Episode 3 Bake Off Creme de la Creme

Welcome back to Bake Off Creme De La Creme,

here in the backstreet slums of East Sussex,

where the competition to find Britain's

best pastry chefs is just one round away from the semifinals.

Three teams are bidding to reach that promised land

and, to get there, their divine creations

must persuade the high priests of patisserie,

Benoit and Cherish, that they are the chosen ones.

And as it says in the Bible, "Good luck with that."

Let's go, go, go, go, go, go, go.

In the toughest of bake-offs... SHE SCREECHES

..ten teams are vying to be crowned Creme De La Creme.

La, la, la droite, droite, droite...

-Fast, fast, fast fingers.

-Oh, my heart. I can't do this.

So far, in the first half of the competition...

We need to start piping. Go, go, go.

..the first five teams have been battling it out.

-I can do this!

-Yeah, go on.

-Can you move that box?

-We're not going to get it done.

We've already said goodbye to Jack's team...

-OK...

-Come on. It was hard...

-..and, last week, Stephen & Co...

-My hand is shaking.

-I need a drink, man.

..lost their place.

It's fine. It wasn't to be.

-Tonight...

-Choose your weapons.

-The pressure is on, yes?

..the teams face the hardest miniature challenge so far...

I'm glad I've done croissant before,

-cos you would've been in a

-BLEEP.

Uh-oh.

..and a showpiece that will see them sink or swim.

-Bubble, bubble. Hold the bubble.

-But which two teams...

-Let's finish strong, yeah?

-Yes, Chef.

..will secure those coveted semifinal places?

-Tops have cracked.

-Oh, you're

-BLEEP

-joking.

Breathe.

And which teams' hopes and dreams will be shattered?

BLEEP

-It's all going to be over soon.

-I think you lost the plot.

I don't know what to make of anything any more.

BIRDS TWEET AND GENTLE MUSIC

Firle Place, Sussex...

..where, over the next two days,

these three teams of professional pastry chefs

will vie for a coveted place in the semifinal.

-I'm nervous. Nervous...

-No, don't be.

HE SNIFFS

Judges Cherish and Benoit will be expecting impossibly high

standards and have set two fiendishly difficult challenges,

worth a total of 100 points.

Whoever scores the least will leave the competition.

Good morning, chefs. Welcome back.

As usual, we're going to start with the miniatures challenge,

for which the judges always look for consistency and excellence

across taste, texture, shape and size.

And as they thought that producing 72 was rather too easy,

they've ramped it up to 144.

You're welcome.

Benoit, which miniatures have you chosen?

Viennoiserie. Viennoiserie is a yeasty pastry,

such as a brioche or a croissant.

Crucially, they need to be bi-colour.

We need 36 of two different types.

-Right. So, er, 72 "Vien-wassery"?

-Viennoiserie.

72 of what Benoit just said. Cherish.

I've chosen cup petits fours.

Two type, 36 each.

Make sure you keep an eye on the timing,

as time management will be crucial.

There are 40 points available,

you have three hours to complete, and your time starts...

now.

Right, let's go, boys.

Choose your weapons.

All three teams have opted to start with Viennoiserie,

breakfast pastries, such as Danishes and croissant,

invented in Vienna, hence the name,

and popularised by the French in the 19th century.

-Ready?

-Yeah!

-Girl power.

The teams are all working with the yeasted dough

they had half an hour to prepare the day before.

-Happy with the dough?

-Ah, yeah.

-Good.

-Absolutely.

-So cold.

-Perfecting Viennoiserie is notoriously tricky...

even for the professionals.

-Is yours doing anything?

-No.

-No, neither's mine.

But this year, the judges have generously made it even harder.

We've chosen to challenge the team with Viennoiserie, again.

But this year, we brought the bi-colour element.

It needs to be a beautiful colour,

which doesn't fade away when it's baked.

Managing time will be crucial.

You have to start your lamination process very quickly.

Lamination is the process of creating layers of dough and butter.

When it bakes in the oven, it will all expand.

Helps to give it the layering effect.

And hopefully we'll end up

with a lovely, buttery croissant at the end.

There is a lot that can go wrong.

Tight, non-flaky, under-baked pastry

will lose them a great deal of points.

LIAM BREATHES HEAVILY

This is so hard.

Just trying to get a bit of heat into it at the minute,

just to...make it a little bit more easier to work with.

LIAM PANTS

Sorry, I'm a bit out of breath.

LIAM LAUGHS

Liam is all too aware of the demands of Viennoiserie.

-What's happened to the oven?

-While competing last year...

-BLEEP

-There's butter everywhere.

..his Creme De La Creme dream turned into a nightmare.

-Morning, Liam. How are we doing today?

-Good morning.

Yeah, not too bad. Yourselves?

Well, we are looking forward to tasting some beautiful

-Viennoiserie this morning.

-Hopefully we can produce some.

Historically, it's not your strength?

I feel there's a bit more pressure on us this year.

My first intention is not to set the oven on fire.

-Great, great.

-CHERISH LAUGHS

Determined history won't repeat itself,

Liam & Co are reimagining two stalwarts of the breakfast table -

creating an almond-topped bi-colour croissant,

made with pink raspberry dough and alternating classic dough,

infused with almond essence,

which they'll also be using in a pain au chocolat,

coloured with cocoa

and filled with chocolate

and roasted hazelnuts.

So what kind of butter are you using this year?

We've used a pastry butter that we've got from France,

-it's 84% fat content.

-So it's been specially designed?

-Yes.

Crystal of butter, which do not melt

-below...

-77 degrees.

OK, great.

That means it will hold in the proofer without going everywhere.

But then as soon as it hits the oven,

if the lamination is not done properly...

-Then it starts to leak out.

-OK, so we leave you.

-OK.

-Thank you, chefs.

-Thank you.

In Fabrice's kitchen...

