Pies and Tarts The Great British Bake Off

So after the shock departure last week of not one but two bakers,

there is literally everything to play for, but how many will go this week?

I don't know, it could be three or five, or it could even be the final.

Who knows? When Paul and Mary get trigger-happy anyone's fair game.

I'm going to leave before they fire me, it's the Great British Bake Off.

-'Last time...'

-Where's my custard?

-'..desserts proved to be the undoing..'

-Oh, no!

-'..of Mark...'

They're not very ball-like.

That's a bit knitty.

'..and Deborah...'

Can't do this.

-'..who both had to leave.'

-I'll miss you, matey.

'But Christine had her best week yet...'

Gosh, that's scrummy.

'..and her stunning desserts won her Star Baker.'

APPLAUSE

'Now the bakers face pies and tarts...'

If my bottom's dry today...all will be right with the world.

Looks all right.

'..a Signature Challenge...'

Shall I put my water wings on?

'..throws them in at the deep end...'

I think that brown stuff is burn.

I think I might be in trouble with this one.

'..a Technical from Paul that would make most people fall apart...'

Desperate times, desperate measures.

'..a Showstopper that stretches them to their absolute limits...'

That is one large sort of filo snake you need to wrangle.

-This is "Pie-thagoras", this pie.

-Pie-thagoras!

Right, what do we need to do?

'..and a little unwanted help from their friends.'

Hang on, hang on.

It's not good, is it?

I can't watch this.

TOGETHER: # Who ate all the pies? Who ate all the pies?

# Mel and Sue did, Mel and Sue did We ate all the pies. #

It's pies and tarts week.

I think I'll get me steak and kidney.

Morning, bakers, and welcome to... it's a Life Of Pie, isn't it?

We're going to be asking you not to sit on a boat and look after a tiger.

Oh, that's a shame! Can you lose the tiger?

Lose the tiger.

But what we would like you to do, though, please,

is a Signature Bake which is a double-crusted fruit pie,

which means pastry not just on the top but on the bottom as well,

and not soggy.

Right, so the pastry can be a sweet or shortcrust,

you can fill it with whatever fruit you like

but when it's cut in two, the pastry must hold its shape.

-You've got two hours, on your marks...

-Get set...

-..bake!

They walk into it, thinking, "It's only pies.

"I can knock a couple of pies up no problem."

But you've got to make a pie that's perfect.

If you do not know how to make a sweet pastry and shortcrust

pastry, you shouldn't be in that tent.

There's so much that can go wrong.

If fruit is overcooked in a pie, it releases too much wet.

That goes down to the pastry underneath and makes it soggy.

The terror of a soggy bottom has been keeping me up all night.

If my bottom is dry today...all will be right with the world.

Kimberley's fruit pie is a firm favourite of her boyfriend Giuseppe.

Topped with rosemary caramel,

her pecan filling will be surrounded by rosemary pastry.

The addition of the rosemary is interesting,

-it's all about the delicacy with rosemary.

-I can smell it here.

That's been steeping for a couple of months.

-I think it will go well.

-Thank you.

It smells really delicious.

I'm making a shortcrust pastry with some orange zest

in it for added flavour.

I just want to get the pastry made

so it can have a chance of resting, it's so tight on times.

This is the covering for my butter and I just found it in my blender.

I'm sure clingfilm's edible(!)

Ali loves to use ingredients from around the world,

but he's never made a simple English fruit pie.

He's making pecan and walnut shortcrust pastry,

with an apple and ginger filling.

I'm using Granny Smiths because they still retain a bit of bite

but I'm not actually a big fan of fruit pie,

in fact, I loathe fruit pie so I've been trying...

So you've never tasted things you've made? When you've made a fruit pie, you can't eat it?

I find it disgusting.

-We're going to enjoy it.

-I hope Granny Smith doesn't have a damp bottom.

-Thank you.

When I pulsed my fat into the flour, I got great lumps of butter in it,

which I don't want for shortcrust, hence I'm starting again.

The recipe for Christine's pie belonged to her grandmother,

and she bakes it weekly.

Her Granny Rogers' apple, plum

and cinnamon country pie is also flavoured with allspice and nutmeg.

I would like to get everything consistent across the board

on this pie. I want the pastry to be even, I want it to be the right thickness,

I want the fruit just to be done, I want everything to be right.

I think I will be OK time-wise, I've just got to work a bit faster.

In the food processor at the moment I've got plain flour

but I've also added some polenta.

It gives it slightly a grainier more biscuity texture,

but it also absorbs some of the moisture which you're going to

get from putting fresh herbs in it.

Howard regularly brings his bakes into work, where they're

enjoyed by his colleagues at Sheffield City Council.

The apples in his pie are accompanied by sultanas,

and pistachios, and surrounded by sage pastry.

