05x11 - Class of 2013

[bunniefuu]

As the weeks passed in the Great British Bake Off tent,

the temperature started to rise for Britain's top amateur bakers.

Am I showing a bit?

Their non-stop quest for excellence to impress judges Mary Berry

and Paul Hollywood continued.

It is spectacular. It's what I call a showstopper.

I certainly think the challenges this year have been tricky,

very tricky.

Oh, no! It's slipping off!

There is a plumbing issue here.

They have to be good at everything, now that is a real challenge.

But now the tent is an oasis of calm,

as Mary and Paul share their years of knowledge.

Now it's down to Paul and I

to show you our interpretation of this year's bakes.

We're not only going to show you the technical challenges

and how they should have been done,

but also the signature bakes and the showstoppers.

Coming up - Mary Berry makes a Chocolate Orange Tart

that could take centre stage in any patisserie.

And a majestic Swedish Princesstarta.

Paul Hollywood shows his savoury side with some top-end

sausage plaits and bakes sweet Kouign Amann pastries.

Finally, Mary goes caramel crazy with a spectacular Hungarian

showstopper - a tiered Dobos Torte.

As the bakers hit the halfway mark, they faced Pies and Tarts week.

Morning, bakers, and welcome back to the tent.

For the signature challenge today, Paul and Mary would very much like

you to make a family-sized custard tart.

Mmm, custard.

You can decorate them in any which way that you like.

You've got two and a half hours on the clock, on your marks...

Get set, bake!

Some were looking forward to this challenge more than others.

I love custard tarts. I normally make a custard tart on its own.

I like eating pastry. I just don't enjoy making it, out of all

the things that you bake, this is probably my least favourite one.

I love making pastry,

and rather than do a sort of bog standard custard tart,

I want to experiment a bit.

Mary's tart is also a bit different, with swirls of light

and dark chocolate in a thin pastry case.

I love a good tart. So what are you doing with your tart, then,

what's the filling?

It's a very rich chocolate filling,

and then it's got little swirls with an orange and white chocolate on top.

And the pastry has to be really, really thin,

and the secret is when you're baking it and you take it out,

it's got to have that wobble so it just sets.

It's really a perfect ending to a special meal.

So what do you need from me?

For the pastry, I need 100g of plain flour.

100g of plain flour coming up.

Add 50g of cubed unsalted butter, and 50g of icing sugar.

I use this pastry for all sorts of flans and tarts.

It holds its shape well and it's crisp.

Pop that in like this. Now you could do it by hand if you prefer.

It's important to get all the butter to a breadcrumb consistency,

otherwise you'll get lumps of fat in.

Let's have a look at that.

That is, if you just look at it, it looks just like fine breadcrumbs.

b*at an egg yolk with a tablespoon of water

and add it to the dough mix.

And then work it.

Get it so that it's just coming together.

If you go on working it,

rather like if you go on kneading it, it doesn't do it any good.

There we are. Just turn it out onto that...

you can see it's quite sticky,

and then just work it together, a bit more flour there.

So the pastry's too soft to roll out, now I'm going to put it in the fridge

to firm up. That'll just take about half an hour or so.

So you notice I'm flouring the actual rolling pin.

I love a rolling pin with no sort of knobs at the end.

A long plain one is the best.

Then I'm going to roll this so that it stays in a round.

So it's a matter of moving the pastry round and keeping it round.

And the idea is to roll it out, obviously, to just a bit bigger

than the actual case.

That's it, and then I'm going to slip that underneath,

and because the pastry is so thin I can see where the actual base is.

To transport it, I was taught to roll it round the rolling pin.

Often it falls off, it breaks in half,

and a safer way is to pull that in like that

and then just put that in...

..and pull the bits up all the way round.

With this very delicate pastry, this thin, thin pastry,

if you rush it you'll poke your finger through the side.

And then take the rolling pin and just go over that.

And you've really got to go round pushing the pastry in

so that you know that it fits tightly.

I'm going to prick the base because it would balloon up

and we don't want to.

- Or docking, docking the bottom.
- Is that what you call it, docking?

And don't you have, as a baker, you have a gadget?

- We have a docker.
- Like nails?

Yeah, that's right, you just run it along the pastry.

Well, we all have a fork in the drawer,

so that's absolutely fine and then it does need chilling at this stage

because it will harden up the butter.

Put the pastry case in the fridge to chill for 15 minutes.

This will help prevent it from shrinking in the oven.

There it is!

It's a beautiful colour because, of course, it's the egg yolk

- that makes it that colour.
- OK.

Then for baking blind, over the years I've always used foil in there

but I've tried using clingfilm and surprisingly it doesn't melt

in the oven and you can get it tucked in to the actual corners.

Right to the edge like that.

Then you come to filling it, you can put baking beans,

that's what our bakers use.

At home, I've got a jar of macaroni that I keep using,

in fact it's dark brown now.

Just put those in like that, even there.

Then just turn the clingfilm in, don't let it hang over

because it will stick to the baking sheet.

And that goes into the oven at 180

and it goes in for about ten minutes.

It's really one of those occasions when you keep your eye on it.

What I shall be looking for is for the edge to be a pale golden brown.

After ten minutes the ceramic beads are removed from the case,

then it's placed back in the oven

to bake for a further five to seven minutes.

Another few minutes in there and the outside would have been too brown.

So that's fine.

Then we come to the chocolate filling,

it's a dark chocolate filling.

