15x09 - Patisserie Week

[bunniefuu]

Last time... Oh, ah!

..the quarterfinals took us back
to the disco decade.

What was the '70s like?
Yeah, I wasn't there, hon.

Whilst Dylan continued
to harvest handshakes...

Oh! Sweet! I'm sick of giving them
to you, though.

..it was Georgie's
stunning Showstopper...

It's 1970s and you've got it to a T.

..that secured her second
Star Baker.

Oh, my God, no. But gravity
took hold of Illiyin's gateaux

and her time in the tent
hit the ground.

Over and out, Bake Off.

This time... Crack on!
..it's the semifinal.

Ah! Crunch time.

But who can perfect patisserie...

It's going to be intense.
Why are they making us do this?

Don't understand. Come on!

..and who will fall...

You will kick yourself
if you lose this now.

..at the final hurdle?

Oh! Ah!

I'm going. I've had enough.
I'm going.

Just four remain
in The Great British Bake Off.

Only three can make it
to the final.

Good luck, everyone. Good luck.
We got this.

Semifinals day.

LAUGHS

Yeah, it's real now.

The chances of going to the final
have never been higher.

Like, you have 75% chance
of getting into the final.

But then the chances of going home
have also never been higher.

You have a 25% chance
of going home.

They have upped the stakes,
and patisserie is it.

Unfortunately Northern portions
don't fit well with patisserie.

When you see the word patisserie
you're like high-end, hard,

they're pulling out all the stops.

Hello, bakers, welcome back
to the tent. It's patisserie week

but, more importantly,
it's the semifinal.

So, for your semifinal Signature

the judges would like you
to bake two batches

of eight laminated
breakfast pastries.

Your pastries can be any design

but at least one batch
must be filled or topped.

Remember, this is patisserie week

so the judges are looking for
a fantastic finish.

Or a hot Swede.

On your marks. Get set. Bake!

This is the most ambitious
Signature Challenge ever set

in The Great British Bake off.

I'm doing really difficult maths
and everything for this.

To give the bakers enough time

to present two perfect batches
of breakfast pastries,

for the first time ever the judges
have allowed them one hour

to prepare their dough
so that it can rest overnight.

This is undoubtedly one of
the most difficult challenges

that the bakers will face.

So we're looking for
folds of dough and butter.

Now, the yeast in the dough
will grow and the butter will melt

and create a beautiful honeycomb.

We're asking for beautiful
lamination so it's flaky

and you can see every single layer.

You want a finish that's crispy
golden brown on the outside

and it packs a punch
with the flavouring inside.

Everything has to go perfect today.

We've got four amazing bakers.
Only three are going to go through.

And no-one can afford to make
a mistake in this challenge.

The fun part is tomorrow.

The semifinalists' dough
has been resting overnight.

Yeah, it looks all right.
They now have three hours

to complete their breakfast
pastries. That's perfect.

We'll see what happens
in three hours.

Hello, Georgie, you all right?
Hello, Georgie. Hello.

Tell us about your pastries,
what're you doing?

One's going to be a pain suisse
with chocolate chips

and the second are going to be
the pinwheels

and that's going to have
a dalgona cream.

Dalgona, whipped coffee cream
and hazelnuts

will fill Georgie's pinwheels

while her chocolate-filled
pain suisse

boasts an ambitious cross lamination

that's required endless practice.

I've made nearly 200.

And... 200?
I really want to be in the final.

Why don't you just take one of
the others out? Yeah. With this.

Yeah. I'll throw it over.

Just throw it towards Dylan. Yeah.

ALISON:
Whilst Georgie aims to impress

with decorative lamination... This
is going to be a lot of rolling.

..Christiaan is once again hoping
that it's what's inside that counts.

So I'm doing a Danish
topped with saffron roasted rhubarb.

I love sweet things but I love
experimenting with other flavours

and kind of, like,
seeing how far you can take it.

And I think growing up g*y,
like, you know, made me

look for other things
that were also different.

But I do think
it opens up your mind more.

And it's just a lot of fun as well,
isn't it?

Alongside his saffron
and rhubarb Danish,

Christiaan hopes to begin
his journey to the final

with a Gruyere cheese swirl
flavoured with za'atar.

Christiaan. Oh, hello, you.
How you doing, semifinalist?

I know, can you believe it? This has
got to be your week, right... Oh...

..patisserie? I don't know, is it?

You still haven't had a Star Baker.

Don't. I'm the only one
here without Star Baker.

Always that bridesmaid, ain't ya?
I know.

As long as I win the final,
it's fine. Exactly!

To even reach the final,

the bakers will have
to conquer lamination.

I am putting butter into my dough.

But, you see, your butter's soft
enough that you can roll it...

I'm going to just give this
a quick little...

..but not so soft that
it disappears into the dough

and you'll lose the layers.

Dylan will be doing something
exciting with thermometers.

If your butter's too hard
you get butter shards

and then your pastry
won't laminate properly.

I just go, that looks about right.
Crack on.

Making a pocket of butter
in-between the dough

and then you roll it out.

Going to start using my frozen pins
so everything's cold

cos I need to keep the butter cold.

So this is the first fold, so this
is a letter fold. So you bring one

one-third of the way,
the other two-thirds of the way.

So this was, like, the book fold.

So you need pastry, butter, pastry,
butter, pastry, butter.

At this point
I just want to chill it.

In-between every time
that you fold it

you're going to have to put it back
in the fridge. Whilst Christiaan

and Georgie are preparing pastries
featuring complex flavours

and designs... So I'm just
going to pop it in the freezer.

..Gill's planned a breakfast
that's a little less continental.

We're having sausage sandwiches
and bananas and custard.

That's so English.
Bolton is coming to Paris

or Paris is coming to Bolton.

ALISON: Gill will add fennel
to her sausage whirls

and she'll fill Danish pastries
with a banana creme patissiere

and decorate with bruleed bananas.

I think that sounds delicious.
Yeah, it does sound nice. Yeah.

How do you feel about
being in the semifinal?

I'm trying not to think about the
final next week. I'm just trying

to concentrate on today
and hope that I get through.

Live in the moment.
That's it, yeah.

