Episode 10 Junior Bake Off

It's the final day of the heats.

The final bakers battle it out in the tent.

-For a place in the quarterfinal.

-Who will win the final place?

Will we ever stop saying the word "final"?

-Welcome. BOTH:

-To Junior Bake Off.

Today, the bakers are in a race against the clock.

I'm a bit worried about time.

They face a holey challenge.

One of mine broke and I don't particularly want to serve

the judges 11 doughnuts.

And on the hottest day in the tent...

They're just cracking.

..will their biscuit building stand up?

Or will their Bake Off dreams come crashing down?

Oh, no.

The last four hopefuls make their way to the tent

for the one remaining place in the quarterfinals.

First up is 11-year-old Tom from East Sussex,

who loves to experiment with his bakes.

I really like to try new recipes out.

I've got a flavour thesaurus which tells me

what flavours go well together.

Baking trays are really big.

Purdey from London is 12 and comes from a long line of cake-makers.

My mum taught me to bake.

She taught me everything her mum taught her.

So it's kind of like a tradition, in a way.

Ten-year-old Ben from Tyne and Wear has been

practising his bakes on some willing volunteers.

My friends really like the baking

because they think it tastes very nice.

And I hope that the judges think it tastes nice, as well.

From Oxfordshire, 11-year-old Grace has been getting

lessons from her mum, who's a home economics teacher.

Before I came here my mum sort of did a little quiz on me

to make sure I could remember everything.

And I think she's really proud of me.

-Morning, bakers. You all right?

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

This morning, it's the first of two challenges

and your technical challenge.

Graham and Allegra would like you to make 12 doughnuts.

Now, they should have a hole in the middle.

They should be iced and they should be covered in lovely sprinkles.

Judges, what else are we looking for?

We'll be looking for an airy dough, with a soft chew

and a golden underside.

The icing should be set, so we can pick them up

without getting messy fingers.

Fantastic. Now, before we go any further,

-have they washed their hands? As Sam would say.

-ALL:

-Yes.

OK, guys, best of luck.

You have one hour to create 12 doughnuts.

-On your marks.

-Get set.

-BOTH:

-Bake.

The bakers haven't had a chance to practise for this challenge,

so they'll have to think on their feet.

It feels amazing.

I honestly can't really believe I'm here, because I watch the show

and it's just a dream, really.

Doughnuts were invented in America in the 1800s by Dutch settlers,

who called them oliekoeken, which literally means oil cake

because traditionally they are fried.

Our doughnuts will be baked.

I'm really excited about this challenge.

I've made fried doughnuts before, but not baked doughnuts.

So, today's technical, the ring doughnut.

It's a very simple batter for them to make.

Yes, but they need to be careful on when they're piping them.

If they're not careful, they'll be all different heights.

I think the icing is actually surprisingly tricky.

To get just that right consistency that they're set and not dripping.

When I break into it, you can see it's got a nice crumb.

It's got a light, airy texture.

-Very sort of fluffy in a way, but sort of cakey fluffy.

-Yeah.

I have to add the dry ingredients and lemon zest to the bowl.

The lemon zest will flavour the batter, which is made

by combining flour, sugar and baking powder with the wet ingredients.

It says here "stir in the melted butter and egg".

The mixture, it should be similar to a pancake mixture.

Smooth and not too thick, but then not too runny.

It doesn't say put the milk in, but I know I have to put it in.

-Morning, Purdey.

-Morning.

So have you got everything? Is it all in there?

Yes. I've got my flour, my caster sugar.

I've got my baking powder now.

Anything else?

And then I've got my...shhh!

Right!

Read those ingredients. Just check they're all in.

Got, got, got, got, got.

I'm just about to put the batter into the piping bag,

to pipe into the doughnuts tins.

Using a piping bag helps the bakers control the amount of batter

that goes into each mould.

If you put too much mixture in, then the hole will close up.

Equal-sized doughnuts will ensure an even bake across the batch.

-Hi, there, Grace.

-Hello.

-How's the control?

-Not very good.

-Why?

It's quite runny. It's going all over the middle.

How are you going to make sure all of these are the same size

when you're piping like that?

Look back at the ones that haven't got so much in

and pipe them back in.

