Episode 2 Best Bakes Ever

The wonderful smell of bread just out of the oven.

The perfect pie crust, the snap of a biscuit and, of course, cakes.

Cakes of all shapes and sizes and for every occasion.

We've got something for all the senses here,

as we celebrate some of the best bakes ever.

Hello and welcome to our celebration of baking.

Here are some of the treats we're going to show you today.

We have savoury dishes, including an Asian glazed ham

from Lorraine Pascale.

And I'll just drizzle that over.

Beautiful smells coming out of this.

Nigella Lawson will show us a pizza with a difference.

My meatzza is a regular fixture on the menu in casa Lawson.

It is so easy to make.

Paul Hollywood makes a loaf with beer that's comforting and hearty.

And James Martin bakes an interesting pie

that involves frying.

You see, look at this.

I know it's very different cooking it in a pan,

but it just saves on washing-up.

And for pudding, we've got a plum and marzipan tart from Mary Berry.

Gregg Wallace is making a raspberry pavlova.

And we finish with a favourite of mine -

a flourless chocolate cake from Raymond Blanc.

But our first recipe comes from the Hairy Bikers.

They're baking their version of a classic moussaka.

THEY SING A TUNE

-Hola.

-Look at that, then.

-A Geordie Zorba.

-Zorba the Greek.

Zorba the Geordie!

The principal ingredient of the moussaka

is the aubergine, or eggplant, as the Americans call them.

-How could that be an eggplant?

-It doesn't look anything like an egg!

Ah, moussaka. A dish fit for any Greek God.

Layers of ground lamb and sliced aubergine,

topped with a cheese sauce and baked for a fuller flavour.

And we're going to give ours a bit of a British spin.

We're putting potatoes in our moussaka.

First time I had it I thought, "It's meant to be moussaka,

"not a hotpot." But, actually, it's kind of all right.

Just go with us on this one.

Try it with potatoes. If you don't like it, go with aubergines.

Slice the aubergine into one centimetre thick slices.

You might want to salt them to draw out some of the bitterness,

but it's not always necessary with new varieties.

If you do, remember to wash it off again before you pop them

in the pan to fry them.

We've brought back loads from holidays, haven't we?

The one thing you always do bring back, I find,

is these bottles of booze that,

at the time, you have this fragrant thing made from orange flowers

on the southwest hill, north of Cephalonia, that's a speciality.

And you have it and you go, "By God, this is nectar of the gods."

You bring it home and it's like...

And it sits at the back of your sideboard, doesn't it?

Well, you see, that's what holidays are.

It's about being in a time and a place and a space.

And you fill that time,

space and place with lovely things of the region, don't you?

-Aye. It is a tonic, a holiday, isn't it?

-It is. Everybody needs them.

We've sat on that beach with our bellies out, getting all over...

-It's the fact though you're belly catches the sun first.

-Yes.

I tell you what though, it's dead funny on a beach with him.

If you put your head on the ground,

he looks just like the Eden Project.

-Right, anyway...

-Shut up, you.

-Don't hurt me, I'm old.

-I didn't...

-I wasn't going to do anything.

-Moussaka is made with minced lamb.

Minced lamb is full of fat,

therefore don't bother putting any olive oil in.

This goes into a pan.

-How do them guards walk?

-Oh, what, the Greek guards?

They have pompoms on their feet, don't they?

They've got the rifles.

No, it's a flick.

Oh, sorry.

Now, while the lamb is browning, chop an onion

and a couple of cloves of garlic and add them to the pan.

Now, to this we add oregano. Uno.

A teaspoonful and a half of dried mint.

We want power in this. This is why we're using dried herbs.

And the dried herbs will cook into the dish.

On top of that, pop in a stick of cinnamon, a bay leaf,

chopped rosemary and some freshly ground pepper,

a whole tin of chopped tomatoes and two teaspoons of tomato puree.

As you can sense, this is a rich dish,

and somehow this is why I feel justified putting the potatoes in.

Because it's just nice.

And wine, about 200ml.

We're going to bring that back to the boil and, kind of,

cover it half with the pan lid and leave it to

simmer for about half an hour,

or even cook it for longer.