Melt 75 grams of butter

and 115 grams of dark chocolate over a pan of hot water.

I'm doing it in a bain marie, which is the really safe way to do it.

You can do directly on the heat, but you've really got to watch it.

Weigh up 55g of plain flour and 115g of golden caster sugar.

Why golden caster?

It's a natural sugar and it's the best,

but you can use ordinary caster if not.

Off the heat, and if we just tip all that in in one go

and b*at that in.

Without the flour it will sometimes separate.

Gradually add four whole beaten eggs until you have a smooth mixture.

So that's absolutely smooth and perfect.

Now, the next thing is for me to do the white chocolate mixture.

Now white chocolate really is tricky to cook with.

What are you looking at me like that for? Have I forgotten something?

No! I like white chocolate.

I love white chocolate and I'm watching how much goes in there.

I knew it was coming.

- Want some? White chocolate.
- White chocolate.

Melt 25g of butter and 50g of white chocolate.

It's a very good thing that I'm not making two tarts today

- cos I wouldn't have enough, would I?
- Not anymore.

Give us a bit, then, because I like it, too.

- You have that one.
- Thank you.

Finely grate the zest of a whole orange,

and add 35g of caster sugar and 25g of plain flour

and then mix them into the white chocolate.

Add two egg yolks.

That's it. b*at that in until it's smooth

and it's sort of a thick almost a pouring paste.

So, we have two mixtures here - we have the rich dark chocolate

- main filling and then we're going to put that in on top.
- OK.

Pour the dark chocolate mix into the pastry case

and then pipe the white chocolate and orange in a large swirl on top.

Aim is to use all the mixture...

..and then you can take a cocktail stick, you can take a skewer

and then you just sort of move it.

That's it. Now to the baking.

It needs to go into the oven at 180 fan

and it is only going to take ten minutes.

That looks OK. Now, the most important thing is that wobble.

- Look, can you see that?
- Yeah.

It's got a wobble and that means that

it is cooking with the residual heat.

So you leave that to get just between cold and lukewarm

and then you can serve it and you leave it in the tin to firm up.

This looks very professional.

I like that word "professional." You don't often say that about me.

I do. All the time.

This is my orange chocolate custard tart.

- Are you ready for a taste?
- Absolutely. More eat, less talk.

This should still be soft.

Can you see that just holds its shape?

And the pastry is beautifully thin.

- Can you taste the orange?
- Mm.

You don't need a very big slice, it is very indulgent, very rich.

It's delicious. It really is delicious. Nice one, Mary.

And now Paul's top tip for shaping bread rolls.

I'm going to show you how to make three simple shaped rolls.

First of all, divide your dough into three equal pieces.

And again divide those in half to make six pieces.

Place your four to one side

and work on these two. We're going to make round rolls.

Make a cage over the top and simply spin it onto the bench.

Notice I have no flour,

because I get grip off the table.

If you put flour on the table it just skids.

So just roll it, and there you have two beautiful rolls.

The other two roll, them out as if you're making an iced bun,

into fingers.

Grab one, roll that one out,

taper the ends slightly turn it into a knot.

Repeat the process with the next one, just roll it out,

taper the ends slightly

and simply turn it into a knot.

The third one is a little bit more complicated.

Start off the same way with the knot, roll it out to a finger,

and then roll this one out slightly more than you did with the knot,

just taper the ends out,

the letter C with the tail,

in through the hole, twist, and out the other side again.

Same again with the other one, just roll it out, taper the ends,

the letter C with a tail,

in through the hole, twist, and out the other side.

And there you have it. A basic round roll,

two knots and two one-stand plaits.

Family Favourites made way for European Epics in week six.

Mary and Paul would like you, please, to make a Swedish traditional cake

called Princesstarta, which means "Princess Cake."

Princesstarta is a very complex cake,

so complex, in fact, that ABBA wrote SOS shortly after sampling it.

I do believe we have two and a quarter hours. On your marks.

- Get set...
- And bake!

This was one of the toughest Technical Challenges

of the series so far.

Oh, my goodness.

I've never heard of it, I've never seen it, I've never eaten it.

Not a clue, not a Scooby-Doo.

SHE EXHALES

That is quite something.

The simple elegant facade of Mary's Princesstarta

belies its complex interior.

So, Mary, this was your Technical Challenge, the Princesstarta.

Now, why did you pick that as a challenge?

It's an interesting cake. It's a Genoise

and you cut it in three layers and you have interesting fillings.

They start off with creme patissiere and raspberry jam,

and then you have layers of cream mixed with a creme patissiere

and then a dome of cream and then over the top, marzipan.

But not marzipan as we know it,

it's a beautiful pale green.

And usually in the centre - a rose, a moulded rose, and that's where

you come in because I know you're very good at moulding roses.

OK, so where do we start then?

We start by making the creme patissiere.

Warm 600mls of milk in a pan.

Then scrape out the seeds of a vanilla pod

and add them to the milk along with the pod.

Also, you can use vanilla paste,

you can use vanilla extract...

Separate six egg yolks.

I've got a double yolker here, Mary. Are you classing that as two?

I think, yes, take it as two. That's very lucky.

And weigh up 100g of caster sugar and 50g of cornflour.

You just tip that straight into the egg yolks.

We've got the six egg yolks, the sugar, the cornflour

and I'm going to put those on fast speed

to just get a bit of volume going.

The colour of that, it's a thick creamy mixture and I'm going to add

the hot milk here that's beautifully steamy and hot.

