Episode 6 Junior Bake Off

Welcome to the famous Bake Off tent.

In there is a fresh batch of bakers waiting to do baking battle.

And the only place you can get a slice of the action is right here,

so welcome to Junior Bake Off!

Today, four brave bakers are hoping for baking glory.

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

But who will fall at the first hurdle?

I've got to get my act together.

I forgot an egg!

And who will have the skills to claim victory?

Well, I'm done.

Yes!

In today's heat, two tests await our bakers.

The Technical Challenge is first

and Mary is putting them on the spot with Welsh cakes.

Then, it's the Showstopper.

They'll have to enchant the judges with the theme fairy tales.

They're baking for one place in the semifinal.

Who will claim it?

I love science and baking's sort of like science,

it's really creative and you get to eat the result.

Not everybody that I know knows that I can bake,

so I want to show them I CAN bake,

I can pull off an ambitious bake and I deserve to be on Junior Bake Off.

I don't have an action plan for the Junior Bake Off,

I'm just going to bake my heart out and try as hard as I can.

I live on a farm and I kind of, like, bake like a farmer,

I don't make it to perfection, I just do it how it comes out

and then...yeah.

The Technical Challenge is the first time our bakers

will come face to face with our judges, James and Mary.

Bakers, welcome to the Junior Bake Off tent.

Now, this is your first chance to impress our judges, Mary and James.

For this one, you will need to make Welsh cakes

and you will need to make 14 of them. James.

Now, the size and the thickness are crucial to this,

not just on one but throughout the batch.

Make sure the fruit is mixed in throughout the dough.

And on the outside,

they should be golden.

And when we break into them, they should be soft and moist.

Guys, have you washed your hands?

ALL: Yes!

Nice.

So you've just got 45 minutes to complete your Welsh cakes.

On you marks, get set, bake!

'These are experienced bakers, so if you want to try this at home,

'get an adult to help.'

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

I'm feeling a little bit nervous

because I've never even heard of a Welsh cake, let alone baked one.

Well, one person who knows exactly how to bake them is Mary.

It's her recipe the bakers are following.

What we're looking for is an even bake that is just pale golden.

If they leave it in there too long, it'll get too dark

and then it would have a dry middle.

Too high a heat, it'll be an undercooked middle.

To kick things off,

the bakers combine flour, baking powder and butter

and one baker is already going with his instincts.

The recipe DOESN'T specifically say "chop it up",

but I do know for a fact that the easiest way to rub in butter

is to chop it up.

12-year-old relaxed baker Cameron

began baking two and a half years ago

as a way to unwind after school.

The butter is staying together in quite large lumps.

You do have to be patient to bake.

Our bakers are trying to achieve the same consistency as breadcrumbs.

I like doing it, getting my hands stuck in, getting them all floury

and dirty and...

Well, they're not dirty. I just love it, I love baking.

11-year-old Katie has been barmy about baking since she was five

and prides herself on being organised in the kitchen.

So, what got you into baking in the first place?

-Your nan or your mum or someone like that or...?

-My granny, yeah.

She got me into baking, yeah. She loves it as well, just like me.

-That accent... Belfast?

-Yeah.

-County Antrim?

-Yeah.

-My mum's from County Antrim.

-Really?

-Yeah.

I've found I got family in Bangor.

-Bangor.

-Bangor, yeah.

-Yeah, Bangor.

-IN A NORTHERN-IRISH ACCENT:

-Aaron, come in

in half an hour for your dinner.

It's Mary Berry's recipe, so it's probably going to work.

So I'm just trying my best and I've made scones before,

but I don't think they're exactly the same.

12-year-old Monty is a keen rugby player and his team-mates

call him The Monster, but his two real passions in life

are baking and...

-James Martin.

-Yeah, James Martin, the beast with loads of cars.

-The beast with loads of cars.

-Yeah.

-That's a bit...naughty.

I mean, he's not that bad, he's all right.

He's not much of a beast, is he?

He's pretty cool, he's got loads of cars, and I love cars.

Yeah, but beast, what's that? Is that like a street word...?

