Episode 2 The Great British Bake Off

-MEL:

-Well, the tree is up, our baubles are out

and the ovens are on

as a very special Bake Off awaits.

But not before Sue and I

share a Christmas cracker or two

with Mary and Paul.

Happy Christmas, Paul.

Just to keep your complexion going.

Oh, thanks, guys.

You're welcome, darling.

Mary, just...

Oh, just a very little sharpener for you.

Gosh, that's very special.

Same again tomorrow morning.

-Susan, happy Christmas.

-Happy Christmas.

Oh!

Welcome...

BOTH: ..to the Great Christmas Bake Off.

Oh, unbelievable.

I thought you were coming as a Yuletide log.

I thought you were coming as a cheese straw.

Melanie, I think you'll find

I came as an eight-strand plait savoury last year,

so I'd want to do something sweet this year.

There are four Christmas surprise bakers waiting for us in that tent.

-I'm not "pudding" up with this.

-SUE GRUMBLES

Christmas is the perfect time for get-togethers

and we've sent out a few Christmas invites

to our extended Bake Off family.

Returning for a mince pie

are Howard...

Janet...

James...

and Chetna.

Yes!

First to don a festive apron is Janet.

I feel more apprehensive THIS time!

She was our no-nonsense family baker way back in 2011

and wasn't fazed by anything...

The whole thing's collapsed.

I don't know what I can do now.

You see, these things are sent to try us.

..but she held it together to be crowned star pie maker

a mere two weeks later.

APPLAUSE

This time, to win would be just amazing.

Also slipping on his Christmas apron is James.

He was our young, tank-top-wearing medical student from 2012...

James.

..who won Star Baker a whopping three times.

It's a total disaster.

And on his 21st birthday,

turned "operation: gingerbread barn"

from a catastrophe to a triumph.

That looks amazing!

I'm not nervous at all.

I'm just here for the fun.

This is going to be great.

Chetna's also returned.

I never thought I'd be coming back here!

Who would have thought?

She was named "Flavour Queen" of 2014.

Your spices, the volume of spices that you put in there

was frankly staggering. Gorgeous.

Normally cool-headed...

I need to go in the freezer, freezer, freezer...

..she had a meltdown in the now infamous baked Alaska challenge.

Now it's all melting. The whole thing has melted.

It'll be all right. It'll be all right.

Yes, I'm ready to go.

Bring it on.

And finally, creating some Yuletide sparkle...

is Howard.

It would be fantastic to get Christmas Star Baker.

Our Yorkshireman, from 2013,

who became known for his clever presentation.

They do look just like peaches.

I think they're fantastic?

But he did have the odd mishap -

one of which Sue's hoping he's forgotten about.

Oh, no, has it been leaned on?

Howard, I need to break something to you.

I think that's my elbow on your muffin.

And who could forget Custardgate?

Where's my custard?

-Oh, no!

-I'm so sorry, Howard.

I used Howard's custard by error.

It is nerve-racking to be back,

but it is Christmas so, hopefully,

they'll be a little bit kinder than...

No, maybe not.

Bakers, welcome back.

It's like having the family here for Christmas.

Now, for your Christmas Signature Bake,

Paul and Mary would love you, please,

to make 24 Christmas canapes.

Mmm!

SUE CHUCKLES I love a canape.

Now, we'd like you to make savoury canapes.

Two different types, any pastry you like,

but they must be festive and fabulous.

I've just noticed Paul's in a Christmas jumper.

-Look at the stretched topography of that Christmas scene.

-Rowr!

Now, bakers, you have two and a half hours

on this Christmas Signature, so...

-On your marks...

-Get set...

-Bake!

No, I didn't want to be at the front.

I feel back in the zone, or whatever they say.

It's like the old days, if I can say that.

It feels good to be back.

It feels exactly the same as before.

Oh, gosh, it all comes flooding back, doesn't it?

All the anxiety.

It's lovely having the four bakers back in the tent.

Four great bakers, I'm expecting great things.

Christmas time - it's a time when you really push out the boat.

The canapes, however they're made,

they've got to just catch the eye.

They should be well garnished, colourful -

but sometimes people forget the flavour,

and I will be looking, all the time, for the flavour.

Canapes are going to be tricky

to make 24 in two and a half hours.

We want something that's going to really pack a punch.

They must be small, dainty

and full of flavour.

I never make canapes.

This is a ridiculous challenge.

Canapes?! Who makes canapes at home?

Paul and Mary haven't said anything about the size of the canapes.

I think it needs to be no more than two bites.

But Mary and Paul HAVE said that each canape must be pastry-based -

but to achieve pastry perfection,

our Christmas bakers need to get their technique bang on.

I'm making my puff pastry very quickly.

Usually, this takes several hours

and you've got to rest it overnight,

but we've only got two and a half hours.

I've never done it so quickly.

In the bowl, here, we've got some pea flour

and I'm just going to start

rubbing in some unsalted butter.

I'm hoping that it's slightly therapeutic.

It's going to make me feel more relaxed.

I'm making choux pastry,

so you have to make sure the consistency is right.

It's hard to calculate unless you're an expert,

which I'm not.

Good morning, Janet.

-Thanks for coming back.

-We're thrilled to have you back.

-We are thrilled.

-So, Janet, you're making two Christmas canapes.

-What are you conjuring up for us?

-That's right.

Well, I'm making one out of just shortcrust pastry

with a filling of cranberry,

then some wild mushrooms and chicken livers -

and then, as a contrast,

I'm making some gougere fingers

and I'm going to fill those with a crab pate.

-Oh, I've missed you, Janet.

-Just up my street, Janet.

It sounds like poetry.

Maybe poetry in words, the reality might not be!

