Bread The Great British Bake Off

So far on Bake Off, we've seen a tomato ketchup upside-down cake, a boiled baba

and a sponge so massive, only Hagrid could've polished it off.

And it's only week two.

What else could possibly happen in that tent? Welcome...

BOTH: To The Great British Bake Off.

Last week, they tackled cakes.

-Very impressed.

-And Victoria was crowned star baker.

-But for Natasha, it was one disaster after another.

-It's all gone wrong!

This has literally been boiled to death.

So she was the first to leave The Great British Bake Off.

This, week the remaining 11 are under extra pressure

as they face bread.

There's no turning back now.

Understand bread, understand baking.

But who will "rise to the occasion"?

-Amazing.

-I'm happy.

-Yes.

-Oh, hello.

-Get in there.

-And who will fall flat?

-It's recovery from disaster at the moment.

It's different. I don't know that I like it.

# If you're happy and you know it Clap your hands. #

It's the second week in the search to find Britain's best amateur baker.

The 11 remaining bakers have a weekend of bread-making

before Mary and Paul decide who will be this week's star baker

and who will leave.

Bakers, welcome to the Bake Off tent again

and this week, we've got two days of bread-making,

which of course is Mr Hollywood's passion.

Today, it's the Signature Bake

and what we're looking for are flatbreads.

Now, these can be tortilla, naan, roti, anything you like,

just 12 flavoured breads,

six with yeast and six without.

You can bake them anywhere you want.

On the oven floor, on the wall, on the griddle,

the choice is absolutely up to you.

You've got two-and-a-half hours to complete your flatbreads, so...

-On your marks.

-Get set.

BOTH: Bake!

Flatbreads have been popular for centuries all over the world.

Almost all cultures have devised a type of flatbread

based on modest ingredients and cooking methods readily available.

This one's the trickiest one cos it contains yeast

so it's all about making sure

that I get the rise right, the proving right,

so yeah, that's... Tricky one first.

We're going to learn a lot about our bakers from this challenge

because they are mostly used to general baking,

you know, cakes, biscuits and puddings,

and not all of them are good at bread.

Flatbread shouldn't have an envelope inside it.

Traditionally, it's quite a sponge dough all the way through it

and not too thick.

The key ingredients for most flatbreads are flour, water and salt

which when mixed into a dough, is then rolled or flattened

to give them their distinctive shape.

Bread is a very satisfying thing to make.

There's this lovely tactile feel about it

as you're kneading and proving it,

and then you get this wonderful flavour at the end of it.

Flatbreads don't need to prove as long as a regular loaf

as they don't rise as much,

so the main challenge is to produce a flatbread

which is soft and easy to tear and not snap like a cracker.

Morning, James.

All right. How's it going?

-Good. I'm captivated by your yeast slapping.

-Yes.

Your method you're using,

-what yeast have you in there to start with?

-I've got fresh yeast.

Medical student James likens baking to medicine,

saying both involve care and chemistry.

James is a keen and experienced bread-baker

and today he's using his own wild yeast

to leaven the tomato, garlic and parmesan flatbread he's serving

alongside his tattie scones.

If you're in the Shetlands they know how to make a sourdough,

so you won't need to buy yeast in.

Yep, well, this is my Shetlandic sourdough.

-Can I have a smell?

-Go for it.

-It's eight years old, that one.

-Eight years old?

-No way!

Yeah, that's nice, that, it's nice and active.

-How did you start it?

-Started originally in Islay in a distillery,

so it's started with brewer's yeast.

So you've got totally different things for us

and we're going to have these lovely tattie scones.

I'm interested to see how they'll be - something different.

I'm doing some coriander and lemon naan bread

and then some garlic, parsnip and black cardamom chapatis.

Charity head Victoria

enjoys experimenting with different flavour combinations

and turns to her large collection of recipes for inspiration.

I don't make bread, so I feel like I'm sort of an imposter,

but I do like Indian food

and I've never cooked it,

so it's been adding to my repertoire.

-Morning.

-Morning.

-How are you?

-Not so bad, not so bad.

-So what are you doing for us?

This is my coriander and chilli rotis.

What's in that?

A bit of butter and some natural yoghurt.

22-year-old law graduate John dreams of being a pastry chef in Paris.

He's baking coriander and chilli rotis

and garlic and pomegranate pittas topped with potato.

The beauty of the potato with the pomegranate molasses

is that it absorbs the sweetness and the tanginess

but also, it absorbs the ras el hanout

-and it becomes almost meaty...

-I love ras el hanout.

-..the potato,

-so it's a great dish, you know, for vegetarians.

-Yeah.

Whenever my veggie mates come over, I always do this, you know,

as a meze, because the potatoes just go so meaty.

-You make a meze for your vegetarian friends?

-I do.

-I love you.

-Nice action, by the way.

-Thank you.

-Very nice action.

-Cheers.

It's very, very easy to overwork dough

if you use the dough hook on the blender,

whereas it's a lot more difficult to do that

when you're doing it by hand.