One thing I've got to do is just gently to fish out that vanilla pod,

and I'm going to pour that down the side.

Now, I've put the hot milk

into the cold eggs and sugar and cornflour.

If I'd done it the other way round,

I could well have overcooked the egg.

Then into the pan...

..and what I've got to do now is to cook off the cornflour

and I've got to be fairly gentle to do that.

Stirring all the time,

I can feel it now getting much thicker.

Nearly there.

When it's thickened, stir in 50g of butter.

I wouldn't normally add butter, either.

It just enriches it and it's lovely.

So that's it, the butter's just melting into it.

I'm going to pour it into a bowl, cover it.

Cover it with this I've just made you, Mary.

Thank you very much for that. I would normally put clingfilm

and let it touch the actual creme patissiere,

and then it wouldn't get a skin, but I'm certainly going to use yours.

And as you'll see it's the most lovely consistency.

Now, pop your lid on there.

- The next thing to make is the jam.
- Right.

Weigh up 200g of fresh raspberries

and 175g of jam sugar.

- That has added pectin if you've got it.
- There you go.

Heat gently until the sugar has melted and the fruit has softened.

Add about two tablespoons of water and bring to the boil

until it's a jam consistency.

Then pour it into a bowl and allow it to cool and set.

That's it, I've now got to make a Genoise sponge.

Whisk up 150g of caster sugar with four large eggs.

Then weigh up 75g of cornflour and 75g of plain flour.

That has whisked up into a lovely foam.

So that just leaves an impression

and it then quickly sinks back in there.

Add one level teaspoon of baking powder to the flour.

That goes in there.

..and sift it into the mix.

And around the outside and cut through the middle.

When the flour is incorporated, pour in 50g of butter.

The butter is melted but it's absolutely cold.

You'll see it's still quite thick.

What I do is I pour it round the edge,

and then again with a gentle folding action it will go in.

If you do it when it's warm, it'll drop.

If you put it in too quickly, it'll drop.

I've lined the tin

and that's a 23cm greased tin lined with non stick paper.

I don't do it from a great height

because we would lose the air bubbles, and so down there..

And I've set the oven for 160 fan

and this will take about 25 or 30 minutes.

COW MOOS

Now, can you make a me a rose out of some paste?

- You can now buy this sugar paste.
- OK.
- Tell me how you do it.

You basically get your sweet paste,

roll that out in a ball in your hand, flatten it down into a circle

and then you simply roll it up to make a little coil for the middle

and then you put all the petals around that and you build it all up.

You need to get gradually bigger as the flower opens up

so it starts to look a bit more like a rose.

It is simple but just a bit fiddly.

- And, of course, you can get it in all colours now, can't you?
- Absolutely.

So this is for a petal?

This is for a petal. Just roll it into a ball in your hands,

make sure it's nice and smooth.

Pinch it until it's thin, it's got to be thicker at the bottom,

thin at the top.

And then find out where your last one finished, which is there,

overlap it slightly, and then pull it round.

They always look so professional. I haven't done much modelling.

Right, I've got some cream here

and 600ml of double cream,

and whisking that until it's whipped.

You've really got to be very careful when whipping cream,

it's got to just hold peaks.

If you overwhip it you get butter.

Making all the individual elements had sent our bakers into a spin

but the main challenge was yet to come.

"Spread a thin layer of creme pate..."

"Over the base of the first sponge."

It's just not going to happen, is it?

- Pipe a border around it.
- The border looks good.

Looks like a circular border.

- Any enjoyment in this, Luis?
- No, not really.
- OK.

I'm quite far behind. "Fold half of this into that."

Certainly haven't got time to measure.

"Spread a third of this mixture over the jam."

This is such a complicated recipe.

It says put the third sponge on top.

Oh, no! No, it's just slipping off.

"Cover the sides with cream."

"Smooth into a domed top."

Nice princess-y curve there.

I'm going to make a dome and freeze the top layer.

Am I showing a bit?

I won't have time to finish it, to be honest.

With Mary's step by step instructions,

the final assembly needn't be quite so daunting.

Got my creme patissiere, jam - which has set beautifully -

and I've got the whipped cream.

There's my Genoise, absolutely stone-cold.

Ideally at home make it the day before.

Take a long serrated Kn*fe and carefully cut the sponge

into three even slices.

Place the first slice on a serving plate, and spread a thin layer

of the creme patissiere on top.

Then pipe a ring around the outside.

Putting a ridge round the outside

means that the jam doesn't run over the side.

Spread the jam within the creme patissiere border.

It is quite a thick layer of jam.

Take half of the whipped cream,

fold it into the remaining creme patissiere,

and then take a third of the mixture to cover the jam.

Perfect.

Then we need the next layer and it's always easier to sort of get

it level at the edge there, on top like that.

Spread the remaining creme patissiere and cream mixture

over the cake, before laying the final sponge.

Now we've got to cover the sides and the top with cream.

Smooth a thin layer of cream on the sides before piling the rest on top,

carefully shaping it into a dome.

I quite like having you on your knees.

Are you happy with that?

I'm very happy with it and thank you for giving the finishing touches.

- Into the fridge?
- Into the fridge.

- Time to make the marzipan.
- OK.

So, if you can start to weigh out 400g of ground almonds.

Then add 150g of caster sugar

and 250g of icing sugar.

Icing and caster, that's unusual.

Well, it gives it a very nice texture.

Add two beaten eggs.

Then a teaspoonful of almond extract.

It gives a really lovely flavour.