We all got different tasks. Chloe and Kevin

will be working on the petits fours

and we'll be working on the Viennoiserie.

..the team captain has taken charge of the pastries

beloved of his countrymen.

I love croissant, that's really one of my favourite.

I'm very traditional on this one. If they're fresh, even better.

In pursuit of breakfast pastry perfection, Fabrice

is creating a pain au chocolat,

replete with cocoa marbling effect,

filled with an almond, hazelnut, cinnamon and choc chip paste,

and an elegantly simple classic croissant with a vivid pink stripe.

So, we've done a double turn to my dough. Now I'm doing my single.

It's something we teach to students

so it's not something new to me.

Kevin, I think you have to mop my brow soon!

-HE LAUGHS

-Is that all I'm good for, Fabrice?

Cheers, man.

THEY LAUGH

-This is fun!

-Is it? Is it really?

If you say so.

In Paula's kitchen, green appears a fitting team colour.

Absolutely new challenge for us.

We never do these at work.

If we come first this time, I'll be very surprised.

I think today is all about Fabrice's team.

He's a pro. We are just...

trying our best.

-BELL RINGS

-Service!

Catering for London's elite, the girls are more used to making

one-off, high-end and experimental pastries.

I have artists behind me.

What we have in common is that we are all perfectionists

and you're always looking for something new,

things that I didn't imagine that you could do with food.

I don't think there's going to be any other teams like this.

I don't think so.

-Hope not.

-THEY LAUGH

Now we're giving our final stretch to the dough

before we set the colour.

Paula's team is out to impress the judges

with an attention-grabbing bi-colour pink Danish,

filled with raspberry and chia seed jam,

plus a croissant with a cocoa pastry layer

and gianduja centre,

made from hazelnut paste and milk chocolate.

Oh, my God. Look.

You can see the butter. It's going everywhere!

It's all going to be over soon.

CLASSICAL MUSIC

Once the doughs are laminated,

the teams must introduce the all-important second colour.

We added a little bit of cocoa powder

and a little bit of food colouring.

She's doing a raspberry Danish,

so you have a little jam inside.

OPERA SINGING

Mine hasn't got a filling as such.

It's actually the dough that's flavoured.

We added some raspberry flavouring to the dough. Hopefully it's enough.

The dark is not as dark as I wanted,

but it's too late to worry about it, so I'm going to carry on.

I'm really behind with this, but I'm happy.

-On track, Chris?

-Yes, Chef. 16 done.

With the shaping,

I need to get every single one as even as possible,

so when they rise in the oven, they all come out

the same shape and size.

Just taking a bit of time now, just to concentrate.

Tell you what, I'm glad I've done croissant before.

-Cos you would've been in a

-BLEEP.

OPERA SINGING CONTINUES

Uh-oh.

Hi, Paula. Everything running smoothly?

Er...

-Yes!

-Right, that wasn't the most convincing "yes" I've ever heard.

-I'm not convinced myself.

-Are you slightly behind schedule?

Little bit, yeah.

That's rare, cos you've won the last two heats. You're our victors.

I know, but this one is completely out of comfort zone.

-Cos it's Fabrice's speciality?

-Oh, yeah. He's on fire today.

-Right, is he sort of looking a little bit smug?

-Yeah!

-Yeah.

ANGUS LAUGHS

-Anybody know how long we've got left?

-Chefs,

you are exactly halfway through now, so 90 minutes gone, 90 minutes left.

We're on target.

We're far behind schedule.

We need to go in the proofer...now.

-CHERISH:

-What do you think about Paula's team?

I'm a bit concerned this morning.

When they are laminating, there is too much dough left without the...

-Yes.

-Is this going to be a disaster?

I'm not sure, but they are trying to put some nice flavours...

It's nice because they're cooking the raspberry fresh.

-Happy with your croissants, mate?

-I think so, yeah.

Liam's team, they were kneading the dough,

and they knead, and they knead, and they knead.

They have done exactly the opposite they should've done,

which is basically let the dough relax, to get easily the butter in

-and let it rest after and crack on with the...

-Yes.

Instead, it was like a big pile of rubber.

What about Fabrice?

It does look like Fabrice, perhaps, is on the top of his game.

But what about the croissant?

-I expect something in the pink croissant, not just colour.

-Me, too.

As the teams deposit their pastries in the proofer,

attentions turn to their petits fours.

-How are you looking, Chloe, OK?

-Yeah.

Meaning small oven,

these classic French bite-size appetisers, made from either

pastry or chocolate,

should not just titillate the taste buds,

but tantalise the eyes.

I am the queen of petits fours, internationally.

I won a gold medal.

How do I achieve that?

Being different, being flamboyant

and thinking, "What can I put

"on the plate that will wow the judge?"

It has to be clean, it has to be clear, it has to be tasty,

it has to be precise.

You need to start lining.

Chloe has been tasked with making the first of Team Fabrice's

petits fours - a sweet pastry fruit tartlet.

-Fabrice, how many tarts do you want?

-We need 40 at least.

-40, cool.

So if you look at a joconde...

Fabrice has 25 years' experience as a pastry chef,

but to give his team the edge, he's banking on young guns Kevin...

and his high-flying student, Chloe,

the youngest entrant in the competition.

Her role is as important as mine or as Kevin because whatever

she does will have an impact on the rest of what we're doing.

Obviously, because I'm only 18,

I haven't really done much stuff like this before,

but I hope I'm bringing the youth and freshness to the team.

-And the speed.

-And the speed, yes!

I'll remember this later!

Chloe's tartlet will be filled with

a tonka bean-infused creme diplomat

and topped with fresh fruit,

while Kevin's in charge of their second petits fours -

a dark chocolate cup with glazed chocolate dome,

offset with a filling of

blood orange puree

and crunchy caramel.

What about the weight? What makes a petits fours a petits fours to you?

You've got to be able to put it in your mouth in one go.