Ten minutes before the end, it's time to make our white sauce,

which is pretty much like the bechamel you get in lasagne.

Step one, a big knob of butter.

Melt that down and put some flour in.

About a tablespoon.

See?

And just mix that with the butter and cook it out a little bit.

Just make a smooth paste.

And we start drizzling in about a pint of milk.

It's just a very basic white sauce.

-Now just increase the heat a little bit.

-And wait till it thickens.

A top tip for white sauce is when it starts to thicken,

get your whisk out, cos it helps prevent it going lumpy.

So, now we're going to start to build up the flavour, so we're

going to season it with salt, but, most importantly, white pepper.

Just take it off the heat a little bit.

And go careful with the salt

because we're going to put a bit of Parmesan in this.

Again, that's our touch, just to build up the richness.

-And a bit of nutmeg.

-Can't go wrong with nutmeg.

And what's nice about putting the nutmeg in it, it adds a,

kind of, spice to it, but also it's slightly sweet,

there's a sweet tinge to it, which is really lovely.

I'm just grating some Parmesan.

This isn't traditional,

but it's just going to serve to enrich that sauce.

And we're going to put some Parmesan cheese on the top as well.

This is good Parmesan, look at that.

Over a gentle heat, stir a handful of the Parmesan cheese

into the white sauce and prepare to assemble the moussaka.

-We're kind of ready to build the Odyssey now.

-We are.

Step one.

It's three layers, so you want a third of the meat to go in there.

Don't put the cinnamon stick in, that would be gormless.

Just to avoid embarrassment, I'll take ours out.

Once you've spread out the meat, it's time to layer on the potatoes.

The slices have been slightly boiled and allowed to cool.

It's going to be a nice little layer, just a layer here.

It is a bit hotpoty, you know? This is where Lancashire meets Larnaca.

Where Altrincham meets Athens.

Then add a layer of the aubergine.

And two more layers of meat and aubergine.

-Smelling quite radiant, isn't it?

-It is.

And this is just going to bake together

in this mass of coagulation.

That's it. Look at that.

Once you get to your final layer of aubergine,

it's time to finish the white sauce.

First, make sure it's cool.

Beat an egg and, using a whisk, mix them together.

If the sauce isn't cool to begin with,

you'll end up with scrambled eggs.

Lovely.

Next, we need to pour all that sauce onto the top of your moussaka.

There you are. You see?

Now the cheese.

Simply pop that into a preheated oven

at about 180 degrees Celsius for about 45 minutes.

But keep an eye on it so it doesn't burn.

Oh, the magnificence that is the moussaka.

It's like the beaten bronze of Hercules' helmet.

-Look at that.

-Oh, nice.

-Nice.

-Nice. Are you going to carve?

-Yeah.

It's nice this, if we can get it out in a square,

because then we see all the layers.

And that...is how moussaka should look.

Oh, look at that. It seems a shame, doesn't it?

It does, doesn't it?

MUSIC: Forever and Ever by Demis Roussos

-Oh, that's nice.

-It's a really good meal.

That's a good moussaka.

Moussaka - it's a British favourite, and a classic example of how

foreign influences have informed what we eat now.

Now another classic, a tarte tatin.

This recipe, according to legend, was created by accident

when a French hotel cook messed up her fruit pie

and ended up with the pastry lid on the bottom.

But the hotel guests loved it.

It's usually cooked with apple, but in this version,

Mary Berry is using plums.

You don't need to peel the plums, and they want to be slightly underripe.

If they're overripe, you'll get too much juice.

I've got nine plums which fits neatly into the base of an 8-inch tin.

And the tin wants to have a bit of depth to it.

Because if it's too shallow, it'll bubble over the top.

This is an upside-down pudding, so the bottom layer, as you prepare it,

becomes the top layer when you bravely flip it over at the end.

Start with 75g of light muscovado sugar.

And that's what gives the lovely caramel topping.

No need to make a proper caramel as you would have to do

if you were doing the classic tarte tatin with apples.

This is my quick version.

Because on Sunday morning, I would make this

and you haven't got an awful lot of time. And then the plums.

