Episode 2 Junior Bake Off

-Are you exceptionally talented in the kitchen?

-No.

-Aged between nine and 12?

-No, I'm not.

Have you got what it takes to become Britain's best young amateur baker?

No. Definitely not!

Would you like to introduce the show with me?

I would!

-BOTH:

-Welcome to Junior Bake Off!

Today, it's tense in the tent.

Action stations.

Stupid baking powder!

A new boy band is formed...

# Baking's rising in my oven, yeah!#

..and nothing escapes the judges...

Whoa!

..world-renowned chefs Graham Hornigold and Allegra McEvedy.

He's demonstrated a lot of skill.

That looks so exciting.

Four brilliant bakers are about to do

battle for a place in the quarterfinals.

Only one will come out the other side. But which one will it be?

Olivia, from Northumberland, is ten.

She is such a keen baker,

she recently made a cake for her parents' wedding anniversary.

I love baking and it's a big part of my life

and I bake every week for anybody.

-I've got a proving drawer!

-SHE LAUGHS

I just love seeing people smile when I make stuff for them.

12-year-old Tom from London was taught to bake by his dad.

He sings in a band and loves to make all kinds of bread.

Baking for me is like a magic, like, if you mix up a few things

and it comes out the oven as something else,

that's just incredible, that's like a miracle.

Farhaan is ten and as well as baking,

he loves cooking family meals at home in London.

My sister is a really keen baker and she's inspired me to bake.

So, I'm pretty much just doing this for her.

Ta-da!

Hannah is 11 and lives by the sea in Conwy, North Wales,

and enjoys walking her dog when she's not baking.

So I am looking forward to being in the tent and not having my mum

and dad just peeping in all the time.

It gets quite annoying and my dog barges in and eats the butter.

You seen these? They look like candles!

-LAUGHTER

-They do!

The first challenge is the Technical.

It tests the bakers' know-how

and their ability to follow a recipe they haven't seen before.

Hello there, lovely bakers. How you doing, all right?

-ALL: Yeah.

-Allegra and Graham would like you to make the

classic French patisserie, madeleines.

Ooohh.

You need to make 12 identical shell-shaped madeleines

dipped in chocolate. Oooh, lovely!

Judges, what are you looking for?

Contrasting colours, so golden brown scalloping,

rising up to a beautiful, blonde dough.

On the inside, we'll be looking for a light, fluffy sponge,

finished with a delicate layer of chocolate.

Thank you very much, judges.

Now, before we go any further, have we all washed our hands?

-Let's have a look.

-Yes.

Excellent, pretty clean, pretty clean.

OK, guys, you have one hour to make 12 identical madeleines.

-Best of luck. On your marks...

-Get set.

-BOTH:

-Bake.

It's believed that madeleines were named after

a young pastry chef, who served the small cakes to King Louis XV.

This is something different.

But I hope that I will come out victorious.

I've never made them before, but I've heard of them,

so I know what they have to look like and taste like.

I'm putting butter in the madeleine mould,

because you need them nice, I guess.

I've forgotten why you need it done, but you just need it.

It's just so that the madeleines don't stick.

That is what it is! They don't stick!

I love madeleines.

These are perfect examples - nice lovely doming on top there,

beautifully blonde, browning around the outside

and underneath the scalloping lines. Really hot oven, really quick cook.

Then you get the dome. It should be light as a feather.

So versatile, you can finish it in many, many ways.

In this instance we've got white chocolate with raspberries

and we've got dark chocolate with pistachios.

For me, it's pure joy.

Put the egg, sugar, honey, salt in a big bowl and whisk together

until pale and smooth.

Sift the flour with the baking powder

and fold it in to the egg mix.

OK.

Ah, baking powder, baking powder, baking powder...

Baking powder is an essential ingredient in any bake

where you need it to rise.

It works by releasing gas into the batter,

causing bubbles which expand.

I'm trying not to over-mix it. Cos that's key.

Just hoping for the best.

Really, really hoping I've whisked this enough.

Oh, all right, Tom. What do you do in your spare time, buddy?

I really like music and I sing in a band.

OK, Tom, you need to show us one of your songs

-and we need to sing it together.

-Yeah, why not? Yeah, why not?

