Biscuits The Great British Bake Off

Welcome to our second visit to the Bake Off tent.

Last week we did cake.

Who knows what Paul and Mary have up their little sleeves this time.

-I'm not sure I would like to eat anything that has been up Paul's sleeve.

-No, no way.

-No.

Inside that tent we have 11 bakers raring to go

and three fantastic challenges ahead of them.

It can only mean one thing - welcome...

BOTH: To The Great British Bake Off.

Last week, 12 new bakers entered the tent for the first time.

We know how to bake, don't we?

We do. Only thing we know.

While there was success for some...

That taste - fantastic.

..there was misery for others.

Oh, no, it's split.

Nancy executed exemplary miniature cakes...

What perfection. A sheer joy to look at.

..and was crowned this year's first Star Baker.

APPLAUSE

But Claire had one disaster too many.

Absolutely no idea.

'And she was the first to leave the Bake Off tent.'

You'll be very missed, love. You're a real cracker, you are.

This week it's biscuit week.

Please can you say to me, "That's a cracker".

-That's a cracker.

-Good.

'The bakers face savoury biscuits...'

Essentially this is a biscuit iron maiden.

'..an exacting technical...'

I thought, add up ingredients, divide by 18. Does that make sense?

'..and a Showstopper in need of a very steady hand.'

Ah-ha.

Yes!

Right, er...

Oh, it says, "Time to bin your comedy partner,

"she's only dragging you down'.

Ah, "Beware of the middle-aged lady on your right eating biscuits."

It's biscuit week.

Welcome back, bakers. It's your second weekend in the tent.

Jordan, don't look worried yet. Now, welcome to biscuit week.

Paul and Mary would love you to make...

# Savoury biscuits I'm going to sing it

# Savoury biscuits... #

Sorry. 36 savoury biscuits, please, ladies and gents.

You can make any biscuit you like. Any flavour you like.

It's got to go with cheese. Underneath cheese. Atop cheese.

Alongside cheese. I don't care.

It's got to be cheesier than an ABBA tribute band at a fondue all-night bash.

-So, you've got two hours. On your marks...

-Get set...

-Bake!

These are big sunflower seeds!

It's one thing making, you know,

three or four biscuits for a dinner party.

When you've been asked to make 36, that is very tricky.

Because each biscuit has to be consistent.

So not only the size has to be consistent,

but also the bake and the colour.

If it's digestive biscuit, it should have a nice crumble.

If it's a sort of water biscuit, it should snap and be firm.

It has to be the best of its type, because we are very fussy.

I've got a commanding view this time.

Last time, I was at the front last week. Better here.

I can see what's going on.

-Good morning, Jordan.

-Good morning. How are we all?

Your savoury biscuits - what have you decided to do?

I'm going for a sourdough chilli cheese.

Yorick is my sourdough yeast.

As in, "Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio"?

Horatio. Yes, indeed.

-Can I have a quick look?

-Feel free. He's potent.

-You love Yorick, don't you?

-I have a great passion.

You're very close to Yorick.

He's a friend who provides far more than pretty much everyone else.

Jordan's an IT manager and has been baking for seven years.

He loves to experiment with flavours

and his fiery biscuits

combine three different chillies -

Arbol, Cascabel and Chipotle.

I really, really like Mexican food.

I sort of get a bit obsessive over my chillies.

I have tried various different chillies at home,

because I was worried about scaring Mary Berry.

My husband said to me the other night, "What's for supper?"

I said, "Well, I thought about steak and ale pie

"but you're having rye and fennel biscuits."

Nancy's family regularly enjoy the fruits of her baking.

Today she's making a crumbly rye flour and fennel biscuit.

-I'm a little bit worried about the fennel.

-Yeah.

When I practised at home, I used three heaped teaspoons

and that was spot-on.

But think it was probably out of date.

Right. Does that make it...?

-That makes the taste weaker, though, if it's out of date?

-Yeah.

And it loses its colour. I bet yours is grey.

Yeah. My herbs are all grey. Sell-by 2002, most of them.

Today I'm baking za'atar and fig biscuits.

Za'atar is like a Middle Eastern blend of spices and herbs.

Iain's exotic bakes go down well on his construction site.

Today he's adding oatmeal and fig to his za'atar biscuits.

Fig tends to be quite chewy, so would you expect it to bend or snap?

A bit of both. It does bend and does...

-You're covering yourself.

-Cover the bases.

That's handy.

-It is chewy, erm...

-It's a bendy snap.

..but it does have a bit of a snap.

Not like a cracker.

Please can you say to me, Iain, "That's a cracker"?

-That's a cracker.

-Good.

Biscuits usually have a short texture and so don't require

much kneading, but Enwezor's is an unusual biscuit.

It only takes five minutes to develop the gluten so it doesn't tear so much.

Enwezor manages to make all his bakes with his four young children.

His healthy pumpkin and sunflower seed cracker biscuits

are made using three types of flour.

It's half-white flour, half-rye and wholemeal flour.

It's not quite as elastic as white flour but it has a lovely flavour.

I'm just kneading it gently for 30 seconds.

It matters hugely how much you knead it for,

because if you work it too much it can be very tough.

Kate bakes at home with her five-year-old daughter Eloise.