I find it best to start from the outside

and squeeze them up quite tight.

I remember the very first upside-down pudding I did was at college,

and it was a pineapple upside-down.

And we put a cherry in the middle.

And we thought it was the bee's knees when it came out.

I think I might get another one in there, we'll see.

They've got to be tightly done together.

Just have to be persuaded and given a push.

'The next step is to roll out 100g of marzipan into a thin round layer.

'Making sure it's slightly smaller than your solid cake tin.

'Now for the pastry.

'For this tart, I use puff, and I think ready-made is just fine.

'Its buttery crispness is a wonderful contrast to those squidgy soft plums.

'Cut a circle slightly larger than the tin

'then place it over the marzipan, pushing the edges down.'

And then for ventilation to get that steam through,

just put a cross in the middle there.

That's ready for the oven.

'Bake the tart at 200 degrees fan on the top shelf for about 25 minutes,

'until the pastry is crisp and golden brown.'

That looks pretty good to me.

A lovely crisp top, and the juice just coming out round the side.

Now, it's important when you come to turn it out

that you have a plate that's got a bit of lip,

because all those juices are going to tip and run round the outside.

So a flat plate, it'd be all over the table,

and perhaps on the tablecloth too. So just put it on top like that.

Have a little prayer for me.

One, two, three!

Now, this is the part I like.

A bit of excitement, hope it holds together.

Just look at that!

I think we need a dollop of cream with that,

and I know Sarah, my daughter-in-law, would love custard.

If you've never made an upside-down pud before,

this rich plum and marzipan tarte tatin is a great way to start.

Now, that was an upside-down dish.

This next one is, for a baker, a sort of wrong way round dish.

Right up until the end,

you'd be forgiven for thinking that James Martin was frying, not baking.

But wait and see what happens.

Lazy day home cooking doesn't always mean long and slow.

Sometimes you need food you can just rustle up in a jiffy,

without skimping on flavour.

Something that I find that fits the bill

is my cream, chicken and mushroom pie,

with a golden puff pastry top.

It's a one-pot wonder, all cooked in a frying pan.

So make sure yours is ovenproof.

It takes minutes to make

but tastes like you've slaved on the stove for hours.

In my line of work, I don't really get many lazy days,

but when I do get the occasional day off,

there's nothing better really than to sit and cook a pie.

It's one of the things that's a winter warmer,

it sort of warms your heart as well as your taste buds.

We're going to start off with a few shallots.

Garlic, just chopped up.

Then add diced chicken breast to your pan.

The perfect partner for poultry is mushrooms.

They have an amazing flavour so pick and choose your favourite varieties.

That's one of the great things nowadays about supermarkets,

you're starting to get different types of mushrooms,

from chanterelles, girolles.

Just getting a little bit of colour on here.

Not too much. Just colour the chicken a little bit.

Be careful not to burn the onions as well,

otherwise it can become slightly bitter. That's probably enough now.

And then we can throw in our mushrooms.

With mushrooms, you want to cook them as hot as possible.

Because they contain a lot of water,

that's why we don't really want to wash mushrooms,

you basically just rub off the dirt.

But whenever you're frying them,

the temptation is to have the pan not hot enough.

Then they end up sweating.

And then one of the great flavourings

with chicken and mushrooms is Madeira.

What you do need to do is flame this.

Flaming it will get rid of the alcohol from it as well.

Otherwise it's too intense a flavour.

Then going to add some of this chicken stock,

this is one of the great things in supermarkets, like mushrooms,

that's readily available

and makes this such a quick dish to be able to cook.

While we're doing that,

we can add one of the great ingredients to go with chicken.

I love it, it's tarragon.

It's got a lovely aniseed-y sort of flavour

that goes well with so many different meats and fish.

But tarragon and chicken really are a great combination.

And then finally, no creme fraiche, no single cream, double cream.

And the reason for the double cream is,

we get the texture of a sauce almost straight away,

particularly when we bring this to the boil to reduce that liquid down

to create this wonderful sauce to go in our pie.

Don't forget to season it

and then let it simmer away for five to ten minutes, and that's it.

See? I said it was easy.

Chicken, mushrooms, Madeira and tarragon.

