Pastry The Great British Bake Off

-Oh! Fill your lungs, mate - that is the smell of British summertime.

-Mm.

Cut grass, blossom on the trees...

THEY SNIFF

Oh - I'm getting adrenaline, and caramelised butter and sugar and...

-I... I think that's your armpits I'm getting.

-I do apologise.

-Oh, dear.

-Welcome... BOTH:

-..to The Great British Bake Off.

'Last time, the bakers had to bake without gluten, dairy and sugar.'

Icing gusset... THEY LAUGH

I mean, can you knead a liquid?

One ugly-looking cake.

'Ugne had a double disaster, and went home.

-'Nadiya won Star Baker...'

-It looks really most exciting.

'..and broke Ian's run at the top.

'This week, the seven remaining bakers tackle pastry...'

It's so difficult to roll, I don't know why.

-It's burning.

-Oh, it's burning.

The frangipane is baked to perfection.

'..suffer the most pungent Technical Challenge so far...'

It's like sweaty old socks.

'..and batch-bake a retro Showstopper.'

This is SO fiddly!

-I cannot do 48 in five minutes.

-OK. Do as many as you can.

This is ridiculous!

Just realised it's pastry week.

'I did it! I got Star Baker.'

But last week's over. It's a new week this week.

Last week - oh, dear, dear, dear.

I would quite like to get Star Baker. I'm going to say the words.

Oh, God, I've jinxed it. Why did I say it?

Good morning, bakers.

For this morning's Signature Challenge,

-Paul and Mary would very much like you to make a frangipane tart.

-Oh.

Now, frangipane cream, for your information,

was named after the 16th-century Italian noblewoman

Muzio Frangipani...

-Nice.

-..and pastry cases after the 16th-century Italian nobleman

Giovanni Shortcrust.

Now - your tart must be open-top,

it must be made of shortcrust pastry,

and most important of all, you've got two hours on this, bakers.

-On your marks...

-Get set...

-BOTH:

-..bake.

I wouldn't say I'm king of pastry, no!

So nervous this week.

I just feel like I need to...

get better.

'I'm not feeling massively confident, really.'

Underprepared, I think.

To make a good short pastry you need to just bring it together,

but not overwork it -

then it's too rubbery cos you build up the gluten.

You want it to break and almost melt in the mouth,

but strong enough to hold the frangipane. It's a tricky one.

They all SHOULD be able to make a good sweet shortcrust pastry,

but it's a real test for them NOT to get a soggy bottom.

The bakers all start by making their shortcrust.

I want all the butter evenly mixed in so you don't get big lumps,

but it should look a bit like breadcrumbs at the end.

Like when you're making an apple crumble.

-Are you using the machine to make your pastry?

-Yeah. So much quicker.

I don't know about that.

Everyone's doing it! Oh, Gawd.

A small amount of water should be added, to bring the dough together.

Yeah, you want to be careful with your water.

Obviously you don't want a sticky dough at the end of the day.

To get the pastry's characteristic shortness,

the butter and flour must be carefully rubbed in, not overworked.

And once it comes together as a dough,

it should be rested in the fridge to prevent the fat melting.

Chilling this dough right now is the most important thing,

because the last thing you want is a sticky dough

that just goes everywhere.

Hello, Alvin. Good morning.

Tell us all about your frangipane tart.

It's a simple plum frangipane tart.

I'm making a rich sweet shortcrust pastry,

and I'm going to put some jam on it, just a thin layer of jam,

and then I'm going to put the frangipane on top.

Alvin's home-made plum jam will line his pastry case,

and he'll top it with fresh plums.

So you haven't poached your plums,

-you've just cut your plums and then fanned them on the top.

-Yes.

How do you fan your plums, Alvin?

Oh, it's just arranging them on top.

Nice.

-Morning, Paul.

-Morning, Paul. Morning, Mary.

-What are you up to?

I'm making my version of a Christmas frangipane.

The pears are poached in orange, cinnamon, cloves, mixed spice.

-Do you make this every Christmas, then?

-I do, actually, yes.

Paul's pears will rest within his traditional frangipane,

glazed with apricot jam and sprinkled with sliced almonds.

So how's it going to look when you finish the whole thing?

You'll have the pears going round in a circular motion,

and then I'll decorate with some icing Christmas trees in between.

Icing Christmas trees?

-Well, good luck.

-MEL: Yeah. Can't wait to taste it.

'Like Paul, Tamal is filling his frangipane tart

'with festive flavours.'

-Morning, Tamal.

-Morning.

MARY: Tamal, tell us all about your frangipane tart.

So, I'm doing mulled wine, poached pear frangipane tart.

