Episode 4 Junior Bake Off

Hello and welcome to Junior Bake Off.

The show that's on a mission to find the UK's best young baker.

It's in that tent the baking battle takes place.

The bakers are on their marks, the judges are set,

so let the baking begin.

Today's bakers need to be at the top of their game.

Yeah, I'm in the baking zone. I'm not getting distracted.

With only one place in the semifinal up for grabs...

My heart's beating very fast.

..who's ready for baking glory?

Well done, little cake.

And who's heading for baking disaster?

Oh, no!

Today's heat sees four bakers face two challenges.

First, it's the Technical.

Their baking instinct is put to the test as they try

and master Mary's melting moments.

Then it's time to get the party started with the Showstopper.

Today's theme - carnival cakes.

There's only one place in the semifinals up for grabs

Who will claim it?

Charlie, from Northampton.

My game plan is try my best to follow the recipe quite well.

I think I've got a good chance of winning.

Ellie, from Manchester.

I love baking so much because I love eating it and making it.

I just love every part of it.

Ruby, from Devon.

When I'm older, I want to be a patisserie chef

and I think Junior Bake Off will give me a great start.

Or Joseph, from Oldham?

I just feel that I want to show off what I can do.

I'm just going to walk up calmly and then strut my stuff.

Now, the real work begins with the first challenge

and today's it's one of Mary's very own recipes.

Bakers, welcome to the Junior Bake Off tent.

And your first chance to impress the judges in the Technical Challenge.

For this one, Mary and James would like you to make ten

melting moments dipped in chocolate and sandwiched together

with passion fruit and cream cheese filling.

Mary, what are we looking for?

These are very delicate biscuits.

And they should have a short texture

and they should melt in the mouth when you eat them.

And the cream cheese filling is really important,

it shouldn't be too loose, otherwise the filling is going to disappear,

but it also should be nice

and sharp in terms of flavour in the passion fruit and not too sweet.

-Good luck.

-Cool.

Before we start, what we got to do?

-Wash our hands. Have you done that?

-ALL: Yes.

-Let's have a little look.

You've got an hour and a half, guys.

On your marks, get set, bake!

These are experienced bakers,

so if you want to try this at home, ask an adult to help.

I'm a bit nervous because I don't do biscuits at home.

I haven't done one of these before, but I've made biscuits before.

The recipe didn't sound too hard and I think I'll be all right with it.

It might not sound too tricky,

but even the simplest recipes can be difficult.

What makes the perfect melting moment?

First of all, start off with the biscuit.

They've just got to work it until it's smooth and comes together.

If they overwork it, it will be too brittle and break.

The cream, they've got to get that just to the right consistency

and they're going to put that passion fruit juice in, too much,

it will be too runny, it will ooze out.

It is quite a difficult challenge.

Melting moments are made by combining sugar,

self-raising flower, cornflower and butter.

I'm sifting all the ingredients into the bowl

and then I'm going to mix them together

to make a breadcrumb consistency.

To give the melting moments flavour, orange zest is added to the mix.

Don't zest the white bit cos that's the pith and it tastes bitter.

11-year-old Ruby has been baking since she was two

and loves to make tricky bakes like choux pastry.

Who inspired you to being the baker you are?

My gran.

Classic - Granny. Yeah?

-Yeah.

-She a good baker?

Yup, she's pretty good.

-Better than Mary Berry?

-No.

She'll be watching this?

Um...

-Yeah.

-Good. Good answer!

I started baking when I was very little,

because my mum was doing cakes and biscuits

and stuff and I kind of helped her.

Cake maker Charlie may have baked for his whole road

at street parties before, but biscuits aren't his speciality.

I was hoping for a Victoria sponge or a type of cake or bread.

Trying to follow the recipe as much as possible.

I'm going to keep checking back, so I don't do anything wrong.

The mixture must then be kneaded together to make a dough.

I am pretty much a perfectionist.

I want everything to look perfect and be perfect.

