Sweet Dough The Great British Bake Off

We're over halfway through the bake off

and a good half-stone heavier.

So far, we have consumed 13 sandwich cakes, 497,000 breadsticks,

11 tartlets, two tray bakes and a large macaroon.

I say we, it's just me, but I have an excellent truss maker. Welcome...

To the Great British Bake Off!

'Last time...'

I literally just want to shove the whole spoon in my mouth.

'..Frances' dreams of becoming Star Baker...' Oh!

'..collapsed!'

-'Christine triumphed...'

-I am feeling ecstatic!

'..Kimberley, Ruby and Howard clung on...'

Oh, I just don't want to be in that position again.

I'm pleased that they like my bakes more than I seem to.

I'd already booked my cab home.

'..but it was Rob's biscuits that saw him "exterminated!"'

I'm going to take a few days off from baking.

-I suspect that is fairly normal.

-'Now the seven remaining bakers...'

I'm scared this is a sign.

'..must put their signature on tea-time...'

Ooh! Slightly scary when you did that, mate.

'..unravel Paul's twisted technical...'

Am I reading this right? Oh, gosh!

'..and deliver 168...'

I never bake with this sort of concentration or speed ever.

-'..show-stopping sweet buns.'

-There is going to be no panic.

Who am I kidding?

'But whose dough will be sweetest...'

It is kind of hypnotic after a while, isn't it?

'..and whose bake off...'

-Mine has gone splat.

-'..is about to come to a bitter end?'

-I can't eat this.

-I think it's probably inevitable.

Due to a new ruling from the BBC, we are

no longer allowed to make puns about buns.

-Welcome to sweet dough week.

-Thank you.

There are seven of us left now,

and all seven of us want to get to the final.

Although it is a competition, we do help each other out.

It is a learning and sharing experience at the minute.

Feel free to throw up at any point.

I am just putting my family

and friends through the mill at the moment.

Each week I say, "This might be the week I go,"

and then I've been like, "No, actually, I've got through,"

and it has been causing such a lot of stress for them.

Everyone at school is sort of really proud and chuffed.

"You're still in! You're still in!"

And then just the odd person that is, "Really? Still in? Hmm."

Hello, bakers. Welcome to this, your signature sweet tea loaf.

You can make any loaf you like.

It could be the classic Welsh Bara Brith, apologies for pronunciation,

or the Barm Brack from Ireland, or - my own favourite - the Croydon cob,

which also doubles up as a weapon for close hand-to-hand combat.

Paul and Mary would like you to use yeast.

Any other ingredients are completely up to you.

It can be baked in a tin or free-form and you've got three hours

on your Signature Challenge, so on your marks...

-Get set...

-Bake!

A tea loaf is a sweet yeasted bread, traditionally served at tea-time

and often flavoured with fruits and spices.

All of our bakers have chosen to make theirs with enriched dough.

The difficulty with a tea loaf is, because most of the time

you're going to put sugar in or butter or eggs,

any one of those things retards the yeast, it just slows it up,

so they have got to utilise the time perfectly.

I think three hours is absolutely fine to make a tea loaf.

If they are sensible, they will do it in one pound tins.

I want ones that look evenly baked and are absolutely full of flavour.

I've got my sultanas here, infusing in some Assam tea.

I won't be doing the apricots

because they're quite plump-cious anyway.

Plump-cious, it's a nice word, isn't it?

Don't know if it exists but it sounds good.

Christine's recipe for an Oxford nutty tea loaf has been created

to perfectly complement a cheese made near her home town.

I am creating it and I come from near Oxford,

hence it is going to be the Oxford loaf.

It would be lovely if it took off, wouldn't it?

This is sort of like a chai latte I have got

going on in here at the moment.

Chai is a spiced Indian tea drink flavoured with, like, cinnamon,

cardamom and ginger.

When cut, Frances' chai tea loaf will reveal a cinnamon swirl

and, unsurprisingly, she has also given some thought to presentation.

Here we go. Here we go.

The idea is it just sits in there

and then its little head just sort of pops up.

So it looks like a massive, mad, cinnamon cappuccino bun.

Getting a great texture on the bread is key

and when you start folding dough, in the time that you've got,

you've got to make sure that the structure is good.

-Good luck with that one.

-Thank you.

Frances is not the only baker using chai tea.

I think I'd call myself a bit of a flavour magpie.

There are so many flavours and spices

and food experiences out there that if I go back to a recipe,

I will always shift it up a little bit.

Kimberley is making a chai spiced date and ginger tea loaf,

and adding an extra layer of flavour.

I'm going to ripple chai spiced butter through it, which is

a mixture of green cardamom, ginger, black cardamom, cinnamon

and some palm sugar. When you cut through it,

you'll see the kind of ripples of the spices through it.

I've just realised that I've put my mix into the bowl

of my weighing scale, instead of into a mixing bowl.

Howard's tea loaf features a controversial ingredient,

which has never before appeared on the bake off.

I've just put the ordinary bread flour in here

and I am now adding some hemp flour, which is from Yorkshire.

It is locally-sourced hemp flour.

Howard's healthy hemp and date loaf is made with yoghurt

-and will be kneaded with hemp oil.

-I know nothing about hemp.

-Is it a grass?

-It is.

-How can we describe hemp to you, Mary?

