That's concerning.
- [Noel] They have to elevate jelly...
- Wow, that's tremendous.
[Noel] ...to new heights
of baking artistry.
I think it is completely beautiful.
[Noel] And they're
taken back to the 17th century...
[Laura] Got a leakage situation.
[Noel] ...in an old-school
suet-and-citrus technical.
- I am having a suet breakdown.
- Why? Why?
One step away from...
[imitating "Psycho" theme]
[opening theme music playing]
[all] One, two, three, quarter finals!
[all chuckling]
I didn't think
I would make it through to this week,
and I was telling the other bakers,
"I left a few eggs in my fridge,
thinking I'll come back
to those." [laughs]
They won't be good now, will they?
- [Peter] Quarter finalist.
- [Laura] That's cool, innit?
All my family are super proud of me
that I've managed to get this far.
Yeah, madness, innit?
[Marc] Suddenly you realise there is
a possibility I could be in the final,
and that's a little bit scary.
[Peter] This week
is kind of nerve-wracking.
There's been some practice
that hasn't gone so well,
so it's the week
that I'm most unsure about so far.
[Noel] Hello, bakers.
Today, the judges would love you to make
Mini ones?
- I know.
- Aw.
Your disappointingly small cheesecakes
should have a baked filling.
[Noel] Your virtually
invisible cheesecakes
should have a base
that is made from scratch.
Hardly worth it.
You have two and a half hours.
- On your marks...
- Get set...
Bake.
[Laura] I think it's only my mum
that doesn't like cheesecakes.
I don't eat many cheesecakes.
I have an aversion to cheese in general.
[Dave] I've made
a New York-style cheesecake,
but that did have that massive
Grand Canyon cr*ck down it.
It's the quarter finals.
Actually, this is where the bakers
really do have to
take it up a couple of notches.
I want the cheesecake filling
to be full of flavour but silky smooth.
For the base, I'd like to have
a little bit more texture to it.
Just stirring some oats in a pan,
making a lovely oaty crumble.
[Prue] The top should be very decorative
and there must be good flavour.
It's tiny, so you want a punch.
[Hermine] Got to do
a lot of multitasking today.
[Prue] We're asking for 12 of them
and they are to be very exquisite.
It has to look beautiful.
We've got five bakers remaining
and all of them are Star Bakers this year.
It's the first time it's happened,
so I'm expecting some sublime bakes.
[Marc] What could go wrong?
Gosh, can't see a thing out of those.
- [Paul] Good morning, Peter.
- Good morning.
- [Matt] Hello.
- [Paul] Cheesecakes.
What have you decided to do?
I'm making, er,
ginger-and-lime cheesecakes.
So it's key lime pie-esque.
Key lime pie vibes.
Pretty much what I would've chosen to do.
Oh, that's good.
- You've just got to do it right now.
- [all laugh]
[Noel] Peter's tiny take
on one of Paul's favourite desserts
will see baked lime cheesecakes
on an oat and gingernut biscuit base,
delicately decorated with
crystallised ginger and dots of lime curd.
[Peter] This is the first
baked one that I've made.
I think I made a couple
of set ones at school in Home Ec, maybe.
- Baby-faced assassin. Come on.
- [chuckles]
If you're not in the final,
I'll be disappointed.
[Marc] Making
a traditional digestive base.
[Noel] All great cheesecakes
start with a delicious biscuit.
I've never made a biscuit
for my cheesecake before.
Don't know who does that,
but it's a challenge.
[Laura] Right, what's next?
Oh!
Good job I made more, isn't it? Whoopsie.
[Matt] Laura's honey-and-oat biscuit
will form the base of her vanilla-
and-passion fruit cheesecakes.
With a topping
of firm-set passion fruit curd,
she's hoping to avoid a repeat
of last week's meltdown.
Been having nightmares
about that ice cream cake, to be honest.
- Like, loads.
- So have I.
- [both laugh]
- I don't wanna make any more mistakes now.
- Just focus now.
- That's the plan.
- [Paul] All right.
- Good luck.
Thank you.
[Noel] While everyone's biscuits
will be flavoured differently...
I'm getting the pulp
out of the passion fruit.
[Noel] ...there's a common theme
emerging to the bit that goes on top.
I've just added in passion fruit extract
and it just gives it
a bit more va-va-voom.
We're all doing
our own interpretation of passion fruit.
- [Paul] Morning, Dave.
- Good morning.
[Prue] Tell us
about your mini cheesecakes.
I'm calling it a citrus cheesecake.
The filling will be a traditional
lemon cheesecake filling.
And then on top there will be
a passion fruit and orange glaze.
[Noel] Dave's adding orange juice
and zest to his shortbread biscuit,
topping each cheesecake with lime kisses,
and setting his passion fruit
and orange glaze with gelatine.
[Prue] Quite a lot of gelatine.
I've found, because of the citrusness
of the orange and passion fruit,
it sometimes doesn't set properly.
Rather than cutting down the citrus,
you add more gelatine?
- Yeah.
- I'm playing golf later.
Maybe I could use one of your cheesecakes.
[both laughing]
[Matt] Cheesecakes should offer
a mouth-watering blend
of contrasting textures.
A nice crunch at the bottom.
Nice soft filling,
then hopefully, a nice,
easy cut-able glaze on the top.
[Matt] Everyone's using moulds
to support these layers during baking.
[Peter] You need a bit of structure there
to support the cheesy creamy filling.
[Matt] And reigning Star Baker Hermine
is making her mould
part of her presentation.
I like anything to do with jars.
I make my own jam at home.
I quite like to decorate them cutely.
[Matt] Hermine's hoping her mini jam jars
will produce perfect cheesecakes as well.
Her combination of a cinnamon-biscuit base
and a curd decorated
with meringue kisses and lime zest
will also be the third
signature flavoured with passion fruit.
Oh.
There's a battle of passion fruit
in the tent, it seems.
I don't really like passion fruit.
- No?
- No. I've sort of gone off it.
- Really?
- [Prue laughs] He's lying.
Don't worry, Hermine. He loves it.
So you'll leave them
in the jar, then, will you?
- I will leave them in the jar.
- Okay, that's interesting.
It should be wonderful. Good.
- Thank you, Hermine.
- Thank you.
- Good luck.
- Thanks.
[Noel] Bakers, you are halfway through.
Oh, that's not good.
- Matthew.
- Yes.
- I'd like you to meet one of my friends.
- Ooh, yes.