The pastry does look a little bit crumbly but I'm going to pop

it in the fridge to rest while I'm making the filling.

That smells so good. Mm, sweet buttery apple-ness, yum!

Judging by the smell, there's not enough ginger in there.

I'm not going to taste it because I don't want to.

Today, I'm making my mamgu's cherry apple tart.

It's just something that my mum's mum came up with

when my brother and I refused to eat rhubarb pie.

So she called it "cherry-apple tart" and we lapped it up.

Beca blows off steam outside the kitchen by running three

times a week.

Her mamgu's cherry-apple pie is ensconced in a pastry

flavoured with orange zest.

The rhubarb is just finishing off roasting

so I've had a bit of a disaster this week making some of them.

My grandmothers would never bake their rhubarb first,

they'd always put it in raw.

Did they have soggy bottoms?

Yeah, but it never did bother us.

But my nan told me

to put some semolina in the bottom which has worked.

Might need to have some waterproofs on just in case.

I'll bring my scuba.

Rhubarb splash-back.

I really like marzipan

so I've desperately wanted to put it in something.

I thought apple marzipan would be all right.

I was really unhappy with it for a while and then one day

it occurred to me, the sour cherries,

and that really lifts it, I think.

So I'm chuffed with that.

Ruby juggles revising for her exams with devising new

ways of blending flavours in her bakes.

She's settled on an apple and marzipan pie,

with dried sour cherries.

This is just a little bit of sugar and cornflour, it helps to

soak up some of the liquid they'll release when they cook.

So the pie crust hopefully won't be too soggy.

My fruit pie is like a mixture of peach and frangipane.

I remove, obviously, the stone

and then I fill that with a bit of frangipane

and then I place in a whole almond, to sort of replicate the stone.

Frances' parents ran a book shop so she grew up influenced by stories.

And a classic children's tale was the inspiration for this bake,

a peach pie in the sky.

I was inspired by James And The Giant Peach.

So you'll get a slice of peach when you get through the pie

and then it's going to be shaped like a hot-air balloon.

You could have made an effort(!)

You've totally lost me now.

Sounds like it needs planning permission, this pie.

-Good luck with that one.

-Thank you very much.

I look forward to seeing the balloon. I've no idea.

The key challenge with pies is ensuring that the pastry is

baked through.

Each baker has their own way of avoiding a soggy crust.

Some more technical than others.

To try and avoid a soggy bottom, you've got to get as much

heat into it as you can.

My plan is to not use a base but place that like that and then

I'll slide the whole lot onto a baking tray which is already heating

up in the oven, and hopefully that'll be hot enough to do the job.

Bread is Rob's true baking passion,

so pastry presents more of a challenge.

His Signature Pie is filled with apple, pears, thyme and star anise.

These time-compressed challenges,

you've got to think of other ways of doing things.

Moisture is the big problem for these pies.

I've counteracted the liquid that comes

out of the apples by putting some semolina in the bottom,

I've also mixed some cornflour and some icing sugar as well.

This is frangipane, but it's a slightly thicker one.

It's got more flour than normal, and it helps soak up

any of the juices that will come out of the peach itself.

I found a recipe for sour cream and maple syrup custard.

Maple syrup adds a lot to the flavour, and to the moisture which,

you know, as we all know, moisture is the enemy of everything today.

Glenn's been looking for inspiration for his pie in various places

and his friends have been keen to help...ooh, and Molly too.

He's making a sweet crust pastry to hold his apple

and maple syrup custard filling.

So the custard baked in it.

-Like a quiche?

-A sweet quiche.

It could be really absolutely lovely.

You say "could".

There's all sorts of things that could go wrong.

Exactly, you're dealing with apples that are going to release

the juice, and you have maple syrup which tends to thin out

in an oven anyway, plus you have the custard going in on top of that.

-Good luck.

-If it goes wrong, apple scramble, all good.

'With the pastry cases and fillings made, the pies must be covered

'and decorated quickly to allow enough time in the oven.'

It should go down to the wire which is pretty much practice with me.

Oh, I've got a bit of crackage going on there. Cracking.

We're going for the Vermont, New England feel...that looks vile.

That's a nasty pink colour.

Oh, my God, the problem goes from one extreme to the other

but I think that's nearer where I need to be.

It needs to be in the oven ideally ten minutes ago.

Get a move on, Ali.

The monster's in.

Right.

OK, bakers, in 30 minutes' time, your bakes have a date

with my pie hole.

30 minutes.

"Gas Mark 4 for 35-40 minutes."

I think I know someone who's going to have a soggy bottom.

I'm bending down to have a look,

because I'm waiting for my pie to cook.

SHE LAUGHS

It looks very nice on top

and I'm hoping that that's replicated underneath.

Bakers, ten minutes left on the pies. Ten minutes left.

I'm going up. I'm going up to 200.

Going for blast furnace heat now.

