Episode 5 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 that baking battle takes place.

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

Let the baking begin!

Today, four budding bakers have their nerves tested.

-TIMER RINGS

-Shut up.

Who will come up trumps?

I'm really happy with these.

And who will fold under the pressure?

Now, that's a time crisis.

Complete disaster.

-(Mary Berry's behind you.)

-(I know.)

In today's heat, the bakers will have to prove their worth

over two challenges.

First up, it's the technical where they face Mary's very own

recipe for rock cakes.

Then the show stopper presents a real puzzle as they try

and impress with jigsaw biscuits.

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

HE EXHALES SHARPLY

Who is going to get it?

Abhimanyu from Warwickshire...

I love baking because there's almost like a magic to it.

..Emily from South Lanarkshire...

I think I've got quite an exotic taste and, like, style.

I do things quite grown-up.

..Alex from Lincolnshire...

I want to be in the competition because I just love baking

and I want to show off my talent.

..or Jojo from London?

I'm looking forward to meeting the judges.

I'm really excited about meeting Mary Berry

because she's like my idol.

The moment has arrived.

The tent awaits

and so does one of Mary's own recipes in the technical challenge.

Bakers, congratulations on making it to the Junior Bake Off tent.

Now, Mary and James would like you to make 12 rock cakes

drizzled with lemon icing.

Your cakes should have good height, uniform shape and size

and they should have a rocky appearance.

And as well as that, they should be golden and crisp on the outside

and it's really important that the fruit

is well distributed throughout.

You've only got an hour to complete this challenge.

-Have you washed your hands?

-ALL: Yes.

Right. On your marks, get set, bake.

These are experienced bakers so if you want to bake at home,

get an adult to help.

I've made a similar recipe before so I'm pretty confident.

Keeping a sharp eye on our bakers are judges James and Mary.

Amazing to be here but then it's a little bit nerve-racking that

they're just wandering around looking out for our mistakes.

They may be looking for mistakes

but they're hoping for the perfect rock cakes.

Good ones should be a cross between a cake and a scone.

The fruit evenly distributed.

Underneath should look the same colour as the pale gold on top.

This actually appears easy at first glance

but it's more complicated than you think.

If you overwork it, you'll get a very close texture.

If they're overbaked, they'll be hard and they will be rock cakes.

And they've got to get that icing right.

I think it's an interesting challenge

and they really must follow the recipe.

These little treats first became popular in World War II.

With a small list of ingredients, they could be baked at a time

when food was scarce.

Just putting the baking powder into the flour

because that's the first step.

10-year-old Alex is an enthusiastic baker who's even baked his

own birthday cake.

I've made rock cakes several times before, once with Mary Berry's

recipe so I'm being a little confident going into this challenge.

The flour, baking powder and butter should be rubbed together

until it looks like bread crumbs.

My technique is I get the butter

and I turn it into small lumps.

I pick it up with the flour quite high.

Abhimanyu, who's 11, was inspired to bake by his mum

but now enjoys baking solo.

I thing the judges will be looking for something that is quite

a consistent shape

and I think they'll be looking for really good flavours as well.

Next, the bakers add sugar and currants.

I'm just breaking them up because you don't want a rock bun to

be uneven with some having more fruit than the others.

Emily, who's now 12, started baking when she was just three.

-Emily.

-Hi.

Bonnie wee lass from Scotland.

What sort of baker would you say you was then?

I like inventing things.

I'll be lying awake at night and I'll just suddenly think,

"Oh, I should do that."

I just get these random ideas.

You'll be laying there like that just like...

Lemon drizzle!

Uh-huh.

Once the milk and egg get added...

Urgh.

..if they get added...

Can I have another egg?

..the mixture is worked into a stiff dough.

Look at that. What's that all about?

Broken egg which went everywhere.

You must be yoking.

The judges are expecting 12 evenly-sized cakes,

all of which look the part.

They're meant to be looking like rocks so I'm trying to make them

have quite a lot of height so I'm not trying to pat them down.

'11-year-old Jojo is a dedicated baker, so dedicated in fact,

'she even took her icing bags on holiday.'

I heard you're very good at decorating.

Well, I make my brother's birthday cake...

What?

..and it was like a spooky theme and he invited all his friends

and I made gravestones out of biscuits

and wrote their names on it.

That's a nice birthday cake, isn't it?

Gravestones and stuff. Well done.

There it is, look, shh.

JAWS THEME MUSIC PLAYS

Very scary. He's all about spooky cakes.

That's spooky, look at that.

He's like a shark, isn't he?

How's it going then?

All right. I'm... I've decided to make a few more.

It does say to do 12 but I reckon I've got enough dough,

because they look big enough to me to do a few more

so that if any go drastically wrong or I break any

-then I've got some spares.