And all you do is work it until everything has come together.

Add a touch of green food colouring,

and work it into the marzipan.

For our bakers, creating the smooth, flawless blanket of marzipan

should have been the final hurdle.

But in some cases it was the last straw.

I think if I try and cover it all in one go it'll just squidge,

so I'm going to wrap this round the side.

Does it look like a hat?

This is a shame.

But with a little bit of know-how,

this penultimate stage isn't so intimidating.

I took the precaution of actually measuring the amount I would need

on a piece of string to go over the top of the dome

- and down the other side.
- OK.

But even so I shall make it that much bigger.

It's very easy to cut it off at the bottom but it's not easy to mend it.

- Do you want me to do it, Mary? Are you all right?
- Yes, please.

While you're just finishing that,

- I'm going to get the cake from the fridge.
- OK.

How we doing? That must be about right now, isn't it?

- I think we're all right.
- OK.

Carefully lay the blanket of marzipan over the whole cake...

If I put it that way...

..and gently smooth it over the dome.

Cut off the excess and then, using more whipped cream,

pipe little rosettes around the bottom.

This just smartens the whole thing up.

There we are, now we come to the chocolate decoration.

Some nice little swirly bits round the top

and that's just melted chocolate, nothing else.

Now we need the rose.

- Here, if you want to mark where you're going to put it.
- Please, yeah.

Make a little hole for it to go in.

That looks lovely. I think I can say it's OUR princess cake.

- That's nice.
- Thanks for your help.
- Good joint effort.

- This is our princesstarta.
- I think it looks great,

- looks really good.
- Go on, get your Kn*fe in.

Like a hot Kn*fe through butter.

Whoa-oh!

- Are you thinking...?
- Is that big enough?
- Yes!

Once the tarta is made, it should be kept in the fridge,

because all that cream needs to firm up,

and, once you've taken a few slices out of it, back in the fridge.

- What do you think?
- Mmm, delicious. The...

The jam, the creme pat, the cream, the marzipan, hello!

- The almond that it brings to that...
- Mmm.
- ..is just delicious.

I'm off to Sweden this Christmas, Mary,

if all the cakes are like this.

Week 7 was all about pastry.

Now Mary and Paul would like you to bake, please,

some savoury pastry parcels.

You've got an hour and three quarters.

- Very much on your marks...
- Get set...
- Bake!

Each baker went for a slightly different pastry.

I'm using ghee instead of butter or oil.

And it just kind of makes it slightly flaky.

From the familiar...

For this one, I'm making a puff pastry, just because...

I think it's nice, it fills out.

It looks lovely when it comes out the oven.

- ..to the more unusual.
- I don't know what this pastry comes under.

It's a pastry made specially for this.

Paul's savoury parcels are a lattice of puff pastry

filled with mushrooms, black pudding and sausage meat.

Savoury parcels, do you remember that challenge, Mary?

- The Signature Challenge?
- I do indeed.

A few of them did do rough puff and a lot of them did shortcrust pastry.

Now, I'm going to be using a cheat's puff pastry

and I'm going to be making MY sausage plait.

You can look at it from two angles, really.

It's either a poor man's beef Wellington

or it's a posh sausage roll.

I would go for a posh sausage roll any time.

To make the pastry dough, weigh up 600g of plain flour.

- You're making quite a lot of pastry, aren't you?
- Yeah.

100g of unsalted butter and a pinch of salt.

I'll just break this in. While I'm doing that, Mary,

could you pop to the fridge for me and bring me out 200g of cold butter

- to be...
- In excess to that?
- To be grated.
- OK.
- Yes, please.

I'm just going to crumb this down and rub this into the flour.

- Er, it's in the freezer, Mary, sorry.
- I thought you said fridge.

I did say fridge, I'm sorry, I made a mistake.

Don't rub it in, like I'm doing with the butter into the flour.

It's not very often that you make... Well, it's not very often that

- you ADMIT to making a mistake.
- That's very true.

Right.

That's 250 there and I actually need 200g of it.

So if you just grate most of it and we leave a little bit back.

Now what I'm going to add to this now is some liquid.

So pour some water in, get my hand in there.

- Kn*fe SLAMS Oh!
- Easy.

- It's frozen solid!
- I know, I said grate all of it,

and we'll just leave a little bit of it back.

Right, I'm going to add some more water.

Now, you can see at the moment,

but I've still got quite a bit of flour there to work in.

A little bit more water to pick up the last of that flour,

tip it onto the bench.

Just going to bring it together.

Do you know one of the little secrets I used to do

- when making puff pastry...?
- I'm all for your little secrets.

Don't tell anybody, we used to put our flour in the freezer

- before we made the puff pastry, or indeed the fridge.
- That's clever!

It keeps the dough really cold, so, when you add the butter,

it remains colder for longer, so you can laminate more, fold more.

That is a really good tip!

And it helps to speed it up and make sure...

And get Mary to grate it, cos it's a jolly difficult job.

- Yeah, you do need a Mary in the kitchen, though.
- Yeah.

- How cold is that butter? Is it really cold?
- How cold is it? Listen.

- LOUD TAPPING
- Good! Well, in that case,

I'm going to put it straight into the dough.

Now I'm going to roll this into a rough rectangle...

..and the pastry's just been brought together, so it's still quite loose.

It's short, it breaks quickly, it hasn't got all the gluten

been worked in it even though it is plain flour.

- Have you finished that yet, Mary?
- There you are, look.