Every moment in this
Signature Challenge is crucial.

Three hours is definitely not
a long time.

The bakers need to fold their dough
as many times as possible.

You roll your dough,
then you do your first turn,

then you put it back in the fridge
then it has half an hour. Then you

do your second turn, you put it back
in the fridge. It has half an hour.

So literally just to get your dough
done you would end up with using up

your entire time.
But the longer they spend

perfecting their layers... You can
see the lamination in there.

..the less time they'll have
for proving and baking.

It's just so much faff.

I don't imagine that you're bothered
about patisserie, are you...?

It's not something I do on a regular
basis. It's too fancy-schmancy

for you, innit? It's a bit faffy.
Yeah. Bit faffy. You've got to

pull it off today. I know, I've got
to try and pull it off today.

Think you're going to be all right.
You're in the semifinal. I know.

Where did the time go? Yesterday
there was 12 of us in here.

What do you think
they're all doing now?

I believe Mike's at Glastonbury.
Oh, is he?

They're having a brilliant time.
Having a fabulous time.

You're in here stressed out, baking,
and they're just in the rave tent.

But not everyone's stressed out
by patisserie week.

I was practising every time with two
hours. I thought we had two hours.

Dylan misread the rules
for this challenge

and has been practising
completing it in just two hours

rather than three. I can't believe
I didn't read it properly.

It's actually ridiculous.

To deliver 16 breakfast pastries in
what he thought was just two hours,

Dylan planned just one design -
a croissant.

One batch with a hazelnut
creme patissiere

and another with cinnamon.

This sounds quite simple for you.
Quite simple flavours and...

Well, that was cos I was just
so worried about the time.

How are you introducing the
creme pat? I wanted to pipe it in.

What, when it's baked? Yeah.

So it'll lose all the lamination.

So I thought the best way
if the proving isn't perfect,

kind of hide away from that is to...
Pipe it inside so you can't see.

..fill them. Yeah.

Leave one empty.

Well, I'll see how they turn out.

Bakers, you're halfway through.
Oh, God.

That's a very strong call-out.

Strong and serious,
it's the semifinal.

No jokes. No laughs.

Just powerful baking. Yes.

Lamination. If racing to create
layers of butter and pastry

wasn't hard enough...
It looks all right.

..the semifinalists must now shape
their laminated dough fast enough

to give them as much time to prove
as possible.

I'm just cutting out my squares

so they can start proving.

Once they've puffed up it's going
to be like a floral shape.

I'm going to cut them into squares

and then they're going to be
turned into little pinwheels.

I mean, look how you just know
what you're talking about. Yeah...

Who have you become? Who am I now?
I don't know who I am any more.

I've been really worried
for this challenge.

It is doable but the time is tight.

We're having to do it at such speed.

Why are you making us do this?
This is just cruel.

Whilst Dylan has just one croissant
design for both his batches...

These are sort of
minimalist croissants.

..Georgie's second pastry is even
more complicated than her pinwheels.

This is the cross lamination,
so I'm cutting it

and then popping it on the top.

So, usually,
say if you've got a croissant

you'll see all the layers from the
side. This, it will be on the top

so you're going to see
all the lamination. So basically

I'm putting myself up for slaughter.

But it's the semifinal so I have to
do something adventurous.

Got to put the sausage meat in this.

These are my fennel seeds.
This is my nod to the posh.

Now, the secret is
you want it tight so it stays tight

but you don't want it too tight

because then it doesn't have
the space to grow.

Pain aux raisin if you're talking
Danish. But it's pain aux sausage.

Smells nice over here.

We're doing some za'atar. It's like
a Middle Eastern spice mix.

It's a really kind of rich flavour.

You're in the semifinal. You know
what, part of me feels as if it was

last week that there was 12 of us
in the tent. I was thinking

about Andy today going,
"Oh, my God." Exactly.

It's like when you think about
all the fallen bakers...

And they're all buried out the back.

Cos when you get kicked out of here,

rolling pin, back of the head.

And we put you in a big piping bag,
tie it up. Oh, no. This is gross.

And then Prue digs a hole,
like in Goodfellas,

and then Alison just kicks your body
into the hole. Stop it.

And that's the truth of Bake Off.

The Dame don't muck about,
that's all I'm saying.

These need to prove. I moved
so much slower at the beginning,

what was I doing? I want to get
as long as I can for proving

cos I think the proving
is my main issue.

Just going to pop a thermometer
in here just to kind of see

what the temperature is like.

At 30 degrees that butter
just melts away

and you don't get your lamination.

So you want your pastries
to prove at about 26 max, I think.

Let's let these babies grow.

Even if they're ready to prove...
Hopefully I can give them an hour.

..the bakers still need to perfect
any fillings or toppings.

I'm going to make hazelnut paste
now. Italian fingers for you,

the heat doesn't touch me.

So this is my banana creme pat.

I just really like the saffron
with the rhubarb.

The rhubarb is quite, like,
sharp and punchy.

I thought that would be
a nice combination.

The extra hour Dylan thought
he had... Oh, I'm so dumb.

..seems to have disappeared.

So these still won't have enough
time to prove. I think I must be

the most disorganised person
to have made it to the semifinal.

I'm going to put them in the oven
with a bit of steam

and just put a thermometer in.
Hopefully that works better.

Cool?

LAUGHTER

When I heard that Paul was able
to do this in the time I was like,

what is he,
like some sort of magic man?

Bakers, you've got one hour left.

Everything now rests on
the bakers' next move -

when to stop proving... I just need
to watch this temperature,

if it goes too high then
my butter will start to melt.

..and start baking.
Waiting game now.

But every minute proving

will mean a minute less baking.

They take about 25 minutes to cook

plus I'm going to have to get this
oven on to preheat.

None of them have got long to prove.

Ah!

DUCKS QUACK

So I'm proving them
for as long as I can, really,

just pushing it to the end. I'm just
going to keep checking them.

So we've got 45 minutes.

This is just like
a transient state of...whatever.

And that's as much time
as they've got,

whether they're ready or not,
they're going in.

These ones are 100%
not proved enough.

I'm going to take 'em out
and put my oven on.

Oh, God, that's hot in there.