Sales manager Peter likes to collect recipes from magazines

to bake with his son Harry.

Yummy.

A bread novice, he's baking fennel and nigella seed naan

and a bannock bread with a little something extra.

You've got a photograph of Mel and Sue, is that right?

There's a very fine line here between love and literally stalking.

I need to ask you a question. Was it you

with the infrared night-vision goggles by the bins last night?

-I think he's seeking favour.

-That'll be me.

He knows I'm not a judge. I'm just there loving everything you bake,

eating everything you bake. This will help you hugely.

I was young once. Tell everyone.

-Tell your friends.

-And good-looking. Thanks very much indeed.

-Thank you.

Many flatbreads are characterised by their flavours

and Stuart is taking inspiration from one of his favourite snacks.

One is going to be like Bombay bread

so if you've ever had Bombay Mix, it's kind of the same flavour

and then the other one is chorizo and spring onion naan bread.

Flavours that seem to work

and hopefully, Paul and Mary will agree with that as well.

I'm doing a spiced mango naan bread

and a chill, lime and coriander

kind of soft flour tortilla type flatbread.

Just making sure that I don't miss any steps out of the recipe,

and keep an eye on the time.

-So, Sarah-Jane.

-Yes.

What have you chosen for us?

These are the toasted coconut and lime rotis

and I've got the oat cakes in the drawer at the moment.

They're bubbling up, getting ready to pour into the frying pan.

Ah, you're doing it like a batter pancake?

-Yes, like a pancake.

-Have you beer in there?

I have, just a really nice sort of pale real ale.

I'm looking forward to that one

cos obviously there will be a pint of beer for me.

I have actually got one underneath.

Fantastic! You'll go a long way!

This is my mum's recipe that I'm using

and I've not changed anything

so hopefully it should still work, fingers crossed.

27-year-old nursery nurse Manisha lives in Leicester,

but spent five formative years in India

So she's making her family's favourite Indian flatbread

with cumin and garlic,

as well as Italian flatbread with sundried tomato and cheese.

What cheese have you got?

-Mature cheddar.

-Oh!

-Mature cheddar.

So not a mozzarella? You've gone for a...

-No, no.

-Or a dolcelatte?

-Mature cheddar.

-OK.

-Always good.

And what about your non-yeasted flatbread?

The non-yeast one is an Indian dough...

You just going to keep it on the griddle to bake it?

-Yeah, cos I normally do cook it on a tava at home.

-Lovely.

-Lovely.

So hopefully this should be OK.

-Can't wait.

-Looking forward to it.

-OK, thank you.

After proving and shaping the flatbread,

the bakers now have the challenge of baking them.

Flatbreads can be baked in various ways,

but the key is to bake them quickly and at a very high temperature.

The intense heat encourages the dough to expand,

turning moisture inside the dough to steam, which helps the bread rise.

For the past two years,

I've been pursuing a project of making breads of the world.

So far, I've achieved about 90 of them.

Couple of hundred more to go.

63-year-old Brendan is a keen gardener,

often helped by his labradoodle Monty.

He has a huge bread repertoire,

and today is baking Middle Eastern taboon bread and Indian roti

in a rather unconventional manner.

Brendan. They're calling you "Hot Rocks" Brendan.

HE LAUGHS

Show me your hot rocks.

-I'm trying to...

-Look at that!

-What I'm trying to reproduce here,

I suppose it's a bit like the equivalent of our stone bake.

-Stone bake pizza?

-Yeah, exactly.

-There's just an extra quality, isn't there? An extra taste...

-Yeah, yeah.

-It looks so nice.

-Thank you.

-It's aesthetically very pleasing, Brendan.

-Thank you.

Did you dig those up from your garden, the rocks?

No, I went off to a certain DIY shop

and they're river-washed,

-and I brought them home and washed them and...

-River-washed hot rocks.

-That's it!

-Only the best, only the best for Brendan.

Bakers, you've got one hour to go.

-Crikey.

-60 minutes left on your flatbreads.

Need to hurry up.

I've got six oat cakes to do and they take about ten minutes each.

My maths is not great but I think that's about right.

The griddle, or oven, must be at optimum temperature.

Too high and the heat can burn the outside of the bread

whilst the inside remains untouched.

Too low, and the bread can be over-baked.

That's how it's meant to look, sort of, isn't it?

A few sort of spots and things.

Perhaps that's a bit overdone.

The inspiration for the flatbreads was thinking about

the sort of flavours I would like, so I like Middle Eastern flavours

cos I've travelled a lot,

and the flour I'm using is a kind called kamut flour

which, again, is a Middle Eastern type flour.

Intensive care consultant Danny likes to keep herself fit

and regularly plays racketball with her partner Richard.

She's hoping to hit the mark with lime, coriander and coconut tortilla

and zaatar naan with dukkah.

If they puff up like they are doing here, then they're cooked.

The puffing up is key, really, you want to see them puff up.

With such a large batch of flatbreads,

-managing their time is crucial.

-I'm trying to juggle lots of things.