What have you got there? Lovely, I'll take that. Thanks very much.

So you covered two thirds of the dough and then what you do is

you fold over half of the butter with the dough.

Flatten it down and I tend to pinch the sides a little bit as well

just to stop it spewing out too much and then over again.

OK? Just pinch it down a little bit, rub it in the flour,

now just tap it, because what that does is

equalise the butter inside the dough.

And again, you want to roll it to around 10-12mm thick.

Lovely, the butter's just softening up now.

Now I'm happy, that's out of one initial ten and then a second.

- So is that two?
- Yes.
- What I do...

- You put your knuckles in, don't you?
- I do. I do that.

- You've ruined my dough now, Mary.
- You might forget

that you've done it twice, you might think it's more.

Now, in 2014, there's an easier way.

You just go like that.

Well, I haven't always got a waterproof pen to hand.

- Don't you?
- My knuckle is always here.

- Well, that's true.
- Put that in the fridge.

Now I've got my dough in there.

- We're going to leave that to chill down.
- Right.

Right, in the meantime, we're just going to work on the filling now.

Now, I've got mushroom lined underneath the sausage meat.

So over there, I've got some chestnut mushrooms.

If you could pass them over to me, please.

And I've got a little bit of thyme there as well.

Place 300g of mushrooms,

a handful of thyme and pinch of salt in a food processor

and blitz until finely chopped.

The thing is, with the mushroom, it carries a lot of moisture.

Now that's going to be sitting at the bottom of my puff pastry.

I don't want any soggy bottom on my pastry.

So I'm going to tip all this mixture into a dry pan

and just dry this mixture up, OK?

While the mushrooms are cooking, thinly slice two red onions.

And I don't want any comments how you can do this

ten times quicker than me. I do have all my fingers.

Turn the cooked mushrooms onto a plate

and, in the same pan, add a splash of sunflower oil,

a knob of butter, two teaspoons of brown sugar and the onions.

Cook on a low heat for about 20 minutes

until they are soft and sweet.

Once the unions have caramelised,

add about a tablespoon of sherry vinegar,

then take them off the heat to cool.

Can we prepare 300g of sausage meat, please, Mary?

Now, I love a good pork sausage, but if you want to use venison,

or you want to use any other type of sausage, you can.

- There they are.
- Thank you.

You need to take all the skin off and pop it in the bowl,

because into that we're going to add 100g of black pudding,

which I'm just going to cut up into rough cubes.

- You've taken the skin off that?
- The skin's already come off, yeah.

There's the black pudding in there as well, that richness coming

from the black pudding is going to be delicious with the sausage.

So what I'd like to do now is give my puff pastry a few turns.

The secret to a good puff pastry is to keep it cold.

The chilled, thin layers of butter stay separate from the dough,

which allows the pastry layers to puff when baked.

If you keep the folds all the same thickness,

it means your lamination will all be equal.

Now, wrap this up, let this chill down for another half an hour.

And we should be able to prepare

- a little sausage plait, Mary.
- Good, good.

Now I've folded this... Here we go. ..four times.

- That says three.
- OK, four.

You've just stabbed all the lamination on there!

In the fridge.

This is the beautiful dough that we've made.

It's nice and cool.

I'm going to take it out.

Quite long, so I can get my 12 sausage plaits from this.

Divide the dough into a dozen rectangles.

It's important to keep them cool,

so put half in the fridge whilst working on the first six.

Start with the filling.

Put a little bit of that mushroom down the middle.

Use a spoon, if you wish.

You like doing things with your hands.

I do, my dad always said, if he saw me using one hand for instance,

doing rolling a dough of any description, he'd say,

"Son, I'm only paying half your wages this week."

"Why?" "You're only using half your hands."

- I've seen you do the rolls like that two at a time.
- That's right!

Next, divide the sausage meat and black pudding mixture equally,

and place on top of the mushrooms.

And we'll put a little bit of the onion on the top.

This is the easy bit.

I tell you what, you're doing the plaiting, I'm not.

PAUL LAUGHS

To start each plait,

first remove a small wedge of pastry from each corner.

- So you take out that little V, leaving a fin at each end.
- Yeah.

- That's right, so the fin goes over...
- Right.

- ..and over, like so.
- Right.

So then you cut them all the way down, same on the other side.

- Right up to the sausage.
- As close as you can get to the sausage meat.

- Right.
- And then, basically fold over the edges...

- Oh, I see.
- ..all the way as far as they can go.

So it'll hold it in place, and, again,

the last couple, and that one on top of that one.

Seal it down and you end up with something

that looks like it's been plaited or lattice work

all over the top.

Once you've plaited them all,

brush with a beaten egg and scatter them with sesame seeds.

Drizzle that all over the top.

No need to use toasted ones,

cos those are going to be toasted in the oven.

So there you have it -

12 little soldiers going to go straight into the oven.

- What temperature?
- 180, 180 fan.

- How long will they take?
- About half an hour.

- We'll keep an eye on them.
- Absolutely, I'm starving.

While Paul plaited his parcels,

most of our bakers chose a different technique.

That's one hell of a twist you've got going on there.

You're going to do the twist and it goes like this.

- You are the king of crimping.
- Ha-ha! Thanks, Mel.

Senor Luis, how do you say "to crimp" in Spanish?

- Crimpar?
- Crimpar!
- Crimpar?!
- Crimpara!

Look at them, Mary.

A bit hot still, so they need to just rest on there for a bit.