So this is the wine mixture on there, so it's got red wine,

pomegranate juice and raspberry puree in there.

Tamal will use his reduced poaching syrup

to glaze his frangipane,

and he'll dot the surface with blackberries.

I'm sort of thinking how I'm going to do it,

cos when I've done it at home it's a really tasty syrup

but to put on enough that you actually get the flavour,

you ruin the effect of the tart cos you can't see the pears any more.

And do you find this fresh fruit bleeds into the frangipane?

Erm...

not too much cos I only put a few of the blackberries in,

they're just of scattered around.

-Good luck, Tamal.

-Thank you.

-MEL: Yeah, good luck. That smells really nice.

-Thank you.

So I'm making my frangipane mix now.

Frangipane's quite a liquid cake batter.

MEL: Frangipane is an almond-flavoured pastry cream.

What I've creamed together there is the butter and the sugar,

and then it's a case of the eggs and the ground almonds there,

and that's frangipane.

Quite pleased. One of my guinea fowl started laying eggs.

I haven't baked with guinea fowl eggs for many, many years.

So I hope they're OK. Nothing like now to find out.

Hello, Ian. What are you up to this morning?

I'm making a pear and raspberry frangipane.

-OK.

-So fairly...you know, fairly conventional, I think.

When I go on holiday to France, that's what I love to get.

Ian's adding Calvados to his Francophile frangipane,

and he'll glaze it with a reduced pear, star anise and lemon syrup.

I suppose my little twist of the day is I'm using my guinea fowl eggs.

MEL: Oh, these are guinea fowl!

MARY: I was looking at these, they look like pheasant eggs.

How many guinea fowl have you got, Ian?

Three adults now...

and one little chick that's about two weeks old.

What's her name?

We haven't named them yet. The kids have named the chick...

(Mary!)

HE LAUGHS Could be Mary?

I'm just toasting the almonds, just to give them a bit of flavour.

Otherwise they don't taste of anything in there.

And mine is quite a subtle...

There's no strong flavours in mine.

-Good morning, Nadiya.

-Morning.

Nadiya, tell us all about your frangipane tart.

So I'm making a bay-leaf Rong tea and pear tart.

MEL: What's wrong with the tea?

-Everything's RIGHT with the tea.

-"Wrong tea"?

-Rong means colour.

-Ah...

Nadiya will thicken her Bengali bay-leaf-infused Rong tea

with arrowroot, and use it as a glaze.

I can't wait to see what this tastes like.

-It's very subtle.

-Right.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

It's definitely a gamble doing subtle flavours.

Unlike Nadiya's flavours, Mat's tart is far from subtle.

-Hello, Mat.

-Good morning!

-Right - pineapple,

-this is interesting. Tell us all about your frangipane tart.

-OK.

-So today I'm making a pina colada frangipane tart.

-Of course you are.

To create the cocktail's tropical tang,

Mat's mixing his frangipane with

pineapple, coconut and one other essential ingredient.

So this is the rum. Are you using just a little bit of this?

Yeah, not all of that. It depends how badly it goes.

Might resort to it at the end, but, yeah, not all of that.

Will it put us in a bit of a...mood?

Well, the sun's out, you have your rum and pineapple - that's the idea.

Fingers crossed!

Start rolling it out...

It's got to have a nice sort of pliable consistency to it -

not too brittle but not too loose.

It's a forgiving pastry, in that it doesn't tear.

I'm having a problem with rolling it, actually. It's sticking on the bench.

So I thought I'd put something underneath it.

I'm going to try this...

Flora, Alvin, Mat and Tamal are all blind-baking their pastry.

If you blind-bake it first, it means that

the pastry's less likely to get soggy with the filling.

I read once that you should blind-bake things,

that's why I'm doing it.

I don't think it's like a baker's instinct kicking in, I think it's

just a fear of wanting to change something that you vaguely know.

Paul, Nadiya and Ian have chosen NOT to blind-bake.

For a frangipane tart, I don't think you do blind-bake.

But, erm...we shall find out.

If I blind-bake, any pastry that's above the frangipane,

it looks burnt, it doesn't look very nice.

And I've done it without it, and it doesn't need it.

Mine's really dark in colour...

-Hello, Flora.

-Morning.

-Flora, that was quick!

-Speedy.

MARY: So you've baked this blind...

Yeah. I'm just doing egg white on top, just to seal it completely.

Flora's tart will be topped with an apricot jam glaze

and rosemary icing.

Amaretti biscuits will adorn the outside.

You've had a bit of a shrink back there, haven't you?

When did you trim that?

-Er, I trimmed it before it went in.

-Why?

I'm always a bit scared of waste.

Doesn't it waste a lot of pastry when you have it hanging over?

