Tonight, four old favourites
are back in the tent...
Good luck.
..taking on a challenging
Germanic signature.
Just going to scatter some nuts.
Just feel I've arrived at exactly
the right moment.
Getting eggy with the technical...
This is hectic!
..and flaunting their New Year's
resolutions with a 3-D Showstopper.
Not a big fan of innuendo,
but what is that?
So, who will rise to the challenge?
I think it will be
really tight for time.
And be crowned the first
Star Baker of 2019.
It's very, very clever.
It jolly well better taste good.
What better way to welcome
in 2019
than with four lovely bakers
returning to the tent?
First to put on
the apron is Candice.
I'm back!
She took the crown in 2016.
And is the first ever winner
to return to the tent
to compete again.
I don't know what to say.
It would be a bit embarrassing
if I was just absolutely rubbish.
Also returning is Dr Tamal.
Never thought I'd be back here.
Little bit of panic is setting in.
He excelled in Victorian week...
I got Star Baker!
..his hard graft in the final
got him close to the crown.
Your timing has been an issue, but
we're back to the same thing again.
But not quite there.
Everyone keeps saying to me
don't get nervous,
don't get as nervous, there's no
reason to be nervous
and I'm like,
"Well, you come and do it, then."
He'll be joined by Kate.
It's been three years
since I stepped inside the tent.
She made her mark back in 2014
when she took Star Baker
in pie week.
Very good, I like the texture,
I like the flavour, too.
Before a trio of bad pastry bakes...
I don't think that's right,
I'll do that again.
Oh! It just looks a mess. Yeah.
..ended her time in the tent.
Now, I feel a bit more confident.
I hope I do justice to what
I've learnt over the last few years.
Last but not least is Stephen.
It's good to be back.
The tent's still the tent
and I still feel sick
when I look at it.
Stephen made an immediate impression
in 2017,
with his show stopping
illusion cake...
That is stunning.
You wouldn't think
that wasn't bread.
..and amazed the judges again with
an incredible handbag sculpture.
Stand next to Prue.
That is ridiculous.
He got as far as the final,
but didn't quite manage
to grab victory.
This looks a little
as if it's unfinished.
It would be lovely to win this round
of Bake Off,
as a consolation prize for not
taking that plate back in 2017.
But which of these bakers will get
the New Year off to a flying start
and walk away with the coveted
Star Baker crown?
Happy New Year, kids. Welcome back
to the Bake Off tent.
And to help you celebrate
we would like you to make a wreath.
Finally, a cake that plays
up to my Gothic strengths.
Can't believe it.
Black with a hint of cobweb?
No, no, no, a stollen wreath. You
know, like an iced stollen wreath.
No black, at all? No.
In fact, quite the reverse.
The judges would like you to make
a vibrantly decorated,
iced stollen wreath.
It can be plaited or shaped
in any way you choose
but it must form a complete circle.
I'm imagining the flavours
have to be festive?
Absolutely and, of course,
as with any stollen,
it needs to contain marzipan.
I knew that, I actually knew that.
No, you totally didn't.
No. You need to make the marzipan
yourselves and you have three hours
to bake your festive stollen.
On your marks... Get set... ..bake.
Does anyone else feel
like they've forgotten what to do?
I don't know what I'm doing.
Suddenly, everything has just
disappeared out of my brain.
But it'll be fine.
I'll get it together.
I've got so much stuff.
Oh.
I'm really sorry.
Only you, Candice, only you.
I feel nervous.
I'm not sure if I really
like stollen any more.
I've eaten a lot of it
over the last few weeks.
Stollen is a German festive loaf.
It's an enriched dough
filled with lots of fruit,
it has marzipan in it
and it looks incredible.
It's a very heavy dough.
It takes a long time to prove.
It's a tough one, isn't it?
I think three hours
is a little bit mean,
but Paul insisted that
good bakers like this
must be able to do it
in three hours.
There are a couple of bakers in
there that failed in the tent
when it came to bread.
This time round, I, please, hope
we get some fantastic bakes.
It's an enriched dough, so it's full
of sugar, butter and eggs.
This mix of hot cross bun
and festive fruit cake
can be made with baking powder,
but the superior bake gets its rise
from fermented yeast.
If I can get this bit done
in 15 minutes,
then I hopefully should be OK,
because it needs to prove for
as long as possible.
Three hours to do an enriched dough
is a short, short time.
I'm going to try and go fast,
so that I can chill out at the end.
I think they'll like it.
Good morning, Tamar. Morning!
Good morning. Are you excited
to be back in the tent?
I'm more nervous
than I thought I'd be.
I think it's like
being back at school.
That's my go to nightmare.
If I'm stressed about anything,
I have a dream about being back at
school and I'm like, "Oh, God,
"I haven't revised for my A levels,
cos I haven't been at school
for the last ten years
."
For this bake, Tamal better
have done his homework.
He's making an orange
and rum stollen,
laced with pistachio marzipan,
with intricately constructed leaves
of royal icing decoration.
How are you making your wreath?
Is it going to be plaited?
So yeah, it's plaited,
but it's just two strands.
It's a twist.
It's not really a plait, is it?
I love the flavours, I think
it's going to be fantastic.
It's all about the timing, really.
Enjoy. Good luck, mate. Cheers.
But Tamar's got competition
in the festive foliage department.
I'm going for a real festive,
but rustic look.
It's a sort of German woods.
Good morning, Candice.
Good morning.
It's very brave of you, I think,
to come back as the winner.
Brave, stupid, I don't know,
but I just loved it so much.
You've struggled in the past when it
comes to some plaiting wreathes.
I don't know what
you're talking about, Paul.
I remember... It's called
the past for a reason, Paul.
They said they weren't
going to bring that up.
Stringy, raw dough is what happened.
With a chance to right past wrongs,
Candice's cinnamon and apple stollen
must be perfectly baked.
It'll be decorated
with old-school marzipan fruits.
Good luck, Candice. It's all about
the marzipan, it's about that look
and it's about the baking.
The baking! Come on, bread.
Come on! You can do this.
I can do it, you can do it.
Go, girl. Thank you.
Why is that so nerve-racking, still?
I feel like I was more nervous
than I was last time.
Yes!
I really, really need to make
sure my bread is baked.
We're all nervous, but
to win on this New Year's
would be the ultimate start to 2019.