Her signature shortbread biscuits are flavoured with Parmesan and apple.

The biscuits are baked with the apple on top,

but they're very thin otherwise they add too much moisture to the biscuits.

-Hello.

-Morning.

-Hello, Luis.

-Hi, are you all right?

What are you up to right now?

At the moment I'm just bringing my dough together,

which is quite a crumbly dough.

Is this because you're re-rolling it?

No, it's crumbly by nature.

It's more of an oat and wholemeal biscuit, so...

-Ooh, we haven't had any of those yet.

-OK, cool.

Luis grew up in Stockport,

but his Spanish heritage influences his baking.

His oatmeal biscuits are flavoured with sweet paprika,

rosemary and black olives.

Were they olives in oil or brine?

Brine, yeah.

Because I don't want to add oil to my mixture, so...

And I really dried them as well, you know,

so the mixture doesn't go too sticky.

Rolling the dough to an even thickness

is essential to ensure a consistent bake

across all 36 biscuits.

I'm exhausted!

Ooh, a lovely smell here, Chetna. Tell us about your savoury biscuits.

I'm making fenugreek and carom seed crackers. Like water biscuits.

Chetna grew up in India and her traditional family recipes

influence much of her baking.

Her spice-infused crackers are each rolled individually.

Is this something that's been passed down?

Yes, these are my mum's recipe.

She always has a box of these at home.

Once one goes the other just magically appears.

You're confident they're all going to be equal size and shape?

Yes, I am, yeah.

Diana is the only baker not making a traditional biscuit dough.

Instead, she's using a pastry mix.

I've chosen to make Parmesan and chive triangles.

Because it's something I do make on quite a regular basis.

Diana's been baking for her family for 60 years.

Today she's adding home-grown chives to her Parmesan pastry triangles.

It seems a simple thing, but I didn't realise how much time

it was going to take with the restings.

You have thyme in there as well? Hey! You see!

That's probably the worst pun we've ever had on this show,

and that's saying something.

OK, bakers, you're halfway through your cheesy challenge. Gouda for you!

Cut out some biscuits now.

Norman is the only baker bravely not adding any flavour at all to his biscuits.

If you opt to bake something simple I think it has to be good.

These might be at the bottom of the list as far as taste is

concerned, but I like them.

Norman's farthing biscuits are made simply with flour, butter and lard.

He learnt to bake at school

before joining the Merchant Navy at the age of 17.

You have an air of calm about you.

Do you think that's related to the fact you've had...

It's all a bluff.

-..military training?

-No, no.

It's not gone unnoticed you have been doing a little bit of semaphore in your free time.

-I was teaching them last night.

-So, how would you semaphore "bake", for example?

-It's B...

-B.

-A...

-A.

-K...

-K.

and E.

You've just made that one up!

-No, I didn't!

-Absolutely made that one up.

It's so long since I learnt it. I was 15 when I learnt this, you know.

But K is the same as E. Hang on. B, A...

That's when they used to tell me, "Straighten your arm out!"

And it never straightened, you see, because I broke it.

HE LAUGHS

My dog has actually eaten a whole tray of these.

I left them on the side, went out of the kitchen,

came back in and they're all gone.

And my dog was just sat there like...

Martha is just 17

and lives with her mischievous dog, Alfie,

and her sister, mum and dad.

Today she's making caramelised onion

and goat's cheese sandwich biscuits

-Sandwich biscuits?

-Yes.

-You've got to therefore make an awful lot.

-I know.

72.

-72 biscuits.

-And so it won't be crisp-crunch if they have got a filling.

No, because it's going to have a cheese in the middle.

I've got some softer goats' cheese in the middle.

I work on a cheese counter in a supermarket,

so I have to spend my Saturday afternoons just staring at cheese.

These crackers are my father-in-law's favourite crackers.

He is a real cheese eater.

Richard works in the family building firm,

and his colleagues have been enjoying

his poppy seed and rosemary crackers.

-What I love is you've still got that as well.

-I don't even notice any more.

-Just in case someone comes along and asks you for a quote.

-Someone might need measuring up.

I need measuring up, but wait till I'm at fighting weight.

I don't need my measurements now, they'd frighten me.

I'm just stabbing all the biscuits with my fork.

If you have holes in a biscuit they're less likely to puff up.

What the hell is that?

-I commissioned this this week.

-Who did you commission it from?

My husband again.

I said, "I need something to make them look professional."

Essentially this is a biscuit iron maiden.

Right I'm going in with my biscuits.

OK.

For every different type of biscuit there's a different

baking approach.

Now we watch these like a hawk,

because 30 seconds, they will go from not done enough to far too done.

OK, bakers, ten minutes to go. That's the way the cookie crumbles.

They've cooked rather quickly underneath.

I don't know why that is, so...

Anyway, they haven't got a soggy bottom, have they?

They are not baking evenly, so I'm having to take out odd ones.

All 36 biscuits should be identical.

I'm not happy with them. They're going back in for another minute.

I'm cutting out the crackers now after they've actually baked

on both sides.

Perfectly round.

Maybe another minute. I will turn them round.

Bakers, that's 30 seconds. 30 seconds left on this challenge.

I'm up to the wire.

33, 34, 36.

