09x11 - The Great Christmas Bake Off

[bunniefuu]

BELLS RING

Music: Walking in the Air
The Snowman

# We're walking in the air

# We're floating in the moonlit
sky... #

Isn't that...?
Yeah.

Forget about that, Prue -
Christmas Bake Off's about to start.

Come on.
It's freezing up here.

I've practically got...
Oh, snowballs!

Welcome to the Great
Christmas Bake Off.

Hide your face.
Keep the magic.

My carrot's wilting.

Nothing says Christmas like a family
get-together, especially

if it's the extended
Bake Off family.

So dressed in their festive best
for our seasonal special are Flo,

Andrew, Jane and Liam.

I'm just happy to be back, do
you know what I mean?

Such a throwback, innit?

Bake one more time in a tent,
Christmas, Christmas jumpers,

trees and that...
Yeah.

Last year, Liam's creativity...
I think it's ingenious.

..won the judges over.
I love that flavour.

Oh, yes!

..and took him all the way
to the quarterfinal.

But a couple of
disappointing bakes...

I'm just not getting
any flavours at all.

OK.
It's just very raw.

..sent him home.

I've come such a long way,
so it's good to come back

to where it started, in a sense.

Paul, I'm coming.

Joining Liam is his
old baking buddy, Flo.

Want to try mine?
They're so good. That is sick.

I never thought for one minute
that I would ever set my eyes

on that tent again!

She impressed the judges
with her watermelon sponge...

That's excellent, that.
I think that's wonderful.

..but she failed to rise
to the challenge in Bread Week.

It's more like a ciabatta.
Is that what you set out to do?

No.

You could have lied then, Flo. No.

It's even more nerve-racking
because I know what to expect.

I've been there, done that,
and then I'm back again.

Oh, my God!

What am I doing here?

Also back in the tent...
I love Christmas trees.

..from series seven is
garden designer Jane.

I'm a huge Christmas fan,
so to be in the tent full

of the most amazing
decorations, it's just lovely.

Although decoration has tripped
her up in the past...

They are half-iced.

..her baking expertise...

Three
layers of heaven. It's beautiful.

Thank you very much indeed.

..earned her a place in the 2016
final alongside our fourth returning

baker, Andrew.

I love Jane and we've been great
friends since the Bake Off,

but I'd be lying if I said
we weren't a little bit competitive.

We both want to do well!

The aerospace engineer was known
for his precision baking.

I think it's a great idea.
I love the design of it.

And, although his presentation
wasn't always up to scratch...

..the real chink in his
armour was Biscuit Week.

What we're actually eating
there is like a stale biscuit.

Just being back in there, seeing
the benches and everything,

a little bit nervous.
I've got the tent nerves.

But which one of our returning
bakers will reap the rewards

of becoming
this year's yuletide winner?

Hello, bakers, and welcome back
to the Bake Off tent,

and Merry Christmas!

Guess what my true love gave to me.

Was it a partridge in a pear tree?
No, socks.

It's really boring. OK.

For your Signature Challenge, Paul
and Prue would like you to make

a dozen iced biscuits on the theme
of the 12 days of Christmas.

Now, flavour of the biscuits
is entirely up to you,

but the judges will be looking
for 12 perfectly and evenly baked

biscuits, intricately decorated
with your own personal

interpretation of those
wonderful 12 days.

You've got two and a half hours.
On your marks...

Get set.
Bake.

I suddenly feel very nervous.

You'll be grand, Jane,
you'll be grand.

I'm trying to keep
ahead of myself and just

calm down. Not so wobbly.

Christmas nerves!

Ho, ho, ho!

For the Signature Challenge,
we're asking for really

fantastically crisp, wonderful
biscuits, and amazingly decorated,

and originally decorated.

Whatever they do, it
has to absolutely sing Christmas.

You're looking for a balance
of flavours between the icing

and the biscuit itself.

You don't want too much icing
cos it overwhelms the biscuit.

The biscuit should be
the star of the show.

It's really difficult to not
like something that is Christmassy,

but old blue eyes will be as stern
as ever, I'm sure!

Noel called me
the Grinch this morning.

I probably think that's probably
going to be about right.

I'm feeling very festive.

I'm hoping my biscuits
are going to reflect that, too.

The first task for the bakers
is to make their dough

as quickly as possible.

I'm doing it in a machine
cos I'm lazy.

It just saves all that rubbing in.

Working the butter into the flour
creates a fine breadcrumb texture.

I want to make sure
they're really crisp, because Paul

does like a good snap.

To truly bowl over the judges...

I've made a terrible mess of myself.

..the bakers will need
to cram their biscuits

with Christmas flavours.

So these are some currants.

I've got ground cloves, ground
nutmeg, ginger, cinnamon - full

of flavour, they are.

So I'm adding mincemeat
to my butter mix.

I'd say it's like a mince
pie shortbread.

Yeah!

Liam's hoping his fruity Christmas
classic will help him stand out

from the crowd.

But he isn't the only one.

So the biscuit itself, it's mince
pie inspired, so it's got a bit

of orange zest, some mixed spice
and some currants for kind

of a pop of fruit in there.

And they're going to be crunchy.

They're not going to have a snap
necessarily, because I know

what... You know what I'm going to
say!

I can see it in your face!
I know you love a snap.

I remember your comments
about my biscuits last year.

Do you remember your biscuits?
I do. Stale. They were soft.

Haunts me to this day. I like the
idea of a Hollywood haunt.

I think this is a new thing -
the Hollywood handshake

and the Hollywood haunt.

Andrew's aiming to put the ghost
of Paul's past comments to rest

with his orange zest and currant
shortbreads, crowned with royal

icing cartoons and an added dash
of Christmas spirit.

It's royal icing but, instead of
lemon juice, I'm using apple brandy.

Wow. Because, you know, you get
a little bit of that in a mince pie

from mincemeat, so hopefully
you'll get a nice bit of brandy.

They're quite intricate.