Jeepers!

You know I got basically
everything wrong in this challenge.

If you'd known that you'd had three
hours what would you have done

differently? Well, they did say
it seemed a bit simple.

Did they say you seemed a bit simple
or this seemed a bit simple?

A bit simple.
That's what they say to me.

"You seem a bit simple, Noel."
And I'm like, I am simple.

The decisions that you make while
under pressure is just so weird.

I really hope this works. I'm just
breaking up my cardamom pods

then I can put them
in my apple sauce.

I'm just making my cinnamon sugar
that I'm going to toss them in.

Let's just do this, then.

Cos if you don't prove it enough
the yeast will explode in the oven

and then it'll chuck
all the butter out.

That's when you end up with
a dry Danish,

and we're not at home
to Mr Dry Danish.

I mean, this is like
the moment of truth, isn't it?

Oh, it's so annoying.

Yeah, but the butter's not even
leaking out that much. It is.

They look pretty well proved.
It's hell, isn't it?

It's hell in here.

Bakers, you've got
half an hour left.

I'm just looking at the colour.

When the colour's nice
I'll take 'em out.

I'm just going to give as long as
possible. Turn the temperature up.

I'm just making my creme pat,

which I just kind of want it
to taste like hazelnut ice cream.

Right, we're going in. Woohoo.

Gill's are out, yay.
Look really good, Gill.

Ta-da-da-da-daa!

How much time do we have left?
You have ten minutes left.

OK, I'm just going to pull them now.

It's all going to be
last-minute rushes now.

Bruleeing bananas is hopefully
where I don't set the tent on fire.

These are not good. The dough
isn't cooked, they're underproved.

I would've liked
to have baked them for a bit longer

but I need to fill them.

Let's do it.

Relieved it's over. They look
all right to me. I'd eat them.

But Paul's told me to leave one
without the cream in.

This is so tight.
One minute left.

Now it's a case of which ones do I
want to hide? Just throw these on.

Little brush of the orange.
Oh, the lemon.

Bakers, your time is up.

Group hug. Come on, Dylan. Dylan.
Dylan, come in, in here.

In a minute. Dylan's like,
"No, I'm busy."

"I've got croissants to gaze at."
Come on. That was painful.

Come on, come on, come on.
Oh, we did it.

It's judgment time for the
semifinalists' breakfast pastries.

Hello, Georgie.
Hello, everyone. Hi, Georgie.

I do like the colour.
The time just went.

And you've scorched them. You know
they're going to be crispy. Yeah.

This has got the...
Creme patisserie...

SHE MUTTERS

Tastes lovely. Beautifully crisp.
Just a little doughy in the middle.

When you're baking off the pastry,
try and rush it

and it looks like it's done, and
then inside just concertinas up.

Yeah. The pinwheels look
absolutely delicious and beautiful.

Thank you, Prue.

Same thing with this, really. Yeah.

Too high. And it hasn't
managed to laminate. Yeah.

I love this one. The flavour
is perfect. Yeah, the coffee.

Beautifully judged. Delicious.
Just a bit of extra time

and they would've been right.
Would've been fine, yeah. Yeah.

They don't look too bad.

You've probably put a little bit
too much filling in. OK.

As the meat is cooking,
it's opening up... OK.

..releasing moisture... Right.
..and then pushing it out. Right.

Which is why it opened up. OK.

ALISON: Oh, lovely crunchies.

You've literally got
a whole sausage in there.

LAUGHTER

It's delaminated itself. OK.
It's been rushed a little bit.

The layers haven't really
joined together. OK.

But having said that,
you're nearly there.

The sausage is a bit thick

but I must say I love
the flavour of the sausage. Mm.

So there's a banana and creme pat
and then some bruleed bananas. Mm.

It needed more proving.
You see the thick bars here.

Yeah. OK.
You were nearly there. Yeah.

It all tastes excellent but it is
a bit tough and doughy. OK.

They look really inviting.

If I saw them in a pastry shop
window, I'd want one.

Yeah, for sure. Good.

This is the za'atar, isn't it?
Za'atar and the gruyere.

Yeah, it's pretty good inside.

The flavour is absolutely lovely.

The za'atar level is delicious.
It's not overpowering.

And I think you're nearly there with
the proving and the baking as well.

Here we've got the saffron
and rhubarb Danish.

Wow, that's a punchy rhubarb,
that one. Mm. Very tart.

It's really tart and rhubarby
which is lovely. That's very you.

Strong, out the box flavours
and it's worked. Thank you.

They don't look as neat
as I expected them to look.

They are a bit of a mess.

Well, they're certainly well filled.

Certainly hiding
a multitude of sins, isn't it?

Well, you don't know yet.
I have left you the plain one.

I'm going to have a look at
that one. That plain one... No.

Cos that looks a good one, though.
No. That's not fair.

Ah, so they're not as honeycombed...
That bit's all right.

In the middle it just needed longer
to prove. Needed longer proving.

Yeah.

I love the cinnamon. Yeah?

Good and punchy,
it's strong enough.

Flavour's lovely with the cinnamon.
Let's look at the chocolate one.

Bit sloppy.
I piped it in when it was warm.

Well, you'd never have managed it
in two hours, that's for sure. Yeah!

That tastes like tahini.

The hazelnut paste doesn't
quite work. And it's too sloppy.

And I'm not convinced that just
piping a load of stuff inside

a croissant and destroying
what you've essentially spent hours

trying to build up
is what you should've done.

I think it was probably one of the
worst things I've made on the show.

Bread is something I really like
and so it's just, like, proving is

that one thing which is easy

but it's the one thing which just
ruins your croissants like that.

Can you really ever have too much
sausage? I don't think so.

Everyone had issues with proving
and it's not been my best work.

But it's done. I do really want
to give myself every chance

to get through to next week.

But none of us know what's going on
because everyone had an issue.

So we're all a bit nervous. Ah!

The semifinalists have no idea
what they'll be baking next.

Your Technical Challenge
has been set by patisserie Paul.

Patisserie Paul,
any words of wisdom?

You have to really be careful
of the layers

and be extremely accurate.
As always, this is judged blind.