36.

I think I'm just going to pop it on top of there.

That's it.

-That's it, bakers.

-Well done.

Sorted.

HE LAUGHS

One challenge down.

Which biscuits will stand up to the judges' scrutiny?

They certainly have a lovely snap.

I think that's a very nice,

flavoursome biscuit to go with cheese.

It's not overpowering in any way.

The rosemary, you know, can be quite soapy if you use too much of it.

But the balance with the biscuit itself is really good.

Thank you.

You've got the balance of your chilli right.

My issue is it tastes burnt.

It's burnt?!

Like something has caught.

Ah!

It is slightly over-baked, but it still doesn't put me off the biscuit.

These are really aromatic. They're great, aren't they?

The flavour from that carom seed as well, gorgeous.

I think you've got a very uniform bunch.

And I love the idea of olives in the biscuit.

I think the flavours are lovely, they really do work together.

But I think you are three minutes away from perfection.

What we've got here

is a lovely colour on that side,

and then when you twist them round...

-Yes.

-..They're pale.

It is irregular. It's not quite evenly baked.

The idea was good, but it wasn't executed well.

They look so uniform, like a line of soldiers.

You've managed to retain a good snap.

-Very original. I think it's great fun.

-Thank you.

-Well done.

-Thanks.

It looks so perfect. But for me,

it is a bit soft underneath.

The moisture of the apple goes into that Parmesan biscuit,

-giving it a slightly under-baked look.

-Yeah.

I'm debating whether I like them or not.

-I'm not getting a lot of apple coming through.

-Oh!

I don't know that those flavours go well together.

I'm questioning the za'atar blend. It is very, very pungent.

I just think it's gone slightly overboard with those powerful flavours.

The uniformity is there, because obviously you cut them.

It's carrying flavour.

It's not very strong.

It probably could have done with more of a kick to it,

but the texture of it is bang-on.

A very even, pale bake.

It's breaking like a sort of digestive biscuit.

The texture is there, the colour is there.

You've got that exactly right for me.

It looks a lovely texture when you open it.

I like that. I like that biscuit a lot. It's very professional.

I think the recipe, the way you've approached it...

You could sell those tomorrow.

I really believe you could sell them tomorrow.

At a farthing each.

THEY LAUGH

I'm very pleased.

I'll be even more pleased when I talk to my wife

tonight as she says, "They won't like those biscuits.

"They're not good enough."

She'll have to eat her words, and the biscuits.

I thought the comment about them being over-baked was a bit strange.

I disagree.

HE LAUGHS

I could have done better. I could have done a lot better.

There we go. Onward and upward.

You might think of the classic British biscuit as

the kind you dunk in your tea.

But what about the unsung hero of the seaside?

In the early 19th century, at the end of the Napoleonic Wars,

many Italians moved to British cities

in search of a better life

and settled in areas like Ancoats in Manchester.

They brought with them

a technique from making Italian ice cream known as gelato.

Now, that involves boiling milk so that the sugars dissolve.

You then put it into kind of a wooden basin and hand crank it,

and it produced the most amazing, smooth, delicious ice cream.

So the streets were reverberating to the sound of these

sort of dairy mangles being cranked...?

"Gelato, gelato." Yes, exactly.

'The cold cellars of the terraced houses were ideal

'for churning out this speciality.'

So how exactly were these ice creams sold?

The sellers would go round the streets pushing round these

carts, and they would put it in something called a "penny lick".

The person who was buying it would lick every last bit, give it

back to the ice cream seller, who would then sell it to somebody else.

A penny lick off the street doesn't sound like the most hygienic thing in the world.

No, there was a dark side to this wonderful craze for gelato,

and that was the spread of diseases.

Which is why, in 1899, they were banned.

-No-one wanted cholera gelato.

-No.

'With the penny lick outlawed, ice cream sellers

'needed a new way to serve their product.'

It took an enterprising Italian from Ancoats by the name

of Antonio Valvona to come to the rescue of the gelato industry,

bringing a new product to the streets of Manchester that

would revolutionise the way that ice cream was sold.

What do you have to do to get a gondola round here?

'While travelling in Belgium, Valvona

'saw that instead of being served in penny licks,

'ice cream was sold in edible cups,

'so, from his basement in Manchester,

'he invented the twist cone,

'a rudimentary version of the cones we know and love today.'

I've spotted a flaw in the early twist.

Indeed.

Yeah. That's a nightmare for people.

A lot of the early versions of the cones had holes in the bottom

because they were doing it so quickly.

But ice cream didn't last long enough for it to run down the hole.

No. It certainly doesn't in my house.

'Valvona's twist cone was made from flour, water and treacle batter,

'poured onto cast-iron plates which were flipped for an even bake.'

What did they use to shape the twist?

They used to use a wooden peg, which was maybe a chair leg,

anything they could get their hands onto.

Papa's on the old griddle.

Grandma's working the chair leg, getting that down to a fine point.

If you'd like to open that up for me...

SHE GROANS

Round the chair leg.

And that's why it was called a twist cone,

because it twisted round the wooden peg.

As it cools, it hardens.

So you'd be left with a small cone.

Mm-mm. Who needs ice cream on top of that?

That's going to be delicious. Mm, that is good.