I mean, very, very intricate.

I've got 13 different
colours going on.

I just hope you pull it off.
I'm focused, I'm determined.

I want to smash it.
Good luck, Andrew.

Thank you. Cheers. Who is my biggest
opposition in the tent?

I think they're all fantastic.

However, old feuds, Andrew and I...

I'm talking behind your back,
Andrew, but only because I am

behind your back. You're literally
talking behind my back.

Oh, look!
A time call doll.

Bakers, you have two hours!
Hey, that's gone quickly!

Half an hour! Jane's flapping.
Jane's flapping.

I'm just going to roll
my biscuits out.

I heard on the grapevine -
this might not be true, someone

might be winding me up - but I heard
that you like to rap. No.

Paul told me you're quite
good at rapping. Yeah. No?

I did it on the Jo Brand Show.
Who's your favourite rapper?

And he was there.
Who do you like, Biggie Smalls?

Hmm. Tupac?

Who?
Never heard of them.

I like Will.i.am.
You like Will.i.am.

Oh, he's lovely. Wow!
He's lovely.

I could put in a word for you.
Could you? No.

You're not going to rap
for us, are you? No.

You haven't got time. Hmm.
Good luck. OK.

Don't let me down. Thank you.
I'll ring Will.

OK, you do that.

With 12 individual
biscuits to cut out...

Each biscuit is a different shape.

So I'm going to be
using my craft Kn*fe.

The bakers will need a steady hand.

It does bring back
stressful memories.

Hello, Liam!
Oh, Gordon Bennett!

Right, tell us all about
your biscuits then, please.

So, they're inspired
by the 12 essentials of Liam.

I've got a biscuit-shaped game
controller, I've got a

biscuit-shaped dance move.

Are they particularly about
Christmas or are they about Liam?

Liam at Christmas. I worry a little,
because you're rolling shortbread

over and over again.
This is only once.

And the layers are flaking
because you're getting flour

in between, so it's
going to peel off.

It should be fine.

Paul, Paul, it will work.
OK.

Can you have faith?

Liam's been praying to the baking
gods that his designs

will be clearly
recognised by the judges.

Can you tell me what that is?
That's my falafel.

THEY LAUGH

Sorry, it just...
How are you going to know that...?

Oh, leave it out, will ya?

No, no, when I pipe it, it looks
legitimate like a falafel, I swear.

All right. Shall I take him away
now? Yes, please.

Right, Paul, this way, come on.
Good luck, mate. Cheers, man.

My biscuits are ready to go
in the oven for about 12 minutes.

It's crunch time for the biscuits.
Ooh...

In a matter of minutes, the bakers
will know if the texture

of their biscuits will meet
the judges' expectations.

Paul was just worried
about the shortbread.

They should be fine.

I don't want to jinx it.

Bakers, you are halfway through.
I love this show.

You've just got stars in your eyes.

Only seconds lie between a soft
under-baked biscuit...

I'm paranoid about them being chewy.
I don't want them to be chewy.

..and a burnt over-baked one.

I forgot what it's
like to be in the tent.

It's a battle of the bakers' nerves.

And breathe.
A small Christmas hug.

You are very huggable.
Am I?

Yeah.
Is that a compliment?

I don't know, it's this jumper,
something about this jumper.

I'll take that.

Yeah. I'm going to say done.
Yeah.

They've kept their shape
really, really well.

Happy, happy.

The biscuits should be cooled
before being decorated.

I'm putting them in
the fridge for a minute.

Giving the bakers time
to prepare their toppings.

I'm going to be doing a brandy
icing because booze seems

like a good tactic today.

Andrew, Liam and Jane
have all chosen to use royal icing.

Beautiful colour. It's like you've
melted down the Pink Panther's legs.

That's deep. I'm making about 13
different colours of icing.

There's a lot to do in the time.

Just having so many
different colours to mix up.

But Flo is going for a more
traditional colour scheme.

That looks very festive.
What are you making there?

What are you doing? It's just red
fondant. Oh, right.

It's going to be a decoration
of the 12 days of Christmas.

Do you know in Scotland the 12 days
of Christmas has got a baboon in it?

I'm just saying.
Interesting to know.

Isn't that a Scouse cut down?

Well, that's fascinating.

Flo's Christmases may be
primate-free but her family are wild

about her festive treacle
and ginger biscuits.

She's decorating them
with fondant and dusting

with festive golden designs.

So you did the partridge
on one, you're doing a pear

tree on another... Five gold rings.
Yeah.

That's a lot to do. Don't. I'm
panicked enough as it is, don't.

Are you worried about it?

You're fine. I'm nervous. Look at
me. You're fine. You're fine.

OK. Take it easy, Flo.
Enjoy. Right? Thank you.

Did you do these drawings?

I did.

I'm not very good at drawing.

This says otherwise.
Bless you.

I think you should do
some life drawing.

Have you ever done life drawing?
I have, actually.

Have you? And I found it really
awkward, when they say hold your

pencil up,
so he was always looking at me.

It was very off-putting.

Also they're naked.
That is an issue.

Thankfully the only
baubles on display today

will be of the Christmas
tree variety.

Jane's Norwegian spice biscuits
will be intricately iced to look

like 12 festive ornaments.

I see from the pictures
that you're going to put quite a lot

of detail into this.
Yes.

Last time you were in the tent
you didn't finish.

Know your biscuits and read
the colour and it's just down

to the piping. Fingers crossed.
Good luck, Jane.

It's always fun to stretch yourself
in the time in front of Paul.

Bakers, you have half an hour.

You're not dressing
for Christmas, then? No.

I'm about to start icing.

When it comes to piping icing
you've got to be in that zone.

Flo might be keeping
her icing simple...

I'm just putting fondant on top
of the ginger biscuit.

..but the other bakers...
Yellow, purple...

..now
face the unforgiving...

My hand is shaking.

..and time-consuming task
of flood icing their designs.

I'm going to outline everything
and then fill them in with slightly

different colours of royal icing.