Inspired by Christmas holidays in France,

Janet's pushing the boat out

with her crab-filled gougere

as each one will be topped with smoked salmon and prawns.

To her classic mushroom and liver tartlets,

she'll add a splash of Calvados.

This is really '70s, isn't it?

Oh, is it '70s?

Don't worry, he'll have a go at you because he does to me, too.

We're talking about 1970s,

not 1870s, Mary!

Paul... HE LAUGHS

-See?

-Listen, you've got a lot to live up to.

I can't even tell you how happy I am to be here. It's great.

Well, right back at you.

'Like Janet, Chetna's also making a choux pastry.'

I've added the plain flour to the choux

with the coriander.

I'm just trying to cook the flour

before I take it off the heat.

Once baked, Chetna's coriander choux

will be filled with a tomato and aubergine mix,

and laced with mustard seeds and chilli.

Her second are deep-fried discs of spiced shortcrust pastry

with a paneer potato ball sat on top,

sandwiched between two chutneys.

-Chetna's chutneys!

-Chetna's chutneys are back.

Well, it's not ready yet!

-I'd eat it all now, raw.

-We're just building it all up for you...

-Yeah, I know.

-..putting more pressure on.

-God!

-Glad to be back?

-Not sure yet.

Come on! Come on.

It's good to see you.

-Good luck.

-Thank you.

Over the years, we've seen A LOT of pastry made in the tent.

Pastry was not too bad for me last time.

We had some miniature fruit tartlets to make -

which were OK, actually.

-MARY:

-How pretty do those look, don't they?

It's delicious. It's very, very nice.

Really? Oh, my goodness.

You know, there were bad weeks,

but you have to remember the good ones, as well...

to keep your spirits up.

JAMES: In the final, I made some puff pastry.

As far as I remember, it was raw.

-Oh, no.

-It's a little bit underdone there.

It's a shame about that pastry.

It didn't go very well,

but let's hope this is better.

The last time, the pastries were fine, I think.

The eclairs we made were good.

The actual choux pastry, with the chocolate, is very good.

Overall, the two different types of eclairs, well executed.

-Well done.

-Thank you.

Yeah, I think it was all right.

HOWARD: Oh, gosh, I've had some disasters with pastry.

The apple pie -

and I couldn't get the pastry to hold together at all.

-It looks pretty crumbly, the pastry.

-Yes.

-OK. That's an issue for me.

-Yeah.

You can have it crumbly, yes, but not that crumbly.

It needed binding together more.

Yeah.

Oh, dear. It's a bit more crumbly than I expected it to be.

I think it's the tent gremlins

that are affecting this pastry.

-Good morning, Howard.

-Good morning.

-SUE: Hey, Howard!

-Right, tell us all about your Christmas canapes.

I'm doing smoked trout trees with pea pastry,

using pea flour.

Pea flour is basically just peas, isn't it?

-It is, just ground peas.

-Blitzed up.

-Yeah.

Never one to hold back on presentation,

Howard's trouty morsels

will be shaped like Christmas trees

with caviar to represent the baubles.

His others are slices of partridge,

pear and a blue cheese cream

sandwiched between walnut pastry squares

and wrapped in a chive bow.

Do let me know if there's anything that you've made,

that's impeccably fashioned,

that you need me to just pop an elbow in.

Oh, yeah, I will do.

And just gouge into.

Yeah, OK, look forward to it.

-Thanks, Howard.

-Thank you.

This is my final turn.

After the first fold,

puff pastry has four layers.

After the second fold, it has 16 layers.

And this, with three folds,

has 64 very tiny layers

and my puff can now go back in the fridge and rest, ready to be baked.

-Morning, James.

-Wahey!

-Hello!

-How are you doing?

Right, can you tell us all about your Christmas canapes?

So, first is a mackerel mousse millefeuille.

Then I am doing a caramelised red onion swirl

with goat's cheese.

Now, is this both with puff pastry?

Both with full puff pastry.

That's tight time-wise, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-You've only got two and a half hours.

Undeterred by time, James' mackerel millefeuille

are a nod to Christmas fishing trips,

and each one will be topped with a radish ceviche.

He'll make his swirls with caramelised red onions

made with beer vinegar,

and garnish each one with pickled cucumber and goat's cheese.

You've brought your own horseradish.

-It's a very long-rooted horseradish.

-HE LAUGHS

It grows like a weed, you know.

It's very difficult to dig up.

Cos you can imagine, to get the...

I'm only using half an inch,

there are at least eight inches left.

That's good to know. That's good to know. That's great.

I don't know what to say now, James.

He's still can't get over eight inches, he can't believe it.

Such a thing is possible, Paul.

I think this is going to be delicious.

Good luck with the puff pastry, as well.

-Yeah, I'll need it.

-Thank you.

-Cheers.

Every type of pastry is different to work with,

which presents each baker with separate canape challenges.

That's the choux done.

I love choux pastry.

You can do so much with it

by adding different things.

I'm grating the Gruyere cheese,

which I'm going to then fold into the mixture

and then I'll pipe it onto the tray.

I'm using a barquette tin,

which is like a little boat mould.

I'm using the bottom of it,

so, upside down.

I have a tendency to be creative with kitchen equipment.

It difficult to know the size, to be honest.

That was the most confusing thing.

When I tried them at home,

I made them rather large...

or so my family said.

I'm just pricking the millefeuille pastry

before it goes in the oven to stop it rising.

To doubly prevent it,

I'm going to pop another sheet of baking paper,

and another tray, on top.

That's going in for about 25 minutes.

That's going to be 15 minutes.

Right, excellent, I hope.

TIMER BEEPS

The timer is back.

CHETNA LAUGHS

I haven't missed staring at the oven at all.

