Episode 6 Bake Off Creme de la Creme

Welcome back to Bake Off: Creme De La Creme

where, over the next two days,

three teams of professional pastry chefs will be battling it out

for the two places remaining in our semifinals.

It's a bit like musical chairs, only without the chairs or the music.

With three excellent teams competing,

it's already been billed the Clash of the Titans, by me just now.

Last time on Creme De La Creme...

-Why am I sweating so much?

-Jesus.

-..after a choux bun showdown...

-Cherish, do you have to stand there?

-Laurian, Reece and Stefan's teams...

-I did it.

..booked their place in the next heat.

Scrumptious! I love it!

But Mark and co crashed out.

-I messed it up massively. I

-BLEEP

-messed up.

I'm going to miss you, seriously.

Tonight, the teams face a miniature challenge that's a huge ask.

Can Maxime go any faster? And a showpiece...

This is Neptune.

-..of galactic proportions.

-That one is my satellite.

But which two teams will reach for the stars

to grab those last semifinal places...

Don't move too much, Stefan.

..and who will come down to Earth...

-Argh!

-Why did that whole piece just move?

..with a bang?

Firle Place, Sussex,

where three teams of professional pastry chefs

are about to engage in a literally gargantuan struggle

for the remaining two semifinal places.

It feels great to be back but, from now on, it's a different ballgame.

It's going to be really tight today. Thank you.

We're very aware that the other two teams at a high level.

OK is definitely not enough.

We need to prove we can go on in this competition

and we are here for one reason.

-Er...

-To win!

Judges Cherish and Benoit have, true to form,

set two almost unreasonably demanding challenges,

worth a total of 100 points.

The team with the lowest score at the end of the two days

will leave the competition.

I really think the judges are going to be tougher

than they were last week

but we are fighting for a place in the semis.

Fingers crossed, right? All good.

-All good.

-Yeah, good luck.

Morning, chefs. Welcome back.

I must say how delighted we all are to see you again.

OK, just me then. LAUGHTER

So, a lot at stake today, not least two places in the semifinal.

To make it through you have to impress Benoit and Cherish

and they have decided that making

72 perfectly formed miniatures is for wimps,

so they've doubled that to 144.

Benoit, what's on the menu?

I've chosen a Viennoiserie, which is a yeasted pastry,

such as a croissant or a Danish.

We need 36 of two different types, but I want them to be designer.

-So not only taste great, I want them to look amazing.

-Cherish?

I'd like you to make petits fours - two types, 36 each, 72 in total.

They all have to be rolled, filled and highly-decorated.

Thank you, judges.

Chefs, you have three hours and your time starts now.

-Let's go. Caster sugar.

-Thank you.

With 40 points available, scoring well today would give the teams

a crucial advantage in the battle for a semifinal place.

-Going is good.

-It's push, push, push, push.

So, everyone's starting with the most labour-intensive

of the miniatures - a breakfast staple, reinvented.

Viennoiserie is the very French core

of the pastry world. The designer challenge

will be choosing the classic as a base

but perhaps bring some new shapes, new flavour combinations

that you will not see in any display in any counter in any shops.

Last night, the teams were given 30 minutes

to prepare their yeasted dough.

Dough's looking good. It's nice and chilled. It's nicely proved.

I'm starting to do the layering. The dough is really hard.

A nice, flaky, well-baked pastry needs to be laminated properly,

needs to be proved correctly and needs to be baked beautifully.

Obviously any of those not being there

is going to be a big chunk of the point gone.

You don't push the paste, actually, you just roll it.

You know, I don't push. If I push, I break the thin layers of butter.

You don't need to be strong if you have technique.

He's a strong guy. He said he wanted to do it.

If someone tells you he's going to do the hard work, you let him do it.

-Morning, Chefs, how are you?

-I smell bacon.

-You can smell bacon.

Is that breakfast time already?

We're making a layered brioche with maple syrup, pecan nuts,

crispy bacon and bourbon.

It's an American take on the Viennoiserie.

It's like the American croque monsieur.

The American croque monsieur, oh-la-la.

Based at the Cocorico Patisserie in Cardiff,

Laurian's team have taken flavours

beloved of their native home of France

and their adopted home of Wales and completely ignored them

for their American-style bacon and bourbon brioche.

And they're being equally bold

with their bi-colour pistachio-raspberry croissant,

made from two different doughs.

Viennoiserie - is that something you do a lot in your shop?

Yeah, we do them daily.

We should expect a strong round from your team, yeah?

Looking at Thibault's face, I think "expect" is a big word.

Is there anything that you're worried about?

The Viennoiserie is one of those things,

you want the layering to be as best as possible.

And how is the timing going?

Do you think the three hours is going to be nicely filled?

Er, definitely, definitely nicely filled.

The most important thing today is time management, so we can give it

enough time to rest between folds, which is vital

for a really flaky pastry.

In the orange kitchen, Reece and his team

from the five-star Grove Hotel in Hertfordshire

regularly cater for over 1,500 guests a day,

but rarely get the chance

to take such an experimental approach to their work.

Two types of Viennoiserie today are a hybrid croissant-doughnut

and the other one is an orange pastry, shaped like a flower.

This is out of our comfort zone but we wanted to take the risk

cos we're fighting for a place in the semifinal.

With a bi-colour flower-shaped Danish,

topped with an orange creme patissiere

and their cross-bred doughnut/ croissant,

filled with apple marmalade, they seem intent

on pushing the breakfast boundaries to the very limit.

-So, you've done a "droissant".

-A "droissant".

We practised it a couple of times.

It's not something we'd do in the hotel.

We're trying to do something that's keeping up with trends,

we're trying to do something that's going to showcase ourselves.

That is a recurring theme with you guys.

You're trying something different but it hasn't always worked.

-No, it hasn't.

-So, how confident are you with this to work?

