Episode 2 The Great British Bake Off

For another summer, the Great British Bake Off tent

gloried as the most prestigious baking arena in the country.

Over ten weeks, every aspect of baking was put before 12 of Britain's

best amateur bakers.

'They had their highs and lows...'

That's soup, how did you do that?

..but overall they were really ambitious.

I think it is truly magnificent. It just looks stunning.

The bakers this year were fantastic.

From the offset, they came up with stuff

that really surprised me.

-That is one of the best things I've seen in bread, ever.

-Wow.

Perfection was paramount, as each struggled to outshine

the rest in front of judges Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood.

We're looking for a good all-rounder,

and they needed to pull out the stops at all stages.

We set some particularly devilish challenges,

and they all rose to the occasion.

-I don't like them.

-OK.

-I love them.

-Oh!

SHE LAUGHS

But now it is time once again for Mary and Paul to take over the tent.

The whole idea of masterclasses is to show

you our recipes, step-by-step, so you can't go wrong.

Listen to this.

CRUNCHING

-Oh!

-'The tricks and tips we are going to show you, you can

'introduce to your own kitchen, to help you with your baking,'

and get you baking much, much better.

Coming up, Paul makes soda bread.

Perfect if you want a loaf in a hurry.

Mary makes a coffee version of a classic -

cappuccino creme brulee.

And then bakes an indulgent Viennese Spanische Windtorte.

A must for all meringue lovers.

Paul's bread masterclass continues with baguettes.

Before Mary ends with a sensational Showstopper,

a three-tiered white chocolate and raspberry cheesecake.

Each week, the bakers complete three challenges set by Mary and Paul.

And bread week saw a Signature Bake never seen before on the show.

Morning, bakers. Very exciting this morning.

We've got a new category of bread - quick breads.

Quick breads, of course,

are just very speedy breads made without yeast.

Paul and Mary would like you to make two of these,

any flavour you like, but they have to be free-form, ie - not in a tin.

So you've got one and a half hours. Very good luck. On your marks...

Get set. BOTH: Bake.

The bakers could have made corn or beer breads,

but they all opted for a flavoured soda bread.

Most went for savoury.

I'm making bacon, onion and sage soda bread.

-It is part of my Irish ancestry.

-Some plumped for sweet.

I am making chocolate quick bread with salted caramel sauce.

While Matt and Nadiya got a bit fiery with theirs.

-Now, old Matt is also doing a sort of Mexican thing.

-He copied me.

-Look into my eyes. He knew.

-There's a bit of a Mexican face-off.

Have you got a lot of the same ingredients?

-Pretty much the same ingredients.

-Yes, but he is totally copying me.

Yeah.

Paul's also chosen soda bread, but he's picked an Irish classic.

It's quick, simple and delicious.

One slice is guaranteed to have you coming back for more.

Right, Mary, quick breads. Do you remember the Signature Challenge?

I certainly do, and we haven't done it before, have we?

We haven't actually done quick breads.

If you're given the challenge of making quick breads without yeast, there is only one way to go,

and that is using bicarbonate soda or baking powder.

So, I'm going to make wholemeal - it is a

wholemeal and white actually - soda bread. It is very quick.

I'm going to show you how quick it can be.

Now, I need 500g of

-stone-ground wholemeal flour.

-Into the bowl?

-Yes.

Now, this is plain flour, as opposed to strong flour.

-500g it will be.

-Have you made soda bread before?

-I have.

Irish soda bread. You know, it is a useful thing to do

when you haven't got yeast in the house and you run out of bread.

I can do a loaf in around 45 minutes. Scratch.

-OK, we'll put the challenge out.

-Go on, then. It is up to you, Mary.

-And 500g of white flour, please.

-Is this strong?

No, it is plain. Plain white flour. I wanted to have that crumble.

The whole beauty of this challenge - I mean, it was called the Quick Bread Challenge -

was to show people how versatile bread-making actually is.

You don't have to make a yeasted bread.

I think making a soda bread is ideal.

-That's grand.

-That's it.

Now I need two teaspoons of salt.

And two teaspoons of bicarbonate soda.

-Two...

-Two teaspoons of both.

-Level. That's it, lovely.

-One.

-Thank you.

Two, and always level.

-And two of salt.

-Give that a little mix in.

Then the salt.

Lovely.

Now, these are my core ingredients now to making soda bread.

Going to give it a bit of a mix. Look at me, I'm covering myself already.

-And the floor.

-And the floor.

Over there, Mary, I've weighed up 800ml of buttermilk.

Now this is obviously the key ingredient in the soda bread.

The reaction of the acid and alkali in this. This is the acid,

the alkali is bicarb.

The reaction produces a gas, and then the bread grows.

-So I'm going to bung all that in.

-Could you use sour milk?

You could use sour milk, but...

the buttermilk is fantastic.

I'm trying to bring all these ingredients together,

just by lifting up the base to try and mix it with the liquid.

I'll bung the rest of it in there.

So at the moment, I'm just gathering at the bottom,

pushing it into the middle. You can see it is quite a soft dough.

See? I'm just making sure there is liquid in all that flour before I

tip it on the bench. Now at the moment, I'm not really mixing it,

I'm just sort of bonding it together. Tip it onto a bench.

Is it like scones, because I always say, when you're making scones, if

it is a wet mixture and it sticks to your hands, you have better scones?