Because I'm terrible
at freehand I'm doing

this on parchment above my drawings
and then dry them out in the oven

and then stick them
on top of the biscuits.

It's risky cos they can cr*ck.

They might not fit in time.

There's quite a lot
of risk to it, actually.

The icing should add
sweetness but not dominate

the bakers' biscuits.

What are you eyeballing me for?

It's very interesting that the two
women are doing traditional things

but the guys are right off piste.

What does that look like to you?
A bum.

Is it supposed to look like a bum?

I think the falafel thing
is going to be fascinating to see

if it looks like a falafel.

I do love his originality.

We've got some fantastic ideas,
I just hope they get the chance

to finish them so we get the full

impact of what they should look
like.

My poor robin looks
really sorry for himself.

Those are going in to dry.

And onto the next batch.

Have you got to do all these?

I've done six that are
crisping up in the oven.

Right. And
then these are the final six.

Do you think you can do it?

It's pushing it, to be honest.

Bakers, you have 15 minutes left.
That's not a long time.

No. Panic is beginning to set in.

Right, they're coming out.

I'm not very good at this

stencilling lark but I'm having a
go.

You're going to have to like move
swift but be precise

at the same time.

Sugar!
This is do or die now.

Please come off, please come
off, please come off.

Oh, dear. They are not coming
off the transfer.

Right, what can I do?
What can I do?

Let's try another one.

Hello, lovely.
Hello.

I came because I heard
you squealing.

I was squealing.
It's not gone great.

They haven't really dried.

I'm just going to pipe
on top of this.

What is that one?
It used to be an alarm clock.

OK. It's a good time to tell
you you haven't got much time.

Paul would not give me
a handshake for this one.

Oh, this is t*rture.

I'm far too heavy-handed.

They weren't usually this delicate
when I practised them at home,

to be honest, but stuff always
happens in the tent.

I'm dropping crumbs
everywhere off my hands.

Bakers, you have one
minute, just one minute.

Panic stations!

Oh, my goodness.

SINGS: 12 falafel wraps...

It's time to get
these over to the tree.

Glazed doughnuts...

They are all on the verge
of falling off.

I've done my best.

Flo, those look amazing.

I think mine look like
a great dog's dinner.

Bakers, your time is up.

Please place your iced biscuits
at the end of your benches.

Messy. You haven't seen
mine, Jane, honestly.

The first Christmas train for me.

festively flavoured
and impressively iced biscuits.

Each one is an image of something
that I do

when I'm home at Christmas time.

The flavours are mince pie inspired,
with an apple brandy icing.

I love the imagination.
I think they're wonderful.

I just think the piping
is a little clumsy.

Oh! Nice snap on that. Phew!

Yes, you were worried about them
being soggy.

I heard about
your soggy biscuits.

Thanks, Prue.

It's got the flavour of shortbread,

but the star of it is that brandy
in that icing.

It's delicious altogether.
Apple brandy. I shall remember that.

Thank you, Andrew. Thank you very
much.

Are you going to steal that, Prue?
I'm going to steal that.

They're very elegant.
The colour's good.

I do worry a little bit about that
thickness... Thickness, yeah.

Of the fondant on the top to the
biscuit, it's about the same. Yeah.

It's very treacly.

But because there's lots of ginger
in it, it doesn't taste too sweet.

It's really an excellent biscuit.
The biscuit's great.

But that fondant is far too big.
It's just that, yeah, yeah.

I think you've got some
great colours going on.

A little bit rough round the edges.

I think you have to look at them
from a certain angle

to see that's a falafel!

Let's have a look at it, shall we?
Oh, lovely.

Very crisp.

You were worrying about them
being flaky, but they're...

..actually crumbly rather
than flaky. They're delicious.

I like the flavour.
I think the mince pie filling...

Yeah, yeah, yeah.
..it does work in there.

I think you just needed more time,

but I think you've done a decent
job. I do too. Sick.

The detail on your
pipework is excellent.

I mean, the cr*cker looks amazing.
Thank you. Very, very clever.

And also, it doesn't look
as if the icing's too thick.

We just hope they taste
as good as they look.

It's baked to perfection.
I think they taste amazing.

They just explode in the mouth
with the cinnamon.

And the way they look, I think
you've done a grand job. Thank you.

I like those biscuits!
Love this guy.

Yes, he's looking a little
bit sorry for himself.

He needs to be a badge for me.

Jane is my friend,
slash Bake Off rival.

I think it would be fair to say
she is nudging into the lead.

Well, I don't think that could

have been any better,
could it, really?

They both said such lovely things.

It's like opening a really brilliant
Christmas present

that you didn't expect.
Yeah, excellent.

I did prove Paul wrong, so...

You've got to believe in yourself.

Am I looking forward
to the technical?

Kind of.

Hello, bakers.

It's Christmas, so there
is no technical today.

Instead, we're just going to lie
down on beanbags, play games...

No, no, Noel, there is one.
Paul's set it.

He's like the Grinch!
OK, any words of wisdom?

Get the design right in your head
before you actually start.

That actually was quite useful.
Yeah.

OK as ever, it's judged blind,

so I'm going to have to ask you two
to leave the tent.

Off you pop. They're going to play
with Prue's train set.

Yeah, or Paul's doll's house.
Quite a choice, really.

Right, for your technical challenge,

Paul would like you to make
six Icelandic laufabraud.

Laufa... I love laufa...
What is laufabraud?

These are fried flat breads
and they are a traditional family

bake for Icelanders at Christmas.

So your laufabraud needs
to be wafer thin, perfectly crisp

and decorated with
delicate triangular cuts.

I imagine it has to be uniform
in size,

otherwise the Grinch will go insane.

Your ingredients
are under your gingham cloths.

Tartan. And your instructions are in
your pants. Drawers. Same thing.

You have an hour and 15.
On your marks. Get set. Bake.

There's literally nothing here!
Oooh.