-Yeah, really cool.

-Cool?

-Yeah.

And how do you find your chances in Junior Bake Off?

Well, we're all really good, so...

I'm not really sure.

I wasn't nervous, but now I'm quite nervous,

now I've seen the judges and everything.

So I hope it goes all right.

11-year-old Elizabeth uses her baking skills

to raise money for charity

and plans to open a high-class tearoom in the future.

I would describe my baking as quite messy,

I'm not really a perfectionist, I quite like to do, like,

when I do my cakes, I usually do them quite, like...wacky

with lots of icing and just colourful.

To give the Welsh cakes their delicate flavour,

the recipe calls for currants and half a teaspoon of spice.

But it appears Katie has forgotten to measure hers and put it all in.

I've done this recipe before,

so I think it's going to go pretty smoothly.

Maybe not that smoothly.

I never, ever, ever ad-lib, so to speak, on the recipe

unless I think it's specifically wrong.

Welsh cake dough should be firm, so the bakers add one egg

and just one teaspoon of milk.

Let's just get this milk in.

I'm pretty sure this is what we're supposed to do.

Oh, no, this is far too sticky.

I have no idea what's going on here.

Ah!

I've just discovered my problem.

I put too much milk in.

Cameron's mix may be soggy, but that hasn't dampened his resolve.

When things don't go well, you just have to carry on with it. Hello.

All right, Cameron. Oh, no, what's happened?

I put all the milk in.

I'm just going to have to put plenty of flour down.

-Just keep calm.

-Keep calm.

You haven't even mixed it in properly. There's little bits...

It's way too sticky. Way too sticky.

Are you happy with this? Cos you've got about half an hour.

Do you want to start again? Read your recipe properly, yeah?

-If you're not happy with that...

-I... I'm not happy with that.

I think I'm going to start again,

-I've got half an hour, I'm going to start again.

-Start again, OK.

-Let's get tidied up.

-Where do I put this?

Put it in a bin, man.

'So with the clock ticking, Cameron's back to square one.'

I'm never, ever going to ad-lib on a recipe again

and that wasn't even an ad-lib, that was just a silly schoolboy error.

Is there any... If you had to say someone at home now, you know,

who wants to bake or wants to be on Junior Bake Off,

-is there any lessons that you could give them right now? Go.

-Yes.

You need to read the recipe!

OK, bakers, 15 minutes left to bake.

For a tiptop batch of Welsh cakes,

they need to be perfectly even.

And perfectly cut out.

But only now has Katie realised something has gone wrong.

I put too much spice in.

You're meant to put half a level teaspoon in

and I put...about double that.

But...I just hope that that'll be OK.

Is it doable?

Not sure.

Our bakers must create 14 Welsh cakes

and to give them their golden exterior,

they should be cooked in a frying pan on a low heat.

I'm going to fry one side first for about two minutes

and then I'm going to flip it over,

and it's sizzling, which is, thankfully, a good sign.

Ooh! Double chocolate fudge cookies,

is that what we're making, is it?

-I thought we were supposed to be making Welsh cakes.

-I know.

I put too much spice in there.

Oh, my goodness!

HE SIGHS

People keep calling me a beast here, why is it a beast?

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

Oh, that's made him feel better.

-MOCKINGLY:

-Yeah, don't worry about it, James, that's what it is.

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

He feels really good about himself now(!)

Just remember he is judging.

Two minutes left to go, guys.

I've got just over half. I've got eight. I hope it's good enough.

I only have 13 now.

I've only got 13, so, hopefully, it will be OK.

Bakers, great job, your time is up.

Please bring up your bakes to be judged.

Yes!

As they cross the finish line, only Monty has managed to bake

the full batch of 14 Welsh cakes,

but our judges are also looking for a golden exterior

with an even spread of fruit and spice

and a light dusting of sugar.

So, Cameron, how was that? A shaky start?

Yeah, I really... I don't think that could have gone any worse, frankly.

Why have we only ended up with six?

I broke loads of them and I didn't have time.

That's a very nice texture in there...