And this really is quite a similar mixture to a scone mixture.

It does feel very similar to it, yes, it does indeed.

Now, you can see I'm just going to fold it.

I'm not kneading it, I'm just basically folding it up...

..into a ball.

Now at that stage, I would divide that in half.

Straight down the middle. There you go, you've got two. OK?

Then you shape it into a ball. And just folding it up.

The way you do it with two hands, I wouldn't end up with even ones.

-One on top of another.

-Does that all go back to baking with your dad?

-Yeah.

They are both the same size, they are both the same round.

Get your two baking trays. I'm not even going to bother lining these.

-I'm going to use a little bit of wholemeal flour.

-Right.

On there. On there.

On top of the breads.

Place that in the middle. Place that in the middle.

Can I have a big knife, please, Mary? A big chopper.

-How about that one?

-That's perfect.

Draw your knife from one end to the other.

One...

-and two.

-And you're cutting all the way through?

-All the way through.

Just push them back together slightly.

So are you making four small loaves?

Really, yes. But do you know one of the things which helps

when you cut it like this? Helps with the bake,

to allow the heat to get inside, to make sure it is baked properly.

Paul's simple technique for an even bake was

understood by some of the baker's better than others.

What I'm doing now is just crossing the soda bread,

cutting straight through.

Otherwise it can quite easily end up being quite doughy inside.

I've been told already by Paul that I'm cutting it in the wrong way.

But it does need to go a fair way down, much more

than a normal bread.

How bad is that cutting?

Bad.

HE LAUGHS

You see how quick that is to make. Took me five minutes.

And do you know what you have to do next?

Bake it, that's it.

Well, you've done it in next to no time.

You can see, within five minutes without using the mixer,

you can get it all ready and ready for the oven.

Now these are going to bake at 180 fan, for about 40 minutes.

And they will open up like a flower, because these things will

pull apart slightly, allow the heat to penetrate inside,

and you'll end up with a beautiful, brown, crispy, fresh bread.

With a quick bread, there is no proving, so the bakers only

knew if their bread was a success once it was committed to the oven.

They have a mind of their own

and they just kind of puff up wherever they feel like puffing up.

I'm just worried about the time.

Time is different at home than it is here.

What, time is a different concept than it is?

LAUGHTER

God, it is pretty complex round your way.

Judging when the bread is baked can often be tricky.

They're looking like monsters. They have grown. Pffff!

Properly baked soda bread should be crusty all around,

with a good colour all over and a shade darker than you might think.

Ten minutes early.

Yeah, holding my nerve at the moment, it's all right.

I just hope that they are cooked. Is that hollow?

-There's nothing like fresh baked bread.

-Ho-ho.

-Gorgeous colour.

Aren't they? It is that golden brown.

And there's the finished product.

I mean, it is a little bit hot.

Let me just tip these.

You want to try and get them

onto a wire...to cool off.

If you want to take this to the next level,

if people want to try this at home, then what you can do is fill

that with cheese, with onion, with pickle, anything they want.

But that is a very good wholemeal soda bread.

Quick to make, quick to bake, and actually quite quick to eat too.

It is not going to hang about for long, I can tell you.

There you go, Mary, still warm from the oven, and ready to eat.

What do you think?

I'm just so impressed that you made it in such a short time.

It is simple, and you can pretty much add any flavours to it as well.

It's split into four, that's where we cut it.

I'll give your wedge.

Perfect with cheese or with soup or something like that.

Yes, absolutely. Get a bit of butter.

Load it on.

-Nice, though, isn't it?

-It really is amazing,

because it's a lovely texture,

even though there's no yeast.

It's just that quick bread, made in no time.

I could eat all this, even without any cheese.

I would like a little butter with it, though.

And now Mary's simple technique to make a stunning checkerboard cake.

It really is quite easy.

First of all, you make two Victoria sandwiches, then using a cutter,

I'm going to take out the middle, just pushing it through like that.

That's the first plain one.

Out comes the circle.

Then the chocolate one.

Press firmly down and out it comes.

Then, to get the next circle, I haven't got a cutter that size,

so make a cardboard template

and then you just go round it with a sharp knife.

Then you begin the assembly, which is really easy and fun to do.

You take the centre and you put the chocolate one inside the plain one

and the plain one inside the chocolate.

You need to lift it very, very carefully

and just drop it in like that and then the plain one, in it goes.

Gently press it down

and then it's an assembly job.

If you've got one of these, it helps to do it quickly,

otherwise a couple of palette knives.

What you'd do normally

is you'd sandwich these together with buttercream,

then a wonderful chocolate buttercream on the outside

and this, I think, is THE ultimate show-stopper.

The bread week technical challenge

was to bake one of the most iconic loaves in the world.

SUE: Bakers, for today's technical,

we're all going to France.

Not literally, we don't have the budget. Today's challenge -

four identical crusty baguettes.

If you don't know what a baguette is, it's over, you should leave now.

You've got two and a half hours.

-On your marks...

-..get set...

-..bake!

Whilst all the bakers were familiar with baguettes,

making them was to prove a lot more difficult.

I know what one looks like, I know what one tastes like.

Question is, can I make one?

-I have made baguettes before.

-I've tried them.

They're not easy to make.

It's a baguette.

How hard could it be?

Paul's traditional baguettes are light and airy inside

and have a wonderful, crisp, golden crust, perfect for a summer picnic.