If you're going to bake, make sure a grown-up is around

and knows what you're doing.

They're going to go in for eight to ten.

Yeah, they're done.

I think they look fine because they're not

so golden brown on the top and they're golden brown at the bottom.

So, I'm going to let them cool down a bit.

Some of them have puffed up and they don't have a hole in them.

I'm going to ice the ones that are OK

but I'm going to do another batch.

Ben? I've started mine again.

-Why?

-They've got no hole in the middle.

-Purdey, how's it going?

-Good.

Wow, we've come at a pretty intense time. Are you happy?

Yeah. They're good. They just came out, so they're quite hot.

Tell us, do you enjoy baking a lot when you're at home?

Yes. I absolutely love baking.

Do you have any other hobbies?

Swimming, cycling, reading, watching TV, playing on my computer.

-Wowzers! Do you have any time to bake...

-Yes.

-..with all the other stuff?

-I always have time to bake.

Always have time to bake.

Bakers, you have half an hour left.

I'm most nervous about doing the icing,

because if the icing is wrong, the doughnut won't be as nice.

The icing sugar can be mixed with either lemon juice or water.

It's up to the bakers to choose.

I've decided to go for the lemon juice in the icing.

I just think it might give the icing a bit more flavour.

The colour is down to the bakers, too.

I've gone for blue, because it's my favourite colour

and I think it's the nicest colour, so...

I do like pink, but I wouldn't say it's my favourite colour.

The icing consistency should be runny. But not too runny.

It needs to be runny enough so you can see, like, a trail

when you lift up the spoon, which, at the moment, mine is not.

I need to put some more icing sugar in.

The next thing I need to do is make sure that they're cool,

so when I ice them the icing doesn't run off.

-You seem to be speeding along?

-Yeah.

Wow! So how come you're so quick? How come you're almost done?

I don't know. I work quickly.

Once cooled, the doughnuts should be iced with

care as they are very delicate.

I'm a bit stressed, to be honest, because one of mine broke

and I don't particularly want to serve the judges 11 doughnuts.

So, I've just made some more.

-Hi there, Ben.

-Hi.

Are you happy with the consistency of your icing?

-Yeah, I think so.

-OK.

Ben? If you were to get your dream doughnut, would that be

the amount of icing you'd like to see on it?

No. More, probably.

Bakers, you've got ten minutes left. Ten minutes.

They've turned out much better. I'm happy with them.

Right, sprinkles.

Tom, are you finished already?

The other bakers, they're making more and re-icing them,

so I'm not sure.

Is that a good thing that I'm first, or a bad thing?

One minute left. One minute before I eat all your doughnuts...

I mean, the judges taste your doughnuts.

At home I don't really bake under a time limit.

I'm struggling a bit. I think it will be OK.

My icing's a lot better this time.

I think the sprinkles could've been a little bit neater

with the icing, but apart from that, I think the doughnut looks good.

Best ones at the front. Worse ones at the back.

-(They look really messy.)

-Have you put your sprinkles on all of them?

(Yeah.)

Right, bakers, that's it. Time is up.

Time to bring your doughnuts up to the altar, please,

for our judges.

The judges are looking for uniform fluffy doughnuts with neat icing.

So, Grace. Nice line.

-Defined. Finished.

-You baked a second lot, didn't you?

You did a second batch and these are your most even 12?

-Yeah.

-That was a good call.

-Nice and airy.

-Pulls apart very nicely, Grace.

Soft, chewy. Perfect.

So your icing, Ben. It's a little blobby.

You've got a really nice airy texture. They are well cooked.

-The bottoms are lovely.

-Decent amount of lemon in there.

I like your heavy hand with the zest.

That really does help it become a more balanced thing.

Your finishing needs a bit of finishing.

Purdey, you had an issue with your icing?

Yes. I think I put too much icing sugar in,

so it was too stiff at first, then I put too much liquid in.

Because you were doing it for quite a while.

-You can see that.

-Mine's a little tacky.

Some of them are more set than others.

Your cooking's fine. Just, for me, the finishing.

But, overall, that's a very decent bake.

-Very appealing indeed, Tom.

-Thank you.

Really nice-looking.

Lemony-ness is good. They're very slightly dense.