So, judges, you may now leave
the tent, thank you.

Bye-bye, Patisserie Paul.

So, Paul would love you to make the
exquisite French patisserie classic,

gateau opera, or opera cake.

Your opera cakes should have
eight layers of joconde sponge,

coffee, creme aux beurre
and a dark chocolate ganache.

And it should be able to sing
Nessun Dorma at the end.

Patisserie Paul has given you


On your marks. Get set. Bake!

Oh, my God.

Opera cakes, I've never had one.
They sound nice.

I think the opera cake originates
from the layers of the opera house.

Paul said you want the layers
to be really nice and even

so it is a bit scary.

Paul, an opera cake.
Really difficult.

You have layers of joconde sponge,
creme aux beurre,

then you have the ganache.
There's two ways to introduce

the coffee flavour into this.
One is in the creme aux beurre

and the other one is the syrup

drizzled over the top
of the joconde.

Once you've got to the top
and you've got your glaze on

then you need to think about
trimming it off.

When you cut through,
how do you stop that smearing?

You can only do this
with a hot knife.

On the top they're going to have to
temper some chocolate.

It's all about the detail.

You're showing off
with this particular cake.

First thing to hit you
is the coffee.

It's absolutely perfect, isn't it?

So they've got all the ingredients
and the quantities.

Except for the coffee. But otherwise
you've just said make joconde,

make ganache, make creme aux
beurre. Yeah.

It's tricky. This is the semifinal.

We need to test
our four amazing bakers.

"Make the chocolate ganache."

So I'm going to pour my cream
over the chocolate

and allow it to sort of melt a bit.

You've made an opera cake before.
No, never made an opera cake. No?

Never made a joconde sponge.
I know the theory.

Why are they called opera cakes?
Who knows how the French mind works?

"Make the joconde." So if you've
never made a joconde it's like,

I've no idea what everyone else
is doing.

Do you ever learn much
about baking from being here?

I'm Michelin starred.
Prue gave me a Michelin star.

She glued it to my head.

Start by whisking up the eggs,
ground almonds and the caster sugar.

It's meant to be a light sponge,
I know that and that's about it.

It has no levelling agent
so this is really important.

They want us to add egg whites to
it. So we have to make a meringue,

fold it in and also incorporate air
into the egg yolks.

This cooks really quickly, I think.

Want to make sure I've got enough.

You make, like, a second mixture.

Egg whites, sugar,
and you sift the flour over it

and then you combine
the two together.

How come that you're making that
and that separately?

And then you add them together
later? I think it is because you can

actually incorporate a lot more air
into your egg whites.

Don't give you much here, do they?
Oh, no. I mean, honestly.

So I'm just folding in my meringue,
lightens it up a bit.

What's everyone else doing here?

I think they've got theirs in,
whipping with it. Don't know.

Oh! Is that for the joconde as well?

Oh, my God, I've...
I've done it wrong.

Well, it says for the joconde,
those,

and then there's a gap
and then there's more ingredients.

I don't understand.

I'm going. I've had enough.
I'm going...

I just don't want to do it.

I'm done. I'm done.

I'm going to stand here
until the end.

Just feel useless.
Listen to me.

I've been where you are,
what you've just done, listen,

this is what you're doing. You put
yourself into a, "I can't do this,

"I'm no good." Listen to me,
you've got this, a million percent.

Please, I'm begging ya.

Get that negative
and throw it away right now. Yeah.

Come back to the positive cos,
listen, I'm telling you now,

you will kick yourself... Yeah.
..if you lose this now. Yeah.

I just don't know what to do
with it, Alison. You do. I don't.

You do. Listen, just read it slowly.

Get out of your space and go back
to where GG always is, yeah? Yeah.

I know. All right?
You've got this. All right? OK.

Bakers, you are halfway through.

So behind now.

I've put 'em in for 10 minutes.
Maybe around, like, 10-12 minutes.

Whilst Georgie remakes her sponge,

the rest of the bakers move on
to the coffee elements.

Make the coffee syrup. Which we're
going to spread over the cake.

Coffee extract to taste.

Do they not know that I can't taste
coffee? For the love of god, people.

So they're going in now.
They're not right anyway.

Creme aux beurre,
that's just a French buttercream.

Add the butter in
and that's your creme aux beurre.

I think I'm going to add
the espresso extract now.

Half a teaspoon to begin with.

Smells really strong.
Don't want to put much in.

Oh, I could eat this all day.

I am going to put in another one.
Be bold.

Did a half teaspoon,
so I'm going to add another one.

Definitely more coffee.

Taste it now.

I think it's fine.

Oh, should I do a bit more?

Needs more.
I don't want to overwhelm.

Might do a little bit more.

Oh, that's really good, actually.
Stop there.

Right, let's have a look.

It's cooked.

I'm going to take that as done.

I think that looks all right.

It's rising a little bit. It'll just
have to do. At least it's risen.

How's it going? As long as I get
something on the dish it'll be fine.

You've got to get out of your head.
That's the thing. I know.

It's just in your head.
I shouldn't be like that, really.

It's just in your head, ultimately.
"I'm going, I'm just not doing it.

"I'm going to stand here
until it's finished."

So I am just going to
cut this sponge.

It's a bit thick so I'm just
going to cut it down a bit.

Not the best, I don't think,
but they're going to come out.

Paul's opera cake recipe
demands eight layers.

Cake, syrup, chocolate,
buttercream and then again.

And as the sides will be exposed...

So I'm going to soak it
with the syrup.

..every layer must be
the same thickness.

Looks beautiful.
And perfectly level.

It's not filling it properly.
What a mess.

There we go, freeze.

Bakers, you've got half an hour
left. "For the decoration,

"temper the chocolate and spread
over the transfer square,

"making these beautiful
musical notes decorations."

E sharp, G, G, B.

I can't wait to see
the musical notes on it. Yeah.

It's going to be cute.
It makes me want to sing opera.

VOCALISES

What a lovely voice. Oh!

"Using a sharp knife,
make 1.5cm cuts.

"Curl the acetate into a two

"and place in the glasses to set."

It's a job well done, mate.

So that can just stay there now.
I need to get the other layers on.