Now you are on circa therm intensive 230 degrees.

This is basically becoming thermo-nuclear.

Is that burning a bit?

I think it might be.

I think that brown stuff is burn. Ooh, is that some leak?

I think it's just fat.

I think I should take it out.

Go with your instinct.

I have no instinct on fruit pies.

That bit might be soggy.

You know what? It is what it is now.

It looks all right.

No, I'm going to leave it till the last second.

One minute, just one minute to go.

Not completely happy with that.

-Oh, look, this is a little basket!

-And they're the ropes.

Leave it. Leave it, leave it, leave it.

OK, bakers, that's it, time's up.

Please put your pies at the end of your benches.

Step away from the pie.

I'm dying to see what the cut is going to be like.

Ooh, it is soggy down there.

Can't taste the custard.

All it's adding is a little bit of moisture.

The apples are perfectly cooked but, to be honest,

the pastry could have done with another ten minutes.

Didn't get it in early enough.

You had plenty of time to practise and you knew how long it was going to be, you shouldn't have picked it.

That's teacher, isn't it?

I say things like that all the time, I have to take it.

I can't see how you can get that custard perfect

and get the pastry cooked as well.

It's just not quite right.

It just looks so inviting, it's a beautiful colour.

That is, quite frankly, delicious.

And one of the nicest pies I've had for some years.

The pastry is crispy, it's golden, the apples are fantastic,

the nuts come through very well

and what stays on your tongue afterwards is that beautiful caramel flavour that coats your tongue.

It is sort of toffee apple pie.

Well done. I'll take this one with me, I think.

The artwork that you've done is stunning.

I would have liked more peaches in there,

there's a high proportion of frangipane.

You're miles away from the flavour points.

That does not taste of anything, you get the odd peach, sourness,

no sweetness.

It's very, very bland and dry.

I love your style but please remember the substance.

OK.

Good colour underneath.

That rhubarb has lost a lot of its colour, hasn't it?

I would have cooked that for less time and we've ended up with

two thick layers of pastry and a very thin layer of rhubarb.

Holding quite well. Let's have a look at the bottom.

That is a beautifully baked underneath.

-The pastry taste is good. I think it's a nice pie.

-OK, thanks.

I like that. I do, that's a real sort of family fruit pie.

-The flavour's lovely.

-Thanks, Ruby.

Looks pretty crumbly, the pastry.

OK, that's an issue for me.

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

you need to bind it together more.

I always go on about over-working, but you under-worked that one.

Such a nice idea to put sage in the pastry

but I really couldn't taste the sage.

OK, thank you.

A lot of liquid in there.

Shall I put my water wings on?

If you're going to have that amount of juice, somehow or other

it's got to be thickened or it would make the pastry wet underneath.

I did put a little cornflour in.

-A little?

-Yes, but I didn't think it was enough.

Might have needed a bit more.

One of my pet hates in a pie is a soggy bottom,

you've managed to get a soggy top.

Bit of midwifery required here, there we go.

The pastry is not cooked, particularly in the middle.

Never got ginger in that mouthful...

or the next one.

-I think the fruit's cooked perfectly but as an apple.

-It's an apple pie.

But you need to try your food.

If you don't try your food, you do not know what that's going to taste like.

Thank you.

That was bad, it was really bad.

I always knew my fruit pie was going to be terrible

because I think fruit pies are terrible.

It had a soggy bottom, the pastry on the top wasn't cooked, double boo.

It feels great when they say they like the flavours.

Apart from getting a decent bake, you want them

to have something that tastes delicious.

It went wrong from the very beginning

and from then on I was onto a losing streak, really.

Perhaps I should have just kept going rather than starting again.

Excuse me, so stupid, I don't do things like this normally!

SHE SNIFFS

It just gets to you.

With confidence knocked, some of the bakers are desperate to prove

themselves in the next challenge.

Unfortunately for them, it's the Technical.

Bakers, good afternoon. And welcome to the Technical Challenge.

I think you can see there's a little smile hovering around Paul's lips.

Yes, it is one of his recipes.

Now, as ever, Mary and Paul are not allowed to know who has baked what,

-so, with the greatest respect...

-Goodbye.

-..jog on.

-Thank you.

-Good luck.

Anyway, now they've gone, let's shut the tent doors and have a rave.

OK, now, the Technical Challenge. This week...custard tarts.

12 individual custard tarts

and what we're looking for is golden pastry-crimped cups with a fantastic

layer of even, smooth custard, with just a little bit of wobble in it.

-You've got two hours.

-On your marks...

-Get set...

-..bake!

The egg custard tart.

Love custard tarts, love some custard tarts.

Never thought to make one, though. Perhaps I should have.

A British classic and elegant in its simplicity.

I have made them before, it's not the easiest thing to make.

Formed of an outer sweet pastry crust,

it's filled with egg custard, dusted with nutmeg, and baked.