It's proper.

This is great.

You could eat it almost as it is straight away like this.

You could also put it in a food blender,

blitz it and you've got a great chicken and mushroom soup.

But as I'm making a pie, I need to crack on with a pastry top.

Now, if you've got time, make your own puff pastry,

alternatively you can buy it

but make sure you buy the all-butter puff pastry for this.

A little bit of flour.

Just roll it out.

So often with pies, they use shortcrust pastry, but for me,

really, the best tasting pie to go with chicken or beef

has to be with puff pastry.

I don't know what it is, it's that buttery layers of crisp pastry

as you break into it before you get to the filling.

But you know it's going to taste great.

Particularly, it looks great.

Make sure the pastry isn't too thick,

because you want it to cook in the middle.

But not too thin,

because I'm actually going to cook it in the same pan.

About that will do, about 4-5mm thickness would be great,

and then just very quickly, roll this up.

Once the pastry is ready, paint the edge of the pan with egg wash.

Then roll out the pastry over the top...

..and trim the edges before egg-washing the top of your pie.

When you get to that stage,

you can do your fancy little crimping around the edge.

Just take two fingers and a thumb,

really press this onto the side of the pan.

And then, to be bit fancy, a few leaves.

And then we just put these on nice and quick.

In the oven. About 25 minutes, hot oven.

Done.

So kick back and relax before tucking in.

You see, look at this! I know it's very different, cooking it in a pan.

But it just saves on washing up and let's face it,

if you want a lazy day, why spend most of the time washing up?

You just take some of this pie out.

And that combination between chicken, mushrooms, tarragon, puff pastry.

I mean, even just looking at it, you know it's going to taste good.

I've got to dive in.

That is so delicious.

It's so simple.

You can just cook it time and time again.

It's the sort of dish that makes me realise how lucky I am

to be able to make a living from food.

Well, I feel lucky to have that recipe

and that tip for keeping washing up to a minimum.

No list of the best bakes ever would be complete without a good loaf,

and here's Paul Hollywood, using freshly ground flour,

to make a British classic, a rye, oat and ale round.

Now, this bread is not going to taste like most normal breads,

it'll have a lot of flavours going on in there.

To start with, I have my beautiful warm wheat flour,

which I've never used warm flour before, straight from the mill.

This is only half an hour old.

'I'm combining 150g of white flour with 350g of Justin's rye flour

'which will give the loaf a nutty taste.'

So it's going to be quite strong, quite a heavy bread

but fantastic to eat.

'Add 10g each of salt and yeast to the mix.

'And then some treacle, which adds a caramel bittersweetness and colour.'

The next thing I'm going to add is some water.

This bread dates back to Tudor times,

the water wasn't drinkable so ale was used a lot in bread.

And often the barm was used, off the top, to rise the bread,

so that was the yeast.

This primitive yeast was unpredictable

and gave us the term "barmy."

And then we begin to stir all the ingredients together.

'For this modern version, I'm only adding some ale for flavour.'

And now I'm going to start using my hands.

So at this stage,

I've nearly incorporated all the flour in one big lump.

And use a little bit of beautiful white flour,

that will be the bonding agent in this,

and then begin to manipulate the dough.

Heel of the palm down, roll it up.

You need to do this for about five to ten minutes.

'This needs to prove until it has at least doubled in size.'

You can see from the top of the dough itself, it's all split,

because the yeast has exhausted itself

and forced apart the dough itself.

Now I'm going to dig this out, put it in a little bit of flour.

Flatten it down with your hand, fold it.

This is where you start to use your knuckles.

In, over, over.

Flatten it down again, and roll it up.

Shape this into a ball.

Coat it in a little bit of flour, and spin it. Pop that onto a tray.

It goes right in the middle.

'But what makes this loaf really special is my contemporary twist,

'an ale and rye flour crust.'

Now, I'm adding the ale to this.

Get your spoon in, the spoon you used before is all right.

Add a little bit of sugar,

this helps with the colour of the loaf itself.

And this is the fun bit.

Start by rubbing it on to the top,

taking it as far down as possible.

And that has got a beautiful little beer batter all over the top.