Final layer of buttercream.

Oh, that buttercream's
bloody beautiful.

I'm going to top it
with the last sponge.

And then soak it in the syrup.

There's just so many layers and so
many things going on it's like, oh!

I can feel like a tension
in here now. It is like...

Crunch time. Yes.

They're going to be looking
for perfection in this.

I'm hoping once I've cut the ends
it'll be fine.

Bakers, you have 15 minutes left.

The glaze is going on.

Ah. I think the proof's going to be
in when I unmould it.

I know I've got other issues

so I just want to make sure
this top layer is right.

How do you even get it off?

Apparently like that.

It's all right,
I just need to trim it down.

I'm just going to get a hot knife
and just hope for the best.

I'm a bit nervous.

Oh, took that edge off
with the handle. That's annoying.

The layer's so messy.

Pretty nice.

So I'm moving back
to my chocolate decoration.

Sugar, they're all snapping.

I'm going to put these in the
freezer for a minute, actually.

Bakers, you've got one minute left.

Oh, Christ.

Fingers crossed I'll get a couple.

Oh, it might have been a bad idea
to freeze these in here

cos it's going to be
such a pain to get... Oh.

Just breaking in my hands. Oh, no.

My curls haven't worked.
I think I made them too thin.

That's actually beautiful.

Bakers, your time is up.

Ah, do you know what?
It'll have to do.

Please bring your opera cakes
down to the table

and place them
behind your photographs.

That was awful.

Yours looks awesome, Dylan.
Oh, look at your curls.

Wow. Wow.

Mine's a mess. Oh...
Mine is a bit of a mess.

Paul and Prue are expecting

eight precise layers
including light joconde sponge,

beautifully smooth
coffee creme aux beurre

and chocolate ganache all topped
with tempered chocolate curls.

OK. Start with this one.

Well, the curls on the chocolate
could've been a bit curlier

and higher. Yeah.

They're very nice and neat,
the layers. Mm.

It is all very good.
There's not a lot of coffee.

There's some.
There's some but not a lot.

This one looks a bit uneven.

Look at the difference between that
layer of ganache and that. Yeah.

Not getting a lot of coffee
in that one. Getting chocolate. Mm.

This is very nice.
It's got nice neat layers.

That looks very even, doesn't it?
It's very good.

Mm - coffee.

Chocolate's good, too. Mm.
That is really lovely.

That's nice.

I love these curls.

They're not quite in the middle
but they're very nice.

But the layers
are all over the place.

Quite a big layer of chocolate
on there, isn't there?

There's coffee. Coffee.

Definite coffee.
Curls are lovely. I like the shine.

It's probably a bit too much
chocolate on top.

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

In fourth place we have this one.

Georgie,
it's not quite enough coffee

and the layers aren't quite even.

In third spot we have this one,
whose is this?

Christiaan,
coffee level was quite nice

but it was just
a little bit untidy.

In second place we have this one.

Who's that? Gill, the only complaint
I can find is that

the chocolate curls
weren't very perfect

and I would've liked
a tiny bit more coffee.

Which means in first place - Dylan.

Very neat and the coffee level was
spot-on and each layer was equal.

Well done.

I'm feeling a bit more optimistic
about getting into the final now.

Just when I was placing
those chocolate curls

I was like, "Oh, yeah,
this is really up my street."

Like, I'm not good at the arts,
crafty style of baking.

I think I'm much better
at making things look plain,

which doesn't sound good. I'm
looking at it as a positive second

rather than third from bottom.

I was hoping to come
just that one spot higher.

It's so hard when you can't
understand what they're asking

of you. I've never had that before.
But it was really close.

And this morning everyone
had a technical issue with the bake

so it's going to
come down to tomorrow.

One challenge remains before we
discover who will be this year's

last Star Baker and who won't
be making it to the final.

Good luck, everyone. Do your best.

I think it's more important
to them to get into the final

almost than it is to win.

Once you get into the final
you go, "Well, I was a finalist."

And it's sort of pretty amazing.

But the only one that's slightly
in front is Christiaan.

He's never had Star Baker, though.

He's always second.
He's always the bridesmaid.

Dylan struggled I think in the
Signature but he won the Technical.

So he's ping ponged a little bit,
hasn't he? The one who absolutely

doesn't believe she'll get through
is Georgie.

But she wants it the most, in a
weird way. She wants it terribly.

Gill's just shocked she's here. Yes.

If they all have an amazing
Showstopper... Then where are we?

..what are we going to do?
I don't know.

When it gets that tight we will
look back over previous weeks...

And then beyond that will you
look to what they did at school?

Possibly. And beyond that.
Primary school.

LAUGHTER

"Which one of you walked first?"
Yeah.

Hello, bakers,
welcome back to the tent.

It's your Showstopper Challenge

and the judges would love you
to create an exquisite display

of 12 fruit-shaped entremets.

Entremets literally means
"between servings". Which means

you can eat as many as you want
cos it's not an actual meal.

Each of your entremets should
be decorated to look like

your chosen fruits.

You have 4 hours, 30 minutes.

Good luck, everyone.
There's only this bake between you

and the final of
The Great British Bake Off.

On your marks.
Get set. Bake!

Obviously I've practised them.

This is the first time
I've ever made entremets,

I don't think
I've ever eaten entremets.

I think it's so tight today.
Everything has to be perfect.

It's going to be intense.
Ai, ai, ai.

But what's new?

Today's Showstopper Challenge

is to make 12 entremets
fruit shaped.

So say they're making a tangerine,

it must look like a tangerine
and it must taste like a tangerine.

It's all about textures.
When you bite into an entremet,

you think of the lightest mousse
you've ever had

and you think
of several layers of that.

This is truly a delicious challenge.

The key thing is setting
each particular layer

before you add the next one.
If you don't,

it'll bleed and they're going to
have to start again.

Once the bakers have produced
all their entremets,

now they've got to think
how they're going to display it.

They could use biscuit,
they could use chocolate.

You want it to really show off
the entremets.

This is the last chance
to get to the final.

It's probably the most important
challenge of the whole lot.

Hi, Gill. Hello, there.

Tell us about your entremets.