What on Earth?
I don't really know what I'm making.

So these are called,
like, laufabraud?

I've never heard of these.

A flat bread, innit?
Fried bread, like a doughnut.

Paul, I have never seen
anything like these. What are they?

Basically, think of it a bit
like a poppadom.

First of all, they've got to create
the dough

and then they have to roll them out.

Think filo, OK? So that's...
Very thin.

Very, very thin. And then the
tricky bit is to do the design.

They'll be given rollers,

and these rollers have little
cutters on them, so you can cut.

But that's only half of it.

You can then move them apart
to create this intricate design

and then they've got to fry it
and that literally takes minutes.

Each one of them must be identical.
How many are they making? Six.

I mean, they are lovely
and they look so nice hanging.

You really want them
to be used as decorations

as well as to eat, don't you?
Try some. Can't wait.

Oh, it cracks beautifully.
That's what we are looking for.

Oh, and it's a little bit salty.
Delicious.

And I think at Christmas time,
Boxing Day, certainly,

if you're making
a turkey curry, perfect. Perfect.

I just can't picture
what they look like.

Even trying to decipher
the instructions.

I've read ahead
to the decorating bit and...

It's a bit of an enigma, really.

The first task is to make a dough,
combining conventional ingredients.

So "rub the butter into the dry
ingredients

"until it resembles breadcrumbs."

So that's a bit like rubbing in
for a pastry, I would have thought.

But that is where
the familiarity ends.

So have you heard of these breads?
No. Never? Never.

I'm just going to read
this and see how it goes. OK.

I like your confidence, Flo.
It's good.

Do you think I've got confidence?
Yes! Do you? Yes.

Why, do you think...
Do you think you haven't got any?

I'm bluffing it!
THEY LAUGH

"Warm the milk and pour
over the flour and mix

"with your hands until
you have a warm dough."

I think you need to knead
until it's pliable, because if I try

and roll that outcome at the minute,
it's going to be terrible.

So I think I'm just going to keep
kneading until it's bread-y.

Andrew's like stretching it like
that. So I'm just massaging it.

Like, plain flour, it's not
strong bread flour, so...

You might not want to overwork it.

I don't know!

"Knead the dough until smooth
and weigh out six 35g of balls."


of dough out very thinly."

"To 20 centimetres in a circle."

It's going to take most of the pan.




They've got to be 20 across and
they've got to be that thin.

That's got to be transparent.

Wow, they're thin and small? I know.

There's not much dough to get
out to 20 centimetres.

OK, that's like 19.5.

I can get away with that.

It's the most bizarre challenge
ever. It's thinner than paper.

I've never cut anything so thin.

Oh, see, I can almost see
through it, to be fair.

I can pretty much see through it.
Hey, Sandi, I've just done this.

Wow. I'll... I'll get the medic.

Bakers, you are halfway through.

Flipping heck!
Using the cutting tool...

I'm assuming this makes
sort of triangular cuts on it.

Create a snowflake pattern.

I'm trying to work out
what to do with these Vs.

Cos the mind goes blank
on what a snowflake looks like.

Snowflake, six points, so go...

Divide the 360 six ways.

Six... One, two...

I don't know how to do a snowflake.

It's a fiddly little old thing.

Oh you've got some kind of V
machine. Yeah.

Oh, that's V clever. I like that.

Flo, what on Earth are you doing?
I don't know. I don't know!

I'm messing around.
You're just making patterns?

God help me, I don't know!
Is it a snowflake?

It's supposed to be.

All right, well, it seems
to be going really well here.

So just press on, yeah?

"Using a Kn*fe, lift the tip
of every other V..."

"Fold each tip..."

"Back to cross over
the V behind it."

I don't understand it.
I think it does that.

You leave that one behind
and bring that one over.

That looks good. That's going
to take ages, isn't it?

I think it's going to take ages,
but I think that's what it says.

Is that what it says?
I don't get the V part. Hang on.

"Using a Kn*fe..."
"Lift the tip of every other V."

I don't...

Oh, "lift the tip"!

Oh, gosh, OK, it's so obvious now.

OK, so the tip of that one
over the V behind it.

Yes, yes, yes, yes.

Oh, it fell to bits!

This is going to be a nightmare
to get into the fryer.

Traditionally, laufabraud
are deep-fried.

I am going to fry in,
hopefully, a minute,

and I want it to fry at 200.

But this process has
a fine margin for error.

So that's heating up.

Too cool, and the bread
won't become crisp.

I'm just getting it up to 200.

Too hot, and it will burn.

Fry one at a time until crisp.

And despite being fried
individually,

the batch should be uniform
in colour.

The temperature's nearly there.

I've got to do six. Six.
I've got 24 minutes. 24 minutes.

How long do they...? Wait, we've got


I'm not sure he's qualified
to do a time call. Oh, aren't I?

I think that's my jurisdiction.
Sorry.

You have 25 minutes left.

There isn't enough time.

Have you started frying, Andrew?
Going into the fryer with one.

I don't know whether
I'm doing right or wrong.

My oil is not getting any hotter.
Jane, is your oil hot enough?

No, my oil's not hot enough.
Is yours hot enough?

Come on, oil, come on.
I think that's crisp.

They go quite dark quite quickly.


Jane, what's your one on?
It's over 200.

Maybe it's Centigrade.
Maybe I'm reading the Fahrenheit.

Oh, 200, there! BLEEP Oh, God.

I was taking it up to 200 Fahrenheit
rather than 200 Centigrade.

I'm just going to have to go in,
soon, like, I don't have no choice.

Oh, God!
That one's too well done, I think.

I don't do any deep frying at home.

Whether it's meant to look
like that, I don't really know.

This is awful. Right, bakers.
Important announcement.

You have five minutes remaining.

OK, I'm going to have to.
Five minutes.

I'm going in. Under baked is better
than not baked, isn't it?

Cook, little breads, cook!

Man, these are horrid to work with.
Oh!

They are not going to be cooked.