And then, we'll pop them onto a tray and we'll try them a bit later.

- I love the way the sausage is peeking out of the corner.
- Mmm.

They haven't bled too much, they've bled a little, but that's normal.

- They look wonderful.
- Mmm, smell delish.

So there you have it, Mary!

A sausage plait made with my cheat's puff pastry.

Oh, yes!

See the black pudding inside there? A little bit of caramelised onion,

then you can see that mushroom underneath.

Mmm!

All these flavours coming through!

Sheer heaven, I'm going to have another bite.

You can taste the thyme as well, can't you?

I liked your description of it.

It's a poor man's beef Wellington or a posh sausage roll.

Whatever it is, I like it.

It's delish.

And now, Mary has a nifty little tip to show you.

Here's a very quick way

of separating the yolks and the whites of an egg.

It's so simple, you won't believe it.

You just take a bottle and this is a clean water bottle

and squeeze it, so that the air comes out,

then put it on top of the egg and suck it up.

So squeeze out, then put it on top of the egg

and it slips up there like that.

And then, you just put it into the bowl.

And it works every time. To get it out, sometimes,

it needs to give it a little push, so again.

And to the last one.

That's it! In the bottom.

So, for people who are nervous about separating eggs,

this couldn't be an easier way.

Having survived the pastry signature,

the technical challenge pushed the bakers' knowledge to its limits.

Now, Paul and Mary would like you to make...

- a kouign amann. Yeah, we don't know what it is either.
- No idea!
- OK.

- Apparently, it's a traditional Breton pastry.
- Oh!

They want you to shape 12 individual kouign amann

and you've got 3½ hours on the clock to do that.

- All the very best.
- Kouign amann!

- On your marks...
- Get set...

- SHE SQUEAKS:
- Bake!
- DEEP VOICE: Bake!

With only a few basic ingredients, this little-known pastry

is as technically challenging to make as it is to pronounce.

It's called "coug-an aman", is it?

- Yes, yes, yes!
- SHE LAUGHS

How do you pronounce it? Koi?

- Queen-a-man.
- Queen-a-man!
- Queen-a-man.

Queen... Queen-a-man, queen-a-mon?

Paul's kouign amann are perfect muffin-sized folds

of yeasted pastry, butter and sugar.

That was a difficult technical challenge.

Kouign amann, I'd never heard of them.

It was picked as a technical challenge,

because we wanted to find out if the bakers knew about lamination.

It's the putting the butter in the dough and folding it

and folding it and folding it.

But I'll show you how to do it properly.

Could you weigh me up 300g of strong bread flour, please?

- 300g?
- Yes, please. Did you like them, Mary?

I thought they were absolutely delicious.

Could you give me 5g of the instant yeast, please?

- I've put that on one side.
- Keep that to one side,

so it doesn't come into contact directly with the salt,

cos it can ret*rd the dough.

- That's it.
- And 5g of salt as well, please.

- On the other side?
- On the other side, thank you.

Now, I've got 25g of melted butter.

- Now you should have some water over there, Mary.
- I have.

Well, I'm going to put 200ml in to this dough.

So I'm going to start off with the melted butter inside,

put a little splash of the water in there straight from the tap.

- Wouldn't most people use warm water?
- Most people would,

but this goes back to books written, you know, in 1840,

the Good Housekeeping guides, which always says, when making dough...

- HIGH-PITCHED:
- "You must use warm water."

And then, in 1840, it was quite...

most people didn't know really how bakers baked.

You know, when you brought your first book out(?)

No comment.

So, at this stage, it's a fairly simple dough?

This stage, basically normal dough with a little bit of butter in it.

Now, a little bit of flour,

and then, you've just got to knead this for about four, five minutes.

So, you've got to work through the dough to build up the gluten,

cos, if you look at that, it looks slightly mottled. So what you do

is work through that until the dough becomes nice and smooth

and it'll get smoother and smoother and smoother.

Pop that in there,

and this is just going to be rested outside in ambient temperature.

Realistically, it has to be above 18 degrees.

So this is just going to be put to the side and left to rest.

Even at this early stage,

the bakers were struggling to understand the recipe.

I just don't really know what it's meant to be like.

My dough feels quite sticky.

I've never made a pastry with yeast before. First time for everything!

My instinct is that I shouldn't work it too much.

Looking for stretchy elastic dough

and the wetness will go the more you...the more you knead it.

And any frustrations the bakers might have been feeling

were unleashed on 250g of butter.

I think a bit of butter bashing reduces the tension, doesn't it?

This is Paul Hollywood if he hates my kouign amann!

- SHE GIGGLES
- It'll be him if I come last!

Now look at that, Mary.

That's my risen dough.

And you see the way it's ballooned?

The yeast has basically been active.

Munching on all the goodness inside the dough, and then

releasing carbon dioxide, which is why it balloons up like that.

So what we're going to do is release this.

A little bit of flour...

I'm going to roll this out into a square.

Once the dough is squared off, add the 250g of cold, flattened butter.

Into the square at diagonals, OK?

Now I've got this extra bit of dough here. So they're going

to be folded into the middle. It looks a bit like an envelope.

Tapped down, this way, up and down.

You're just going to roll out the dough and fold it.

Turn, over a third, and then over a third.

Now that needs to go back into the fridge to chill down,

to harden that butter again, cos it's so thin, it's softened up.

Just like Paul's puff pastry recipe,

the folding begins to build up layers within the dough,

a process that needs to be repeated twice more,

chilling the dough thoroughly between each stage.