I am making strawberry entremets
which is inspired by the time

we went pick your own strawberrying
as a family.

And my dad lost his car keys
while we were picking.

There were some looks between
my mother and father at that point.

Gill aims not to lose
her place in the final

with a buttercream basket

surrounded by mirror glazed
strawberry mousse entremets,

featuring a sharp
strawberry and mint gel.

And they'll sit on delicate
lemon shortbread

in the shape of her dad's
lost car keys.

Your flavours are always good.
OK. When you first came to the tent

we were a bit concerned
about your finesse. Yeah.

But actually that's changed now.
Absolutely. I like the story, too.

Every family has that story. We lost
ours on the beach. Oh, right!

I bet you look after your car keys
really well. I do.

LAUGHTER

NOEL: After a disastrous
Technical Challenge...

Need to move quick today.

..Georgie's hoping to be picked
for the grand final

thanks to not just one
fruit entremets but two.

One's lemon and lime
with a pistachio shortbread

and blackberry and whisky
chocolate cake.

I know the judges like alcohol,
so I was like, just do anything.

Welsh whisky soaked chocolate cake
with blackberry comfit and mousse

will sit in a chocolate basket
alongside Georgie's lemon entremets

with a strong limoncello kick

for a Showstopper that she hopes
won't be her last.

Do you know...
You nearly left, like Jeff.

Alison gave me a talking to as well.
So I'm glad you guys were there.

We have to try and keep you
on track. But you know what?

You're tired as well.
And this is a lot. Yeah.

Oh! Yeah...
What have I just done?

What are you doing?
Is that my fault?

Oh, my... No, I put them backwards.
Um, yeah.

You're supposed it through
the sieve first, yeah? Yeah.

You trying to sieve it through a
bowl into a sieve? What's going on?

It's good that you really want
to get to the final. Oh, my gosh.

To get through the Showstopper...

Right, first element done.

..one thing all the bakers need
is a perfectly set silky mousse.

My life's more Angel Delight
than a mousse.

It's a strawberry
and mascarpone mousse

but it's got white chocolate in it.

Before I started Bake Off I had no
idea about mousse and how it works.

You can literally use anything
to make a mousse.

I have this,
which is my avocado mousse.

And this has got
a bit of pistachio in it

and then inside that is going to be
a chocolate choux bun

and then have a lime dark chocolate
ganache inside. So it's going to act

like the core of the avocado?
Yeah. Oh, that's lovely.

Dylan's choux bun centres
will be coated in caramel,

his avocado entremets served
in a nougatine pallet box,

and his orange entremets made with

an orange and white chocolate
whipped ganache

and genoise sponge
soaked in orange liqueur.

And the outside is going to be
what, how are you texturing it?

So I'm dipping them in cocoa butter
then the avocado I'm going to spray

with just a bit
of purple cocoa butter. Mm-hm.

And then I'm going to spray them
all with, like, a neutral glaze

so it gives like a knobbly,
shiny wax effect

and I think they look super cool.

Obviously you're aiming
to be in the final.

What would that make you feel like
if you got through to the final

of The Great British Bake Off?
I want to be a chef, right?

And so I think this,
the whole thing has been, like...

..sick, because it's like, like...

I feel like so much of it has, like,
affirmed certain things,

like I didn't even know
if I was any good, you know, before

and I think if I make it
to the final it's like, "Wow!"

I mean, you have had a very good
run. Thank you. You really have.

NOEL: A creamy mousse
is just the beginning

of the bakers' daunting to-do list.

OK, right.
I'm going to make this curd now.

Any classic entremets must also have
a separate complementary centre.

The diced strawberries
are going in the centre

with some mint in it as well.

The orange one will have a insert
of orange jam.

I need this done really quick
because it needs to freeze.

So this is limoncello.

And Georgie isn't the only baker
bringing a taste of Italy

to their Showstopper.

I can taste it.

I'm doing, like, a lot of things
at the same time.

The basil is for my basil jelly.
It's like a really thin layer

that goes on top
of my bergamot insert.

I imagine that most people
will have drunken earl grey tea,

which is the main flavouring
and that is the bergamot.

Inspired by a trip to Italy
with his partner Nick,

Christiaan's bergamot and basil
filled citrus entremets

will join sour apple
and orange liqueur entremets,

completing a display that's even
more ambitious than his flavours.

So the centrepiece is going to be,
like, a lemon biscuit tree

and I'm doing lemon meringue
piped leaves

and I'll individually add them on.

You're not messing around with this
Showstopper today, are ya?

It is semifinal... Hang on...
Christiaan... ..is this standing up?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So you're making
the tree and the leaves?

Yeah, yeah.

Christiaan... OK. Um, I hope
you're not over ambitious here.

We'll leave you to it.
I think you need all the time.

Thank you, Christiaan.

As well as setting mousses
and centres,

the bakers must also find time
to perfect the baked elements

that the judges have demanded.

So this is going to be
the chocolate cake.

So the orange entremets
have genoise sponge at the bottom.

Get it in. Get it cooked.
Get it cooled.

Bing, bang, boom. Bish, bash, bosh.

Do you know what I thought
when I saw your keys?

I thought it was like
you leave 'em in a bowl.

When I thought of this lovely story

and I called it Pick Your Own
Car Keys, my husband just went,

"There's going to be so much
innuendo about that."

Both of them are going to have
a pistachio dacquoise biscuit base.

And I'm still on my time schedule
so that's really good.

Are you on sched? I'm happy.
Yeah, I am on schedule.

This is the key to your success.

I've got here, 20 minutes,
which is room for error,

so if anything goes wrong
I've got an extra 20 minutes.

I've calculated it.

I'm going to call my autobiography
Room For Error.

Bakers, you are halfway through.

Oh, my God, what the hell is this?

This is not a genoise sponge.
This is a mess.

I just hope I can get
what I need from it.

Time is now
the semifinalists' enemy.

Ah!

Happy with them. The faster
they can assemble their entremets...

Phew! ..the more chance
they'll have to set

and be decorated to look like
their chosen fruit.

And that choux bun, it's sort of
reminiscent of the avocado pip.

After this, the choux only takes


and then I can assemble everything.