You could say slightly under-numbered,

they're actually very nice indeed.

-Taste's really good.

-You got there in the end.

-Yeah.

It took you a while, but you got there.

It's nice and soft but, for me,

just that little, probably a minute more in the pan would have helped,

but great effort, well done.

Monty, nice little bit of colour on there.

A bit soft in the middle. A nice lot of sugar.

A little bit doughy.

That's just cooking time.

I think, on the whole, though, pretty good effort. Well done.

Katie, they're a pretty dark colour, aren't they?

Well, I added the whole thing of spice.

This one is beautifully cooked, it's cooked all the way through,

BUT it has got so much spice in.

It's just a shame,

cos, really, cooking-wise and texture-wise, they are delicious,

-but you know where you went wrong.

-Yeah.

-Good effort.

-Elizabeth.

They're quite thin and uneven and I didn't put much sugar on.

But you did get nearly the right number,

they've got a lovely colour...

Soft in the middle.

If you strike a thicker one, they're very good.

I really like these. If it was lacking in anything, to me,

it would be just the sugar.

Good stuff, I think you've done Wales very proud today, guys.

That's your first challenge over.

One left to go. Everything to bake for, good luck.

ALL: Thank you.

-That couldn't have gone any worse, frankly.

-Really?

I think, at the moment, my main competition is probably Elizabeth,

because her bakes are really good,

but I need to just bake my socks off.

It was really exciting to have James and Mary test my food,

I can't wait to the next round to see if they like my ideas.

I put all the spice in!

I know where I went wrong and they're completely right,

it's way too spicy, it's... I just put too much spice in.

Cos the standard is really high,

it might mean that I have to step up another level

and I'll try to do that in my next bake.

The bakers now face their final challenge,

their last chance to impress Mary and James.

OK, bakers, it's the Showstopper.

It's the challenge that stands between you

and a place in the semifinals.

Now, for this one, Mary and James would like you to enchant them

with a magical cake inspired by today's theme -

fairy tales.

Now, for this one, I'll be the Prince Charming, obviously,

and Beauty and the Beast.

So what are we looking for here, James?

Well, the beast will be looking for flavour,

which can be entirely up to you

and, of course, the texture of the cake can be up to you as well.

And the outside should have an impressive design,

an intricate decoration and a perfect finish.

Now, you've only got an hour and a half, good luck.

On your marks, get set, bake!

All right, how does this go? How does this work?

Fairy tale, what a wonderful subject.

There's always room for creativity and for flair.

We've got a very, very exciting afternoon ahead of us.

Time is really critical when it comes to baking something like this.

On one hand, you've got to decorate it nicely but, for me, really,

you've got to concentrate on the taste of it and what lies underneath.

To achieve a show-stopping fairy-tale cake,

our bakers will need sublime sponges, careful construction

and daring decorations.

And one baker's focus is on taste and texture.

I am baking oat, raisin and honey cake

cos it's like a porridge cake to represent the Three Little Bears.

Elizabeth's Goldilocks And The Three Bears porridge cake

will take the shape of a bed covered in two layers

of fondant icing complete with characters moulded from sugar paste.

How many times have you made this cake?

Three or four, cos it's like my own recipe, like,

I have a simple sponge recipe that we all use in my family,

so it's like off by heart

and I added some oats and stuff,

it's not like a recipe off the internet,

it's like, one that I thought of myself.

-Good luck.

-Thank you.

-Good luck.

I'm making a dragon cake,

because I didn't really want to do, like, Cinderella.

I thought people would do that, so it's a bit unique.

Monty's hand carving his fairy-tale dragon from two

chocolate sponges which he plans to cover in green butter icing

and top off with chocolate decorations,

but it could leave the judges breathing fire.

You might get a hint of chilli in, because it's chilli FLAKES

instead of chilli powder because it's fiery for a dragon.

And you've got the lime in there as the icing.

I've got the lime in the icing, you can really taste the lime.

-Sounds good to me.

-Thank you.

Well, I'm going to make

a two-layered Princess And The Pea style cake.