Christmas bakers, you are halfway through your Signature Challenge.

Not...

# Fa-la-la-la-la-la. #

..to go now.

An hour-and-a-quarter left on the clock.

"Just keep going" is the only thing to do.

No point in panicking ahead of time, is there?

I'm bored of pastry, I want to get onto a filling.

I've got a green mango chutney

and I've got a date chutney,

so I'm hoping that they like it this time, as well.

In the mousse, we've got mackerel,

cream cheese,

we've got capers, cornichons

and some dill.

That'll be blended up and I'll fold in some whipped double cream.

This is the filling for the gougere.

Brown crab meat, mayonnaise,

cream cheese and sour cream.

So, I've got partridge breasts in the pan.

I have to say, I practised this at home with pigeon.

Oh, gosh, it was strong.

I was worried that I was going to stink the tent out.

Bakers, just one hour until we try your heavenly canapes.

I can't believe it - an hour!

That's really bad news.

Check out my millefeuille.

Happy with these.

The key to a good millefeuille is really crisp pastry,

which I'm not sure if I've achieved in the time, but you can at least...

Ah, it's OK, you can see the layering.

It looks like a good puff.

One or two are a little bit browner than I would have liked,

but they've taken the shape quite nicely.

So, they've gone a bit brown,

so I'm going to leave them to cool down a bit

and then slice them open and dry them inside.

I don't know how they've done so fast.

Not as good as they were at home.

Oh, dear. Never mind.

I'm not going to despair just yet.

The challenge requires the bakers to make a second canape.

So, now I'm going to roll out the puff pastry very, very, very thinly.

I'm going to pop the caramelised red onions in it

and roll it up.

But unlike James, everybody else has to make another pastry from scratch.

This is the walnut pastry, which has got maize flour in it.

Maize flour helps give it a kind of crumbly, crunchy texture.

That is the shortcrust pastry

with turmeric and paprika.

Adding turmeric not only adds colour,

but it just gives it that very slight flavour, as well.

I'm making the little shortcrust pastry cases

for the chicken liver, the mushroom concoction.

I'm going to blind bake these

and then fill them when they're cold,

so they won't go soggy.

Cos the worst thing is

all these soggy bottoms they're always on about.

I'm going to fry the short pastry.

It's not a traditional shape,

but I thought it would just give a little thing to hold on.

I've put it on 195

and I'm just doing nine minutes.

The difficulty, for me, is -

I don't do a lot of timing at home.

You just leave it till it's done

or take it out if it looks as though it's burning.

How are you doing for time, my love?

You're probably down to about 45 minutes now.

-That's loads of time.

-Yeah? Are you OK?

-Yes.

-Good man.

They should pop up in the oven.

Oh, I'm so hot now.

-It's really hot in here.

-Shall we take your fair isle off, James?

-No. We can't do that.

-No? No, you can't.

It's your trademark, you can't take it off.

OK, bakers, that's half an hour on your can-apes.

Half an hour to go.

Oh, no. I never miss those.

"Half an hour left!"

"Ten minutes left!"

And soon it'll be, "Time's up!"

This is the potato and paneer mix

and it's got some green chilli

and some dried mango powder.

These are chicken livers.

Ooh! Dear me.

They're getting their own back at me, I think.

I'm just cutting some squares of pear.

So, these are going to go with the partridge,

which is just resting at the moment.

I thought I was really organised with this,

and I'm just not, at all.

Never mind.

It's Christmas.

GASPS: My things, they'll be burning.

They look OK.

They need a few minutes to dry out.

Oh, look, nice bake.

Yeah, good!

-So, we'll take those out.

-All right, darling.

They look good.

How I imagined them in my head.

Very crumbly.

A bit too crumbly.

It's going to go on top of the shortcrust.

SHE COUGHS

Mary's going to have a lovely time!

Sorry, Mary!

Oh, you haven't forgotten your piping action, James.

Oh!

The puff pastry's too flaky.

I've just piped in the mixture of trout, creme fraiche and dill.

That's a game changer, the old vermicelli nest.

And that's the chickpea flour?

Yes. It is.

It's like eating the most delicious wig.

It really is.

I'm now doing the most ridiculous job in the world,

Using a pair of tweezers

to put trout caviar

on little Christmas trees,

but this is the price we pay

for canapes.

Really big.

It's a bit unwieldy.

-Too big.

-Ding dong, merrily on pie.

You've got three minutes, bakers.

-Three minutes.

-Three minutes.

God help us. Oh, come on.

I need to plate these very quickly.

Do you know, I'm exhausted already.

So up against the wire, it's unbelievable.

I've forgotten how bad it was, the last few minutes.

I totally forgot.

Bakers, that's time.

Time is up.

Howard, Howard, Howard,

-Howard!

-HOWARD!

Leave the chives!

SHE SIGHS

These are the correct size.

And unusual to deep-fat fry pastry.

Which one do you think's less spicy?

-This one?

-Yeah, that is probably...

-OK, we'll start with one of these.

You say that one is the less spicy one?

-Yes, sorry!

-Wow!

Looking forward to them.

It is quite spicy.

-Very hot. Very hot...

-Sorry!

..but the actual bun, itself, is well cooked.

Right. We'll move on to this one.

-MEL:

-They're like little leaves, aren't they?

-Yes.

The pastry's delicious, so crispy,

then you get that gorgeous softness from the paneer and potato.

-It is beautiful.

-Thank you.

-MARY: That's my favourite.

The whole combination is lovely.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

-MEL:

-Well done, Chetna.

Come down my chimney with those any day of the week.

-MARY: Puff pastry for both?

-Puff pastry for both.

Well, looking at your smoked mackerel ones,

they look very pretty.