All of the fun, none of the typhoid.

'For the second biscuit challenge,

'the bakers face one of Mary's technically tricky recipes.'

Bakers, welcome to your biscuit technical challenge.

Now, it's one of Mary Berry's recipes - she's the one in the

Blake's 7 jacket just there.

Right, Pussy Galore, Paul Hollywood, if you would like to leave the tent.

See you later, Pussy.

So, today we would like you to make 18 Florentines.

OK. Mixed reaction. You've got one hour and a quarter.

On your marks...

BOTH: Get set and bake!

ALARM BELL RINGS

One hour and a quarter. Jeez.

I've eaten plenty of Florentines but I've never made one so, yeah.

We'll see what happens.

I've never made Florentines before. Not made much fancy stuff, really.

More bread and pies.

Florentines. Mary, good choice!

Well, they're pretty tricky to make, really.

To get absolutely perfect like that.

They should have a sort of lacy appearance, be delicate.

The bake should be even,

and then the chocolate should be evenly distributed.

It's got a lovely marking underneath. It feels...

It feels lovely, actually.

If they have got the chocolate on at the right temperature,

it doesn't leak through.

I think it's got a beautiful caramel flavour with the cranberry

and with the nuts as well.

As a whole biscuit, I think that's delicious.

They give you basic instructions, but they don't give exactly

how much to chop them, how finely to chop the nuts and cranberries.

Never in my life have I chopped nuts one at a time.

HE LAUGHS

But this is Mary Berry's recipe

and we do not want to upset Miss Mary Berry.

Mary's Florentine recipe is made by adding fruit and nuts to a caramel dough.

I've never made caramel with golden syrup which is...

SHE LAUGHS

I'm dissolving the sugar and the syrup and the butter together,

but it mustn't boil.

It says, "Spoon them by spooning the mixture onto the trays," so...

I am using a spoon. Which is a good start, isn't it?

HE LAUGHS

There isn't much mixture, which is a bit scary.

If you were making them at home it wouldn't matter

if you had 12 or 22, but they specify 18 so we have got to get 18.

Before I start baking them, I need to work out what I'm going to do.

I'd have thought you cut them out.

This is where you get your maths wrong.

I thought, add up ingredients, divide by 18 - does that make sense?

15 grams.

These are going to spread a bit, I'm sure, as they bake.

But it would be really nice if they spread in a nice circle shape.

OK. We'll give it a throw.

Into the hands of fate we go.

Mary's recipe says, "Bake until golden brown,"

but doesn't stipulate a baking time.

Seven minutes? Seven minutes.

Why not?

Due to the high sugar content,

the Florentine mixture can burn easily,

so the bakers need to be really vigilant.

Just wait and watch, really.

I don't know how long to bake it for.

What do you reckon, Richard?

Keep looking at them.

I've no idea when they are or aren't done. If they're black, they're overdone.

They're already golden brown.

I know, I was going to say it's really difficult

because the colour is already quite...

Oh, look, that one's moving!

So hard to know when they're ready.

I'm doing it. I'm doing it.

I think they might be over.

I hope not.

Shall I try it? Try and get a round one.

Trying to make them all perfectly round.

Not sure if that's right or wrong,

but I've started so I have to finish.

Bakers, you have got venti minuti, which is Florentine for "20 minutes," to go.

(Pretentious.)

Quick breaking of chocolate.

All you can see is the timer of the task ticking down.

Gosh.

What I'm attempting to do now is temper chocolate.

So I need to melt this first, get it up to a temperature of 53

degrees, then I need to put the other chocolate into it.

The slower you cool it, the more shiny it is.

I've never really fully understood it.

I'm trying to learn on the job.

It says, "Spread one side of each with chocolate

"and then decorate in classic zigzag," and I'm

wracking my brains trying to think what the hell does that look like.

It's really hard to put the chocolate on

because it's got holes in the biscuit,

so it's kind of running through a little bit on to my hands.

The way I'm putting the chocolate seems fine, I think.

But I'm not 100% sure, let's say that, yeah.

OK, bakers, five minutes.

We're just taking off Mary's manacles and she's on her way.

'The chocolate needs to be slightly set

'for the zigzag pattern to work.'

This is my interpretation of a zigzag.

I think it should be done with a fork

and it makes a wiggly on the back of it.

I think that's what I've seen before,

so it's what I'm going to go with.

I don't know whether it's piped on top or whether it's with the fork.

Can't be the fork. I'm just going to go with my instinct.

Keep those under wraps though...

-OK.

-..Because, to me, that looks as if you have done that correctly.

-Do you think so?

Yes! It's with a fork! Don't tell anyone!

I just thought I saw it one time, so I thought I'd recreate it.

Yes that's exactly it! You've got the ridges!

Bakers, you've got 20 seconds left.

That's it. You are out of time!

Bakers, please bring your Florentines on their plates

up to your photo.

Thank you very much.

Mary and Paul are looking for lacy biscuits

with an even spread of fruit and nuts,

topped with tempered chocolate and a perfect zigzag.

Right, well, here we've got a good-size Florentine.

Yep.

We haven't got the classic zigzagging on the bottom.

Nice and crisp.

The reason why these are crisp is because they're nice and thin.

