Heat Two Junior Bake Off

They've let us back to continue our search

for Britain's best young baker.

Nadiya and Allegra have two challenges up their sleeves for

four more young baking hopefuls. Mark, what are you doing?

Well, you said baking was a whisky business. So... (Yeah!)

No, I said it was a RISKY business.

Well, I better put these back then, hadn't I? Ha-ha!

Welcome to Junior Bake Off.

-Today...

-Cover your ears!

-..it's noisy in the tent...

-..with a nutty technical.

-HE SIGHS

-A guest chef stirs it up...

-Bake your cake!

-..for a show-stopper...

-Oh, it's OK.

-..that could break your heart.

Oh, no.

At the end of today, one of these four intrepid bakers...

THEY GASP

..will be going through to the quarterfinals.

-But who will it be?

-Why would I need a pizza cutter?

Nigel from Northamptonshire is ten

and his favourite subject at school is maths.

Baking, definitely lit a spark inside me.

Before this I was just a little nerd boy who liked counting up figures.

It's like a calling to me now. If I don't do it, I do not feel right.

-Are these your peanuts?

-SHE LAUGHS

Shriyana from Swansea is 11 and wants to combine baking

-with her goal of becoming a doctor.

-Oh!

I want to encourage people to, like, eat healthy.

I'm not saying cut all the sweetness out of your life,

but, like, just have a limit.

12-year-old Billy from Wiltshire

bakes for his mum, who can't eat wheat.

It's really hard to buy stuff from the shop that is gluten-free.

It makes me feel really happy

when I bake my mum something she hasn't tried before.

And 11-year-old Evie from Leicestershire

uses baking as her inspiration.

I like writing.

I wrote a story, like, about a chef who couldn't make toast!

The first challenge is the technical,

where the bakers are given a surprise recipe to follow.

This will test their baking instinct.

Guys, welcome to the Junior Bake Off tent.

-Are you happy to be here?

-Yeah.

For your Technical Challenge today, Nadiya and Allegra would like you to

follow one of Nadiya's recipes for peanut butter squares.

These shortbread biscuits,

are covered in a layer of home-made peanut butter

and topped with chocolate.

Lovely! Judges, words of wisdom, please.

When we look at it, we want to see three definite layers.

And it needs to hold that form

when you cut it and then melt in the mouth.

Excellent. Before we go any further, let's have a look at your hands.

-Have you washed them?

-Yeah!

-Of course you have.

Guys, you have one hour and 20 minutes to complete this technical.

The best of luck. On your marks...

-Get set...

-BOTH:

-Bake!

I've made shortbread a lot before.

It's quite easy to work with.

I think we know, since its Nadiya's recipe, it's going to be delicious.

I am a big fan, a big fan of her work

and I'm looking forward to being judged by her.

These squares are a combination

of three of the things I absolutely love.

Shortbread, peanut butter and chocolate and we're asking them

to make the peanut butter.

You can see they've got those three

very exact layers and that's what we're looking for.

The palette knife will be their friend.

First comes the shortbread, nice and crunchy,

bit sweet and then the smoothness and richness of that peanut butter

to finish you off with a delicious chocolaty flavour.

I'd love to see nine equal squares.

That's EXACTLY how they should be.

I'm just mixing the flour, butter and sugar to make the shortbread.

'If you want to bake, tell an adult first.'

It's quite crumbly, but not too crumbly.

It's really exciting baking in the Bake Off tent.

I've never actually been inside something this big.

This whole work surface is even bigger than my own kitchen.

Press the shortbread mixture into the tin.

I'm putting it in the corners first and working my way into the middle

to make a smooth, level surface.

Just need to move them about a bit.

Hey, Billy - that looks nice and even.

Have you ever made shortbread before?

I've made shortbread before,

but because my mum's got coeliac disease,

so she can't have any gluten.

So I have to use gluten-free flour, which is harder because it doesn't

-stretch.

-It doesn't have those gluten strands.

What's your favourite thing to make for her?

I made her croissants for her once and she hadn't tried croissants for

-a very long time.

-Awww, that's lovely.

-I just need to get this in the oven.

-Do it now, Billy. Just go ahead.

'It is essential the shortbread is baked for just the right amount of time.'