I'm hoping, I'm hoping that it's going to make the difference

and set us apart from the other teams.

In the black kitchen,

Stefan's team from the Crafthouse restaurant in Leeds,

have pinned their hopes on one unique flavour, in particular -

a fragrant leaf from Southeast Asia called pandan.

So, I've got pandan leaf with hot water

and we're going to strain that off and use it in a creme patissiere

and then pipe that into the centre.

It's unusual mixing classic European Viennoiserie

with some Asian flavours,

so hopefully, the judges are going to appreciate that.

Its elaborate floral design gives Stefan's team's

exotic bi-coloured croissant an added twist

and their simpler pastry swirl is filled

with a classic Italian chocolate and hazelnut paste, called gianduja.

So, talk to us about your Viennoiserie.

We have a classic flavour -

a hazelnut and dark chocolate gianduja.

The second, gone for pandan leaf.

I prefer the gianduja, personally,

because that's the European side of the pastry.

-For this I did that, Chef.

-Thank you. You are so kind.

And what about the shape of the gianduja Viennoiserie?

What shape are you going to make?

I grew up with pandan and I love pandan,

so you're going to get this right for us?

Yeah, I'll try my best, Chef.

That's now going to go in the fridge.

We're going to rest that for about 20 minutes

and, in the meantime, we'll start on our orange dough.

If making two types of 36 perfectly uniform Viennoiseries

in just three hours wasn't tough enough...

How you doing, Lauren? You all right?

..for Stefan's team, the task is about to get even harder.

-How you feeling?

-My legs are a bit weak.

Ooh-la-la, she's not well.

Yeah.

Stefan's going to struggle this morning with our team.

Stefan, let me do the pastry, you focus on the petits fours.

Oh, dear, Lauren, how are you?

Er, feeling a little under the weather at the minute.

I'm just feeling really light-headed, really sick.

It happened all week, but today's just gradually got worse.

I'm just going to sit out for a while,

see how I feel and then, hopefully, jump back in.

Do you want me to do this creme pat?

No, keep going with the petits fours.

-REECE:

-Have they got a teammate down? It's a shame.

It's vital for them.

-LAURIAN:

-The problem is you rely on being well

and, with the stress and everything, it takes a lot on the body.

Got a lot to do. Obviously, Lauren's not feeling good,

so we've just got to really push now. That's the only way.

MUSIC: Ah Mes Amis Pour Mon Ame from La Fille Du Regiment by Donizetti

-You know the time, Stefan?

-Yeah. We've had 43 minutes.

-REECE:

-We're going good, team.

Even if they think things are under control,

delivering 72 designer Viennoiseries is just the start.

# Ah, mes amis, quel jour de fete

# Je vais marcher... #

There are also two whole batches

of exquisite rolled petits fours to worry about.

A classic rolled petit four has to be rolled.

The name speak louder than word.

Not only does it have to taste good, it has to be elegant.

I will be judging them on how delicate their hand is.

What I would like to see from this challenge

is to think out of the box.

Don't give me boring petits fours

because these would be not acceptable.

Don't film the first one. It's like pancakes - it always goes wrong.

I'm just making the mojito cone.

This is exactly the same as making an ice cream cone, really.

I'll just make baby versions.

Lauren's mojito waffle cone will be filled with lime gel

and vanilla and rum marshmallow,

dipped at the end in chocolate

and topped with lime caviar.

And teammate Jonathan will be in charge of a chocolate wafer cigar,

filled with a chocolate mousse and dipped in powdered white chocolate.

So, the outside should be very crispy

and the inside will have a very, very light mousse texture.

Cigarette paste, we call it, like a tuile, a wafer mix.

They've got to be all exactly the same shape.

Should be seven centimetres.

When it comes to achieving perfectly uniform tuiles...

Maxime, I'm going to need your help actually

to lift this off the template.

..a stencil should help.

-I need your help.

-I'm coming, I'm coming.

So, these have got to be pretty precise.

So, lift the template off.

You stretch on your side, I'll stretch on mine.

-You need to keep the tension, yeah.

-Are you ready?

-No. OK, ready.

-Stretch, stretch now?

-Yeah.

-BLEEP!

-I got most of them.

Stefan's pistachio and praline tuile

will be filled with a white chocolate and pistachio ganache

and a raspberry coulis centre.

He's also making a passion fruit jelly and chocolate ganache roll.

What I've got here is a dark chocolate ganache.

It's not quite how it went in the practice.

-It's just set up a bit too much.

-Hi, Stefan. Hi, Maxime.

-Hi.

-How you doing?

-What's the latest?

-Well, latest is...

-There's still just two of you?

-There's still two of us.

-Right.

But we're cracking on. We're having to increase the speed even further.

Can Maxime go any faster? He's already on fast--forward.

Good question. There's a few things we might have to leave off.

-What have you had to economise on?

-Just the little garnishes.

We still might get time to do it

but we're going to leave those till towards the end,

rather than doing them now.

Cos we've got to leave quite a lot of time

-to fill all these little things.

-That was quite fast.

-That was VERY fast.

-Yeah. It's impressive.

I'm going to fix it, yeah.

That's a joconde sponge with praline inside it,

so you get that praline taste from the joconde sponge.

Put some hazelnuts on top to give a bit of a crunch as well.

Laurian's joconde sponge roll will be filled

with an apricot creme patissiere and covered in milk chocolate.

He's also making a passion fruit tuile cone,

filled with pineapple, ginger and chilli

and coconut and rum ganache.

Ginger, pineapple and chilli pepper.

-Do you think this is too spicy?

-No.

You've got a bit of warmth but then it goes straightaway.

It's more the ginger warmth than the chilli.

-You always have been strong with your flavour combinations.

-Yeah.

Are you expecting this one to be as strong?

-Yeah, best combo in the world.

-CHERISH LAUGHS

SHEEP BLEAT

Chefs, you are now exactly halfway through.