Ten-year-old Joseph is a keen rugby player

and thinks sports has helped give him strength for

the tougher baking skills.

How did you first get into baking?

I started off with my mum at the age of about seven

and then when she couldn't be bothered and I wanted to,

I just started doing it by myself.

It's not looking very good cos it's looking a bit sticky

and I don't know why it's looking so sticky.

I don't really want to overwork it.

Ten-year-old Ellie loves amateur dramatics as well as baking

and once baked some cookies for David Hasselhoff whilst in panto.

-How are you getting on?

-Not very well.

-What?

-Because my dough's a bit sticky.

What do you reckon, a bit little more flour on the hands, maybe?

A little touch on your hand, just rub them together.

-Oh.

-What sort of baker are you?

I like to do cake.

What sort of cakes do you like?

I like chocolate cakes and cupcakes and I like decorating them

and I like following lots of Mary's recipes.

-Mary Berry is the best, isn't she?

-Uh-huh.

-Is she one of your idols?

-Yeah.

-Is she really?

-Uh-huh.

-Wow.

Each ball of dough should be the same size,

otherwise, they'll bake at different rates,

creating burns or underbaked biscuits,

although not everyone seems to agree.

The sizes aren't very important,

but it's just to make them look presentable.

I think my main competition is Ruby.

Why is that?

Because she looks like she's doing it quite quickly.

It's all going OK, so I'm quite pleased.

Pressing the balls of dough with a wet fork

gives the biscuits a uniform look.

That's half an hour left to bake, guys. Half an hour.

-I'm happy with these biscuits.

-I think they're OK.

Some of them are a bit crumbly, though.

They're very crumbly.

Dude, what's happened?

Two fell off.

Oh, crumbs.

They asked for ten specifically

and we know how much of a bad mood James gets in, don't we...?

All right, mate?

-How are you?

-Pretty good.

-What are you going to do?

-Make another batch.

If I get these done,

they might be a lot better than if I have three less.

It's a lot of pressure. I'm just trying to get it done.

Hopefully, they'll come out and I won't drop those.

Before being sandwiched together with cream,

the bottom of each biscuit is dipped in melted chocolate.

It's quite a tricky part of the recipe,

because I need to not drop it into the chocolate.

Oh, no!

One of my biscuits has just crumbled,

but I'll try and keep the rest of them all in one piece.

Oh, no! That one's just crumbled.

Ten minutes left to bake, guys. Ten minutes.

Oh, no!

Do you think they're going to be OK?

You're very focused, you're right in the zone right now.

I'll just get my biscuits out.

Oh, no! Charlie's done it again.

Hoping that won't happen to me.

But I do feel a bit sorry for him.

I don't think I'll make any more.

I can't risk dropping any.

If I drop one, I think it'll be the end.

My heart's beating very, very fast.

It's pretty tricky trying to pipe under so much pressure.

-Are you going to be able to do this?

-Hopefully.

Oh, no, I should have put the icing sugar on.

Oh.

There.

Guys, the Technical Challenge is over.

Please step away from your worktop.

Everyone else's look really fantastic. Oh.

It's time to bring up your bakes to the table. Come on.

Just pop it there, bro.

Look at them.

Nice one. Well done, guys.

The judges are looking for ten uniform melting moments,

all with a rich, buttery flavour

and as the name suggests, they should melt in your mouth.

-Shall we get tasting?

-So, Joseph...

We've got nine, but still good effort.

Various different sizes as well,

but you managed to match up the different sizes quite nicely.

Cream's got a nice texture.

It goes really well with the chocolate underneath as well.

There's probably a little bit too much liquid gone into it.

So that's made it quite...often too soft.

-Certainly, the biscuit tastes very good.

-It's very good.

-It just melts in the mouth.

-Well done.

So, Ellie... Ellie never stops smiling, does she?

You've got six of the eight which are a nice size.

You've certainly got the flavour there in terms of the filling.

Biscuits are really good, melt in the mouth.