Yeah, but we want it to be as neat and as squared-off as possible.

It's only shrunk inwards, it hasn't shrunk down.

MEL: You're not going to serve it in the tin,

-so you won't know there's been a shrink back.

-No.

-What's the problem?

-Thank you very much.

-FLORA LAUGHS

So I'm just egg-washing the base...

It makes a sort of glaze, which then when you pop it back in the oven

it's basically another line of defence

against having a soggy bottom.

MEL: While Mat and Tamal are giving their pastry the second part

of its bake before filling, Alvin's only just getting his in the oven.

I've wasted about seven minutes there rolling the pastry.

There was no leeway for me.

So...I'm worried.

I'm worried. But, erm... I'm just going to carry on.

One hour to go. The bakers need to get their tarts filled

and allow enough time for the final bake.

I've put almonds on the bottom just to help with some of the moisture

on the bottom of the pastry, because it's not blind-baked.

Look how much it's shrunk!

It's about half the size it went in.

Oh, no. The pineapple takes up most of that.

Design is a bit of a generous word to be using for this.

This is...modern splodging! HE LAUGHS

It has to be pretty, because I'd like it to be pretty.

Yeah, I probably am a bit concerned with the aesthetic.

And I probably should concentrate on baking, but... Oh, well.

Right. Going in.

Bakers, half an hour

before I huff and I ruff-puff your pastry concoctions down.

I'm thinking...

if I have less than half an hour, I'm going to put less frangipane.

That will mean I will actually serve them something that's cooked.

It's not going to be full - but it's cooked. So hopefully it'll work.

(Come on.)

These are my amaretti biscuits

that I'm maybe going to put on the outside of the tart,

I'm not convinced if I should or shouldn't yet.

Come on. Come on.

(What's the temperature...?)

(Ridiculous...)

OK, bakers, you've got ten mins on your frange.

Ten, frange, obvs.

Oh, no...

Oh, it's like, two minutes...

-I'm going to take it out.

-Are you?

-Yeah.

-Bottling it, are you?

-Going for underdone rather than overdone

this time. Mix it about a bit.

Dark on a couple of edges, but it's all right.

-Well, hello there.

-No!

Oh, it's burning. Slightly burnt on the side...

FLORA GASPS

Oh, my God. I did not see that happening.

Maybe a little trim...

Yes, Paul!

HE WHISTLES

I really don't know if I should put my amaretti on or not.

I think they're going to think my pastry's a bit dark.

I might put it on to cover it up.

Bakers, you've got one minute

before you know if you've gone down the frangi-pan.

I'm going to take it out.

OK, bakers, that's time up.

Move your tarts, please, to the end of your benches.

'Paul and Mary will be expecting tempting tarts

'of crisp golden shortcrust, filled with mouthwatering frangipane

'and full-flavoured fruit.'

For me, it's lacking a glaze.

The reason why you put a glaze on is to cover up essentially

the dried pears, because they look so bad sitting on the top.

I tried to put it on, but it kind of disappeared in.

That's not a crispy base.

-When you don't blind-bake, it tends to be a lot more delicate.

-Yes.

Crumbly. You want that rigidity from the base to crack through

-before you hit the frangipane.

-The filling is just right, the balance.

You're getting a nice jam at the bottom, and the pears are done.

Overall, I think it looks unfinished.

The appearance is really, really lovely.

It's very professional, you sliced those pears perfectly evenly.

-Oh, bit of a soggy bottom there.

-No!

It is quite an aromatic flavour.

But the baking of the frangipane is perfect.

It's perfumed, it's subtle and I like it.

But the pastry definitely is not done underneath.

It does look good, it's quite effective.

The pastry is a little bit doughy.

It's a nice flavour, I would say it's pineapple frangipane.

-SUE:

-You're not getting the rum?

-No.

It's quite bland.

They look a bit of a mess.

Just forget about the amaretti, doesn't add anything to it.

Absolutely delicious.

Because it's fresh apricots, it's quite sharp, which I like.

Don't think the rosemary adds to it at all.

I think it's overbaked.

-I think you blind-baked it slightly too long.

-OK.

It is overbaked, but it isn't bitter and it isn't burnt.

It IS burnt and it IS bitter.

Thank you very much indeed.

I tell you who's bitter...

That looks stunning.

Oh, it's done, but it could have done with a little bit longer,

just to put a bit of colour on there.

The inside is a lovely texture.

It looks the part. I like it as a tart.

OK, thank you.

You have made a beautiful pattern of your plums on the top.

The pastry looks a little overbaked.

-You probably overbaked on the blind-bake.

-Right.

Or overbaked on the end one, but the chances are, if you'd overbaked

on the end one, your frangipane would be baked, but it isn't.