You were very quick to ice them when they came out the oven.

-They were still a bit warm, weren't they, to touch?

-Yeah, a little.

What happened is, when you put the icing on, because they're

a delicate thing when they come out, they're all puffed up.

Actually, when you put the icing on, they just sunk back a bit.

I think that's what happened with yours.

The acidity comes through well. Nice amount of sugar.

-Quite like them.

-Thank you.

All right, bakers, Graham and Allegra now have to choose the top two.

Over to you, judges.

In no particular order, our first of our top two

is Grace,

for her nice even lines and neatness of her icing.

And the second of our top two are these lovely baked doughnuts by Tom,

for their attractive appearance and lovely lemony-ness.

-Thank you.

-Oh, nice.

All right, well, well done to Grace and Tom, but don't you worry,

Purdey and Ben, because we've got the Showstopper coming up

and it can all change. It really, really can.

I'm really excited and really happy,

because all my hard work paid off and they liked the decoration

and also the taste, so that was even better.

It feels really good to come in the top two for the technical challenge.

I was really pleased with what the judges said.

For the Showstopper, I'm going to make sure everything's perfect

and my bake's good, they taste good, they look good,

my piping's good and I can show them

that I can be much neater with my presentation.

I'm a little bit disappointed that I didn't make it into the top two

but there's always the Showstopper.

All right, Mark, what are you doing?

Trying to eat this doughnut without licking my lips.

-I'm doing really well.

-Well, you're not, though, are you?

-Because you're licking your lips, a lot.

-I don't think I am.

-OK...

Next up, our judges want to see our bakers' creative skills with

an architectural Showstopper.

-Yeah, you're still licking your lips a lot.

-I don't think I am.

All right, bakers, I hope you've got a Showstopper this afternoon to

end all Showstoppers, because this is for a place in the quarterfinals.

Graham and Allegra would like you, this afternoon, to build

an iconic landmark in...

biscuits.

Now, it can be any flavour that you like.

Maybe a chocolate pyramid?

Or a lemon Empire State Building or maybe a vanilla

-Barnsley Leisure Centre.

-Iconic.

-Maybe.

You've got an hour and a half to complete your masterpiece

in biscuits.

-On your marks.

-Get set. BOTH:

-Bake.

It went really well this morning in the technical challenge

and so I've just got to produce a really nice biscuit.

If you're making 3D sculptures out of biscuit,

you want to go with something that's quite hardy, quite sturdy.

So you want to stay away from very short biscuits,

ie - the very buttery ones, ie - the very yummy ones.

If you choose the wrong biscuit,

it's going to be the same as any building material.

It's going to come collapsing down.

I am doing an Egyptian pyramid. I went there on holiday.

Erm, and I really enjoyed it,

so I decided to get my inspiration from there.

I got the flavours, because when a gingerbread is mixed

into a biscuit, it looks sort of

like the colour of the Egyptian pyramid.

Grace is using caramel-flavoured buttercream to glue her gingerbread

pyramid together, which will be sweetened by a key ingredient.

I've just put golden syrup and it's to give it more flavour.

Much more of a snap gingerbread, instead of like a dough.

Golden syrup helps strengthen the biscuit.

I'm melting the butter, the syrup and the sugar and vanilla.

Tom's also chosen to add it to his dough.

-Afternoon, Tom.

-Hello.

-What are you making?

I am making a chocolate Millennium Dome.

I've made a white chocolate and goat's cheese icing.

-That sounds exciting.

-Yes.

-Where did you get that idea from?

Well, at home, I've got a flavour thesaurus.

-Is that a dinosaur?

-No.

You look up a flavour and it tells you what goes well with it.

Tom's chocolate biscuit Millennium Dome will have

brandy snap masts.

Running alongside it, a lemon shortbread River Thames

decorated with mint buttercream icing.

-So you've got three biscuit mixes?

-Yes.

-Icing?

-Yes.

-And then you've got to assemble it?

-Yes.

-In 90 minutes?

-Yes.

Saying that, though,

this is the guy that finished his doughnuts in 20 minutes.

Ben has opted for just one biscuit, a buttery shortbread.

I chose shortbread because I love the texture of shortbread,

I like how crumbly and nice it is.