I'm happy with them.

It's always a good test, if you can cut a Danish

and still see the layers, you've done the lamination right.

Getting the lamination right is one thing...

Bravo.

..but if the teams don't allow enough time

for their Viennoiserie to rise...

That is the gianduja pastry cream.

..all that careful layering will count for nowt.

It's just managing the proving time, managing the cooking time.

That's going to be the next step, that you get a nice rise.

You know Reece's team - I think that they're getting very competitive.

-I like them pushing themselves.

-They just need to nail their tasting.

Currently making the marmalade.

That's going to be part of the croissant-doughnut garnish.

This is the bacon and the bourbon.

Laurian's team - I really like the Viennoiserie.

If they are proved enough and baked enough,

-I've got no issue with what's coming.

-I'm just intrigued to taste.

The same size and the same weight, it's very important

cos Cherish is very difficult and she wants things perfectly.

The ganache tasted smooth.

It's just set up and making it harder to work with.

-So, Stefan's team.

-I think they feel the stress now.

They are definitely going double tempo

but they don't have enough manpower to get it all done.

I think it's just too much for them. What a shame.

We're struggling, to be honest,

but we've just got to do the best we can and that's it, really.

One hour left now.

-60 minutes.

-We've still got an hour left.

Just need to push, push, push, push.

Oh, sorry.

-I am going to need a hand rolling the...

-I'm ready.

Have you got a couple of minutes?

As the others race to get their final Viennoiseries in the prover...

..Stefan and Maxime have even more to do.

Maxime, we need to get them in the prover.

Their intricate flower design croissant can't be proved

until it's shaped.

Can we simplify it so we can get it in the prover?

No, we don't simplify.

Don't worry, it'll be in the prover. I need to do a lot of things.

I need to make my shape, cool down, after fill up my mould,

finish it, put to prove, and Stefan is, like, "He's not finished, huh?"

Are you going to have time to put them in the prover?

-REECE:

-So, the currant status of affairs

are we have got the croissant-doughnuts in the prover.

We're getting ready to fry those. Marmalade's made for it.

The filling's made, the crumble's in the oven.

Lauren's on her rolled petits fours and Jonathan's on his.

So far, so good, I think.

-What IS the time?

-Just half an hour to go now. 30 minutes left.

Oh, my God!

Maxime, can I help you? We just need to get these in the prover.

Show me what to do.

-Thinner. Thin not big.

-Thinner, yeah?

-Thin.

-We need these in the prover?

-Yeah, let's go, let's go.

If you fill it too much, they're going to snap.

-REECE:

-As they're frying off, you can see the laminations in them,

which is what we want. It'll give it a nice crisp extra to it.

The only reason I'm turning them on the tray

is to drain any excess fat that's coming off them.

We need to get the fresh raspberries and we need to coat them all.

15 minutes left now. Just quarter of an hour.

This could be right on the time.

Oh!

More time, we need more time.

We're going to finish. We are going to finish.

-You've got eight minutes left.

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

-That's as far as it goes.

-Pastries are in the oven, so...

-Are they done?

-No.

-Blimey!

-Guys, are we on track?

-Yeah.

This is just lime caviar, so there's just little spheres of lime juice,

which we've mixed with agar-agar.

-I need a hand to get those last Danishes out the oven.

-That's fine.

Not quite finishing as we'd hoped but, hopefully,

we won't be out of the running for the second challenge. We shall see.

They're a little bit flat. Could have had a bit longer in the prover.

Should have cut them a bit thicker.

Chefs, you have one minute left.

Fast, fast, fast. Take out, take out.

Creme pat, just need a small amount. We need to go, we need to go.

-Like that, yeah?

-Argh!

-You got it?

-Yeah, I've got it.

-Let's just get these on the side.

-OK, your time is up.

Now, please step away from your multiple miniatures.

We underestimated that one massively.

There shouldn't have been that much of a push.

Well done, mate. Big effort.

# Libiamo, libiamo ne' lieti... #

More than 400 miniatures, made in just three hours.

Watch it, watch it.

-STEFAN:

-Managed to get them out.

I think it's going to be a tough round for us, though.

-REECE:

-144 pastries in three hours - come on!

When does that ever happen at work?

So, congratulations, Chefs, on meeting the challenge.

Reece's team, if you'd like to bring up the products of your hard work.

Reece's team's Viennoiseries include flower-shaped, bi-coloured Danishes,

filled with orange creme patissiere

and croissant-doughnuts, or "droissants",

topped with green apple marmalade.

I really like the look of your "droissants",

and I can see the lamination, so well done for that.

It looks really, really appetising.

One little bit comment

-is that the colour is a little bit inconsistent.

-Yeah.

Visually, it looks almost better when you look at the work

that actually happens within that dough.

It's really beautiful, really amazing.

So, the proof is inside the "droissant".

I was a bit concerned when you tell me it's going to be deep-fried,

but it tastes really, really nice.

I like the flakiness and the sharpness of the apple

brings everything together beautifully.

Lovely, lovely, texture. Really, really nice. I really enjoy it.

-I'm going to do that back at Le Manoir very soon.

-Oh.

-And the orange?

-Reece, what happened?

I sliced it a bit too thin,

rushed them through the prover and they came out a bit too flat.

-It's chewy and it's very dry.

-You're losing the Viennoiserie aspect.

It's more like a dry paste with orange flavour.

-It doesn't live up to the "droissant".

-I agree.

-What a shame.

For their petits fours, they've made chocolate wafer cigars,

filled with chocolate mousse,

and waffle cones, filled with lime gel and rum and vanilla marshmallow.

I can visually see,

a little bit like the Viennoiserie challenge, two halves -

a beautiful cornet

and, as far as the cigar is concerned,

it's lacking a bit of refinement.

It's a bit heavy-handed, whereas this is very elegant,

-very dainty, very well done.

-Mm.