Let's just say this is the legal side of hemp, so there's

an illegal side and a legal side and it is very, very good for you.

-You've got loads of omega-3...

-It has, yeah.

-The seeds here but the leaf, as Sue said...

-Is naughty cigarettes, Mary.

-And the flour is the ground-up inside of the seed?

-It is, yeah.

The oil is extracted.

I am using some hemp oil as well, for actually rolling it out.

I think the whole idea of using hemp is going to be fascinating -

to see what type of flavour is going to come through.

I have never had one before, so it is going to be different for me.

Time is not on the bakers' side.

The additional ingredients in a tea loaf risk retarding the yeast

and weighing down the dough, dramatically slowing the rise.

I know the bread has got to go in the oven,

50 minutes before the end of the time, so then I work

backwards on proving for this, proving for that, mixing for this.

The quicker they can combine their ingredients...

Just check that it's reached the right stage in terms of

the development of the gluten. That's quite good.

..the more precious time they will have for their dough to prove.

I even got my clingfilm ready for my bowl,

so I am trying to be organised.

The panic time actually has to be now.

I really have to be focused now.

It needs to be properly proven, it needs to be proving very soon.

This is barely a dough, it is a batter.

If it rises properly, it ends up being quite light.

Glenn lives in Devon, so his saffron and nutmeg tea loaf is

a West Country take on a classic Italian sweet bread.

I wanted to do something that was regional,

so I married the flavours of the Cornish saffron bun with panettone.

-That sounds like an adventure to me.

-It is, yeah.

True panettone - how are you going to cool it?

I am not going to cool it upside down,

because I haven't got the structure.

So when you say panettone,

what you're actually talking about is a panettone tin.

Calling it panettone, you're in trouble from him.

I like to do signature bakes that are true to me

and true to my upbringing.

I think Mary would have been a little bit upset

and disappointed if I wasn't going to make Bara Brith,

to be honest with you.

Beca's classic Welsh Bara Brith is straight out of her

grandmother's cookbook, but the pressure of the bake off is

beginning to make her question her family recipes.

I find it difficult to mix

the fruit into the dough after its first prove.

Does it matter when I add the fruit to the dough?

-Yeah, I've got my way of doing it.

-Care to share that?

-He's not going to tell you!

-I can't tell you.

-It's not fair for me to tell you now.

-OK.

-I'll tell you after, and the reason why. Good luck, Beca.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

-Maybe, if you're lucky,

-he'll give you the answers later on.

-Doubt it!

-I'm on tenterhooks!

-I doubt it very much!

To be honest, you've put it in already,

-I would've put it in later.

-Well, there we go. I knew you were going to say that.

Kneading enriched dough is even more important

than with a standard bread dough.

My dad used to say to me

when I was making dough, "Son, you've got two hands.

"I am going to half your wages

"because you are not using the other one."

The gluten takes longer to build and must support the heavier,

wetter dough as it rises.

And then it needs to prove for at least an hour.

Whoopsie!

Now I just hope that the yeast was happy and it's all going to work.

It hasn't proved as much as I was hoping.

"You shouldn't have put the fruit in first."

I think the fruit has inhibited the first rise a little bit.

I think you can put fruit in before it has its first prove,

but it slows it down because it, literally, weighs it down

and as well, because I have so much citrus zest,

that acidity can interfere with the yeast, so it's better for me

to leave it till after that first prove.

Ruby's citrus tea loaf is flavoured with oranges and lemons,

glazed with a bitter orange marmalade

and topped with freshly candied orange and lemon slices.

I have had to plan it down to the second because I don't want another

one of those challenges where I am rushing around at the last-minute.

At the moment,

I am actually a couple of minutes ahead of schedule, so that's good.

Ruby, Christine and Beca are all relying on traditional bread tins

to shape their loaves.

This is quite important. I want a nice smooth top.

Howard has bravely opted for a looser approach.

Just get this into a reasonably round cob shape.

But Kimberley and Frances are even more ambitious.

I'm going to flatten it out, spread a spice butter through it.

I am just going to spread over the sugar, cinnamon,

a bit of cardamom, a bit of ginger -

all the flavours you would get in chai.

And now I'm just going to make a sausage,

cut that into three, plait it and then shape that into the tin.

Now I sort of coil it up, a bit like a fan.

The key thing is to try and keep it quite tight,

but I have been finding at home, sometimes the swirl is so tight,

it disappears.

Perfect!

-After one final prove...

-Urgh! It doesn't look enough at all.

I suppose it's there. And I want it to come to there.

..the bakers should've ensured they have enough remaining time

-for their tea loaves to bake evenly.

-Go on, little bun.

I can just hear his voice now. "Under-proved. Under-worked."

The Welsh speciality Bara Brith is not just a tea loaf,

it is a source of national pride.

In 1865, the speckled loaf was transformed in a place far,

far from the green valleys of home.

During the late 1700s, towns like Blaenavon

in the Welsh Valleys were transformed into centres

of industry, mined for their natural resources.

Families came from all over Wales to find work

and lived in purpose-built houses.

Families were packed into these

tiny cottages with a tiny little fireplace,

boiling water on one side and an oven on the other side,

as the cooking facilities were really limited.

With such a small oven, it was impossible to bake enough bread

to feed the whole family, so the workers shared big communal ovens.