-The decision is yours.

But is it the right decision?

Alex isn't the only baker who's decided to play with the recipe.

I can see Abhimanyu is not actually using all of it.

It really is a huge mistake not to use it all

because they're going to be smaller than everybody else's.

OK, bakers, you got half an hour left to bake.

The recipe tells me to sprinkle generously with the sugar to

give them a nice crunch and to add texture to them.

15 minutes.

I think my main worry is that they don't bake evenly

and the raisins will burn on top.

Hopefully that...

Ohhh!

I've just remembered. It's OK.

I forgot to put the brown sugar on the top.

I think my mind's just everywhere just now.

It's not the average day.

To decorate their rock cakes,

the bakers need to create a sharp lemon icing.

Don't squirt in my eye, thank you very much.

And it shouldn't be too sticky or too runny.

I'm just looking for something that will sit tight on the cake,

it won't just...

is my way of describing it.

Yeah. That's one way of describing it.

15 minutes left, guys.

-TIMER RINGS

-Shut up.

Yep, they're ready. Come here.

I'm really happy with these.

I think they look really golden and crispy.

Oh, great.

A little chunk's fallen off one of them.

That was just total lack of concentration.

They look OK.

Some of them are slightly bigger.

I'll do as best as I can to cover it up.

I'm just going to go and put these in the fridge to let them

cool down a bit quicker.

It's all right.

-Guys, there's five minutes left to go.

-All right.

Here it is. Moment of truth...

and it's not being helped by the wasp.

That's it, twist that round your thumb. Boom, he's in control.

Gosh. It's gone all over me shoes.

-Look at that!

-It serves you right.

Brand new, they were.

It's quite runny and not very white.

I think I'm going to put this back in the bowl and add more stuff to it.

I think I've cut the piping bag too thick.

It's coming out thicker than it should be.

Much better.

10 seconds left. Get a move on, guys.

I'm picking out the best ones because I made three extra,

one of which I've half eaten.

Right, guys, your time is up.

Please step away from your worktops.

Please bring up your rock cakes to the table.

Beautiful.

12 equally-sized rock cakes with a light texture,

golden rocky exterior

and deftly-applied icing is what the judges will be looking for.

Have our bakers pulled it off?

So, Alex. Yours are slightly smaller.

I made 15 so then I could select the best ones.

See the problem is, when you make smaller ones,

and probably the cooking time was the same as the larger ones

with the oven temperature the same.

Sometimes they can dry out.

You've got a nice distribution of fruit.

They're a good bake.

It's a little bit close texture.

They are a little bit too dry because they're slightly smaller.

That lemon icing doesn't look too good,

but you've put a nice lot on and they taste all right.

Good effort. Well done, Alex.

So then we come to Jojo.

From the outside, that looks good.

-What do they taste like?

-Nice texture, nice flavour.

The texture's really, really light. Almost cake-like.

-Tastes good.

-Tastes good. Good effort.

-Well done.

And Emily.

They look great. Nice even shape to them.

If I was going to be picky, probably a little too much colour.

-The flavour's really good.

-Lovely bake, lovely flavour. Good texture.

-Good effort.

-Thanks.

-Well done. Right.

Abhimanyu. You didn't use all your mixture.

It's a little bit sad to leave it in your bowl because that is a waste.

See, very different sizes compared with the others.

They are a little on the dry side

because they're smaller,

therefore they've had more exposure to the heat.

But they taste really good.

I think you should all be congratulated.

They all look the part, you've all done very well.

I'm really looking forward to your show stoppers so well done.

Congratulations, guys. That's your first challenge over.

One bake left to go.

The best of luck.

Those are brilliant.

I was so happy with the rock cakes when they came out of the oven.

I was just like, "Yay! It worked."

I reckon the comments were fair because now I've tasted them,

they are on the dry side.

They're nice.

The other bakers did very well.

I've got quite a bit to do if I'm going to pull this back

but I still think I can.

Yours look really nice.

I'm a bit nervous about the show stopper bake

but my plan is to just work hard and quickly.

The remaining challenge of the day is the bakers' last chance to

dazzle Mary and James.

Right, bakers, it's time for the show stopper challenge.

For this one, they would like you to bake

and present a jigsaw biscuit display.

The design of this is entirely up to you, of course,

but I want each individual biscuit or cookie taken out of the oven,

they need to come together perfectly to form a pattern or picture.

The flavour of your biscuit is up to you.

Guys, you've got an hour and a half to complete your jigsaw biscuits.

On your marks, get set, bake.

Making a perfect jigsaw biscuit will demand preparation,

precision, artistry and speed.

The hardest part is probably just fitting everything in.

I've got to move quite quickly.

The real difficulty of making jigsaw biscuits is that they will spread.