Now it depends the size of the mouth!

It's going to be one mouthful for me as well?

-Yes.

-Yes!

-CHLOE:

-Fabrice, is that all right?

No, too... Too thick. About half of this size.

Just, just...

-This is too soft.

-Just, just... leave me. I can't do it

-when they're watching me!

-Sorry, we came at the wrong time,

you need to do a little bit of coaching perhaps!

-Please do feel free to...

-Look, if it's too soft...

-OK, I'm fine, I'm fine.

-If it's too soft, Chloe,

you can just put it in the freezer for five minutes.

Shall we go now, because I think they have a lot to...?

Yes, I think we are losing track there. OK, good luck, guys.

Yeah, good luck.

I'm just making an Italian meringue, now.

Going to fill it with a bit of butterscotch flavour.

That is why they've got so much muscle!

Who needs to go to the gym, eh, Chef?!

The meringue will sit atop a brandy snap cup

layered with banana puree and a liqueur insert.

They're also making an uber citrus chocolate cup,

containing feuilletine,

gin gel and a zingy lime puree.

So you'll instantly get the lime to start with,

then you'll get the warmth of the gin.

-We've used a citrus infused gin.

-Put a bit of lime zest in there,

as well.

Over the last couple of rounds,

we've had some criticism on some aspects of our flavours.

I think when we get that right, which is hopefully today,

we should be able to wow the judges with our flavours.

That's us, Gime. Time to work, girl.

One team who's consistently impressed with their flavours

is Paula's.

I once went to a cocktail place and I always go to the weird things

in the menu and I saw this porcini martini and it was

absolutely delicious, so we thought it would work

with the chocolate, so we're going for it!

Their experimental chocolate cup

contains a unique morel and

porcini mushroom ganache,

topped with a pistachio streusel.

They're also creating a pastry

filled with pina colada cream topped

with a micro savarin rum baba.

-This is porcini ganache.

-Porcini, as the mushroom?

-As in the mushroom, yes.

-OK.

So what part of the porcini flavour you are interested in?

The earthy flavour.

We don't want it too sweet,

so we're looking for more the fragrance, the smell of it.

Am I going to taste a savoury petits fours, or am I going to taste...?

-Sweet petits fours, yes.

-How big are they going to be?

Small, ladylike size. One bite.

There's nothing wrong with a man eating a petits fours.

-Come on, don't be discriminatory!

-Elegant!

-I love my petits fours bite size. Well done, girls!

-There we go!

-Good luck.

-Thank you, Chef.

-Thank you.

-Have you checked for air bubbles?

-What air bubbles?

-Look.

-Yeah?

-They're fine.

-No, they're not fine,

they're going to bubble up when they bake.

Chefs, you have one hour left. 60 minutes left now.

Breathe. You're fine, we're on schedule.

Yeah? Breathe.

-Did you do the streusel?

-No, I'll make the streusel now, yes?

-How you doing, OK?

-Yeah.

Just weighing out the brandy snap to 2.5g.

We want them as accurate as possible.

I don't normally weigh everything I make.

This is definitely a new thing for me.

She weighs everything, she measures everything, she's very precise.

I'm not worried about that one.

Ji Sun made it. It's going to be spot-on.

This is for our pina colada cream.

I prepare it as thin as possible.

It's a labour of love.

They're really thick, aren't they?

The judges are going to rip me for this pastry.

Chloe, stop panicking.

-You're doing well for what you're doing.

-You're doing awesome.

We're trying to show a wide range of skills - sugar work,

chocolate tempering. At this stage,

you need to really up your game.

There's some absolutely phenomenal talent in here

and we'll push ourselves to stand shoulder to shoulder

with the guys that we're in this room with.

Nice. Porcini ganache, spot-on.

Going to cool down the streusel.

-All right, let's get a bit of a shimmy on, guys.

-BOTH: Yes, Chef.

Those are my mini rum baba.

That's going to be the top of the pina colada.

This is the pina colada cream.

Arriba!

Just got to get these brandy snaps while they're hot,

just enough to shape them round the end of the rolling pin.

-As you can see, they're quite brittle.

-Take the time with shaping.

Yes, Chef.

-Kevin... In a circle.

-Yep.

How many have you got? Two, four...?

Yeah, that's OK.

Just pulling some sugar,

which is going to be a garnish, to get the shine to it.

Come on, boys.

You have 30 minutes to go now,

just half an hour.

The teams now face their toughest juggling act

so far in the competition...

Come on, let's do it.

..perfecting 72 delicate petits fours...

Careful.

THWACK

-..waiting for the critical moment...

-Are we going?

..to transfer their Viennoiserie from prover to oven.

All right, the moment of truth.

These haven't proved, mate.

-What do you want to do...?

-We'll have to get them in.

We won't get them glazed and decorated in time,

so we won't be able to use them, will we?

This is where it all went wrong last year, so, we'll now sit with

a bit of anticipation over the next sort of ten minutes.

What will be, will be. Fingers crossed.

Raspberries, raspberries, raspberries.

-Is it crunchy?

-Yes.

-That's done, yes?

-Doing the nuts now.

TIMER BEEPS

Think they're ready.

Five minutes left. Just five minutes to go.

Come on, boys. Last push now.

They're still red but the shape is quite sad, isn't it?

Looking good, Ben, looking good.

This glaze doesn't seem very shiny.

It's cos they're still warm, I think.

We haven't got time for them to cool, though, have we?

You have one minute left.

-Just 60 seconds left now.

-Come on!

Grab some, Fabrice, grab some chocolate.

I need help here. We're not going to have time to put these almonds on.

4, 8, 12, 16, 20...

OK, time is up now, guys.

-Quick!

-Step away from your miniatures.

They're all going on, I'm not going to lie.

That's it.

MUSIC: La Donna E Mobile from Rigoletto by Verdi

-Fabrice's croissants look good.