Morning, Stephen. Hello.
Hello, you.
So, good to be back in the tent?
Yes, yes. Back so soon.
I never really left.
I got as far as the steps.
Can I just say,
very familiar wrist action?
Are you enjoying that? I am.
Stephen, tell us about your stollen.
This is called stag night stollen.
I have a silver stag's head
mounted on the wall.
Stanley. He will adorn my stollen
and he will be decorated
with festive glitter.
True to form, Stephen's
flavour-packed stollen will nestle
amid an amazing fondant sculpture,
decorated with fondant holly sprigs,
glittered cherries and golden nuts.
Usually, you take on so much.
Looking at your recipe,
I think that's exactly what
you're going to do again.
Yes. I like the confidence, Stephen.
I wish I shared it.
So, proving drawer.
It's critical the bakers calculate
the correct proving time,
as an enriched dough could collapse
if over-prooved or result in a flat,
dry stollen if under-proved.
The dreaded timer.
I think it just needs
as much time as possible.
Next is fruit.
This is the filling.
Freeze-dried raspberries.
Crystallised ginger.
Right.
Sorry!
Soaking fruit in a little bit of rum
just to, kind of, plump them up
a little bit.
I mean, that technically is muesli,
you could put milk in that.
That looks like it could be
Stanley's droppings.
I am just making my marzipan.
Although traditionally made
of almonds, other nuts can be used
to make this sweet paste.
This is hazelnut marizipan.
It's actually a really soft
and delicate flavour.
So, these pistachios,
they're quite posh pistachios.
They're, like, really
bright, lurid green.
I'm making two types of marzipans.
This bit is a bit hectic.
Hello, Kate. Hello!
OK, first of all can you tell us
what stollen are you making?
I'm making a classic krone shape.
You say that, I don't know what that
is. Oh, it's like a crown.
OK. It looks a bit like an octopus.
It's not supposed to,
but it, sort of, does.
Kate will accentuate the shape
of her ginger and almond
stollen/dozing octopus,
with over 200 piped balls of
Royal icing
and glittering spheres of marzipan.
Can I ask you a technical question?
Of course.
Is that silver thing part
of the shirt or is it separate?
It's separate. It's terrific.
It's to keep my, to keep my...
They're called sleeve defenders.
Yeah, I made them.
I think they're marvellous.
Well, I think they're lovely
but I want your earrings, too.
So, the dough is proved
for an hour. Good.
I'm happy...ish.
It's looking OK, it has risen.
It's risen, which is what you want.
This is the first prove of two,
so I'm going to shape it.
All the fruit goes in.
So, I'm literally
just kneading it in.
It doesn't look
particularly elegant.
I'm going to lay the mixture
on top, then the marzipan.
This is the main body of flavour.
What's this tube, here?
That's my marzipan sausage.
That's going inside.
The sausage is going inside.
The sausage is going inside.
OK.
So, you've made
a sausage to go inside?
Uh-huh. We better end it here.
Yeah, sure.
It's the only bit they'll use.
Yeah. Good luck.
Marzipan there.
And then I'm going to start to roll.
Bakers, you are halfway
through your signature challenge.
You've got an hour and a half left.
How does that time go so fast?
They now face the difficult and deft
challenge of shaping and plaiting.
It looks like the one I made
at home, so, that's good.
Right, there he is.
Quite a beast, isn't he?
He's going to go back
into the proving drawer.
I'm just going to do 20 minutes,
before I shut him in
a really hot oven.
I'm putting it in a bag to keep it
humid, so it doesn't dry out.
Prove my pretty, prove.
Bye-bye.
Boom.
As the enriched stollen dough
needs a long prove,
bakers can now get on
with the decorations.
I think we need to make a stag.
I don't say that very often.
Very exciting this bit.
Lots of gold, glittery balls,
which is what you need at New Year.
I'm carrying on making gold
balls for a long time.
I'm going to make my apples up now.
They're going to go
on and around my stollen.
These leaves are going
to go top of the wreath.
Once it's all baked,
I think it will be vibrant enough.
It's, just, I don't know if everyone
else's is going to look better.
Uh, no, those aren't
helpful thoughts, are they?
This is edible glitter, by the way.
I'm not trying to k*ll everybody.
They're quite cute, aren't they?
This is a stag's horn.
I'm just using florist's wire
inserted into the middle,
just to give it some strength
and it will hold that horn shape.
Hello. Hello.
What are you doing?
I'm making balls.
Golden balls. Golden balls.
Tiny golden balls.
How does it feel to be back in here?
I'm happy to be here
and I'm delighted that no-one's
going to be sent home.
You can't live here.
Me and Sandi live here.
Apparently, you do.
I live in the cutlery drawer.
My girlfriend's a wooden spoon.
We have a great time.
We spoon each other.
Can't believe I said that.
What we need you to say is,
"Bakers, you've got one hour left."
Bakers, you've got
one hour left. Go.
Bakers, you have one hour left.
Shut up! Is that true?
Brilliant.
Really?
I need to start baking it soon.
The oven is on.
It is hot.
I'm going to get my dough out.
The dough's just not risen
as much as I wanted it to.
But that's about ready now.
Ideally, it could prove
a lot longer, but, yeah,
it's just all about the bake,
really.
All about the bake.
It looks all right. The proof of the
bread will be in the eating.
I think that's a saying, isn't it?
Right. Right.
I'm going in.
I'm giving this about 40 minutes.
Stollen dough bakes best with more
time at a lower temperature.
However, the longer their stollen
is in the oven,
the less time they have
for decoration.
I think I'm OK for time.
It's just got to cook.
It has to cook.
I have an hour. It shouldn't take
any longer than that.
An hour would be the maximum.
Set my timer.
Half an hour.
Right. Back to my balls, yeah.
Right, Stanley, let's pick
up where we left off.
Hello. Hi!
Wow, look at this. Art world.
It's weird, like, watching everyone
else's decoration, cos, to me,
I was like, "Oh, well, there's not
much time, this was the only thing
"I can do and now I'm like, oh, why
didn't I think of making
"tiny marzipan fruit?"
Or whatever that is.
That's a stag.
It's a silver stag. Oh.
Of course.
Why didn't I think of that?
Right, I've had enough
of making balls.
I'm done with the balls.
It's cooking, a nice colour on it,
which is good.
Looks nice.