The caviar is actually very strong,

but because the rest is also very acidic,

especially there is a curd at the bottom which is extremely acidic,

it's just built up far too much.

-It doesn't taste as good as it looks.

-OK.

-I'm a bit disappointed.

-Maybe we need to try the cigar.

-Mm, always end with a cigar.

It was very aerated. It was very light, the chocolate mousse.

Does it excite me?

-No.

-It's a little bit...should I use the word "boring"?

-OK.

-To bring me a chocolate mousse in a tube... Disappointed, guys.

-OK.

I concentrated too much on the croissant-doughnut,

as opposed to the swirl.

-We've got tomorrow.

-We've still got tomorrow to play for, so...

Laurian and co are next, the French dragons.

If you could bring up your multiple miniatures.

Laurian's team's Viennoiserie include brioches,

filled with bacon, bourbon and pecan creme patissiere,

and bi-coloured croissants,

filled with pistachio creme patissiere and fresh raspberries.

The lamination is clearly visible, which is a great thing.

What are your immediate thoughts? BENOIT CLEARS HIS THROAT

-What are YOUR immediate thought?

-It's underbaked.

Underbaked, fairly tight as well and compact.

We knew we didn't leave long enough in the prover.

From the exterior, it looks very well laminated,

but when you eat it, it's very doughy, it's very chewy,

it's very heavy and it's undercooked. It's a no-no to me.

Hopefully, the bacon one is going to redeem yourself. It's very neat.

You've baked it in a circle, it's the right size.

Again, the lamination is beautiful.

We can see all the lamination throughout.

Are you getting bacon?

No, I cannot taste it, or it's very subtle.

I wish the maple would be more present

and because the brioche dough is slightly underbaked,

we've got kind of a lot of dough to balance the flavour

you're trying to make, so a little bit disappointed. I was really...

This is the thing I was looking forward to today.

Mm, what a disappointment.

For their petits fours,

Laurian's team have made passion fruit wafer tuiles,

filled with pineapple, chilli and ginger

and a coconut and rum ganache.

Also, chocolate-dipped praline sponge rolls,

filled with apricot creme patissiere.

I look at your presentation, it is very dull.

I want you to inject some excitement in there.

-It's lacking a bit of finesse.

-Yeah.

-What does that mean?

-It means "good".

Is that different, is that original?

But you know, sometimes, give me something nice to eat, I don't mind.

It is quite heavy for me.

But, saying that, I am quite intrigued to taste your cone.

Again, it might not look good, needs a bit more tender, loving care.

I was concerned with the first chocolate kind of mousse.

At the beginning, I said, "Ah, it's going to be chocolate,"

and then the pineapple kicks in and the ginger puts it somewhere else.

-There's nothing wrong there.

-It is crispy, it is light.

You just made my day. Love it, love it, love it!

Stefan is next.

If you and your team - or Maxime, as he's known -

would like to bring your produce up.

For their Viennoiserie, Stefan and Maxime have made

bi-colour, flower-shaped pandan leaf croissant,

filled with pandan creme patissiere,

and chocolate and hazelnut gianduja swirls.

-Right, so not everything went to plan today.

-Not quite, not quite.

Obviously, it's been difficult, but, you know, here we are.

We can only congratulate you for your effort this morning,

so we will bear in mind the fact that you've been two only,

but we also have to make a fair judgement on what we see and taste.

We can see the lamination, lots of layers.

Yeah, clearly there is a little baking issue

from the top to the bottom.

I have got the hazelnut but not the chocolate

and, obviously, because that flavour is not quite there,

you've got the hazelnut fat.

It is kind of rancid kind of taste on my palate.

I didn't enjoy eating it.

And then, saying that, I look at your pandan...

-They look like mini tortoises.

-It is upside down though.

If you put it up on its back, and it's a flower. There you go.

I would prefer the two sizes look quite in line with each other.

-These look really mini.

-It's underproved.

It didn't prove full stop. I mean, half an hour to go,

you were still putting them in the mould, weren't you?

I get very excited when you talk about pandan.

It's aromatic, it's very fragrant, although I prefer it

with a little bit of coconut injected into the flavour.

I think that would finish it off.

-Did you just take that out of your mouth?

-Yes.

-What can I say? It is raw.

-Bah, there we go.

I'm not going to be especially enthusiastic about this one.

It's not going to score very high.

For their petits fours, they've made chocolate ganache rolls,

encased in a passion fruit jelly,

and pistachio and praline tuiles, filled with pistachio

and white chocolate ganache and a raspberry coulis centre.

When you compare this and this,

they are not in size and not precise at all.

-The work is untidy.

-OK, so I'm going to take the little one.

Oh.

The ganache is wrong. It's too dry.

It's not silky, it's not melting down.

When you make the ganache, you saw that it was split.

I just didn't enjoy eating it.

So, pistachio.

You've cut this one and I think I'm going to try the French way.

-Oh.

-That's the best way.

I've got pistachio, I've got raspberry,

and the tuile on the outside is crispy.

Simple but very nice.

Well, you know what, if I eat it blindfolded, I'd be so happy.

Why blindfolded?

Because it is not very presentable, not precise,

but I was blindfolded, I would be happy, hunky-dory.

-Anyway, two chefs instead of three, well done.

-Well done, mate.

The judges will now award a score out of ten

for each batch of miniatures.

In total, 40 points are available today

and, with a place in the semifinals at stake,

at the end of tomorrow, every point is crucial.

The team in third place,

with a total of 18 out of a possible 40,

Stefan's team.

You were really under the cosh today.

However, underproved Viennoiserie

and petits fours need a bit of tender, loving care.

But which team has put themselves in poll position

to get through to the semifinals?

Reece's team,

I thought the "droissant" was really, really tasty.

However, the petits fours was a bit bland.

I'm awarding you 12 out of 20.

