Heat One Junior Bake Off

-We are back.

-Sam...?

-The tent is up.

-Not finished yet.

-We've got 40 new bakers.

-Got one thing left to do.

-There's going to be cakes, biscuits,

breads, pastries.

-One more peg.

-And, a brand-new judge joining Allegra.

-There's just one thing missing...

-All right, mate?

-Hiya, mate.

-Welcome...

-to brand-new...

-BOTH:

-Junior Bake Off.

When I made my very first cake,

it lit a spark inside me that wasn't there before.

Thousands of young bakers...

I can't imagine life without baking. It would just be so boring.

..from right across Britain applied.

My baking style is homely but exotic.

I love going wild in the kitchen.

I hope to be quite organised, but I don't think I probably will be.

Just 40 of the most talented made it through.

When I saw the tent for the first time I thought, was I dreaming?

I was, like, I can't believe it's actually the Bake Off tent.

It was just the best moment of my life.

Over the next three weeks...

Oh!

..they'll produce over 350 bakes...

Oh! It's OK.

..to be tasted and judged...

SAM CHEERS

..by chef and author Allegra McEvedy...

It is such a thrill to be back in the Junior Bake Off tent.

I want to see things put together in a way that makes me go,

"Oh, that is interesting."

So yummy!

Boom!

..and cookery writer and Bake Off winner Nadiya Hussain...

We're looking for somebody with passion, and we'll know

because it will be right there in their bakes.

Scrumdiddlyumptious!

..before one of them is crowned...

Please...

..Junior Bake Off Champion 2016.

The first four bakers to enter the Bake Off tent are about to face

two baking challenges.

At the end of today, one of them will be chosen to go through to the

quarterfinals in two weeks' time.

It's ginormous.

I thought it was all going to be bunched up

but it's really spacious.

As one of triplets, 11-year-old Abi from Perthshire

finds her bakes don't last long in her home.

I have two brothers.

I just bake and then they eat it.

Whether I want them to or not.

Harry from Hampshire is 12,

and dreams of combining baking with his love of surfing.

I'd really like to open a small restaurant on the beach side,

so I can sell my cakes, my food.

11-year-old Tyrese from London looks to his family's heritage

when it comes to his bakes.

I'm obsessed with St Lucia.

Even if I make a plain sponge cake,

I still try and add cinnamon and nutmeg

because I know that's quite popular in my country.

Nine-year-old Annabel from Norfolk

has her own little helper in the kitchen.

I'm a very messy baker.

I'm always dropping things on the floor for my dog.

But I don't believe they have hoover dogs in the tent,

so I'm going to be walking ankle deep in flour and sugar.

The first challenge is the Technical,

where the bakers have a surprise recipe sprung on them

to test their baking know-how.

Hello, bakers. Are you all right?

-Are you all right?

-THEY LAUGH

She was expecting Dick and Dom.

Oh! Sorry, sorry to disappoint you.

Now, before we get cracking we need to introduce you to our judges.

Would you like to meet them? Judges...!

So, we have Allegra.

Hey, bakers, good morning.

And our brand-new judge,

who is no stranger to the Bake Off tent, Nadiya.

Hello.

-The champ is here.

-Yeah!

You all right, Annabel?

THEY LAUGH

Look at her face. Oh, brilliant.

Right, bakers, today you have two challenges in front of you.

This morning the Technical, this afternoon the Showstopper,

and by the end of today

we will have our first quarterfinalist.

For your Technical today,

Allegra and Nadiya would like you to follow one of Allegra's recipes

for six red velvet whoopie pies.

Whoopie!

Now, judges, what are you looking for?

They need to be the same size,

crunchy on the outside and cakey in the middle.

And we'd like a thick and fluffy filling that holds its consistency.

Before we get cracking, guys, have you all washed your hands?

-Excellent.

-You've got one hour and 15 minutes to complete

this Technical. On your marks.

-Get set.

-BOTH:

-Bake.

I'm pleased about the new judge because she won the adult Bake Off,

so it's nice to meet her.

Allegra, these look like so much fun, but they look tricky.

What we want is a bit of crunchiness around the outside,

cakeyness in the middle, and a lot of fun fluff.

And the meringue filling,

our bakers have to really whip it up so it's a nice thick consistency,

so that when they pipe it we can see those lovely ridges.