Why did you choose baguettes for the technical challenge?

Everybody knows, it's probably THE most famous bread in the world,

but not everybody knows really how to make it.

This particularly recipe uses a long fermentation,

trying to create as much flavour as possible.

It's all about the dough, building up the gluten in the dough

and then finally the bake,

the crispy bake on the top of a baguette.

I'm waiting for it right now. Do you have to use a special flour?

If you're going to go really to the nitty-gritty,

you can use a French flour.

What I'm using here is conventional British white strong flour.

Weigh 500g into a mixing bowl.

That's fine, thank you very much.

Then add 10g of salt and 10g of fast-action yeast,

being careful to add them on opposite sides of the bowl.

Salt in contact with yeast won't necessarily kill it,

but it'll certainly slow it down, retard the dough.

-There you are.

-Lovely.

-Thank you very much indeed.

-I've got them on either side.

Just going to give that a mix in there, mix in there

and then the whole thing together.

I've got some olive oil over there as well, Mary,

if you wouldn't mind grabbing me some.

A little cheeky thing you can do

is put a little bit in there.

It just helps the bread, keeps it a little bit longer.

The next big thing you're going to add is water.

You add roughly...

-about 370ml.

-Is that warm, or...?

-I prefer it cool.

If you use a warm water, it just speeds it up.

The longer you prove bread, the better it tastes.

-That's the secret.

-So we could be here for some time?

We could be.

Use the dough hook.

That's going to have a lovely, long mix.

The longer, the better, because then you're going to get

a fantastic build-up of gluten stretchiness in it.

It's important to add all 370ml,

because the dough needs a high water content

to produce its characteristic airy texture.

It's very sticky dough, it's very hard to work with.

I potentially haven't put enough water in.

Other people's look more wet than mine.

It says 370ml.

I think I put about 300 in.

But is it the wrong thing to do to add it now?

Can you over-mix that?

Very difficult. It'd take you quite a while to over-mix it.

When did you first make baguettes?

Did you make them when you were in your dad's bakery?

I did make baguettes.

I think the first baguette, it's probably when I was about 17-ish,

so that was what?

20 years ago?

-So the next thing is...

-Fibber.

I went for a bit of a trip round France

to go and have a look at the way they produce it over there

and it is fantastic. Just watching these guys work is just stunning.

What I'm going to do is just coat it in a little bit of flour,

then you can stretch. You see how stretchy it is already?

It's very elastic, isn't it?

It's just a way of keeping it moving on the bench.

You could leave it in the mixer,

but sometimes it's often nicer to get the dough out

-and get a feel for it.

-You're really stretching it, aren't you?

-I am, I'm building up the gluten in it.

-Right.

Stretching it, keeping it moving.

You carry on working this dough

and you can see now how smooth it's got, see?

You've done some in the mixer,

some by hand,

-but in that container there...

-This one?

Yes, please, thank you.

..I'm just going to put a little bit of olive oil in there

and run it round the inside of the tub. Grab your dough.

Drop it in the tub.

We've got a little bit of...

-Clingfilm. This could be in a bowl, but you've...

-Could be in a bowl.

And is it going to grow, what, twice the size?

Yeah, at least twice the size. Probably come up close to the top.

Now, normally, it'd probably take about an hour, hour and a half.

Really, you don't want to leave it any less than an hour,

because you want a bit of flavour.

-A slow rise is better than a quick rise?

-Exactly.

-Look at the size of that. You impressed?

-Very impressed.

Smell it.

-It's strong of yeast, sort of beery.

-It's fermented.

That's the beer smell coming out now.

Put a little bit of flour on a bench, tip this dough out.

It comes out easily

-because you put that little bit of olive oil there.

-Exactly.

What we're going to do is flatten that, take all the air out of it,

get the scraper and divide this into four pieces.

One, two, three, four.

Get your cloth. The French like to call it a "couche".

OK?

What I'm going to do - we're going to rise the baguette on this.

We're going to put plenty of flour on there.

You missed me.

-Did I? Sorry.

-No!

Get...

..our dough.

Flatten it out.

Roll it up.

Straighten it out first so it's all one length, not a dog bone.

Then just taper it off at the ends.

Like so. Place it in the couche.

You make a little fold there

and do exactly the same thing again.

-If you haven't got this cloth, could you use a tea towel?

-Of course.

-A good table cloth would do as well.

-No, but you wouldn't.

-You could use a good linen tea towel?

-Yeah, absolutely.

-Good.

The reason why you use this - if you place a wet dough

on this slippery surface, it'll just flow out like that.

If you put it on this, you can't.

It stays where it is and rises up, rather that out.

That's why I use these things.

You have another one.

-Then the last one.

-Is this business of pressing down

with your fingers like that essential?

-You're flattening down all the air bubbles in there.

-Yep.

You're knocking the air out, so you can allow it to shape neatly.

We'll just make another crease here.

-I'll just pop that scraper in there.

-Do we have one here?

-Yep, lovely.

-Not squashing it?

-No, it's fine. Just get a little cloth.

You've got your ridges already,

so make a little tent and tuck it in to go to bed.

How long are you going to leave that for?

That'll take up about an hour, so it'll at least double in size

and they'll be ready to go onto a tray and into the oven.

Before the baguettes are baked,

they need their traditional cuts on top.

A seemingly difficult task in the pressurised environment

of the Bake Off tent.