Oh, are they supposed
to look like that?

They are brown and mine
are all sort of white and wimpy.

That's my first one.
Um, it is what it is.

Carefully hang them
from your Christmas tree.

They are going to break the branch
if I hang them on that.

I just want to get all six in there.

One minute left, bakers. One minute.

They're going to be not crispy,
aren't they?

Oh, sugar.

Right, my lovely bakers, that's it.

Please bring your laufabrauds up

and place them
behind your photograph.

But, you know, really slowly.
This century, if you can.

Oh! Oh, Jane.

Uh-oh.

Paul and Prue are looking for
six evenly-baked golden laufabraud.

And they won't know
whose bake is whose.

We wanted six.

There's six on this one.
Five and a bust one.

Let's start with these.
How many have we got there? Four.

They're pretty consistent
on the colour, though.

But they are very bubbly, aren't
they?

They're meant to have tiny little
bubbles, not great big balloons.

Actually, that's lovely and crisp.
Hm.

Very good. It's not greasy.
That's a good flavour.

It's good. OK. What about this one?

I quite like these.
They're much more even.

The bubbles are smaller.

They could have done with being
in there a little bit longer.

They look a little bit too pale.

But it's got a lovely pattern
on it, all the way across.

They're beautifully done, those.
They are.

They're quite even, all of them.

And, and the business of getting
the little triangles down

is beautifully done.

But they are very neat
and round and they taste good.

They're good. And they do...cr*ck.

Now, moving on, we have...
One, two, three...

We've got five on this one.
A bit irregular in colour, look.

You see the difference
in the colour and it's too thick.

This is very undercooked.

It's actually quite elastic
and it tastes of flour.

OK, now we have six here.
Quite dark.

I mean, fairly elaborate
in their decoration as well.

They've been over fried.
This one's very dark.

They're a bit irregular,
aren't they?

That's actually burnt. Yeah, it is.

Paul and Prue must now decide
whose Icelandic laufabraud are best.

OK, so in fourth place,
we have this one. Who was that?

Nobody going to confess?

Oh, Flo. You know what's wrong
with it. It's not... Yeah, I know.

..baked properly.
And, um, the decoration isn't great.

You didn't turn
any of the little Vs back.

In third spot is this one.
Whose is this?

Liam, where are the rest of them?

I rolled them out
and that, but, like...

You didn't get a chance
to put them in the fryer?

Right, in second place,
who was this?

Andrew, well, in spite of being
rather overdone,

there is a good attempt at
the decoration and they taste great.

Thank you. Which leaves...
Number one. Jane.

APPLAUSE
These were pretty perfect.

You could have left them
in there another five seconds,

just to put a little more
flash of colour.

But you had a beautiful design,
nice and even, all equal.

Yes, one dropped, but you did manage

to get the six as well,
so well done. Thank you.

Who would have thought that?

I've got to say,
it's been a pretty good day.

I'm really pleased with that,
actually.

Considering how much of a mad dash
that was at the end, and the fact

that, let's be honest,
some of them were burnt.

Never seen one before in my life
and...

I hope I don't ever see one again.

I just hope tomorrow's good.

Even if I don't, like,
win or anything,

it would be nice to end on a bang.

before Paul and Pru will decide
who will be crowned winner

of the Great Christmas Bake Off.

Morning, bakers. You'll be delighted
to know it's time for your
Showstopper Challenge.

Today, Paul and Pru would
like you to make a spectacular

hidden-design Christmas present
cake,

decorated to look like
a Christmas present.

But once cut, it reveals - inside
the sponge - a design or picture.

Your hidden designs can be shaped
in the tin before baking,

or the sponges can be baked
separately and carved

and assembled after baking.
It's up to you.

But you've got four hours to do it.

On your marks... Get set... Bake!

Here we go again.

SHE LAUGHS

It's going to be tight today.

It's going to be tight,
but I'm ready. I am ready.

It's Christmas. I want to do well.

I want to end my time in the tent
with a wicked Showstopper.

So many things to do
at the beginning.

It's sort of keeping all your balls
in the air, juggling your balls.

Hidden design cakes are never easy.

What you want is a cake that looks
like a Christmas present.

And inside is a design which you'll
see when you cut it open.

The ideal sponge for a challenge
like this is Madeira.

It's a robust sponge and allows
lots of flavour and colour to be run
through it.

Black cake. How delicious. Yum yum!

As always, we want exquisite
decoration and to be absolutely

wowed by the Christmas flavours.

The bakers will have had to have
practised this,

because the thing is, they're not
going to know what their design

looks like until we actually
cut into it ourselves.

It's nice and bright.
That's what I want.

This bake is all about
the magical final reveal,

so the first task is to create
the sponge that will sit

inside the finished cake.

So, this is going to be the pattern,

so I'm going to cut out stars
and gingerbread men.

Time really is of the essence.

I've got to get my first
coloured cake done.

I'm going to cut that out, I'm going
to place that in the other tin,

and then bake the other
batter around it.

A successful hidden-design cake
relies on the consistency

of the sponge.

It is a moist cake.

A close texture is necessary
to maintain shape, once sculpted.

I'd like them a little bit firm,

just because I'm carving it,
and it really will fall apart.

So, I'm cooking that for
about 20 minutes.

With the sponge for the hidden
designs baking, it's on to the main
mix.

I'm just making my second
cake, which is going

to encase the coloured bit.

Ah! I'm mucky worker, me.

Morning, Flo. How are you?

I'm fine, thank you.

Tell us about your present cake.

I've got a green sponge in the oven.

That's called Christmas trees house.

And there's a bottle of mulled
wine going in the cake.

A whole bottle of mulled wine?

Yeah, yeah. In the cake?
In the cake.

That bottle is going in the cake?
Yeah. Mmm.

Yeah. Right.

So, the basic flavour
of the cake is what?

Mulled wine. Well, yeah.
I think it probably will be.

I think so. It might be, yeah.
I like mulled wine.