-Let's go and try it.

-Yeah.

-Mmmm.

-Yummy sounds.

Definitely got the crunch, definitely got the cakeyness,

and the creaminess to the filling

with the little bit of chewy marshmallow.

That's a really great whoopie pie.

Butter, sugar...

Whoopie pies originate in America.

They get their name from the noise children make

when they find them in their lunchbox - whoopie!

"Cream butter and sugar, then add eggs one at a time."

"Add the oil and vanilla bean paste and food colouring."

Red velvet cake gets its deep colour from red food dye...

Oh, that's perfect.

..while cocoa powder adds to its distinct taste.

-Hi, Tyrese.

-Good morning.

-Hi.

-Have you made a red velvet cake before?

I've made red velvet cake, but not whoopie pies.

So you know what colour you're looking for?

-Yeah.

-Yeah?

-Is that red enough?

-Mm-hm.

-Yeah?

-Yeah.

You look like quite a tidy baker.

-I'm not, I'm not.

-Is it just that it's the beginning of the day?

-Yeah.

-Well, good luck.

-Yeah.

Make sure you give us a good reason to whoopie later on.

Now I'm adding the dry ingredients into the mixture...

..and then I will add some of the milk in

and it's to make it have

a sort of wettish, cakey batter.

I think.

Half... About there...

-Hey, Harry.

-Hi there.

-How's it going?

I feel like standing back slightly,

I feel like I might get covered in red if I get too close.

Show us your hands.

-Oh!

-Wow.

-You look like you've been in a bad horror movie.

Apart from the mess, Harry, how's the bake going?

I think it's going quite well.

Have you made a red velvet before, then?

No, but I've made the whoopies before.

-Oh, you have?

-Yeah. I'm hoping that

I can try and do the same with the red velvet.

Good luck. It's coming on nicely - nice, smooth batter.

In order to achieve six uniform whoopie pies,

the bakers should pipe out 12 equal amounts of batter.

One, two, three, four.

Wait, I'll do it here.

One, two, three, four.

I pipe a lot usually, so

I'm not really worried about the piping part that much.

If you're going to try baking at home,

make sure an adult is on hand to help.

Oh, my God, that's a good oven.

Bakers, you have had 45 minutes, you've got half an hour left.

That isn't as long as I thought I had.

While the whoopie pies are in the oven,

the bakers need to make the meringue filling.

Make the marshmallow fluff by whisking the egg whites.

Which egg whites?

Oh, they're here, is that...? Oh, yeah, that's cool.

As these meringues won't be cooked, it's best to use really fresh eggs.

So, I've just started to mix the egg whites, the liquid glucose,

the corn syrup, and I'm just about to add the vanilla extract.

Using the stand mixer allows the bakers to add the ingredients

while the meringue builds up to a thick, fluffy consistency.

"When whites are fluffy, add the glucose."

I'm looking for a light, fluffy consistency,

so that when I add the icing sugar,

it makes it a bit more thick and glossy.

Gradually adding the icing sugar helps it dissolve.

Annabel, have we come at a good time?

-Er, not really.

-Do you want a hand with that?

-Yeah.

-You hold that.

-You hold that, and Sam'll do that.

-Are we putting all this in?

-No, just a bit.

-Just a bit.

-A bit. Just a bit.

-Is that all right?

-Yeah, thank you.

-You're welcome.

WHIRRING AND CLUNKING

-You can add the rest.

-Add the rest, add the rest, all of it.

There we go, boom. Excellent.

LOUD WHIRRING

Move away.

-That was a decent effort.

-Nice. Nice work. Round of applause.

-Well done.

-Beautiful.

-Well done.

It's quite stiff.

The mixture should hold its shape and not fall from the spoon.

OK, I guess

that might be it...

I don't know. I read the recipe quite thoroughly.

I'm going to pour this in. It'll be easier than using a spoon.

Come on, come on, come on, come on.

I think they need about two more minutes.

Move.

Bakers, you have just ten minutes left.

Once the bakes have cooled,

the bakers can begin piping their meringue filling.

Yeah, they're cool...

This did not work.

Get in the bag, get in the bag, get in the bag, all of it,

all of it in the bag. Yes!