How long does it take?
It doesn't take that long, actually,
only takes half an hour.
Yours is big, as well,
you need a long time.
That takes nearly an hour.
Yeah, I think it's going
to be all right.
It's starting to brown. Right, how
much time have I got left?
Bakers, you have half an hour.
Half an hour.
Oh, good.
I'm ready to come out.
I just don't want to overbake it.
Is Kate...oh, my God.
She's already got hers
out of the oven.
OK, I'm not there yet.
This is going to be more
of a photo finish.
Good, all good.
I just need to decorate it.
Piping starts now.
This takes ages and ages and ages.
In practice, this takes 45 minutes
to do what I'm doing,
so that's why I'm going quick.
Um, yeah, I'm definitely
feeling pressured.
Definitely needs more time to bake.
If you don't do enough,
it definitely doesn't look as good.
It's making me very nervous
looking over at that.
The perfection over there.
I don't know about perfection.
Oh, God, it really is.
It's quite hypnotic, actually.
Look into the stollen.
Bakers, you have ten minutes left.
It's coming out.
I'm going to take it
out the oven now.
Looks like stollen.
It's a good size, it's a good shape.
I think it looks good.
Yeah, I wasn't expecting that.
I think it's baked.
I think it's OK.
I just need to decorate.
Right, let's roll my nuts in dust.
It's a festive time of year.
Why not roll your nuts in dust?
There's still some to go.
I used to really like piping.
I don't think I do any more.
I'm just glazing it
with loads of butter.
I think it looks quite neat
for something I've baked.
I've just piped holes in the join
and now I'm just drizzling
some maple syrup.
That's the sticky cinnamon
bun side of things.
Bakers, you have five minutes.
Five minutes.
Five minutes. I think we need
to put Stanley on.
Although he's a stag, we've got
to be very careful with him.
My hands are shaking,
it's really, really delicate.
This is my almond liquor icing,
just going through the joins.
It's definitely not simple
to decorate.
I made a rod for my back here,
didn't I?
Oh, God. Just going to
scatter some nuts.
I just feel I've arrived
at exactly the right moment.
Why, as I scatter my nuts
and glitter my cherries?
Don't want to overdo it,
you know me.
I'm just going to place some
holly leaves on top.
I stop when the clock stops,
I suppose.
Bakers, you have two minutes left.
These are just, sort of, decoration,
these are, like, little apple chips.
There's a little bit of grated
orange zest to go on top.
You can never cram too many
nuts on these things.
It's, kind of, done.
I'm happy with that,
we're all happy with that.
Just a bunch of happy people.
Bakers, that is the end
of your signature challenge.
Will you please place your iced
stollen wreathes at the end
of your work stations.
Everyone's looks amazing.
Well done, team.
The New Year bakers must now face
the judgment of Paul and Prue.
Candice.
Hello.
The bread looks
absolutely beautiful.
The little apple marzipan
looks very good. They're cool.
I just can't wait to see what the
actual bread tastes like.
So, my stollen is a cinnamon bun
stollen, drizzled with maple syrup,
marzipan apples, apple crisps.
Looks like I...
This is raw.
No, it's not.
Don't do this to me again.
It's not raw.
You've done this to me!
I haven't. That's not raw!
Stollen's supposed to be stodgy.
Is it?
Stodgy stollen, yes.
I don't think it's meant
to be quite that stodgy.
Oh, man.
The issue is the bake.
Lower temperature for longer.
You get more of
a rounded bake inside.
You have lots of flavour in there.
The nuts come through beautifully,
the marzipan tastes gorgeous.
Yeah, I just think it needed longer.
It needed to open up
that little bit more.
Are you pleased with it?
Yes. He looks like a stag.
Looks very proud and
masculine and solid.
Solid Stanley. And what about the
bread, never mind Stanley,
how about the stollen?
Inside is hazelnut marzipan
along with chocolate raspberries,
cherries and some mixed peel,
as well.
Wow, that's packed, isn't it?
But it looks good.
The bread looks good, too.
That dough's perfectly baked.
Oh, good. The hazelnut is stunning.
It's the king of
the flavours in there.
It's probably one of the nicest
stollens I've had in a while.
It ticks all my boxes.
Ooh, you get a handshake.
Missed those. That's a lovely hand.
Thank you.
Yes! You're back.
I think the bread looks good. OK.
I would have covered
it with a water icing,
drizzle it round and then
stuck those onto the top.
They're supposed to be
like leaves falling. Falling.
Let's have a look.
That does look good inside,
doesn't it?
Yum yum.
It's quite heavy.
Oh.
Oh, no.
It's not quite baked.
I think the temperature of your oven
was maybe a little bit too high.
Longer in the oven, less temperature
and that would have allowed
that to rise that little bit more.
That pistachio marzipan
is a revelation.
Revelation, I'd take that.
Yeah. Revelatory.
Absolutely. I will take that,
thank you.
Thank you very much, Tamar.
It looks amazing.
It's like a beautiful sea creature.
Thank you.
I think it looks a bit
like an octopus.
Yeah, like a Bollywood octopus.
A Bollywood... A boctopus.
..yeah, a glittery octopus, yes.
Let's have a look inside, shall we?
Mr Hollywood, I don't think
you're going to have any
complaints about that dough.
The marzipan is really good,
but then you have this ginger
which comes from the dough,
which is really quite refreshing
inside, but the texture
is well baked.
That is a very, very nice stollen.
Do I get a handshake?
Well done.
I'll take that, thank you very much.
I think they liked it.
It's an excellent start
to the New Year, may this continue.
Oh, it could have gone better,
couldn't it?
It's not ideal to serve
undercooked bread.
I think it was all right.
I think he's doing it to wind me up.
Yay. Handshake!
It's a good start for me.
It means my hard work has paid off.
There's loads to play for now.
Does he give out handshakes
on the technicals?
The bakers now have another
chance to demonstrate
their festive baking skills.
Hello, bakers, it's time
for your Technical Challenge.
Today set for you by
the lovely Prue.
Prue, I know you're determined to go
into 2019 making your advice
to the technical challenges
a little bit more useful.
Off you go. Don't be fooled!
It's much harder than you think.
Wow, imagine if she didn't
want to be useful.
That was great. OK, off you go,
you two. Keep the volume down.
Honestly, I cannot listen to Paul
singing My Way one more time.