I've put a little bit of mousse
in the bottom of the moulds.

Then I've put the frozen insert in
and now I'm just topping them up.

Adding on the dacquoise biscuit.
It's to make a realistic strawberry,

they're not the biggest
in the world.

I'm hoping that will show finesse.

But finesse... It's so weird.

..could prove hard to come by
for Dylan. It's all odd shapes

because I couldn't get
the genoise a good enough diameter.

And he's not alone.

I've done it wrong. I should've put
this in when that was not solid.

BLEEP.

Georgie has frozen her mousse
before adding her inserts.

So now there's not going to be
enough room.

Ah, sugar, what am I going to do?

Unable to press them
into soft mousse,

she'll have to cut each one down
to fit. Ah... Ah.

Potentially ruining
her balance of flavours.

I'm so annoyed I've done this now.

You've got one chance cos you need
to freeze them to get them to set.

If they don't come out of the moulds
you've got no time to do it again.

Then we're all doomed.

What a silly cow.

Just pop these in the freezer
and then I'll move on.

Bakers, you've got one hour left.

BLEEP. Sorry!

Didn't lose any.

Christiaan and Dylan are really
pushing the boat out, aren't they?

Christiaan's doing a sour apple,
the bergamot

and the way that he's putting that
together in a tree,

I hope he has the time.
And Dylan as well.

I love the idea of the avocado,
that's going to be fascinating

to see what that actually tastes
like. And the way he's trying

to make the stone of the avocado.
With the choux. The choux bun.

The one that's playing it safer
is definitely Gill.

The fact that it's a simple
strawberry and a biscuit,

we're not going to mark her down
for that.

I need to start weaving.

Georgie's lacking in confidence.
Yeah. A chocolate basket,

I mean, that's really interesting.
She really does have the skills.

She just never sort of believes
in herself. Yeah, yeah, sure.

I need to check the entremets
and I am a little bit scared.

The thing they really need
to worry about is the textures.

You've got to allow
for things to set.

If you try and rush it, it's like
the whole thing will collapse down.

They kind of feel frozen.

This is going to be
very, very tricky.

So we're just going to try
and make a nice avocado shape.

If their entremets aren't frozen...

Yes.

..the bakers may not have enough
remaining time to decorate them.

Ah!

Well, hopefully they don't mind
food off the floor.

Might not stay.

Just got to get 'em out.

BLEEP.

Frozen, which is what I want.

OK, I'm going to leave these
in the freezer for a bit

before I unmould any more.
Cos they're warming up already.

Bakers, you have half an hour left.

Half an hour. Are you mental?

Just not what you want to hear,
is it?

So the basket's done.

So I'm dipping mine in cocoa butter

and then spraying them
with a neutral glaze.

Mirror glaze is a bit of a pain.

Too cold
and it's going to be lumpy.

Too hot and it's just going to melt
the entremets

and also just completely melt off.

Right, looks like we're ready to go.

You have 15 minutes left.

Just about enough. We'll see.

Hopefully the texture of
the strawberry won't be masked

by the mirror glaze.

God, my fingers are freezing
after that.

Please, please, please work.

Ah.

I'm going to spray them
with cocoa butter.

It's tense.

I can't breathe.

I can't feel my fingers.

Just wish they were a bit neater
but it what it is.

It's all right, I do have
another one. Is it still cold?

No. Let me just pop it
in the freezer. Bakers,

you have five minutes left.

I don't know if it will freeze
in time. I don't know why

I just threw that one away.
I probably could've used it still.

I'm not really happy with what
the bottom looks like

so I'm thinking to maybe dip them
in pistachio for a little edge

but I don't know if that's a good
idea or a very bad last-minute idea.

Yeah, that's all I can do.

How much time do we have left?
One minute to finish your entremets.

Come on, Dyl, you can do it.

Oh, my God. Come on!

Please, Dylan, please.

Your time is up.

Well done, bakers.

I'm missing an orange. Bloody hell.

It's judgment time
for the semifinalists' entremets.

Gill, it's time
for your Showstopper.

Gill, describe your entremets.

My Pick Your Own Keys entremets

is strawberry and mint centre

then a strawberry mousse
with a white chocolate glaze

and a lemon shortbread.

That basket is lovely.
I like your dad's keys.

I don't know why he couldn't find
them. They're pretty obvious.

I like the strawberries

cos proportionally
they're all the right size. Yes.

The mint really works, too.

The mint and the mousse
all work really nicely together.

I think they're little exquisite
ba*ls of strawberry.

I'd be very happy to stand here and
gobble the rest up. Yeah, agreed.

Thank you. Well done, Gill.
Thank you, Gill.

Well done, love. Thank you.

Dylan, it's time
for your Showstopper.

Dylan, can you remind us
about your Showstopper, please?

One of them is orange.

It has a orange whipped
white chocolate ganache,

genoise sponge and then
orange jam on the inside.

And then the avocado one
is an avocado and pistachio

with a choux bun in
the middle dipped in caramel

and dark chocolate and lime ganache.
I like your nougatine.

That works beautifully well
as a basket.

I love the fact that the covering on
the outside is glistening

so it looks like
they've just been picked.

There's the stone.

LAUGHING: Look at that.

Oh, wow. Cheers, Christiaan.

It's a very strange feeling
cos it's so realistic I think,

"Oh, my God, I've got some
of the skin there,

"I'll have to eat avocado skin."
It messes with your mind.

That is so delicate

and the pistachio is fascinating in
it. And I think it works beautifully

cos I've never had anything
quite like it.

I think the pistachio goes so well
with the chocolate.

It is a little work of art.

Fascinating to see what this orange
is going to be like now.

Wow.

I love that, too. I love
the bitterness of the marmalade

with the sweetness of the mousse,
it's just lovely.

It's one thing being able to produce
an entremet with the idea of a fruit

but to make it look like the fruit
is very clever. Well done.

Cheers. Thank you, Dylan.

You were worried for nothing, see?

Christiaan, would you like
to bring up your Showstopper?

Christiaan, tell us all about
your entremets, please.

We have pistachio dacquoise
topped with an apple compote

encased in an apple mousse and then
the other ones are basil jelly

encased in a bergamot lemon mousse.