I really enjoy your take on the designer Viennoiserie,

but I'm really concerned with some of the tastings.

I'm awarding you 11 points out of 20.

Giving you a total of 23 out of a possible 40.

Can we hear your scores, please, for Laurian's team?

Very flaky, but underbaked Viennoiserie.

Very tasty but underfinished petits fours.

I'm awarding you 11 out of 20.

Loved the taste, but time management issue.

I'm awarding you 10 out of 20.

Which gives you 21 points out of a possible 40.

And that means that Reece's team is in first place,

Laurian's team is in second

and, Stefan, you are currently in bronze position.

Not that all is lost because tomorrow is the showpiece challenge

and 60 points are available. So, for now, best to rest.

Come back tomorrow rejuvenated

and, hopefully, replete with the rest of your team.

See you back here tomorrow morning.

I have no idea of the way we did it, but we did it!

Obviously, they weren't quite the standard which we'd hoped for

but, the main thing is we're not out of contention.

There's literally nothing separating the teams.

We're first but we're first by two points.

Two points is nothing. You have it all to play for.

Tomorrow is a tricky challenge

but then that's why the golden hour could change the day

and if we get things on time,

that will give us a good advantage for tomorrow.

Tomorrow, the teams will make an elaborate chocolate showpiece

and the golden hour is their chance to get a head start

and prepare any elements that need setting overnight.

So, looking ahead to tomorrow,

who do you think has the most work to do?

Definitely Stefan's team is going to have a tough job.

Yes, Lauren was taken ill and we're not sure about at the moment.

Well, let's hope she is getting better.

If she isn't, they are allowed to bring in someone to replace her.

But that person, they haven't been training with the team,

they are not aware of what's the brief,

so they can only really support.

And is Maxime not a specialist chocolatier?

He won Junior Chocolate Master

and, of course, his strength is with chocolate.

And Laurian's team.

Well, you can feel that those guys are working together.

But I have a feeling today that I saw a little bit crack in the team.

I think he's a bit stressed out because of time management.

And Reece's team?

They are the most competitive team we've got in this competition,

but they need to deliver brilliant skill consistently.

So, do you think Stefan's team out of the picture altogether

-cos they lost today?

-I think that if Stefan's team came up

with an innovative, creative, flamboyant design,

he would be able to fight back.

There's only five points between Reece's team and Stefan's team,

so tomorrow, 60 points, anything can happen.

-It's not over until it's over.

-That's a fabulous phrase.

I wish I'd said it. BENOIT LAUGHS

OK, I've filled all those. I just need to do the flowers.

-Let's go push, let's go push.

-Push, push, push, push.

-REECE:

-Three minutes.

Anything you don't want left uncovered, get on the trolley.

With just one challenge standing between the teams

and a place in the semifinals,

last night, Stefan took an executive decision.

So, sadly Lauren is still quite ill today

but, thankfully, Maxime and I are not going to have to do

this challenge by ourselves

and I'm really grateful that my good friend Stephen,

who was with me in the competition last year -

he was the captain - he's going to fill in for Lauren.

-LAURIAN:

-It feels a lot more important to stay in

than in previous weeks. There's a lot to play for today.

-REECE:

-We want to be in the semis, for sure.

Every round you've got to fight for,

so the sleeves are rolled up this morning and we're ready to go.

Good morning, Chefs. Welcome back.

It's time for the showpiece challenge,

your last chance to book those places in the semifinals.

-I'll let the judges explain. Cherish.

-Good morning, Chefs.

I'd like you to make a chocolate showpiece.

Every element has to be edible.

And three types of moulded and filled chocolate bonbons.

36 each, 108 in total.

Benoit, is there a theme?

The theme for your showpiece today is the sky at night,

so you need to think fireworks, planets, stars, galaxies.

-You need to think big.

-So, the rules are quite simple.

Succeed and you go through to the semifinals.

Fail and you have five minutes to leave the building

before we release the hounds.

You had one hour's preparation last night.

You have three further hours and those begin...now.

OK, let's do this, yeah? Let's smash it.

The teams will be judged on their mastery of chocolate,

from sculpting it on a grand scale

to crafting delicate flavour-filled bonbons.

They're lovely. That's it, round them.

-LAUREN:

-Is that melted chocolate? Can I steal a bit?

"Is that melted chocolate?" - what a stupid question.

With this challenge, it's the ultimate test of chocolate work.

The pastry chefs will have to show me their artistic side

and their technical skills on the showpiece

but also on the taste and texture of the bonbons.

The moulded chocolate, it has to be crispy, it has to be well snapped

and has to be so thinly cast and, most importantly,

the filling inside has to be so sensational when I taste it.

Could add a bit more of the blackcurrant liqueur.

Cherish likes her alcohol, so we don't want to disappoint today.

Delivering a sky at night themed showpiece...

-Shall I do two coats of this?

-Do one.

..means the scale of their ambition is more important than ever.

Little massage.

I would love to see, with a chocolate showpiece,

to lift off the table, off planet Earth to the sky.

The most crucial thing for me is the structure.

The centre of gravity is very crucial.

If the foundation is not strong enough, what happens?

Whoa, it will collapse.

Most teams used the golden hour

to set the larger sections of their structures overnight.

-REECE:

-What do you reckon about the moon?

-LAUREN:

-I think it needs something.

But Laurian's team went a step further.

The chocolate bonbons are done. Did them last night.

You've got to think of your priority

and I think, for us, the priority was to do the bonbons

and to cast all the big parts of the showpiece.

Now we can concentrate on spending big time on details.

The idea is to have it looking from a lake,

looking at the stars and the moon.

Laurian's telescope will also act as a vessel

for his trio of dark chocolate bonbons,

filled with pastis and star anise ganache,

yuzu and matcha green tea ganache,

and sesame caramel and sesame ganache.

Yesterday, we had time management issues.

Do you think you can do it today?