Couple of series ago, there was a guy
called Mr Spoon that was here.
- Yeah, I loved him.
- He went missing.
- Do you remember him?
- I do.
- Well, this is his cousin.
- Ooh! Hello.
- Would you like to touch him?
- Yes, what's his name?
His name is, er, Andre.
- Andre Spoon.
- [gruffly] Andre.
[Hermine] I need to
get down to business now.
Just filling up my
cheesecakes with the topping.
Just trying to get it as even as possible.
[Noel] How the mini
cheesecakes are baked...
[Hermine] Bain-marie helps
get a better textured cheesecake.
I didn't go down the bain-marie route.
Might regret that.
[Noel] ...is critical in determining
the silky smooth-filling texture
that Paul and Prue are looking for.
Rinky-dink. We are good to go.
- [Noel] Once in the oven...
- [Dave] Low and slow.
[Noel] ...precision with
temperature and timings is crucial.
Ten minutes, and then
I reduce it another ten minutes.
They're very temperamental little things.
Okay, get these in.
[Noel] Marc is the only
baker going citrus-free.
[Marc] Vanilla cheesecake is my favourite.
There's nowhere to hide with it,
so I'm hoping I can pull it off
and make it a good cheesecake.
[Noel] He's bringing pecans,
apricots and almond
to a vanilla-and-mascarpone take
on the classic New York-baked cheesecake.
Why don't we take this show
and put it on Broadway,
and turn it into a musical?
- Do you sing?
- No.
- Well, don't let that stop you.
- Okay.
- What's the first number?
- [laughs]
[Matt singing] ♪ It's overbaked
It's underbaked ♪
♪ I'm never happy at all ♪
♪ Impossible to please ♪
♪ What a tease ♪
♪ That's Paul That's Paul ♪
Bakers, you have half an hour left.
- That ain't very long, is it?
- How was that?
[Noel] I don't know what that means.
He's been in a lot of therapy.
Difficult to tell.
There's a pretty fine line between over-
and underbaked on the cheesecakes.
If you overbake them,
they're gonna start cracking.
Underbaked, and you're
gonna get some weird eggy mixture
that doesn't set, and it's gonna be gross.
Got a bit of a dip in the middle.
[coughs] You could've warned me.
I've inhaled quite a lot of steam.
You just let off some kettles in my face.
[Hermine] Look all right.
How can you tell?
You need to put something in them.
Gosh, yeah, they're ready.
Maybe a little bit too much.
[Matt] The cooling of the cheesecakes
is another baking balancing act.
[Peter] You can't trust a cheesecake.
- [Matt] If rushed...
- A few cracked.
[Matt] ...there's a risk
of cracking and dipping.
[Peter] They're sinking back in
on themselves quite a lot.
Not exactly the sight
that we were wanting to see.
[Matt] If cooled too slowly...
Turned the oven off. I'll let
them cool down in the oven.
Leave them there as long as possible.
[Matt] ...the mini
cheesecakes won't set in time
to support the toppings and decorations.
And now we watch them.
Bakers, you have 15 minutes left.
They're just about set.
Now my passion fruit coulis.
The curd's pretty thin.
That's slightly concerning.
It's quite central to the decoration.
Do I just melt a tiny bit of butter
and add that in?
Yeah, I'm gonna give that a sh*t.
- [Dave] I think they're set.
- [Laura] They need longer.
They're gonna collapse otherwise.
- [Noel] Very neat.
- [Dave] Thank you.
- I've gotta release them yet.
- Gotta release them. [chuckles]
- Gotta release them...
- Fly, my pretties.
[Marc] Whoa, that's hot.
[Laura] Turning-out time.
No, they're not set.
How long have we got left?
Bakers, you only have five minutes left.
[groans in frustration]
Can you ask Mr Spoon
to get out of my chair, please?
- He's just relaxing.
- I just don't trust him.
All right.
[Peter] The curd is not good
and I shouldn't have added that butter,
so I think it's not usable.
Yeah, we're looking
for taste on this, I think.
Mr Spoon didn't like
how that last time call went.
- I don't like Mr Spoon.
- He wants an apology.
He's not getting one from me.
- [Noel] Do you like him?
- Love Mr Spoon.
You do? He wants to kiss you.
Mr Spoon says
he wants to see Peter naked. [laughs]
Okay. Even more reason
to dislike Mr Spoon.
Whoa, whoa,
whoa... Slippery little buggers.
[Dave] So the gelatine's just about set.
Just hope they turn out well.
Great.
[Peter] I've got a bit
of lime syrup in here.
This is baking on the fly, definitely.
[Dave] Come on.
It's not gonna be that refined,
I must admit.
They're a little bit squidgy.
[Dave] The next layer
is the meringue kisses.
Bakers, you have one minute left.
[Hermine] Gosh, one minute to go.
[Dave] I'm getting the shakes now.
[Laura] Okay. Let's just do what we can.
[Peter] I'm filling them more than planned
due to the rather
cratering dip in the middle.
They just didn't set in time. Rubbish.
Bakers, your time is up.
[sighs]
Please place your mini cheesecakes
at the end of your work stations.
Think they're actually still warm.
I think they'll taste nice.
[Matt] The baked cheesecakes will now
face the scrutiny of Prue and Paul.
- [Prue] Hi, Dave.
- [Dave] Hello.
Hi, Dave. Right.
I think they look very neat.
They do look very good.
Thank you.
[Prue] They cut neatly.
The custard middle, I think,
is absolutely delicious
and the texture's perfect.
Thank you.
[Prue] The jelly is
surprisingly thick and I like it.
[Dave laughs]
I was worried
about the amount of gelatine.
Did you hold back
or did you put it all in?
I did put it all in.
I was expecting it to be
a little bit rubbery.
- But it wasn't, 'cause it did melt.
- Yeah.
I think you've done a good job.
You've ticked all the boxes.
- It's neat. And it tastes good.
- Thank you, cheers.
- Well done.
- Thank you. [exclaims]
They do look really pretty.
[Noel] They look amazing.
It's a bit stodgy.
It's not as silky as I'd hoped.
[Paul] The base is very soft.
There's no way that base could
be solid in the bottom of that
because it's gonna sweat in there.
The moisture from the cheesecake filling
will drop in there and soften it up.
There's not enough lime in there.
Or passion fruit.
- [Paul] Or passion fruit.
- [Prue] Hmm.
It looks good. Thank you.
Thank you.
- They're not canapé size.
- Okay.