It is staggeringly beautiful.

I love the colours,
quite a vibrant yellow on that

and the classic sour apple green.

And besides which
it goes with my outfit perfectly.

It does, actually. There they are
there. It's a work of art.

You've done something
really exceptional. Thank you.

That little thin line is basil
jelly? That's the basil jelly, yeah.

The dacquoise with the basil jelly
works beautifully well together.

The contrast when you get
a bit of the crunch is lovely.

But the bergamot, the citrus flavour
coming through is just stunning.

I think you've created something
really elegant there.

That mousse has
a real good apple flavour.

I think the mousse is delicious

and you sort of carry through
that sour apple flavour

which then works as a whole

again with the dacquoise
down at the bottom.

I don't think you've put a foot
wrong. Well done, Christiaan.

Thank you.

You smashed it.

Georgie, would you like
to bring up your entremets, please?

Georgie, tell us all about
your entremets, please.

The lemon is a limoncello mousse,
lime curd and pistachio shortbread

and the blackberry
is blackberry mousse comfit,

creme pat and a chocolate sponge
with a dash of Welsh whisky on it.

They look absolutely wonderful

and I'm so impressed
with the basket.

The basket and the filling look
amazing. I love these blackberries.

And the finish on top
of the lemon as well. Clever.

Beautiful. Oh, thank you.

What's interesting is because
the mousse is really smooth,

the contrast of the jam, which has
got almost whole fruit in it,

it's just lovely.
I love the comfit inside,

it's got that sharpness that
goes really well with the mousse.

Even the chocolate sponge
with the alcohol kick.

Is it a kick? Cos I don't know how
much I put in there. There was...

It's just a kick. Just a little bit.
You know it's there.

Mm.

Yes, Georgie.
The limoncello, is it?

Mm, that's delicious.
Ah, thank you. Really good.

It's nice and light

and the shortbread down the bottom
really works nicely with it as well.

And the proportions are perfect.
It's just a delicious thing to eat.

Thank you.

Now do you believe in yourself?
Yeah, I do.

The first time I've been really
happy and, yeah. Thank you so much.

Finally. Well done, babe.
Thank you. Thanks, guys.

Oh, thank God.

That was one semifinal judging,
wasn't it?

Everyone did so brilliantly.

I feel like I witnessed
Bake Off history.

I was sat there like, "Wow!"
One after another after another,

everyone hit it. I'm definitely not
a shoo-in for the final.

I don't think
it's ever been this tight

ever in the history of Bake Off.

And I am worried
because I was fourth in Technical.

I've done everything that
I could do. It might be me.

That was probably one of the best
Showstoppers I've ever seen.

Some of these bakes are
just awesome.

Especially from Christiaan
with the bergamot and the sour apple

cos that sour apple was spot-on.

And so was Dylan's.
It looks so like a real avocado.

I will say one thing
which I discovered after -

Dylan was missing an entremet.

Is that going to go against him?
Well, yes, you're supposed to do 12.

And, actually,
Georgie did a good job.

That limoncello in there,
the kick from it was beautiful.

It was such a pleasure to eat.

Gill, hers was delicious,
the shortbread was perfect. Yeah.

The mousse was perfect.
This is going to be so tough.

Is it possible that Jeff
can still go through?

LAUGHTER

Well done, bakers. What a semifinal.

I've also got the best job
of announcing Star Baker.

This week's Star Baker

and the person definitely going
through to the final is...

..Christiaan!

CHEERING

Well done!

Thank you. Finally...the bride.

Well done. Ah, that means
I've got the devastating job

of announcing which person
will be leaving us.

It's heartbreaking cos I feel like

you should all go through
to the final.

The person who's leaving us
this week is...

..Gill. And quite right, too. Oh...

Oh, Gill. Gill...

Oh! I love you. You've got to
do this for the girls. OK?

You can't let these boys
keep having it.

They outbaked me by a mile.

Ah! Patisserie got me.

But I can't be sad.
I've had the absolute best time.

Brilliant. Can't be sad.

LAUGHS

Well done, Gill. Thanks, Paul.
Did the North proud.

VOICEOVER: It wasn't the fact
that Gill messed up,

it was just that everybody else
was that little bit better.

And she's such a lovely lady
and she represented the North

and my part of the world
extremely well.

Oh, I'm so sorry to see Gill go.

She just goes for very homely
flavours, which I absolutely love.

Perhaps not quite as ambitious,
but just as good a baker.

It broke my heart
to hear Gill's name being called

but I also thought,
"Oh, my God, I'm a finalist."

It was so bittersweet.

Congratuatlions. You done it, babes.
You're going into the final!

Yma o hyd, bois bach!
The Welsh are still in! Yay!

Hey, babe.
Hello, you all right?

I got Star Baker.

Ah! I genuinely did!

Thanks for everything.
No, you are a star.

And you know that, don't you?
This is your calling.

VOICEOVER: The greatest privilege
of getting into the final,

it's about this whole thing
gives you the opportunity

to actually invest time
into something that you love.

I'm not thinking about anything
else, I'm just thinking about

making good food and this
is all I've ever wanted.

It's absolutely insane.

Thank you, everybody.
It's been absolutely marvellous

and you've made me feel so special.

I've really, really loved it.
Thank you. Thank you so much.

You. I want you. Come on. Come on.

LAUGHTER

INDISTINCT CHATTER

I did my best. Thank you. Thank you.

Every bake that I had
has been something special to me

or about somebody
who's special to me.

And, yeah, I've just baked what I
know and what I love for who I love.

Now I'm going to go and rob
that lilac bowl

cos I've had me eye on it forever.

Go, go, go!

Week one, I was on the back bench

and I said,
"Oh, look, a lavender bowl.

Wouldn't it to be lovely
to have a bowl like that?"

So, I won't get my cake stand
but I've got my bowl.

LAUGHTER

Next time...

It's the final!
But there can only be one winner.

Ah! Oh!

I need to get my head sorted.

And the winner of
The Great British Bake Off 2024...

Oh, God. Definitely overbaked.

BLEEP.

Ow! Ah!

..is...

Are you a Star Baker in the making?

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