-Yeah.

We've done our best, haven't we?

-Hm?

-We couldn't have done any more than that.

MUSIC CONTINUES

More than 400 miniatures,

handmade in a mere three hours.

If we could begin with Liam's team.

For their bicolour Viennoiserie, Liam's team

has served raspberry and almond croissants alongside

pain au chocolat with noisette and milk chocolate centres.

MUSIC CONCLUDES

As far as presentation is concerned,

the pain au chocolat have got all different sizes and shapes.

Not uniform at all.

-Mm-mm-mm.

-Hm.

-What does "Mm-mm-mm" mean?

-Well, it's not quite as light as I would like it to be.

-Yes.

CRUNCHING

It's so chewy, it took me so much effort to eat.

-You have a bit of problem rolling your dough.

-It was really tight.

Then you knead it as well, it's like you're adding gluten.

The good thing is,

I love the flavour inside - chocolate and hazelnut.

Flavour wise, I'll have another bite!

For the raspberry...

-..is there any flavouring?

-There's a raspberry flavouring in there.

Ah, so it's just the essence.

Well, it tastes a little bit like an essence, as opposed

to the fragrance of the raspberry, perhaps.

A lovely little jam or something to go with it to help as opposed to

that unnatural kind of raspberry taste.

So I think altogether you've progressed,

but there is a little bit more room for improvement.

They've also served two types of petits fours - banoffee cream

brandy snaps topped with Italian meringue...

and white mint choc cups filled with gin gel and lime puree.

It's really refined. Everything is very uniform.

They are what petits fours, size-wise, should be.

Hey,

well done.

Oh, good Lord. Are you all right, Cherish?

You almost killed me with the acidness inside them!

It was so sharp that I don't know whether...

Am I going to spit it out, am I going to swallow?

It wasn't that pleasant for me.

-The other one quickly like this, we can...

-Yes, Chef.

-Hup!

I thought you'd been shot.

The banana little brandy snap basket, it's fairly sweet to me.

It's pretty - is it elegant?

A bit... A bit...

Maybe not.

OK, thank you very much. Well done.

(Oh, God!)

That is me...

never making croissants ever again.

Paula's team, could you possibly bring your miniatures up.

The girls' bicolour Danish are filled with raspberry jam and their

croissants contain classic Italian

hazelnut and chocolate gianduja filling.

Girls, you were just so uncomfortable

doing your Viennoiserie.

In terms of uniform and precision...

I think you lost the plot.

Any nice surprises in there?

Oops.

Your lamination was an issue.

There was big chunks of dough without butter, while it's

making a very dry croissant. Your raspberry Danishes, undercooked.

And you can tell because the dough is stuck together,

hasn't puffed up whatsoever.

I'm afraid we're going to get tummy ache tonight.

Accompanying their Viennoiserie, pina colada cream pastries

topped with a rum baba

and chocolate cups containing pistachio streusel and

porcini mushroom ganache.

When you put it on the paper, I thought you were bonkers. Mushroom?!

But I love it.

It is beautiful.

Perfect.

Flavour-wise, the smoke and the chocolate actually work very

-well together.

-But then this piece over here - what happened, girls?

You go from grade A...

to grade D.

When I taste your pina colada, it was sensational.

And then you were dipping your savarin in the rum as well,

I thought, "Oh, my goodness, what is the girl doing?"

Confusing, confusing, confusing.

I'm not ready for this.

That was painful.

So, Fabrice...

Team Fabrice's croissants feature contrasting classic and pink pastry

and their bicolour Danish contain a hazelnut,

almond and choc chip filling.

To compare this size and this size,

they look un-uniform and not precise as I want it to be.

The bicolour was also part of the challenge.

We've got the red, we don't see too much the cocoa side.

-It could have been slightly darker.

-Yes.

Mm!

That's not bad. Oh, yours is slightly...

It's slightly underbaked.

Mine is good because it's a tiny, little croissant!

-Cherish's is slightly bigger.

-Mm.

And therefore, they are not baked in the same way.

That's the problem with unevenness - trying to get them all

the same size, you can bake them in the same way.

Bit of a shame.

-But I like the filling.

-Orange and hazelnut...

Chocolaty... Oh, yes.

That works!

Accompanying their pastries, a fruit tartlet with

a sweet pastry base and tonka bean creme diplomat filling.

What is that? A fruit tart?

Again, I ask myself, what is that? It's still a fruit tart?

Is there anything to excite me?

There is nothing to shout out and say, "Here I am! Eat me, eat me!

"I'm here, I'm gorgeous!" It doesn't tell me that at all.

It's a simple petits fours, so therefore,

there is no hiding place, it needs to be perfect.

I really like your creme diplomat, it was so smooth,

tonka bean was just nice.

The sweet pastry, though...

You're pulling a face like me.

Um, it's thick, dry...

underbaked.

A no-go for me.

To conclude, a dark chocolate cup containing crunchy caramel and

a blood orange insert topped with a glazed chocolate mousse.

It is beautiful. When I look at it, the glaze is really, really nice.

I really like it.

It blends very nicely.

The chocolate, the bitterness and the fruity...

And the feuilletine inside.

It adds another dimension to it.

Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful.

I'm going to take a little bit negative on it.

The case itself is too thick.

-What is he talking about? It's perfect.

-Oh!

-OK!

-I love it!

-Blimey!

-Hey!

Look at him, now, he's like a French cockerel, he's just like, "Waaay!

-"I'm so happy!"

-That's about as positive as it gets, I think.

Well done.

Thank you very much.

Oh, God.

Our judges will now award a score out of ten for each miniature.

For me, the Viennoiserie challenge was really disappointing.

On the positive note, the petits fours,

we finally find something ingenious.

It got me excited today.

Judges, if you could come over and join us.

In total, 40 points are available today and,

with a place in the semifinals at stake tomorrow,

every point is vital.