They would bake lots of bread for the whole week

and at the end of baking day, there was a tiny bit of dough left

and currants and sultanas, raisins and spice

and sugar were poked into the dough,

and that is the beginning of Bara Brith, or speckled bread.

The recipe for Bara Brith has many regional variations across Wales.

However, the core ingredients of tea,

raisins and currants remain the same.

But one variation of Bara Brith can trace its origins much

further afield.

My great-grandfather Thomas Austin was one of

153 people who emigrated from Wales to Patagonia in 1865.

The majority of the settlers had come from industrial towns

and had little knowledge of how to work the land.

They relied on trade with two local tribes,

the Pampas and the Tehuelches

to provide them with everyday ingredients,

resulting in a reinvention of the Bara Brith.

As you can see, this cake is much darker than the Bara Brith.

That is why the settlers called it torta negra, which means black cake.

Wheat was in short supply so to help it last in the heat,

the torta negra was filled with molasses and even more fruit

and nuts than the Bara Brith. But this wasn't the only difference.

To make Bara Brith, they soak the fruit in tea.

The new version is soaked overnight in rum.

Recipes for Bara Brith and torta negra have been

passed down through generations and are still enjoyed

today in both the Welsh Valleys and the plains of Patagonia.

Bakers, that's half an hour left on your loaves. Half an hour left.

Oh, that looks lovely!

-I could cry.

-Why?

-It should be higher than that.

Should it? I think mine's spread. Mine has gone splat.

You have said in the past, "This is going to be terrible,"

and it has come out fine.

No, it won't, Mel. It's not going to be fine.

-It is so frustrating!

-Come on, punch it out. Right. I'll hold him.

Come on! That's good. Get out the tension.

Glenn has also found a way to distract himself.

I have changed my plans.

I am rigging up a contraption to allow me

to cool my panettone upside down

in the traditional style, hinted at by Paul's question,

"How will you be cooling your panettone?"

Panettone is lighter than standard sweet breads,

so unless Glenn can rest it upside down,

he risks it sinking as it cools.

My late stepdad,

he had boundless belief in the ability of a bloke and some

string or some gaffer tape or a wire clothes hook and he would fix, or

attempt to fix, and usually manage to fix pretty much anything with

one or all of those three ingredients.

Linton, if you are watching, this botched job is in your honour.

Beautiful!

OK, bakers, glaze those sweet breads,

you have 15 minutes. Just 15 minutes left.

Oh, no. It's terribly wrong. It has split.

It's under-proved, that's why it's split.

-Oh, that has come out clean.

-Yes!

-Right.

-That looks amazing.

Is it going to fall through?

Slightly scary when you did that, mate. Is that... Is that...

-deep in enough? It's not just all going to...

-It's going to be fine.

-It's going to be fine.

-OK.

It just looks very amateurish, not what I wanted.

All in all, not a good bake.

Look. It's like a little bottom!

That is marvellous!

OK, bakers, time is up on your Signature Challenge.

Please put the tea loaves at the end of your benches.

Give me a hug, Howard. Give me a hug.

HOWARD CHUCKLES

Each of the tea loaves will now be judged by Paul and Mary.

You start with your eyes and that looks... Wow! I want to taste that.

I love this deep citrus flavour.

I think your oven was too hot

because it's slightly doughy inside,

but the flavours are excellent

and it is a great flavour inside and it looks good.

Thank you very much, Ruby.

-It looks as though it's going to be rather good for me.

-Right.

The hemp itself is quite pungent in the end in spice, which

-I don't like. It sort of dries out your palate.

-It is different.

-OK, thank you.

-Thank you.

-There is a bit of spring back.

-It has been mixed properly.

I like the addition of the cranberries.

That is the best bake you could have done

-with the prove that you had.

-OK.

It's a lovely colour.

It is definitely under-baked.

As soon as you put it in your mouth...it just goes to dough.

-But the flavours are there.

-I like that sharpness.

I like the saffron, I like the orange,

but unfortunately it is under-baked.

-It needed longer in the oven, longer proving for sure.

-OK.

-Oh, dear, it's so doughy inside and it's not well risen.

-Horrible.

-I can't eat this.

-No, I'm not surprised.

It will not do my insides very good at all.

The key point with an enriched dough is the proving.

Several people have had difficulty in getting it done in the time.

A smaller loaf takes a shorter time to rise -

therefore choose a smaller loaf.

-See in there?

-Mmm.

-I love the flavour.

-I love spices.

-It's delicious.

The flavour is good, the idea is good,

but it is under-proved and under-baked.

Look at that.

I really like it, just a bit boring on the outside,

but inside it's well baked.

The flavour of the cinnamon is good, it doesn't overwhelm

because of the blend of the sugar as well.

I think it's a very attractive loaf.

We are always very excited when you do something totally original.

-Thank you.

-Lovely.

-Thank you very much.

I think for once, actually,

I could have done with a bit more style as far as the bit on the top.

I was thinking icing sugar.

I did it at home a little bit, with an icing sugar stencil,

but I think I was just like, "It might over-gild that teacup."

Ugh! It's really frustrating. Just...

So frustrated that I just don't seem to be able to

nail the signature bakes.

It didn't work at all at home,

so at least it's an improvement on that.