Well, the bonbons have already been done.

-All three bonbons have been actually made yesterday?

-Yes.

-Wow!

We always work like this.

I attempt to crystallise them overnight and them to cap them...

So, technically, all three of you are on the chocolate piece today.

So, are you going to show us a very magnificent, incredible piece today?

We're keeping it quite simple.

Compared to other teams, we might not have the biggest,

but there is no point to do something massive

just for the sake of using chocolate.

If Laurian's thinking simple and chic,

Reece is on a different planet altogether.

The sky at night screams to me straightway,

stars, galaxies, planets. So, that's what we're really going for.

We want that sort of visual impact, so lots of colours and shapes.

A couple of interpretations,

so for some of the planets, we're doing flowers.

We're really trying to show every technique of chocolate.

His team's entire solar system will be balanced

on a chocolate telescope, moon and base.

Their constellation of bonbons will include

a mango gel and chilli ganache dark chocolate,

a coconut and rum ganache milk chocolate,

and a blackcurrant, aniseed

and creme de cassis ganache white chocolate.

Who's doing what?

Myself and Lauren are mainly working on the showpiece.

-Jonathan is looking after the bonbons.

-I smell coconut.

-Yeah, we're also doing a mango and chilli.

-Interesting.

I like it spicy and my colleague over here likes it quite subtle.

-Ooh, it's very difficult.

-We've nailed it, I think.

So, how are you going to show us

that you're going to stand out compared to the rest of them?

We want to take you through a journey.

Space is endless. We don't want it just to be "bam".

-A journey into the universe.

-A journey into the universe.

Despite beaming in new team member Stephen...

-MAXIME:

-Let me just try.

..Stefan's handed the entire responsibility

for his main structure to chocolate master Maxime.

A little bit more.

Maxime is designer for this showpiece,

so Maxime's going to focus on that,

while I'm going to be focussing on the moulded chocolates.

Shooting out from Maxime's portal will be an array of planets,

satellites and stars and in their shadow will sit the bonbons,

including a raspberry gel

and raspberry and beetroot ganache white chocolate,

a whiskey ganache and praline dark chocolate,

and an orange bubble dark chocolate.

-Hi, Stefan.

-Hi, Angus, how are we doing?

-Well, I'm fine, how are you?

-OK.

-Lauren's looking well.

Lauren is looking a little bit different today.

-Hi, Stephen, how are you?

-Good.

-How is it taking orders from someone

-you were bossing around last year?

-I'm just here to support.

What's the design? What can we look forward to seeing?

-We've got a portal.

-Good.

-And out of that comes the showpiece,

so it's coming from a different dimension and then we're going

to present the bonbons, the moulded chocolates, out of the base.

It sounds like a space oddity.

Chefs, you have two hours left.

-REECE:

-Jesus, we need to get a move on!

While Laurian's team can concentrate solely on their main structure...

..for everyone else, there are still 108 bonbons to worry about.

So, I'm just tempering the chocolate I'm going to line the moulds with,

but I can see it's very thick, so when they cut the chocolate open,

the shell will be quite thick and we want it nice and thin.

And it's not just the shells that need to be perfect.

Now I'm making the whiskey ganache.

My ganache split yesterday and I wasn't too happy with that,

but it won't happen today.

-JONATHAN:

-This is blackcurrant and aniseed.

It should be quite fluid because if your ganache is too thick,

Cherish is going to look this out when she cuts into it.

We're all right for time, I think. I think we're doing all right.

It's business as usual with Reece's team. They've got great teamwork.

Jonathan is doing the chocolate bonbons

and Lauren and Reece are focussing on the chocolate piece.

This is for the telescope to sit on, yeah?

-They're putting a lot of colour too.

-It should be impressive to look at.

This is Neptune. You have to spray the mould first

and then, when you put the chocolate in, it takes on the colour.

So, there's two things in this chocolate - a nice shiny compote

and then I have to work on my ganache which has set.

Maxime, my ganache is set. Can I just microwave it to soften it?

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

-I'm a bit disappointed with Stefan.

I think they've come up with some quite nice flavours

but his ganache set and is so rock hard.

-See if I can bring this back.

-He's trying to loosen it.

He put it into the microwave and it looks split to me.

But, now, having said that,

I like the fact that Maxime has a bigger smile on his face

because he's doing what he loves doing - a chocolate piece.

-MAXIME:

-That one is my satellite.

-Laurian's team?

-I really like the strategy

because they make their bonbons last night.

All three of them can focus on the chocolate piece today.

So, we are actually expecting a magnificent showpiece.

It just cracked as we pulled it off.

It will set us back a bit but it's quite an important part of it,

so we've got to redo it, basically.

That was probably a good thing,

to have the chocolate bonbons already done this morning.

MUSIC: Jupiter, The Bringer Of Jollity from The Planets by Holst

Chefs, you have one hour left.

60 minutes to boldly go.

-We're doing all right.

-Sorry?

-I think we're doing OK.

We're just airbrushing the telescope with black cocoa butter.

We haven't done much airbrushing before,

so trying to show a new skill.

For Laurian's telescope mark 2, the focal point of his centrepiece,

it's now or never.

That's the second one. That's the one we've just done.

I'm going to try to remove the wooden stick.

Whoa!

-45 minutes left, Jonathan.

-Yeah. Bit tight, but we'll be fine.

-MAXIME:

-The sooner you can finish the planet as well.

-REECE:

-So, we're frantically trying to get everything ready.

We're trying to get all the planets sprayed.

This is Jupiter and we've airbrushed some detail onto that.

-LAUREN:

-You're making my hands shake.

-JONATHAN:

-You're shaking. You're not the only one.

We started the bottom of the piece

and then I'm going to work on the telescope.

This is going to be the lens.

-MAXIME:

-It's like a galaxy flower.

For this I do blue and I will put some shimmer powder.

-LAUREN:

-We're missing one more planet, aren't we? Just Pluto.

-LAURIAN:

-Taking them out, getting them ready to go on the stand there.

That's supposed to come out now. And the yuzu and matcha green tea.

They never come out as well as this.

-STEFAN:

-Chocolatewise, we've just got to cap them all

and put them on the thing, so it's going to be tight, got to work fast.

-What do you want?

-I need tempering, just to cap them.

-JONATHAN:

-I'm sealing them with tempered milk chocolate

and then just scraping them off to level it off

and then you turn them out and decorate them,

so still quite a lot to do.

Chefs, you have half an hour to go.

You can now start assembling your showpieces...

-Half an hour left, yeah?

-..or not.

30 minutes to go. Definitely a push for this last bit of time.

You can start building it now.

BLEEP!

-JONATHAN:

-Perfect, mate. What's next?

-Telescope's going to be next.

Here? Yeah, put lots on.

Just get it sprayed, get it sprayed.

Yeah, got it. Just be careful, be careful.

-Don't move too much, Stefan.

-Sorry, mate.

Come on, guys, come on.

Stay there, stay there.

BLEEP!

Argh!

Got the shakes today.

Why did that whole piece just...?

Not to alarm anyone, can you just come over here,

cos the whole thing's going to fall.

15 minutes left now till the final frontier.

No, it's that bit there. We need to stick that bit down.

Did something just break?

No, it didn't break. We just didn't attach it properly.

You seem nervous to actually move terribly far away from it.

-Are you worried?

-I can come away.

-OK.

-Got it?

-Yeah, I'm going to slide it. Slowly, Reece.

-Really gently. If we can get it onto the table, we can slide it.

-Yeah.

-Ready? One, two, three.

-Careful.

-Careful, careful.

Add more chocolate.

There are five minutes left, guys, five minutes.

There is no plan B. The whole point of doing a competition like this

is to push ourselves and you find out how good you are.

Ready?

-So, is that going to hold? REECE:

-We'll soon find out.

-All you can do, basically, is put chocolate there?

-Yeah.

Get your chocolates on the table. You have to be careful of this.

-You can plate now, Stefan.

-Choose the best.

Let's just go. We need to go.

-JONATHAN:

-My hands are shaking.

-Mine too.

Whatever happens, I'm proud of what we've done.

Do you want to stick anything?

OK, everyone, time is up.

Let's just be... No, leave it. Don't shake.

-Don't do the table.

-Don't, don't.

Well done, Maxime.

-Laurian's team's is good.

-It flows.

-Very nice.

-LAURIAN:

-Have they got a telescope down there as well?

Yeah, they've got.

MUSIC: Theme from 2001: A Space Odyssey

Made entirely from chocolate, in just four hours,

an astronomical 324 bonbons and three sky-scraping showpieces.

Make that two.

-BLEEP!

-It's fallen.

-Oh, my God!

MUSIC: Theme from 2001: A Space Odyssey

-Oh, dear, oh, dear.

-What can you do, eh?

It's fine. This was all part of the piece. This was the big bang theory.

LAUREN LAUGHS

I'm glad we're laughing. I'll cry later on.

-I feel for those guys. It was beautiful as well.

-Really nice.

So, the more observant of you will have noticed

that something happened

shortly after you completed your showpieces.

Some of you reached for the stars, some of you crashed and burned.

We're going to start by looking at Laurian's showpiece.

I wasn't sure, to begin with.

I was actually concerned with the scheme you were coming up with,

which could be pretty boring.

Looking at this now, actually,

you've managed to keep it sleek enough

in order for it not to be heavy and it's actually quite elegant.

And because it's so refined, I find it quite enchanting.

-This is beautiful work.

-Thank you.

-What about the bonbons?

-Shall we put all of them on a plate?

-You can take it from the telescope as well.

-Ah!

-We can take it...?

-There is more to come down?

-There should be more.

-Ah, OK.

-They stuck.

So, that's a great thing,

because we get a beautiful telescope where everything gets stuck inside.

This is why the telescope broke, because we tried to create that.

We really wanted to make it happen.

That would have scored you really on the novelty,

but it didn't work, so let's not dream about what could have worked.

I was a little bit disappointed that you sparkled, that's it.

And all the same technique, I think is a bit safe.

-Oh, yes.

-Yeah.

-Definitely.

Allez. So, which?

I would start with the one there.

It's very thinly cast, well done.

The ganache texture is really beautiful.

I think your strategy was really good.

You made your bonbons yesterday,

let it crystallise the way it should be, by not forcing it.

-This one is good.

-This one is good. Do you like this one?

-Yes.

-The blue one.

-Good for you then.

I wish you could put a little bit more flavour in here.

It is quite subtle.

Which one's next?

You've got a layer of sesame caramel and a sesame ganache.

-It's strong.

-I love my sesame but this is just too heavy.

It's like almost a burning kind of sensation.

-And finally...

-The yuzu and matcha green tea.

CHOCOLATE CRACKS

-Well, that really tell you that my base is too thick.

-Yeah.

Nice subtle flavour of matcha and yuzu.

Yuzu could be overpowering. In this case, it's very delicate.

-I love it. Very well done.

-Yeah, it sounds largely successful.

And my favourite bit, you haven't even mentioned yet,

-which are the pebbles.

-Did you want to taste it?

I would do but the whole thing would fall down, so I won't.

They've done really well.

-Mm?

-I think they've done really well.

When I look from far, it attract me to come in.

You have the floor of the planet and then your satellite.

But when I walk closer, disappointed

because I can see that it has not been joined to perfection.

I can see it very obvious.

The attention to detail is still a struggle with you guys.

The little Sputnik do look very good from a distance.

You get close, they are like finishing touches.

The brushing is on one side, the other is on the other.

But, overall, the theme is there.

-What about the bonbons?

-Which one would you start with?

Why not start with the raspberry and white chocolate?