I've got the griddle on the go

and the pizza stone, and I'm trying to remember which I put in first

and which needs to come out or be turned over.

Keen runner Cathryn is affectionately known at home as Last-Minute Larry

so she's meticulously planned her time today.

She's making spiced mango naan and lime, coriander and chilli tortillas.

-Hello.

-She's on the griddle.

-Cathryn's on the griddle.

-I am.

-I think...

-I'm quite scared.

-That's very damp.

-That's quite unpleasant. I won't lean on that.

-There's bread under there.

-There's not bread... Oh, there is! I'm so sorry, Cathryn.

-No, it's fine.

-I was going... I'm so sorry.

-They need to be flat, they're flatbreads.

-You're just helping the process!

-I'm really sorry.

No, that's fine, that's lovely.

30 minutes remaining, bakers.

Make sure it's done in 30 minutes

because Paul won't feel any "pitta" for you.

Ohh!

LAUGHTER

Ohhh, come on.

I'm going to tell your "naan" about you.

The grid I'm using now is meant to recreate the clay pot of a tandoor,

and the blow torch, I'm recreating the flames.

38-year-old photographer Ryan

takes his young family travelling every year,

keen for them to experience new cultures, sights and foods.

Oh! Molly!

He's making Shanghai paratha and garlic and coriander naan.

Ooh, look at this!

So here I just give it a charred effect.

Oh, dear! I charred it again.

At the moment it's a bit risky because if it's too low,

-I'll be cooking it longer, then they go dry.

-Yeah.

And if it's too hot, you can see what happens.

Oh! I'm reasonably happy.

Who'd have thought?

Usually I work with three frying pans at a time at home,

whereas here I've only just got one and I've got six to do,

so I've used one here, two things at once.

Oh, hell's teeth.

All my tatties have come off.

The potatoes came off the pittas

and now they've got bits of flour on them, but...

It'll be fine!

OK, time to slap those baps down! Ten minutes.

Who is that?

Are you all done, Manisha?

Yep, just got to take these off.

It's sticking!

# If you're happy and you know it Clap your hands. #

They're not coming out great.

-Come on.

-Done!

Looks good to me. See, perfect, no bother.

The final countdown, it's one minute to go, please.

OK, bakers, that's time. Step away.

Step away now from the flatbreads.

Step away from the flatbreads.

Let's have a look at the texture.

Looks a nice texture.

I like the crunchy cheese on the side.

-I think I'd like more seasoning in that.

-Mmm.

I really like the look of these tattie scones.

-It's a strange consistency, isn't it?

-It needed longer.

-Mmm.

It's sort of a giveaway

when you feel it that it is very dough-like.

-But what a lovely flavour.

-The flavour's lovely.

Absolutely lovely and totally different.

-The flavour's OK, but it is quite bland.

-OK.

OK, your chapatis! Actually, overall, the colour's not bad,

you expect this sort of colour.

-Under-seasoned.

-OK.

Very salty.

-Mmm. They are salty.

-Taste that.

It should be half that.

-I mean, really, really salty, that is.

-Mmm.

-They're tasty.

-The flavours are good,

-but I don't think you need the salt on top.

-No.

These are my chilli and coriander tortillas or rotis.

Pretty hot, pretty fiery, isn't it?

-But I like them.

-Very good.

-Thank you.

-Good combination of flavours on both of them.

-Thank you very much.

-Well done.

-Thanks, guys.

They look inviting with this nice colour.

-I'm loving that.

-SUE: It's delicious.

-It's got a great structure

and I love that garlic. Comes through perfectly.

-Good, good, thank you.

-That's really tasty.

It's nice and thin.

They're fantastic, really good. Very, very nice

and the flavour of that lime, I adore.

It's a bit over-baked, but it's a lovely texture inside.

OK. Thank you very much for that.

You have to really find the chorizo in it,

because it's a shame it's not coming through.

Every bite should contain what you said has gone in there.

-But the bake's good, you've got a nice bake.

-They're nice and moist.

Thank you.

I think you've done it.

-Really nice.

-Thank you.

-I mean, really good.

I like this texture.

-It makes it very moist.

-The colour lets it down a little bit.

You should've blowtorched it a bit more. Don't be afraid.

-That blowtorch won't bake it.

-Right.

-It'll colour it,

-but it can't bake it.

-OK.

I like the structure, I like the flavour.

It's unique, it's consistent.

-Great flavour.

-Oh, good.

-Delicious.

-Absolutely, it's balanced well,

the colour's good, the texture's good.

-It's full of flavour, it's lovely.

-Yeah, you've got...

-Delicious.

-..two great textures and some unique flavours.

-Good, thank you.

-Well done.

-Thanks, Paul. Thank you, Mary.

Spicy mango.

-Mmm, yes.

-Oh, hello.

-Get in there.

-Oh, my goodness.

-That's great, isn't it? Mmm.

-That's really nice.

-Thank you.

-Really good.

-And pretty unusual.

-Mmm.

-Thank you.

-Like that.

-Your use of flavours are very good, you've thought this through.