A considerably large amount went in the bag.

I'm happy.

No, not happy.

I'm just piping the meringue on.

I'm now putting my marshmallows onto my whoopies.

I've never made it, so I think I'll have to say I'm happy with it.

OK, bakers, that is it, whoopie!

You're finished.

Voila.

Well done, bakers, if you would all like to, please,

bring your whoopie pies up to the gingham altar,

and they will be judged.

From what they look like, I'm not sure how they taste,

but I'm hoping that they taste good and that the judges will like them.

I hope that the judges will say the cake is really nice,

but I want them to recognise the fact that I made a mistake.

Usually I'm quite a clean cooker,

but I think it was because I was in a bit of a rush.

I'm hoping they won't take that down on my scores today.

The judges were looking for six whoopie pies that were crunchy

on the outside, cakey on the inside,

with a thick, fluffy meringue filling which holds its consistency.

So, Harry, they look really nice.

Yeah, they're all even sized,

and on the filling you've got the definition in your piping,

so you have a nice, firm mixture.

-Yes.

-Yeah.

This is better than good.

It's got a crunch on the outside, it's cakey in the middle,

and the filling held shape. Really impressed.

All in all, Harry, that is a great whoopie pie.

Sure is.

Let's go onto Abi.

What I really like about yours is that when I come down to table level

they are all exactly the same height.

You see that? Look at that. It's practically...

You could play football on that.

-SAM AND MARK:

-Yeah.

-My knees are going now, let's get up.

OK.

I see what you've done, though.

So you've put them on back to front.

What you wanted was to put that bit on the inside.

But it tastes delicious, I'm sure.

-Yummy.

-It's just funny how actually having that the wrong way round,

it's affected the eat,

-because you don't get the crunch-crunch as you go in.

-Yeah.

But apart from that, nice thickness and good fluff.

Thank you.

Tyrese, lovely, lovely piping.

Your whoopies, I've got a slight fear they're going to taste a little

overcooked. Do you think you overcooked them?

Yeah, I think so, maybe.

Nice whoopie pie. Two minutes over, I would have said.

You make up for it with that meringue, though.

-It's the best meringue on the table.

-Good job.

-Thank you.

Annabel, they are identical.

Underneath the fingerprints, they're identical.

Yeah, but the meringue is really runny.

Just more beating, more beating, until it gets nice and firm.

That is a simple thing to learn for next time.

That is delicious.

I'm going like this because it's got lots of bounce in the cake.

All you needed was that meringue to go right, and it would have held it

all together really nicely.

Allegra and Nadiya will now decide

which two of our bakers made the best whoopie pies.

In no particular order, the first of our top two...

..is Harry,

for giving us an excellent cakey, crunchy combo.

And the second person is...

-Tyrese, for your absolutely exceptional meringue.

-Thank you.

Tyrese, Harry, congratulations.

Abi, Annabel, not to worry, it is still all to play for.

-I think you should come and taste these whoopie pies.

-Yeah.

To come in the top two of the Technical Challenge

felt absolutely incredible.

And all my hard work definitely paid off.

-TYRESE:

-Everyone would say that about their own bakes, but

I'm telling you they were SO nice. Like, so nice.

I didn't do the meringue right,

and they pointed that out like they should have.

So, yeah.

After following a recipe in the Technical, the bakers are now

on their own in the Showstopper with a cake of their choice.

And like me, it's gravity-defying.

Enough of that now, come on.

All right, Sam, can you help me...?

Welcome to your Showstopper Challenge.

For this, Nadiya and Allegra would like you to bake

a gravity-defying cake.

For example, you could create a plane taking off into the sky,

-but it's not a plane. It's cake.

-It's cake.

Or, you could create Mark's head waking up in the morning

with his little hair sticking up and his sleepy eyes.

-But it's not Mark, it's cake.

-It's cake.

You've got one hour and 30 minutes.

-On your marks.

-Get set.

-BOTH:

-Bake.

Today's Showstopper is an anti-gravity cake,

and it has to have some element of illusion about it.

Nadiya and I need to be tricked just for a second.

This challenge is as much about engineering as it is about baking.

As they create the levitating effect they have to think about weight,

because what could happen is if it gets too heavy at the top,

it could collapse.

-Hi, Harry.