[Paul] I would've done it
slightly bigger than the apricot.
- That's too big and too thin.
- Yeah.
You don't get any apricot at all
until you hit the apricot.
- [Paul] Don't get the vanilla, either.
- Really? Oh, no.
It needed to be smaller,
packed with more flavour.
More vanilla.
- [Paul] And just look much neater.
- Sure, okay.
The apricot should've been everywhere
'cause when you get a bit of
apricot with it, it was truly delicious.
- Sure, okay.
- Thank you.
Thank you.
[softly] Well done.
[exhales]
Hmm. It doesn't
look like a cheesecake. Erm...
- Oh.
- The mixture itself must be delicate.
It has formed a little cauldron.
There's your cheesecake.
Look at the ridge round there.
You've dropped a lot of height on that.
I think the flavour is absolutely lovely.
But the shape of it's not perfect.
I'm getting the lime.
The ginger's very light.
It's a nice flavour but it is lime.
I'm not getting much ginger
and it doesn't look
the best thing you've done.
- Thank you.
- Sorry.
[whispering] Don't apologise to them.
So, Laura, just remind us
what's in your cheesecakes?
It's a vanilla cheesecake
with an oat-and-honey base,
passion fruit curd
and a passion fruit and mango...
what's supposed to be a compote on top
but it's a bit of a mudslide.
- I'm so sorry.
- Looks a bit messy.
What I like is the ratio
to the base and height
and that's pretty consistent
however wobbly they are.
I hope you like the taste.
I think they're nice.
Mmm, it's delicious.
- Yay.
- [Paul] That's fantastic.
The textures are all there from the top
to the cheesecake to the base
which you actually break through.
And the passion fruit's there
but not overwhelming.
There's absolutely nothing
the matter with this...
except the look.
- I'll take that. Thank you.
- Thank you, Laura.
- Well done.
- Thank you.
[Laura] I feel great after that.
Wasn't expecting that,
to be honest. [laughs]
I was expecting to get rinsed.
[exhaling] Oh!
[Dave] When Prue
and Paul say it's delicious
and you've got the textures right,
that is like, yeah, box ticked.
[Peter] I'm disappointed with that.
Quite in there.
I really did go into this pretty blind.
It wasn't the best bake
but we'll have to see.
[Matt] For the next challenge,
the bakers face a mystery
wrapped in enigmatic gingham.
Hello, bakers. Welcome back to the tent.
It's time for your technical challenge
and today, it's been set
for you by the lovely Prue.
Prue, any words of wisdom?
You are all excellent bakers,
so we haven't given you
any extra ingredients.
Get it right the first time.
As ever, the technical challenge
will be judged blind
so we're gonna ask
these two poppets to leave the tent.
- Off you go.
- Just do one, will ya?
This is our park, we play here.
They've got their own park.
Prue has popped back
to the 1700s for this technical.
She would like you each to make
two Sussex pond puddings.
Pond puddings. I'm imagining frog spawn.
Ugh. Your puddings should
be made with suet pastry
and when steamed should be golden.
When cut into,
the fillings should ooze out...
- Hmm.
- ...creating a lemony, syrupy pond.
Hmm, yeah.
You should also serve
a silky smooth crème anglaise.
[Noel] You have two and a half hours.
On your marks...
- Get set...
- Bake.
[Laura] Never heard of
a Sussex pond pudding.
I think my nan would probably know
what it was. Can I call her?
Like probably everyone else,
never seen it before.
[Marc] I think it's just
an encased pastry with...
by the sounds of it, a whole lemon inside.
[Paul] So, our quarter final
technical challenge
is Sussex pond pudding.
A particular favourite of mine.
[Prue] This is not
the prettiest pudding in the world,
but it's sort of surprising
because there's a whole lemon inside.
[Paul] Two and a half hours
for this challenge.
Where do you think they'll go wrong?
Suet pastry is not the easiest pastry
to deal with because it's so pliable.
And if it's too floppy, it will tear.
Squidge.
[Paul] How do they know when it's ready?
You haven't given any time.
They should steam it
for as long as they've got...
an hour and a half, two hours.
Puddings like this
go back so far in British history.
Steamed puddings is
what we were known for.
That sharpness from the lemon,
the sweetness from
the sugar and the butter,
rich pastry that melts in the mouth
and this gorgeous crème anglaise,
silky smooth and that kick of vanilla
as well, it's delicious.
I think it's beautiful.
We've got five great bakers in that tent.
Can't wait to see what they come up with
'cause this is delicious.
"Make the pastry."
The suet looks like cheese.
What am I supposed to do with that?
[Peter] Suet is the lovely protective fat
from animals that surrounds the livers,
the kidneys.
[Marc] Yum-yum. Never used suet.
I don't really eat meat.
I mean, does anybody
even eat this in 2020?
I made suet dumplings quite a few times.
- Suet dumplings.
- Oh, they're good.
- Really?
- Oh, yeah.
Lighter than you think.
You can move after six hours.
[Laura] So it just says "whole milk".
This is really helpful.
Doesn't even tell you how much
milk you're supposed to add.
This is evil.
So I'm just gonna add it bit by bit until
it comes into a nice, pliable soft pastry.
Why? Why? Why would Prue do this to me?
- She's trying...
- Why?
...to test you. [laughs]
You're having a breakdown.
- I am having...
- Why? Why?
...a suet breakdown.
One... [laughing]
[Laura] Logical part of me says
make it like a normal pastry,
so don't overwork it, keep it cold.
So I'm gonna let it rest a little bit.
I have no idea if that's right.
[Dave] So I've made suet pastry before.
We need to knead it until really smooth.
I'm also kneading. [chuckles]
Following blindly.
[Dave] "Prepare and line
the pudding moulds,"
which I've interpreted as butter
and line with flour,
'cause on the ingredients it says,
"Self-raising flour
plus extra for dusting."
I've greased the sides, I'm putting
a baking parchment circle at the bottom.
[Marc] It's a bit tricky
'cause you've got a tapered bowl.
It can't be too creased in there.
You want nice, smooth pudding.
What went through your mind when you heard
you had to make a Sussex pond pudding?
Little bit of panic.
[emphasizing Ps] You panicked about making
the pond pudding?
- [chuckles]
- Is that what happened? Is it?
- That's what happened.
- Fair enough.
[Peter] "Step three,
line the moulds with pastry,
reserving some for the lids."
It's not very even, is it?
And they want precision.
I'll do that one again.
So, now I've gotta make the filling.