Positives, find the positives.

I have no idea what went wrong.

I made it exactly the same as I had at home,

both times it's gone right.

It's bread, it's baking, it's what it does.

'One sweet dough challenge down, two remaining for the bakers.

'Their next is a total mystery.'

Welcome to your beloved technical challenge.

You will be pleased to hear this afternoon

that it is one of Paul's recipes.

So, before he says something that we all might regret,

Paul, Mary, off you go.

So, the technical challenge this afternoon is an apricot couronne.

A traditional French sweet loaf.

We need enriched dough, apricots, twisted,

then formed into a crown shape.

You have got two-and-three-quarter hours in which to bake it,

-so on your marks...

-Get set... BOTH:

-Bake.

I know what they look like, so hopefully I can replicate one.

I think it's like a sort of twisted, round thing.

I think you do it a bit like a Swiss roll or a Chelsea bun

and then you split it in half.

I might as well be doing this entire challenge like this,

because that is how much of an idea I have.

An old favourite, Mary. An apricot couronne.

It looks absolutely beautiful.

-Would you like to try some, Mary?

-I would.

-It's absolutely delicious.

-I hope they don't mess up my recipe.

The first thing they have got to do is prepare the dough.

Once it's risen, they have to roll it out into a rectangle,

then they smother the filling on the top. This is the tricky bit.

I knew there must be something tricky.

Once the filling has gone in, they have to cut down the middle

of the length of the bread dough itself

and expose all the interior, and then twist it together

and then join it together to form a halo.

Have you told them how long to bake it, or is that up to them?

-No, that is entirely up to them.

-You're very cruel.

-Oh, yes.

This doesn't fill me with dread like others do. So, that's positive.

'Enriched couronne dough is a mixture of flour,

'yeast, salt, butter and eggs.'

Have you got any more milk?

'Milk is used instead of water to break down the chemical structure

'which should result in a light dough.'

I think it needs to be working for 8-10 minutes. It feels nice.

'The bakers must knead their dough well, or their sweet couronnes

'will spread out flat instead of rise.'

It is getting there, but it's not there yet.

Do you think they'll notice those two grams

I just threw on the floor?

I'm scared this is a sign.

'As their dough proves...

Can I use the oven, rather than the drawer?

'..the bakers should prepare their filling.'

Cream, butter and sugar, and mix in the remaining ingredients.

So, we've got apricots, there's flour,

raisins, walnuts and orange zest.

We have ignition.

It is such a relief to see my dough rising,

which I didn't see this morning.

'Paul's recipe doesn't state how long to prove the dough.'

I'm just debating whether to be the first one

to get my dough out or not.

If everybody is waiting for somebody else to do it,

then we might be here all night.

So, I'm thinking, should I go for it?

I'm thinking that's probably ready to start working.

It just says, roll out the dough into a rectangle.

Near enough a rectangle to me.

Then it says, spread the apricot mixture over the dough.

It's all guesswork.

Roll up the dough and then cut it in half.

How do you roll it up and then cut it into two?

Do you roll it that way, am I reading this right? Oh, gosh.

I think I am going to have to go with it.

'Unless they roll the dough tightly and evenly...'

You won't want to be chewing through half an inch of filling.

'..the couronne will lose its distinctive layers.'

OK, rolled, all good.

-What's next?

-Cut.

-So, you're leaving a bit at the top.

Twist the two dough lengths together.

Does it mean twist over each other, twist round?

I hadn't thought about that. Twist the two together.

-Twist the two together, my love.

-OK, so that means do that.

Why are you keeping the filling upright?

Because that's just the way I've seen it.

That looks crown-like, doesn't it?

Something that Robert Powell would be happy to wear.

Do it tight.

'Without a second prove, the twist will inhibit the dough's

'rise in the oven, resulting in a dense couronne.'

I believe this giant bag may have something to do with it.

'But without a cover,

'a skin will form, causing the surface

'to become tough and leathery when baked.'

-Is that going to work?

-Yeah.

-Prove it.

THEY LAUGH

Oh, hello. That's a crown and a half.

It's a bit big, isn't it?

I've just seen Howard's.

It's not big enough. Howard's - twice as big.

That's what it should look like, not that.

How long have you got left?

I don't know how long I've got left cos I don't know how long I need.

From the picture I remember,

I don't remember seeing loads of filling coming out.

-I could be wrong.

-It sounds harder than it is.

It's just a Chelsea bun by any other name.

Yeah. Truly.

Of course, it says "bake".

What does that mean, bake?

Bakers, that's half an hour left on your couronnes.

I put a hat on it because it was browning too quickly,

which worries me.

I think because I've got more cuts on it than some people,

so my filling is more exposed,

it means the sugar in the filling is browning more quickly.

I just need to keep an eye on that.

I've not done too bad for time, which is why I am slightly

unsure why everybody else seems to be a little bit behind me.

-Heaven forbid, I might have got it right!

-Couronne, that looks good.

That's quite a turban-esque type of crown.

-Yes, I didn't want it to spill out too much filling.

-Sure.

I'm happy the shape has got a nice twist to it.

Five minutes left, bakers,

and the crowns need to be at the ends of the benches.

Doesn't glazing transform everything?

It's kind of hypnotic after a while, isn't it?