Very Christmassy, the radishes.

They look Christmassy, the red and the green.

The stack effect on these,

I think they look pretty good.

-Do you mind if I taste them with you?

-Absolutely. Tuck in.

James, that's a first.

Bake Off first!

Did it fall apart?

It's sort of a problem, James.

You see, I've just held it and the bottom has come off.

But it tastes amazing.

The butteriness is there, the flavour is there.

I do like it.

Right, let's try one of these fellas.

Mmm.

Puff pastry, the filling, with the onions, delicious.

The whole thing, together, tastes beautiful.

I just think the puff pastry is not up to scratch.

The flavour absolutely is spot on -

but, again, difficult to pick up,

difficult to eat.

-Now, Howard, were you going to tie all these up?

-Yes.

So, we've got a kind of attempt

to show what all 12 would have looked like -

but, yes, the idea was to do a chive ribbon on each of them.

These do look as though they have caught on the edges.

The trout, it's a very good flavour.

You've gone to an awful lot of effort to make that shape,

because there's a great point to it,

it is overcooked.

Right, this is a complicated one.

This is partridge and pear, isn't it?

There's no doubt about it, it's a gorgeous flavour.

It's very crisp.

It is a little bit big.

I think you could have done with one layer.

-They're quite thick, you see.

-Mm.

I love the flavour though.

-Thank you.

-Thanks.

They're quite big. Actually, they are quite large.

They're too big? Oh, dear. Sorry.

Yours are canapes for very hungry people.

-Oh, dear.

-No. Don't say, "Oh, dear".

There's a lot of us that are hungry.

-It's got a nice, strong colour on it there.

-Mmm.

Yes.

I dare say, "Caramelised."

They were overdone.

I thought the chances of them being soggy

was probably less if they were overdone.

That is like a kayak of...

It's a canoe-pe. Lovely.

That's a humdinger.

It is packed with flavour.

They taste amazing.

-Oh, good. I'm so happy.

-Delicious.

-Well done.

-I can't believe it.

Right, let's move on to these boys, here.

Big boys.

We have got a very good bake on the bottom there...

-Good.

-..but I do think it's too thick.

Mushrooms, the cranberry, liver in there - delicious.

Beautiful short, buttery pastry as well.

If they were a little bit thinner, they would be perfect.

-Yes.

-Well done.

-Oh, thank you so much. I'm really happy.

-Phenomenal.

-Thank you.

-Mm!

Thank the Lord. They like the flavours.

We don't do small in our family.

I was in agreement with anything critical they said.

I think that's a pretty good start.

I was dreading the judging, but that was fantastic.

Phew!

Definitely, there is a bit of Christmas spirit going on,

but we've got the Technical coming up now,

so that Scrooge Mr Hollywood might be resurfacing.

Having survived their first challenge in years,

the bakers now face the dreaded technical -

which, as ever, is a complete mystery.

Oh, bakers, I bet you've missed

the Technical Challenge in your lives, haven't you?

-Well, here it is...

-SHE MOUTHS

..all wrapped up in a lovely Christmas box.

Paul, I believe this is one of your recipes.

-Any advice?

-Be patient.

-Oh!

You said that last time, Paul.

Where's the originality, Paul?

Off to the unisex sauna!

-Off to the unisex sauna, the pair of you.

-With Mary.

-Good.

-So, Paul and Mary would love you to make...

SWEDISH ACCENT: ..kanellangd.

Kanellangd.

It's a new Nordic police drama.

-Kanellangd.

-Kanellangd.

It's actually a spiced, Scandinavian celebratory bread,

which translates as "cinnamon length".

-You've got two hours to create...

-Kanellangd.

-..your kanellangd.

-On your marks...

-Get set...

-Kanellangd!

-Bake!

-OK...

-Nothing can go wrong.

I can't pronounce it, but...

K-k-kanellangd. Kanellangd.

I was hoping for something like this.

I've never made whatever they're called before.

-Kanel...

-Ke-ne-lang-ed.

Kanel... Kanellangd.

I've no idea.

I was hoping it would be something I'd done before!

Paul, tell us about this amazing loaf.

It's called a kanellangd.

Basically, it's a Scandinavian Christmas loaf.

It's filled with cinnamon and lots of goodies.

What is unique about this is the shape,

the way that it's been shaped, the way it's been cut.

Basically, what they've got to do is make an enriched dough.

Once they've rolled it into a rectangle, covered it in the butter,

the vanilla, cinnamon and sugar,

they've then got to roll it up.

Now, you've got to make that quite tight.

That will ensure a beautiful swirl all the way through.

Would you like to try some, Mary?

I certainly would.

Look at that.

There you go, Mary.

You see the cinnamon all the way through it?

That is absolutely beautiful.

It's delicious. For me, it's the taste of Christmas.

Now I need some more tea.

Well, it says, "Make the dough," so I'd better start.

At least it tells you what's got to go in the dough, which is a help.

It's a sweet dough, it's enriched.

It's got both egg, sugar, milk, butter in there.

Enriched doughs tend to be quite a bit lighter, more fragile.

It's very wet...

and sticky.

This is incredibly sloppy.

How is he managing to slap his around so much?

No-one else does this.

Slapping and folding is what it's called.

It's just a method of kneading that I find extremely effective,

which gives you good structure.

I wish he'd stop slapping.

It's really unnerving,

cos he looks and sounds as though he knows what he's doing,

and I don't.

I'll just have to pray and hope it works.

I will knead it for as long as I think feels right.

Oh, I'm getting a sweat on here...

..but it's getting there,

and it feels quite nice and soft.

Oh, it's coming together. Oh, look at that.

The stickiness is gone completely.

It does actually feel really good now.

Really good.