HE GUFFAWS

I'm just basing it on a traditional baguette.

I'm just visualising a baguette now,

I'm trying to think in my head a baguette

and a baguette doesn't have that. A baguette has that.

Right or wrong? Soon find out.

Right, let's have a look at these.

-Look at them fellas.

-Gosh!

You can see how well they've grown

and they're your baguettes.

I like them, their little ends to them pointed

-and that's quite correct, isn't it?

-Yes.

In pairs, place the baguettes on two floured baking trays.

This will allow the heat to circulate.

You've got to be really quite careful with this.

Using a bread lame or a very sharp knife,

slash the baguettes at a 45-degree angle.

So you cut it four times.

You're cutting quite deeply into it, aren't you?

You do cut quite deeply into it.

Now, in the oven now that's been heating, that's 220 fan, OK?

That's about 240, that's the highest an oven will go.

These are going to bake for about 25 minutes,

even a little bit longer, maximum 30 minutes.

To achieve a baguette's characteristic crispy crust,

you need to use steam in the oven.

Professional bread ovens have steam injectors,

so this is how you can replicate it at home.

ALARM BEEPS

Really good for your complexion.

The water's just to give it a nice bit of steam in there,

which gives it a nice, good crust to it.

-Look at the shine on them.

-They look wonderful.

Golden brown.

Right, traditionally, a baguette is crispy. Listen to this.

BREAD CRUNCHES

-Oh!

-Now, that is what a baguette's all about - light, beautiful,

-the golden brown, the crispy, the perfect.

-I'm converted.

Ah, that's good.

Get your gnashers round this one, Mary.

-You'll enjoy this one.

-I know.

Bit of butter.

Mm!

What I like about a baguette is it's long and thin

and you get crisp all the way round the outside.

I think that with a load of ham, cheese, fresh tomatoes, cucumber.

-I think it's simply the best.

-Better than all the rest?

Are you going to burst into song here, Mary?

Oh, so good.

From crusty breads to classic desserts,

week four was all about precision.

Now, signature bake this morning -

Mary and Paul would love you, please,

to make 12 identical creme brulees.

Mmm! But Mary and Paul would like you to brulee them

in the traditional manner.

None of your fancy blowtorches -

these have got to be bruleed under a grill.

You've got two hours on your Signature Challenge, bakers.

-On your marks...

-..get set...

-..bake.

A classic creme brulee is a set vanilla custard

with a caramelised sugar top.

But the bakers chose an array of different flavours,

from rhubarb and ginger to cinnamon tea

and even liquorice.

Mary's take on this signature are cappuccino creme brulees.

They are deceptively tricky, but if you get them right,

you'll be rewarded with a fine disc of caramel

shimmering above a silky, just-set coffee creme.

Creme brulee has always been a great favourite of mine

and I like it because you can make it ahead.

Did you do it ahead in hotels?

We used to do it at least 24 hours before, leave it in there.

They might be 50 en place, so as soon as someone orders it,

you bring it out, you get the blowtorch on it and away it goes.

-Put the sugar on, blowtorch?

-Absolutely.

I'm going to do it without a blowtorch today,

so I'm going to show you.

To make the custard, separate four large egg yolks.

-What a messy way of doing eggs.

-I like doing it this way!

-What about your hands?

-What about my hands?

-Wash them at the end of it.

It's all right, it's only an egg.

-Four egg yolks.

-Thank you very much.

-Large.

And then I'd like 45g of caster sugar.

There, you see, you've got to wash your hands.

I don't mind washing my hands.

Don't you have a go at me this early in the morning.

-Right, how much do you want?

-45g.

Into the large bowl, if you will.

-There you go.

-All right.

Whisk the egg yolks and sugar together.

You use caster sugar because it makes a lovely, rich custard.

Then some double cream, 600ml. It's already measured, that's right.

You want to heat the cream until it's scalding

and that is not boiling.

If it's boiling and hot, it could curdle the egg yolks.

Meanwhile, let's get those dishes over here.

Right. These are interesting.

Well, they're rather pretty heart shapes,

but you can use ordinary ramekin dishes.

-You're making six of these, aren't you?

-I'm making six, they made 12.

Put them in the roasting tin, any old roasting tin.

I've put a piece of kitchen paper in the bottom

to stop them slipping about.

When the cream is heated, gradually add it to the eggs and sugar

so as not to scramble the eggs.

You can see a little bit of steam coming from it.

That's it. And not too much beating.

We don't want bubbles in the creme brulee.

Then I'm going to put an instant coffee and you can either add it

to the cream in the pan, or you can add it to here

and I'm going to do two and a half level teaspoons.

You could use any coffee you want, couldn't you?

-If you wanted to use your favourite espresso, you know.

-You could do.

You know what we need with this, don't you?

-What?

-Biscotti.

You and your... You like to dip.

I'm just stirring that till it's dissolved.

It looks like a cappuccino.

-Then just put it through a sieve.

-Mm-hm.

So I'm going to fill these now and much better to do it from a jug.

I'm just making sure they're exactly the same height

and then there'll be room for the caramel on top.

And I'm going to pour boiling water round there.

That slows down the cooking and makes it pretty even.

I've set the oven at 140 degrees fan.

I'm going to gently put that on the tray

and we'll pour the boiling water round it.

How long is it in there for, Mary?