Bakers, for your
Technical Challenge,
Pru would love you
to lay four snow eggs.
Bake, not lay.
Your snow eggs should be made
of a light and delicate French
meringue floating
on a sea of creme anglaise
and crowned with a delicate
spun sugar cage.
Your ingredients are
underneath your gingham cloths
and your instructions
are in your drawers.
If you're not wearing
any they're in your socks.
You have one and a half hours.
On your marks... Get set. ..bake!
Oh!
I've never seen snow eggs,
but I can picture them.
I did this sketch to, sort of,
help me visualise,
which makes sense to my mind.
I have done this before, once.
I'm certainly not full of dread.
Stephen's saying
he's made them before.
This is a tough one.
What a beautiful, festive
Technical Challenge.
Tell us about it, Prue.
These are snow eggs.
Or floating islands,
because you have an island
of meringue floating
in a custard lake.
And they will think,
"Oh, that's not too bad.
"Custard, we know how
to make custard,
"we know how to make meringue,
we know how to make caramel."
But having to do it like this is
really hard,
because we've not allowed
them any cornflour to cheat
with the custard. So, they've got
to thicken the milk with eggs
and if they get the mixture too hot,
it will curdle.
If they don't get it warm enough,
it will be too thin
and then the floating islands,
we've asked them to steam it.
Which none of them will
have ever done before.
It needs to be steamed very, sort
of, accurately for something like 12
minutes, because, if they steam
it too long, it will become
really rubbery and hard.
It should be a marshmallow texture.
It's a devious challenge.
I know!
It's that meringue
that'll catch them out.
It looks stunning.
Isn't that perfect?
Oh, it's gorgeous.
It's so silky and soft
and the caramel is perfect.
More than worth the calories.
New Year's diet starts tomorrow.
In classic Bake Off style
the instructions are really helpful,
so we've got "make a creme
anglaise" as instruction one.
You know, this is Bake Off Allstars
basically, so we know the game.
Right, I can make a creme anglaise,
I'm sure I can make
a creme anglaise.
I've got my cream, vanilla and milk
coming to sort of, like, a simmer.
I'm going to take that off
altogether.
I'm gradually adding in the cream,
vanilla and milk mixture
to the eggs and the sugar bit by
bit, so it doesn't sort of cook it
and scramble it, then I add
it back into the pan.
It should start thickening.
It should be thick,
but, like pourable, it's not
like a set custard.
You, basically,
have to stir it a lot.
I'm not sure you're
doing that right.
You looked horrified,
can I just say, totally horrified
when we said what it was.
Like, snow eggs?
Yeah, have you not had one?
No! So, if you were doing
a party for New Year's Day,
what would you make?
For New Year's Day, to be honest,
it would probably be a packet
of Hula Hoops.
Yeah, anything that the
petrol station's got. Yeah.
I think it's getting there.
I just thought I'd maybe try
and thicken it up ever so slightly,
because otherwise it's going
to be like a drink.
I think this is done.
I'm happy with that.
I'm just passing this
through the finest sieve.
See, I wouldn't have it
any thicker than that.
I wouldn't, but then I'm me.
So, it says "make a meringue".
A lot of detail there,
that's what you want.
It's a French meringue, so it's
whisked egg whites
with cream of tartare, salt, sugar.
What's your favourite meringue?
Swiss?
Have you ever had
Australian meringue?
Zimbabwean... Welsh.
..meringue, is the best meringue.
Looks pretty good, yeah.
I'm pretty pleased with that.
Pipe the meringue into
the dome moulds, level.
Apparently, you can't take
meringue on an aeroplane.
It goes weird, it explodes.
It's a dangerous controlled
substance.
You won't get it through security.
They do look like meringue,
which is good.
Just got to carefully pour boiling
water into the roasting tin,
place the mould on a rack,
set in a roasting tin,
transfer to the oven and bake.
It doesn't say how
long to bake it for.
I'm trying to work out
the timing for this meringue.
I don't know. I don't know.
I have no idea how long
for, like, a steamed meringue.
I just want to get them
into the oven quickly.
They're going in the oven.
The meringues need
just 12 minutes,
but the bakers
don't have this information.
And they'll need to use
their expertise to figure out
the length of the bake.
The oven's on at 130, which is
a relatively low temperature.
I had in my head ten minutes,
but I'm not sure about that.
I don't know.
Sneaky Prue.
This challenge is giving me
proper anxiety.
Bakers, you've got one hour left.
One hour to do...
I don't know.
The creme anglaise took 15 minutes.
The meringue took ten minutes.
We have an hour
in which to bake them.
So, maybe, yeah,
maybe they do need an hour.
Not happy about this situation.
No, I know. I'm thinking
the meringue needs a lot longer.
It's quite a lot of time, then.
Yes, but not much time
to do the caramel cages.
You need the silicon moulds.
To get the right shaped
caramel cages,
the bakers must make them
on the back of the silicone moulds.
Currently in the oven.
Sneaky Prue! So sneaky.
I might get the caramel going,
take it off
and then finish it
right at the end.
It says for the caramel cage,
"make a caramel".
Caramel's a bit like bread dough.
Don't annoy it,
because it will bite back.
Making caramel itself is fine,
it's the timings.
Those pesky timings.
Caramel doesn't feature heavily
in my day to day life.
It's very 1970s.
Making sure I don't burn this
caramel, it's gone a really
lovely colour.
But I'm going to turn
the heat off in a minute.
And let it cool.
I really just want to take
the meringues out of the oven.
Are yours rising out of the moulds?
Yeah. Are they?
Yeah. It is a bit like making
a souffle.
I can't remember how long
you cook a souffle for.
Oh, man!
They are tinged with brown
around the edges and I'm not sure
whether that is right or wrong.
The meringues have had 45 minutes,
which seems ages for something
that is not very big.
Has anyone else got theirs out?
They're going to need to come out
soon, maybe not right now.
I'm going to psych myself up for it.
How much time have we got left?
Bakers... You... ..have.
..ten... ..minutes... ..left.
Right, now is the time.
Yeah, I'm going to take them out.
Coming out!
They look like nothing
I've ever seen before.
I'm, kind of, just assuming
that they look all right.
Oh!
They just sort of plop out, I guess.
They're looking as expected.
They're actually quite sweet
looking, aren't they?
These look good. Do you think?