So, this dough is nearly done.

It's starting to become elastic, stretchy, as you can see.

Right, patience.

Maybe I've done it enough.

Oh, look at that.

I'm going to prove that, I think.

Let's get that rising.

I'm happy with that.

This is going in the proving drawer

for about half an hour.

I've got no idea for how long, but it's going in the proving drawer.

Wrap it in a blanket...

and hope for the best.

I'll leave it in there for 30 minutes or so.

Possibly a bit longer.

Oh...

There you go. Phew!

Now I need to look at the rest of the recipe!

"Make a vanilla butter and cinnamon sugar."

A teaspoon of vanilla paste.

A little bit for luck.

I'm just making the vanilla butter,

which is basically a case of creaming the butter

with the vanilla paste.

The flavours are amazing.

It's all so Christmassy.

Leave that to one side,

make the cinnamon sugar.

A tablespoon of brown cinnamon,

75g of caster sugar.

There is a lot of cinnamon going in here.

You can never have too much cinnamon.

Three more minutes. Come on, dough. Come on.

I'm just waiting. My dough is proving.

It's been in there about 30 minutes.

"Be patient."

That's what Paul Hollywood said.

It has risen a bit.

Maybe I should take a chance.

It's got to prove again anyway.

It's nowhere near ready.

I'm going to have to go for it, though.

Howard, That is a super dough.

-It's got a nice bit of a rise to it.

-Hasn't it?!

-Yeah.

-It makes me want to poke it.

-Stop me poking it!

-I want to poke it, too.

I really do. Don't you?

Stop it!

This isn't looking over-great

but anyhow, never mind.

It's out and it is looking good.

Next, says, "Roll the dough into a large rectangle."

It actually says exactly how big the rectangle should be.

40 by 30.

Is there a ruler around?

All that lovely air that we've put in,

-we're now squashing it out, aren't we?

-It's such a shame, isn't it?

I think that looks good.

That's a bit over.

To be honest, the bigger, the better with this

cos it gives you a much tighter roll.

There are less holes for Paul Hollywood to pick.

Bakers, halfway through your

Scandinavian "cinnamon length" challenge.

Oh, God. Halfway.

I'm just spreading the vanilla butter evenly over the dough

and then I'm going to sprinkle it with the cinnamon sugar.

It's an awful lot of sugar.

This is ridiculous.

It's in the recipe. Why not use it all?

Now, I need to roll this into a sausage.

That's good. That's a good technique.

There she blows.

Have you ever seen one of these before?

Never. Never heard of it. Never seen one. No.

I'm trying to remember if I've seen one in a Scandi drama, maybe.

-The Bridge...

-Yes.

-..The Killing...

Paul's recipe only gives limited shaping instructions.

It says now, "Cut the roll into 18 equal slices,

"being careful not to cut all the way through."

"Pull out alternate slices."

I wonder how other people are going to do it.

-GASPS:

-(James has already started, I think.)

So, my thought is to do this, look.

Chetna's watching on.

Chetna has got the full beams on.

I hope everyone doesn't copy me, cos I'm just making this up!

I've got a different idea.

-You see what I'm doing now, though?

-Yeah, yeah, so coiling around.

I've got a totally different idea.

OK. So, you've gone for your classic Scandinavian dough snake.

His has all come part, though.

They look like they're all separate.

-So, that's going to now prove?

-Yeah, for 30 minutes.

I love the way you've ended up with, sort of, like, figures of eight.

That's what I thought it was meant to be.

-It's really good.

-Is it not?

-SWEDISH ACCENT:

-The kanellangd.

-Yeah.

-Kanellangd!

Right, so, I think it should be...

Oh, I like the look of that.

Interesting.

-Oh!

-Oh!

James is looking on!

Oh, that's so annoying.

I reckon Chetna's got it right.

I can fix this.

Your shape looks really good.

That looks great.

I'm just trying to think about how I can make it more like Chetna's.

And into the drawer.

Just for ten minutes.

CHETNA SIGHS

-Are you all right, James?

-Oh, I'm not doing too good.

This should have been my challenge.

Cos you're very good on bread, aren't you?

-CHETNA:

-James, you're cheating.

Why is he cheating, Chets?

Because he's changed it after seeing my design.

Your design was lovely.

Bake Off first!

Bake Off first.

We have a cheating incident...

-Cheating?!

-..involving Cheat-na.

Hide your goods, Chetna.

Hide your goods.

-He's cheated.

-Chets, are you worried?

Do you want to take this further?

I'm going to take it outside.

JAMES LAUGHS

She's got quite a vicious right hook on her, mate.

I hope this drawer is warm enough.

Please work.

If I give it ten minutes to prove...

With only 45 minutes left,

the bakers have an agonising decision.

More time proving means less time baking.

This, I can prove with about five, ten minutes, I think, so...

HE LAUGHS

..it wasn't very long at all.

I think I'll have to get it out...

for better or worse.

The instructions are really helpful.

They say, "Bake."

"Bake"?

Bake?

Normally it's hottish, isn't it, for bread?

They don't say for how long.

The last thing I want with this

is for it to be underbaked.

I'd really like to bake these for at least 30 minutes.

They have told us, "Oven on 185,"

so we've got the temperature.

It's quite a thin thing.

So, hopefully, it won't take too long

for the dough to actually cook through.

It's in.

Just got to bake it now and hope it looks nice when it's baked.

I've got 20 minutes left so,

if I take it out in 15 minutes,

if it looks rubbish, I can just cover it in icing sugar.

It's browning really quickly.

It's still got ten more minutes.

Please bake in time.

It's the watched pot, isn't it?

The more you look, the worse it is.

If I left this in the oven and went and did some ironing,

it'd all burn in about five seconds.