"Mix butter and sugar together."
[Peter] It's like the most unhealthy
dessert imaginable.
Fatty suety pastry
and then a filling of butter and sugar.
I mean, it's gonna taste good.
Place some in the base
of the pudding moulds.
It feels like it might be
quite heavy, in a medieval way.
Yes, definitely very medieval.
"Prick the lemons
and place them in the pastry-lined mould."
[Hermine] How much pricking
am I supposed to do?
I think a lot of pricks.
[Laura] I don't fancy eating
a whole lemon in a bit of pastry.
Sorry, Prue, but that's not how
we do it in Gravesend.
And then it says, "Cover with
the remaining butter and sugar."
[Hermine] One for you. One for me.
One other for you, and one for me.
There you go.
We're all done.
"Top the pastry with lids and seal."
Putting a bit of milk on to try and
get it to stick a bit better to the top.
Right, do we crimp or do we not crimp?
Is he crimping?
[Peter] I'm just trying to crimp the...
Oh, dang it.
I'm messing it up a little bit,
to be honest.
It doesn't say to crimp it
but Paul loves a crimp, don't he?
Don't know if it'll look nice
but I was thinking of
pressing it down slightly
with a fork like you do with a pie.
[Marc] "Cut two circles of paper
and two circles of foil larger than
the top of the pudding moulds."
That's not quite a circle, is it?
The only thing I'm confused about
is the next step now.
Where it says, "Fold a pleat
into the centre then cover."
[Marc] I don't understand
this pleat business.
- [Noel] It's quite minimal.
- Very minimal.
Just words, aren't they?
"Go, do, now. Thanks."
Prue, not worth the calories. [chuckles]
What's everyone doing?
I've gotta pleat...
Just comes undone.
[Laura] Yeah, so it's that. So that when
the steam rises, it goes like that.
There's room for it to expand.
[Hermine] I forgot that.
[Laura] "Cover the mould
with the pleated paper and foil,
secure with string,
looping it around the rim
then across the top to make a handle."
[Noel] The string needs to hold
the foil tightly in place
to prevent moisture getting into
the pastry, making it soggy.
Marc's done a lot of climbing,
so he'll be good with these knots.
[Marc] Could even go for
a figure of eight.
Damn it.
[Matt] I feel ungentlemanly not helping
but I think it wouldn't be
in the spirit of the competition.
Can you cross your fingers?
There we go. It's done.
- It worked.
- I think... Wait, actually, wait...
I can't... I've got to uncross them.
- No.
- But I can't...
Cross them again. Keep them crossed.
There we go.
It just pushes off.
Bakers, you are halfway
through your pond puddings.
It says, "Make a handle."
I'm gonna just do it my way.
[Marc] "Place the moulds
in the steamer and steam."
[Matt] How long you gonna steam for?
An hour?
Don't ask me.
Probably an hour-fifty in the end.
[Matt] Do you ever have dim sum?
They steam those, don't they, sometimes?
[Laura] They nice?
Well, I like dim some of them.
[Laura] Nice.
How long did that one take you?
Took me... Well, we workshopped it.
Then I decided not to use it.
[Peter] So the only thing left to do is
to make a crème anglaise.
[Noel] Crème anglaise is
a combination of egg yolks and sugar
beaten together,
tempered with warm cream and milk
and delicately flavoured with vanilla.
[Laura] Prue said that
we are not able to do it again,
so if we mess up, that's it.
It says half the vanilla pod.
And I put a full vanilla pod in there.
Let's remove a little bit. [chuckles]
[Laura] I'm adding my egg yolk
and sugar mixture slowly,
or else you end up with scrambled eggs.
[Matt] While the rest of the bakers
are making their crème anglaise,
Dave hasn't even started steaming.
Gotta try and get this knot in here.
I think it's ready 'cause it's thickened.
That one's not so great.
[Marc] That's the custard done.
[Hermine] All done.
Whether good or not, we shall find out.
Has everyone else finished apart from me?
Yeah.
[Matt] All the bakers can do now is wait.
[exhales]
[Noel] What can we do?
Surely there's something we can do.
We could do something with string,
couldn't we?
We could tie up Peter
and ruin his bake. [laughs]
Bakers, you have half an hour left.
Half an hour.
Not that you seem that bothered,
you're all just sitting about.
[Peter] Let's see what it looks like.
So I'm looking for it to be
a little bit more brown
and a little bit sort of crispier.
Just going to neglect the string now.
That's gonna be fine.
- [Matt] Last to go in...
- Gosh!
...Dave is first to come out.
So, the last thing to do is
turn out and serve.
Ooh!
There you go, some pond puddings.
Oh, disgusting.
Bakers, you have five minutes left.
Five minutes.
I'm gonna take out my pond puddings.
Oh, think it's looking okay.
Lovely, soggy suet.
[Peter] It's a wet pond in the middle,
so not much structure to it.
I'm gonna turn that now, I think.
[chuckling] Well, well.
It's a pond pudding.
Bakers, you have one minute left.
Let's try another way of unmoulding it
Ooh. Got a leakage situation.
[Marc] Pre-cut for them.
[Peter] It has collapsed.
That's a shame
but it looks rather impressive.
This one's sunk a bit. I did my best.
Okay, bakers, your time is up.
There's a pond, there's a pudding.
If you'd like to bring your puddings
and place them
behind your photographs, please.
[Noel] The bakers'
Sussex pond puddings now face
the exacting judgement of Prue and Paul.
Right, bakers, we were asking for
some well-steamed suet pastry pudding
filled with a whole lemon
and a butter and sugar filling,
and some silky crème anglaise.
So, what have we got?
[Paul] Let's start with this one.
It's leaking already.
They are whole and you can see the shape,
which is a good thing.
[Prue] The pastry
would've been really good
if it had had
a little longer in the steamer
because you can see
it's beginning to flake.
[Paul] That's a bit thin, that sauce.
The taste of everything's okay.
It just needed cooking out
a little bit more.
Now these, erm, pasties...
That's raw.
- [Prue] That looks good custard.
- [Paul] Yeah.
- Nice and vanilla-y.
- It's nice.
That needed sealing
and longer in the steamer.
Now we have one which needed longer.
- It's fallen apart.
- It's shaped nicely.
Yeah, absolutely.
This one is a little more cooked
but it's still not enough.
That lemon is b*llet hard.
- [Paul] The crème anglaise is all right.
- Hmm.
- It's a shame.
- Yeah, it is.