Top it with a handful of oats.

'After a second prove, it needs about 30 minutes in an oven

'at 220 degrees.'

-Wow, look at this!

-Looking good.

-I hope you like it.

'A great place for this loaf is at the heart of a ploughman's lunch.

'Which is what I've made for Howard the farmer and Justin the miller.'

-Very, very good.

-That is excellent, Paul.

-Do you like that?

-Yeah, that is very, very good.

-Very nice.

-You can taste the beer in it.

-You can.

You can taste all the flavour of the rye, you can taste

all the ingredients. That beer glaze is absolutely fantastic.

-It gives it that extra edge.

-Yep, you've done us proud.

-It's fantastic teamwork. Cheers, guys.

-Cheers!

-Cheers.

That's nice, that.

Well, if I said we were going to be looking at pizza next,

you'd naturally assume there was more dough coming up. But you'd be wrong.

Because this is Nigella with her meatzza, which is...

Well, actually, I'll let her do the explaining.

MUSIC: La Traiettorie Delle Mongolfiere by Gianmaria Testa

Now, my meatzza is a wondrous thing, I say immodestly.

It's like a pizza, as you might guess,

but instead of having a bread base,

it's got like a meatball mixture that's squished flat into a disc.

My meatzza a regular fixture on the menu in casa Lawson.

It is so easy to make.

You need a fairly large sized bowl with some mincemeat in it.

Break two eggs onto the mincemeat, and then sprinkle over some Parmesan.

And that's really to give saltiness and boost flavour.

And then you can add either breadcrumbs, which is

more Italian, or porridge oats.

What you want is to help the base of the meatzza firm up.

Mince over the mixture a clove of garlic

and then sprinkle with freshly chopped parsley.

These are the traditional flavourings for Italian meatballs.

So, just mix everything together in the bowl.

I find this easiest to do by hand.

Whatever implement you choose, do not over mix.

Now put this mixture into a greased round baking tin.

Squish it down gently, remembering not to press too hard.

Again, you don't want to overwork the mixture.

Open a can of chopped tomatoes and drain it.

I don't want any excess liquid ruining my meatzza base.

I add a sprinkling of dried oregano,

a small amount of sea salt,

and a drizzle of garlic oil.

Stir that to mix

and then use it to spread over the top of the meatzza base.

Slice a mozzarella ball into thinish slices.

I think of this as a cheese sunburst.

This needed to go into a hot oven for about 25 minutes,

by which time the meat base is set, the tomatoes bubbling,

and the cheese blistered gold.

Before I slice and serve it, I strew with fresh basil.

It really does look like a pizza.

Indeed, it really does. OK, we've had a run of savoury recipes.

I think it's time for another pudding.

This one is a pavlova.

There's some debate about whether the pavlova was first

created in New Zealand or Australia.

But everyone agrees that it was named after Anna Pavlova,

the Russian ballerina from the 1920s.

Here's Gregg Wallace making his.

Let me show you something because all of us are in love with

the deep red of the raspberry, but look at these little beauties, look.

The yellow raspberry.

They taste exactly the same, just as sweet.

The yellow raspberries are cultivated to just give

a point of difference, for chefs or cooks that want to create

something special, something very pretty.

The first thing we're going to make for our raspberry pavlova is

actually the coulis.

Raspberry coulis.

Simply cook down the raspberries with some icing sugar,

in their own juices.

Right?

No liquid added to that at all.

That is purely coming out of these wonderful fruits.

We're going to add cream to our meringue, our pavlova,

when we've made it. We want the coulis cold.

We don't want it cooking the cream. Stick it in the fridge.

For your meringue base, whisk four egg whites

and slowly add caster sugar and then a splash of vanilla essence.

I was thinking about David there and that extraordinary raspberry vinegar.

That's just another example of how versatile raspberries really are.

The way he's bottled that sharp sweetness and the way it can be

used in so many ways, that is the essence of the British raspberry.

Look. Look, look, look. See?

That's how stiff it is.

Draw yourself a circle on parchment.

OK? And then just spread it out to the edges of your circle.