What I'm just going to do is spin it round

cos no oven's got a perfect range of heating.

Oh, dear. Look, something's trying to escape.

I think it's running away.

I think I should have rolled it tighter.

Hey-ho.

I'm just going to have a look at it.

Oh, it looks beautiful.

This is looking very nice and puffy.

It's just whether it will bake long enough.

-In time?

-Yeah.

I just want it to be cooked.

I don't want Paul Hollywood to say,

"A bit doughy."

Bakers, ten minutes until Paul and Mary

will be measuring your lengths.

Ten minutes to go.

It's probably about done.

I'll call that done.

I believe I am the first one out.

That looks very good, Howard.

I don't know what it's supposed to look like, actually.

That looks absolutely delicious.

That looks like Julia Roberts' hair.

Gosh, that's a beast, love.

Looks like a, sort of, flattened crocodile.

What Nordic baker wouldn't leap with joy at the sight of that?

Yes.

-CHETNA:

-It is looking good.

Got three minutes. Three minutes to go.

OK, bakers, if you'd like to bringing your kanellangd

up to the photograph of yourself.

No more cinna-minutes left.

Up you pop.

Mary and Paul have no idea

which kanellangd belongs to which baker.

-SWEDISH ACCENT:

-Paul and Mary.

God Jul.

God Jul, Paul and Mary.

-God Jul.

-Right...

what we're looking for

is a well-baked loaf with a good cinnamon swirl throughout.

Right, let's have a look at this one.

It's been laid quite flat

and there isn't a too many swirls going in,

and it's quite a thick.

Let's have a quick look.

You can see the structure of the cinnamon all the way through it.

Mmm. Tastes all right.

-Yeah, it's baked well.

-Lovely and moist.

Cinnamon flavour's coming through.

Now, this one is more the shape we're looking for,

the problem is they're quite big.

Let's have a look inside this one.

It's slightly underdone, this one.

It tastes good, though, and I like the shape of it.

Now, not quite sure what's going on with this.

They have interlocked, which is good.

It's well baked.

Just needed more of the swirls to get more of a hit of cinnamon.

Moving on.

It's opened up a bit, hasn't it?

Yeah, and they're quite fat, as well.

Nice cinnamon coming through.

Again, the swirls are quite fat

but it is baked and the icing's on

and they're all in the right position.

But which cinnamon length will measure up

to be the Christmas number one?

In fourth place...

-Oh.

-..this one.

It's me.

Slightly underdone, Janet...

-I know.

-..and a little bit open texture here.

Sorry.

In third place is this one.

It was too thick when you rolled it up, but the flavour was good.

And in second place is this one.

A little bit overbaked at the end but very near number one.

And number one.

-Well done, James.

-Well done, James.

You got it, basically,

because you rolled it out that little bit thinner

and got more swirl into it.

I must confess, what happened was,

I originally made it completely flat, like Chelsea buns,

and then I saw what everyone else was doing

and I was like, "Oh, my goodness,"

so I quickly made it into that shape.

All I have to say is, "Thanks," to the other bakers

for showing me the right path.

Without them, I would have had

a tray of probably quite nice Chelsea buns.

If he hadn't copied us, he wouldn't have come first and...

SHE EXHALES

What can you do?

I was disappointed with the outcome, obviously,

but I understood completely.

Paul said there was very little to choose between first and second.

I've never come that high,

so I'll have some positive Bake Off dreams tonight.

Yeah.

Mary and Paul, our Christmas bakers

went to great cinnamon lengths yesterday -

but who do you think has done really well?

I think James is slightly above everybody else.

But his signature canapes you were slightly iffy about.

The problem was, it's difficult to make a good puff pastry

in two and a half hours

and it just didn't work.

You were very, very pleased, however,

with the size and the presentation, and the taste, of Chetna's.

Yes. Now, Chetna's were beautiful looking and the right size -

-but Janet's - they were really a bit big for a canape...

-Yes.

..but they tasted amazing.

I would say, at the moment, it is between three -

Janet, Chetna and James.

We haven't even talked about Howard.

Howard is always the one that gets overlooked.

-Poor Howard.

-I thought the pea flour bake was very good.

The thing is, though, because of the shape, it did catch.

The technical brought him up a bit -

so, yeah, I suppose you can throw him in the mix as well.

So, who could win Star Baker?

-Pretty much any one of them.

-That's a first.

-Wide open.

-It's all on the Showstopper.

Good morning, Christmas bakers,

and welcome to this, your Christmas Showstopper -

and that's my little Christmas Showstopper dance.

Gosh, we really need to up the medication.

-There we go.

-Remind me, Mary.

-I will.

Now, today, Mary and Paul would love you, please,

to make 36 sweet...

Christmas miniatures.

They're looking for a trio,

so 12 of each thing.

We want you to immortalise the sights, the sounds, the smells,

the texture of Christmas -

and to put that all into a fabulous tiered

celebratory centrepiece

for a fabulous, festive feast.

-Oh, I can just imagine the bulge in Santa's sack.

-Lovely.

You have four and a half festive hours.

-On your marks...

-Get set...

BOTH: Bake!

I have an awful lot to do today.

My plan is just to work as quickly as possible.

The biggest trick today is the time.

You know, lots to do.

I think I have been probably a little bit over ambitious -

but, hey, it's Christmas.

This is going to be a test

on whether I can produce things with some finesse.

Let's hope.

This is a difficult challenge, in four and a half hours,

because it's fiddly.

Our bakers have got to have a time plan -

while something's in the oven

on to the next thing,

so that they don't waste time.

You're going to be doing a lot of ball juggling

throughout the whole of the four and a half hours -

because, if they don't,

they're going to run out of time

and not be able to finish them

with that little bit of finesse that you want to see at Christmas.