Lovely presentation. It looks really elegant from here.

Oh, la ganache, oui.

When I saw you making the ganache, the ganache is set.

-Then you put it in the microwave. What are you doing?

-Yeah.

Chef, I do not like split ganache. I was disappointed.

-What about the next one?

-It's a bubble chocolate.

Moulding, I'm a bit disappointed. It's not as shiny as I'd like.

I think last minute, you were sort of pushing this piece,

and I was, like, you're not going to rest enough.

It's a little on the dry side.

When you do aerated texture, you want it to crush down very easily.

It's not the case. It's pretty tight.

OK, let's go to the whiskey, the boozy one.

The base is quite thick. The shell, though, is beautifully made.

It's nice and even and not too thick.

Whiskey, yes, I can taste. Ganache, again it is split.

All your ganache is a disappointment for me.

Overall, your tastings have been challenging, to say the least.

But at least your structure is vertical

and not lying on the table, so there are upsides.

-Thank you.

-Thanks, Chef.

-Well done.

That was tough.

-Hi, guys.

-Chefs. How are you?

-WE'RE very good.

-I'm assuming you're maybe less than very good.

-Oh, yeah.

The key starting point of creating a showpiece

is making sure you have something to show.

And when you create a structure,

it's not just how far or how tall you want it to be,

it's how strong it is to withstand time.

Creating that structure hasn't been thought about.

You can see what you are left with is the shape of your telescope

and the cocoa butter you spread your telescope with,

so that means there was no clear, strong bond between the two.

Plus, round surface with another round surface

already has a weaker gluing point.

-You struggled to stick it in the first place.

-Yeah.

It was meant to happen.

-We knew that was coming. Not if, but when.

-Yeah.

-But there was some skills.

-In term of technique, you do a lot of work.

-I love the way you airbrush.

-What was this one?

-That would be Jupiter.

It looks sensational.

Perhaps we could turn to something we CAN actually judge,

-which is the bonbons.

-Which one would you like us to taste first?

I think maybe start with milk chocolate and coconut,

so inside as well, is a little crunch.

Well, really nice moulded.

As you can see, it's very thin and this is what I'm looking for.

It's beautiful for me.

I love it. Really nice. I like the coconut flavour.

The texture of your ganache is beautiful.

Top marks for this one, as far as I'm concerned.

In fact, I get the rest.

This one looks almost like a galaxy.

That's made with white chocolate, blackcurrant.

Beautifully moulded, nice and thin.

-The ganache is beautifully made.

-In terms of flavour, it's OK.

-Nothing good, but OK.

-OK.

-Last one, but not least.

Very, very nicely moulded again. Very thin.

This is how I like my chocolate to be moulded.

Oh, the spice!

-HE WHISTLES

-Cheeky you!

I've got the mango element and then I've got

the chilli, perhaps, a little strong.

I take spicy food, so I think that it is just perfect for me.

-I really like it.

-So, structurally, not a resounding success.

But maybe the bonbons will help you fall out of the black hole

that you created for yourselves.

And might now crawl into, you never know.

-Put us out of our misery.

-We're going home.

-Get it done.

-We're going home.

Benoit and Cherish will now mark each showpiece out of 60,

based on the taste and texture of the bonbons

and the overall success of the structure.

Well, I find the judging today is really, really tough for me.

They can do great things and they can also muck them up really bad.

-Yeah.

-Something we have to take into consideration.

But, saying that, I'm very disappointed with Stefan's team.

-Bonbons...

-Yeah, I've got tasting issues. It's really, really hard.

Added to yesterday's points,

the team with the lowest score out of 100 will leave the competition.

But who has secured a place in the semifinals?

The team in first place,

the judges awarded you 46 points out of a possible 60,

giving you a combined total of 67 out of 100,

and it's Laurian's team.

Congratulations.

APPLAUSE

You are through to the semifinals,

which means that there is only one place left.

So, in no particular order, Stefan's team, the judges awarded you

36 points out of 60, giving you a combined total of 54 out of 100.

And Reece's team, the judges awarded you...

..also 36 points out of 60,

giving you a combined total of 59 out of 100.

That means Stefan's team, sadly, are the one going home.

Congratulations to the rest of you and commiserations to Stefan's team.

-Guys, well, thanks for stepping in.

-Thank you.

Come here and give me a little hug, Frenchman.

-Going to miss you guys.

-We had high hopes coming into the competition.

I thought, as a team, we really had potential. But we've had a good run.

We just made too many mistakes.

For me, you started strong, but then towards the end...

A few schoolboy errors have maybe cost us

a place in the semifinal, but Reece and Laurian deserve their place.

Well done, mate. Well done.

-Good job, mate.

-Thank you.

Come here. Come on!

Getting in the semifinal is a massive deal. We are over the moon.

THEY LAUGH

Or BY the moon.

Jonathan, your chocolates saved the day. His chocolates saved the day.

Wasn't expecting that, actually. It was big kick up the backside.

-We've got a lot to do.

-I'm shaking, I'm actually shaking.

I think what's key for us next week

is to bring along some mini scaffolding,

so that we can hold our centrepiece up.

So, Stefan's team's chocolate solar system not quite good enough

to see them through to the semifinals.

How often have we heard that story?

Join us next week for the first of those semis,

with just four teams left now for Benoit and Cherish to offend.

See you then. Bye for now.

Next time, on Creme De La Creme...

-Pressure's on.

-..Reece's team...

-This is what we live for.

-..face Liam's team...

-Come on, boys, let's smash this.

-..in the first semifinal.

-Reece, sorted, yeah?

-We'll see.

-I'm very excited about live plating.

-We're pushing the boundaries today.

-I want fireworks, I want drama...

-Whoa! Whoa!

Sugar craft - the skill I really love. It makes...

-Don't push down, don't push down.

-..or it breaks.

My heart can't take this.