-OK, so you stand in the middle then.

-OK.

All right. What are we starting with?

Something...something's gone wrong in the oven.

# The baking's rising... #

Nice.

# The baking's rising in my oven Yeah!

# Don't open the door else it'll go flat!

# Don't open the door else it'll go flat... #

Hit me, Tom.

# In the oven is where it is

# And if I take it out too early

# It will sink. #

-Oooooh!

-Aaaaah!

-He's a lyrical genius!

Woo!

Stick with us, kid, you'll be a star!

LAUGHTER

I liked their song, they're quite good.

-SHE GIGGLES

-Well, Tom is.

I don't know about Sam and Mark.

Putting that in the fridge for ten minutes.

It's crucial the batter is chilled,

so when the madeleine hits the hot oven and forms the crust,

the cold batter on the inside has no choice but to push

up at the deepest point to create the dome.

The chilling process is one that all the bakers are following...

Put it in the oven.

..except for one.

-We've got ten minutes in the fridge.

-Ten minutes in the fridge.

You didn't remember that, did you?

Oh, wait! Wait, wait! I know what to do!

I know what to do.

I forgot to chill them.

Luckily, I have quite a lot of mixture left, so I've put that

in the fridge and I'm just going to put them in the tin and cook them.

So I might be a little bit behind but hopefully I can still manage it.

Guys, you are halfway, you've had 30 minutes,

you've got 30 minutes left!

I'd rather get it right than get it quickly done.

Slow and steady wins the race.

These are my lucky measuring spoons.

Every time I've used them at home,

for something new I've never tried before, it's gone right.

These ones are going to be better.

Hope, fingers crossed, fingers crossed.

-Hi, Olivia.

-Hi.

-How are you doing?

-I'm good, thanks.

Good. So, Olivia, tell us, what is home life like for you?

Do you bake a lot?

Yeah, I bake a lot but I've usually got a lot of distractions.

-Oh, really?

-Like what?

-I've got a one-year-old sister...

-Aaahh!

-..who always likes to put her hands in the mixture.

-Ha-ha!

-No!

And I've got a giant African snail called Speed.

Speed! Oh, the irony!

And I've got a picture, do you want to see?

Yeah! How long have you had Speed?

-Five years.

-Five years?

He's actually not that interactive at the moment cos he's hibernating.

Or so we hope.

-Right.

-Right, yeah.

You don't know what's going on underneath there, do you?

-No!

-All right, Olivia, we'll leave you to it.

-Good luck.

OK, bye.

Bake, please.

Bake, my lovelies. Mwah!

I wish you well.

Bakers, you've got 20 minutes left! 20 minutes!

OK. 20 minutes, 20 minutes.

Whilst the bakes are in the oven, there is just enough time to

melt the white and dark chocolate for the decoration.

I'm turning up the heat because these need to melt.

If you'd like to try this at home, make sure

an adult knows what you are doing.

And this is called a bain-marie,

so it's like a bowl with chocolate on, on top of a pan with water in.

The steam will come from the water that is in the pan,

cos it's hot, it will melt the chocolate.

Huh! They're not cooked!

They're not cooked, they're not cooked.

I'm going to give them another five minutes.

Not sure if they need more baking.

Cos they are a bit light.

I think it's under baked.

No, it's fine, it's fine.

Forget my worries.

Stupid, stupid, stupid! I forgot to put the baking powder in.

Oh, that's so annoying!

Stupid baking powder! Taking them out and having a look.

At least they're baked.

Stay positive. Stay positive.

They look good, yeah.

I've heard about some other baking disasters so I'm not the only one.

Bakers. You've got ten minutes left.

Action stations!

Please, please, please, please, please.

Ah! Yes, yes!

Feeling the pressure.

A good dip.

Mine are too white I think.

-How long did you cook them for?

-Five.

See, mine were like that and then I left them for another five

-and they browned a bit.

-Aah.

-Sorry, I shouldn't have said that.

-And yours are crispy.

-I shouldn't have said that!

-You shouldn't have. But thanks anyway.

-Mark, how long is left?

-Two minutes.

-Two minutes!

-Two minutes, bakers. Come on, come on, come on!

Time is not currently on my side.

I've kind of started to worry a bit more about the time.