25-30 minutes and this is one of the occasions

when you can keep looking at it

after about 20 minutes, because it's got to have a little wobble.

The time between it being undercooked and overcooked,

the window is really small,

so it's about just watching it and making sure

that it doesn't go over and you've got it just in time.

These have got to come out.

I've got that wobble in the centre which I'm looking for.

-They've not worked.

-Are they supposed to crack?

-No.

They're definitely not set.

-No, they're a bit over-wobbly.

-Oh, yes!

-Ow, ow, ow!

-How does yours wobble?

-Hot, hot, hot.

-Your brulees, that is.

-What wobble are you looking for?

A Kim Kardashian?

Are you looking for a Jessica Rabbit? What are you looking for?

I was going for... The right wobble would be...

-that.

-Whoa. That's a brief wobble.

That's just about had the right amount of time.

That's about 25 minutes.

Let's see how the wobble goes.

-Perfect.

-That looks perfect.

There they are. Now, ideally, in a perfect world,

leave to cool with the water round the outside

and they will go on cooking.

That's got to cool. Meanwhile, we can make the caramel.

For an easy caramel,

gently heat up granulated sugar with a splash of water.

Not everybody's got a blowtorch

and this way really works for people who haven't.

The key to making caramel is a pan that's spotlessly clean.

Any impurities might make the sugar solution crystallise.

And just let that bubble away

until it's a caramel.

Of course, to begin with, it's very noisy,

but then as soon as it begins to caramelise,

it gets quieter and quieter and quieter

and when it's just beginning to turn,

it's almost silent.

When the sugar syrup starts to turn

to a pale straw colour,

pour it out onto nonstick paper

and allow it to cool.

Do you want to break it up for me?

I thought you'd like that.

Then blitz it in a food processor.

This is a great tip,

because some people want to use blowtorches,

some people haven't got very efficient grills

and I find that that powder, when you put it on top,

in a flash is a beautiful brulee.

In the fridge, we've got the six that we've cooked.

-You want them, Mary?

-I do, I want them right now.

Spoon the fine caramel powder on top of each creme.

Make sure it goes right to the edges.

With this method,

you still have the option of using a blowtorch to brulee,

but like the bakers, Mary's using the grill.

I'm going to put them directly on the rack.

You want to get them as near to the actual heat as you can.

Now, we've preheated the grill.

So pop these on the tray, one behind the other.

Fairly close together.

They'll take about a minute,

but you know your own grill - keep an eye on them.

Most of the bakers used the traditional method

of sprinkling sugar on top of their custard,

which, under a grill, produced mixed results.

However, Ian used the same caramel technique as Mary...

Nice colour, so I'm happy with that.

..and achieved beautifully even brulees.

The overall appearance - very good indeed.

I think the caramel is absolutely perfect.

Perfect golden colour and underneath,

rich cappuccino custard cream.

I usually leave it a couple of hours before eating.

-What are you going to do?

-A couple of hours?

You're not having it now, because that's got to get cold again.

Just wait.

It's worth waiting for, I promise you.

Cappuccino creme brulee, something a little bit different.

Now, that really holds its shape.

It's a rich custard and I think that the coffee just gives it a lift

and makes it a little bit different.

-Mm!

-I love creme brulee,

but you're right,

the addition of coffee just

takes it to a whole new level.

This is absolutely delicious.

Thank you. I'm in for another lot.

For their next challenge,

French favourites made way for an Austrian epic.

What they would like you to do today

is make Mary's version

-of Spanische Windtorte.

-That's right.

This is the mother ship of the meringue cake.

The other thing you need to know about this Spanische Windtorte

is it's Austrian.

-You've got four hours on your bake. On your marks...

-..get set...

-..bake!

It was one of the toughest challenges in the series so far.

The instructions are very vague, so you have to know how to make it.

Never heard of this before at all.

It's just because I don't know how it looks like, really,

and how it's supposed to look like, I can only imagine.

Mary's Spanische Windtorte is spectacular.

Two types of meringue, filled with whipped cream, strawberries

and raspberries and decorated with fondant violets.

This was quite a difficult technical challenge, I thought.

-All about meringue.

-Well, it's a meringue extravaganza.

It's layers of meringue and we didn't give them any timings,

we thought they should know.

To make the French meringue, you'll need eight egg whites.

Of course, the egg yolks can be used up for mayonnaise,

they can be used for lemon curd, or, indeed, make creme brulees.

To help add volume to the meringue,

put a half teaspoon of cream of tartare

into the egg whites and whisk until fluffy.

Now, that looks like cloud to me.

It's just about the right shape, but it wouldn't hold itself,

I wouldn't put that over my head.

-Go on.

-No, I'm not that stupid.

Weigh up 475g of caster sugar

and gradually add it to the mix.

Why do you add the sugar gradually, then, Mary?

If you add the sugar all at once, you'll end up with it not as stiff.

That's done to a turn.

And it is beautifully stiff. I mean, look at that.

-Put it over your head.

-Lovely peaks.

I wouldn't mind at all. Actually, it would make it go right to a peak.

Stop it!

Right, I've pencilled five 20cm circles here because, remember,

we're building it up in layers.

I'm going to do a base and a top

and then I'm going to do three rings

and that will give me the framework,

but first of all, this paper, which is nonstick paper, would slip,

so I'm just going to put a little bit of...

in the corner.