Got to be pleased with those, right?
But I feel like I just want
to like open my mouth and swallow
one whole like...like that
and it would go.
Yeah, they look fine.
I don't know if they're
a bit overdone now.
Bakers, you have five minutes left.
Right, now, five minutes. sh**t.
It's going to be a mad dash.
Come on, caramel.
So, that, kind of, drizzling
consistency I'm looking for, really.
Kind of, like the consistency
of runny honey.
Do you know what?
I'm going to use a spoon.
This is hectic!
God, what a mess.
So, I need to assemble.
Assemble for the creme anglaise,
half of the glass is filled with
meringue in each glass and topped
with a sugar cage.
They've got to be even.
I don't want someone to get annoyed
that they've not had enough custard.
Paul might throw a tantrum.
I don't think I've got as much creme
anglaise as everybody else,
but I don't really know why.
Yours looks a bit more solid.
Do you think?
His was a bit more liquidy.
Right, let's get these on.
The caramel is being
really annoying.
No!
These little nests aren't
very keen to come off neatly.
That's not going to work!
It's too hot.
Bakers, you have one minute,
just one minute left.
They look OK, I think.
They're not ideal, but I just need
to have something to put on them.
I've just got to improvise,
get something on there.
Right, last one on this one.
Bakers, your time is up.
No, it's not!
No, it isn't! Time is...
No, it isn't. ..up, as soon as
I finish this sentence.
No, no, keep talking.
Time is...
Up. Oh, dear!
Please bring your snow eggs
down to the table
and place them in front of your very
regal looking photographs.
That's a big frown.
It really is.
We have all the component parts.
How they taste is going
to be interesting.
OK, we'll start with this one.
There are some pretty
decent cages there.
And they're the right colour.
Shall I give it a cr*ck?
Yeah, go on.
The meringue was pretty
decent, actually. It is.
But that creme anglaise
is a little bit too thin.
It's very difficult to make
a good creme anglaise.
Interesting.
OK. Right, well, there's an obvious
problem with the caramel cage.
It's a little bit too thick.
It's like modern art.
What's unusual about the meringue
is part of it's good
and part of it's quite rubbery.
I don't know how they managed
to achieve that.
I think that's a very good custard.
The caramel is a slight disaster.
Right.
This has got some form of a cage.
The custard is
beautifully thickened.
That's really clever to get custard
like that with only egg yolks.
The meringue is slightly
overdone again.
Very overdone. It's very rubbery.
Number four.
Thin, lovely, crackly caramel
and very beautiful custard.
It's again overcooked.
I think the meringue's not bad.
I do think the creme anglaise
is very, very good.
Interesting. We're going to have
to judge these,
which is going to be quite tricky.
In fourth place
is this one. No!
Whose is this? Mine.
Kate, the caramel is far too thick,
the meringue is slightly overcooked,
but your creme anglaise wasn't
too bad, a little bit thin there.
In third place, we have this one.
Tamal, beautiful custard, overcooked
meringue, slightly lumpy caramel.
In second place is this one.
It's getting better.
The caramel cage was OK.
Your creme anglaise was actually
pretty good,
but your meringue
was slightly overdone.
Which means that this is
our winner, number one.
Steven, well done.
Thank you. You shouldn't be too
pleased with yourself.
I'm not, I'm not!
Because you made the worst custard,
but you did make the best meringue
which is the difficult, tricky bit
and your caramel was the best cage.
That was out of the blue,
but I did come first, which is nice.
I don't think I'll be making
that for my next dinner party.
That's for sure.
I think I cooked them for, like,
five times longer
than they were
meant to be cooked.
My cage was the thing
that let me down,
but, I have to say, I haven't made
a '70s caramel cage in a while.
Showstopper tomorrow, I think
Steven's edging it slightly.
I really hope I don't have a repeat
of 2017,
where I lose it at the final hurdle.
It's day two...
Good luck! Good luck!
..and just one challenge remains
before Paul and Prue decide
who they'll crowned the winner of
the Great Festive Bake Off.
Hello, bakers, welcome back.
It's time for your final festive
challenge -
The Showstopper.
Paul and Prue would love you to make
a 3D New Year's resolution cake.
Now, we all like to go into the New
Year with a goal or ambition
for the next 12 months, and we would
like to see that in 3D form.
Your New Year's resolution can be
anything.
Maybe you want to learn a new
language or get fit or, like me,
just chill out a bit more.
Oh, I can help you with that.
Really? Yeah, you just stand there.
OK. OK, so, your cake must be
assembled from the sponge
and filling of your choice.
The outside of your cake, showing
your New Year's resolution,
can be decorated in any way you see
fit, but it must be edible.
You have...
Noel? Hmm? Yeah?
I'm trying to chill out a bit.
Oh, sorry, OK, great.
You have four and a half hours
to bring your dream to life.
On your marks, get set...
Still nothing?
OK. Bake!
This is quite a long challenge,
four and a half hours.
There's a list. A list that has to
be followed, in that order.
Otherwise it doesn't work!
HE CHUCKLES
Ah!
I'm just preparing my cake.
To build a 3D Showstopper will take
vast amounts of sponge.
This cake has got some weight to it,
it's a really big cake.
16 eggs.
The Showstopper challenge today
is a New Year's resolution cake
in 3D.
They have the chance to really show
us what they've learnt
over the years.
I expect to see something that's
going to look pretty impressive.
I'll be astonished if we don't have
fantastic Showstoppers.
Time is not great.
So, normally, you wouldn't attempt
this cake in an afternoon.
SHE LAUGHS
But here we go. This is Bake Off!
Got to do these crazy things.
I'm doing two cakes.
In here, I've got
an orange and raspberry sponge.
Perfect for a New Year's diet.
It's pretty much
one of your five a day.
Good morning, Candice! Good morning.
Hello, Candice. Hello. Hi!
Right, would you like to tell us
all about your resolution cake?
So, I struggle with New Year's
resolutions, because I just break
them, so I don't make them.
But I don't really wear much
lipstick, so...
What?
I thought I would make a New Year's
resolution to wear more lipstick.
How do you wear more lipstick
than you're currently wearing?
It's always possible, Paul.
How?
With giant lips of orange and
raspberry sponge, of course!
Sandwiched with rhubarb gin jam
and hiding a sweetie surprise.