The team in third place,

with a score today of 18 out of a possible 40,

Liam's team.

I'm pleased to see that you've improved with your Viennoiserie,

but I'm a bit confused with your petits fours flavours.

It was just too sharp on my palate.

But which team has put themselves in the best position to get

through to the semifinals?

Paula's team, you clearly struggled to manage your Viennoiserie,

so on that basis, I'm awarding you 11 out of 20.

-Cherish?

-Your mushroom petits fours was so innovative.

However, I was really disappointed with your Viennoiserie.

For that, I award you 8 out of 20.

Giving you a grand total of 19 out of a possible 40.

And finally, Fabrice's team...

I was disappointed with your management altogether

of the Viennoiserie.

For this reason, I'm awarding you 10 out of 20.

Your chocolate cup petits fours was delightful.

For that, I award you 9.5 out of 20.

Right, bringing you a grand total of 19.5...

..which means that it's Fabrice's team that are in the lead...

Paula's team are in second place and Liam's are bringing up the rear.

-Holy

-BLEEP, BLEEP!

With just a point and a half separating the three teams,

it's the tightest the competition has ever been at this stage.

I suggest, for now, you all rest up,

have a well-earned break and we'll see you all here tomorrow morning.

Absolutely buzzing,

because I just didn't envisage it going as well as it did today!

That wasn't our favourite challenge,

-so being just a half point behind is like we're winning!

-Whoo! Yeah!

Liam, we all know how good they are with the showpiece,

so...quite nervous about it.

We did everything we could, we knew it wasn't going to be our

strongest round and it was basically damage limitation.

Last showpiece, we've come top of the pack.

So I think the guys in first and second place today

will be looking over their shoulder at us.

OWL HOOTS

Tomorrow's final challenge is on such a monumental scale...

that the teams have been given a golden hour to prepare any

elements that need chilling or setting overnight.

So it's all pretty close at the moment, not much between them all.

Yes, it is.

And the best two teams tomorrow is ensured a place in the semifinal.

So, looking ahead, who are you expecting great things from?

-Liam's team.

-Mm-hm.

I have to give them credit for the precision and the cleanliness

of their work.

But at the same time, Paula has got a little bit more artistic skills.

Since the competition started, they have been the top,

so I think in terms of confidence, they're ahead of everyone.

Fabrice's team have a bit of a track record, don't they,

insofar as they've been the bottom two the last two weeks.

If I'm Fabrice, I'd be very, very worried now.

Just 0.5 ahead.

But they've managed to scrape themselves out

of the last two rounds.

Nothing is there to stop them to do it one more.

-Oh,

-BLEEP!

-Don't worry, don't worry. It's fine.

Just leave it there a bit, two seconds.

I'm happy with what we've done, we've done quite a bit in an hour.

-Quick clean down then, boys.

-Yes, Chef.

BIRDSONG

Good morning, chefs. Welcome back to arguably

the most important day of your culinary lives.

The showpiece challenge is your last chance to prove to the judges

that you are worthy of a place in the semifinals, so, judges...

Good morning, chefs. The theme of this challenge is Under The Sea.

I would like you to make me a spectacular showpiece

completely out of chocolate.

Astonish me and wow me, chefs.

Benoit, have you got any annoying extra rules

to make the task even harder?

Yes, I do!

We want three different types of chocolate bonbon,

filled and moulded, 36 of each,

108 in total and we want to be blown away by your imagination.

Couldn't be simpler.

So, you have three more hours

and your time starts...

now.

Let's go, guys.

Work hard, work clean.

The teams must demonstrate a mastery of chocolate...

For your moulds, Fabrice.

..a core skill of the professional pastry chef.

It's the chocolate showpiece.

It has to be big, it has to be bold,

it has to be magnificent.

Of course, the technique is crucial for me.

Whether you hand-carve, you use capturing or use a moulding.

Beautiful technique, skills, all that is important,

but this challenge should show me the artist,

plus we've asked for chocolate bonbons, all identical,

beautifully flavoured.

I want to see beautiful tempered chocolate,

moulded correctly, thinly.

Technique, technique, technique.

As well as producing out-of-this-world bonbons...

It's go big or go home for everyone today, isn't it?

..they must create a spectacular showpiece,

bringing to life an underwater realm...

Bubbles.

..and are free to let their imaginations run riot.

We've been working hard on this challenge.

We really want to get through to the semifinal,

so today is all about trying to show as many skills as we can in

the chocolate - moulding, sculpting, casting.

In their quest for supremacy,

last-placed Liam and his team have hand-cast their own moulds.

Instead of having a day off, we had an afternoon off and we went

shopping in garden centres and got some silicone,

and set the bust and the pillar and the urn.

The idea behind it is almost like an Atlantic sunken city.

Featured in this submerged seascape,

a cherry brandy gel and

almond brittle dark chocolate,

a mint choc ganache milk chocolate

and a lemon curd and vanilla yoghurt

white chocolate,

coated with a special green

cocoa butter flock to resemble moss.

Guarding the bonbons, a fearsome creature of the deep.

So you're going to have squid and the tentacles and everything?

Yes, so this all gets carved into, this will have a big hole here with

a squid coming out of the middle of it.

-Wow.

-Yes. Put a lot of thought into this.

So yesterday you choked me with your petits fours - I hope

-you're not going to choke me today.

-Is there lime?

No, we have lemon today. Lemon and yoghurt - clean, elegant flavours.

We thought about what order you eat them in, so we have a cherry one,

then a palate cleanser, then a mint chocolate ganache.

So control and balance your flavour harmoniously in order not to

choke any of us today will be certainly...

That is definitely not the idea today!

We have lots of pieces - fishes, shells.

You're trying to reproduce very deep sea,

where you get all the textures, shapes and colours.

To streamline construction,

Paula's team has used ready-made casts for their sea creatures.