Meringue and raspberries is a wonderful classic combination

because the meringue is so sweet and the raspberries are so sharp

and they just counter each other brilliantly.

This is one of my favourite desserts in the world to make.

Cook the meringue on a low heat until crisp on the outside

and soft inside, and allow to cool.

That's what it should finish like.

Now, careful, because this is so delicate,

when you move it, it will crack.

Then cover with freshly whipped cream

and decorate with the fresh raspberries.

I know at home you want to just dip your spoons in, don't you?

I know I could. I could just take my shirt off

and dive straight into this.

We are going to place them beautifully around the outside.

Can I urge you, please, don't wash your raspberries?

They're far, far too delicate to be scrubbed or soaked with water.

All right? Don't wash them at all - ever.

I've been dealing with fruit and veg since the mid-'80s.

I had my own first-ever fruit and veg firm in '89.

Gregg the Veg, the London chefs know me as.

And I've always taken great pride in getting the best produce

I can out to the chefs,

and this is why I've got such empathy with these producers who have real

passion and a real desire to get the best possible fruit out to our shops.

I understand that, truly understand that.

Now, we are going to finish this with our beautiful chilled

sweetened fruit coulis. Look at that, look.

Well, I know I might not win any Michelin stars with this,

but this is 100% pure raspberry indulgence.

Look at that.

I give you the British raspberry pavlova.

Get your spoons out!

Look at that!

Oh! Oh!

Look!

Come on, have you ever seen anything as beautiful? Look.

British raspberry shown off to its absolute best.

That is beyond words.

You can't get flavours that taste as good as this.

That, my friends, is the beauty of our British raspberries.

If that was a MasterChef recipe,

I would definitely put Gregg through to the next round.

We had Nigella a little earlier with her take on a pizza.

Now here is someone else dishing up a meat recipe

that is a little bit different.

It's Lorraine Pascale and her baked sticky Asian ham.

I'm going to see some friends tomorrow

and we're all bringing something to eat.

And I am going to bring my sticky Asian baked ham.

But first, I need to soak it in cold water overnight.

It just draws out all the saltiness.

Ah, look at this, and now I have to get rid of all this salty water.

So I can't wait to eat this later.

You have to boil it, then glaze it, then bake it.

So the first stage is the boiling.

I'll just put a bit more water in.

We need to get this cooking.

This needs to cook for a good two hours.

It's a 2½ kilo joint.

First, I need to bring it up to the boil

and then, as soon as its boiling, lower the temperature to a simmer.

So I'm going to add some aromatics,

so all the lovely flavour infuses the joint whilst it's cooking.

A couple of bay leaves, star anise, I love star anise.

Some aniseed flavour.

Big handful of peppercorns.

And then some cloves and ginger.

When I use ginger, I don't bother peeling it,

I just grate it in, peel and all.

Like that. Need about a one centimetre piece.

There you go. And then all these flavours

are going to make this joint taste amazing.

And afterwards, I often use this broth as a soup

because it's that good.

Pop the lid on.

OK, now for the sticky Asian glaze.

So I don't use a garlic crusher, what I do is just squash each clove

like that, a bit of salt and then just grind it to a paste.

So everything into the pan now.

We've got the grated zest of half an orange,

one chilli and two cloves of garlic.

So I need 220ml of honey or grams.

If you weigh it on the scales, it's exactly the same.

Then one teaspoon of Chinese five-spice.

100ml of soy sauce.

Really rich, beautiful soy sauce, gives a lovely saltiness to it.

Then I've got the juice of half an orange.

And 240 grams of soft light-brown sugar for that wonderful depth

of flavour, a caramelized flavour.

Quick stir.

And this really is packed with flavour.

There's so much flavour in the broth

and then this extra flavour for the glaze, it's just perfect.

And then some pepper, just to add extra heat.

So just pop that over a low heat, I want all the sugar to dissolve

and that will take about two or three minutes.

Right, get this on, 220 degrees.

And now I'll get my ham ready for the oven.

You just take it out of the water and pat it dry with kitchen paper.

Remove the thick layer of skin, cut diagonal slashes through the fat

in one direction first and then the other to make diamond shapes.

Then stick a clove in the centre of each diamond.