Cameron plans for his two-layered sponge cake to look like

two bed mattresses fit for a princess.

The sponges will be sandwiched with buttercream

and covered with fondant icing.

It's really rather a simple cake,

cos I just need to remember how to do everything.

I'm doing a Princess And The Pea cake.

Sound familiar?

And I'm putting four Madeira cakes,

I'm putting them on top of each other

with butter icing in the middle.

Just like Cameron, Katie's regal creation is inspired

by the Princess And The Pea.

Her version will feature four layered Madeira cakes

to represent four bed mattresses covered in butter icing

and there's a twist in store when it comes to the pea.

-Frozen peas in a cake?

-Yeah.

I've never had that before in my life.

Tell me how you feel about somebody else making

a Princess And The Pea cake, just over there.

I'm just going to do my best in what I'm doing

and then, he can obviously do what he is doing.

Are you taking a sneaky look, though?

Um...

-Come on!

-I haven't, really!

I bet he's not putting peas in his mixture.

-Yeah, I don't think he is.

-Well, there won't be many left to put in.

I don't know what you mean, Mary.

I forgot an egg!

I just forgot to add an egg.

I think it should be all right cos it's not even been in a minute yet.

So it's not cooked at all, so it should be absolutely fine.

-Well, here's hoping for an

-EGG-cellent

-comeback, Elizabeth.

I hope it's all right.

SHE SIGHS

That's half an hour left, guys. Half an hour now.

Our bakers will know if their cakes are ready

when the sponge has come away from the edge of their tin

or if they insert a metal skewer and it comes out clean.

That's nearly done, I'll give it a few more minutes.

Yeah? A few more minutes.

I'm just taking them out of the tin

and I'm about to put this... these two in the fridge.

Ow! Ooh.

At least it came out in one piece...

ish.

Determined to perfect this show-stopping dragon,

Monty has come prepared.

I drew out my template at home, so I just get to cut it out now.

But it's still pretty complicated.

While Monty carves out his dragon,

speedy Katie is stacking up the last of her sponge mattresses.

You know she's got four mattresses?

Just throwing it out there.

Do you think yours will be better than hers or...?

Well, I hope so.

I haven't got a princess to put on the top.

Yeah, how can you...? What are you going to do?

You're supposed to have a princess, you've only got a pea.

-I've only got a pea.

-It's just going to be...

the pea.

Well...

I got behind schedule again,

I thought I had enough time but I didn't,

my icing is melting.

Cake two is just over there.

I've got to get my act together.

-Look at that!

-I need some pillows.

-Right, I'm done.

-You're done already?

I can't believe...

lucky old Katie over there is finished.

Bakers, you've got five minutes left.

I think I'm going to have to go to plan B.

I've made two separate cakes.

That's one and this is one.

Plan B is that I just don't do anything with this one.

That's it, guys, your time is up, please stand away from your bakes.

I'm really nervous. Everyone else's is really good.

The Showstopper Challenge is over,

but only one will receive a fairy-tale ending.

It's down to James and Mary to decide who will go through

to the semifinal.

I'm really pleased the way my cake came out

and I've never made it as good as that before.

Elizabeth, you chose a very simple fairy tale

and I think you've interpreted it beautifully.

You can see it's nice and moist

and you get that with the honey. Often when you put in a lot

of ingredients like you've done in there, it can be quite heavy.

It's beautifully moist and the fruit is evenly distributed.

I quite like the texture of it, it's quite unusual.

-I think you've done really well with that. Well done.

-Well done.

Thank you.

I hope the judges like my cake

despite its underwhelming appearance.

I hope they'll say things like, "It tastes nice

"and it's got a good texture,"

and I really, really want to get through to the semifinals.

So, Cameron. How did that go?

Well, it could have gone better. I had to...

Well...I had to go to plan B,

which was just do one cake.

And what's happened to the princess?

She's in the toilet.

He's always thinking, I quite like that as a chef,

he's quite like that.

It's more of a sort of a melon,

wouldn't you sort of think, than a pea, really.