If everything goes to plan, it'll be a miracle.

Oh...!

There's so much to do and I just forgot about the milk I put on.

And here we go again.

With free rein to make whatever they like,

the bakers must wrap up big ideas in perfect miniature -

a Christmas Showstopper with all the trimmings.

It's the most ambitious in Bake Off history.

I'm making little tricolour layered cakes.

Two layers will be green and one layer will be red.

My three bakes are going to sit on a massive gingerbread structure.

It's got a kilogram of butter in it.

And as we all know,

tackling gingerbread structures is James' thing.

I was of the understanding it was meant to be finished with a barn.

No, it wasn't.

This is exactly how I intended.

It's a piece of modern art.

This structure is going to be big.

I'm making gingerbread cheesecakes.

I'm just making some ginger biscuits

which will be the base for my cheesecake.

Hello, Chetna.

-Good morning.

-Good morning, Chetna.

MARY: Tell us about your miniatures.

So, I'm doing a baked Alaska.

Chets, brave.

-Are you feeling in quite a calm...

-No!

-..mood today?

-No, no.

-OK.

-The bin's just over there if you need...

-Yes, OK.

-Yep.

Determined to serve all 12 Alaskas without incident,

she'll sit a dome of saffron and praline ice cream

on a sponge flecked with boozy raisins.

Chetna's also rolling out

12 mini orange, chocolate cardamom buche de Noel

and 12 ginger and citrus cheesecakes.

I've got a slight issue.

Where's the chutney?

Where is the Christmas chutney?

-Sorry, Chetna.

-I should have done a sweet chutney, I know.

-Yeah.

-You said it.

-Yes.

Usually, I take great care with my gingerbread, not to overwork it.

With this, I'm going to overwork it a wee bit

and the reason for that is just strength

because I don't want this falling in a heap.

These are the little house facades

that are going to go behind the cheesecakes,

so we've got the effect of a kind of house and garden.

My cookies are in the oven.

There is a lot going on and, you know, one second,

you can't take your eyes off anything.

I'm going to pop this in the oven.

Half the gingerbread is in the oven.

Janet's not making gingerbread,

so she's starting with some festively coloured cakes.

It's just an ordinary basic sponge,

12oz of butter and sugar and flour.

Timing is always the issue.

We'll just keep an eye on this.

What time did I say? Where's my clock?

Janet will transform these vivid sponges

into layered tricolour petits fours,

topped with marzipan and drizzled with water icing.

She'll also pipe swirls of chestnut puree

onto meringue and shortbread discs to make mini Monts Blancs,

and to complete her trio,

whip up 12 glossy chocolate orange domes filled with mascarpone cream.

I notice you have 21 stages.

-I do.

-How far are you now?

-On stage two.

-It's about time you got moving, then.

-Yes, you're right.

-Good luck.

That green is Muppet Christmas Carol,

sheer Muppet Christmas Carol.

I think they've turned out quite well.

This is some gingerbread. It doesn't look too bad.

An interesting thing about gingerbread is,

it comes out and it is soft and you can cut it,

but then it hardens up very, very quickly.

Let's see if it's OK, you know.

They need to be bright. If they're wishy-washy, it loses the impact.

It's Christmas, it's supposed to be jolly, isn't it?

-Morning, Howard.

-Morning.

Howard, tell us about your Christmas miniatures.

So, the first one I'm doing

is a gingerbread house and garden cheesecake.

Number two is a cranberry sherry glass trifle,

so it's the infamous custard.

-Howard, don't.

-Yes!

-MARY:

-Oh, dear.

Intending to keep it under lock and key this time,

Howard will layer his Christmas custard

over chocolate and nut trifle sponges, and cranberry mincemeat.

His decorative gingerbread cheesecakes will be served

with a blackberry coulis - and, last but not least,

he'll rustle up a batch of 12 mini fruit breads

called stollen, accompanied by a clementine curd.

You're being very ambitious. Maybe cut a bit of that detail out.

-OK.

-But you've got to finish.

-Got to finish.

-MEL:

-Or maybe if we don't talk to him so much.

Yeah, come on.

That's the chocolate sponge for the buche de Noel.

I've got so many things on the go. I have got so many things on the go.

This is the chocolate orange sponge mix for the chocolate domes.

I'm going to put them in the oven now.

This is the base for the trifle.

Little chocolate and hazelnut sponges.

It is a bit of a nightmare, really, working with sponges

on such a tiny scale. They cook really quickly, which is great,

but you've just got to catch them in time.

This is my Christmas cake mixture.

It's all happening.

Good morning, James. Right, tell us all about your Christmas minis.

I'm doing an apple pie and custard doughnut.

With the custard bit, just don't go near Howard's custard.

Keep them separate, yeah?

James will fill his doughnuts with the custard and a spiced-apple puree

using pieces of caramelised apple as decoration.

He'll also conjure up 12 orange-chocolate macarons

for his tiered display,

and 12 tiny Christmas cakes with tea and booze-infused fruit.

-What are you doing with that gingerbread?

-I forgot to bring

-a tiered structure.

-You're building one?

I'm building a tiered structure out of eight frames of gingerbread.

-Oh, reminiscent of...

-Yes.

-..you know what, the old barn.

So, this is extra, then?

-Yeah.

-You're building the structure that your minis are going to go on?

-Yes.

-Good lad. Thanks, James.

-See you.

-Thank you.

They're looking OK, actually.

The brown is cocoa powder, so if it looks very brown

it's not because they're burnt.

I've got to forge on, you know, because time waits for no man.

They're fine, just as I wanted them to be.

They're just a nice shape, sitting in the bottom of the sherry glass,

and then we're going to douse them with sherry.