They melt in the mouth as they should do

and you've got the right amount of chocolate.

-Well done, Ellie.

-Well done.

So, we have got ten here, but there's one without a topping.

I think you made more biscuits than anybody here today.

-We've got a great effort at the end of it.

-Let's have a taste.

To me, really, the cream so far is probably the nicest one I've tasted.

Very good flavour.

The larger ones aren't actually fully cooked.

The smaller ones are a little bit over,

but this one that I've got here, is just the perfect texture.

That to me is exactly what we're looking for.

It melts in your mouth. It's a great biscuit, that.

It's just a shame that the others...kind of were

built around it, but still, great effort.

So, Ruby, I think

that you are the only person who has got ten complete ones.

So, you should be congratulated.

A lovely bake.

Not too much chocolate.

Cream's really nice.

Not too sweet, not too sour, really good effort, well done.

Thank you very much, judges. One challenge down, one left to go.

Good luck.

I didn't think I did that well

and I know James Martin is a very experienced and good baker,

so it's quite nice to get quite good feedback from him.

They do melt in your mouth, don't they?

I was disappointed I only had eight biscuits, not ten.

If I had another go at it, I'd definitely slow down

and be more delicate with the biscuits.

This has got quite a bit of chocolate in.

I'm really pleased with how that went.

They liked that I had ten, they liked the taste and the texture.

Oh, come on.

Plan for the next bake is to concentrate,

work hard and just get on with it.

Just the Showstopper Challenge remains

and only one place in the semifinal to be had.

The pressure is on.

Right, bakers, it's time for your final challenge of the day.

Mary and James would like you to bake the most ultimate

celebration cake inspired by today's theme, which is carnival.

The size and shape, you can choose yourself.

But the flavours must really complement the theme.

The decoration is going to be key to this,

but we're also looking at a good ratio between

the icing and the cake.

Very important factors there, guys.

You've only got an hour and a half to complete this.

So make it count. On your marks, get set... bake!

No matter how much these bakers have practised

their showstopper cakes at home,

here and now is what matters to the judges.

Place butter and sugar in mixing bowl and whisk until combined.

We're going to get so many different types of cake this afternoon.

It tests imagination, but above all else,

trying not to make it too complicated.

It detracts from the taste

and that's what it all should be about.

It's looking perfect.

They've got to get their cakes baked and out of the oven

and cold before they do all their fancy things to them.

And that is the difficulty.

I was thinking of colour, noise and fun,

so when I looked at pictures on the internet,

I tried to put all of that into my cake

and that's what I'm going to make it look like.

Ellie's all singing, all dancing pick-and-mix chocolate cake

will be decorated with a medley of star-shaped fruit

and multicoloured vanilla buttered cream.

Ellie, what's unusual about your cake?

I'm doing different coloured piping on top.

And then, that pineapple over there, I'm going

to dress it up with fruit kebabs, so then it's like a pick and mix.

And no-one's more excited about it than you are.

Hang on, I'm excited.

Ellie's not the only one pushing the boat out for their carnival cake.

It's going to have blue icing covering the whole cake.

Different coloured diamonds round the outside of icing and then...

I'm going to place the crown on top

with the feathers coming out the top,

stuck into another block of icing.

With a Rio-inspired carnival queen cake featuring a buttercream

and jam filling,

Joseph will be hoping to samba all the way into the semifinals.

Yeah, I'm in the baking zone. I'm not getting distracted.

Good stuff.

And Joseph's not the only baker with his eye on the prize.

Hello, Ruby, tell us what your creation is going to be?

It's going to be a chocolate and orange marble cake

and it's going to have animals I've made at home on it.

Fantastic.

Ruby's cake will be topped and filled with coffee icing

and she has an unusual method for marbling her sponge mixture.

They all look like a zebra.

-In your cake mixture?

-Yeah.

How about that? Gosh, it's very exciting.

We won't stop you, cos we know that you've got to be on time.

-Thank you.

-Good luck.