-And it just works.

-Yeah, it does.

-It could've been the other way round, so that's good, isn't it?

-Thank you.

-Yeah, absolutely, well done.

-Thanks.

-Good.

These are the oatcakes,

and these are the ones that have beer in there.

-I really enjoy it cos it's unique, it's very different.

-Do you like it?

-It's very adult.

They're very strong of beer aren't they?

Is that going down in one?

Well done, cos no one's thought of that,

and that for me makes it a unique point.

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

They really liked them. I was really surprised.

I can't really complain. I mean, get a positive from Paul is like, amazing.

I don't think I've done very well at all.

The question is have I done enough to avoid being the worst?

I don't know that I have.

Was simply complimentary. I just stood there and blushed.

It's good to know that I still can!

With the individual style of the Signature Bake behind them,

the second challenge is specifically designed

so their bread-making ability can be directly compared.

So, bakers as you know,

next up is the technical challenge and this one is judged blind.

So Paul and Mary, I'm going to ask you now to leave the tent.

OK, now you all know that this is the challenge where you all

bake from the same surprise recipe.

And this week no surprises,

Paul has chosen a particularly complicated one.

We're asking you today to prepare

and bake an eight strand plaited loaf.

Yep, we are calling this the Rapunzel challenge.

OK, the deal with this is we want each plait to be the even width

and length with a nice golden crust and a soft crumb.

You've got two hours for this bake, OK, so...

-On your marks...

-Get set...

BOTH: Bake!

All the bakers have the same ingredients and same basic recipe.

But the results could vary dramatically.

What I'm looking for is a nice equal plait running

right the way down the length of the bread.

And what about the texture?

It's crispy. Lovely crisp.

This is a great thing to make for a sort of festive occasion.

It's a skill which is dying off.

A good baker should be able to do at least one plait.

Yes we've thrown them in at the deep end,

but we are trying to find the best amateur baker in this country.

To start, the bakers make a simple bread mix of flour, water,

yeast and salt.

John, James and Brendan are all keen breadmakers.

For others, bread presents more of a challenge.

I heard a plait and then heard eight

and I didn't even know there was such a thing.

The added element of plaiting, and the strong bread flour

used in this bake makes it tougher for the dough to rise,

and requires a longer kneading period to make it soft and flexible.

Well, it's nice to take the sort of disappointment of the morning

and just get into a physical rhythm by kneading the dough.

Ah, as I was kneading that it accidentally stuck a little bit

too much to my wrist and it fell on the floor, so had to start again.

I'll prove it for one hour, shape it...

Well, I say shape it, I'll be, like, knitting it.

TIMER BEEPS

-Ever made an eight strand plait before?

-Never in my life.

I am a constant source of disappointment to my daughter

that I cannot plait her hair.

-Not even a three plait?

-Not even a three plait.

Mum to Poppy and Jacob,

28 year old Sarah-Jane is very comfortable baking cakes,

biscuits and desserts,

but is a novice when it comes to bread.

We've give you a slight pattern here...

Yeah, but what does this mean? AO52U3O8?

You've run ahead with yourself.

Look, for the following sequence O equals over and U equals under...

-Oh, OK.

-So place the eighth under the seventh,

and then over the first.

What, the seventh...

-I can tell you no more than that.

-And the eighth?

What does it mean? I don't understand.

I'm just going to end up with a lump.

While their dough is proving,

so called because the reaction of the dough rising proves

the yeast is working, the bakers practise the plaiting technique.

And six, seven over one.

This is complicated.

How come you've got extra dough with which to practise

-this fiendish plait?

-Because I accidentally dropped it on the floor. However...

Was that accidentally on the floor? "Oh, I've dropped it,

"I'll have to use to experiment with!"

-It's kind of gone to my favour really, so...

-It has, yeah.

When he's not teaching PE,

26-year-old Stuart hits the recipe books to come up

with new flavour combinations

to test out on his fellow teachers in the staff room.

Ever plaited anything before?

-Big plaiter?

-I've done a three plaited loaf before...

-Yeah?

-..but never an eight.

-Eight's quite an ask isn't it?

-It is.

This to me...

..looks like a knitting pattern.

-I can't knit either.

-Nor can I.

-No.

Stu might be a knitter, look, he's done quite a neat job.

-I think Stu might be a knitter, I think you're absolutely right.

-Secret knitter Stu.

Hobbies include PE and knitting.

When happy that the dough is proved, the bakers focus on the most technical -

and, for most, unfamiliar - part of the recipe.

To achieve an even plait,

each strand should be exactly the same length

and width before attempting the complicated plaiting instructions.

It's 106 grams per portion.

OK, that's pretty precise, yep. So this is per strand is it?

-Per strand.

-Right, to make the octopus.

Per strand, and it needs to be that long.

I haven't done any of the kind of fancy weighing out,

but I figure if they're all roughly the same thickness,

but I might've completely stuffed it up.

I'm feeling like this could go horribly, horribly wrong.

Eight under seven over one.

Eight over five,

two...under three.