Now this one, I'm not quite sure
what happened here,
whether it's just collapsed in on itself...
Yeah, it has.
- [Prue] It's just raw.
- [Paul] It is.
In another hour, that pastry
would've been flaky and lovely.
The crème anglaise is nice.
It's spot-on.
We have one whole one here.
Let's see if we can
get through the middle of this.
It's not been cooked again.
The problem with under-steaming
is the lemon doesn't soften enough,
the juice doesn't come out
and the sauce becomes
more sugar and butter.
[Paul] The flavours are okay.
It's gonna be an interesting judge.
Although the shapes are there,
it's not been steamed long...
[Matt] Prue and Paul will now rank
the puddings from worst to best.
In fifth place is this one.
David, this was very under-steamed.
The custard was nice.
In fourth spot, we have this one.
Massively under-steamed.
It was falling through
and the lemon was still hard.
In third place, Hermine.
The flavour was good
but it needed two hours steaming.
In second spot, we have this one.
- Whose is this?
- Mine.
At least you had
two likeable-looking suet puddings
but it needed longer
to break down the lemon and the filling.
[Prue] Which means that
in first place is this one.
Laura, I wish I could say
it was wonderful,
but it wasn't much better than the rest.
- [chuckling]
- I'm sorry.
It was under-steamed.
Would've been great, custard too thin.
We still normally have
a round of applause for the winner.
[all applaud]
[Laura] Came first in a technical,
can you believe that?
I'm not jumping up for joy,
but I'll take that. I'm happy.
[Marc] I didn't think I'd get second.
Was hoping to be last. I'm usually last.
Super smashing great.
Dessert Week not going too well.
It's still not an unmitigated disaster
because the crème anglaise was good.
So we'll take that as a win.
[Matt] Well, good luck, everybody.
We talk every week now, about the margins
getting slimmer and slimmer and slimmer.
There wasn't that much
in it in the signature,
and we've just had a technical where
everyone pretty much did the same.
[Prue] My favourite pudding
in the whole world is Sussex pond
and I'll tell you what,
they made a complete mess of it.
[laughs]
But it does occur to me
that I'm 80 years old,
and a steamed pudding, I grew up
with them and I absolutely love them.
[Paul] And I'm 40 and I...
- I still like steamed pudding, too.
- [Prue and Noel laugh]
Weird. Your hair then
is a lot older than you are.
- Fine, all right, move on.
- [Noel laughs]
[Paul] Laura won the technical,
and because she had a strong signature,
she's put herself into a...
- In line for Star Baker.
- [Prue] She has.
[Paul] Again.
You've got Hermine, Marc, and David
who are all in the middle,
could go either way.
Peter is at the bottom, which isn't
something we've really seen very often.
He's really gotta try his best
in the showstopper
because he's sitting
right down at the bottom.
Good morning, bakers, welcome back to
the tent for your showstopper challenge.
Now today, the judges would like you each
to make a jelly art design cake.
This layered dessert
needs to have a visually spectacular
jelly art topping or coating.
At least one element of your cake
should include a baked sponge.
Er, Noel, what jelly art would you make?
Nude sculpture of Paul Hollywood?
Oh. What flavour would the nipples be?
- Lime.
- [Matt] Oh. Authentic.
[Noel] Exactly.
You have four and a half hours.
- [Noel] On your marks...
- [Matt] Get set...
Bake!
I think of eating jelly as, er,
an Anglo-Saxon thing.
I'm ready for the jelly, yeah.
[Paul] This is a first
for the Bake Off tent.
There's a baked element,
a mousse, and then this jelly.
I look forward to the jelly.
It's like going back
to when you were a kid.
[Prue] The setting of the jelly
is really critical.
Most of the bakers, I'm sure,
will use gelatine. They may use agar-agar.
[Peter] Gelatine is a bit of a scary beast
because you don't know
if it's gonna be enough
until you've completed it
and it's set in the fridge.
[Paul] Too much, it'll be like rubber
and won't break down.
[Marc] Thirty-five leaves of gelatine.
Thirty-five leaves of pig hide.
If you don't have your nail and your hair
growing after this, you've got a problem.
Too little, it'll be like water.
In my last practice,
I had a bit of a collapse.
[Prue] To make the jelly art,
the bakers need to inject
liquid jelly into set jelly.
It really takes a lot of skill.
You bet I'm worried.
[Paul] The stress levels
are gonna be high.
The bakers are gonna
start thinking of the final.
They're only a couple of weeks away now.
I hope it doesn't play
on their mind too much
because what we want
are five amazing bakes
from actually five fantastic Star Bakers.
Calm, cool, collected Laura
is what you're gonna see today.
Need a bit of skill, a bit of luck.
I'm hoping they all come together today.
- [Paul] Hello, Marc.
- [Marc] Hi.
- [Prue] Morning.
- Tell us about your jelly design cake.
Okay,
so I'm making effectively a mousse cake
with a panna cotta insert in the centre,
dacquoise top and then two layers
of apple with jelly on top.
- Two layers of apple jelly.
- Yeah, two-tier jelly.
This is gonna be interesting.
- Oh.
- [Prue] As usual,
- you're doing an enormous amount.
- Not again.
Actually, the last time,
you pulled it off and got it out on time.
[Noel] Marc's chocolate
and strawberry mousses
will be sandwiched between two layers
of ground hazelnut meringue.
His two tiers of jelly will be flavoured
with apple and display jelly art roses
and jasmine flowers.
- You're injecting your flowers, are you?
- Yes, yeah.
And have you done this a lot before?
I've not done it a lot.
If you wanna get through to the
semi finals, you've gotta smash this one.
Okay, I'll try my best.
Did that help?
- No, not at all.
- [Prue chuckles]
- It's very ambitious.
- Thanks.
I have some confidence that you'll do it.
It's time to be ambitious.
- I'll try my best.
- It's the time to try.
[Peter] I've got a bit of orange
and cranberry flavour.
They're mainly clear in colour
and very concentrated,
so it doesn't affect the texture
or the look of the jelly.
[Matt] All of the bakers
are adding artificial flavourings
to their main jelly features
before setting them in the fridge.
[Marc] I was originally going
for elderflower,
but realised it tasted
a little bit of smelly feet.
- [Matt] Did it?
- [Marc] Yeah.
How often have you eaten feet?
- I've already eaten one.
- That's answered a lot of questions.
[laughs]
Getting quite firm
which is a really good sign.
[Hermine] I'm worried about
jelly not setting enough.