In this bake, there's a lot of multitasking

because there's lots to do and very little time to do it.

There's four cakes that I need.

I'm doing three mixtures, but one's divided into two smaller tins.

Charlie will be attempting to create the fun of the fair

with his chocolate helter skelter cake.

It's a four-tier helter skelter cake

with strawberries and cream in the middle of the layers

-and strawberries go round the side.

-Pretty adventurous.

Do you think you can get it done and cooled in time?

I think so, I'm putting it in the freezer,

so it cools in at least half the time.

-You've got a lot to do, so we'll leave you in peace.

-Thanks.

Well, they are all keeping to time at the moment,

but one and a half hours isn't that long to make a very special cake,

we'll just have to wait and see.

I pipe a circle and then pipe in that circle

and it will look like a zebra.

This is a tried and tested technique,

so I'm quite confident about this.

It hasn't gone wrong yet.

It's looking how I expected it to look.

It should be a smooth mix and not overworked.

Yes!

To reduce the chance of the sponge sinking,

the oven door shouldn't be opened in the first few minutes.

I'm not going to take it out, but I need to check...

Yeah, the cakes look like they're rising quite nicely.

Need a bit more, though.

Guys, you've got half an hour. 30 minutes left to bake.

It's looking good.

It feels great getting them out.

It turned out perfect.

We don't want to have to get more icing to cover the whole cake,

to cover the top, it's just easier if it's flat.

I had a cake catastrophe.

When I poked it to check if it was ready, it kind of sunk.

And the other two are still in there because they're not quite yet ready.

To achieve that perfect carnival cake,

Mary and James will be expecting faultless icing.

Joseph, how are you?

Everything going to plan?

Not everything.

The icing is a bit...

The icing's a bit of a problem, is it?

I'll be honest with you, it's probably

because you've got too much icing sugar.

Icing is also turning out to be troublesome for Ellie.

It's not working as planned because the mixture is a bit thick.

I think I put too much butter in it and not enough liquid.

I've heated up the knife so it spreads a bit easier,

but it's not working.

I'm really annoyed about this.

OK, bakers, ten minutes.

Yes!

Well done, little cake.

I'm doing star-shaped mangoes to sit on my cake.

I think I am to time, I just need to put icing on the top.

Is this like the bit where they go into, like the...?

-No. That's sunk.

-Oh.

What about filing it with strawberries or something like that?

That's a good idea.

I think Mary and James might pick it up, but hopefully it will be OK.

It's going to be a quick thing, hopefully.

Not sure what the judges are going to think.

I'm pleased with this. It's came out how I wanted it to.

Guys, you've got three minutes left.

-I think it's come back quite well.

-Looking really good, mate.

Guys, that's it, your time's up.

Please step away from your worktops.

For three of these bakers,

this is the last time they will face James and Mary.

Now their cakes will be judged on their ideas, presentation and taste.

Ruby, Ruby, Ruby, you're up first.

I'm really pleased with how it's gone.

I would really like the judges to say that

the marbling inside is perfect.

I like the way you did your marbling.

I, for one, can't wait to cut into it.

Well, you wanted a zebra cake... and the results have paid off.

I'll taste the sponge first.

It's a very light sponge. Very moist.

Can't really taste the orange.

I can taste more of the chocolate.

Let's see how the icing goes with it.

The icing's a lovely icing.

I think overall it fits in with our carnival theme.

-Well done.

-Thank you.

I just hope that I've put enough decoration on

and it tastes as nice as it should.

-Certainly fits in with the brief, I think.

-It certainly does.

We just need a bit of music with it.

The secret with the icing is not to use too much icing sugar,

then it becomes too dry.

-And this the result. It starts to crack.

-Yeah.

Certainly moist.

It's a lovely sponge.

The jam's nice, but it is quite sharp.

When you brought it out, it looked fun and carnival like.

-Well done.

-Great effort.

-Thank you.