Eight under seven...

..and then seven...over one.

Don't know.

Seven goes over one which is over here, no,

is that right?

How can I mess that up?

Six over one.

What I love about this particular challenge is after a while

everyone sounds like Rain Man.

OK!

Eight over five, five over two.

-Two under three. Over eight.

-That's it.

One, two, three, four, five.

SHE LAUGHS

-Oh, dear.

-This is like the Generation Game gone bad.

-Oh, no.

Look at everybody. I'm going again. Look at the state of my tentacles.

Poor tentacles!

It's a long time since I've seen tentacles like that.

Two under three. Over eight.

Two under three.

I don't know if it's right or not. I kind of free-styled a bit towards the end.

Really disappointed, it's a disaster.

Oh, look at James's. It's really long.

The final part does look reasonably plait-esque.

Not as pretty as John's, but it'll do the job.

I'm a bit worried. This is where I scrunched it together to start it off.

If I give it a quick Paul Hollywood nip and tuck,

it should be all right.

'Once complete, the plait should be proved again for at least 30 minutes and for some, time is tight.'

Two under three. I'm running out of time.

I just did a bit of guesswork, more than following the instructions.

'Before going into the oven, the egg the bread should be egg washed to give the crust colour and shine.'

There's no turning back now.

As long as one of the plaits don't un-ping and the whole thing will unravel.

Oh, go in!

Just hoping that taste, texture,

will overcome the shortcomings in presentation.

Ladies and gentlemen of the baking community,

you have got ten minutes left on your plaited technical challenge.

Technically, this is absolutely rubbish.

There is nothing good about this loaf. He's going to hate it.

'The recipe requires the loaf to be baked until ready,

'which could be anything between 20 and 30 minutes.'

It should be done, but I just do not know. Getting the oven glove ready!

Right.

Oh, hello!

-Bring her over.

-Done.

-Oh! Lovely. Good sound.

-Yes.

Very good, Brendan.

I'm not convinced it's the best looking plait in the world.

Get off, get off! Argh! It's got stuck.

Got a bit of a hole in it there, but it's all right.

Oh, my giddy aunt!

Let's present it.

Honestly, it's really not bad. What's wrong with that?

Sounds hollow.

Oh, dear!

Worked! Yay!

Come on, you beauty!

OK, bakers, the bread braiding tournament is now over.

If you'd like to bring up your loaves

and place them behind the picture of yourself on the altar. Thank you.

'Mary and Paul are looking for a rich colour on top,

'an even plait and a crumb structure that springs back into shape.'

There's a spread of varying grades of plaiting.

We'll start with this one.

It's not too bad, this one. But you can see it's ruined at the bottom.

-It's good flavour.

-Tastes OK.

This one seems to have got rather a large bit at the end.

-It's got a nice crust.

-Now this one...

-It's dancing about a bit, isn't it?

-Yes.

The plait's lost its way pretty much from the start.

There's been a little mouse underneath here, a little hole.

A little rat's boring in there. This one is not too bad.

See how straight it is down the middle? Not bad at all.

-Nice crust on it.

-I'm quite impressed with that one.

It's not bad at all.

And, again, good flavour.

This one's gone awry again. It needed longer baking.

Tastes OK, but no crust and that's down to the bake.

-What do you reckon on that one, Mary?

-I think it's unusual. But they got it right down the middle.

Yeah, they started off poorly. The middle was pretty good and then tailed off badly at the end.

A lot of flour's been used on this. See the line.

-Yes, it's quite divided there.

-Now...

-Nice glaze on it.

Go on, say something nice.

It's got a nice glaze on it, but it's like raw dough in the middle.

That is dough. The plait is...

To say it was a disaster would be a humiliation to disaster.

It just looks a little bit informal, not quite what we're asking for.

Let's have a look inside. It's barely baked.

I know that if you squeeze it like that, it's sticking in a ball.

It's going back to dough. Yeah.

Um...

Not bad. It's quite uniform, the shape.

It's pretty good in the middle.

Tastes OK. This one looks as though it hasn't been kneaded long enough, or it's been rushed.

It's breaking up far too easily.

Yeah, it's had a few problems, this one. Very dense inside.

-Bordering on raw.

-It's underdone, isn't it?

-It actually tastes OK.

-It's lovely.

Now...

-Oh, dear.

-What happened there?

-It stuck to the tray, basically.

It's probably going to be quite raw inside.

Yeah.

Which moves me onto this one, which is near perfect. Nice colour.

There's a bit of folding underneath. It's got a nice crust to it.

-The plait should look like wood.

-Lovely crust on it, good flavour.

It's the best looking. Very good-looking bread.

'Paul and Mary will now reveal how the bakers have fared.'

In last place is this person here.

That's me.

Obviously, you know the problems that you had. OK.

In tenth place is this one.

-That's me.

-What happened to the bottom? It got stuck?

-It got stuck on the baking tray.

-OK, just be careful with your plaits as well.

In ninth place is Stuart, followed by Cathryn in eighth, Victoria is seventh

and for the second week in a row, Manisha is sixth.