You'll curse when you have to wash it up, but it'll keep it still.

Using two thirds of the meringue,

-pipe two discs...

-It's sort of like a Catherine wheel, isn't it?

-Mm.

..and three rings within the circle templates.

Keeping it inside. That's it.

Those have got to be baked in the oven,

fan oven, at 100 and they'll take about 45 minutes.

-Again, watch them - they've got to be crisp and cooked.

-OK.

THUNDER RUMBLES

Every time I put something in, I'm fully praying.

The bakers weren't just being tested on their meringues.

Their horticultural knowledge was being stretched too.

It just says, "Make violets," 13 violets. Um...

Violet, violet, violet...

I'm trying to remember what a violet looks like.

The last couple of days, I've been looking into edible flowers.

Not a violet, unfortunately.

Have you ever seen a violet?

I think it's a flower.

It isn't too difficult, you don't need great skills.

We make the petals out of these two colours

and the stamens out of there.

Cut a slice of fondant into 1cm cubes.

Put a bit of icing sugar on like this.

Just to stop them sticking.

Then you take each one and you just roll it into a ball.

To make all the petals, you'll need 39 balls of purple fondant

and 26 balls of lavender fondant.

They can vary in size and after all, violets do vary in size.

You'll also need 39 smaller yellow balls for the stamens.

Now, you put a light dusting of icing sugar, like that.

Then you put another piece of nonstick paper over the top.

Use a rolling pin to flatten them into ovals.

So Operation Violet.

To assemble the flowers, use a spot of water to glue three purple

and two lavender petals together...

It's like pressing flowers, this, Mary, isn't it?

..before sticking three yellow stamens in the centre.

Simple when you know how.

THUNDER RUMBLES

As well as making 13 flowers,

the bakers were still struggling to visualise the end result.

Put two meringue rings one by one on top of this.

For some, cracks were beginning to appear.

These have got to stack on top of that with extra meringue on it.

That's going to be a bit of a pain.

HE GASPS

They're crumbling. It's probably cracked a bit more than I thought.

This is where it gets messy.

But with Mary's step-by-step instructions,

it's quite straightforward.

The meringues have cooled and I'm going to assemble them.

This is oven-proof. You can put them on an oven-proof plate.

After all, it's not too hot, the next baking,

it's only 100 degrees centigrade fan. So this is the base

and so it doesn't slip about on there,

I'm just going to put a little bit of meringue,

just a little bit there,

to make it stick.

So pop that absolutely dead centre.

I'm going to put eight, just enough to stick it.

We then take one of the rings and we pop that on the top there.

Then we go on to do more.

It's just really acting as glue.

It's a great method, though, this,

-to build up a high meringue cake.

-Yes.

On it goes.

Repeat this process with the other two rings.

-So that looks pretty good, doesn't it?

-Mm!

Then spread the remaining meringue around the outside and smooth it off.

The next thing is to dry that off in the oven

and that's got to become absolutely firm.

There's a lovely cavity in the middle there to fill

with masses of cream and strawberries, whatever you like.

A nice fruity mixture.

That looks amazing, so come on, into the oven.

And in goes the lid.

Are you just going to dry that out a little bit more as well?

Just a little bit more.

Right, Bezzarine, what's next?

We're now onto Swiss meringue,

so if you'd weigh me 250g of caster sugar.

And on top of that, if you could put four egg whites.

On top of the sugar?

And then we're going to whisk it together

over a pan of gently simmering water.

-OK, Mary.

-That's it.

-Four egg whites and sugar.

-Lovely.

Over the top of the water.

This meringue is much more marshmallowy.

-This is a totally different type of meringue.

-Totally different.

To achieve the correct consistency,

it's important for the meringue to reach 70 degrees

and for all the sugar to be dissolved.

That's it, it's up to 70,

it's wonderfully thick and pipeable.

Pipe a decorative border around the base,

middle and top of the meringue shell.

And around the edge and the middle of the remaining meringue disc.

So now, into the oven and, again, at 100,

but for just half an hour.

If getting to this point had whipping some of the bakers into a frenzy...

..it wasn't over yet.

If I decorate that up, then I just lift it up

and it should be slightly...

Oh!

SHE MUTTERS

It is soft.

So now I've gone and overbeaten the cream.

A pretty simple step in the process.

We're ready for the grand finale now.

These are both absolutely cooled.

Can you weigh me some icing sugar, 50g?

-50g of icing sugar. Is this to go with the cream?

-Yep.

-Perfect.

-There you go.

And I've got 600ml of cream in here, double cream. I'm going to whip it.

While I'm doing that, you've got some strawberries there

and they're about 400g.

You can just chop, I suppose, each one into about four?

In this goes.

Lovely, proper, real double cream.

Hey, hey, hey!

I want them all in the middle!

Caught in the act.

Just do the last bit of beating by hand.

OK.

Thanks.

But it's just to get it right. You can so easily end up as butter.

Yeah.

Perfect.

-Right.

-You want all the strawberries in there?

-All of them in there.

We're not doing a decoration of strawberries.

-Preferably not on the floor.

-Sorry.

And we'll add these too?

OK.

Then just mix those together and we fill the cavity in there with this.

Doesn't that look beautiful?

You could've course put a little bit of kirsch in there,

a bit of brandy, but I think it's nice if just left plain.

Right, that's crammed jam-full of cream, strawberries, raspberries.