This has got to go in for 20 minutes.

'A minute too long and it will lose its short, crumbly texture.'

I'm now making the peanut butter.

So this will be in the centre of the square.

'Peanut oil is added to bind the mixture

'and honey balances the saltiness of the nuts.'

-Nice.

-Cover your ears!

MIXER WHIRS

-SHOUTING: So, Nigel!

-Yeah?

You enjoying being in the Bake Off tent?

-Yeah, it's awesome here!

-Good!

-What?

-I think he said it's brilliant here.

What about your ears?

-Oh.

-I hear on the Bake Off grapevine

that you have given all the other bakers nicknames.

-Is this true?

-Indeed.

-Talk us through 'em.

We have Corporal Evie,

Lieutenant Shriyana,

Sergeant Billy and Captain Nigel.

-Captain Nigel!

-Of course you're the captain, Nigel!

-You need to think of a nickname for me and Mark.

-OK. Sir Sam.

Sir Sam! Just so we know now, everyone, I am now Sir Sam.

-OK?

-Come on, Nigel.

-Give me my nickname.

-Sir Sam and...?

If you don't be patient, I'll nickname you Queen Mark.

-Queen Mark! So be patient!

-I WILL be patient.

Break up chocolate and butter and place on a bowl,

on a saucepan of simmering water.

The steam is heating up the bowl, so the chocolate's melting.

You need to wait a very long time just to get it right and then the

perfect temperature until it's all gooey.

Shortbread? Oh, no. It's all right. Oh, no, it's got eight seconds.

OVEN BEEPS

I think that's ready.

That looks done.

Yeah, I'm happy with this.

I can tell it's baked properly because it's a light, golden colour.

It's important to put it in the fridge so it cools, otherwise

the peanut butter, when it goes on, it will just melt.

Fridge, fridge, fridge, fridge.

I'm putting my peanut butter on the warm shortbread.

Usually you should wait a minute,

but my peanut butter's been out for a while.

I think I've got pretty much the head start on most people.

The shortbread has been in the freezer for five minutes.

It needs to be quite cool.

I'm putting honey on top of the shortbread because it acts like glue

for the peanut butter to stay in place.

I need to make it so it's even

because when they cut into the shortbread,

it will be equal layers.

Bakers, you've got 20 minutes left.

This is where everything kind of comes together

and hopefully, it should work.

If you look over at Billy there, he is the clean master.

He hasn't got a thing dirty.

Where when you come over here, you've got a bit of a mess.

It says place tin in fridge freezer until set.

Bakers, you have ten minutes left.

Sir Sam has spoken.

(It's not freezing.)

I'm getting really nervous now.

Chocolate hasn't set yet, so I need to wait a little longer for that.

Bakers, come on now, you've only got five minutes left.

I don't know if we'll have enough time.

It's just the chocolate. The chocolate's not freezing.

-Are we all in the same position?

-Yeah.

-Who's taking it out first?

-Who's going to take it?

-You're making us nervous. Come on.

-I think I'll have to.

-Oh!

-I have to.

-Billy's doing it.

-You're on!

-I think it's all right. I'm going to have to do it.

If the chocolate doesn't set,

it will all run off the sides and we want it

to be, like, neat and precise.

There we go. That looks decent.

Nine equal square-size pieces.

Oh, no.

Bakers, you've got one minute.

TIMER BEEPS

Some of them are a little bit bigger.

Oh, dear! This one's fallen apart. I don't want to use that one.

I'm going to cut it off, then they'll be a bit more even.

And there are my eight, not nine, chocolate squares.

OK, bakers. Stop what you're doing. That is it!

Pfft!

Would you now please bring your peanut butter squares

and place them behind your picture?

The judges are looking for nine uniform squares

with three distinct layers

and a melt-in-the-mouth shortbread.

-ALLEGRA:

-Let's start.

Billy, at first glance it looks like a good job.

We've got nine squares. You've presented them very evenly.

You can see we've got distinct layers.

The chocolate and then the peanut butter and the shortbread

and I can see you've got a lovely golden shortbread.

So we need it to hold here, which it has.

It's nice. You get the sweetness of the shortbread and a good amount of

crunch and then the saltiness of the peanuts and it finishes off with the

chocolate. It's like a story in your mouth. Very nice indeed.