In fifth place is Ryan.

-A little bit under-baked.

-Yeah, the dough needed a little bit more working.

And in fourth is Brendan and in third place is Danny.

In second place is this one. It's pretty good. Well done.

So, we all know who is number one.

APPLAUSE

That went phenomenally well, amazingly well. Yeah.

It didn't look perfect, but it was a plait.

You would look at it and say, "That's a plaited loaf."

Paul just said it was pretty disastrous and it was.

I'm going in tomorrow with the attitude that I'm going to be relaxed about it

and I hope that dough feels the love!

'With just one challenge to go, before Mary and Paul's decision, how are the bakers faring?'

-Who's doing well, Mary?

-Brendan is doing rather well. His flatbreads were good.

-And also Ryan. He did very well.

-He did.

And also, we should perhaps point out John,

who came first in the plait.

He really got the plait right.

Looking at the other end of the group, who do we think is in danger this week?

Peter. His plait was under proved and inside, a bit doughy.

I'd throw Victoria in there. Ironically, star baker from last week.

I think the winner of Bake Off will be somebody who is consistent.

They've got a bagel challenge now. I've think that will separate the wheat from the chaff,

if you'll excuse the pun. And by your face, you won't. And I accept that.

Bakers, welcome back for the final challenge of this weekend, the Showstopper Challenge.

We're asking you to attempt a technique that has never been done on this show before,

icing a cupcake whilst bungee jumping.

I jest. Of course, it's bread week.

We're asking you to use poaching techniques, as well as baking.

We're asking you today to bake and present 24 bagels,

12 savoury and 12 sweet.

And you can work your own special flavours into the dough

or you can bake them on the top, or you can do both.

-Just remains to say...

-On your marks...

-Get set...

BOTH: Bake.

'Bagels are a type of bread, but their unique chewy texture

'presents the bakers with a new challenge.

'The bagels are poached before they go into the oven.'

'The texture of a bagel should be chewy,'

soft, good skin on the outside, a beautiful golden brown.

More importantly, have a hole in the middle.

All the bakers start off in the same way,

by preparing a basic dough, containing a strong wheat flour.

It's always good to get going.

Glad to be in the final straight, as it were. All to play for still.

Both of these recipes in their current manifestations,

these are the first times I am making both of them.

Paul and Mary are going to be the guinea pigs for these recipes, yeah.

That's a bit scary actually. Probably should have practised.

James's sweet offering is flavoured with orange, mint and chocolate.

And for his savoury Millers' bagels, he's attempting a tricky and time-consuming sourdough.

-A sourdough bagel with no yeast in it at all.

-No yeast in it at all.

-That's brave.

-In four hours, yeah!

-It is, very.

Some of my sours will take up to eight or nine hours throughout, some of the bigger ones.

To do it in four, and sweet ones as well...

You're the first one on Bake Off to actually use sours in this way. So well done.

'By adding different flavours to their bagels,

'the bakers must adjust their recipes to prevent any reactions that may occur

'whilst they prove, boil and bake.'

I had a sticky situation whereby I soaked the dates overnight,

made sure it's moist, but then over-soaked too much liquid.

As soon as I put the dates into the dough, it went too wet. It's really sticky dough.

Ryan's sweet bagels are made with cinnamon and dates.

And his savoury bagels with tarragon and rosemary.

-Can I have a look at it? Do you mind?

-Of course.

-It's quite soft.

-Is that the date one?

-Yes, I was a bit worried.

-It stuck and it would affect the texture of the dough.

-It can.

It might be denser. I'm worried, but it's done now.

- Good luck with it all. - Thank you.

< See you in a bit.

'After the dough has proved, the bagels are ready to take shape.

'There are various methods to achieve this and Brendan is adding an unconventional twist.'

You simply pinch the ends

and then you gently rock backwards and forwards.

For my savoury bagels, I'm going to shape them

in the modern way of piercing the thumb and that way.

I thought one traditional, one modern.

To complement his chocolate and vanilla sweet bagels,

Brendan's savoury bagels are flavoured with cumin and Gruyere.

What inspired this?

You could have done just a classic one flavour plain bagel, but no.

I thought I might as well learn how to make a bagel twist at the same time.

That sounds like the beginning of joke, how do you make a bagel twist?

I'll come back to you with a punchline!

The best way of doing it is the most traditional.

Traditional ways are often the best and they can often be forgotten.

This way, although it doesn't give the most even of rings,

I think I quite like it. It looks quite rustic, homely,

sign of a home-made bagel.

It's important to get a nice even ring, I think,

just for the look factor. It's that finesse they do look for. And they do mark you on that.

John's savoury fig bagels will be topped with walnut and Gruyere cheese

and his blueberry bagels will be lightly covered in white chocolate.

-Hello, John.

-Hello.

I want to talk about your action. You're using the middle finger spin, I noticed.

It's more of a spin and squeeze, so you can try and get uneven consistency all the way round.

- And then I just sort of... - The double-hander.