Bearing in mind this is Christmas, goodwill amongst men,

there's a lot of competition. Everyone's eyes down.

-There's so much to do!

-What are you talking about, "So much to do"?

All we're asking you to do

-is a three-tiered festive 36-part feast(!)

-Only!

This is my doughnut dough.

The key to a good doughnut will be making sure it's fried

so that the middle is cooked.

There's nothing worse than a raw doughnut.

I'm just going to leave that in that bowl to prove.

I'm making the shortbread now.

I want to get all the stuff that has to be cooked done first.

This is the base of the stollen.

Press it down a little bit with a wet finger.

Then I'm going to pipe some of the marzipan

and put more of the mixture on top.

These desperately need to go in the oven.

My macarons are chocolate and orange,

which I went for just cos I like, really. I've gone for a mega orange.

About 21 stages.

I'm not thinking about it, really.

I'm just scribbling out as I go along.

The saffron ice cream is on the go.

I'll cool it for, like, ten minutes,

then put it in the ice cream machine.

I've got some cream warming,

which I'm going to turn into custard.

I never thought I would be back in the tent making custard.

I've really got to make sure that no-one steals it!

No, she didn't steal it. It was an accident.

Oh, has Howard got his custard on?

Over two hours of the bake has already gone,

but with still so much to do, there's no time to chill.

That is my saffron ice cream going into the ice-cream maker.

That should take around 40 minutes.

I'm actually suddenly thinking, "Ice cream? Really?"

Anyways, it's too late.

I'm doing two different sizes.

I hope I've got enough mixture. I need to get 24 out of this.

These are going in.

Ooh, they smell good, Howard.

-They smell all right.

-Yeah, they smell very, um...citrussy.

-They look appalling.

-They don't look appalling at all!

They look sort of a bit undressed.

This is a bit of a disaster.

So, I have an issue with my macaroons.

They haven't risen as they should.

It's the pressure of the tent.

I've got an hour. So I'm going to whip up another batch.

Let me not panic.

As soon as you start to panic, you lose everything.

It's panic stations.

The cheesecake's in the fridge, chilling.

The ice cream's in the freezer, freezing.

The cake is in the oven, baking.

And I'm making chocolate ganache for the swiss rolls.

I think I'm all right with time.

I have made chocolate ganache before but this is like a chocolate glaze.

The key to a good ganache is to add your cream

to your chocolate in a bowl.

Never add your chocolate to your cream in the pan,

or else it'll overheat and split.

Oh, this is not right.

Oh, I can't believe it.

-Poppet, what's happened?

-This hasn't worked.

This chocolate hasn't worked.

I might have to make just an ordinary ganache.

OK, macaroons coming out.

Better. OK.

Not the best, but they'll do.

That is absolutely marvellous.

I used to get spots like that, Chets.

My hands are shaking.

So this is the custard that is just going into the glasses.

I think I'm actually about half an hour behind.

I think there's something funny with this chocolate,

because that's gone granular again.

I think this chocolate just won't make smooth ganache.

Right, I'm going to do some frying.

They don't take long.

It'll let you know when it's ready to turn,

because it'll flip over itself.

Surely you should be inside a fridge doing this?

Oh, my God, you're so right!

OK, let's go.

A bit of Christmas dressing, I think, needs to happen, doesn't it?

-A bit of decoration.

-Yeah.

-Cos that's Bleak House at the moment.

-It is. I'll do something.

-Are you sure? I don't...

-Oh!

Hold this, hold this, hold this!

It's happened again. It's like Groundhog Day.

It's happened again. It's happened again.

Do you think if I keep saying that it's going to help?

-No.

-Chetna, you've gone very quiet, I don't like it.

It's all going to be fine.

I think you and I are a devastatingly effective partnership.

Obviously the freezer knows it's me.

Bakers, you've got 30 minutes

to make like Rudolph with his presents and "sleigh" 'em.

Oh, I'm so hot I'm about to expire, I think.

Right. Assembly time.

It works!

Will those have anything Christmassy when you present them?

-No. Not really.

-Howard! They look like uncooked sausages.

Oh, my God! I haven't even made the white icing yet.

No? How do I make that? It's just icing sugar. I can do that.

-CLATTER

-Oh, no! Oh, dear Lord.

What is with me today? God!

Oh, that's good, mate.

-That is good.

-Do you think?

Yeah! The old flat-packed gingerbread - I love it.

-Have you got a gingerbread Allen key as well?

-No.

This seems to have gone rather molten, Janet.

Oh, dear. What's happened?

I don't know, but my icing sugar is not the best.

Was that the texture you were looking for, Janet?

-I think it was sugar.

-It wasn't flour?

Oh, no. It was flour. It was flour.

-Oh, my...

-No, that was flour.

I can't...I can't even believe this.

OK, done. Now, let's get the rest done.

Where are those doughnuts?

Howard, I've never done this before.

I'm going to get my Bake Off bingo wings out for you.

-Too stressful.

-That's brilliant!

I haven't even shaved my armpits, Howard.

I don't think you've got time.

I do appreciate this, you know.

Where does four and a half hours go?

Right, Howard.

I'm going to leave you. The best of British.

Thank you.

You've got 15... 15 minutes left, guys.

15. Howard, you've got 15 minutes.

-God!

-Oh, no!

The gingerbread's too soft.

The ruined tower.

-Ganache?

-The ganache is rubbish.

It's split again. Argh, for goodness' sake!

I think you've got away with it, mate.

It's great. It's like an installation. It's Tracey Emin.

Oh, yeah.

-Do you need a hand?

-I think I'm beyond redemption.

The ganache split twice.

Bakers, three minutes left.

Three minutes, bakers.