I haven't got a problem with this.
Have you practised this? Yeah.

And you put a whole bottle in? Yeah.

And you tried the cake
and you went, "That's delicious."

It's really a lovely cake.

Flo's tried-and-tested recipe is not
for the faint-hearted.

Her red wine sponge will be coated
in buttercream, inspired

by the perfect end to Christmas
dinner - the cheese board.

It's cream cheese. Cream cheese?
Stilton.

I thought you were going to...
What? Roquefort.

With Roquefort, too? Yeah.
Roquefort and Stilton?

I want it really strong.

Well, it goes, doesn't it?
Cheese and wine.

Yeah, that's genius.
It does go really well. In a cake?

I'm not sure it's genius.
I've never seen anything like it.
I think it could be genius.

It could be madness.

SHE LAUGHS

I'm in. I'm not too sure which way
you're going on this,

but I'm really looking
forward to it -

more than I have any other cake I
think I've ever heard of, in a
sense.

Don't be worried. It's lovely.

Good luck, Flo. OK.

Wow.

While Flo delves into
the drinks cabinet...

Nice boozy cake.

SHE LAUGHS

Bring it on.

..Jane and Andrew have had the
pick of the fruit bowl.

I'm so done with zesting oranges.

And Liam has raided the cookie jar.

Flavours like chocolate
and speculaas.

Speculaas?
Speculaas is like a biscuit spread.

You know those little
biscuits you get...

Well, you get them in hairdressers,
but you probably don't go to
hairdressers.

I've got a team who come to me.

And then in the cake, you've got
stars and gingerbread men
alternating.

So, are you confident about this?
Yeah, pretty much.

I mean, it's practice, isn't it?
So, I've practised it a couple of
times,

so I've got, like, a clear
vision in my head.

You should be a magician.

I kind of am.
SHE LAUGHS

A baking magician!

For his first trick, Liam
will be creating his hidden design

by double-baking chocolate images
inside a speculaas sponge.

His second trick will involve
a sleight of hand with flavours.

So you've got chocolate flavoured
gingerbread men with no ginger?

Yeah. Well, you know what, I
remember your Showstopper pancakes.

And they were the best flavoured
thing I think I've eaten on Bake
Off.

Amazing. They were just amazing.
They were very good.

So, if you don't do good
flavour, I shall

be really, really disappointed.

Cooking and cooling their first
sponge as quickly as possible

is imperative...

Yeah, that's looking good.
Bring that out.

..if the bakers are to have enough
time to build convincing hidden
designs.

I'm going to put that
in the freezer in a sec,

so it will be easier to carve up.

I'm going to put these
in the fridge to chill.

I really need them chilled.

Cut corners at this stage,
and it will jeopardise

the end result.

But they'll only discover
that when the cake is cut in front

of the judges.

Ideally, you'd wait
for this to cool before cutting it.

But there ain't much time.

Noel, Noel. What?

This bird wants to speak to you.
Oh, yeah? Really? Mmm.

Bakers, you have three hours left.

HE WHISPERS: Release it into the
wind.

Fly, my pretty.

SMASHING

That didn't go well.

HE WHISPERS: It's not a real bird.

When you cut into the cake,
it's going to have two baubles

hanging inside the cake,

because every Christmas, me
and my brother would get given

a Christmas decoration,
and we have since we were

very young, the idea
being that when we were older,

we would have a full set
of Christmas tree decorations.

Hoping that his baubles
look good enough to hang

on the tree, Andrew's
suspending his orange-flavoured

decorations inside an orange
and hazelnut Madeira sponge.

It's all about precision.

Generally, you're quite
good at that sort of stuff.

Yeah, yeah.

Don't jinx me, Paul.

All right, Andrew. Good luck.

Thank you very much. Cheers.

Andrew, Flo and Liam,
having baked their first sponges,

are carving to shape,
and will be placing them

inside a second batter -
a technique known as double baking.

I've got the hokey cokey,
going in and out of the oven.

The aim is to create
a seamless internal design,

but it also provides twice
the opportunity for something

to go wrong.

There is a risk of this
sponge over-baking.

It goes in the middle,
so it should be the last bit

of the cake to cook, in theory.

Jane's adopting
a different approach.

She'll be creating her hidden
designs by assembling pre-baked
sponges.

I'm sure you'll be here
when I assemble it,

because it's a bit touch-and-go,
but hopefully, it'll hold together.

Jane's hidden design is inspired
by her daughter's love of penguins.

Flanked by Christmas trees,
the flightless birds will be made

from orange-flavoured sponges.

Well, this looks very colourful.

So, these, believe it or not, are
going to be my penguins. Lovely.

I'm not double-baking,
because I find it really hard

to keep my penguins in a line once
I double bake.

They kind of move.

THEY LAUGH

What a weird conversation!

So when we cut it, we're going
to have a penguin and a tree?

You're going to have
tree, penguin, tree. OK.

Penguin lost in a forest?

In a non-existent forest
in the Antarctic, yeah.

Bakers, you are halfway
through your Showstopper Challenge.

SANDI: I'm sorry, I can't stop
moving, Noel.

You're just really heavy on my
shoulders.

LAUGHTER

For Andrew, Liam and Flo,
it's assembly time.

Just a tiny layer on the bottom,
just to act as a glue layer.

It's exciting times,
I'm not going to lie.

But it's only exciting if it goes
well - do you know what I mean?

Any mistakes at this stage
could spell disaster

for their hidden designs.

I hope this works,
I hope this works.

So, Paul seemed to think
I was precise, which would help.

I hope he's right.

So, I'm going to cover
it with the speculaas sponge,

and put it in to bake
for, like, an hour.

I'm just putting the mulled
wine cake mixture over

the Christmas trees.
It looks a good mix, doesn't it?

So, have people been asking
you to bake things

since you were on Bake Off?

I've been asked to judge cakes.

Have you? Yeah. Are you a tough
judge, or are you like...? No.

I just say they're all nice,
but some of them...