Just so you can try and get an even consistency.

'Poaching the dough before baking

'gives the bagels their dense, chewy texture

'and creates a skin that will brown and crisp when baked.

'Over boiling will result in the crust being too thick and too chewy,

'but if the dough is not solidified,

'it will rise in the oven and produce bread rolls, not bagels.'

If you're not careful in putting it in the water, it's got a tendency

to actually collapse on itself.

They don't puff up as much as they should.

-So, bagels, how confident are you feeling?

-Not very. ..three.

-Count again. Four, five.

-Six, seven. Sorry, eight.

-Welcome to technology.

-Does that do seconds?

-Yes. Let's reset. There you go, poppet.

-What are you on now?

-20. Ten seconds.

-We'll do the next one.

-So this is the part cooking and puffing of the bagel.

-Yes.

Can we press that? One, two.

There you go, excellent.

-I can...

-Relax.

-Relax, yeah.

-Let technology take the strain now.

It's because they're so soft, I'm worried that when I boil them

and mess around with them, they'll break up.

I'm not... Oops!

Oh, my God!

Once in the oven, it's a nervous wait, as the bake will reveal

whether the bagels will hold their shape or rise like regular bread.

I don't know. The holes have closed up loads. They look like rolls.

It's impossible to know what they're like until you cut into them.

And they're probably going to be completely wrong.

I am worried that I'm always last.

I haven't messed around today though.

I've done what I needed to do,

but obviously I needed all the time that I had.

It's not exactly going to plan.

It's more like a recovery from disaster at the moment.

They're as synonymous with New York as yellow taxi cabs,

Andy Warhol and loud, short, bad-tempered comedians.

But we Brits have actually been brunching on the bagels

for a lot longer than our Stateside cousins.

So where do bagels actually come from? Tell me, already!

'The earliest recorded bagels were baked by the Jewish communities in 17th century Poland.

'Given as gifts at circumcisions and funerals,

'their shape was said to represent the circle of life.'

So when did bagels first go international?

In the late 19th century, millions of Jews left Eastern Europe.

They were escaping persecution and economic hardship.

For many, the first port of call was London.

Jewish communities sprang up,

particularly in the East End of London and in Manchester.

What do we know about the early British bagel traders?

They tended to be street-sellers.

They were a cheap bread that was sold in the street, usually by women.

They became known as the Bagel Queens of the Lane.

The lane being Petticoat Lane in the East End.

There's one rather wonderful description of the bagels themselves

as being always oven-fresh, geometric in their roundness

and shining like a good deed in an iniquitous world.

'These bagels were made to be kosher,

'made in strict accordance to Jewish dietary laws.

'A procedure that's still followed today.

'A local rabbi closely monitors this bakery in North London.'

Rabbi Conway, how do you ensure the bagels

are being made in a kosher way?

Well, first of all, we have an inspector

who comes in at least once a day.

First thing he does is he has to make sure that all the ingredients,

all the products, everything being used here

is firstly not of animal origin and secondly not of dairy origin.

And how does Sabbath affect the bagel making process?

It doesn't affect it at all,

because there's no baking of kosher bagels on the Sabbath.

This bakery, for example, they have to close at sundown on the Friday

and they have to stay closed until Saturday night

when three stars can be seen in the sky.

So for 25 hours, there is no baking.

'By the mid-20th century, the bagel in Britain was still largely

'the preserve of Jewish communities,

'but over in New York, had become mainstream.'

When the bagel making machine was invented in 1963,

this meant that American bakers could mass produce

and distribute their bagels nationwide.

Their popularity increased.

These new American-style bagels were bigger and sweeter

and available in a huge variety of different flavours.

They were soon rebranded and marketed back to us

as an American speciality.

The '80s and '90s

saw a bagel boom in the UK.

So if you asked a New York cabbie to follow that bagel home,

he might have a bigger fare than he expected.

Well, some are split on the top. They've risen up a bit.

They've got not a bad crust, slightly over-cooked there.

Like the curate's egg - good in parts.

SHE SIGHS

-They look lovely.

-Ah, that smells great!

Oh, I don't know!

To be honest, there's so many issues with these.

I think I'm in trouble today, yes.

-Amazing.

-I'm happy. I'm really happy with them.

-Paul just gave them a little bit of a glance.

-I know, I saw that.

Doesn't give anything away though.

Really unnerving, yeah.

OK, bakers. That's ten minutes left, please. Ten minutes remaining.

String 'em up!

Like a bagel-y washing line.

I think that's marvellous.

That's the best use I've seen for a mug tree since mugs went on it.

-Do you think quite a lot about your presentation, James?

-No.

-Just put them on a board?

-Put them on a board.

I'm not sure what it looks like.

It looks like twelve beautiful bagels on a board, James.

OK, bagels shmagels. This challenge is over.

'Each baker's offering will be individually judged

'before Mary and Paul make the decision as to who is leaving

'The Great British Bake-Off.'

The porcini mushroom flavour is coming through and the cheese too.

The way they look is a bit...