I'm just de-moulding everything we had moulded.

So... Ji - happy with your fish?

BLENDER WHIRS

The girls' vision also features a shipwreck and trio of bonbons.

A dark chocolate feuilletine crunch

layered with apricot gel

and apricot ganache,

a matcha green tea ganache with sesame seeds

and white chocolate and a tiramisu ganache

in a gianduja chocolate shell.

So, is that what will be the Loch Ness Monster?

This is going to be actually our base,

where we're going to place all our figurines, fishes, coral, sea life.

Of course. Sea life.

I've seen that you're using bought-in moulds

like a large fish, a boat...

We are going to give our touch in the painting, in the corals, we're

piping some seaweed, so the touches at the end we're doing by hand.

-OK.

-OK.

-Good luck. See you later, guys, yes?

OK, Ji Sun. Now we have to pipe some fishes.

-FABRICE:

-Chocolate has always been my forte.

I mean, I can talk about chocolate all day, so don't start me on this!

Whilst chocolate might be Fabrice's forte, it's definitely not Chloe's.

I've worked with chocolate with Fabrice, that was in a lesson.

I've tempered chocolate maybe...once?

I know I'm going to be stressed for the first half an hour, because

if I don't get the parts right for my chest, I will be in trouble.

Sharing a seabed with his chest,

a giant chocolate anchor and a trove of sunken bonbon treasures

including a white chocolate with Earl Grey ganache,

a milk chocolate with Irish cream

ganache and a dark chocolate

with Calvados ganache and a cube

of apple steeped in liqueur.

-Fabrice, hi.

-Hi.

-How is it all going?

It is going as well as can be at the moment.

Right...

Er, that's not sounding fabulously positive.

Um, so, who came up with the design? Who came up with the concept?

It's usually me, purely because I've got more experience than these two.

-They're quick learners, luckily.

-Evidently, yeah.

-But you're an old hand.

-Yes.

-LAUGHTER CHLOE:

-You can say that again!

Thanks, Chloe!

-See? I get abuse!

-Quite right. Yes, keep you down to earth.

So, who are your main rivals, do you think?

-I would say this team and this team.

-Right(!)

Liam did very well with the showpiece when

he was last in this competition.

-A lot, lot of experience.

-Yeah.

Bang on 1 hour 30 to go, boys.

Right, I'm on to shaping now, Chef.

We're a very big team effort today.

Chris and me, we're working on the moulded chocolates and then

we're all on to the centrepiece.

I'm working on moulding the bonbons so they can be filled up with

the ganache because that's the part

I'm a bit more confident to hand over.

The girls now are working on the bonbons.

We always try to get some different flavours.

This is matcha ganache, a really nice colour, you can see.

And then lots of black sesame seeds.

We want to give it a bit of an Asian touch.

Gimena and I are big fans of tiramisu.

-There is no alcohol in it, though. Happy?

-Yes.

What we try to do is put a bit of ourselves into it.

These are Irish cream, I'm half Irish.

This will represent Chloe, Earl Grey,

the favourite tea of the Queen, I believe!

And on the French side, we've got Calvados - not maybe an

unusual flavour, but tried and trusted flavour.

That might be the difference between winning or losing, you never know.

Just now, I'm filling the lemon and yoghurt.

It's a white chocolate shell.

It's got a lemon fluid gel and it's going to get

a vanilla yoghurt inside and then we finish it with a flock at the end.

CHLOE: Fabrice, are these all right?

Scrape, fridge straightaway,

because they need to be cold before we put the last layer.

-As smooth as possible.

-That's fine, I'll do that.

I know you like perfection as well, you're like me.

Tempering is very important when you're working with chocolate.

That's what gives you the shine.

Tempering is going to be the difference between nice, shiny

chocolate or something that is going

to be dull and won't come out of the mould.

These aren't turning out anywhere near as good

as I was hoping they would.

Timing is the biggest enemy today.

I have all faith in the bonbons, I'm not worried about that.

It's about the showpiece that we have to be more careful.

Anchors are going on the trolley, boys, so just be careful if you

-put anything on there, yeah?

-Cor, this is hard work.

Liam's team, I am liking what I'm looking at.

They're doing sculpturing, carving,

and I love the barnacles that is on the sculpture.

This is the hardest this ganache has ever been.

What about the chocolate bonbons?

Well, after the petits fours challenge yesterday,

I am a bit worried but, having said that,

I think they've learned to control the acidity and the flavour.

We shall see.

Paula's team, I'm worried because they're using off-the-shelf moulds.

Where is the life, where is the movement?

Yes, but the positive side is their combination of flavour again.

-Oh, I love it, love it, love it.

-Tiramisu, wow.

I really like sesame and of course the matcha as well.

-Just hold it, hold it, please.

-So, Fabrice's team...

I'm actually quite concerned.

The life element I think he struggles to bring.

The bonbons as well, are they playing it too safe?

Saying that, being 1.5 points ahead,

that gives them motivation today.

-Guys, everything is looking booming, let's finish strong, yes?

-Yes, Chef.

Let's get this squid painted.

It's now decorated and everything is built,

just get it looking pretty.

One hour left now, guys.

Just 60 minutes left.

Right, I'm going to go on to airbrushing.

Do you want to bring over the fish?

So, Ji Sun is going to pipe the fin for our fish.

Well, give me SOMETHING.

When you spray it, you go only once.

Like you used to do on the wall in Leeds(!)

I'm going to buy one of these!

-Is that yours?

-Yes.

-Oh, I want one of those!

Oh, yeah!

That is actually to paint your fence, your walls.

Boy stuff!

We're giving coats of cocoa butter to our ship

to give a velvet texture.

So it needs to be very cold so when the cocoa butter sprays,

it sets.

They are representing kind of stones, rock, on top of each other.

Try to build some height to the showpiece.