Bakers, time is up. Couronnes on your boards, please.

Now your rings must face the judgment of Paul.

'Paul and Mary will have no idea who made which couronne.'

Actually, looking at these, they all look pretty good,

but we have got to try it first.

-For you to say they're all looking pretty good...

-Don't start, Mary.

Let's just start over here.

I quite like this one, see the way the filling is all exposed,

-the icing is good on it, as well.

-It's a good bake underneath too.

Good amount of filling in there,

great texture, good bake, nice colour.

Moving onto the next one, not much filling exposed,

you can see little bits.

They could have done with slightly more open twists.

Not quite as even, this end is thin, this end is thick.

Not as much orange coming through in that one.

Again, this is a little bit too thin, it needs to be thicker.

They have rolled it out too much. The bake looks good.

It's really full of fruit.

Moving onto this one, the icing is good, almonds, good.

It's exposing the filling, which I like as well.

Nice texture, the fruit is fairly even.

A bit thin, this one.

You can see where the filling is exposed on the outside

and not all the way through.

It just goes to show that it wasn't spread evenly.

Now this one, with all this open side

showing through, makes it look more tempting and delicious.

Nice size, and it's quite even all the way round.

-Good icing, that is a nice couronne.

-It looks almost perfect.

Moving on to the last one.

A bit too much icing on that, you can't see what is going on.

-It needs to be lighter, it's a bit clumsy on the icing.

-Well baked.

It is well baked, yeah. You can see the filling, it's unusual.

-It's not really even.

-But what a good batch we've had this time.

I'm impressed, they're all baked, they all tasted good.

This is going to be difficult to judge.

'But whose couronne will see them crowned winner

'of the sweet dough technical challenge?'

In seventh place is this one, whose is this?

It was too thin, all the filling was round the outside

and it could have done with a slightly deeper colour as well.

And in sixth place, this one here.

This is a little bit clumsy

and the distribution of the fruit is not very even.

'Glenn is fifth, Christine fourth, and Kimberley secures third place.'

In second place, who is that?

The flavour was there, lovely finish, good colour.

And in first place is this one.

APPLAUSE

Well done, Ruby.

Excellent ripple all the way through, filling's all exposed.

That looks like the one I would have done, well done.

I'm so proud of myself,

I never thought I would get first in a technical, so I'm really happy.

They all looked and tasted great so a good technical all-round.

All-round a couronne. That's how you say it.

Mary said it was a bit clumsy, but I'm not bothered, to be honest.

It was baked, it tasted good, there was a good colour.

I think they just didn't like the thick icing, which is fine.

I quite like the thick icing.

Oh! That was really annoying!

So frustrating because it was the first technical bake that I've enjoyed.

'For their third and final challenge, Paul and Mary have made a change.'

Now, bakers, normally after the technical challenge

we would send you home.

But it's sweet dough week and we know these take time,

so we are going to set you off

on your Showstopper Challenge right now, this evening.

We need you to make two different varieties of European sweet buns.

12 of each.

These can be either French brioche or a German schnecken.

Basically, this challenge is Nigel Farage's worst nightmare.

You have 30 minutes to start your dough tonight

and that's in advance of a four-hour bake tomorrow.

-So, on your marks...

-Get set... BOTH:

-Bake.

'Most of the bakers are attempting brioche.

'The large amount of eggs and butter in the dough

'means a long, slow prove is crucial.'

By the time you have added all the eggs, all the butter,

the dough is sloppy. It's like a batter.

So you chill the dough for 12 hours, that solidifies the butter,

then it becomes a malleable dough, then you can shape it.

It needs to rest for a minimum 8-12 hours, realistically.

They have got to be organised and creative.

They have got to make full use of this half-hour.

Would have liked longer, but, you know...

I am adding in the zest of an orange and lemon.

I think the flavours help, sitting there overnight.

I am making a apricot and almond brioche.

The chocolate one is a brioche,

but I have added melted chocolate to the mix.

I have got saffron in my dough

which gives it quite a nice, yellowy colour.

It has been a very long day

and I think we are all a little bit tired and a bit weary now.

Hopefully, it'll have a good night.

'Four hours remaining.

'By making their fillings first,

'the bakers can allow their dough even more time to prove.'

I'm toasting my almonds at the moment, which

I must not forget about, otherwise they will burn.

These are my prunes that have been soaking in rum for about five days.

When I was thinking about flavours I wanted something quite rich.

I just thought, let's use a bit of booze.

'As well as her prune and chocolate brioche buns,

'Beca is making a British tea-time favourite with a twist.'

It's a traditional English lemon iced finger, spiced with cardamoms.

-That works? The cardamom?

-It's beautiful.

-He's an expert in buns.

I like iced buns, yeah.

I am an expert in eating them as well, if I'm honest.

I'm just measuring out some golden syrup

and that's going into this, which is butter and brown sugar.

You can't always be good in life.

You've got to go naughty sometimes.

'Christine's naughty buns are cherry and raisin German schnecken,

'named after their snail shape.

'The second batch are skolebrod from Norway,

'filled with vanilla custard and home-made strawberry jam.'

It's a traditional school bun

that children took to school in their lunchboxes.

-So it means school bun?

-It does.

-Lovely.

-Lucky children...

-I know.

-..to have such lovely buns.

-Well, we'll see, won't we?

-Hopefully we will, Mary, we will.

'The fillings should now be added to the rested dough.'

It looks good, happy with it.

I needed it to double in size - it has,

although it's a little bit too cold, I think, in that fridge, actually.

I can't get it out. It's wedged in.

I'm feeling focused and determined, but I don't think

I need to flap, I just need to do everything really well.

'Glenn is using a vanilla-infused dough for his almond

'and apricot brioche buns.

'He is also making Swedish cinnamon swirls or kanelbullen

'with the addition of a sticky caramel topping.'

I put some of the caramel in the bottom with some hazelnuts.

They are twisted like a ball of yarn, it's weird, but it works.

-Full of confidence?

-Well...

-It's about consistency with this one.

-Yeah.

I'm making peachy buns.

The peachy buns have pieces of peach inside wrapped in a marzipan.

'Howard is hoping to create peach-filled brioche buns

'that look like real peaches.

'And German-inspired cinnamon baumschnecken.'

-What is a schnecken, Howard?

-It is basically a snail shape.

-Aww.

-Cute.

You're a little schnecken, Howard. You are.

-Thank you.

-Thank you?

-You are a little snail, and you say thank you?

-I need compliments.

I'm going to be making a kumquat marmalade

to fill my chocolate brioche.

They are kind of perfect for a quick marmalade

because they are both sweet and sour.

And the skins are so thin, they are edible anyway.

You are supposed to eat them whole.

So I don't have to boil them down for two hours before I get started,

I can just make a very quick marmalade in about half an hour.

'Kimberley is making double chocolate brioche filled with kumquat marmalade

'along with her Danish kanelsnurrer filled with

'chamomile, apricot and swirled with almond cream.'

Are you feeling quietly confident? You look around and think,

"Hello, I can take this lot down."

People have, like, stealth-baking personalities.

-Everybody has this kind of quiet style.

-Who is Beca?

Beca is just solid. Beca all the way through, boom, boom.

We are just psychologically profiling you.

She is a trained health care professional. Fact.

Ruby is like the baking ninja, she's amazing.

Do you think it's all just like really random, done it?

-What is Glenn?

-A flavour machine, and lots of skill.

-Howard?

Howard is really interesting flavour combinations.

I like to see Howard as a maverick.

He will not be tamed.

He is the wild one. Christine?

Christine, absolutely consistent.

Your intonation slightly changed there, I think

Christine might worry you. And what about Frances?

Frances is just our design guru - gem, she's amazing.

-You really have profiled everyone, haven't you?

-Yeah.

There really is...

I'm imagining a dungeon, or a basement level, certainly. Just faces.

I'm not going to look you in the eye now,

I'm just going to walk away slowly.

-Listen, have a good bake.

-Thanks.

OK, bakers, you're halfway through.

It's very much in the baking interval.

Bring out the dancing girls with the segmented oranges. Half-time.

'The sweet dough has to be rolled, filled

'and shaped quickly enough to allow time for a crucial second prove.'

I am just going to spread on the prune.

Look at that, that's like a visual of nappy change time, isn't it?

-Smell it.

-Oh, is there alcohol in that? Goodbye.

This is the dough for my cardamom buns.

That's like a cardamom butter.

When I'm at home, I'm kind of watching TV

and that whilst I'm baking.

I take a break every now and again, then I get distracted.

I never bake with this sort of concentration or speed, ever.

'Ruby's lemon and chocolate twisted buns are her

'take on the Swedish kanelbullar.

'She's also making saffron-scented St Lucia buns filled with currants.'

Just about to start shaping, I have to twist like this

and then cross them over. And then they keep that twist.

I might just make them a tiny bit smaller,

I just need to cut off the ends.

Paul and Mary will be expecting both sets of buns to be

uniform in both appearance and size.

Half of nine is four and a half.

Threes into four and a half is one and a half, isn't it?

Oh, that's worked out perfectly.

Five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven.

But where's the twelfth one gone? What's wrong with me?

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight,

nine, ten, eleven, twelve.

You're playing with my mind!

I feel good coming on the back of yesterday's bakes,

but I just seem to have a track record of doing two out of three,

so it would be nice to sort of get the hat-trick.

Frances has devised a giant baked game of noughts and crosses.

Her fruity cinnamon hot-cross brioche

will be joined by her kolache noughts.

-Tell me about the kolache.

-Yes, what is a kolache?

So, it's a Czech sweet bun and I'm filling that with rhubarb

and then a little bit of strawberry, just to get a bit more colour

going on in there, and then covering it in a creme pat,

baking them in the oven and then glazing them slightly, as well.

-Good luck, see you later.

-Thank you.

The bakers have just one hour left to prove

and bake all 24 of their shaped and filled sweet buns.

I'm looking for elevation.

Well, don't you forget, they're going in here. Oh, hello.

That was a kolache on the head.

Erm...

I don't know what you're talking about.

Bath is famous for its history, architecture

and of course, its baths.

But it's also become renowned for a brioche-type bake which was

the bun de jour for the Georgian chattering classes.

Throughout the 18th century,

the aristocracy flocked to spa towns like Bath for the healing waters

and to indulge in fine food in exclusive surroundings.

For the Georgian glitterati, there was

only one bun to be seen eating and that was the Sally Lunn.

A brioche whose life, it is said,

began in Lilliput Alley 100 years earlier.

The Sally Lunn is said to be named after

its French creator, Solange Luyon,

who changed her name to make it easier for the English to understand.

Who was Sally Lunn and why were her buns so famous?

The legend is that she was a French Huguenot refugee,

-fleeing the troubles in France...

-OK.

-..who arrived here at some point

at the end of the 17th century, set up shop here, started selling

fortified French brioche-style buns and thus a legend was born.

So, how did Sally, or Solange, go about actually making these buns?

They are basically a brioche dough,

so, butter, milk or cream, eggs, sugar and then baking them in

what we call today a faggot oven,

which is effectively a brick-built structure,

put in your buns, let your buns cook, open the door...

-Boom.

-Bun heaven.

-Hot buns.

100 years after its introduction to Bath,

the Sally Lunn went on to become the toast of the town when it became

the bun of choice for those who visited the

pleasure gardens of Georgian Bath.

So, what was the deal with pleasure gardens and the Georgians?

Why were they such a sensation?

They were sort of a unique space where everybody would come for

public breakfasts or evening galas.

It is all about wearing your finest clothes and

coming and meeting people, all of Bath society coming here.

-And showing off.

-And showing off.

Wealthy visitors paid to enter these landscaped gardens

and were entertained with live music, fairground rides and a labyrinth.

They would dine outdoors, eating fine food,

served at what were known as public breakfasts.

I'm guessing that the Sally Lunn bun would have featured quite

heavily in the public breakfasts, is that right?

-Absolutely, the Sally Lunn bun was served here.

-How was it served?

-They would split them open...

-Oh, ripping?

-Rip them open.

Oh, I like that.

-Oh, that's a lovely smell, isn't it?

-Yes, it's lovely.

-And what would you have eaten with it?

-Lots of lovely, fresh butter.

Which was very expensive in the 18th century, so very fine, white bread,

lovely, fresh butter.

Matthew, I'm going in, I'm sorry, do you mind?

-Good?

-That's really nice. They're very, very delicious.

Sally Lunn, I salute you and your hot buns.

-GERMAN ACCENT:

-Achtung, my lovely bakers,

you have half an hour for your sweet buns.

They are ready for the oven.

I'm laying some spoons across the top of these,

so that when they're baked in the oven,

you get a little bit of the cleft that you would normally

get in a peach.

Due to their small size,

baking times for buns is perilously short.

Just one minute out could ruin both colour and texture.

And both batches will bake at a completely different speed.

-Hello.

-Some are browning at a different rate than others,

so I'm going to swap them over.

I wouldn't usually mess around with this,

but I'd like them all to be as similar as possible.

Never known buns that big.

Five minutes - the bun countdown has begun.

Everything is still fine, time wise. There's going to be no panic.

Who am I kidding?

I'm going to be close to the wire with my schnecken.

Look how much smaller mine are than other people's!

I'm happy with those, but those are monsters, so...

-How beastly are they?

-Very.

Bakers, you've got one minute left on your buns.

They aren't out.

Just do it upside down now.

-Oh, no, that was a crap idea.

-Sorry.

-OK.

-I'm stepping out.

Bakers, that's it, time is literally up.

Come on, over the bench. Some over-bench loving.

-Thank you.

-Go on.

I came into today thinking that I've got to have a good showstopper.

And I feel I've done that.

The flavours in that, the textures are good.

-Almost like a doughnut, only much more fun.

-Yes, yes.

And of course, baked in the oven.

You've got that hit of the jam and the custard, as well.

I do like them a lot.

You've got a lovely whack of fruit in there.

I think those are absolutely scrummy, really moist, nice texture.

That's delicious and a nice blend of the cinnamon as well,

and the caramel really works as a sugar.

-I'm impressed, I think they're very nice.

-Thank you.

-Well done.

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you.

I have never, ever created buns as big as that.

They're like buns on steroids.

You'd certainly get your money's worth if I was

selling them in a bakery.

It does taste lovely and they are baked well,

but they are over-proved. You can see that,

because they've risen and obviously they've just collapsed.

Oh.

That's good. Quite different. Really nice.

-It's just a shame about the hot cross bun.

-I know.

The peachy buns turned out better than they've done in practice,

so I'm quite pleased with that.

I'm hoping that the flavour is as good as the appearance.

They really look inviting, don't they?

They do look just like peaches, I think they're fantastic.

-I can't taste the peach.

-Oh, right.

-It's dissolved.

-No, there's definitely no peach.

-Right.

-The bake's good, though, but it is quite bland.

-Right, OK.

It's very dry.

All the butter's fallen out the dough

and left a biscuit-like finish.

-Right, OK.

-Thank you.

-Thanks.

-I'm sorry.

-Why?

I don't know what I was thinking, I just left them in the oven and they're like biscuits.

They would have been good last week.

You always come looking forlorn and saying, "If only..."

-Don't tell us too much, we'll make up our minds.

-Hold it back, Rubes.

Yeah, exactly.

-They're delicious.

-They are.

The flavours in there are amazing, you've got the crunch, as well.

-I don't think they're over-baked, actually.

-Wow.

-I was expecting them to be really dry.

-So was I.

Especially as you'd warned us that they were going to be dry.