What could be better?

Then we've got to put the flowers that we've made, the violets.

We've got a little bit of meringue left here,

so we can stick them on with a little bit of this.

There we are, the crowning glory.

That's fit for a king.

A little bit of straightening there. Perfect.

Well, I think that looks splendid, don't you?

-There we go.

-Well done.

-Look at that!

Hold on, Mary, is that big enough?

It looks wonderful.

But it is a wonderful centrepiece, isn't it?

This looks fantastic.

I like the contrast of the crispy meringue

and the lovely, soft richness of the cream.

Then you've got the sharpness of the raspberries

and strawberries coming through against that cream,

but the whole thing together is just fantastic.

I loved your description of it earlier

-when you said it was a posh Eton mess.

-Mm!

That's exactly what it is.

It's something very special for a special occasion.

That's lovely, that, Mary.

Now Paul shows you how to get creative with his top tip

for decorating a pie.

I've made a mini bunch of grapes and a leaf and a vine.

They're easy enough to roll out, the vine - just taper at one end.

You just move it round anywhere you want, really.

You can use water, you can use eggwash

for it to grip to the pastry, it's not a problem.

For the little bunch of grapes, just make little pieces like that.

Shape them into balls.

Start placing them straight onto the pie or loaf.

Try not to use puff pastry, it grows too much and laminates it,

creates the layers, so you lose the shape.

Keep it to shortcrust pastry or sweet pastry or dough.

You build it up so they come down to form a triangle.

You go a bit 3D, pop a few on the top.

Finally, we'll put one right at the end.

To make a leaf,

roll out your pastry into a disc,

use a cutter and then just cut them into two.

You end up with two leaf shapes.

Pinch the ends.

Get a blade and then just mark it all the way down.

Place them on there as well.

You can then brush it with eggwash and bake it

and at the end of it, it looks absolutely stunning.

The bakers' final serving was a show-stopping dessert.

Paul and Mary would very much like you to bake a towering tin-ferno

-of baked cheesecakes.

-They're expecting at least three tiers.

Decorate them any which way you like.

They can be any shape that you want.

-You've got four and a half hours, so on your marks...

-..get set...

-..bake!

With three tiers to play with,

the bakers pulled out all the stops.

Some chose biscuit bases...

..while others preferred pastry.

But when it came to flavours,

a few went down a less conventional route.

-Apple and tarragon.

-Mm-hm. Mmm!

-That's quite adventurous.

-Yeah.

-Cream soda cheesecake - how are you achieving that flavour?

I've got some syrups that I've taken litres of pop

-and reduced them down for about ten hours.

-Clever.

Very, very clever.

Mary's cheesecakes are no less impressive.

Each tier has a dark chocolate shortbread base

and an indulgent mix of white chocolate and fresh raspberries.

I love white chocolate.

I tend to nick a lot off the bakers when I walk around.

Every time we walk round,

you're into the nuts at the end, usually,

then it's the white chocolate

and they have to weigh out more before they start.

Nuts and white chocolate, you can't beat it.

So I'm doing three tiers, just like our bakers

and I'm doing a crust at the bottom

of 900g of home-made shortbread.

It could be from a packet

and mix them with butter and chocolate.

So to start with, could you weigh me out the butter

straight into this pan here?

Yep.

-Are you listening?

-Yep.

-Straight into this pan here.

So 150g of butter.

You're pretty good at your judgment.

-Ho-ho, look at that!

-I will check.

Oh, not bad.

Add 75g of plain chocolate.

Thank you.

Then melt them together over a low heat.

While that's melting down, I'm going to crumb the biscuits,

so here we are, put it in the processor.

All that work to make a shortbread and we just...

Well, you can easily use a packet.

I always remember when I was a kid, though, cheesecakes,

they were always just chilled rather than baked.

Made with a jelly or with cream cheese?

It was actually made with a little bit of mascarpone and cream

and then just set with strawberries.

When you were little, did they have mascarpone?

Right, I'm going to crumb that down.

You know, when I used to do the originally cooked ones,

it was always digestive biscuits.

-Mm.

-So shortbread is a different one.

We're there. Let's have the bowl over there.

Tip that in. That's it.

Then pour in the chocolate and the butter.

Then a matter of pounding it until it's absolutely smooth.

This makes a wonderful base.

Right, now, I've got three tins here.

They're loose-bottom cake tins.

I've lined the sides and not the base.

This is 23cm, 18cm and 13cm.

Cover the bottom of each tin with the biscuit mixture,

making sure all three are the same level.

-Do you want me to work on this one?

-Yes, thank you.

I think I could do with you in the kitchen at home.

HE CHUCKLES

Are you the one that does the washing up,

or do you just do all the cooking?

No, I don't cook that much.

I do a lot of baking, but not so much cooking.

-Alex is the chef in your house, isn't she?

-She is, absolutely.

-Well done. Then those need to be chilled.

-Mm-hm.

We'll leave them in the fridge and they'll become, actually, rock-hard.

-In the fridge?

-All in the fridge. I better bring this one too.

-Oh.

-Thank you.

-Well done.

Right, it's coming to white chocolate time.

Could you weigh me 900g of white chocolate?

I know that's an awful lot, but remember, this is the show-stopper.

It will feed an army.

-It's a lot, isn't it?

-It is. I think it's two blocks over there, Mary.

I don't believe it. I'll see whether you might get them.