This could go wrong in so many ways.

They look absolutely wonderful.

Beautifully formed, it's solid, the pastry is baked.

You can see it's got a beautiful colour all the way around,

-no soggy bottoms there.

-Beautifully brown across the base.

When you look at the custard, you can see it's level,

it's got a slight wobble to it, but if I cut this open...look at that.

The custard is perfectly cooked, it's creamy and it's smooth.

Baked well, there is nothing better than a good custard tart.

Right, flour, almonds, 120 grams of chilled butter.

Just incorporating the butter into the mixture,

and when I get breadcrumb texture, I'll add in the egg.

The dough should be worked more than a regular sweet crust

to create a pastry that's robust...

We don't want the custard all seeping through.

..without becoming chewy.

It's a happy medium between both, I think.

While the pastry rests, the bakers ponder the next step.

"Make the custard filling." Helpful(!)

Just deciding whether I should cook the custard or not.

So I'm just heating my custard through,

just for it to thicken slightly.

I think it's not that type of tart, I think

to get it to set right, it needs to go in raw and bake in the oven.

Looking round, some people haven't necessarily heated theirs,

and I'm doing that whole comparing.

This is what happens, you start doubting everything and stuff.

Do you feel safe doing the Technical? Is it quite nice?

-No.

-HE LAUGHS

I feel a bag of nerves.

Dreaming Bake Off dreams?

I think they're all doing that.

-Have you dreamt about Paul and Mary in the dreams?

-Not yet, it's going to happen.

Who would you rather dream about, Paul or Mary?

-That would be telling, wouldn't it?

-Oh, hello.

THEY LAUGH

'60 minutes to go.'

Time is already against us.

Howard's rolling, does that mean I should be rolling?

It's going to be quite thin, because you need 12 that size,

because that's the size that fits into the tin.

The pastry should reach the top of the mould.

Looking around the room, everybody else managed to

get their pastry up the sides, I was the only one who didn't so I thought,

"I'll build up the sides." Providing they come out, I'll live with it.

HE LAUGHS

The custard should be filled to the top of the pastry.

Obviously I don't want to overfill them but I don't want a huge

rim of pastry around the outside with no custard.

Doing this in the oven CAN help prevent spilling.

It says on the recipe, "Nutmeg to taste."

The problem is it's not my taste I'm trying to satisfy.

HE LAUGHS

Oh, stop it, Glenn! Pouring like a buffoon.

To increase the chances of an even batch,

both trays should be baked on the same shelf.

OK.

HE GROANS

The egg custard tart may seem like the humblest of old friends,

but, in fact, its origins are way more illustrious.

It first found favour in the courts of Richard II

as a decadent treat, his recipe recorded for posterity

by royal chefs for Britain's oldest cookery book.

England's oldest known cook book,

written by the chief master cooks of King Richard II,

the Forme of Cury is one of the best-known records of medieval cooking.

To translate the Middle English title,

"forme" means method and "cury" means cooking.

The manuscript is exactly as it came to the library,

so you can see that the original binding has been preserved.

It's quite greasy, you can imagine it being actually used in a kitchen.

It dates from the 1390s and was commissioned by the master

chefs of King Richard II, so it's a royal cookery book.

And it contains 194 recipes, which range from porridge and stew.

There are also lots of dessert dishes,

so we're seeing the introduction of sugar, for example, which was

extremely expensive at the time, and it's a way of demonstrating

the luxury that the household could afford.

Richard II's kitchen had over 300 staff making hundreds of recipes,

many of which are immortalised in the Forme of Cury, ranging

from cooking porpoise to the more recognisable sweet custard tarts.

There's an interesting group of desserts that

develop in the Forme of Cury.

And these are the English sweet custards,

so you have doucettes, you have flattons and you have darioles.

The dariole is very similar to the modern English custard tart.

Cow's milk did not keep for long in medieval kitchens,

so almond milk was often used as a substitute.

This was mixed with eggs, sugar, and saffron,

which at the time was valued as highly as gold.

These were very rich desserts, and, of course, suited Richard

because it was the sort of decadence he wanted to show,

that richness of desserts and richness of food which he

wanted to display in the English court at the time.

But such excess cost a fortune and he taxed his subjects to

pay for it, thus losing the support of Parliament.

In 1399, his cousin challenged the throne and Richard was

incarcerated and starved to death at just 33 years old.

Perhaps his greatest legacy was the nation's oldest cook book.

Back in the tent, the bakers are hoping for a happier ending.

The oven must be hot enough to bake the pastry,

but not so hot that it boils the custard.

I can see Howard looking into his oven, Christine behind me

looking into her oven. If you look up, you'll see no-one

because everyone's on their knees looking at the oven.

I'm going to have a look.

Oh, it's a completely different story on the top than on the bottom.