-Yeah, I suppose.

-Let's have a taste at the chocolate cake.

The cake itself is really good.

That is a beautiful chocolate cake,

it's just a matter of timing, Cameron.

But a good effort, well done.

I think I have done enough to get through to the semifinals.

It's just whether or not the other contestants have done more.

-So where are the peas?

-They're in the very bottom layer.

-There's one here, look, there's one there.

-Let me have a look.

Oh, there they are!

There are four layers, they're all equal and that is quite a skill.

They're very light.

I'm going to taste the bit with a pea in.

I'm not too sure whether peas in cake are going to catch on very much,

but to be honest, it doesn't actually taste that bad.

The bit without the peas in tastes a little bit nicer.

I think you've done very well with that.

The Showstopper bake went pretty well,

but I could have made it a bit neater,

cos it's pretty messy at the moment.

Do you know what I like about it? You built that from nothing.

You didn't need any special tins,

you didn't need any special equipment,

but we certainly have got a dragon there.

And you feel as though it's going to move forward, don't you?

Nice and light as well,

you can tell that when you lift it up, lovely and light.

I actually like chilli and chocolate,

I think it works really well together.

I have got some and it is quite nice.

You know what we like - we like originality and to be creative

and end up with a well-flavoured cake, we've got the lot.

We certainly have. Thanks.

All right, guys, well done.

Off to have a break now

and Mary and James are going to make a very big decision.

I'm not going to go through.

I think it's anyone's game at the moment.

You can write a book about The New Princess And The Pea.

Cameron's version - The Bed And The Melon!

Right, guys. Good day today. Let's start off with Cameron.

It would have been more sensible to just make one cake

-and have a thinner mattress, so to speak.

-Yeah.

It was a good effort, but I enjoyed the story more

than I enjoyed the cake. I thought it was quite funny -

the bed and the watermelon and the princess had gone to the toilet,

never to return, I thought it was fun.

He had a real problem with his Welsh cakes, he got the mixture all wrong.

Eventually, the six that turned out were reasonably OK.

Let's move on to Monty.

I thought he made a real effort with his cake

and he did it without any equipment, just one knife.

And it looked fun.

I know that chocolate and chilli work very well together,

-but with the lime icing, he did very, very well.

-His Technical...

He made 14, he did all right.

Right, let's move on to Katie.

To get all those Madeira cakes exactly the same height

before she put them together, now, that is skill.

I don't think fresh peas and cake are going to mix together really well,

-but a good effort.

-Katie's Technical Challenge.

Unfortunately, she didn't read the recipe properly and actually,

the texture was actually all there, it was the spice that just killed it.

Well, let's move on to Elizabeth.

Her cake, Goldilocks And The Three Bears,

I was delighted that she thought, "What do bears eat?"

They like honey and they like oats and things

and she incorporated all that into her mixture,

which really worked.

It's just a unique recipe on its own,

very different to what we're seeing today.

She did pretty well with her Welsh cakes,

because she coped well and she baked them properly.

Well, they're all very bold, creative,

but only one can go through

and that's up to you, guys, so good luck.

OK, bakers, well done, you should be very proud of yourselves.

Guys, the person that's going through to the semifinals...is...

..Monty.

APPLAUSE

Congratulations.

He deserves it because when it came to his Showstopper,

I thought it was outstanding.

I thought it was fantastic.

Again, it comes down to a confident baker

-and I thought he did extremely well and worthy to go through.

-Agreed.

How proud am I? Dead proud!

I was really surprised when my name got called out

and I'm feeling now I deserved it,

but bring on the semifinals!

Next time...

That is too thick!

..four more bakers bake their socks off...

It's really difficult.

..as they take on deliciously delicate cheese straws.

Quite worried.

That one is perfect.

And try to win over the judges with a monster of a Showstopper.

-Archie.

-Yeah?

You're the only person with red food colouring here.

But with only one place in the semifinal...

-Sugar!

-Oh!

..who will claim it?

If you fancy baking,

there's loads of Junior Bake Off recipes

waiting for you on the CBBC website.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd