Episode 8 Bake Off Creme de la Creme

Welcome to the second of our two semifinals,

which mathematicians amongst you will have worked out is our last.

And what a proud day it is for British culinary supremacy,

as a Brazilian, a South Korean and an Argentine battle it out

with three Frenchmen.

Yes, our two remaining teams,

Laurian's French Dragons and Paula's Secret Chefs

will be hoping to perform kitchen wizardry

on a Hogwartian scale,

as they attempt to bag that last place in next week's final.

Will they do it?

If you don't want to know the result, look away now...

And for the next 60 minutes.

Last time...

-I'll give you a little wink and a nudge.

-OK.

..Reece, Jonathan and Lauren...

Careful, this is moving.

..couldn't hold off the might of the military

as captain Liam, Chris and Bear...

-Do you think we've done enough?

-Yes.

..booked their place in the grand final.

Oh, he's heavy!

Tonight, we find out who will be joining them.

Will it be a team who hail

from the City of London's hidden fine dining rooms?

You girls are coming with me.

Or can three chefs from France...

Look at him, he's a bit shaky.

..who opened a patisserie in Cardiff

make the grand final their new home?

Huh?

Three incredibly complex desserts...

It's not coming out!

..over two of the most demanding challenges...

Non!

..these teams will ever face.

Don't move, don't move!

All for the one remaining place...

..in the Bake Off Creme De La Creme final.

Please work, please work.

CRACKING SOUNDS

The second semifinal features

the two most successful teams this year.

Their phenomenal teamwork has seen Laurian, Thibault and Jeremy

notch up the two highest scores in the competition.

The dough feels really good.

Bravo.

They've dazzled with style...

I have to say, it looks quite striking.

..and inspired ingredients.

Instead of using milk, we use champagne.

Scrumptious!

I love it!

We are here because we love our job,

so we just got to do our best and make sure

that we can secure that place for the next round.

Paula's team have flourished under her determined leadership.

-That's us, Gime.

-Yeah. It's time to work, girl.

..winning two out of their three heats

by consistently wowing the judges with their artistry...

Very elegant, very feminine pitch.

..and exotic flavour combinations.

Mushroom?! I thought you were bonkers, but I love it.

Being in the final would mean the world to us.

We have been practising every single time we have.

-Bring it on!

-Let's go.

Welcome back, semifinalists.

Just two challenges stand between you and a place in the final,

and, as a mark of respect, the judges have decided

to make both of them virtually impossible.

As is numerically unavoidable, we start with the first challenge,

so Benoit, what have you chosen for the teams to make?

I would like you to make six buches entremets.

These are glazed log-shaped desserts

with beautifully inserted components.

Of course, they need to be elegantly decorated.

OK, so a multi-layered dessert

with as many components as the average smartphone.

Cherish, what have you chosen?

Chefs, I would like to see something very different and theatrical today.

I would like you to make a live-plated dessert

and I'd like you to showcase orchard fruit flavour.

So, that is your mission, should you wish to accept it.

There are 40 points available.

You have three hours. Good luck, your time starts...now.

With just three hours, the teams' urgent priority

is to set the layers of their six identical buches entremets.

The entremets, in the pastry world, is a step up from a miniature.

A sharing dessert cake.

Buche is a French word

to describe a log.

We are testing their ability to adapt to the elongated shape

which a wooden log would look like.

They will have to think about how they are going to layer or insert

all those beautiful flavours and textures.

The setting aspect is definitely

part of the things that can go wrong.

You could easily lose points if you are not meeting the brief,

so we are asking for a glaze

and every angle needs to be extremely neat,

extremely sharp, and needs to be appealing.

Laurian's team's buches will be a true taste of home -

and he doesn't mean Cardiff.

I'm from the Rhone Valley

in the South of France

and we've got all the orchards of apricots and peaches

you can see on the side of the road when you drive

and rosemary is part of Provence as well,

so together, it's a marriage made in heaven.

Laurian will have to set layers of nougat cremeux,

rosemary bavarois and a peach and apricot mousse.

His buches will be coated with sprayed velvet chocolate

and for the base,

Thibault is making another taste of home.

Still not Wales.

I'm making a madeleine sponge

and after, we will have the nougat cremeaux.

In the nougat you've got some almonds, pistachios and hazelnuts.

I've roasted them just before, to get a better taste.

While Laurian and the boys have headed home for their flavours...

All good, girls?

..Paula and the girls couldn't decide where they were going.

We had a disagreement

about what fruit to use, so we decided to use them all.

So we have raspberry, blackberry, a touch of violet,

strawberry, blackcurrant, mango, passion, cherry, redcurrant,

pear, guava, banana, peach.

If in doubt, chuck it all in.

Paula's ambitious buches will have multiple layers of

sable Breton biscuit,

pistachio joconde,

pine nut crunch

and cherry compote,

surrounded by her 13-fruit cocktail mousse.

It will be finished with a red glaze,

layered with white chocolate.

And Ji Sun is adding yet another component.

Any other secret ingredients?

Yes, we have Ji Sun with the milk chocolate insert with ginseng.

-Ginseng?

-Yes.

-Right. OK.

Isn't that supposed to be an aphrodisiac?

Apparently so.

We did not add that for that, I have to say.

Yeah, Benoit and an aphrodisiac, that could be...

-Light blue touchpaper and retire.

-Oh, well.

Thibault is going to start on the nougat cremeux,

so we're going to do the cremeux de bavarois

and that's got to set in the freezer first

and then we get to do the mousse at the end,

so all the elements need to be ready first.

The faster the teams can prepare each entremets component...

I'm responsible for the cocktail

and then I'm going to pass it to Gimena,

who is going to make the mousse with it.

..the sooner they can get them into their moulds.

The nuts are making a good texture.

I need to put my two trays in the blast freezer, just to set it up.

Every minute lost...

BUZZER

..will be a minute less their buches will have to set.

-Yes?

-Nice.

All yours.

But whilst Paula's 13-fruit cocktail

is only just ready to be turned into a mousse...

-CHERISH:

-Morning, chefs.

..for Laurian, things may not be progressing

quite as fast as he'd hoped.

At the introduction of this challenge,

I mentioned a glazed buche.

How are you going to glaze yours?

We are actually...

We are going to add a velvet coating on the top of the log.

-You mean spray?

-Yeah.

-Is that a glaze?

-It's...

-It's not a glaze.

-It's not a glaze.

To me, it's not a glaze. Do what you want, do what you can,

-but spraying your log is not going to be glazed, for me.

-OK.

And that's why we say glazed, not sprayed,

not finished as you like.

Glazed.

Good luck with that and think about glazing your log, perhaps.

We're going to have to come up with a plan B, then.

Non.

I'm doing the glaze.

We are making a white chocolate one.

It needs to be smooth, it needs to be shiny, it needs to be set.

And the mousse needs to be frozen,

so as soon as the glaze touches it, it sets instantly.

Coming through, girls. Careful.

We've remembered before, one of the glazes we do in our work,

so we've got it...

Just a dark chocolate glaze,

which is maybe not the best, but at least it's a glaze.

We've got a fighting spirit.

You know, it's not over until it's over.

Whilst racing to complete elements from their buches...

I am making pine nut crunch.

Texture is important.

..the teams have to find time

to complete their second live-plated dessert.

The latest trend in high-end patisserie competitions,

live plating sees a presentation table

beautifully decorated in real time

with spectacular deconstructed desserts.

This is the moment where performance art and patisserie collide.

It is showtime!

I want to see big performance, it has to be mega.

We are there to observe every move and every dot.

All the elements they bring need to have a good flavour, good textures,

perfectly executed and obviously makes sense to the dessert.

Do not just throw the dessert on the table,

it has to be very artistic

and it has to send a tingling sensation through my spine

and stir my heart.

During judging, the teams will have just three minutes

to perform the second dessert.

Unless every element is perfectly prepared now,

the smallest of errors could ruin their big moment.

Laurian?

It's such a new phenomenon

that Paula's team have never attempted it before.

It was a lot of fun coming up with the ideas for this.

We had to obviously cut down a lot

cos when these girls get together to start having ideas,

you have just control them or they go crazy.

We are making a version of an apple crumble,

but we are giving a twist.

Paula will drop a chocolate sphere, which will shatter to reveal

a chocolate, caramel and apple mousse,

then ignite a cinnamon brulee-topped sable Breton

surrounded by Pink Lady compote,

and Gimena is making a toffee sauce with another Far Eastern ingredient.

I always like something, like, salty.

And we've put soya sauce, that is quite salty,

so to make something different.

This is my mousse that has nearly set.

Caramel apple jelly that's going on top of the mousse.

For this one, we used Granny Smith apples.

It's very small because we want it raw,

to give the crunchy bite.

When the time comes, we are going to slice

and serve as the centre of this huge sphere that she is making there,

so this is the main piece for our plated dessert.

It will also be the first live plating for Laurian's team.

It's quite cool to do something a bit different.

Hopefully we'll get to impress the judges with different techniques

and different elements in a dessert, which is pear and mulled wine.

So I've got a mulled wine on to reduce.

Laurian's mulled wine reduction will decorate a table

scattered with beetroot sponge and pear tonka caramel.

Onto it, the team will each drop

a chocolate sphere filled with pear julienne,

spicy crumble and a pear mousse.

And for some extra bling,

Laurian has been experimenting again.

What are you doing?

-Well...

-It looks extremely medicinal.

I'm making some orange and cinnamon pearls.

You just have to do one drop at a time in really cold oil.

That's very clever, it's almost like a scientific experiment.

How is Glaze-gate?

We've just got a chocolate glaze.

Right, and that was a recipe you kind of knew?

Yeah, it's a recipe that we use in the shop on a regular basis.

So you've averted disaster, you think?

I don't know.

This thing seems to be broken now.

-It's a bit stuck, yes.

-You can fix that as well.

You've been fixing things all morning.

It never works when you need it, that's the problem, isn't it?

I always find that with syringes. All right, see you later.

Chefs, you are now halfway through,

so one-and-a-half hours gone, one-and-a-half to go.

So long as their components have baked and set...

Seems like the right consistency for it.

..the semifinalists need to construct

and begin chilling their buches as soon as possible.

It's a basic fruit puree mousse,

so we've got the fruit puree,

gelatine, Italian meringue and whipped cream.

And then we've got a layer of the bavarois

and it's not too strong because we don't want too much

of rosemary flavour in the bavarois.

As they are making larger sharing desserts...

..setting times in this first challenge

will be longer than the teams have been used to.

We have all our inserts ready to go,

so I think we can start building our entremets.

First is going to be the mousse, then we have cremoso.

Hopefully we can build in one go.

Laurian's team are hoping to make time

to even set some finishing touches.

We just wanted to represent an apricot.

We just got some silicon and then got the stones

to create our own mould.

It's got the effect of the full apricot with the stone inside.

At this point, every point counts.

Laurian's team, they are making a glaze.

You mentioned it, they rectified it straightaway.

-That is the adaptability I really expect from a pastry chef.

-Yeah.

What do you think of Paula's team?

I just wonder if they have forgotten

they are in actually a timed competition.

The mousse is not in the freezer yet.

Chocolate done in both.

Now mousse in those two.

They inject some ginseng into their chocolate insert.

-They used to make love potion with it, so I don't know...

-Oh, love potion!

..is this going to spark new interest in anybody?

We are doing tasting.

I'm worried now!

Go in.

All the entremets are in the freezer.

We need them to freeze quick, quick, quick.

Now we are finishing last elements for our live dessert.

We have the brulee, the sugar...

Please come out, please come out.

No, but that is fixable.

-Non!

-BLEEP!

Yes, I broke it, but I made it, so it's fine.

Fair point, I think.

One hour left now.

60 minutes left, chefs.

That's the beetroot sponge mix.

It's just eggs, flour and sugar and beetroot powder

and then we're going to put it in a paper cup,

30 seconds in the microwave and then it's cooked.

This is like a syrup and I've got a mousse and the pear julienne.

Gime? Cooling spray, can you see it?

This is for the decoration.

I don't wish to alarm you, but there are 30 minutes left now, chefs.

It's not freezing on time.

Get everything for the plating.

Soy sauce... Where's the gels?

Everything is here.

We have to glaze now, whatever happens.

Come on. Come out, please. Come out.

It's not coming out.

With time running out, in order to free her buches...

Ji Sun, you set it at -20, right?

Let's go in.

..Paula is resorting to dry ice.

Please work, please work.

-Don't touch them, don't touch.

-You have the glaze ready, in jars?

Go in jar - jar, jar, jar.

Let's try to do this.

Please, please come out.

-Oh,

-BLEEP!

Come on!

Keep going, keep going. Oh, God.

Is it coming?

BLEEP!

This is disgusting!

We don't...we don't have six.

I cannot take them. No.

Let's present two, that's all we have.

I'd rather present two than this.

This is awful.

Two minutes left.

Oh, this is embarrassing!

Where's your things to go on the side and on the front?

Time is up, guys.

Step away from your entremets.

Shall we cry now...or later?

At the end of one of the toughest challenges yet,

in just three hours, the semifinalists

have made all the elements for their live-plated desserts

as well as their buches entremets.

I'd be gutted if we only could get two logs out,

especially on a semifinal.

Oh, my God!

They have even fruit on the top.

They did amazing.

Let's see how Laurian's team fared.

If you'd like to bring your entremets over.

For this judging, the team captains must face Benoit and Cherish alone.

Laurian's buches feature a madeleine sponge,

apricot and peach mousse,

nougat cremeux and a mirror glaze to finish.

Looking at the way the logs are sunk in, I'm asking myself,

"Was there any technical issues?"

Because if your recipes are balanced correctly,

it should be holding nice and easy.

The glaze, though you made it last-minute,

was the great recipe in there,

because you could have had some beautiful shine with no bubbles,

but clearly the log itself was the issue.

Yup.

I quite liked the extra effort that you put on the apricot.

I think they're quite innovative and creative.

That tells me that what I eat outside is what I'm going to

have inside as well, so I think that is a nice touch.

Shall we taste one of those apricots as well as the slice, or...?

-I would love to. Yes.

-Yeah, you've got an apricot mousse,

and in the centre you've got a milk chocolate ganache.

ANGUS CHUCKLES QUIETLY

There's a lot of slightly French...

HE EXHALES ..going on.

-Looking at your peach and apricot, is this the same mousse?

-Yeah.

That tells me that it holds very well outside,

and that tells me the problem is not lying over there.

-The problem lies on the...

-The nougat cream.

Yeah.

I can taste the rosemary -

it marries very well with the peach and the apricot -

but I was expecting more.

This is the semifinal of the best pastry chef teams in the UK,

and we're coming up with something like that...

I'm bored.

I'm going to be pretty honest.

You've got six logs - they are all glazed.

That's the positive for me.

I need to wait for what you come up with, with your live-plated dessert.

-OK?

-OK.

-OK, thank you.

SHE SIGHS

THEY EXHALE

Paula's team, if you could bring up your buches entremets...

Paula's buches consist of layers of pine nut crunch, cherry compote,

chocolate and ginseng cremeux, and fruit-cocktail mousse,

all finished with a white chocolate glaze.

OK, so I think it's fair to say not everything went to plan.

No.

This morning, I was worried from the first five minutes.

It's almost like you're getting comfortable with these challenges,

but, you see, now you've been short.

This is a sad face.

-A sad face?

-Yes, yes, I...

-It's really a sad face.

It does slightly look like a sad face,

but try to put that to one side.

HE GIGGLES

The aphrodisiac part's obviously working.

Maybe this is kicking in, but I'm very confused.

It goes in all directions,

and I don't even know what I'm eating any more.

Every element tastes nice, but the whole lot together is...

I don't know where I stand.

Yeah, the mousse tastes OK.

Your pine nut caramel is undercooked.

A few more degrees higher, it would not be as chewy as it is,

and the ginseng, the first taste is just bitterness for me,

and I just don't think they blend together very well,

so I didn't enjoy eating this.

I think you're too ambitious.

I think you bite more than you can chew.

Nevertheless, you're only halfway through,

so you could make that all up with your live plating.

Thank you, Paula.

'After both teams disappointed with their buches,

'everything now rests on the teams' second dessert.'

Right, it's time for a little live plating.

Laurian and team, you have three minutes,

and your three minutes starts now.

So, today we're bringing you a pear and mulled wine dessert

to enjoy on a cold autumn day.

I love that it's called live plating -

there don't seem to be any plates.

-LAUGHTER

-Oh!

MUSIC: Aria from Faust by Charles Gounod

Oh, good lord.

Chef, my highlight of this challenge is that when the three of you

lift up the chocolate ball and put it down all together,

and I can see that the bottoms break but the tops still remain.

There is a classical order -

everything has a place and every place has one thing.

I really enjoyed the fact that every single one of you

knew what they were doing.

'Laurian's team are presenting

'a poached pear and mulled wine dessert,

'with a mulled wine reduction, a beetroot sponge,

'orange and cinnamon pearls, and three chocolate spheres

'filled with pear julienne, a spicy crumble and a pear mousse.'

And how did you keep these intact while the rest of it smashed?

Pure luck.

Good answer.

I really enjoy eating the pear mousse, the caramel,

and then the julienne of pear over here.

The mulled wine sauce, as it goes, I'm not too sure.

Your microwave sponge, I really can't taste the beetroot.

-Did you use a fresh beetroot?

-No, we used a powdered beetroot.

Well, I'd rather that you'd use a fresh beetroot and use the water.

At least it is technically done perfectly.

I'm a bit disappointed with the pears.

The problem is I don't think you've picked the right pear.

The little orange pearl brings a bit of freshness.

I would have loved a little bit more kick.

This part, I enjoyed the design.

I didn't enjoy too much what was going on.

There are some good things,

and there are things which were not controlled as well,

and there is definitely a style.

Well done. Thank you very much.

Thank you for your effort, yeah?

All right, girls, let's smash this table now. All right?

OK, let's put the entremets disaster to one side.

This is your chance to redeem yourselves,

and your time starts now.

MUSIC: William Tell Overture by Gioachino Rossini

So, we're bringing to you today a little apple crumble.

I hope you enjoy it.

Shall we set the table on fire?

Whoops!

I'm going to cook my sphere now.

Enjoy.

-Wow.

-Well done.

Cherish?

-Hmm...

-No? OK.

-No.

Very hard to please.

Though I don't mind a little bit of legerete,

a little bit of a swing, but it's all swing.

Everything is all over the shop.

This is chaos.

Girls, I get a sense of panic - everything just thrown on the plate.

For me, it's a mess. I don't know, what am I looking at?

If I gave you, even, an example -

those cremes brulees were meant to stand on the sable.

They are not even caramelised correctly,

-so that means here I'm going to have to eat raw demerara sugar.

-Yeah.

'Paula's team are presenting an apple crumble dessert

'with cinnamon brulee, a Pink Lady compote,

'toffee soy sauce, and a chocolate sphere

'filled with a caramel and apple chocolate mousse.'

BENOIT EXHALES

The only thing I like about this apple crumble

is the crunch on the apple.

Does it excite me?

Not really.

Have you chosen a variety in particular, or you just took a...?

Those are Pink Ladies.

Well, they lack personality,

and the caramel is bitter.

So...

-HE BLOWS A RASPBERRY

-Excuse my French.

Do other apples have more personality?

There are many apples who can have great personalities,

especially in this country.

Those cremes brulees, the texture is great,

but there's no caramelisation on the top,

and the sable breton underneath,

it hasn't got that fresh, buttery, crunchy texture I really love.

You haven't enjoyed those three bits,

but maybe something else on the table might...

-HE COUGHS Oh, dear.

-No.

-No? OK.

Spoke too soon.

Girls, I love my soya sauce, but it just doesn't do it for me.

The first taste is soya sauce, and followed up by the bitterness.

It's really, really overpowering.

So, do you want to try the centrepiece there?

Surely you like that.

That's the best part.

-BENOIT EXHALES

-You're taking the risks,

but you need to be able to control it, you know?

You're taking the bull by the horn and you're riding it.

There is some great ideas there, but nothing is controlled.

It looks like we're taking holidays earlier.

Benoit and Cherish will now award each team a mark out of 20

for their live-plated dessert and buches entremets.

That's going to be tricky today.

-I was very disappointed with both of the teams.

-Yeah.

Paula's team didn't even meet the brief.

And Laurian scraped by.

What about the live-plating dessert?

It wasn't alive.

There was no meaning.

A total of 40 points are on offer,

and a good score in this first challenge could prove a huge step

towards making the grand final.

Have you finished your deliberations?

Yes, we have.

Could I ask you, please, for the scores,

starting with Laurian's team?

You just scraped through with the buche challenge,

and you have a very classical approach

on your live-plating dessert.

For those reasons, I'm awarding you 11 out of 20.

The highlight was your chocolate sphere.

However, I was a little bit disappointed with your entremets.

For that, I award you nine.

Bringing you the total of 20 out of a possible 40 points.

And now Paula's team, Benoit.

You possibly have been too ambitious with your buche challenge,

and, for me, you lost control completely with your live plating.

For this reason, I am awarding you seven.

You did not meet the brief for your entremets,

and, as for your live-plating dessert,

it was lifeless, uninteresting, and it was boring.

For that, I am awarding you five.

Which gives you a total of 12 points out of a possible 40,

which means it's Laurian's team that is in first place

and Paula's team are currently not in first place,

but don't lose heart,

because tomorrow's sugary Showpiece Challenge

could reverse those placings.

Well done, and we'll see you tomorrow.

It was one of the toughest challenges we've done.

Despite the fact that we've got eight points' lead,

it doesn't give us confidence.

Everything can go wrong with the Showpiece.

That was, absolutely, disaster.

Our spirits are broken in pieces now.

We're just going to have to breathe, have a coffee,

and try to pull off the next challenge.

With a place in the final at stake,

tomorrow's Showpiece is the most important challenge

Paula and Laurian have so far faced,

and, after a disappointing first day,

every minute of the golden hour is crucial.

It wasn't the best day at the office,

let's be honest about it,

but we know the two teams there are winners.

We were expecting more wow, drama.

But how wrong did Paula's team get it?

Eight points - do you think they can turn it around?

I believe they can still catch up.

It's hard, but Paula can still bring her little je ne sais quoi

to the table and make it work.

You never know.

That's fine - we have two of each colour.

It's fine. It's fun.

-Deux.

-Ooh.

Morning, chefs.

Welcome back for what the Swedish band Europe

called The Final Countdown.

Round here, it's known as the Showpiece Challenge.

I'll let the judges explain. Cherish?

We would like you to make a sugar Showpiece

with a theme around jungle paradise.

We are expecting bright colour, tropical flowers, exotic flavour.

Good luck, chefs.

Thank you. Benoit, any more salient points?

Yes, plenty.

Oh, dear.

We would like you to incorporate 40 fudge, 40 marzipan,

and 40 rolled raw pates de fruits confections into your design.

It is your last chance to impress us.

Teams, you had one hour's preparation last night.

You have three hours remaining.

That surely can't be enough.

There are 60 points available,

which, frankly, seems laughable,

and your time starts now.

Let's go, girls.

Sugarwork is my passion,

and jungle paradise is the perfect theme.

It's full of flowers, colours, life...

I want it to be mega. I want it to be spectacular.

I want it to be magnificent.

We want to see how creative, how innovative, how bold they are,

and, of course, the technical skill of sugar is so critical.

This one's going to be very thick.

We want also 120 confections -

all of these are really basic recipes in our kitchen.

We would like them to push them a notch up

and impress us with beautiful flavours,

neatness and regularity.

The crucial thing for pate de fruits is to get your temperature correct,

inject flavour into the marzipan,

and if you undercook, your fudge will not set.

Be careful with this, it's hot.

I would like them give me the most beautiful, scrumptious sweet

I've ever tasted before,

so, chefs, do not disappoint me.

Texture will be crucial in this challenge,

so the teams will be marked down if their fudge isn't crumbly,

their marzipan isn't smooth,

and their pates de fruits doesn't melt in the judges' mouths...

..and they must all tie in perfectly with the jungle paradise theme

of their sugar Showpiece displays.

-Everything OK, girls?

-Yes, yes, all good.

-And you?

-Yeah.

Trailing for only the second time in the competition,

this Showpiece Challenge will be a new test for Paula's team.

The sugarwork, for my team, is something completely new.

This is going to be our very first Showpiece in sugar, ever.

It starts with the mould of the things

that we've been casting yesterday.

This is one of the spheres that goes in our structure.

Ah-hah. We have an explosion. There we go.

The confectionaries... Gimena is in charge of them.

Ji Sun and I, we are doing the Showpiece.

As usual, I'm the builder and Ji Sun is the artist.

We're making orchids and jungle creatures to go in our piece.

Paula's orchids will sprout from the branches of a jungle tree,

at the base of which will sit Earl Grey fudge,

individually wrapped in edible paper,

blood orange pates de fruits and kirsch-flavoured marzipan cherries.

No, you can put some more if you want to.

It's quite mild.

Well, I'm not very experienced with sugarwork,

but, then, the two guys are a lot better.

Jeremy's doing all the flowers,

and then Thibault is the one who's doing the construction.

I'm just doing a little confectionery.

I'm making the fudge now.

I'm struggling with the glucose in it.

The sugar Showpiece is more like an Indonesian jungle.

As we were looking at the pictures, we saw all the different layers of

the waters in the rivers, and things like that,

and the trees, so that's what we based it on.

Laurian's waterfall will flow from the base of a spider-infested tree,

at the bottom of which will sit

a dark chocolate and cocoa nib fudge,

kiwi and apple pates de fruits

and pistachio and orange blossom marzipan flowers.

-Morning.

-Good morning.

How are we doing today?

We've, kind of, cleared our minds for what happened yesterday

and then we've done a lot of prep last night in the golden hour.

We did the marzipan and the kiwi pates de fruits,

to rest overnight.

Do you think the texture is right?

That's the texture we were, kind of, looking for.

I haven't done much fudge in the past, so...

What have you done to it?

We've done a chocolate and ginger fudge with cocoa nibs inside.

But that may change it - a slightly gritty kind of texture of the fudge?

-Yeah, it's more like a...frudge.

-A frudge?

Yeah, a French fudge.

So, yesterday we cooked two types of sugar.

One is the casting one, the pouring one,

and now we have the pulling one.

Pulled sugar must be boiled to a temperature

of 160 degrees centigrade...

BLEEP

..before being worked by hand.

So now I'm cooling down the sugar.

At the beginning I couldn't touch it,

but now it's better.

Oui.

How does it feel?

Let's cool it down quite fast.

When you're pulling the sugar, you're adding air,

so that's why the colour fades, but also it gets shinier.

That's the effect you want for the flowers.

I'm making two flowers.

One is pink and the second one is purple,

but it's going to be similar.

I was not very confident. I didn't sleep very well.

While Jeremy crafts his flower meticulously by hand,

Paula is about to unleash a jungle beast.

Ji Sun sculpted a chameleon head in clay,

and then we made our mould from her original,

so let's see how the mould came out.

Looks good!

Ji, this is your baby.

Well done.

It came out!

Does it have a name, the chameleon?

Angus.

You will be eating a little butterfly that's passing by.

-Because that happens in the jungle.

-Yes, it happens.

-Yeah.

And we've got a frog there?

That's poison-y, careful.

-It's a poisonous frog?

-Yeah, it's very dangerous.

Do you live anywhere near the jungle in Brazil?

I'm from Sao Paulo, not very close to the jungle,

but closer than anyone here, so...

Exactly, and I'm from Surrey,

so there's very little jungle around there, yeah.

-It's looking very good so far, I have to say.

-Thank you.

Whilst perfecting intricate sugarwork,

the teams also have to juggle the creation of yet another

high-maintenance element for their showpieces.

For the fudge, we've got 70% dark chocolate.

It's going to take away a little bit more of that sweetness.

Unless fudge is stirred continuously whilst being heated

to precisely 160 degrees centigrade before setting,

it will never achieve the classic crumbly texture

that the judges will be looking for.

We are doing Earl Grey and dark chocolate fudge,

so we're going to wrap it.

We have a Japanese ingredient and it's like an edible plastic,

and it's like you have a sweet that is wrapped but you don't need to

unwrap to eat, you can just...go for it.

Going to need to put in the fridge.

I think you should put the fudge in the fridge.

Yeah, I'm going to do that in a bit.

But Laurian isn't just juggling fudge -

he also has to shape the marzipan he prepared in yesterday's golden hour.

It's going to look like a little exotic flower.

It's a bit intricate,

probably better to do one in no rush for time.

Today is a lot more focused.

It's been a bit hard at home, especially with my two young kids.

I've got my son, who's a three-year-old,

and he's not really liking me going for the competition,

but the other day I said Papa was winning,

so he just kind of went behind it.

So it's good.

How's the pate de fruits? It's boiling.

For the pate de fruits,

what you're looking for is a very clear and very thin paste.

And once it's cooked, it sets super quick.

We want to spread in the frame perfectly.

Sometimes it can be tricky, if it's too cold or it sets too fast.

I'm going to need help now.

No, please. Go, go, go, go.

No, no! No!

Please, quick, quick!

No, I need to make fresh.

No!

No, I need to make again.

So, we couldn't get the perfect spread,

so Gimena wanted to make it again.

Starting again

isn't really an option

for Thibault's sugarwork bamboo.

It took all night to set and there simply isn't enough time

to make any more.

I'm just trying to take out the sugar from the pipes.

Quite hard.

We trained with a bigger tube and it came out really easily,

but we thought it was a bit too big.

Doesn't really help to try something new on the day.

The strategy, if we get to the final,

don't do tubes.

It's not a good idea.

This is why I don't get involved with sugar.

I'll go back to my flowers.

Teams, you are exactly halfway through,

so you have 90 minutes left.

Having struggled with her pate de fruits,

things aren't getting any easier for Gimena.

Do you think you can manage or we have to make it again?

Have no time, right?

See if you work in your hands, you can still put it together.

The dough we made is slightly wet, more than we did for practices.

I think it's just going to have time to dry a little bit out.

Paula's team, it looks like they have

a little problem with the confection.

Not little, big problem.

The marzipan is not smooth and very oily.

I don't think the recipe is correct.

The fudge is clearly too soft.

The potential redemption is the blood orange pates de fruits,

which they struggled to cook...

Yeah, I think they did it two times as long.

But on the other hand, they may have something

quite interesting with their presentation.

They've actually pulled all the stops in sugar

to try and impress us.

This is a sugar mix and you spread over your mat and you bake.

This chameleon is going to have his tongue out and he's maybe

grabbing a butterfly that's just passing around.

Jeremy is just putting some beautiful petals,

and it's not that it's a lot of work, but I'm loving it.

The problem is, focus all your energy into one little thing,

you need many of those things to make big things.

It's the moment of truth

for Gimena's second attempt at pate de fruits.

OK, I'm going to need help. Ji Sun?

-OK?

-Yeah.

Thank you.

-Is it all right?

-Yeah.

Guys, you've got one hour left. Just 60 minutes left now.

One hour, one hour.

-One hour to go, guys.

-Yeah.

Right, I'll start now to build this structure.

Ji, could you have a look for me at that?

Yeah.

-Is it straight?

-Yeah, it's straight.

Guys, I need your help, quickly.

We can start spreading our flowers and the small work.

I have to blowtorch it for the shine,

and you can see lots of traces from the mat.

You can't stay on the same spot every time,

otherwise your sugar will break.

I'm rolling the pate de fruits.

It seems like he's done a good job overnight

to just get it to dry out as well.

You want something which is a little bit firm

but then to melt in your mouth.

The pates de fruits, now she's going to portion and we roll it.

As soon as we roll it, we're going to dust of sugar.

Slightly under?

Or this is what you wanted?

She's not perfect, but she's fine.

Jeremy's flower is really beautiful, so I wanted to just...

It'll be the first thing you see.

Ji, lovely centre, love the little detail. Very nice.

I'm making a mygale...

A tarantula, those big spiders from the jungle.

We talked about it last night

and Jeremy just had a look on the internet.

-Are you all right there?

-Just saying hello to Angus.

-OK.

-So, how long have we got?

-15 minutes to go now,

just 15 minutes.

15 minutes. We can move now to the table.

-Let's do it.

-Where can I make a hold, here?

One hand underneath, you hold this structure.

-Erm...

-Just underneath.

It's OK.

Help.

Yeah, done.

OK.

Let's start plating up.

Careful where you walk, girls.

Which one was that?

We're running out of time.

Two minutes to finish your jungles.

-Give colour to the chameleon.

-We've done, we've done, we've done.

Clear, clear. Everything.

That's it, guys.

Time is up.

Please step away from your sugary jungles.

That's it.

240 exotically flavoured confections

and two stunning jungle-themed sugar showpieces

made in just four hours.

The ball, super big ball.

It's time for the judging now, so let's begin with Laurian's team.

I really love the idea that you bring another flower.

Having said that, started doing one nice large one,

which takes a lot of work,

and a very small leaf, which takes little work.

It is a quick competition,

so therefore you need to bring volume very efficiently.

Now, I would have wished, perhaps,

to have larger leaves to match your large flower.

That will help fill up the blanks within your piece,

gives a lot more elegance, and not much more work.

It's missing something.

Though I know that you made your spider last-minute,

I was hoping that you'd pull a little bit of sugar

so that you make string of spider web,

so create a little bit more drama in your waterfall.

It looks more like a crystal ball to me.

Could you please explain to us why some is open and some is closed?

The marzipan started breaking the petals.

Not all the flowers open at the same time.

-Exactly, that's the real reason.

-He's making it up.

I like the fact that you guys are so adaptable as a team.

Should we talk about the presentation?

Fudge needs to be very nicely cut -

it is actually a very inconsistent and not precise at all.

It's quite nice to see that the seed of the kiwi

is in the pates de fruits.

Is that sophisticated enough?

You could argue you wish you could have had done something else

and perhaps not use a toothpick.

Round, as you see.

-OK, shall we try?

-Yes, please.

Lovely textures.

For me, the coating of the sugar is not necessary

because it's naturally quite sweet already.

But the key element, the kiwi, is not there.

I have to disagree with you.

When you eat the kiwi,

you have this ticklish kind of sensation on your taste buds.

This is what I get and I actually quite like it.

If I blindfold and eat, I'd be very happy eating this.

The chocolate that you chose blends very well,

and then the crunch on the inside, I really enjoy eating that.

Personally, I'm not overly keen on the taste of your fudge.

The cocoa nibs inside, when you crack through it,

it stays and stays, so that you finish with the fudge,

you still have bits of the cocoa nib.

Mmm-mmm-mmm.

The flavour of the orange blossom is pleasant. Not too strong.

I really think it's a good marzipan.

I quite like the idea of making it into a flower.

It's just a bit dry.

-That was

-BLEEP.

I think it's beautiful.

If you had to take a little postcard of

a corner of the Brazilian jungle, then you brought it to us.

And I really like that little fellow there, the chameleon.

And a little butterfly. There is a little bit of a story.

You've made movement, you've brought life to it.

Technically, you would wish that some of the flowers would be

a little bit more worked on,

a little bit more finesse in some of the petals, but this is academic.

I think you did very well and I'll tell you what, I really,

-really like the poison frog over there.

-The poison frog?

It looks freaky. It's, like, staring at me.

-It brings a little bit of fun.

-Let's move on, shall we?

This is where the perhaps not so positive starts,

-and I'm looking at you, Gimena.

-Yeah, I know.

There is clearly an issue on every single one of them

as far as the presentation is concerned.

If this looks like a cherry, it's pretty rough.

It looks pretty dry as well.

I think it's lucky that we got some paper,

otherwise it would be all over the plate.

And I struggle still to grab the pates de fruits.

You can see that the sugar's actually melted.

If you cook your pate de fruits perfectly,

this should not be happening.

We ask for consistency and precision,

but I can't see it over here.

I like the blood orange flavour. Nice and fresh.

The texture is lovely because it's undercooked,

so it melts in your mouth.

As far as flavour is concerned, it's quite nice.

It's just too mushy on my palate.

All right, next.

It is not the most pleasant marzipan I've had in my life.

I've got that little kick of kirsch element in there,

but the texture is not great.

You've got all that non-stable fat of the almond,

which goes into your mouth and it's not pleasant.

You eat with your eye.

That is asking me not to eat me.

The oil just ooze out. I've really lost my appetite.

I love my Earl Grey fudge,

I was so looking forward to eat this,

but I just could not pick up any Earl Grey in there.

Disappointment for me.

I think the sweetness level is quite pleasant.

The texture, it's undercooked.

It's our most you are having a different experience altogether.

Put that kind of feeling in a different kind of confection,

it might actually work.

As a fudge, it's not a texture I was looking for.

Sorry.

Shh!

60 points are on offer for the showpiece.

Once added to the scores for the first challenge,

the team with the highest overall tally out of 100

will be through to the grand final.

The scores are in.

Unfortunately, only one team can go through to the final,

so good luck to you both.

In no particular order,

Paula's team, the judges awarded you

32 points out of 60,

giving you a combined total of 44 out of 100.

And Laurian's team...

..the judges awarded you...

..35 points, giving you a combined total of 55 out of 100,

which means that it's Laurian's team that goes through to the final.

Congratulations.

And condolences to Paula's team.

-Come on, girls.

-Well done.

-Thank you very much.

-Congratulations on getting this far.

I'm really surprised we got this far.

We did amazing.

I'm so proud of my girls, I'm super happy with everything we did.

We're going to miss you guys.

-And next year, I think they're going to get in again.

-No!

-No way.

One of you will have to be the next captain because I'm retiring,

I'm retiring, I'm not captain any more.

The pink team!

Allez pink team, allez pink team!

Bon, allez.

I personally miss my kids, miss my wife and it's...

But then suddenly it makes it all worth it,

because we're in the final and this is...

At least it was all the effort for something.

Just the three guys, we just enjoy what we're doing.

So, the end is in sight, and what a clash of giants

the final promises to be, with Laurian's French dragons

taking on Liam's military boys

in an epic two-day France versus England tussle

to decide who will become the creme de la creme de 2017.

As for Paula's team, what can one do

other than offer condolences, sympathies

and a lift to the station?

We'll see you next week for the final.

Bye for now.

Next time...

It is time now to reveal the winner.

Let's do it, boys, yeah?

If you'd like to step forward.

It was incredibly close.

It looks amazing.

This is what our final is about.

The winner of Bake Off Creme De La Creme is...

-BLEEP

-my life.