What she said. THEY LAUGH

Couldn't have put it better myself.

Evie, we've got nine.

They're not equal. We've got rectangles.

But I have to say, I quite like the texture on your chocolate.

Did you do that deliberately? Did you want a little bit of texture?

You can't really fault that. Very nice layering.

You have got a good texture to your peanut butter.

Yours is very, very smooth.

But then with the chocolate, you get more bite to it because it has set

and that is a positive for me.

Nigel, you've got eight. We asked for nine.

-Where did the other guy go?

-He didn't hold together.

OK, if you'd just brushed a little bit more honey on top before you put

the peanut butter on, that would have stuck it on.

That's a very nice eat, Nigel.

You've got a thin layer of peanut butter but that means I can taste

that shortbread and it's really crumbly and yummy and delicious.

Solid job, you should be very proud of yourself.

Shriyana, we've got nine pretty equal squares.

Where the chocolate's set you can see we've got

those three distinct layers which is what we were looking for.

But where it hasn't, it's come away slightly.

-Do you want to try it?

-The shortbread is well cooked.

You've gone lighter on your chocolate.

For me, that's a very nice balance between the three components.

There's a bit more of a crunch to your peanut butter.

You didn't blitz it until it was completely smooth.

Otherwise, that's lovely.

SAM: Nadiya and Allegra will now reveal which two sets of shortbread

peanut butter squares they thought were the best.

NADIYA: So, in no particular order, the first of our top two

is Evie for giving us deliciously melt-in-the-mouth shortbread

and a perfectly set chocolate.

And the other baker

is Billy for his fantastic layers

and perfect military uniformity.

I'm really happy. I can't believe I've just come in the top two.

It felt really amazing to have my bakes judged for the first time

because they've never been judged professionally before.

In meeting Nadiya, who won last year's Great British Bake Off,

I mean... I have not got no words.

It's absolutely incredible!

Did you know that if you took a year's worth of peanut butter

consumed by Americans you could

-cover the entire floor of the Grand Canyon?

-Oh, yeah?

Did you also know the reason peanut butter gets stuck to the roof of

your mouth is because it's full of protein and protein

-sucks out all the moisture.

-Huh?

Did you also know that arachibutyrophobia is the fear

-of getting peanut butter stuck to the roof of your mouth?

-Mmm...

Aaaargh!

Classic arachibutyrophobia there.

Next up, the Showstopper.

-Are you all right, mate?

-Argh!

Bakers, Allegra and Nadiya would like you to bake a birthday cake for

someone you love.

Now, think about the flavours here. So if it's for your gran,

maybe a lemon drizzle or for your brother maybe even a chocolate cake.

Or if it is for your dog, beef and tripe!

You've got one hour and 30 minutes

to express your love through the medium of cake.

-On your marks...

-Get set...

-BOTH:

-Bake!

I've practised this at home quite a few times,

so hopefully it will pay off.

It's a show-stopper. We want to see them go all out.

All that love and all that appreciation on the cake,

but the inside is equally as important.

It has to taste delicious.

It's really important the bakers have a vision.

It's got to be about that person.

Oh, I got a bit of shell in it.

I'm going to make the classic Victoria sandwich for my mum.

The best way to make a birthday cake is to make one of her favourite

cakes. At least that's the logic I'm going on.

-MARK:

-Nigel's Victoria sponge

will be sandwiched together with home-made strawberry jam.

He'll top it off with buttercream icing and decorate

with a fondant inscription and roses.

My mum absolutely loves, and I mean LOVES, flowers,

so I'm going to theme it around a garden so that,

not only will it be her favourite kind of cake, but also some of

the things she loves. So, love everywhere.

I'm making a birthday cake for my sister.

It's a seaside theme, because we like going to the seaside together.

I'm doing it British-themed,

so it's going to have three layers with different colours

to represent the British flag.

Evie's patriotic cake will be made up of blueberry,

lemon and raspberry sponge

and smothered in a white chocolate ganache

which she'll dye blue.

She'll decorate with home-made seaside-themed fondant.

This is the lemon layer for the white colour of the British flag.

I'm doing zest AND juice.

Like Evie, Billy's also flavouring his cake.