Along with an oversized lipstick
flavoured with mint and chocolate,
it means Candice is the only baker
making two types of sponge.
So, it's one big set of lips.
THEY LAUGH
I have a sofa in the shape
of some lips.
Do you? Yeah.
And if, like, you roll around,
does it look like you're being
swallowed by it?
Yeah, you'd love that, wouldn't you?
I really would! I'll send it to you.
Well... Good luck, Candice.
Thanks!
THEY LAUGH
Candice is doing
a massive pair of lips.
Um...
HE CHUCKLES
Such an idiot.
When it comes to his Showstopper,
Steven is hoping the cake
will do the talking.
My New Year's resolution is to
communicate more.
To communicate more?
To communicate more.
I'm very bad at losing track of time
and I don't ring my mother,
I don't ring my sister.
So I am recreating my grandmother's
telephone table,
because every week, she would sit
at her table with her cup of tea
and her old rotary telephone,
and she would ring her sister,
or ring her daughters
or ring her mother.
Steven's Showstopper will have
an address book, a cup of tea,
an edible doily
and an old-fashioned telephone.
You see, I think this is something
which you're always good at,
something a little bit special,
and I think this plays
to your strengths.
I'm just looking forward to all the
little kids looking at a telephone,
going, "Oh, my days, what's that?"
THEY LAUGH
Thank you, Steven. Good luck.
That's well mixed.
That goes in.
I think the mix is pretty good.
I'm going to put them
in the oven now.
So, these go for 20 minutes at 160.
I'm baking them at 180.
It'll take about 40 minutes.
These are going to go in
for about 30 minutes.
As the only baker ambitiously making
two types of sponge,
Candice is back to square one.
It's one of my favourite cakes.
Like, really good, chocolaty mint
coconut, which I love.
Right, onto ganache.
While other bakers turn their
attention to the fillings
needed to sandwich their sponges,
there's also a chance to layer
in another flavour.
This is salted cinnamon caramel
buttercream.
HE INHALES
Oh, it's just like...
HE GROWLS
It makes me want to strip naked,
quite frankly,
and use it like shower gel.
I am making blackcurrant ganache.
If the judges do not like this bake,
I will be questioning
their taste buds, frankly.
It's delicious!
Hello, Kate. Hello, Kate.
Hello! Hello. Hi.
Tell us about your New Year's
resolution cake.
I would love, one day,
to have my own restaurant.
So I'm building that.
A whole restaurant?
It's the outside - it's a building.
A sort of Regency, Georgian...
It's got curved front windows.
Kate's New Year grand design will
have a green pistachio sponge,
with an unusual blackcurrant
ganache.
The building will be constructed
from sugar pastillage,
a type of icing that sets firm.
So, the flavours are blackcurrant...
And pistachio. And pistachio. Yeah.
That's quite an odd combination.
Is there pistachio in the sponge?
Yeah.
So you've got green sponge?
Yeah, with a vibrantly purple
blackcurrant ganache.
And it works with the pistachio?
Beautifully. I'm astonished.
Well, this is going to be
interesting.
You've practised this and you can do
it in the time? Just about.
OK, good luck. Thank you very much.
I think I'm going to need it.
SHE LAUGHS
Oh, my cakes!
It's critical the bakers
get the sponges out on time.
If overbaked, they'll be crumbly
and their 3D structures
could easily topple over.
SHE GIGGLES
It's a good job I weren't holding
a hot cake or anything, hey?
What a prat!
SHE LAUGHS
Yeah, it's good.
A little bit sunken, but it won't
matter cos I'm layering it up.
That's fine.
I'm pleased with them.
They look and smell like cake.
Yeah, really happy.
They're definitely all baked,
which is good. No raw cake!
Morning, Tamal. Hello.
Right, tell us all about your
New Year's resolution cake.
My New Year's resolution is that
I want to make my own clothes.
Where did that come from?
I can never find clothes that
fit me properly,
cos I'm not that tall
but I have massive hips.
So, the thing that I'd really want
to do is make my own suit.
OK. So, this is kind of what
it's going to look like,
like, a dressmaker's dummy.
Tamal's fashioning his cake from
a dense, dark chocolate brownie mix.
It will be sandwiched
with a praline filling.
The cakes are stacked on top of each
other and I'm going to use a Kn*fe
to kind of carve it into
the shape of a torso.
The classic way of producing
a 3D cake is that carving.
It's really easy to be a bit too
enthusiastic with the Kn*fe
and be, like, hacking bits off.
Yeah, you can't put them back on.
It's about taking little bits off
at a time.
Thank you very much indeed.
Fashion cake! I'm in.
Good luck.
It'll be fine.
I feel like I should get that
tattooed across my forehead.
It's pouring in and then it's going
in the oven.
With her second lot of sponges made,
Candice is playing catch-up.
Bakers, you are halfway through.
Halfway through, kids,
halfway through.
There's a lot to do.
Er, right, what's next?
It's fondant time now.
This is the pastillage.
It's a bit like a fondant icing
but you roll it very thinly
and it sets really hard.
The bakers are allowed to bring
in ready-made fondant.
This is over a kilo of fondant,
this is for the lips.
But, determined to go for gold,
one of them is making his own...
..combining sugar, gelatine,
glucose and glycerine.
If I were to bring in
shop-bought fondant,
it's not really showcasing skill.
I mean, I'm regretting it now,
because it does take
a really long time.
Next is colouring up the pastillage.
This is supposed to be
a nice olive green.
It's for the signage on the front
of the building, which,
at the moment, I just feel like,
how am I ever going to do that?
It feels like I'm a million miles
away from that.
Just working the colour through it.
Jeez!
It's a lovely colour, look at that.
That is the colour I want,
that rich, deep red colour.
I'm sure, when I looked at this
colour at home,
it was a lot less lurid.
Blue windows.
Roof done.
Back door.
The detail's on the front but
you've got to have a little bit
of back-door action.
I had to put it in the warming
drawer,
otherwise it won't dry in time.
I'm getting this one out.
I love this cake.
I am happy - so far.
But I think it will be really tight
for time.
The whole thing is a mad rush.
The entire thing is totally crazy
today.
Bakers, you have one hour left.
I'm just trying to get these cut.
Ah, it's not getting through!
My cake's much more crumbly
than normal.
I'm just trimming the cakes
and I'm going to put a layer
of buttercream on them.