I'm making Big Ben because it's a famous landmark and I like it

because it's got the same name as us.

Ben's shortbread walls will be glued together with chocolate icing

to build the tower which houses Big Ben.

-Hi, Ben.

-Hi.

-You well?

-Yeah.

Yeah, you've got some construction work to do.

A lot of construction.

How's this actually going to build? You building it like that?

-Or like that?

-Like that.

Right, these need to go in the oven now.

Oh, makes your eyes water.

Bakers, you've had 45 minutes.

You've got 45 minutes left.

Purdey has had the same idea as Ben.

I've chosen Big Ben because my dad works in the Houses of Parliament.

And the flavours are lemon and orange because,

oranges and lemons say the bells of St Clements.

Purdey's tower will be constructed out of alternate lemon

and orange shortbreads.

She'll cement them together and decorate using lemon buttercream.

-Hey, Purdey.

-Hello.

-What's the plan?

I'm just taking out some of my biscuits now. And...

So, you're going to stack them all up and sandwich them or...?

Yeah, I'm going to stack them using buttercream.

So what are you worried about?

I'm worried about that it might topple over

and my buttercream might be too soft.

Is the temperature helping you with that worry?

No, not at all. It is absolutely boiling.

Bakers, you've had one hour, you've got 30 minutes left.

While Purdey and Tom have cut out their shapes before baking,

Ben and Grace are cutting theirs out once they're cooked.

This should help the biscuits hold their shape

but there is a risk they could break.

This is a cardboard template, which I'm using to, erm,

cut out the shapes of my triangles

and then the biscuits are going to go in the fridge.

They're just cracking. I don't think they're ready yet.

I'm waiting for them to be cool enough so I can cut them out.

Because if I cut them out too early, they'll crack.

Once the biscuits have cooled, construction can begin.

Crucial that it's straight.

Because if it's not straight, it'll do that, or do that,

or do that, or do that and fall over.

And I do not want that.

And it's crucial that there's an even layer of buttercream

between every biscuit, because it would be uneven

and it wouldn't look that good.

Moment of truth.

Ben has got a lot to do.

He is the baker I'm most worried about right now.

Yeah, he's got broken biscuits.

He's using a knife instead of a drop pallet knife to get biscuits off,

which is why they're cracking.

I have to tell you, I've got the fear.

Tom is just getting started on his Millennium Dome masts.

At the moment, I am piping the brandy snaps.

Piping them makes them nice and straight and all regular.

-Ben, how you doing, mate?

-Good.

-Yeah, you sure?

Just had a little bit of problems before. When I was trying to

lift them out, the biscuits were just cracking.

-Oh, really? You've put some in the fridge, have you?

-Yeah.

OK, why have you put them in the fridge?

So that'll harden up and I'll be able to stack them.

Bakers, 15 minutes left. 15 minutes.

Come on, you can do this.

Because I didn't come in the top two, I feel like I really need to

impress the judges with my flavour and piping skills.

Good. It's looking good. It's a lot of responsibility.

And then just put them into the middle. All into the middle.

I think mine's a bit...

Wait there. That's it.

-It's got a little gap, but it's fine.

-Yeah.

Brandy snaps.

(They spread quite a lot.)

Not only have you made biscuits, you've made brandy snaps as well.

-Brandy snaps are biscuits.

-I knew that...

Get back in your box.

Five minutes remain.

Come on, stay, stay.

Nice.

How are we getting on, buddy? You've got two minutes.

-Yeah.

-Are you just going to stick these in?

-Yeah.

-OK.

But they spread quite a lot.

Bakers, that's it. Time is up.

Finished. You are done.

Graham and Allegra are looking for iconic landmarks constructed

out of flavoursome and evenly baked biscuits.

Hopefully they will really like the flavour and say the lemons

and orange go really well together.

And hopefully the biscuits won't be undercooked.

Purdey, it's on the wonk, but we all know it's Big Ben.

Let's get into it. Yeah, nice blonde shortbread.

Cooked through, because they were very blonde

when they came out, weren't they? Very nice and short, though.

Absolutely does that kind of melty thing in your mouth.

It's a very good shortbread.

Lemon for me is OK.

The orange could do with a bit more of a punch.