I'm making a chocolate skate cake for my brother.

And it's also gluten-free.

It's like the skate ramp, so it starts at one end and will do a dip.

Billy's skate ramp will be sandwiched together with apricot jam

and chocolate ganache, and covered in a home-made fondant icing,

and decorated with fondant skateboarders.

-ALLEGRA:

-Hi, Billy.

-Hi.

So, how are we going to make these, like a half pipe?

-Stack 'em up?

-Yes, stack them up in four.

But because it's gluten-free, they might not rise as much.

I think this sounds really interesting.

I do love a carved birthday cake.

I'm about to spread it into my two tins.

-MARK:

-While most of the bakers are using the classic sponge mix

for the base of their cakes, Shriyana is using a larger quantity

of butter which gives it its name.

I'm making a butter cake.

It's a summer theme.

The inspiration is my mum, because my mum loves a butter cake.

Shriyana's two-tiered summertime cake will be covered in chocolate

ganache, fresh berries, and she'll

hand pipe her mum a birthday greeting.

NADIYA: How long are you going to bake these for?

-45-60 minutes.

-Really?

And does that give you enough time to cool them down and get them

-ready for decoration?

-Yes.

I've practised it all at home with the timings.

-ALLEGRA:

-She's got her work cut out.

Got plenty of time, so no need to rush.

Done! Phew!

-Half an hour, they've got to go in for.

-TIMER BEEPS

Oh, no!

-I've forgotten the milk and butter.

-Ah. And it's in the oven?

-Yeah.

-Did you just put it in the oven?

-No, longer.

Might be able to get it out.

-Let's have a look.

-They've started to bake. I think I'll leave it.

It'll be fine. Don't let it get in your head.

With their bakes in the oven,

the bakers can now focus on their fillings.

I'm just melting the chocolate.

My ganache will go in between the layers of the cake.

I'm just making buttercream icing to assemble my cakes, and to pipe.

On the inside, I'm a bit nervous,

but I think I'll get there.

-MARK:

-Hiya. How you doing?

-Hi.

I've heard, Evie, that you've got a little chef friend? Here he is!

-This is DeChef.

-SAM LAUGHS

Has DeChef got an accent?

-Yes, I have!

-THEY LAUGH

-Can I be DeChef?

-Please welcome DeChef.

Hello! I am DeChef!

Bake your cake!

-OK!

-You want to get in the quarterfinals, don't you?

-Yes.

-Bake it!

-OK!

I think they're ready to come out.

That is a nice, light golden brown, which is just what you want.

I would've hoped they would have risen a bit more.

Bakers, you only have half an hour left.

They look good, but I'm not sure that they're slightly overcooked.

Hopefully they're not.

I've sort of had to improvise cos it hasn't risen as much as I

expected. It's gone a bit crispy.

So it's not carving as well as I thought.

They're still quite warm.

I'm just going to have to start assembling it.

I'm just spreading some home-made strawberry jam.

It really tastes better than bought jam!

Maybe it's because you know that effort's gone into it

and with bought jam, you just think that robots have made it!

Ah, it's starting to melt! I'm going to put it in the freezer.

Oooh!

I've just now got to put some writing on

and then I will be done.

Bakers, it's getting a bit intense, now. You've only got ten minutes.

This is ganache, that I'm putting on.

I really enjoy decorating. It's one of the best parts.

-How are we doing?

-Just for a little sparkle, I like things bright.

I do like things very nice and bright.

And now... Ooh, it's OK. I've got it.

I've just put the concrete icing on.

Oh!

Hopefully this will set in time.

-Would you like this in the freezer?

-Yes.

-OK.

-HIGH-PITCHED:

-Like a glove!

Bakers, we've only got five minutes left.

A lot of nervous faces out there.

-Probably need to get the cake out.

-Yeah.

Oh, no.

-Ooh!

-(Flat, flat, flat - that's it, that's it!)

Oh!

Well done!

Yes! Yes!

-You OK?

-Yeah.

-Sure?

-Under pressure, Nigel.

Bakers, that's it!

Step away from your birthday cakes.

It went horrible.

Nigel, what a lovely cake. Love your roses.

Your letters that you cut out from the fondant, that's a tricky,

tricky job, and they are very nicely done.

-Wow.