They are not browning at the same rate.

It's just a question of when do I pull them?

Because I'll need some time for them to cool or I won't get them out.

Bakers, you've got 15 minutes with the tarts. 15 minutes.

Normally you need about an hour for it to cool before you take it out.

Oh, God.

Think I might be in trouble with this one.

I think they'll have to come out.

They're even.

The pastry's too soft. Oh, God!

Oh, you are ugly cousins of those bad boys.

I'm putting mine in the freezer

How on earth do you get these out?

I have not got a clue.

Don't look at procedure.

Oh, dear, it's definitely not my weekend.

This pastry is just completely not done.

Two minutes, bakers, two minutes.

Desperate times, desperate measures.

SHE SIGHS

HE SIGHS

(Oh, Jesus!)

I don't have time for this.

(Sugar.)

No.

Oh, my giddy aunt!

Oh, no, look at that.

HE SIGHS

Oh!

Bakers, your time's up.

That's it. Please step away from the tarts, thank you.

OK.

What we're looking for is 12 perfectly formed custard tarts,

that's 12 custard tarts.

Shall we start from this side, Mary?

Yes.

Pastry looks a nice colour.

Pastry looks OK. And it looks as though it's set as well.

-It's a good bake, that one.

-It's a good custard tart, isn't it?

It's a nice custard tart, that.

And we'll move onto the next one.

They've got a nice bake underneath, Paul.

It's a good custard

but because they're a bit shallower, you don't get quite enough

custard for the amount of pastry.

Oh, dear.

I bet they were quite difficult to get out of the cases.

Bit soggy at the bottom.

Tastes OK.

It's far too shallow.

They are baked and have got a good colour round.

Nice short pastry.

It's baked but this has been rushed.

The pastry's just so weak, let's have a look.

It's not long enough in the oven and it's not set.

Oh, dear. Raw pastry. Where are the other six?

Again, not long enough in the oven.

The pastry's totally undercooked underneath, isn't it?

Custard's good.

Move on to the next one.

Again, we're missing half of them. Have we got one that's any good?

I'm not even going to attempt that one, that's got major issues.

Major issues. Right, next one.

They're shallow, they're under-baked, custard's just about set.

They're neat and they match.

Yes. Finally, the last one. Just done but they're so shallow.

It's quite raw again, isn't it?

It's decision time,

and Paul and Mary will name the bakers in reverse order.

Right, in ninth place is this one. Whose is this? Glenn.

It's underbaked. You've knackered them all bringing them

out of the cases. The custard was scrambled egg as well.

And this is number eight, who is that?

You haven't got the right number, the pastry wasn't quite done,

not quite set.

And in seventh position it's this.

The custard's fallen down the side

and obviously, the walls of the cases have all collapsed as well.

Ruby, Howard and Kimberley have not done enough to

place in the top three.

Number three is this one.

They're getting better, you've got a good height there.

And number two is right here. Who's that?

They were a little bit small, they were very delicious.

So that leaves number one. Who's this?

MEL AND SUE: Well done, Frances.

They tasted good, the consistency of the custard was good

and the decoration on the top was good as well. Well done.

I feel a lot better than I did a couple of hours ago. I hope the

whole style over substance thing I can be putting a little bit to rest.

I felt I would be OK this week and so far I haven't disappointed

myself, so hopefully tomorrow will be on the same sort of level.

Pretty much everything that could have gone wrong went wrong,

I'm gutted. Gutted.

I can categorically say I won't be Star Baker this week.

Be lucky if I stay, at this rate.

It could not have gone worse today. The pressure's on for tomorrow.

Whatever I present to Paul

and Mary, I'm going to make sure it's the best that I am, as a baker.

A brand-new day in the Bake Off tent.

And a last chance to impress the judges.

Morning, bakers. Great to see you all here.

Now, some words to think about for this morning.

Big, impressive, Showstopper.

It's got to be, please, a filo pastry pie.

You can use any inspiration from the classics,

like a Greek spanakopita, or a Moroccan pastilla, apparently,

or go mad, invent your own.

Break those pie boundaries.

Although a spanakopita will be hard today,

-because we don't have any spanners in the tent.

-Except for me.

The most important thing is that the pastry is made from scratch.

It can be freeform or it could be in a tin, shape it how you want.

You've got four hours to complete this challenge. On your marks...

-Get set...

-Bake!

Notoriously difficult to work with,

filo pastry is the nemesis of many bakers.

The stress is a whole new level.

But I'd take the stress any day to stay another week.

A basic filo dough combines water, a little fat and high-gluten flour.

I've got 00 pasta flour because of the elasticity, and I'm

adding a little bit of vinegar and olive oil to that with the water.

The acid tenderises the strong glutens that have built up

to create the stretch needed for huge wafer-thin sheets of dough.

This is the alchemy of baking.

Filo pastry, it's a great test.