All biscuits spread slightly. The jigsaw has to come together.

That's how jigsaws are.

They've got to really think about the different

types of flavours and textures.

I'd have, in their mind, what picture they're trying to

create before they actually go ahead and do it.

It's actually quite complicated.

All the bakers start with a basic biscuit mix of flour,

butter and eggs.

But everyone's choosing different flavourings in a bid to stand out.

I'm just putting in the almond extract.

This bake is a show stopper because it's quite ambitious.

I've got three different flavours and icings.

The three flavours of Jojo's biscuits are lemon,

orange and raspberry and lavender.

They'll be presented in a home-made box to match her design.

What's your decoration?

Well, when I was little I had a counting jigsaw puzzle

so it's going to have numbers

and the number of dots that apply to that number,

like a kid's jigsaw puzzle.

-You've got these excellent moulds to make.

-Yes.

The thing is my dough spreads so you have to cook it in the cutters.

Now, are you on time because you've got quite a bit of work to do so...?

Yeah, I think I'm on time.

Jojo is the only one baking her mixture in cutters.

But each baker has their own method of ensuring their biscuits

fit together like a jigsaw.

Alex has made stencils.

I made all these templates.

This is the third version of these templates.

I'm making a chocolate and almond hedgejig

so it's a hedgehog.

Alex's jigsaw biscuit hedgehog will be topped with spikes

made from chocolate buttons and chopped almonds.

That's the plan.

That's the plan.

Where's my template?

Pretty adventurous.

Are they different colours then, these biscuits?

Yeah, one's brown and one's white.

And how many times have you done this?

-More than ten.

-More than ten?

I've basically been practising it once a day

and every day that I can since I knew I was doing it.

I'm doing biscuits in bloom

so I'm going to pipe lots of different butter cream flowers

on to it.

Emily's jigsaw showstopper is a framed ginger biscuit picture

piped with orange-flavoured butter cream flowers.

Interesting way of making a jigsaw.

I'm just halfway cutting through that to make

the bits of the jigsaw that stick in.

The most tricky thing is just getting this neat and straight

and clean sides.

Well, it looks pretty precise at the moment.

Looks pretty good to me.

Unlike the others, Abhimanyu is working free hand to

create his jigsaw design.

I'm not sure really where I got the idea from.

It was partly because I live in Warwick

and there's Warwick castle and that was sort of the inspiration for it.

Abhimanyu's jigsaw castle is made from biscuits flavoured with

ginger and lemon.

How are you going to decorate this?

Got some little fondant bits in there and I was actually

going to do glaze icing but I think I'm going to go against it now.

Because I had a little bit of trouble with it at home

and I'm not taking any risks.

Well, we're going to leave you

-but it is very important for you to do it in the time.

-Yes.

-So good luck.

-Thank you.

OK, bakers, you've got half an hour left to bake.

They're going in.

Whilst most of the bakers get all their biscuits into the oven

in one go, the judges are concerned

Jojo has to bake three separate batches.

I think with Jojo, she has a lot to do on that one.

It's hard enough to do one type of biscuit and make this,

let alone three different types of flavours and bringing them

all together.

This is raspberry, freeze dried raspberries and orange

and that's lemon.

And I've just got my lavender one to go.

The bakers need to keep a close eye on their ovens

because thin biscuits can bake extremely quickly.

Sorry. 20 seconds more.

See how these are looking.

Nowhere near. They're too soft. Still.

Oh, dear.

HE EXHALES SHARPLY

Um, this is smashed.

I might just add a little drop of water.

Stick it together a bit.

Oh, it's vaguely fixed now.

I think I might have to leave it in a bit longer

before I put it back together.

Good.

I have to get this out quick. Slightly overcooked.

Wasn't watching them properly.

They're very hot.

Hi, Abhi, how you going, bud?

Not very well.

What's happening?

Well, things are cracking, it's slightly overcooked.

How can I help you at this point?

Is there anything I can do right now?

I'm not sure how to cool these quickly.

Fridge. Freezer maybe?

I'm just putting my last batch of biscuits in to the oven.

Ten minutes left.

Now, that's a time crisis.

The final pieces of the puzzle are decoration and presentation.

You've made it already. Took a picture, popped it on there.

-Yes.

-That is very clever.

So my fondant icing, these little things aren't coming out of the box.

I'm just chopping bits off my biscuit to make it

fit into the shape a little bit better.

I'm just putting in some boiling water.

Oh, it's starting to come up.

Do you know what? Guys, we've only got five minutes left.

-Uh, I just...

-Got one, got one, got one.

OK, I don't really mind if it's cracked now.

OK, I'll try and get them out as best I can, buddy.

I've still got biscuits in the oven

and instead of icing the full biscuit,

I'm just going to do the outline

and then pipe my numbers because I'm a bit pushed for time.