-Nigel, you've made one or two of these before, haven't you?

-Maybe a couple.

-Maybe a couple of hundred?

-Maybe 10, 20, 50, maybe?

-THEY LAUGH

Tastes to me like my childhood. Absolutely beautiful.

And you made the jam yourself?

-Yeah.

-Delicious, and delicious.

Commander A, congratulations, Corporal.

You just got promoted.

That is a very big cake!

And I can tell that you practise your piping.

It's not quite finished in the perfect way that you foresaw, but,

as a mother, if my daughter gave that to me,

I would be proud as punch.

Let's go in.

Look at that! It's still warm.

Was there a layer of buttercream in the middle that's just

-slightly melted?

-Yeah, yeah.

The top one's slightly overbaked,

but the one underneath is baked perfectly.

The ganache is lovely. Really smooth.

Very nice, though. Well done.

Billy, if I was an eight-year-old, I would be very happy to get this.

I can tell it's a skate park.

-Looks like it needs renovating...

-Yeah!

THEY LAUGH

..but I can tell it's a skate park!

I know you struggled a little bit with the fondant icing.

Actually, I think it works in your favour.

It's so creative, so colourful.

It's a cross between a brownie and a sticky toffee pudding.

With a little bit of fudge cake thrown in.

-With a bit of fudge cake.

-Gluten-free baking.

It's very hard. You then forgot the milk.

But you have absolutely pulled it round, Billy.

-It's delicious.

-Thanks.

Oh, wow, Evie, I do like to be beside the seaside.

What imagination.

I love the creativity.

That just makes me smile.

That is what a birthday cake is all about!

I'm expecting bright, bold colours.

-Is that what we're going to get?

-Yeah, hopefully.

-Oh...

-That's what we've got!

-Very nice indeed.

-I'm going to taste them individually because you've

-flavoured this one with raspberry.

-Mm-hm.

-Mm!

-Lemon?

-Mm-hm.

Blueberry?

And I get raspberry and lemon and blueberry.

And that is very cool.

It's an absolutely fantastic cake.

-Thank you.

-You're the first person who's ever served me

a cake on a bucket. Thank you!

-NIGEL:

-Evie's was such a good cake!

Evie's was so colourful!

I really liked how one was big. You had three...

-Three whole tiers!

-I know!

So, judges, here we are again!

-Another lovely day in the tent.

-And your lovely faces.

Which I can hardly see over the top of Shriyana's huge cake.

-How did she get on?

-It's beautifully piped.

That's quite a tough thing to do.

But she just had such big cakes

that she left herself no time for the cooling and decoration.

Nigel did a very simple cake, but he did it very well.

It's a great, classic Victoria sponge.

-Let's speak about Billy.

-You got

this lovely kind of gooey, mud cakey,

-brownie texture.

-You can see that, yeah.

-Absolutely delicious.

And for me, cos I'm a Londoner, I'm urban to the core,

I love this sort of very rough street scene that's going on here.

Evie - you had high praise indeed for this cake.

She's set the scene. It's not just on the cake.

You know, she's thought about the whole thing. It all works.

It's a day at the beach. It really is.

So, after the technical this morning, we had Billy and Evie in

the top two. Would you say that has changed?

No. I don't think it has.

We're pretty much looking at the same top two.

We've got a difficult decision on our hands.

As you know, Allegra and Nadiya

can only choose one of you to go through to the quarterfinals.

And they have made that decision.

This person is a thoughtful baker

and has executed their vision calmly and creatively.

The baker going through is...

-..Evie!

-Hey-hey-hey!

-THEY CLAP

Well done, Evie!

It feels amazing to be going through to the

quarterfinals. I showed the judges that I am really good at baking.

Well done! Can you believe it? She can't believe it!

I think we all knew it was going to happen.

She had so much passion and hidden energy in her cake that it was

absolutely a no-brainer.

Evie has creativity and she knows how to use her time.

Well done!

Today, Evie gave us great bakes,

great flavours, and her cake had heart,

and that's what we were looking for.

'Tomorrow's bakers...'

Hey! '..have a flipping good time...'

This isn't going very well.

'..and recreate a moment in history...'

-You've just knocked his head off.

-'..with biscuits.'

HE EXHALES