-Hi there.

Tell us about all the flavours that are going into this cake.

Lemon, orange, parsnip, apple.

-And the vision?

-The vision is going to be an elephant on a water spout.

Nice. Nice, where did that come from?

When I was younger, I had a birthday card which was that picture on the

front, so it inspired me to make that cake and I thought, "Why not?"

Harry's elephant will be shooting out of a three-layer cake.

It will be sandwiched with lemon and orange buttercream,

and he'll create a marbled icing to represent the fountain.

I think the trickiest bit of this bake will be rolling out the

fondant icing, because you have to roll it out very far

and make sure it's not too thin.

This is to represent being a triplet.

My brothers support Man U, and then my other brother supports Chelsea

so we're doing those colours.

I'm just doing a chocolate one because I'm not into football.

Abi's also using chocolate in her buttercream to sandwich together her

triplet cakes. And her anti-gravity element will be a bag of sweets

pouring into a bowl.

I'm going to have a pick 'n' mix bag like this pouring down sweets,

to show that everything we had,

we had to have an even amount in those bowls

otherwise there would be an argument.

So these are my brothers.

This one is Sam and that one's Jamie.

Sometimes we get on, other times we don't.

-Tell us what you're making, Annabel.

-A Bonfire Night cake.

A Bonfire Night cake!

So where's the inspiration come from?

Me and my dog's birthdays are both really near Bonfire Night

and I would just really love all of the smells

and everything to do with it.

You and your DOG'S birthday?

Yeah, me and my dog.

-Your dog?

-Dog, D-O-G, dog.

-Dog.

-Dog.

Woof!

Annabel's cake will be flavoured with apple.

It will be sandwiched together with caramel buttercream

and home-made ginger jam.

So what's going to be on your cake, Annabel?

-Erm, flames...

-Oh, nice! Oh, they look lovely.

-Lovely.

And this is my rocket.

-Oh, wow.

-Oh, that's fantastic.

So, is this going to be, like, the defying gravity moment,

-the rocket shooting up into the sky?

-Yeah.

-Got you.

I'm making a pot of soup.

It comes from St Lucia.

My gran makes it all the time.

It has dumplings, different types of meat,

and it's also got vegetables in it,

and there's going to be soup pouring from a ladle.

Tyrese's St Lucian soup will be made of a home-made caramel sauce.

His cake will be flavoured with fresh apples,

traditional St Lucian spices,

and layered with Italian meringue buttercream.

What have you spiced it with?

I've spiced it with cinnamon and nutmeg.

-Nice.

-Have you practised this much?

Yeah. Every other weekend.

And it came out really nice.

Can't wait to taste your... soup that tastes like cake.

15 minutes and then I check.

If they're not done, they'll go in for another five.

One hour to go.

I'm making my buttercream.

You have to get the butter in first, and add

a little bit of icing sugar at a time.

To make his Italian meringue buttercream

Tyrese is heating sugar syrup,

which he'll add to his egg whites once whipped.

What could go wrong is that you don't whip this enough,

you add the butter when it's too hot, or your syrup is too thin,

and then after it will just be, like, really runny.

-HARRY:

-I'm putting orange and lemon zest together,

because I like it when my buttercream is very zesty

because it brings out the flavour of the parsnip a bit more.

-TYRESE:

-If you add it too slow,

then the egg whites might start to cook unevenly.

Might bring that out.

I'm going to stick them in the freezer for ten minutes

so they can cool down.

Then they'll be good enough to layer up and fondant.

Bakers, you've got 45 minutes left.

I'm trying to make a wavy effect,

with two shades of blue and a shade of white.

I have a lot to do. So it's really hard.

This bit here is probably the moment of truth to get the icing on.

I'm liking Harry's blue fondant.

The effect of the marbling is gorgeous.

And it's just slipped off a bit there.

You usually expect a few cracks.

Usually the crack's not this big.

So I'm just going to try and cover it up a bit

and see if I can smooth it back.

Oh, it's all cracked.

It hasn't broken like this before.

So I'm going to try and stick some of the sweets on where the gap is,

and almost turn it into a bit of a wave.

With their cakes assembled,

the bakers can start creating

the all-important gravity-defying elements.

To make my anti-gravity...