Very, very tricky to do. You've got to work at it, you've got to work

at it, you've got to build it up, stretch it, it's like a membrane.

You've got to open it up, see the gluten strands in it,

throw it over a newspaper and see if you can read it.

Not only have they got to make good pastry, they've got to be creative.

This is the Showstopper, it's got to be big.

We've got to look at it

and think that they have created something special.

My pie is going to be a fresh fig and feta filo flan, which is

a bit of a mouthful.

Howard's tongue-twisting bake is made up of lots of small

sheets of pastry baked in a decorative mould.

-Can I see it?

-Yes, of course.

Oh, nice.

So will it be hard to get it out of there?

It's a devil to get out, it's terrible to get out.

Good luck, Howard.

-Yes, nice.

-Thank you.

I'm going to surpass anything I've ever done before today.

That's my plan.

To do that, Christine's making a feta and roasted vegetable

filo pie, inspired by a Mediterranean family picnic.

I've made it seven times, most of that in one week,

just to try and get it right, and I'm hoping that will pay off today.

The first big hurdle is the kneading.

To build up the vast network of gluten vital to a dough

that'll be stretched and rolled so thinly...

Ah, it's nearly ready.

..elbow grease is required.

See this is the way to do it.

All that hard work Ruby's doing - I'm having a cup of tea.

I entertained the idea of doing a savoury one but I never cook.

Basically, I can't cook. I can bake but I can't cook.

So that's why I've steered clear of savoury.

Instead, Ruby's making a sweet rose-shaped pie filled with almond

and zesty orange flavours from three large sheets of filo.

So how are you going to get that so thin

so you can read a newspaper through it?

Rolling it out, I've got a floured cloth,

and I've been stretching it over my arms, pulling it bit by bit

and letting its own weight do a bit of the work as well.

Have you had space in your student room to do that, Ruby?

-Everything's covered in flour.

-Show us your technique, Ruby, then.

I'm scared I'll end up hitting one of you.

That's all right. Do it front of Mary, it's fine.

She's got a good slap, Mary, hasn't she?

Go on, you have a go, Mary.

You are rotten.

Give it a good slapping, Mary, go on.

There is steel in those arms.

Blue steel.

As some of the bakers rest their dough...

I just find a shower cap quite handy,

just gives it a nice seal, really.

..Rob's using his expert knowledge on his star ingredient.

I joined a local mushroom club. I do like to forage, it is a

very unforgiving pastime.

You get it wrong and you can pay the hell of a price.

The opportunity to kill yourself is quite good.

Some mushrooms, you eat them and there is no cure, you just dissolve.

It's not very nice.

To avoid the dangers of forage mushrooms, he's using

shop-bought ones in his spanakopita.

He also has a mathematical approach to his filo.

-This is "Pie-thagoras", this pie.

-Pie-thagoras!

It'll be made up of either a number of triangles or some rectangles,

I haven't decided yet. It depends how it folds.

So it's a plethora of Pie-thagoras pies.

Well, good luck, mate. Looking forward to this one.

I hope not to disappoint.

Baking's not food on a table. Baking's a bit of love -

that's why we do it.

A lover of Greek food, Glenn is also making spanakopita

out of just one enormous filo sheet.

He's decided to add walnuts to his spinach and feta filling.

If I do this pie as well as I have done it at home,

I've got nothing to worry about.

If it goes pear-shaped I could be on my way home, but I'm not going

to dwell on that, I'm going to go to my happy place and get on with it.

I'm just making a mix of cream cheese, ricotta,

orange blossom honey, orange and lemon zest,

and it will be studded with my morello cherries.

Frances is making a baklava crafted into a cherry tree,

with pistachio cigarillos for branches.

Of course, she is.

I know that there'll be a design factor here,

but I hope you've got really good flavours this time.

Yes, within the filo layers, there's going to be a pistachio

baklava layer, and within that centre core, I'm making a ricotta

and cream cheese, and orange blossom with orange zest.

Frances, are there going to be squirrels

and birds nesting in the tree?

A tree house?

There's no squirrels, no.

I think on your head be it, it's quite complicated.

It sounds really complicated.

I hope it comes out, good luck.

Can't wait to taste it.

Ali, Beca and Kimberley are inspired by North African flavours.

I'm using Ras el hanout spice, which is a North African spice blend.

The chicken and bacon go quite nicely together,

just kind of things I like to eat all in one pie.

SHE LAUGHS

Kimberley has added turmeric to her filo, and has packed her

chicken, bacon and butternut squash pie full of tastes and textures.

I'm doing a garnish for the top which is going to be pork and

chicken crackling mixed with some smoked garlic and fresh coriander.

Is this the crackling here?

Yeah.

I can see that you're really excited about doing this, aren't you?

You can't wait to get going.

I really like this pie, I think it's really tasty.

Beca's use of familiar vegetables is spiced up with a hint of Morocco.

My husband proposed to me when we were in Morocco, you see,

and we had this amazing meal in Marrakech, I just love the colours.

I love Moroccan cuisine, I love Moroccan flavours,

they're really bright, they wake you up and wake your senses.

A cup of tea, a slice of this, it's awesome.

Ali is making an orange, cardamom and date m'hanncha,

translated as a "snake cake".

And are you going to roll it out to what length?

About two metres when I practised at home.

Two metres?! Longer than this bench!

Yeah.

Good luck. Nice flavours, classic flavours, but I like the idea.

The ancient Greek word "filo" means "leaf",

which means it has to be rolled pretty thinly.

The more transparent the pastry, the finer

and flakier the crust will become.

I'm not great, actually, I must admit.

A big sheet, the filo,

so I'm working with kind of more manageable sizes. It takes me

two hours to get all of these rolled out so I need to crack on, really.

I'm using an oklava today -

it's a traditional Turkish rolling pin.

I've got my home-made broomstick.

What I do like about this is the fact that it's quite long,

so when the sheets get bigger,

you know you've got an even thickness of the pastry.

Once rolled, the filo is stretched.

This can be done in several small sections...or as one giant sheet.

Ali, do you need all of that bench?

The thing is, mine's two metres long.

I'll see what I can do, don't worry.

-Sorry, Kimberley.

-No worries.

It's probably the most important bake I'll ever have to do.

The only way I can stay is that mine is good and someone else is bad.

And I love everyone here but I'd prefer it if they said it was me.

-So you're ready to roll?

-I am indeed.

Can I help? Can you show me?

Literally going, "This is my worst nightmare."

Last one!

Now this is the most complicated bit.

That is one large sort of filo snake you need to wrangle.

Yes.

Right, what the heck is that?

-Walnut oil.

-Walnut oil, OK.

-Oh!

In she goes, that's it.

So I'm on time, but there's no time for things to go wrong.

There always is.

I'm well behind schedule. Well behind.

The mushrooms took rather longer to clean than I anticipated.

They cost me probably half an hour more than I thought.

Rob, is there anything I can do to help?

Trust me, if you could...

The best thing for me to do is just leave, maybe. Shall I get my coat?

Yeah, sorry, I'll give you a call.

They all say that.

HE LAUGHS

Bakers, you've got half an hour left on this bake.

Hope that doesn't throw a SPANAKOPITA in the works!

(Excuse me.)

Is anybody up there? The god of crisp?

Please be crispy, please be crispy.

I can feel that it's crisping up, I'm quite happy with that,

it's looking quite good for the moment.

Scruffy.

Bakers, five minutes left. Five minutes.

HE LAUGHS

What a beautiful, beautiful ring.

-Thank you.

-You're welcome.

I'm thinking it's OK.

Oh, dear.

How's that bake looking? What temp have you got it on?

High.

-You said before, this is going to be the devil to get out.

-It is.

Anything can happen in this tent of dreams/nightmares.

Right, OK, what do we need to do?

Oh, man, this is terrifying!

Oh, dear.

It's not good, is it?

I can't watch this.

OK, slowly.

Are we going to the plate?

Easy, easy!

All for one, one for all.

Time's up, bakers, that's it.

Put the pies on the end of your benches, please.

How can I be happy with it? It's quite a scruffy job.

Kimberley, do you want to bring your amazing pie up?

I think the only thing I'm concerned about is that

I tried to do something different from a coil,

and I'm wondering if it looks interesting enough.

It looks as though it's ready for a party.

I like the idea of adding the turmeric as well

to give you that yellow colour.

Beautiful layers of the actual filo pastry.

I have to say that that is absolutely beautiful.

The whole lot comes together as one big explosion in the mouth,

which just tastes and looks fantastic. Well done.

-SUE: I think they liked it.

-Thank you so much.

I think it's cooked through.

I'm not worried about it not being cooked,

but there was a bit of scruffiness that resulted from rushing things.

There you go.

-Is this Pie-thagoras?

-This is Pie-thagoras, yes.

It looks slightly different to the thing that you drew, to be honest.

It just looks like lots of sort of pasties sitting on a tray.

It's under-baked underneath.

Disaster.

The filling is good.

All the moisture in the mushrooms has gone through to the filo

-underneath, that's why it's soggy.

-Yeah.

I am dreading Paul cuts through it, takes a bite

and says he hates it, it's got no flavour.

But I can't do anything about that now,

I've just got to hope that he does like the look of it and the taste.

Again, you've gone to town on the design,

-and we're just hoping that the flavour is there too.

-So am I.

I have an issue with the inside.

There's a reason why baklava is small

and the layers are thin - it's so it can be baked inside.

-There are circles uncooked in the middle.

-Style and substance.

That's a shame.