You have got a good amount of ingredients on the top,

which is nice.

Beautifully crisp. Some of them have got a nice forking.

-Yeah.

-We've got a lovely zigzag on the bottom here,

but they are a bit small.

They're not as crisp.

Bit clumsy on the top. Chocolate's all right underneath, though.

But they have got the pattern.

Even though these are small, they must be crisp.

And these ARE crisp.

Somebody has used a cutter...

Mm.

..and stamped them out, because they've lost their laciness.

They should have a sort of lacy pattern.

These are fairly uniform. Nice bit of chocolate.

I can hear the crunch as you're eating them.

Mm. That's not bad that one at all.

You should turn the Florentine upside-down,

and that's where you put the chocolate.

And this one's had the chocolate put on the top.

They need a bit longer, actually.

There's no lace in that at all.

Probably needs to spread it out a little bit more.

Now, these are minute.

We haven't got any zigzag pattern on the bottom.

Looks slightly overdone.

Over-baked. Over-baked.

Yeah. Yeah.

It's not a bad colour. The size is a bit small.

A very thick layer of chocolate.

Spread on the top. Bit chewy.

Mine is thinner. So not all exactly the same size.

Inconsistent, then.

A bit of chocolate. Could have done with a bit more.

Mm. Crispy. But it's a pity the pattern hasn't gone through.

They look quite nice.

If they had spread a little more, they would be a little crisper.

It's now time to find out who has produced the best and the worst biscuits.

Number 11. These were a little bit over-baked.

You tried with the decoration, top and bottom.

But just a bit small.

Number ten is this one. Chocolate bleeding all the way through.

And number nine.

You cut yours out with a cutter and we lost some of the laciness.

Next is Chetna,

Diana,

Jordan,

Martha,

Kate, then Luis.

Number two is this one. Well done.

And you'll have worked out who number one is. Well done, Richard!

They are the proper size.

They were lacy, crisp, and that's how they should be.

Well done, Richard.

Congratulations.

It feels pretty brilliant to come first.

It doesn't get any worse. There is only 11 people there.

I started the day by saying I just didn't want to come last.

I really didn't want to come last. I haven't come last! Wahey!

I'm kicking myself, because they were actually fine.

But I cut all the best bits off with my cutter.

Only one challenge to go before Paul

and Mary decide who will be Star Baker

and who will be going home.

I think we have a group of bakers here who are bakers in their hearts.

They've been baking at home for many, many years.

I think Richard did extremely well.

His biscuit was fantastic.

But I think you can throw in there Nancy, Luis, Martha.

-Chetna.

-Chetna.

The ones that are lower down the scale are Iain and Diana.

Iain struggled in the technical. I don't think his biscuits worked.

And then you look at Enwezor,

when he came to the technical he was ninth.

But, you know, they can pull themselves up. We've seen it happen before.

They are all very good,

but there is a rather fiendish little Showstopper coming.

So, that might just ginge things up a bit.

-This'll sort them out.

-Yeah. I think it might.

Good morning, bakers. Welcome to this, your Showstopper day.

Now, today, Paul

and Mary would like you please to create a 3D biscuit scene.

A funfair, a wedding,

a swimming race in the Leatherhead Leisure Centre.

Anything you want, but it must be made out of biscuit, please.

All we ask is that they stand up, OK?

They've got to stand up, which is frankly more than can be

said for the four of us this evening in the hotel bar.

Keep your biscuits erect. You've got four hours to do so.

-On your marks...

-Get set!

-Bake.

Just getting all of the ingredients together. Sugar.

This is a strange challenge.

The biscuits themselves,

the major requirement is that they need to be architecturally sound.

It's down to picking the correct biscuit - you want

something that is going to be quite rigid.

But something that tastes good, too.

We don't want to see anything bought in,

we want it all home-made.

Good morning.

Good morning, Paul. Morning, Mary.

What is your biscuit?

It's gingerbread dough.

Any others or just ginger?

Just gingerbread. I think I've got, like, 80 biscuits to cut out.

80?

And 80 fondant cut-outs as well to kind of intersperse stuff

with as well, so...

Are you making your own fondant?

No. No, I'm not. No.

Enwezor is stacking fondant and gingerbread discs

to create his space-age biscuit scene.

This is where you need to be really strong.

Typically I do this on the floor because it gets so stiff.

I'm not sure if I'm allowed.

Hello, Martha.

Hello.

So, Martha. What have you got in store for us?

I'm making a ski village mountain scene, and flavouring

it with different things that you see in the mountains.

-Or get.

-Prince Charles.

So things that you drink.

So I've got a coffee biscuit, a hot chocolate biscuit,

-a mulled wine biscuit.

-That's a nice idea.

Martha's snowy scene includes a ski chalet,

ski mountain,

and a suspended chairlift on a bed of marshmallow snow.

Will they be able to stand up and hold up?

They should be able to stand up.

I've made it once and they stood up then,

so hopefully they will stand up again.

It's important not to overwork it, really.

You don't want the flour to be worked too much.

This is the gingerbread mix.

I've decided to do a 3D biscuit scene of Hansel and Gretel.

I'm doing the house, Hansel and Gretel, the wicked stepmother

and the father, and 14 trees, and two birds,

and a path into the woods, and logs in the log store.