Last one in there.

And then onto a baking tin.

OK, the glaze, it's nice and ready, nice and thick.

I'll just drizzle that over.

Beautiful smells coming out of this.

Just that chilli and soy sauce, so strong.

And there's quite a lot of this left,

but it's great to use as a dipping sauce afterwards.

And so this is going to go into the oven at 220 degrees

for 30 minutes.

And then, once it's cool, me and the ham are going out.

We've had bread, two meat dishes, a plum tart, a pavlova and a pie.

But we can't possibly finish without bringing you a cake.

And here is one of the best. A great chocolate cake from Raymond Blanc.

I will do for you a very intriguing piece of baking,

because the baking I'm going to do here is a cake base without flour.

The base is the first stage of this recipe.

Start by whisking egg whites to a soft peak, then add sugar.

Voila.

Go slowly.

This will give the egg whites volume and stability.

Let's have a look.

I'm going to add now, OK, the egg yolk.

Voila. I whisk just the top.

Voila.

So now, just place your base here.

OK, so then you fold it, so be very gentle, OK?

From underneath, fold.

Underneath, fold, see?

Chocolate powder adds flavour

and the absence of flour makes the cake's base rich and moist.

Tres bien.

Voila. So now we are ready to bake.

Use a cake ring as opposed to a tin, line with grease-proof paper

and wrap with aluminium foil.

Perfect.

Pour the mix halfway up the ring.

So my oven is preheated, 175 degrees.

15 minutes only.

Leave the cakes to rest for an hour when they come out.

On the top of this flourless cake base,

I'm going to build a beautiful chocolate mousse.

Time for the second stage of the recipe.

Melt chocolate in a bain-marie or water-bath,

then whisk egg whites and slowly add sugar.

Like that.

Voila. I've got my mousse here.

Start by adding only a third of the egg whites to the melted chocolate,

as this will help the ingredients combine.

Then fold in the rest, taking care to retain as much air in the mixture

as possible, but working quickly, as the mousse will now be cooling.

And then fold nicely. Voila.

Taste...

Lovely.

Slice the crust off the top of the cake.

Then place back inside a clean ring and spoon the mousse mixture over.

Voila.

What you do now is actually place the mousse in the fridge

so the mousse firms up so I can cut it later.

The final stage of baking

and the crowning glory of the cake is the tuile garnish.

To a pan of water, add sugar, cocoa powder,

butter and grated dark chocolate.

Finally, add liquid glucose,

which will help control the formation of sugar crystals.

So very easy tuile, absolutely beautiful,

really a work of art on its own.

It's not me, it's it.

Melt the ingredients together, then take off the heat.

I'm going to cool down my mixture,

which I want to place between two sheets of paper.

It's lovely, it's so easy to make.

And then roll it...

..down.

Voila.

And then what you will do is to undo your paper

and you've got two very fine tuile.

Place the sheets of paper on trays, remembering to weigh them down

if you're using a fan oven.

They will only need five minutes at 170 degrees,

enough time to take the cake and mousse out of the tin.

You just...

warm it up nicely. I'll try not to burn my plastic here. Voila.

Let's try, let's have a look, let's lift it up.

Tres bien.

Decorate the cake by drizzling over chocolate melted in a bain-marie.

To really push the boat out,

create a chocolate ribbon by pouring more melted chocolate

over a thin sheet of plastic,

then smooth the mousse before wrapping the plastic around the cake.

When you apply the chocolate on the acetate with a palette knife,

make sure it's thick enough, OK? Not too thick, but it's like a fortress.

Leave to cool for ten minutes in the freezer.

Take the tuile out of the oven. It will harden as it cools.

I'm going to remove the acetate, OK, tres bien.

So move that away here, very gently.

It's OK. So now I'm going to add my tuile.

Here we are, we're going to break it up a little bit.

Voila, tres bien.

Look at that, it's beautiful.

Voila.

Lovely.

A chocolate cake with no guilt involved,

well, that definitely qualifies as a best bake ever!

And if that's not a great one to end on, I don't know what is.

That's it for today and I will say bye-bye,

but do join me again for some more brilliant bakes next time.