-Let that be a lesson learnt.

-OK.

I like these. I do.

-I'm impressed.

-Thank you.

-Thanks, Ruby.

I would say they needed longer proving, they needed more rise.

-Not overwhelmed with the flavour.

-OK.

-I'm not getting the almond cream, are you getting it?

-No, no.

I'm not getting almond cream at all.

Let's have a look at one of these chocolate brioches.

I love the chocolate flavour.

-But I think they're a little under-baked in the middle.

-OK.

I feel absolutely idiotic.

They just look shocking.

I'll give you a fair crack of the whip

and go for the one in the middle.

Sadly, this is something that really hasn't worked.

What you've actually got is a very, very sharp, sour-tasting cinnamon.

-It doesn't taste good, have you tried one of these yet?

-No.

You need to try one of these.

Let's try the brioche.

Apricot has just been plonked on the top like that. They look awful.

Let's hope they taste good.

They taste good, but they're dry. Even with that lovely filling.

It's a pity. Overcooked.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

I do like the look of these guys, these look fantastic.

Let's have a look at the brioche.

Great brioche.

Adding a prune, which is sharp and hits it, just overwhelms everything.

-It doesn't go with a very, very nice brioche.

-Yeah.

I'm not sure about that sort of look on top of an iced bun.

-I love iced buns.

-Traditionalist, yeah?

I like the lemon icing.

The bake on it is excellent, the texture's good -

-it's a nice iced bun.

-Good, thank you.

Paul and Mary must now decide who will be this week's Star Baker

and whose Bake Off has come to an end.

OK, so, overall, there are a couple of people that excelled.

Firstly, Frances.

Has she still done enough to merit potentially Star Baker?

I think she's done well. Her rhubarb and custard were delicious.

But I think Ruby, too, you know, there she arrived,

all forlorn, telling us she'd burnt her chocolate buns,

she had not and they were absolutely scrummy.

Howard, he needed to pull something out of the bag today,

-do you think he's done that?

-Those things there are over-proved.

-And the peach ones didn't taste of peach!

-The peach had disappeared.

How disappointing was that?

Poor Glenn had a bit of a shocker today.

He started off really well and he thought he was pacing himself.

But he had such trouble turning out his spiral buns, they were a mess.

Glenn's apricot buns were just too dry, you can't just stick apricot

on the top of icing and expect it to be good.

So, Paul and Mary, in terms of who leaves today,

it seems as if there are possibly two that are up for debate?

-Yeah.

-That might be going.

-I definitely agree with that.

-Yeah, I think so.

If I'm not getting the bakes right on important things

like this showstopper, it's inevitable

that I'll be up for consideration, at least, to go this week.

I think it's probably inevitable.

And...

Sorry.

In about... I can't actually talk.

Still can't.

Well done, bakers. Really long, arduous weekend, awful lot of buns.

Congratulations.

As you know, every week, we award the accolade of Star Baker.

And this week, Mary and Paul are a bit worried, because the person

we wanted to give that accolade to is already pretty confident.

I'd say almost cocky. If we gave that person this award, then maybe

they'd just tip over into being such a grandiose and arrogant soul,

but we're going to take that risk, so,

congratulations, Ruby, you're Star Baker.

APPLAUSE

Bakers, you know very well how this works.

We can't take everybody with us on our journey into next week.

So, I'm afraid the person that we will be saying goodbye to is...

Howard.

-So sorry, Howard.

-Oh, Howard.

Whose sponges will I elbow? I don't know.

-Aww, it's been a pleasure. It's been a real pleasure.

-Thank you.

Howard, unfortunately, had to go.

It was such a shame, I like Howard and at the beginning

he was showing real promise of being a fantastic baker.

We don't look back - it's on the two days

and if you don't do well throughout, I'm afraid you have to leave.

Gosh, we'll miss you so much.

It's been an absolute fantastic experience.

There are people in there who I have grown very, very close to -

Frances, Christine, Ruby, Glenn. But Kimberley and Beca, as well.

They are all such fantastic bakers

and I'm just dead chuffed that I was there with them.

-PAUL:

-Well done, Ruby.

Bread's the thing I like doing most, I absolutely love it,

especially doing buns and stuff like this.

So to get Star Baker doing something that

I actually really love doing, it just feels really great.

If we'd listened to you, you wouldn't be Star Baker.

-You tell us too much.

-I know.

-Keep it to yourself.

-I will.

Oh, bless.

-I just don't think that's fair, I'm so sorry.

-No, no, it's absolutely...

I feel terrible, it should have been me.

So now I have to do it, I have to carry on and do well.

I have to get my act together. Because...

..he's worked so hard and done so well.

And he's gone home.

Next time, the six remaining bakers face pastry.

-It's going to be very tight.

-With a suet signature...

-That's perfecto.

-..that revives school dinner nightmares.

-I feel physically sick.

Oh.

-A holy technical...

-Eight religieuses.

-..that's hell on earth.

-What an ugly bunch of nuns.

-And a

-showstopper... Oh, God.

..leaves them out of puff.

This is so stressful.

But only five can make it through to the Bake Off quarterfinal.

-Get a grip.

-Thanks.

-Just get a grip.

-Thank you.

-OK?

-Thank you.

Get a ruddy grip.

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