If getting to this point had perplexed some of the bakers,

the crucial stage in Paul's recipe was still to come -

when to add the sugar.

Part seven of the method is a little bit ambiguous.

Adding sugar between one of the layers.

Or every layer? Being one?

I don't know, it's really confusing.

I reckon it's not the last layer,

and it's not the first layer, it'll be the middle layer.

- I don't think it matters, to be honest.
- You don't think it matters?

- Don't tell Paul!
- It's this precision upon which a technical bake rests.

- Is this your last one?
- This is it. We're going to put the sugar in now,

fold it for the last time and then we can use it.

So would you mind, while I'm rolling this out,

weighing up 100g of caster sugar, please?

If you put sugar in too early,

the sugar basically just melts straight into the dough,

which is why you put it in now and not any earlier.

Sprinkle the sugar down the middle.

Run the rolling pin over the sugar,

then fold the dough for the third and final time.

Roll it out to a 40 x 30cm rectangle and then divide it into 12 squares.

What I've got here is the muffin trays that we gave

all the bakers, which are basically just greased.

What we're going to do is fold over the corners first into each other,

and then in, and then pick up the parcel like that

and basically just drop it into

the tin, like that. OK?

Obviously if you're going to make these at home you have to

use them straight away cos of the sugar in there

but you could fold and then freeze it,

and when you want to use it, bring it back to temperature.

Then sugar it and use it straight away.

You don't want the sugar to melt.

Leave them to rest at room temperature for half an hour

and then sprinkle with sugar and bake at 200 degrees fan

for 30-40 minutes until golden brown.

- Ooh, can you smell them, Mary?
- What a colour!

They've all really puffed up, haven't they?

They look absolutely delicious.

We'll leave them in there for a couple of minutes and release them

- and pop them on a wire.
- Ooh! Can't wait.

There they are, Mary - Kouign Amann.

Oh, look at the pastry inside, it just flakes.

- Talk about crisp!
- I know.
- Oh, lovely.

Worth all that extra work, I think, of cooling and chilling

- and folding.
- They are beautiful.

- And it's a matter of getting sugar in the right place.
- Yeah.

- Bit more tea I think, Mary.
- Mm.

- You bring them, I'll put the kettle on.
- Done.

The final challenge each week was the Showstopper,

where the oven gloves came off and the bakers didn't hold back.

Now, I have to say, today is pretty epic.

Mary and Paul would very much like you, please, to create

a contemporary version of the Hungarian dobos torte,

which is traditionally

- a multi-layered sponge cake topped with caramel slices.
- Mm.

So we'd like you to make a cake of at least two tiers,

with the emphasis on sugar work and all things caramel.

- You've got five hours.
- On your marks...
- Get set...
- BOTH:
- Bake!

This rather lengthy challenge

allowed the bakers' imagination to run wild.

From caramel castles and chocolate chess,

to the more abstract.

Mary's dobos torte is no less impressive.

12 layers of sponge covered in caramel buttercream

and praline pieces.

It's a caramel extravaganza.

Dobos torte was one of the most difficult Showstopper challenges.

Traditionally dobos torte is one tier - we made it double tier.

- It really is a showstopper.
- OK, better get cracking, then.

I'm going to start off by making the caramel buttercream.

Can I have 800 grams of granulated sugar?

Can be caster but most people have granulated.

That's lovely. And 100ml of water.

It doesn't matter if it's a bit over,

it just means that you've got to do a bit more evaporation.

So in goes the water and then the sugar as well.

Now, this does take time, but the whole idea is to dissolve the sugar.

You do it very, very slowly. When it's all dissolved and clear

and there's no sort of gritty bits at the bottom,

then you boil it until... You don't need a thermometer,

you just need to look at it

until it's a deep straw colour.

The key to making caramel is a pan that's spotlessly clean.

Any impurities might make the sugar solution crystallise.

And for perfect results, it's best to use a heavy

stainless steel pan for even heat distribution.

So I'm stirring this all the time so that it's not bubbling,

until the sugar has naturally melted out.

It's a long job.

Now that has become clear, there are no gritty bits at the bottom,

so that is now bubbling away gently

and it's got to be the right colour.

It should be a deep straw colour.

That's ready, that's caramel, and I'm going to pour that...

Whoops! We'll do it right here.

Now, that is a heatproof bowl.

- If you put it in anything else, it could cr*ck.
- Yep.

In goes 400ml of cream.

In that goes, and it goes bubbling up...

..and that cools it down.

Then give that a stir so that it's all beautifully smooth.

And it is very, very hot. Keep children out of the way.

And you leave that to get quite cold.

Time to make the sponges.

I've got to make six large ones, that's 20cm, and six 15cm small ones.

And so I've marked them out on non-stick paper,

put them ready on the baking sheets.

And I do six at a time because the oven has got three shelves

and I can do them at that time.

For the sponges, cr*ck eight eggs in a bowl

and then weigh up 350 grams of caster sugar

and mix them together until ribbon stage.

So, whisked until it will leave an impression.

On it goes.

Takes much longer when you've got a large amount of mixture in.

Then gradually sift in 300 grams of self-raising flour.

Wait a minute, not all at once. That's it.

If you put it all in at once, you can't get it in smoothly.

- Bit more, please. HIGH-PITCHED VOICE:
- So you're going round the outside

- and cut through the middle!
- You're absolutely right, come on.

And preferably in the bowl, not round the outside!

- I'm doing it!
- Right, that's it.