Is that crazy or what?

IF she gets it all done,

Nancy will use brandy snaps and green tea and orange-flavoured

gingerbread to create different textures and colours.

Iain's also given himself the task of making three different biscuits.

I'm rolling out the first biscuit, which is

like a wholemeal, oatmeal biscuit.

I need a good structure in the biscuit just for it to hold together.

I don't want to get any cracks in it.

Iain is hoping his Wild West scene,

made with chocolate and chilli and pistachio and rose biscuits

will stop him from being outlawed.

I think I'm right at the bottom after the first two challenges.

So I think have to do something miraculous to stay in.

The key to success in this challenge is precision.

If I concentrate now, I will be smiling later.

The bakers have chosen to use templates to cut out shapes in their dough.

So I've made one of you, I've made you, and I've made a plane.

Yeah!

But for Jordan it's a new experience.

This is the first time I've worked to templates, actually.

Fortunately, unlike the skyscrapers, the monster,

as long as the base is straight, doesn't have to be as accurate

as everything else because if he's a bit wobbly, he's a monster.

Inspired by his love of Japanese comics, Jordan's

turning custard and bourbon biscuits into a monster attack!

I have been trying to decide what he is called... Oh, alas.

Going to have to roll him out again.

Calm down, Enwezor.

Richard, every now and again just tell me to calm down.

-Calm down, Enwezor.

-Thank you.

Settle yourself.

Basically, there's seven different shapes I have to cut out.

I made templates but also made my own aluminium cutters to cut

out the shapes.

Norman's creating his fishing boat scene

from just one simple biscuit dough.

It's basically a shortcake biscuit.

Plain flour, caster sugar, and butter.

And just a tiny drop of vanilla essence.

And black food colour, and brown food colour.

So that's going to be the size of the...

Each individual boat will be this size?

-That size. With the sails on top.

-Like a convoy of ships?

This thing is more about the actual display.

I'm not going to hold my head up and say they're going to be

the most fantastic tasting biscuits you've ever had...

They better had be!

That's very important, Norman.

I'm making the roof of the carousel.

These are the biggest biscuits so they take the longest to cook.

Chetna's constructing her ambitious seaside scene

from vanilla biscuits and royal icing.

Does the carousel have a roof on it or...?

Yes, a roof.

So how is the carousel staying up?

This carousel one of the most extraordinary things...

-One pillar.

-One pillar? And what's that?

-Biscuit.

-It's a biscuit pillar with a roof this big?

-Yes.

This high? With one pillar?

Yes. Not this high, this high.

How many times have you practised your carousel?

Once in the week gone.

My daughter came inside in the kitchen and she said, "Wow, Mummy.

"Now will this turn?" I said, "No!"

Come on, biscuits!

Kate and Diana are the only bakers attempting to bake their biscuits

in their finished shape.

The most challenging is getting that to hold as a tube for the main

part body of my engine.

Diana's classic steam train will feature

four different types of biscuits.

Gingerbread, tuile,

shortbread and pinwheels.

Let's see you make the pinwheels.

I knew you were going to say that.

This is very stressful. Having the laser-beam eyes of Mary Berry focused on you

-while you get...

-Look, she is being very clever,

like making a Swiss roll - a nice neat bit to start with,

so you get a Catherine wheel sort of effect.

Slowly does it. There's no rush, particularly of course in the train industry(!)

-Now you've got it.

-Now you've got it.

Look at that. That is perfect.

So they are going to be the wheels?

They're going to be the wheels.

On this sheet we have got three boys.

Just in case one boy's legs break off.

Kate's boys are made from lemon-and-lime biscuits

and join her family tea-time scene.

Right. Oh, that oven's hot!

I thought I was having a hot flush, it's the oven.

In we go.

Baking different-sized biscuits is a real challenge.

The bakers must keep a constant eye on the clock.

17 seconds to go. Next tray comes out. Next cuts to do.

More dough needed.

This is going to go in the oven.

OK, bakers. You are halfway through your 3D biscuit challenge.

Two hours gone, two hours to go.

That seems OK.

-That looks good.

-I'm going to have a soft mountain.

-And you put those little foil...

-I made little hats for the little tops so they don't burn underneath.

-Ah, sweet!

Welded.

What happened, love. Clearly they've stuck, but what's the reason?

At home I don't put baking paper down.

-But if you can get it off ,it's really tasty.

-I'll bet it is.

Is this OK? I'm going to make another skyscraper now.

To de-stress, do you have any good sort of techniques?

Do I have any good techniques?

Yeah, bake properly is probably the best technique.

This looks interesting.

I'm making George and the Dragon.

I've done two types of dough, so everything to do with

the dragon is smoky - slight hint of chilli and chocolate.

Everything else is made out of an orange-and-cardamom dough, which is this one.

Luis is hoping his graphic design skills

will help his fiery George and the Dragon biscuits stand up to the test.

All my biscuits are interlocking,

so they should all free-stand with nothing, really.

So you won't need much glue at all?

There is no glue. I'm not making any.

I'm looking forward to this 3D effect.

I think it has been well thought out.

But it comes down to the flavours, too.

-That biscuit has got to taste good.

-Absolutely.