I don't think for one moment I'm going to be top of the pops,

but it would be good not to be at the bottom.

They look almost individually baked.

They were joined, but they sort of split apart in the bake.

I think you've got your flavours right here.

-The flavours are stunning and you have got a good flake.

-Well done.

Thank you.

Happy with it?

Well, it's a lot better than what I usually knock up,

-so it's an improvement, I guess.

-I appreciate your honesty.

You do know you're on Bake Off, don't you?

-That is beautiful.

-Thank you.

-Well done, Ruby, you've done it again.

-Thank you.

-Cracking.

I love butternut squash.

I just wonder whether all those vegetables go together.

If you had some different textures in there...

I think it loses it because it's all like a mashed potato, basically.

I like that. Flavours complement each other.

And I'm delighted that you've got it off the tin.

I see you had tremendous support from a couple of experts here.

But it landed safely and I think it just looks very elegant. Lovely.

Paul knows a good spanakopita when he eats one.

And it could not taste right. Is it enough?

-Well, who knows?

-Right.

-Oh, hello.

-Lovely layers in there, really nice layers.

You've done really well underneath there. Look. Crisp.

I love it. The flake's there, the taste, the spinach.

-So well done, you've done it.

-Thank you.

-Well done!

It's all going to be in the taste, to be honest,

and that's what's petrifying me right now.

If I mess up on this bake, I'm out.

It seems to have a flake. Let's have a look.

Got a good crispy base.

It tastes good with the almond as well, and the orange coming through.

It's very similar to baklava, and it's not as sweet, which I like.

You have put pistachio nuts on the top.

I'd have liked to see some of those inside as well.

-It would have added another element of texture as well.

-Thank you.

Any idea who is in line for Star Baker?

I thought that Kimberley's was amazing.

I love the flavour of that, with the chicken and bacon,

the turmeric in the shell as well. It was delicious.

She's been very stable as well throughout most of the Bake Off.

Well, I think Ruby has done very well.

She's a student, and she has absolutely no equipment at all,

-and yet she gets success.

-And at the other end of the line?

When Glenn did his pie, the idea sounded great,

but unfortunately the custard was pretty useless, it wasn't

doing anything, and it disappointed me a lot.

And of course he was last on technical.

Who else do you think is in trouble? MARY: Ali.

He made some very poor custard tarts and his pie was just not successful.

Rob had a bit of a nightmare with his mushroom.

He tried to be too clever.

We were looking for something stunning to take our breath away -

it's the Showstopper. It didn't look a Showstopper.

I have one person in mind, who I think has fallen away

from the rest of the pack, and I just need to talk to Mary

to see if we've got the same person.

Hello, bakers. As you know, every week, Paul and Mary

award the accolade of Star Baker, so this week's Star Baker is

someone who produced a cracking tart, someone who puts shrubbery to perfect

effect in a caramel and produced a lovely ring with a piggy crunch.

Well done, Kimberley. Congratulations!

Now, sadly, I'm the bearer of not such joyful tidings.

I'm afraid we can't take all of you on our journey.

There's one person who won't be joining us next week.

And Mary and Paul have decided that that person is...

-..Ali.

-That's fine.

-We're really sorry.

-Ali, come and get a hug.

-We're going to miss you. Double hug, come on.

-It's scary, but go with it.

I don't want to go. Before, I did everything.

I prayed, and my prayer was, please, let me go through.

But if I don't, then I know that's for the best.

'This morning, going into the Showstopper, I was anxious.'

It was scary.

I knew if I got it wrong, I could go,

and I knew if I did all right, it could be safe.

And... Yeah, you start to really care.

Just carry on baking. You're brilliant. You'll get there.

I feel very sorry for Ali, but I'm pleased for myself, obviously.

I'm through to the next week. That's good.

It's a really bittersweet feeling.

I'm clearly happy with myself that I'm still in there,

but it's just really, really sad to see somebody go.

I didn't feel any relief, and that's perfectly honest,

because I was so sad for Ali.

He's just a lovely, kind, nice man,

and I will really miss him.

If you don't keep in touch, I'll kill you.

Kimberley deserved to be Star Baker, she was absolutely fantastic.

Her Showstopper was one of the best things I've tried for ages.

It was great. It's lovely.

It's a really nice endorsement of my baking this weekend,

so I'm really pleased.

The Bake Off meant a hell of a lot to me.

I've learned so much and I'm going to walk out with my head high.

'Next time: The bakers take on biscuits...'

Just drizzle the living heck out of it.

'..with a signature tray bake that sees some crumble...'

-Stop!

-I can't.

-It's just a blackberry!

'..the thinnest Technical Challenge ever...'

Oh, no, I've got a break.

'And a Showstopper...'

A Dalek.

'..that puts their Bake Off dreams in the balance.'

Oh, I feel sick baking this.

Yes, you're OK.

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