Our boat is sprayed, our corals are halfway painted.

Just putting the puzzle together right now.

Yes, when we stipple it with different colours,

it will make it look like moss, it will really stand out.

Looking good, man, looking good.

So that's done, what do you want me to do now?

-We're going to do the showpiece together.

-OK.

-I'm not going to break it, am I?

-You shouldn't(!)

We've just got to make it look as real as possible,

getting enough life in it to give it that "wow" effect.

We've got like a little gold chest,

we've made nice little gold coins to go in it, so we're just trying

to get a bit of colour onto it so it doesn't just look like chocolate.

You need to get a bit of cocoa butter, because that's too harsh.

-What are you into now, Chris?

-Just going to spray these bronze.

-CHLOE: Are you ready for shells yet?

-Quick, quick, quick.

I'll start painting some corals.

I'm just making little corals,

they'll go on to our little coral reef.

Yes, yes, it's nice. I like it.

Wow.

Still not as colourful as I want. I want to go mad on this one.

49 minutes, guys... 48 minutes.

Let's not rush this end bit, guys, yeah?

-Make sure it still looks elegant.

-What do you need, Fabrice?

At the moment, I need a bit of patience.

Let's get this squid stuck together.

Gently, mate, yeah?

If this is not stuck as much as it should do, it's just collapsing.

Need to stop shaking the table, I'm not going to lie.

-Right, Fabrice...?

-Yes, Chloe?

Do you need... Do you want me to put any more coral anywhere here?

-Oh!

-Oh,

-BLEEP!

That's the bouncing.

You have half an hour left now, 30 minutes left.

Pete, you happy with these?

Yeah, bangin', mate.

-Where do you want exactly? On top?

-Yeah.

-Like that?

-Yeah.

Shall I flick some of these?

Look, Chloe, do what you want on this.

You know as much as I know what a seashell looks like.

-Chef?

-Are we almost ready to flock?

-It's cool...

-The lemon yoghurt?

It's cooling down.

The colour's not come out very well on some of these.

Just get a bit of gold dust and flick it on the top.

The tops have cracked in the freezer.

-Oh, you're

-BLEEP

-joking!

Oh, shiny!

How's your flock, mate?

Well, it's not sticking very well, put it that way.

-It's your call.

-Now.

SPRAY GUN BUZZES

I'm really happy with my bonbons.

These aren't what we wanted them to be like.

We were going to flock it, like, a moss effect,

but it was going really blotchy,

so we've just used one of our colour sprays.

It's not as clean as we'd like.

-More.

-Yeah, I know.

All I want is the bonbons out, now.

OK. You've got 15 minutes, by the way. Is that all right?

Yeah, it's loads.

You seem pretty cool, calm and collected at the moment.

I'm just going to tell everyone else they've got 15 minutes.

Guys, you've got 15 minutes left now.

That's it, the pressure is on, yes.

Oh, bubble, bubble...

Hold the bubble, please - this one is falling.

We're going to move it in a minute.

Spread the sugar.

Let's do it.

Amazing.

-Want me to give you a hand with that, Fabrice?

-No.

No-one move.

Girls? Coming.

Sit there.

Well done, well done. You get it down.

That's it. I owe you a pint, I think.

-Damn right.

-Damn right!

Just need to get everything on now,

as we're starting to run out of time.

-Shells, more shells.

-Shells?

More, like, handmade things.

Just be careful of his coral.

Chefs, you have one minute left.

-Put the bonbons in the sand, yeah?

-Want to get some more up here?

Forget about all that, now, we need to get all the bonbons on.

-Shall we do some...?

-Just do.

-Just do.

Take it round.

Can I touch them? Are they dry?

They're not dry.

Quick, quick, Chloe.

-I'll put them on there.

-Can't, mate.

You've got to put them straight down, otherwise it smudges.

Sorry for messing this up. My bad.

OK, that's it.

Time is up, I'm afraid.

If you could step away from your presentation tables.

Well, it's all done.

Three stunning Under The Sea theme chocolate showpieces,

made in just four hours.

I tell you what, that looks class over there.

I'm cacking myself.

Ours doesn't have colour.

Today, I'm not even going to worry about Liam, because he's got it.

I have to look at Fabrice.

One of us is going to go, I'm pretty sure.

Now, each of these edible artworks

will be judged by Cherish and Benoit.

So, this colourful showpiece

is Paula's work.

It is a very colourful piece,

and you brought life to your showpiece.

I wish we could see more technique, other than moulding.

-Mm.

-You could have made your own moulds, as well.

You bought them off-the-shelf, so have you shown enough skills

to actually take you to the next round?

Something we'll have to discuss.

-But what about taste?

-OK.

Tiramisu.

This is how I like my chocolate - thinly cast.

-So well done for that.

-Thank you.

Does it taste of coffee? Definitely.

Does it remind me of tiramisu?

Not completely.

I like to have a bit of liqueur, then I'll call it tiramisu.

Good, so, just change the name and we're there.

-OK, which is the next one?

-Apricot.

-Apricot.

Very, very well-moulded, very shiny.

I love the way you cast it.

But, saying that, I would like

to have a little bit more apricot in it,

compared to your dark chocolate.

If you mention apricot, I want to taste apricot.

What about the final one?

It's quite an under-the-sea colour, isn't it?

It tastes of matcha.

I can't find the black sesame.

And also, you've combined it with the white chocolate.

Is that a white chocolate-based ganache as well?

Yes, it is.

That element gets a little sweet.

The way you enclose it, the chocolate is a bit thick.

Can I taste sesame?

That is a no.

Everything that you mentioned - tiramisu, it's not a tiramisu.

Apricot? Disappointment.

And this one, sesame, I can't taste sesame.

Thank you.

Oh... It hurts!

-Does it look Under The Sea to you?

-Well...

-sort of.

-Sort of?

-Sort of.

At the moment, I cannot see any life in it.