I'm just going to start constructing
this lip cake.
I'm really, really pleased
with the jam,
and I'm leaving a little space
in the middle for my surprise.
They're not the best layers
I've ever done,
but they'll look nice
when it's cut into.
It's starting to take on the shape
of a phone.
This is high! You're getting
some height.
Paul likes height in a cake.
Looks delish, though.
Wow, you've used a lot of eggs -
there's about 7,000 shells
in your sink!
The pastillage is going to stick to
the ganache, but...
..it works as detail icing
and also it glues things together.
The buttercream adds a layer
to the cake,
but it'll also help the fondant to
stick to the cake.
I feel sexy. Do you?
I do, yeah.
Now, we have to look at the camera
and you do that thing
that Victoria Beckham does of
going...
I'm really nervous
about this carving.
Everything else can be a rush,
this bit I just want to be calm
and be happy with the shape
that I make.
I'm now starting to carve
my lips shape.
These are nice,
these little marbled panels. Yes.
Where do you want your shop?
Wherever...
..wherever somebody will give me
one.
You're very calm.
Am I? I don't feel very calm.
I wish I could help you, but...
Ooh! Don't touch me! Ah!
Sorry!
HE LAUGHS
Bye!
It's stressful, just because
there's so many different elements
to this cake, like, little tiny bits
and pieces.
For me, the devil is in the detail.
Like, the phone receiver, the bit
where you listen and you talk,
is solid sugar paste.
I've studied anatomy, I know
all about, like, the curvature
of the spine and the body and,
like, the proportions of it.
I'm really setting myself up
for a fail
when this just looks like a brick!
OK, now I'm going to do this
seriously.
So don't upstage me with
any of your antics. OK. OK.
Bakers, you have half an hour.
Just half an hour.
Wonderful.
Well done.
Right.
That is pretty secure.
The thing is, you can't push it
too hard, because it snaps.
Fondant doesn't like to be extruded.
HE EXHALES
This is a telephone handle,
held with a wire.
I've just got to put in the receiver
and then the electronics and then...
And then it'll ring? Imagine if
it did, it will blow Paul's mind.
No, it wouldn't. It would.
The eyebrow would just go up.
HE LAUGHS
This could be a small child.
Yeah, it's pretty tall, isn't it?
The surprise is in the middle,
so when they cut in,
the surprise kind of pours out.
That is extruded fondant.
I've wrapped it around a Kn*fe
sharpener, to create the coil effect
of a phone.
Side panels.
I need to do this quickly
cos I am going to run out of time.
Not much time left, but I'm putting
these things on first.
It's meant to be the white of
the dummy.
I am now going to cut out
my lipsticks.
Steven's going to make
a little teacup.
I really need to be quick now.
It's just making sure that it fits.
To get into the cake,
you have to smash it.
I'd like to smash it right now.
Would you?
SHE LAUGHS
No offence, Kate!
No offence?! That's brilliant.
Once the blue is on,
I feel like it'll really look like
what it's meant to look like.
It's tricky to know
what they're going to think,
but I think I've got the elements of
something good here.
This is like the barrel
where the lipstick goes in.
And then on top is where,
obviously, the lipstick comes out.
Oh, God!
Oh, I am going to have to do
the roof.
The roof is the bit where I need it
most solid.
I'm not feeling very calm,
for the first time.
Ah! It's broken!
It has actually broken.
If it was going to happen, it was
going to happen with the roof bit.
Bakers, you have 15 minutes,
15 minutes.
Honestly, I fancy you now.
Yeah, I think it's the KD Lang look.
HE LAUGHS
I think it's going to be tight -
in true Bake Off style!
Right, finish one thing at a time,
Steven.
This is a little address book.
There was always an address book
by the phone, and a pencil.
Oh, yeah, sh**t, I've got to do
the pencil still, haven't I?!
Not a big fan of innuendo, but...
I don't know what you're talking
about.
What is that?
It's lipstick.
OK, just checking.
I was very happy, then I turned
round and saw what Kate had done
and just d*ed inside.
Oh, Kate, can't you break something?
I have! I've broken my roof!
Oh...
Actually, I'm really sorry!
Yes, it's not good.
I didn't mean that - I said that
as a joke!
So your wish has come true!
Wow! I don't even know where to
begin.
Will you stop it?
It's like the Kama Sutra in here!
HE LAUGHS
Ah, that looks nice.
I'm hoping that the white lines
will draw their eye away
from the general lameness of it.
SHE EXHALES
Right, I am going to have to do
the roof. In fact
I'm going to do it the other way,
just in case it breaks again.
You made a house my size!
I can live in it!
Architectural feat!
The roof has cracked a little bit,
but that's OK!
I'll come back and move in.
OK. I'll just get my bag.
It's only about that big. You'll be
fine. You could actually do that.
Tiny little bag.
This is the doily. No matter how
cool she was, she was a grandmother,
so she had doilies.
Right, let's bake that.
Bakers, you have five minutes.
I'm quite happy with it, actually.
Now it's just kind of getting,
sort of, the curves
and everything smoothed out.
I'm roof-tiling it.
The devil's in the detail
with this one.
This is a pencil. I haven't got
a lot of time left,
and this is a really fiddly part of
the operation,
lots and lots of little bits
and pieces.
I feel pretty zen.
I only have to serve it
to Paul's icy eyes one more time.
Right, super, super quick.
This is glaze spray,
this makes it nice and shiny.
This is vodka. It adds a nice shine.
Down to the last little bit now.
I would like to do more decoration
but I'm not going to.
I haven't got time.
Bakers, you have one minute left.
They're never going to make it!
I know.
Oh, my God!
It weighs an absolute tonne!
OK.
Time is such a k*ller.
It's been a really tough challenge,
getting it done in the time.
Wow, it's definitely
a work in progress.
I would've liked it to be a little
bit neater but we'll go with it.
Bakers, your time is up!
Please step away
from your Showstoppers.
In fact, go and have yourselves
a cup of tea and maybe,
I don't know, a piece of cake.
Candice, I don't think your lips are
big enough.
Well done, g*ng!
The bakers' New Year's resolution
cakes now face the judgment
of Paul and Prue.
Candice, would you bring up your
showstopper, please?
Oh, my God, it is really heavy.
I don't know what to say, Candice.
I've never seen anything like it.