Terrible? Yeah.
SHE LAUGHS

Well, if Paul retires,
I'll give you a call.

In it goes.

As their sponges go
back in the oven... Right.

..the double-bakers now relinquish
control of their hidden designs.

I really don't want the
Christmas trees to move.

They are difficult things to cook,
because you've got the cooked cake,

and the cake above that struggles to
get up to the same temperature,

because the heat's got
to go all the way round.

So, it's not ideal.

There we go.

But for Jane, the baking is over.

So I'm going to give them five
minutes,

and then I'm going to whack
them in the freezer,

because it's all about
getting into chilled.

The main element of the cake
is baking, and now I'm focused

on the buttercream.

This is speculaas spread. It's like
peanut butter, but biscuit butter.

Whatever their choice
of crumb coat...

So, at the moment, I am
making a ganache.

..the aim is to create a smooth
surface on which to apply fondant...

This is Stilton and Roquefort.
It's a cream that's going

in between the cake
and all around the cake.

..and add an extra layer of flavour.

It smells to high heaven.

Is that the blue cheese? Yeah.
Can I taste it?

Yeah, of course you can taste it.

You'll judder. It'll judder you.

That's strong. It's nice, though.

This is a wee bit soft,
but I'm going to use it anyway,

because I really want
to get this assembled.

I know Jane is going
to do an epic job today.

It's my job to keep up.
You can do it, Andrew.

For the double-bakers,
if their sponges are to be ready

to decorate, cooling is key.

So time is of the essence.

Yeah.

You need more time. I'm going to
give it another ten minutes.

Ooh! Look at them babies.

There you go. You're coming out.

The moment of truth.
Can I carve through it?

This is where it could
all go horribly wrong.

Jane's technique relies
on a steady hand.

Any damage to the sponge
is irreparable,

and there's no time to start again.

Well, there are several
nerve-racking bits to go.

This is probably on a par with most
of the other bits still to go.

SHE LAUGHS

It's not good for my nerves!

Oh, Jane. That looks amazing.
We shall see.

Well, at least you'll have a design.
Mine is still baking.

Did you get anything
for Christmas you didn't like?

No, I liked all my presents.

I particularly loved my
necklace from Pru. Yeah, me, too.

Bakers, you have one hour.

It's so close.

It's still warm,
but it's buttercream. I can pipe it.

There you go. OK.

It's warm.

But I've got to move.

Right, the cake is coming out.
It's got to be cooked.

It's got to be.

If it's not, I'll deal
with the consequences.

I need to get it finished.

These are going to go
into the fridge.

This is all quite precarious now.

It doesn't half smell.

Whoo!
HE LAUGHS

It's making my eyes water!

HE LAUGHS

It's beginning to bow out at the
sides a bit.

I'm getting myself into a bit of
a mess, because I'm in a hurry now.

I've got way too much to do.

So I'm going to get ahead
on the fondant, just so I can slap

those panels on when
the time is right.

Beautifully wrapped present cake
requires perfectly rolled fondant.

Ugh!

I've had bad experience
with fondant here.

Too thick, and it will appear
lumpy and misshapen.

It's going to be nine by six.

Too thin, and there's
a risk fondant will tear.

It's quite soft, this fondant.
Quite soft.

Ooh, big cake.

One, two, three. Go!

That's a "phew!" moment!

This is the scary part.

How are you doing? My cake's still
in the freezer, uncovered.

So could be better.

Bakers, you have half an hour.

Just half an hour.

That's not long. No, not really.

This has started to cover.

Ah, ah, ah!
Don't, please, don't. Don't do that.

I can still feel it's warm.

Right, ganache on.

I've got to be quite quick now.

Oooh!

If I manage to get all these panels
on, it will be a minor miracle.

I'm so messy.

This is the bit you don't miss -
the last-minute rush.

No present will be
complete without a bow.

To create theirs, Liam and Flo
are using more fondant...

Looks like a bowl of spaghetti.

Anyone?

SHE LAUGHS

..while Jane and Andrew
are attempting sugar work.

So I've got to work fast,
because the sugar will cool down.

So it's got to get to the right
temperature that you can pull it.

Timing is everything.

There we go. Stuck on the gloves.
I'm changing my gloves.

They only have a small window
when the sugar is cool enough

to handle before becoming
brittle and unworkable.

Oh, no!

OK. That has crystallised, that one.

Oh, it's all crystallised.

The sugar's crystallised.

OK.

I have a bit of a problem.

I'm in such a rush now.

The fact that I'm getting
any of this done at all is,

frankly, a bit of a miracle.

We need a plan B, because I haven't
got time to make any more.

Bakers, you have five minutes left.

No, no, no! No, no!

Five minutes to go. I'm almost done.

Pleased with the bow.
But that ain't going to save me.

Ooh, I've got to put the bow on.

I'm just now going to finish
this as quickly as possible,

because I really want to get
all the elements on.

Ah, ah! Stop! Don't!

I'm happy with that.

They wanted Christmas in a cake.

Oops!

Bakers, your time is up.

Ooh!

Please place your celebration cakes
at the end of your benches.

HE EXHALES

Andrew, looks lovely. Well done.

Oh, Jane, you haven't
seen it up close.

It may not all come
down to a ribbon.

But then it may.
And if it does, c'est la vie.

It's slightly understated
in the colours.

It needed to be more in-your-face.

The green is a little dull,
but it's actually quite classy,

those colours, aren't they?
Hidden inside is a penguin

and a couple of Christmas trees.

I hope!

SHE LAUGHS

This is very exciting, isn't it?

SANDI: Look at that! Wonderful.
Look at that!

Wow!

THEY CLAP

That's wonderful! It's quite
effective, isn't it? Very clever.

Delicious!
JANE: Oh, really? Thank you!

It's really good.
The orange is just fragrant enough.

It's really good.
It's got a real depth to it.

The sponge is beautifully baked.
Thank you.

And the buttercream
really adds to it.