Today some things went wrong for me,

the best thing the judge could say is that it looks good

and they like the little figures or they like the strawberries

and laces going round the outside.

I think you were very ambitious to get all that cooked in one go.

And I think it was quite difficult to get the big one cooked in

the middle, was it?

The big one was OK in the middle,

it was the second top one that didn't go.

-Are we going to get a surprise when we cut it?

-Yeah.

-You filled the hole with strawberries?

-Yeah.

Which is delicious to eat, but not quite as it should have turned out.

No.

It's a good chocolate mixture.

The outside is baked beautifully. It's good.

This actually tastes really, really good.

Well done.

I think they're going to mention something about the lime buttercream

because it wouldn't spread properly.

I think we're all pretty equal at the moment,

but I hope I've got that extra edge.

-It looks fun, doesn't it?

-It does look fun.

Brightly coloured and it's got that festival spirit.

I particularly like the apron at the end of this.

It looks like you've created this masterpiece.

-Shall we dive in?

-OK.

Great colour that you've got with this butter icing,

each individually piped on there.

-That's lime in the buttercream?

-Mm-hm.

You've put quite a lot of lime in that and I like it.

The buttercream is fantastic.

-The lime works brilliantly.

-Well done.

Well, that's it. Impressed?

-Very impressed.

-Good stuff.

That's it, guys, you've done all you can do now.

Do you want to go and take a little break while they rack their brains?

I was freaking out in there.

I think you have a good chance.

I have a good chance as well.

Just to let you know.

It is time for the judges to decide

who is going through to the semifinals.

Right, good day. Some great bakes going on today.

Let's start with Charlie. How did he get on?

The helter skelter cake, I thought

he probably... took on a little bit too much.

I would have liked him to make just two layers,

but the whole idea was great fun.

What do you reckon on Charlie's melting moments?

He only had nine biscuits

and I think he took them off the baking sheet too soon and they broke.

But he coped quite well.

Let's move on to little Ruby.

The biscuits were probably the best of everybody this morning.

And when it came to her cake, she was calm all the way through

and she did this careful piping, the whole effect was absolutely stunning.

It looked fantastic, but the whole idea was the orange

and the chocolate combination.

And to me, you just didn't taste any orange at all.

Let's move on to Joseph. He made nine biscuits.

It's the common mistake, you go straight ahead

and you start portioning it up. You don't actually think about,

"If I need 20 biscuits out of this, then

"we should be cutting it in half, then into quarters,"

and when you go straight ahead like that, you do end up with

different sizes, and that's where I think he struggles.

And his cake, the actual cake itself was very good.

And this is what happens when you overwork icing with icing sugar.

You get the cracks in it.

Let's move on to Ellie and her biscuits in the Technical Challenge.

There were a few little things that you could pick up on.

Probably, for me, the mixture was a little bit too liquid.

Her cake, the decoration on top, could you have had brighter colours?

She did all her piping, they didn't all run into each other.

And she enjoyed every moment.

It's a tough decision.

OK, so...

James and Mary have come to a decision.

It wasn't easy, it's always tough.

The person going through to the semifinals of Junior Bake Off is...

..congratulations, Ruby, you are going through.

Well done.

When they called my name, I felt ecstatic, I really didn't expect it.

When my granny finds out I got through to the semifinal,

she would be so excited.

She was so consistent.

She was calm, collected, professional all the way through her bakes.

I think the texture really shone for me,

both in the biscuits but also in the cake.

I think the textures in them both were exactly what we're looking for

and that's the reason why she went through.

Going to the semifinals is amazing.

I'm really excited.

Speechless.

-Next time...

-TIMER RINGS

-Shut up.

-..four hopeful bakers head for the tent...

Pretty confident.

..to try there hand at technically challenging rock cakes...

Oh!

..and roll out some magic with a puzzle of a showstopper.

I'm a bit pushed for time.

But only one can go through.

Who will it be?

If you fancy baking,

there's loads of Junior Bake Off

recipes waiting for you on the CBBC website.