It's quite simplistic. I'd like
to see more of a curvature,
to really accentuate that's what
it is, rather than just
a little crease down the top.
He wanted Botox lips.
Let's have a look inside.
Have you filled this with
those sweets? She has.
OK, you have, haven't you?
Oh, that's fantastic! Wow.
There's a lot of lips in there.
Not the easiest cake to cut.
I think your sponge is baked well.
Thank you.
And I do like the flavours in there
as well, but it's not neat.
There's nothing neat about it.
So, we've got chocolate in this one.
Yes. Chocolate, mint and coconut.
That looks very gooey.
It does, doesn't it?
Very minty, slightly toothpaste-y.
Oh, OK.
You lose a lot because of that mint,
unfortunately, so just drop
the mint, and that would have been
perfect.
Cos it's a well-baked cake inside.
I think you've done a good job
with the flavours,
and the textures that you managed
to achieve are pretty good.
That is amazing. Very fine.
What you've got here is exquisite.
Your piping work is very good.
I'm dying to see what the cake
actually tastes like.
Right, this is pastillage, isn't it?
Yes, I don't mind if you destroy
the whole thing.
Go on, do it!
Cakes are meant to be eaten.
This is rather fun,
destroying things.
Take the roof off, and in the attic
you'll find a very, very nice
picture of Paul as a young man.
Oh, look at those layers.
Wow, very neat, very even.
That looks a really good
sponge, too.
It tastes amazing.
The sponges are delicious. I was
worried about the flavour,
but the best thing about it is that
blackcurrant.
It just ticks all the boxes.
That is a fine-looking cake.
Thank you.
I think that the combination of the
pistachio and the blackcurrant
is just astonishing, because you
would not think that would work. No.
I think, now, you should go ahead
and start your business. Good luck.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Well, you'd know exactly what it
was. Even if you'd never
seen a tailor's dummy, you'd know
that was a tailor's dummy.
I...
Go on.
Is it too simplistic?
Yes. I think it might be.
Let's have a look.
My goodness, that smells
wonderful. Wow.
It's quite heavy.
I'm struggling to get the hazelnut.
It's chocolate, you get that
straight away.
You get that silkiness as well
from the buttercream,
but it's like a dry brownie.
Then you've got the denseness of a
badly baked cake, if you know
what I mean, so between the two,
you've not got the best of either.
I absolutely agree.
You set out to do something, and I
think you've accomplished it,
but it probably needed a little bit
more finesse.
That is amazing.
It's very, very clever.
I love the colour that you've
managed to achieve.
Is this a cake or is this just...?
The handset's fondant, and the coil.
And that's fondant? And this? Yes.
Fondant lace. It's exquisite.
It's astonishing.
This is almost an illusion cake
and a New Year's resolution
all together.
It's a great-looking cake.
It jolly well better taste good.
Right, let's have a look.
Oh, I can't bear it.
Sorry.
Great-looking sponge.
Those flavours are fantastic, they
just follow, one after another,
they hit your taste buds.
You've got that bitterness coming
from the chocolate, the hazelnut
in there, the silkiness coming from
the buttercream, as well.
You produced something that tastes
as good as it looks.
Very, very rare thing. Excellent.
It's amazing, Stephen, well done.
I think you've done an exceptional
job... Get your hand out.
The fact that you've made your own
fondant as well, what can you say?
Exceptional. Well done.
Come on, put your hand out.
I'll give you a hug.
I think I landed the world's
first Hollywood hug.
They said it smelled amazing, and
smell is, like, 70% of taste,
so, you know...
..I basically won.
I think, on comedy value,
I've probably got it in the bag.
We have sat at this table with a lot
of cakes over the weeks.
This one is the most surreal
display I have ever seen.
Some of them I think
overstretch themselves.
The one I was a little bit
disappointed with was Tamal.
He's let himself down a little bit.
I think his stollen
was slightly underbaked.
And, ironically, his show stopper is
slightly overbaked, a bit dry.
But in both cases,
the flavours are fantastic.
I thought Kate's cake was exquisite.
I thought the decoration was good,
it's very neat, it's very tidy
and I love that
blackcurrant ganache.
But you liked the flavours
of Candice's cake, didn't you?
I did. The lips are a bit crass,
to be honest,
but I thought the cake itself was
absolutely beautifully made.
What about the Hollywood hug?
What do you say about Steve?
All right, it's a New Year's
resolution cake,
but as I said, it's an illusion cake
and the flavour of that sponge
was just divine.
So, who's in line
for Star Baker, then?
It's got to be Kate
or Steven, surely.
Has anybody got
a New Year's resolution?
I don't really bother with them.
What have you got?
Well, next year I'm going
to have a New Year's resolution.
That's my resolution for this year.
Bakers, congratulations
and thanks for joining us.
You have been amazing.
The winner communicated great design
and flavour, although they got
a little hung up on the custard.
I am delighted to tell
you that the winner
of the Great New Year Bake Off is...
..Steven.
That felt really, really good.
It was a real challenge to
walk back into that tent.
To do it and then win,
it's an immense feeling.
What a start to 2019.
Couldn't be better.
Steven won the festive Bake Off
because his designs were
unbelievable.
Hello, my sweetheart...
Steven has had a really great
Bake Off
and he is a great baker, Steven.
Faultless. He's a machine.
Apart from...his custard.
You know, if you can't make
custard...
I've learned that Steven is
unstoppable when it comes
to fondant.
And I have learnt that I still love
The Great British Bake Off.
I think we've earned
a glass of something.
# Should old acquaintance be forgot
# And never brought to mind... #
So, I came here as a winner,
of course it would have been
nice to do the double.
But it was really good fun,
it's been great to be back.
Hit it! Oh, yeah, here we go!
# It's the most wonderful time
of the year
# It's the most wonderful time
of the year... #
It's been really nice to meet, like,
a whole different bunch of people,
who I, kind of, seen, that I knew
and I was already a fan of
but never quite met.
So, yeah, it's been good.
I'm going to walk away and start
2019 with three new friends and...
..a new plate.
I have had the best time.
Happy New Year.
# It's the most wonderful time
of the year. #
Happy New Year! Happy New Year!
Are you a Star Baker in
the making?
If you'd like to apply for the next
series of Bake Off, visit...
09x12 - The Great Festive Bake Off
Watch/Buy Amazon Merchandise
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.