It's a fantastic cake.
Oh, thank you!

It really is a good cake.

What happened to the stars?
They look a right mess.

It looks like it's been put
on with your finger.

But I do like the sugar work on the
top. It's very good. Thank you.

Oh, look at that.

Isn't that lovely?

I think it would be nicer if you
could've got them a bit

more in the middle.

It's an orange sponge.

One of the sponges has a little
bit of hazelnut in it.

It's a hazelnut liqueur chocolate
ganache and then some

vanilla fondant on the outside.

It's a nice flavour.

I think it is slightly over baked.

It's a little bit dry. All the
flavours are very Christmassy

and very good.

It's just the texture that isn't
as much of a pleasure

as the flavour is.

It's too messy, it's too clumsy.
It's not sharp enough.

When you cut in-between
it should alternate between

star, gingerbread man,
star, gingerbread man.

NOEL: Hey! There he is.

Look at that! SANDI: Oh, yeah.

Oh, I see.

Oh, how clever. It's a star.

It's clever.

I think that's a great cake.

When you were talking about this I
was a bit disappointed

there was to be no ginger in it,
but in fact it tastes delicious,

especially when you get a bit of the
butter icing, which is

absolutely perfect.
I think you redeem yourself

with the inside, the texture and the
flavour, because that's good.

Get in. The sponge is baked
beautifully.

It just needs a little bit more
polish. Cool.

I do like the decoration.

I think the set-up is excellent,
I like the colour.

It really does look
very elegant and pretty.

You've got Roquefort cheese, Stilton
cheese, cream cheese... Yeah.

And a bottle of mulled wine. Yeah.

SANDI: Yeah, stop talking about
it, start cutting.

NOEL: Here he goes.

THEY CHEER

Wow! Woo!

It's got the texture of a Christmas
pudding! I can smell it from here.

It is just amazing!

SANDI: Wow. Right.

I have to say I don't like it, Flo.

Don't you?
I just love your imagination.

I think the decoration is fantastic.

Don't you like the wine?
I like the taste by itself.

Yeah.
But I don't like the combination.

PAUL SIGHS
That's not good, Flo.

No? Interesting idea, though.

What you've got is two major, major
punchy flavours that are totally

opposite ends of the scale,
and you've brought them together

in an unconventional
manner, which is cake.

I mean, I think it's amazingly
brave. It is.

I've never had anything like that
before. No. Never.

It's unique. Thank you, Flo.

Thanks, Flo. Oh, well. Never mind.

SANDI: Right, my lovely festive
bakers, that's it. Your work
is done.

Now it's up to Paul and Prue
to decide who is going to be

our Christmas Star Baker.

So you guys can go and join
your friends and family outside,

while the judges deliberate.

CHEERING

I was so pleased when they cut into
it and that the penguins

looked like penguins!

Cos that would've been a disaster,
wouldn't it?

To know that it was
a perfect sponge cake

from Paul and Prue - gassed.

Gassed!

Of course I'm a little bit
disappointed. It would've been nice

to go out on a real high,
have the cake well baked.

But, you know, it doesn't always go
to plan in the tent.

I know that cake was a nice cake

and I will continue
to make that cake.

of the Great Christmas
Bake Off crown.

Well, here is the good thing.

We're not sending anybody home.

No. This is lovely. Yes.

But only one person's
going to be Star Baker.

It's going to be quite tricky.

I think Andrew did well
in the Technical, and I thought

the flavour of his cake
was very strong and very bold.

I just think it was
slightly over baked.

Great sugar work to make the ribbon.

Jane has done pretty well
all the way through.

She has.
The penguin looked amazing.

You knew it was a penguin.

As soon as you cut it you went, ah!

It was clever, that.

I felt that Liam, to a large
extent, redeemed himself. He did.

To be honest, I liked his
cake best for eating.

Has the cheese ruled Flo out?

LAUGHTER

I mean, what was Flo
thinking with that?

It was never, ever going to be nice.

If it had've worked,
having a dessert and your cheese

at the same time, kind of genius.

Don't push it.

Right, let's have the bakers
forward, and many congratulations

to them!

CHEERING

Bakers, you've all been amazing,
but I've got the wonderful job

of announcing this year's winner.

The winner of this year's
Christmas Bake Off is...

..Jane.
CHEERING

Yes!

It's really rare, actually,
for someone to dominate

in all three challenges.

And I think Jane did exactly that.

She was a finalist last time
she was in the tent,

and she's actually won it this time,
and I feel very proud for her.

It's been such a great year,
and what a wonderful way to end it,

and such fun to meet the families
because they're so proud

of these bakers,
and so they should be.

I'm proud of these bakers!

I'm almost lost for words.

It is so lovely to win it.

It's going to have pride
of place somewhere.

There's no way I'm going to hide
this light under a bushel!

# Christmas time

# Don't let the bells end. #

I spent ten weeks in that tent with
Jane, right through to the final

together, so I'm really,
really chuffed for her.

# Christmas time

# Don't let the bells end. #

In the beginning when they asked me
to come back for Christmas,

I had my doubts.

I went, "Oh, no, I don't
want to come back."

I don't regret that one bit,
and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

# Christmas time

# Don't let the bells end. #

I am glad that I came back
because it's what I started,

and I can't forget that.

What have I got here? It seems...

Excuse me. I think this is mine.
Thank you.

Thanks, Jane.

Maybe next time!

Next time...

Good luck!

..four more familiar faces
get their festive bake on...

I'm back!

..tackling a challenging
Germanic signature...

I'm just going to scatter some nuts.

I just feel I've arrived
at exactly the right moment.

..and oh-so-eggy technical...

This is hectic!

No!

..and a 3D Showstopper.

I'm not a big fan of innuendo,
but - what is that?

Celebrating their New
Year's resolutions...

PAUL: It's very, very clever.

It jolly well better taste good.

Are you a Star Baker in the making?

If you'd like to apply for the next
series of Bake Off, visit...