Tom, I'm really nervous.

It's tense. It's tense.

This is my last one. I have to make it the best one.

And we're done.

Bakers! That is it! Time is up!

Done!

If you'd like to bring your madeleines up to the altar, please?

The judges are looking for 12 identical fluffy chocolate-dipped

madeleines with a blonde dome on top

and golden scalloping underneath.

So, Tom.

Lovely golden colour, nice little blonde tips.

They're a lovely shape, Tom. Those are good looking madeleines.

So when I break this open

I'm looking for that light, fluffy sponge, yeah?

And we've got that.

You didn't over flour your tin, which is

why you've got these lovely lines here, the scalloping.

They're nicely dipped, you've been very generous but not overly so

with the chocolate and the nuts. Good account of yourself.

-Yeah.

-Great.

Hannah.

We haven't got the classic madeleine shape,

but don't beat yourself up, we've all done it.

Yeah, scalloping's great.

What you have got is a really, really well pronounced flavour of honey.

It does taste nice, all the flavours are there,

it just needs the aeration.

Right, Farhaan, let's go.

My issue with yours, which look lovely,

-is that they also look undercooked.

-Yeah.

-They haven't domed.

I actually can see some raw cake mix in the middle of that.

Always skewer test the thickest one and if that one is not cooked

then just throw them straight back in the oven.

Unfortunately, because you haven't cooked them

quite long enough they do have this raw flavour to them.

I like the look of them, just a little more baking, that's it.

So, Olivia, wow. You've had an exciting morning.

Yeah.

You have got nice ridges on the madeleine.

It does feel nice and spongy.

-They taste it too. Well done.

-Thank you.

That's a nicely baked madeleine.

-Maybe 30 seconds more, just a bit more contrast.

-OK.

But good, good save.

Thank you.

Graham and Allegra will now decide which two

batches of madeleines have met their criteria best.

First one of our top two...is Tom.

For his nice fade to blonde and his proportion of chocolate.

And the second bake in our top two, is this one, belonging to Olivia.

-Thank you.

-Good pull back and you delivered, second time round,

-12 good madeleines to us.

-Thank you.

Now my sister is going to be nagging me to make them every day!

Oh, to be in the top two is great.

To stay on top I need to keep calm and keep my eye on the other bakers.

I'm proud of that challenge

because I picked myself up after quite a big disaster.

Coming in the bottom two today has motivated me

to do my absolute best in the Showstopper.

At least yours had baking powder in it!

I know where I went wrong

and I hope I can pull it back in the Showstopper.

-Do you like chocolate?

-Check.

-Do you like cake?

-Check, check!

-Do you like chocolate cake?

-Check, check, check!

It's Showstopper time!

All right, bakers. This afternoon, Graham

and Allegra would like you to make your ultimate chocolate gateau!

Oooh, yes!

You've got an hour and a half for this challenge, the best of luck.

-On your marks...

-Get set...

-Bake!

My ultimate chocolate gateau should have nice even layers, nice amount

of cream, but most importantly a pronounced flavour of chocolate.

If you're using cocoa, it can be very drying on the mouth

and then if you're using real chocolate,

the minute you start to melt that, it can split,

it can seize, so they've got to watch that very, very carefully.

I'm doing a three tiered cake and my plan is to check off all

the things that I've done, so I don't miss anything out.

Hannah's three sponges will be flavoured with dark,

milk and white chocolate, each will be sprinkled with chocolate

chips and sandwiched together using strawberries and cream,

then topped with a dark chocolate ganache.

I've practised this eight or nine times.

This cake's only gone completely right once.

I'm hoping, based on my practices, I will give them a moist sponge.

Tom's four layered fort will be flavoured with milk and dark

chocolate, sandwiched together with whipped cream and cherry compote,

smothered in a dark chocolate ganache

and decorated with home-made trees.

I enjoy making stuff with chocolate because, obviously,

it's everyone's favourite cake.

Chocolate is made from cocoa beans.

The higher the percentage of cocoa, the stronger the flavour

and the darker the chocolate.

White chocolate is made from cocoa butter,

meaning it's light in colour and has the least chocolaty flavour.

My cake is going to be a semicircle that's covered in

white chocolate...ganache.