I'd like to see some lobster, crab coming out,

something more adventurous, perhaps.

The colour is a little bit dark.

It could be a little bit more alive, definitely.

I don't really quite understand - what is that on the top?

It's a sort of yucca plant, I think.

It was supposed to be seaweed, but I lost some of the...

Ah, I see, OK.

Well, let's see how it all tastes, shall we?

Shall we try the Irish cream?

The casting is a little bit too thick for my liking.

-That's quite good.

-I like it thin, though.

-Thinner than that?

-Yes.

Cherish is allowed to like it thinner.

And I really like the ganache.

I think it's really smooth and it's the right texture.

It's fairly sweet -

that's the problem with the Irish liquor.

And you took a milk chocolate. It's a little bit sickly.

Will I remember it? Will it slap me and say, "Eat me, eat me!"?

No, I'm afraid not.

-Which one is the next one?

-I'd go with the Earl Grey.

-What do you say?

-I'd say the shell is too thick.

I don't even have to mention it.

But...

Earl Grey, yeah. I've got a nice Earl Grey flavour.

The ganache itself is very well made.

But saying that, I like my ganache just a touch softer.

-Next one.

-Mmm.

Calvados.

The finishing on this is extremely rough.

Been under the sea for too long.

It's been under the sea too long! It got rusted.

-Maybe you find the...

-PLATE CLATTERS

-Oops.

-Too thick.

-Too thick?

-Yeah.

It's not as refined as what I like it to be.

But I've got a nice, pleasant, appley flavour inside.

The little apple element could be a genius touch.

Thank you, guys. Beautiful.

Love the colour, love the statue.

I really like the squid coming out from the vase.

I think that's a nice touch -

it's sort of coming out and attacking me, I was like, "Whoa!"

But looking closely, I'd like a little bit more detail.

Like suckers on the tentacles.

More suckers on the squid was the main criticism.

That's probably not one you've had before, I'm thinking.

So, we're supposed to try these first, yes?

Yes. So, we've got dark chocolate, cherry and almond.

The cherry comes first, and then I can taste the brandy.

Very subtle, and it kicks in.

And then I have the crunch, and then I enjoy the bitter chocolate.

So, it's sort of like marriage, very, very nicely on my palate.

-It works very well.

-Yeah.

What about the green?

We've got a lemon and yoghurt with white chocolate,

as a sort of palate cleanser.

HE HUMS

OK, the white chocolate, it's fairly thick.

-Is it meant to be?

-No.

Oh, you should have said yes, you could have avoided...

-LAUGHTER

-I'm not going to lie.

I love the yoghurt

with the "mild" acidity of the citrus.

But the white chocolate is chunky.

It brings a lot of sugar, and it's actually covered

with that green-silverish kind of mixture,

which I'm not really enjoying.

-Yeah.

-So, the last one, but not least...

A milk and mint chocolate ganache.

The look of this piece of chocolate is really, really well done.

It is shiny...

Whoa...whoa...

Oh, my goodness...

-That's an extreme reaction.

-Ooh...

-No?

-No. I don't like it.

-Oh-ho-ho!

-Explain.

The filling inside with the mint,

with the ganache, it reminds me of blue cheese.

Cheese?

Minty, kind of, cheesy, kind of...

I don't like the flavour I'm getting.

-Cheese in this?

-No.

It's not pleasant.

-HE COUGHS

-Excuse me. No.

Yeah. It's just confused - what am I eating?

Maybe it's the overall combination.

Perhaps the build-up of the three is creating a confusion.

Right.

All right, well, good and bad, but mainly good, I think,

apart from the cheese chocolates...

as we'll now refer to them.

-Thank you.

-Yeah. BENOIT COUGHS

Cheese?

I don't know what to make of anything any more.

For the showpiece, 60 points are there for the taking.

Added to yesterday's score out of 40,

the team with the lowest overall tally will leave the competition.

In first place, with a score today of 42 points out of 60,

giving you a combined total of 60 out of 100,

Liam's team. Congratulations.

You have secured a place in the semifinals...

..which means there is only one place left.

So, in no particular order...

..Paula's team, the judges have awarded you

35 points out 60,

giving you a combined total of 54 out of 100.

And Fabrice's team...

..27 out of 60,

giving you a combined total of 46.5 out of 100.

That means Fabrice's team is, sadly, the one that is going home tonight.

Commiserations to Fabrice.

-C'est la vie!

-C'est la vie.

Give me a hug, my Frenchman.

You've made yourself proud.

Of course we're disappointed,

but we managed to make it through to the quarterfinals.

Congratulations.

We have every right to walk away with our heads held high.

They have learned so much in the last three weeks.

I hope it's going to help them for life.

Coming into the showpiece in last place,

and to come out on top,

it's a great feeling, going into the semifinal.

-We are definitely going to have a beer.

-Yeah.

-Yes.

-Have a well-earned beer, now.

-Or two.

Been wanting to get that top spot off you for ages!

Absolutely shocked.

We're here! We are here.

Oh, God. Yeah.

Let's think about the next one, now.

We've done it! Girl power!

So, as we say not au revoir, but goodbye to Fabrice's team,

as they retire to rebuild their shattered lives,

we at least know the identity of two of the teams

through to the semifinals.

Next week, five brand-new teams join the competition

in the second set of heats, so join us then.

I'm now off to tell Benoit that I love him

and see his reaction.

Goodbye.

-I love you. LAUGHING:

-Really?

-Yeah.

-I love you, too.

Next time...

This is it, boys.

..we begin the second leg of the competition...

Man, I'm nervous, now.

..with five all-new teams.

Classic fraisier. The strawberry is the star of the show.

Somebody has raspberries over there.

So many things can go wrong with pavlova.

-How was the meringue going?

-Taking a long time to whip up.

Pull it out! That isn't going to impress the judges, is it?

Right...