I'm only about halfway through the decoration.

One minute left to go.

Complete disaster.

-(Mary Berry's behind you.)

-(I know.)

I reckon get them straight in the box

because you got about 30 seconds.

Cool. Go.

That's it. Your show stopper's over.

Please stand away from your worktops, guys.

Our bakers can do no more. Their jigsaw show stoppers are complete.

Who has done enough to get through to the semifinal?

I think my show stopper bake went really well but I didn't quite get

to finish the end of it so I think the judges will pick up on that.

We asked for a jigsaw display and we got a jigsaw display.

It's just a shame that you didn't finish it off with the icing.

A biscuit should have snap and this is beautifully crisp

and the lemon icing is, it's good.

This one...is the lavender.

And there's a hint of lavender coming through so this is very good.

Yes. It's a good recipe throughout each of the biscuits really.

It's nice, it's light, it's delicate. Well done.

I'm hoping the judges will like the design and the idea behind it

but I just didn't execute it.

The design is definitely a castle.

If you'd had time, a little more icing perhaps.

I think what you had was great technique, particularly

when you were making it and cutting it out by hand.

That requires a little bit of skill.

Beautifully crisp. The ginger flavour's there

-but it is, I'm afraid, a little over baked.

-Yeah.

But on the whole, fantastic job.

If Warwick Castle looks like that, I'm going to go visit.

Sort of a mix of feelings.

I'm really happy that it's over and I've got my bake in front of me

but I'm a bit nervous as well.

It's a fantastic job, really,

being able to pipe them like that under pressure.

-Did you mean to have your flowers overlapping the joints?

-Yes.

-Will it come apart?

-I think it will.

Well, we'll see, won't we?

Let's see if I can get it apart.

And I think you are going to be quite right.

It is very nice because the outside is very crispy

and the middle is slightly soft.

Great element of spices in there.

I think this is a really good effort and taste-wise, fantastic.

I'm just hoping that they're going to say there's no problem with

the baking and there's not too much problem with the texture or taste.

Now, at the start of this, I asked you to use your imagination and

you certainly have.

And you've pulled it off.

Each piece is sort of breaking off nicely.

You can see the shape has held to the biscuit

so really well done on that one.

The biscuit has a lovely snap to it, a good flavour.

It would be nice to have the almonds toasted because it gives that

rich flavour and also you get more crunch with it.

Well done.

Well done, bakers. You've done all you can do.

It's now up to Mary and James to make a very tough decision.

Well done.

I was in a frantic, mad time rush.

I didn't like finish properly but I finished what I needed to.

Well, guys, a tough one today. Some great competition here.

Let's start off with Abhimanyu

and his first technical challenge with the rock cakes.

He did do 12 but he left the mixture in the bowl

so they're a bit smaller, a little bit over baked.

When it come to his show stopper...

It looked like Warwick Castle.

There's no question, the recipe was great.

Just, when it's slightly overcooked like that, it kind of ruins it.

Let's move on to Alex.

I've never seen so many bits of paper

when he started off but he knew exactly what he was doing.

And certainly with a mixture like that,

the biscuit stayed in the shape, they stayed exactly where they were

and a great effort.

And really in the first bake, he kind of suffered

from the fact that he kind of went off recipe a little bit.

Let's move on to the girls now. Let's start with Jojo.

The rock cakes had a nice rocky appearance, good flavour.

They were very good indeed.

Then she came to the biscuits

and it came off but we had some un-iced biscuits.

If you're going to present it in a box like that, you've got to

produce exactly what you're going to show on the box.

Yes. OK, let's move on to Emily.

Her rock cakes were very good

and with her jigsaw, the biscuit itself was very good, very spicy.

This one has actually been really nicely cooked.

There's pieces of art that go for about half a million quid

that look like that.

Well, four amazing bakes, four great characters

but only one semi-finalist and that's up to you two.

Good luck.

Bakers.

As you know, only one can go through to the semifinals today.

And that person is...

..Emily.

Emily should go far.

She's good on her flavours and she's very artistic.

I do think she stands a good chance.

If there's one thing that I'm going to be picky about today,

she's got to concentrate on her cooking times and her temperatures

as she progresses through to the semifinal but a worthy winner.

Well done. Are you happy?

Are you all right?

I can't believe I got through to the semifinals

because there were some really amazing bakers today.

I'm just so happy.

Next time, another four enter the tent...

I can't actually believe I'm here. It's like a dream.

..to face a truly testing technical...

I have no idea what's going on here. Ah!

..and enchant the judges with a fairy tale show stopper...

Mary's the beauty and you're the beast.

..but only one can go through.

-I've got to get my act together.

-Yes.

Who will it be?

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