Richard also plans for his characters

to stand up by slotting the shapes together.

When you cook the gingerbread it swells,

so you have to open up your interlocking.

Richard's gingerbread boat and peanut butter island

form his very precise pirate ship scene.

-Can I just say, this is your pirate mould?

-Yes.

It looks like Long John Silver has mated with Shrek.

Yeah, he is the fat pirate.

He has also got two legs, which is

frankly one more than the piratical standard.

-I have a pirate captain with one leg as well.

-Oh, you are a marvel. There you go.

I'm constructing the main body of the rocket at the moment.

I've kind of lost a little bit of track of which discs go where.

Oh, God, they don't stand.

Yes!

It's a massive marshmallow mountain.

The different flavours the young people are using,

it really has been quite noticeable.

SHE LAUGHS

I'm traditional - traditional flavours and traditional baking.

I think this last fortnight has proved that

I am a bit old-fashioned.

It's sort of half-spaceship, half-cone headed puffin.

HE LAUGHS

It's a super-duper spaceship, you know. Streamlined, you know.

You're going to go places on this spaceship.

-Do you reckon?

-Yep, yep.

You promise a lot to a girl, you promise to take me places.

Bakers of the 3D biscuit challenge.

In terms of time dimension, you've got 30 left.

30 units of time.

Each unit being a minute, in dimensional terms.

I'm a bit of an amateur when it comes to decorating.

Once I drew a dinosaur for my daughter. It was so bad,

when I finished she started crying.

It's just lots and lots of piping now.

I could probably pipe for a few days and still not be quite finished.

Now, these are extraordinary. These remind me of 1988.

They will make you feel ill if you look at them too long.

I know. I'm thinking it's the old glow stick.

Second summer of love.

-There will be some left over later on, you know.

-Good!

It's quite difficult decorating,

when you are up against the time pressure.

It's the sort of thing you'd usually take a bit longer over.

-Does this feel like, sort of, art as opposed to baking?

-Er, yeah.

You are the sort of van Gogh.

It might be to do with the beard.

Possibly the colour of the beard.

You are the Vincent van Gogh of this competition.

OK, get the arms on Granny, the scales on your dragon,

and the chaps on that incredibly nude cowboy, Iain.

You've got ten minutes. Ten minutes.

HE PUFFS

I always get really nervous towards the end. My hands start shaking.

Come on, benches. That one's so wobbly.

I am pushed for time.

This is going to be really, really tight.

This has not been a good morning for Jordan.

I'm just going to eat it. What can a man do?

Where has the time gone?

How precarious is that?

I really expect to get a Blue Peter badge for this.

Bakers, that is it. Time's up.

Stop fiddling with your pirates.

Move away from your cactus, Iain, please.

Look at me!

THEY CHUCKLE

Mary and Paul will now judge the 3D biscuit scenes

before deciding who will be Star Baker and who will leave the tent.

-Ian, do you need a hand up with your cowboys?

-That's all right.

So the Wild West is coming to us.

It's supporting itself. Everything is standing up.

I love the way you've done the horse as well.

Nice snap of the oatmeal.

Quite sweet. Good crunch.

It's a nice biscuit, that.

Terrible colour, but you have to use that colour for that.

-Yeah, for the cactus.

-Exactly. But it tastes good.

I might take one of these.

Ah, don't break the wagon!

-Very nice chocolate biscuit.

-I think you've done well.

Your three flavours are distinct and sharp enough.

And then the display is well thought out,

and actually very well executed. Well done.

SUE: Well done, Iain. Congratulations.

I do like it. I do like it. I mean, it's a bit lopsided.

The engine is beautifully round.

You did it round a tin, that was clever.

Shall we go for a little bit of the tuile on the top?

Gosh, they're quite difficult to do. And you've caught them just at the right moment.

That's just perfect. It's lovely.

Good.

It's quite difficult to do pinwheel biscuits and get them

absolutely tight like a Swiss roll in the middle.

-It could have been a bit neater, is my only argument.

-Yes.

I think it's absolutely ingenious.

You've done all sorts of skills - a bit of piping...

The techniques that you've got going on in here -

that's complicated to do. That's like a puzzle all on its own.

-Oh, the mermaid!

-You've knocked the mermaid over!

Not the mermaid!

Oh, it's melt in the mouth. Melt in the mouth.

Gorgeous. The peanut flavour comes through.

Now to the gingerbread.

Lovely flavour. Very crisp.

That is absolutely fantastic. Well done.

Thank you.

Were we going to have an aeroplane?

You were. Both an aeroplane and a building...

He ate his plane, Mary.

To be honest, it looks a bit of a mess.

The bourbon biscuit tastes very, very good. Very delicate flavour.

-Thank you.

-Your custard biscuits, again, are delicious.

Unfortunate about the display.

What fun it is. We really worried

about this huge roof. But of course you've made a very good structure.

Flavour's OK.

But it is... It is burnt.

-It is burnt.

-Oh!

-But that design is spectacular. Well done.

-Thank you.

-Well done, Chetna.

-Well done.

I love the base.

-I love what you've done for the trees.

-I think it's enchanting,

and I love the brandy snaps on the roof.

Scrumptious. Delicious.