That could be a big issue.
[Noel] With the large elements setting,
most of the bakers are making the coloured
jelly they'll use to make the jelly art.
This is becoming
more and more blood-like isn't it?
Vampires can't see me do that.
[Noel] Know any vampires?
Yeah, there's one standing next to me,
- apparently.
- [chuckling] Hey. That's a rumour.
[chuckling] You have got quite a lot
of neck exposed though.
[laughs]
[Laura] They're not as set
as they normally are.
I'm actually gonna do the fish again.
Fly, little fishy.
Wouldn't do that to mine at home, promise.
[Matt] Inspired by
the real one in her garden,
Laura's jelly art will be a koi pond
complete with fish
and injected aquatic plants.
It will sit atop layers of genoise sponge,
raspberry mousse
and white chocolate bavarois.
I mean, it sounds amazing.
The flavours are often good from you.
So we expect that.
What are you using to set your jelly?
Agar-agar, which I
imported from Australia,
erm, which I think is like professional
use for this kind of thing.
Will it be clear enough?
[Laura] It does set clear.
Is the grasshopper,
is that part of it as well?
Who's that guy?
- [Laura] Oh, no.
- [Prue] Isn't he sweet?
He's gonna be in the pond.
- He'll be in it, as well.
- Yeah.
[Paul] Thank you. Good luck.
Very good luck.
I need it. [chuckles]
Let's wait and see what these ones do.
[Noel] While Laura needs her fish
to set before filling her pond,
Dave's opted for a paint-as-you-go
approach to his aquatic-themed jelly art.
[Dave] My jelly art is layered.
Each layer will build up an image
of like a 3D perspective of a beach scene.
That goes in the fridge to set
then I put another clear layer on,
then I've gotta do another
colour layer and so forth.
[Matt] Dave's jelly incarnation
of surfers' paradise Newquay
will taste of apple and guava,
riding a wave of fudge cake
and clotted cream mousse.
- [Noel] Do you surf?
- [Dave] I tried to surf.
It's the thing that you go,
"I wanna be good at surfing."
Then, "It's too hard."
Yeah, like, "It looked easier."
- On Point Break it looks easy.
- [laughing] Yeah. What a great film.
If they remade it with me and you,
you'd have to be Keanu
and I'd have to be Swayze.
- Yeah, you reckon?
- Yeah, not reckon. That's a fact.
Er, my dad's dog's called Swayze.
- After Patrick Swayze?
- After Patrick Swayze.
Wow.
Swayze, if you're watching this, respect.
[laughs]
Good luck.
While I'm waiting for it to set,
I'm gonna start my cake.
[Matt] For the foundations
of their jelly constructions,
most of the bakers have chosen
a type of sponge.
[Laura] Just making my genoise sponge.
I think it should be pronounced "gen-oir,"
but I'm from Gravesend,
so it's a "genoise."
Does it annoy me
when people say "genoise"?
Well, if you're gonna speak a language,
you've gotta make the effort.
And that's about
all I'm gonna say. [scoffs]
They'll be in 170
for about 20 to 30 minutes,
quite a broad window
I've given myself there.
[Dave] Putting that in for 40 minutes.
I need it to be fudgy,
I don't want it to be dry inside.
[Matt] But Marc's two-tiered creation
will be underpinned with airy meringue.
This is a hazelnut dacquoise,
basic French meringue with folded nuts.
[Matt] While Hermine's
risking possible subsidence
by adding a cherry liqueur drizzle
to her genoise sponge.
Who can possibly hate a cake
with a bit of alcohol in it?
[Matt] Her sponge
needs to hold up two mousse layers
and a domed jelly decorated
with a giant poppy flower.
She's wrapping the whole cake
in a chocolate collar
and finishing with
a white chocolate ganache.
So, when we put our Kn*fe through,
is it gonna hold?
Well, I hope it does. [chuckles]
[Noel] Did it hold in practice?
- I've practised them separately.
- Oh.
[chuckling] And I've never
put one on top of the other.
- [Noel laughs]
- So, it's gonna be a first.
And have you done
injecting jelly before to make flowers?
A couple of times.
It is a bit tricky
'cause the jelly can split.
- Good luck. Thank you, Hermine.
- Thank you. Thanks. Gonna need it.
[chuckles]
[Noel] While Hermine's gambling
with a soggy sponge...
Shall we name them as we put them in?
[Noel] ...Laura's showstopper
is taking solid shape.
Which one's got evil eyes?
Sorry, Paul, in you go.
I'm gonna move on
to the strawberry mousse.
[Matt] As well as the baked element
and melt-in-the-mouth jelly,
Prue and Paul want to see
a perfectly set mousse.
[Peter] I've got orange juice
and cranberry juice to reduce down,
and this is gonna be part
of the base for my mousses.
[Dave] Clotted cream going in.
Gelatine will be added to this.
It just helps the mousses set 'cause we
do not want another ice cream splat.
Can't. Having nightmares about it.
It did say stir in the egg yolks
and it's gone kind of gloopy.
[Noel] Peter's also trying to make
his mousse less loose...
[Peter] I'm adding in a bit of corn flour
to make the custard base
for the mousses slightly thicker.
[Noel] ...but he's the only baker whose use
of custard extends to his jelly art.
Now, I'm making the panna cotta
for my moulded panna cotta shapes.
Just wanted to make sure
I get every step right.
Can't be doing with easy slip-ups today.
[Noel] His panna cotta
will form Christmas decorations
to fit to the inside of
his clear snow globe jelly.
The extra sturdy cranberry
and orange juice mousses
will hopefully add stability and fill
the cut-out centre of his sandwich cake.
Is there enough time to set everything?
[Peter] Hopefully so.
How long did it take to set in practice?
[chuckling] Don't know.
I didn't time it completely.
- You didn't time it?
- No.
- That's useful.
- We'll do it today.
- [Prue] Good luck.
- I've got faith.
- Thanks.
- [Noel] Good luck.
Fakey cakey bakers,
you have one hour left.
[Peter] Righty-ho. Rinky-dink. Okay-dokey.
I need to stay at a nice, fast lick.
[Matt] The bakers need
their mousses to start setting
and their baked elements cooling...
I'd better get my prick.
[Marc] I've cooked it
on a lower temperature for longer
to purposefully give it
a really crunchy texture.
[Matt] ...before they
return their attention
to the star of this week's showstopper.
Sideways swimming fishies.
I think with the flowers above it,
it should look okay.