Farhaan's white chocolate ganache will top a four layered

sponge cake and be decorated with flaked almonds and raspberries.

I have been changing the recipe a lot to get it perfect,

cos there's always one thing that you need to improve.

I'm adding natural yoghurt to my cake.

I think it makes it taste nicer.

Olivia's yoghurt and chocolate cake is sandwiched together using

raspberry and blackberry cream.

It will be covered in dark chocolate ganache

then decorated with fresh berries and home-made chocolate hearts.

Hi there, Olivia.

I hear you've got a very interesting ingredient in your sponge cake.

Yeah, I've added yoghurt.

Why have you done that?

I think it makes the cake a lot more moist.

Also, because it's quite acidic, it's quite sharp, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-And it helps to cut through all that chocolaty-ness.

-Good luck, good luck.

-OK, thank you!

Hannah has made the decision to make

and bake her sponge layers one at a time.

I just need to get this into the corners.

Now that goes in.

Boom.

Half an hour gone, guys! You've got an hour to go-ah!

Oh. Right, now I'm making my other cakes the exact same way.

This is just cream to go in the middle, between each layer of cake.

And there's a raspberry and a blackberry cream.

I'm just going to get my...

Whoa! Huh! I need another egg!

I'll get you another egg.

Go on, you stay there, I'll get you another egg.

Oh, dear.

-How you getting on, mate?

-Yeah, just finding the eggs!

-OK!

What's taking so long? I think he's laying them!

-Got an egg!

-He's got one!

-Wahey.

-Well done, buddy.

-Thank you.

-I know exactly where they are.

-Where were they?

-In the place.

-Right.

-Right. See you later.

-See ya.

That is a perfect cream, cos that's very thick.

-Hi, Tom.

-Hello.

So are you happy with the whip of this cream?

-You think it will hold in your cake?

-I think so.

-Do you think it will hold if I do this over Sam?

-HE SHRIEKS

Nicely done, Tom.

-That was pretty cool there. Handled that well.

-Casual, casual.

Up they go.

Have a look at you, my beauty.

I need to be careful with this,

because I could jab a chocolate chip.

There.

Ah!

Oooh!

So close.

All right, second cake in.

One's in the oven, one's in the fridge

and I'm just doing my last one.

-Are you going to get it done in time, Hannah?

-I hope.

Bakers! You've had an hour, so you have half an hour left.

Is half an hour enough?

Last cake going in the oven. And I haven't forgotten anything.

I hope.

Let's get the dark chocolate one out of the oven.

Come on.

Yeah, that's good enough for me.

I'm just making the ganache now.

Ganache is a mixture of cream and chocolate.

For a perfect velvet finish, the cream needs to be gently simmered

and the chocolate added slowly and whisked together until smooth.

Tom has put all of the cream and all of the chocolate in together

and he's put back on to the stove to heat it through.

If he keeps working that temperature up, it's going to split.

See, I'm going to transfer it into a bowl straight off.

It's a bit lumpy.

Yes! Now this needs to go straight in the fridge.

My heart's telling me to whisk, my head is telling me to hurry up.

Bakers. You've got ten minutes left!

Start decorating.

Presentation has now been tossed out the window.

Presentation is very important to me.

If it doesn't look good, you don't really want to eat it, do you?

I'm going to extreme measures.

I'm so scared I'm not going to be able to present anything.

Oh, no, there's a crack on this one.

Nothing a ganache can't cover up.

Just this final layer.

What's your plan? What's your plan?

Could you hold that...like, there?

-Yeah.

-Please.

-I can do that.

Whoa! Oh, my...

Are you just going to leave me here like that, hanging?

Sorry!

Then loosen it.

Gently, gently, gently, gently.

It's not even on that well.

You've still got time to just patch those little bits up.

Little bits?

OK, big bits. But that's all right.

Bakers, you've got two minutes left. Two minutes. Come on!

I am toast.

Ugh! This is so nerve-racking.

OK, now this is going on top.

Don't scare me.

I don't know why I'm talking to a ganache.

Yes, thank you.

Awesome.

Bakers, that is it.

Step away from your beautiful looking gateaux.

Then he's clearly not looking at mine.

Graham and Allegra have asked the bakers to

produce their ultimate chocolate gateaux.