I've just got straws, and I'm going to

stick sweets up the straw.

I just need to work fast because the icing is quite runny

from the heat of the tent.

-TYRESE:

-These are the dumplings.

That's my caramel to represent the soup.

That goes there.

Just two minutes left, bakers.

I'm just putting icing into this so it can go on top.

I've made such a mess of this.

I was hoping that it would be a bit more straight,

because it looks like it's falling.

They're just falling off and everything,

it's the worst thing that could have happened.

Done.

Right, bakers, that is it.

Your Showstopper Challenge is finished.

I'm pleased it's over, because

I'm exhausted.

It's a really fun cake.

If you saw that in the window of a cake shop you'd stop,

you'd look at it, you'd smile automatically.

It looks like a bag of sweets pouring into a bowl

on top of a cake, which is a thing of beauty.

Going in, going in.

Wow.

-Look at that.

-Great colours.

-Mm.

-Mm.

That's perfectly-baked chocolate cake. It's delicious.

Really, really yummy.

I had a few mishaps where the ladle wasn't too good,

but I think I've done well.

Tyrese, I am blown away by your Showstopper.

I know you had a little bit of trouble with the ladle,

but that's the nature of fondant. If you pack too much on,

it gets really heavy, so you have to be careful.

But I love the way you've given us a little bit of carrot,

and half dumplings, and the meat.

Oh! That is a cake, Tyrese.

Look at that!

It's light, but it's rich, but it's creamy,

and then you put apple and spices, and it's so, what's the word?

Scrumdiddlyumptious!

That is a dream eat, Tyrese.

-Thank you very much.

-Well done, mate.

I think my fondant icing on the top could have gone a bit better,

but I'm hoping my flavouring

will make up for it.

Harry, your elephantine fountain is absolutely blowing me away.

We were so impressed with your icing.

We had a little bit of a situation here, but do you know what?

If you have a situation, cover it in jelly babies,

it's not a bad thing.

-Wow.

-We can see three layers there.

Was it meant to have buttercream in between?

-Yeah.

-Because your cakes are still warm

-what's happened is, they've melted in.

-Yeah.

That is not Dumbo but yum-bo.

SAM LAUGHS

The first flavour is the apple, you've got the spicing there,

parsnip comes through at the end,

but we're just going to show you the boo-boo.

See that pooling in there?

Yeah. That's where it melted down the middle.

It's a cracking cake, though.

Everything tastes nice, just the presentation

is a little bit dodgy.

It's certainly gravity-defying.

You've been really clever to have that icing come down, and I'm really

interested because you've got lovely flavours in there

that match your kind of flamey top.

The cake is just about on the cooked side.

Do you like your ginger fiery?

That is on fire. That is delicious.

That there judging was the most nerve-racking part.

Yeah, definitely.

Judges, great day.

We have to talk about the elephant in the room. Harry's cake.

You know, we wanted anti-gravity, and that is

an elephant on a spout of water.

But those are supposed to be

layers of buttercream between those sponges.

But it's all just soaked in because the cakes were warm.

Tyrese, he was annoyed with himself because the ladle wasn't upright.

-Tyrese is clearly a perfectionist.

-You'd have to say, though,

the imagination of the delivery is really something to behold.

Let's go on to Abi.

The cake was really tasty.

And I actually do think that looks like sweets coming out of a bag.

Difficult decision, then,

cos obviously the boys were in your top two this morning.

It seems like they are in your top two this afternoon.

It's definitely between the boys.

Bakers, well done. You have all done tremendously well today.

Allegra and Nadiya have chosen their quarterfinalist.

This person is not only an impressive technical baker,

but they also bake from the heart.

The person going through to the quarterfinal is...

..Tyrese.

APPLAUSE

Well done, Tyrese.

It means a lot to me to be going through to the quarterfinals.

I'm 80-something percent happy

and, like, 50-something percent ecstatic.

-Can you believe it?

-No.

Tyrese showed flair today,

and that's why we put him through to the quarterfinals.

Full of imagination. Delicious, delicious cake.

He has potential winner written all over him.

'Next time...

'It gets noisy in the tent,

'a guest chef stirs it up...'

Bake your cake!

'..for a Showstopper...'

Oh, no.

'..that's straight from the heart.'

Love everywhere.