Here we go.
When you insert it in the cut,
as you press and draw back,
that fills it with colour.
It's a crazy technique.
[Laura] Just doing lots of petals.
It's got a ragged edge
to emulate the peony, really.
Now, I'm gonna do the weirdest thing
in the world, cookie cutting panna cottas.
[Marc] Oh, you bugger.
Didn't want that to happen.
[Peter] These are reindeer.
They're being a little bit tricky today.
This is quite loose.
Come on. Got a blockage.
[Noel] It's kind of baking.
[Marc] Baking but not as we know it.
[Hermine chuckles] Well,
I'm not out of the wood yet.
My mousse still hasn't set.
[Matt] It's like
surgical operation, isn't it?
Hopefully the jelly won't feel
any pain afterwards.
I might get some jelly flowers
- put into my liver.
- Yeah.
- [Noel] Will you do it?
- Yeah.
I don't wanna be out though,
I wanna see it all.
[Matt] Wow, look at that.
- [Laura] Yeah, get in there.
- Tremendous.
[Dave] Gonna call myself
the jelly Picasso.
[Hermine] I like the look of it.
Didn't know I had it in me.
[scoffs]
[Peter] I'm heating up the inside bowl
here to melt the edge of the jelly.
And I'll be able to add in
the panna cotta figures now.
This is so annoying.
You've got a bit hanging off
and you don't know where to start it.
[Noel] Looks tricky.
- So sorry.
- We're talking about opening foil
so we'll leave you.
Matt, you stay there
until you've worked it out.
I've got to figure this out.
This is gonna be the bottom of the jelly.
Where you look through it,
you see a green background on the bottom,
then the flowers can lift.
Just wanna seal the top.
I think I'll put it
in the fridge like that.
[Matt] I think I've figured it out, Laura.
Notorious for my mess, aren't I?
You'd be disappointed if I wasn't.
Bakers, you have 30 minutes left.
Just need it to set and then I need it
to release from the bowl perfectly.
[Matt] With his cake
setting in the fridge,
all Dave has to do is wait.
For the rest of the bakers,
it's time to build.
[crunches]
You all right?
[Marc] Things haven't set
as much as I'd like them to.
[Laura] How do I do this?
Oh, help, help, help, help, help.
It's okay, it's okay.
Why is this so stressful?
[crunching]
[Hermine] It cracked a bit on the side.
Do a lot of DIY here.
Bakers, you have 15 minutes left.
I'm going to attempt to put
the jelly on the cake.
Then the jelly on the jelly.
I'm gonna dip this in some hot water.
[Noel] Held too briefly in the water,
the bakers risk tearing the jelly
when they flip it over.
It all hangs on this.
It's hot as well, this water.
[Noel] Leave it too long
and they risk melting it.
[Peter] That is very melty.
Too melty, probably.
- [Dave] Releasing now.
- Come on, Pete.
[Marc] That does not wanna come.
Come on, release.
Bloomin' heck.
[Marc] We have a wibble-wobble.
[Peter] Jeepers creepers.
That's not awful.
Bakers, you have one minute left.
[whispering] Oh, gosh.
[whispering] Oh, I did it.
Bakers, your time is up.
[whispering] Done it. Yeah!
Please step away
from your jelly art desserts.
I'm so happy with that.
I think it looks really cool.
Look at what happened,
I've done a jelly cake.
[chuckling] The good news is I never
have to make one of those again.
[Noel] After four and a half hours
of jelly artistry
and with a place
in the semi final at stake,
the bakers have to face the judges.
Laura, would you like
to bring up your showstopper.
You can see it reminds you
- of, uh, a pond.
- Yeah.
[Paul] I love the way
you've put the flowers in there.
It's got bubbles in it.
That's the koi bubbling.
- Yeah.
- [Prue] It's brilliant.
[Paul] I'd like the sponge
to have been covered.
- Oh, okay.
- So it looks neater.
[Prue] That jelly looks nice and soft.
Mmm. The raspberry mousse
is particularly good.
- Thank you.
- [Prue] Lovely.
- It's perfect.
- [Prue] Lovely.
[Paul] Every layer is excellent.
The jelly melts in the mouth,
the elderflower works really well,
every single texture,
every single flavour is spot on for me.
- Wow. Thank you so much.
- [Noel] Well done.
[Laura] Thanks.
- Smashed it, well done.
- Thank you.
David, I think
it is absolutely astonishing.
It is completely beautiful.
They are my colours exactly.
Yeah, if Prue was
a jelly design cake, that'd be it.
- Erm.
- [laughs]
[Prue] Very clever.
[Paul] I've given you a massive piece.
[Prue] David, that is so neat.
Thank you.
Jelly is fantastic. It's nice and light,
melts in the mouth.
But your downfall is the bit underneath.
Is that clotted cream mousse?
- [Dave] Yes.
- [Paul] Too much gelatine in it.
- Yeah.
- It's too stodgy.
Your sponge itself,
I'm not getting chocolate,
and I'm certainly not getting the fudge.
So when you eat that with that,
- it feels dry.
- All right, okay.
I wouldn't be quite so harsh.
My only quarrel is with the mousse,
which isn't as silky soft as you expect.
But do you know what, I think
it's quite an achievement, David, really.
- Thank you.
- [Prue] I think it's beautiful.
- [Dave] Thank you.
- [Matt and Noel] Well done.
- It does look phenomenal.
- [chuckles] Cheers.
It's very abstract.
[Prue] So that's a reindeer,
and that's a snowman.
And that's a Christmas tree.
Then it's repeated.
I don't think it looks very like
a snow globe.
[Paul] Needed bolder colours.
When you think of a Christmas tree,
you don't think pale.
- Yeah.
- You needed more vibrancy to it
'cause it's a bit pastel.
Let's have a look inside.
- There's mousse right down to the centre.
- [Prue chuckling]
[Paul] Not the easiest cake to cut.
No. [chuckles]
I question whether those mousses
are actually set properly yet.
They're very, very soft.
Okay.
Your sponge is slightly overbaked,
you can tell by the colour.
It shouldn't be as dark as that.
The flavours, though, are beautiful.
[Prue] I think the main problem
is with the size.
Because it's difficult
to get a huge slice out.
And because the mousses are only just set,
it's just like a good trifle.
- I'm gonna have the other mouthful.
- Thank you.
- Well done.
- Well done, Peter.
Well done, Peter.
The strawberry mousse looks curdled
and not set.