They're looking for light, even sponge layers

and a strong flavour of chocolate.

So here we go, here's our Iron Age fort.

And the cherries are the...

The jewel.

It looks really impressive. I love the story. Great imagination.

Let's have a taste.

I can see where you were going with this, Tom.

Not a bad effort. Just a little bit dry.

This would be a better balanced cake if you'd gone for 25% less sponge.

On the ganache, it has split, as you know,

so that means the fat's come out of it.

Just so you know how to bring it back next time,

if you'd heated just a little bit of that cream,

whisked it back in, it would have been perfect.

A couple of little errors but that's it, that's it.

It's a great cake with a great story so hold your head up high, Tom.

Wow.

That just looks so exciting.

You can see that some of your sponges have been a little

bit overcooked from the way they're browning at the top

and bottom and golden in the middle.

One thing I would say about this cake is it's not deeply chocolaty.

I was expecting more of a white chocolate hit.

I feel that it could be chocolaty-er.

However, it's a nice cake.

Well done. Thank you, Farhaan.

Olivia, you had a little issue.

But, you know, you put together a really nice cake to look at.

Nice easy cut.

As we take it out, you can see nice even layers.

The combination of the yoghurt and the fresh raspberries in there

really help to stop it becoming overly sweet.

Olivia, that is a very good cake.

-Thank you.

-Really, be proud.

Thank you very much.

Looks can be deceptive.

Proof of the pudding's in the tasting and we'll get into it.

Very, very nice and easy to cut.

Love the colours as you come out.

Nice even layers of fruit and cream.

The bottom sponge is very slightly dry.

What I'd do is take some of the flour out,

replace it with the cocoa powder.

Because what cocoa powder does is it dries out.

It's a lot more absorbent than flour itself.

The top layer, where you didn't chuck in the cocoa, is

seriously yummy. You've done a lot better than you think you've done.

-Yeah, it's true.

-Really.

-Well done, Hannah.

-Thank you.

-HANNAH:

-I feel so much better about my cake now!

Well, judges, let's start with the Technical this morning.

Both Olivia and Tom, they were your top two,

they did some fantastic madeleines.

For sure, but Tom's the one that nailed the madeleines.

Oh, really? So, they were in your top two but Tom's were...

-Tom nailed it.

-..head and shoulders.

-Yeah.

Now, with the Showstoppers this afternoon,

there was little issues with most of the bakers.

I liked Tom's based on the fact that he has a lot of vision.

You know, he's demonstrated a lot of skill, but he had a split ganache.

We'll move on to Olivia's,

and you were full of praise for that, weren't you?

It's pretty near perfect.

-Perfect?

-Pretty near perfect.

-What about Hannah?

-She just ran out of time, essentially.

She was truly disappointed by this.

-I know she will be tough on herself right now.

-Farhaan?

-He doesn't have an ultimate chocolate cake.

-Yeah.

He has a nice fruit sponge.

-It's hard to mark him up on that really.

-Yeah.

So, is this a one-horse-race? Have you got a few people in mind?

What's the deal here?

Based on this morning's Technical,

our top two are our top two this afternoon.

Interesting.

Especially when you say that Tom nailed the Technical

and Olivia's cake was near perfect. Good luck with that.

SAM LAUGHS

Bakers. Congratulations. You've all done amazingly well today.

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

Our judges have made that decision.

They thought that this person showed a calm temperament of a true

baker this morning and their Showstopper this afternoon

tasted good enough to be served in a restaurant.

The baker going through to the quarterfinals is...

..Olivia.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Well done, Olivia.

When I tell my family and friends,

they'll probably be like, "What? Really?"

Well done, Hannah.

Olivia baked better than all of us

so I'm very proud for her and I hope she wins.

GRAHAM: Olivia has skill in abundance.

She showed today how to work under pressure, and her ability to

produce and present a really, really well flavoured chocolate gateau.

Olivia's Showstopper was a very beautifully produced cake.

The other competitors should be ready for battle.

Next time, a biscuit that requires mathematical precision.

Aw, mine are just breaking.

And vegetable cakes that don't quite go to plan.

-This has got a big crack at the back.

-BOTH:

-Sshhhhh!