Right, so I've got hot water underneath.

-And I'm going to put this in.

-Do you want that broken up?

Yes. I'm watching.

White chocolate melts far more easily than dark chocolate.

The one thing you've got to do is make quite sure that you don't

get it too hot.

OK, you can take your two squares out.

-I'll take it out, there you are.

-Thank you.

-There's four squares there.

-There you go.

-Thank you.

I shall stir it frequently. Already it's beginning to melt.

Now, to the other ingredients.

Weigh up 1,200g of cream cheese.

-There you go.

-Then beat it until soft.

Break six eggs into a bowl.

And weigh up 450ml of soured cream.

There you go, Mary.

Right, so I've got eggs, the soured cream

and I'm going to use a tablespoon of vanilla extract.

I've used a tablespoon because I've got a lot of mixture here.

Then in goes the egg.

Then the sour cream.

That's, of course, quite runny.

That's all the ingredients in there except for the white chocolate.

-Whizz it together.

-You're mixing that quite gently.

I am doing it gently because it's very dense, rich cream cheese

and we don't want it aerated.

So this is absolutely perfect,

just making sure the last bit is melted.

There we are, we've got one little knob there and

if I squeeze that at the bottom of the hot water, it will be all right.

I'm going to just pour this in and mix it all together.

Would you get the three tins from the fridge and we'll pour this in.

-It does look absolutely beautifully rich.

-Luxurious, isn't it?

It looks like Cornish cream.

Or should I say "Devonshire cream" so as not to upset anybody.

Partially fill each of the tins to the same level.

I actually mark the paper to help me, getting them all the same level.

That's fine, no more.

-Halfway up and then we put the raspberries in.

-OK.

-I was going to say scatter them gently.

-I am.

Otherwise they'll sink to the bottom.

I've got about 450g and they are fresh ones,

don't use frozen ones because they bleed.

You're enjoying this anyway so I'll let you do the whole lot.

Then put the rest on.

-I think they're all pretty good.

-I'll just put a little in each one.

Can you put them up your end, OK?

Now it's time to bake them and I've set the oven 150 fan.

This little one will take 30 to 35,

this one will take 35 to 40

and this one will take 40 to 45.

That's only a guide. Ovens do vary.

They want have a slight wobble in the middle when you take them out.

Lovely.

The perfect cheesecake shouldn't have any cracks.

These are avoided by baking at a low temperature and then cooling slowly.

And so judging when to take them out is key

because the cakes continue to cook as they cool.

A bit too wobbly.

So, one souffle.

The challenge was souffles, yeah?

I think that looks pretty good. Nice little wobble in the middle.

We're back to wobbles. It's not that, it's that.

The ideal situation is turn the oven off and leave them for another hour.

We haven't got that luxury, but you are in danger of cooling them

too quick and getting the cracks on the top. All right?

-Yeah, I just don't want it to crack now.

-It shouldn't do.

I tried putting in the fridge

and when you put in the fridge it just goes...

There they are, all three baked. No crack in sight.

That is because they came out with a wobble and they're cooked perfectly.

Once the cheesecakes are stone cold, remove them from the tins.

Carefully place each one on a cake board.

Just gives it a solid base because after all

if they're having this for a small wedding or a special occasion,

you know where you are if you've got something firm underneath.

-So they look pretty good, don't they?

-They do.

I'm going to make a raspberry coulis.

If you can give me 50g of raspberries.

50. What are the rest for, Mary?

They are for decoration.

Blitz the raspberries in a blender with about a tablespoon

of icing sugar.

Nothing could be quicker or simpler than that.

Just run it through a sieve. You certainly don't want the pips.

Whip up 300ml of double cream.

There we are.

I have a rose nozzle there fitted.

I'm piping it, this is special, it's a Showstopper,

I've got to make the extra effort.

While I'm doing this, the final thing

-I want on the top is some shavings of that white chocolate.

-OK.

Nice cheesecake, but I'm not so quick on the piping as you are.

The final stage is to assemble the cheesecake tower

and the bakers used a variety of supports to raise each tier.

Ooh, that's not going to work, is it?

The odds of success were stacked against some more than others.

I think it's OK. Oh, god!

Now, we've used these see-through ones.

You can use ordinary wooden dowling.

Right, now, a little coulis in the middle. It makes it colourful.

Just the right amount.

Dot each cream rosette with a fresh raspberry before finally

topping with shavings of white chocolate.

Well, that's our Showstopper.

I think that it makes a wonderful centrepiece

and great for a celebration.

It is going to taste fantastic.

-It's held together beautifully, hasn't it?

-It has, hasn't it?

Of course, you can

see those raspberries in the middle coming through.

-You're not going to have all that, are you?

-I'll have a go.

It's rich and creamy.

You know what's the first thing that hits you?

It's the white chocolate, then the tartness coming

from the raspberries and then you've got that beautiful buttery base.

It's beautiful.

Perfect for a special occasion, even a small wedding.

Onward and upward, Mary. Next week we've got a load more to do.

And I look forward to that.

Next time, Mary and Paul step into the bakers' shoes

once again as they take on five more challenges.

We will show you every detail of these bakes so you can't go wrong.

That's delicious, you'd never know it doesn't have any sugar in it.

As long as you watch what we do,

your baking at home will get much, much better.

Join us next time for the Great British Bake Off Masterclass.