They're a bit weak, a bit flat.

But the taste and texture is all right.

And your sweet one.

I like the flavour of those.

The shape of those are better than your savoury ones.

They're more like bread rolls than they are a bagel.

You overbaked them.

It's a very close texture

and a rather hard crust.

It's a bread roll with salt and herbs on top,

not a bagel unfortunately.

They've all been over-proved. They all look...

You've got a very bread-like... and it's quite flat.

-And you've lost the shape.

-Yeah.

These are the cranberry ones.

I'm not getting strong cinnamon.

If you get a bit of a cranberry, it kind of...

-I've got a lot of cranberry.

-Oh, OK. Fair enough.

They're both over-proved. They look...not like bagels.

You've got a very good batch, all matching.

-You rather like that, don't you?

-Mm. Gruyere's lovely, and the cumin.

If we move onto your sweet "bagels".

In inverted commas, because that to me is like a bread ring.

-It's not a bagel.

-Right.

-It's different.

-Mm.

-I don't know that I like it.

-It just needed some added sweetness for me.

The sour and the bitterness of the chocolate...

-You could class that as a savoury, if you pushed it.

-Oh, right.

Great idea, but needs to be thought through a little bit more.

Worked on.

I felt the dough and I thought it was a bit soft.

It's pretty much what's gone wrong.

It's just concertinaed up into a flatbread, which was earlier.

You're very good with your flavours. I like that.

It's an interesting flavour, but it's not exactly a bagel.

It's a new bread you've invented. A flagel!

The crunch is lovely from walnuts and cheese.

I like the idea of the white chocolate on top.

-Did you have sugar with that dough?

-No, just honey.

-It's overbaked then.

-Overbaked? OK.

-But the flavours are lovely.

-Absolutely lovely.

The fact that you've managed to come up with something

related to sour in four hours is admirable.

That's interesting.

Yeah, well done.

LAUGHTER

He finds it painful to say that!

Very tricky to do.

I think out of all of them, it was probably the hardest one to make.

Now, orange and mint?

-Yeah.

-Overbaked.

-Yeah.

-Too much colour underneath.

You had an awful lot of orange in here.

I can certainly taste it, and I like it.

And the mint is now coming through.

The overall flavour, I think it's good. It's a nice bagel.

They look great, but I'm more impressed with them.

-Well done.

-Thank you.

That went absolutely fantastic.

Better than I could have possibly hoped.

It was absolutely brilliant. Yeah, there are no words.

Oh dear, oh dear! Disaster!

'Paul thought my bread rolls were really good,'

but unfortunately we were doing bagels this afternoon.

I think I'm probably the one to go today.

I really do think it could be anybody.

So, Paul and Mary, who is in the arena this week

for star baker, do you think?

John has got to have a mention.

In the technical challenge, he made a beautiful loaf.

-And good bagels, good texture, good toppings.

-Yeah.

I actually think James has done exceptionally well.

These sour bagels are really difficult to do.

Brendan delivered certainly one extremely good bagel.

The only issue I did have was with the chocolate one.

It was far too bitter.

Let's talk about people who haven't done quite so well this week.

Stuart is in a bit of trouble.

Didn't really do well in the technical challenge.

Look at the bagels, they're quite flat.

And then Peter didn't do so well with his flatbreads.

-We had that problem with salt.

-He was last in the technical challenge yesterday.

Which automatically puts you in a very precarious position.

But, I mean, Victoria. They're not the best bagels in the world.

You've got three in contention for Star Baker

-and three very much in contention for the drop zone.

-Yeah.

-We'll leave it to you to figure it out.

-Go decide, Paul and Mary.

Bakers, an exceptionally busy weekend

and you've all excelled yourself. You should be very proud.

Of course, every week,

we like to award one of you with the accolade of Star Baker.

This week, that accolade goes to...

..John. Well done, John.

Thank you.

And, of course, sadly we have to announce

who will not be joining us

for next week's Bake Off.

And I'm sorry to say that the person is...

..Peter.

Can we give you a massive Mel and Sue sandwich,

the like of which you could only have in your worst nightmare?

It's been fantastic. I've had a great time, thank you.

I'm going home and I'm absolutely gutted.

Everybody has to be experimental and it has to be sheer perfection,

and he didn't quite reach that.

I feel very lucky. Very lucky.

I just want to show what I can do and instead of being at the bottom, be at the top.

Completely elated. I feel amazing.

A massive shock, to be honest. I'm chuffed to bits.

All past winners of Bake Off have done well on the bread week,

so I'll be watching John very closely.

I'm going to come away from this and it's going to be my challenge

in the next few months to become a better bread baker.

'Next time, the bakers take on tarts...'

You need biceps for that. Puff the magic pastry, here it comes.

'..with a Signature Challenge that turns everything upside down...'

Look at that!

'..a technical treacle tart that gets them in a twist.'

If you don't get it right, it could be the end of it.

'..and a fruity Showstopper that pushes their pastry limits.'

It's the one who can keep their nerves in check who will win.

Arrgh!

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