You just need to go on mixing until you see no little pockets of flour.

So that looks absolutely fine to me.

Ladle the cake mix onto each of the templates.

It's got to go just inside the ring

cos it does spread slightly.

And you continue doing this, as I say, three trays at a time.

Most ovens you can get three in.

Tiny bit more round the edge there.

It's got to be level, otherwise you'll find that you'll burn the side

or there will be a little bit browner.

It needs great precision with baking, it's going to be baked

180 degrees fan, 8-10.

But really it's a good idea to keep looking towards

the end of those last minutes.

I put the top layer in last

cos that's the hottest position in the oven.

Freeform batch-baking calls for precision and accuracy...

See, you have to get a bit of a production line going of a layer in.

They bake very, very quickly and they can get a bit crisp.

A batch out. You need, obviously, a lot of layers to make a cake.

Cut them, get the next ones in...

..which Luis took to another level.

- This is like your in-tray of sponge, isn't it?
- It is.

- In-tray, out-tray. You like all this, the organisation bit, don't you?
- I do.

- You do.
- I do.
- I know you do!
- I know!

Six of them are still in the oven. The ones that we did earlier

are over there behind you. Let's get those out.

They should be with very little colour and a nice even colour.

They're not perfectly round. We're going to trim them

to be absolutely round. Leave those just to get cold on the paper,

and then we come to the buttercream.

We started off by making the caramel, which should be cold by now.

- It is.
- And we've got to incorporate the butter.

b*at 450 grams of butter...

..add the caramel cream and mix it in stages.

That's it. It's a lovely smooth consistency,

just perfect for spreading all those layers.

Next on the agenda is the praline, which I'm going to make

from almonds and caramel.

Weigh up 75 grams of flaked almonds

and scatter onto a non-stick surface.

And we'll just pour the caramel over that.

For this second caramel, gently heat up 300 grams

of granulated sugar with six tablespoons of water.

I'm going to dip hazelnuts into the mixture.

The safest way to do this is to push a cocktail stick into each nut.

You're not eating THOSE nuts as well?

- I love nuts, Mary.
- I know that.

That looks perfect to me. How about you?

- That looks good.
- And then...

tip that over the top.

I'm keeping this last little bit, and then you take these

and you dip them in like that and then stand them up on here.

When working with so much caramel,

it was inevitable that the bakers had the odd sticky moment.

- KATE:
- You have to wait till it gets to exactly the right temperature.

- NANCY:
- Me pulled nuts are rubbish!

Argh! It's totally...

OK, I need another saucepan.

And some bit off more than they could chew.

I think it's going to look a little bit slapdash but something is always better than nothing.

Now we come to the assembly.

So I find it best to do it actually on the dish.

I've got my caramel buttercream here.

I've got a little job for you while I'm doing this.

- Remember we made that praline?
- Yep.

It needs to be broken up into small pieces

because as I'm assembling the two tiers,

- I'm going to put round the outside of each broken up pieces of that.
- OK.

So I'll start to assemble this.

On top of the first sponge,

spread over an even layer of the caramel butter cream.

Then add another disc of sponge and more buttercream,

building up the cake layer by layer.

There we are, we're nearly there!

One tier, all right?

Yeah.

Repeat the whole process for the second tier

and smother the outside with buttercream.

That looks pretty good to me.

Then decorate the sides with the praline pieces.

Around the edge of the first tier,

pipe 16 rosettes with the remaining buttercream

and place a caramel hazelnut on each one.

- Then I have to do eight on top.
- Lovely.

Paul, we're on the homeward straight.

- Just the caramel to make. 100 grams...
- Another caramel?

Another one. It's only our third(!)

100 grams of sugar, so this is quicker to make, smaller amount.

And a couple of tablespoonfuls of water.

- Are you going to have a lie-down, then?
- Yup!

- Bread takes longer to make than this, you know.
- I know.

You only have to work at it for a couple of minutes at a time.

I know, but I've kept you busy.

When the caramel is ready, pour it over the final sponge.

Trim the edges with an oiled Kn*fe

and divide into eight pieces to decorate the top.

We then put them in like that,

standing up all the way round.

That looks pretty good, that, Mary.

That's a nice showstopper, that.

It does take time to do but it's very worthwhile,

and, remember, at home you can just do one tier

like the traditional dobos torte.

It's worth a go.

Let's see if I can get this Kn*fe through those 12 layers AND caramel.

Is that big enough for you, Mary?

I think maybe we should share it. Wow! Look at those layers!

- Can I give you a little bit of this?
- I'll take the top bit, yeah.

It's delicious, the moisture coming from that sponge.

But the caramel lifting it all up as well. I think it's amazing.

Well worth it.

Fantastic cake.

I really do hope that people actually go ahead and bake some of these bakes that we've done today.

They're quite involved but hopefully they've learnt a few of the tips

and tricks that we've tried to teach them over the last hour.

And next time we've got a load more.

- Oh, yes. Onward and upward, Mary.
- Quite right.

Next time, Mary and Paul share their favourite bakes

from the final few weeks of the series.

This is the last of our masterclasses this year,

and the bakes that Mary and I have chosen

I think are a little bit challenging.

They look pretty good, don't they?

- Look at that.
- That is sheer perfection.

Judging is one thing, but at heart, I love showing people how to bake

so they can achieve the same results at home.

Join us next time for The Great British Bake Off Masterclass.

- I think it's a great way of going out on a high, Mary.
- Exactly.