- [Marc] Yeah.
- This is gonna be an interesting cut.
It's on a board, as well...
The jelly's on top of a board?
Yeah.
[snaps]
[Paul] Oh, dear. It's slightly overdone.
- [Marc] Yeah.
- It's like concrete.
[Prue] Oh, dear.
[Prue and Paul laughing]
Excuse me, Prue.
[Prue] Is that meant to be mousse,
that chocolate?
- Supposed to be.
- [Paul] Is it?
That's more like a ganache.
Your chocolate is hard.
- Yeah.
- [Paul] The mousse split.
- The dacquoise is overbaked.
- And the jelly is...
The jelly's too rubbery.
- But besides that, brilliant.
- [Prue laughs]
I like the design. You're the only one
- who thought to do a two-tier.
- Yeah.
I just don't think
you organised the cake as a one-piece.
- I don't think the concept was right.
- No.
[Marc] Right.
- Beautiful.
- [Prue] Absolutely.
- Thank you.
- Straight out of a Parisian patisserie.
[exclaims]
[Prue] And I'll tell you what,
I'm a hot stuff gardener
and that is the most perfect
Japanese poppy.
Thank you.
[Paul] Right.
[chuckles]
It's absolutely gorgeous.
The raspberry, the chocolate mousse
work beautifully well together.
And you've got that aromatic flavour
coming from the jelly. Fantastic.
[Prue] All the layers are interesting.
The poppy top is fantastic.
And you know how to make genoise,
and you've made a perfect one.
- [Hermine] Thank you.
- It's a real triumph, lovely.
Well done, Hermine.
Oh, the white chocolate ganache
is delicious, too.
- [Prue] It is.
- Take it away.
- [all laughing]
- Go away before we find something
- to complain about.
- Thank you. [laughs]
Well done.
[chuckles]
[Hermine] I just can't believe it.
I was happy enough
getting a jelly cake out.
And those comments,
oh, my God. I just can't believe it.
[Marc laughing]
That went great, didn't it?
Er, it could've gone...
It could've gone better.
[Peter] This is by far the week
I'm closest to the bottom of the pile.
I'm not sure if I've done enough.
I think I have.
Wow, that was incredible.
It was good.
[Prue] I think it was
the most amazing day today.
[Matt mumbling]
- [Noel] Hermine?
- [Paul] She's done an amazing job.
It reminded me of looking in the window
of Fauchon in Paris.
You know, it's got that elegance to it.
And Laura's was really good.
It was a bit untidy round the edges.
- Yeah.
- But the cake was great,
the two mousses were good.
The topping was lovely.
[Paul] When you look at David's,
for me, it was two halves.
The top half was amazing.
Probably the best one.
But, for me, the bottom half didn't work.
Peter's tasted really nice,
but it wasn't
the best thing he's ever done.
- [Noel] You said it was too big to cut.
- [Paul] It was, a bit.
When you cut a slice, you wanna be
taking that around to show people.
- [Prue] Yeah.
- As opposed to Marc's, a chainsaw.
- [laughs]
- Because the dacquoise was just overbaked.
- I could've stood on that.
- Poor Marc.
I felt so sorry for him.
- Yeah.
- [Matt] We all do.
[Prue] Nothing went right.
We're beginning to narrow it down,
so we're looking at mistakes.
The technical was bad for all of them,
even for the winner, Laura.
Then we look at the signature,
it was fairly tight,
you know, they all managed to produce
mini cheesecakes of one form or another.
So when it came to the showstopper,
we've gotta look at that more carefully
because it was
a four and a half hour challenge.
You can't just brush that off.
We've got to look
at the showstopper properly.
Bakers, I have got the great job
of announcing who is Star Baker this week.
Before I do that, I just wanna say
that showstopper was off the hook.
It really was amazing,
so well done, all of you.
Now, this week's Star Baker is...
Hermine.
- [sighs]
- [all clapping]
- [Marc] Well done.
- Thank you.
[mouthing] Wow. Thank you.
Well, it falls to me then to tell you
who's leaving us this week.
It's someone who's been
on an incredible journey,
and I know that that journey
will continue after this show.
And the person
who is leaving us this week is...
I'm so sorry, it's Marc.
It's okay.
- [Dave] Come on.
- See you.
- Give us a hug.
- Cheers, mate.
Enjoy the sun.
Yeah. Thank you, Prue.
[Prue] Oh, I'm sorry.
- I knew I'd reached my limit this week.
- [chuckles]
I'm feeling, erm,
surprisingly okay, actually.
- [Laura] I'll miss you.
- [Marc] You, too.
I've come to the Bake Off
to kind of face my anxieties,
failure, all those things that, as people,
we're uncomfortable about dealing with.
I've definitely learnt more about myself.
Maybe, from what lots of people have said,
it's just to give myself a bit more credit
as well, which I don't.
[Marc] Cheers, Paul.
[Paul] Marc's been great.
He's been on probably the biggest journey
out of all the bakers.
He started off pretty badly,
and then, as each week has passed by,
he's got better and better and better.
And it's a shame to see him go.
- [Peter] Survived.
- [Prue] Just.
[indistinct chatter]
I'm through to the semi final.
[chuckling] I'll take that.
It's kind of hard right now
'cause it's like, fortunate for me,
but I'm gonna miss Marc
and it's a bit of an odd feeling.
[Laura] Bittersweet.
Happy you've got through
but the shine's taken off of it,
especially when you lose someone
you're close to.
And, erm, I think Marc was,
erm, a real gent.
- [Paul] Well done, Hermine.
- Thank you.
Can't believe it.
I still think myself in the tent,
nervous about
whether that jelly will set or not.
And I can't believe they liked
that flower and the whole thing.
[Prue] Aren't you a clever girl?
Hermine, her second Star Baker in a row.
She is an amazing baker.
In the past, she's done really well
because she's kept it quite safe,
but this time,
she made this amazing Japanese poppy.
It was just beautiful.
Semi-final week next week.
And we've got four fantastic bakers,
and I still cannot call
who's gonna be in the final.
I don't think it's sunk in yet
that the semi final is coming up.
I don't... It just doesn't feel real.
[exhales] Like, mind blown.
[closing theme music playing]
11x08 - Dessert Week
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British television baking competition, in which a group of amateur bakers compete against each other in a series of rounds, attempting to impress two judges with their baking skills.
British television baking competition, in which a group of amateur bakers compete against each other in a series of rounds, attempting to impress two judges with their baking skills.