-Well thought out. And, in fact, well baked.

-Thank you.

I think you've been very clever,

the way you've baked those sitting people on the seats.

-That's a good lime biscuit. I can taste the lime.

-Oh, good.

The bake is excellent. I think the flavour is good.

But the design is bold and very clever.

Very pretty. Well done.

I didn't realise it was going to be biscuit on top of biscuit.

I was expecting some sort of building, you know. Flat sides.

-Is this fondant between those?

-Yes.

-Did you make the fondant?

No, I didn't.

OK.

The middle is soft. That means that it needs a little bit more cooking.

You can almost bend it. See?

That, for me, is an issue for a biscuit.

You're very good at design, aren't you? Good at measuring.

-Good on graph paper, I think.

-Thank you.

I think I'll take the horse. Very clever horse.

So crisp, that is. Lovely flavour.

Beautifully cooked.

The heat coming from the dragon is beautiful. It hits your palate.

It doesn't go bang, it just slowly comes in.

Both of the biscuits together and the theme and the characters,

-it's unbelievable. I'm running out of superlatives for that.

-Thank you.

-Well done.

-Flattered. Thank you.

It's quite simplistic, for the boat itself.

I'd liked to have seen some piping round, maybe on the sail itself.

You've one basic biscuit mixture?

Yes, with the different colour.

It's a good butter biscuit, but very, very simple.

You could have shown us another skill

with a different type of biscuit.

Yeah, it does look like Verbier.

I'll give you that.

SUE: Oh, I thought it was more of a Courchevel(!)

As soon as you bite into it - beautifully crisp.

The coffee hits you, not too strong.

Now, I'm into the mulled wine.

-She'll be on that for a long time.

-SUE: Surprise, surprise.

It's ingenious. I love the idea,

to get the flavours in your biscuits as well.

Creativity is superb. Well thought through, Martha.

-Well done, Martha.

-Thank you.

Paul and Mary will now decide who will be crowned

this week's Star Baker and who will be going home.

So, Paul and Mary,

after the Showstopper it seems that there are various people who

were doing quite badly, now suddenly seem to have risen from the ashes.

I think Iain has, sort of, phoenixed himself.

Considering where he was - he was last in the technical.

I think he has really pulled it out the bag.

And then Diana with her train.

She made the engine, didn't she?

Baked the water cooler for the engine. And that's very clever.

Jordan as well.

Bit messy, you said, but the taste of both biscuits...

Those biscuits were some of the best out there.

I think the stars today in the Showstopper - for me, anyway -

-were Luis...

-Yeah.

-and Richard.

-They were so original.

-Yeah.

Those two guys, with the flavours and the design - unbelievable.

Who are the people that have slipped down to the bottom?

-I would say Norman...

-Norman.

And I would say Enwezor as well.

Norman - his biscuits on the first challenge,

they were absolutely superb.

Today, we got almost a repeat of those biscuits.

I would have liked to have seen something different.

And what shocked me with Enwezor's design

is that it was just a stack of biscuits.

He used a bought sugar paste.

If he'd made that, I would've been a little bit more impressed.

But worse than that, the biscuit itself, you could bend.

So do you know who you'd like to give the title of Star Baker to this week?

-I do.

-I do, yeah.

Do you know who we're going to be saying goodbye to this week?

I think Mary and I need to have another chat alone

together about that, because it is tight. Very tight.

Bakers, I've got the joyful task this week

of telling you who is Star Baker.

Quite simply, if they were to phone me and ask me to sail away

in their gingerbread boat, I would go to the secret peanut island.

Richard, you are Star Baker. Well done.

APPLAUSE

I have the horrid job.

And I have to tell you, this week it was so close.

It's taken an awful lot of deliberation.

The person, very sadly, who's leaving us today...

-..is Enwezor.

-(Oh!)

I'm so sorry, I'm going to have to come

and give you just a giant, slightly porky Susan hug.

-It's a Mel-Sue sandwich.

-In you come.

It is a bit of a shock.

But what an experience, you know?

I would love to have stayed on a bit longer.

But that's the way it goes.

-Well done. Your family will be very proud.

-Thank you.

I can't feel any shame about, or disappointment about going out now,

when I've given it everything I had.

When it came to Enwezor's tower, all we saw was one biscuit

and sadly that one biscuit was not baked well.

It's unfortunate to see Enwezor go, because there was some style there.

You don't get inside that tent unless you are a good baker,

and he is a very good baker.

-Norman. Bit more next week.

-Oh, yes. Absolutely.

'I'm a very simple baker.'

I did speak to Paul, and he says,

"You're going to have to raise your game".

'He may well be surprised next week.'

Well done you, though. Well done.

Oh, I can't believe it, Star Baker is fantastic.

It's not something I ever thought I'd get.

I can't wait to tell the kids. I can't wait to tell my wife.

She'll go ultrasonic on the phone when I speak to her.

Oh! Gee whiz. Is it going to be like that every week?

Next time - the bakers get a work-out in Bread Week.

I have big muscles, Mary. Look at that.

Who will get Paul's seal of approval?

Pure alchemy.

And who will survive the pressure?

I've got to keep in the zone.

Otherwise, he'll shake me off balance.

Whoo!

Martha, what are we going to do?