-You've done a really good job there, Purdey.

-Thank you very much.

Thank you very much.

I think I sort of pulled it off.

I just wish that I'd worked a bit more quickly.

It's a really nice idea.

It would've been perfect...

The temperature in here has really worked against you, hasn't it?

It's the hottest day we've had in the whole of Junior Bake Off

and that's unfortunately done a little something to your masts.

I'm very excited by your goat's cheese and white chocolate icing.

I'll taste a bit of each of your biscuit, actually.

White chocolate to start, goat's cheese in the middle,

white chocolate at the end with a goat's cheesiness.

Really nice.

-I think your icing is excellent and interesting.

-Oh, thank you.

Unfortunately, the bit of biscuit I've got is definitely burnt.

Excellent brandy snap, even though it had a bit of a droop.

It's still got snappy ends.

OK, thank you.

I think the lemon shortbread is excellent.

A very interesting, imaginative, creative bake, Tom.

It is the most pressure I've been under while baking.

I'm glad that I've actually got a structure to show them.

I've got something to present to them.

So, Ben, there's no two ways about it, you had a bit of a mare.

What you have done is you kept going, you persevered.

Shortbread sandwiched with chocolate ganache. It's a nice balance.

Good chocolaty flavour.

It's a very decent eat, Ben.

Really. What you do is you do flavours.

What you need to learn is finishing.

I'm glad that I practised that 12 times

because it's all paid off now and it's gone quite well.

So, I'm quite happy.

Your pyramid is a fine piece of flat-pack engineering. Well done.

Good snap. I mean, you had to bake it to this texture

or else it was never going to hold.

Good heat from the ginger.

It's well done, just would have liked to see you push yourself

a little bit harder.

Well done, bakers, you can all relax now. It's done.

But, unfortunately, only one of you can go through to the quarterfinals.

So, while our judges have a chat, you can go

and have a little bit of a rest. Off you go.

Oh, so happy!

Well done.

Yeah, well done, guys.

So, judges, tough day today, to call, really, wasn't it?

The technical this morning was fairly even, if I'm being fair.

Tom and Grace were the top two because, really, the 12

doughnuts they both put down were so polished, but we both agreed

that, actually, in terms of the actual doughnut,

Ben's tasted the best.

What about this afternoon with the Showstopper?

It's quite nice that Ben and Purdey both did Big Bens

but the way they put them together were different.

It's very hot in the tent.

Ben, for example, his biscuits, he couldn't get them off the tray

so he was breaking more than he was getting off.

But he put up a biscuit tower in the end.

Fair play to him.

Purdey's gone for the stronger construction method,

it's layered, it has character.

I love her river. I think that's a very stylish river.

It had some nice touches, the flag, you know, where we have the

Union Jack on top of Big Ben.

Tom, he had a lot of stuff to do, didn't he?

In my view, Tom should have

concentrated on the Millennium Dome first.

The river can go on if he makes it.

And his main dome biscuit was burnt.

It wasn't a perfectly cooked biscuit.

Grace, she made a nice gingerbread

and she made a good-flavoured buttercream.

It looked amazing but quite a lot of what looked amazing was

something that she had brought in from home.

-But she was in the top two this morning?

-Yes, she was.

Hers were very nice, neat doughnuts.

-She's been consistent all day.

-It's going to be a hard one today.

Bakers, you've all done fantastically well,

you really, really have,

but only one of you can go through to the quarterfinals.

Allegra and Graham think that this baker has all-round baking skill

and a characterful style.

The baker going through is...

..Purdey.

Well done.

I'm feeling so ecstatic. I can't believe that. I'm just speechless.

Purdey challenged herself. She showed a skill.

With Purdey, what you've got is a good all-round baker.

Ultimately, Graham and I felt that she was the baker who

we'd like to see what they can do next.

Thank you so much.

I'm going to do as much practice as possible.

Baking so much, so hard.

Just from when I get up, to when I go to bed,

all I'm going to think about is baking, baking, baking.

Next time, it's the quarterfinals.

Scary times.

Which bakers will produce the perfect pastry?

It's the best pie I've tasted today.

And who will come one step closer to being crowned champion?

Desserts is "stressed" spelt backwards.