Sorry.

(It's wrong...)

Hmm.

Your base is far too thick.

I'm so sorry.

Your plums aren't cooked, either.

Timing is your nemesis, Alvin.

Timing issues, timing issues.

It is a bit chaotic on the top.

It should be all fanning out beautifully, symmetrical,

but it's not.

Nicely baked. It's solid, it's perfect.

That tastes beautiful.

The pastry is thin, it's crisp.

Frangipane is baked, as well, to perfection.

I think the whole thing is a classic frangipane. Spot on.

Messy top, tidy bottom!

Thank you.

Yeah, I'm really, really pleased with that.

They liked the flavours, said it was a bit of a mess on top,

which it was, but it's me,

so it is always going to be a bit of a mess.

Amaretti disaster.

Again, just trying to do something different and it didn't pay off.

I've been raised to always move forward, move on.

My dad is a retired general in the Army, and...

..failure is not an option. You need to carry on.

You'll never see me throwing the towel in and calling it a day

and walking away from it.

-SUE:

-Pastry triumphs and tribulations

are not the sole preserve of the Bake Off tent.

Let me introduce you to the good people of Denby Dale,

who've taken pastry, pies in particular,

to a whole new dimension.

Since the 18th century, this northern town has been celebrating

as only a Yorkshireman knows how - with behemoth baking.

In 1846, the oppressive Corn Laws, which kept the price of grain high

and left the poor struggling to pay for bread, were finally axed.

So how did they celebrate the repeal of the Corn Laws?

By making a ginormous pie, of course.

I'd have had a disco, I'm telling you. A pie?! Who has a pie?

Sadly, the celebration with the eight-foot-wide pie was cut short

when Joseph Pease, the master of ceremonies, fell into it

and nearly drowned.

Following the tragedy, it took Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee

to inspired Denby Dalers to once again take up their spoons.

Now, Chris, I have to say, you've brought me here

under false promises. I was expecting an enormous pie

and all I've got is a rather lovely barren field.

Well, there is pie here. Sadly for you, it's buried without a marker.

-Why did they bury it?

-They buried it because it was off.

So presumably, this is an absolute disaster.

They're never going to make any more pies again.

Absolutely not, no. They had a very good run.

There were two or three more, at least until we got to 1928.

-What happened in 1928?

-It got stuck in the oven.

Chris, surely now people are saying, "Stop making pies!"

No, in 1964, we were baking again.

Large enough to feed 30,000 people,

this was Denby Dale's biggest pie yet.

The pressure was on to get this bake right.

-REPORTER:

-How does it feel to be key man

for the biggest pie in the world?

Well, I think it's a big responsibility

and it's such delicate stuff to deal with, to keep fresh.

It can soon go sour, can gravy.

At last, they met with success and spurred on.

In 1988, Denby Dalers decided to celebrate 200 years

of giant pie-making by attempting to bake a world-record-breaking pie.

The 1988 effort did indeed break the world record

for the biggest meat and potato pie, and the villagers finally received

the recognition they so richly deserved.

'Baking a record-breaking pie is no mean feat.

'But at least the bakers of Denby Dale knew what they were making.'

Bakers, welcome to your Technical Challenge.

Now, this is a recipe close to Paul's heart...

just nestling underneath the chest hair.

Now, Paul and Mary, of course, with all due respect,

-you're not needed for this bit, so...

-Goodbye.

...off you pop.

Paul and Mary would very much like you to make...flaounes.

It's a cheese-filled pastry made in Cyprus

to celebrate the end of Lent.

You've got two hours on the flaounes clock.

-On your marks...

-Get set, flaouna!

-TAMAL:

-What is this?

Not in a million years have I heard of this recipe at all.

Never heard of them, never heard of them!

-It sounds like an airline.

-It sounds like...

-"Fly flaounes!"

-It's the way you say it, it sounds like an insult. Flaounes.

-Flaounes!

I've made these a few times...

No, not really! Never heard of it.

I don't think they would've heard of these before.

They wouldn't have heard of them. I haven't heard of them.

They look absolutely delicious,

but why did you choose them as a challenge?

What I'm trying to do is test them on different levels.

One is the cheese filling inside and two is the dough on the outside.

It's got two flavourings in there as well.

One is mastica and one is mahlepi.

-Have you explained to them what to do with those?

-No.

I think that's totally unfair. It is the toughest challenge yet.

Great, isn't it?

The filling has got the cheeses in it, the semolina,

it's got yeast in it.

The instructions for the ingredients are...

"Make the filling with all of the ingredients,

"apart from the baking powder, and then rest."

'Before tackling the pastry element,

'the bakers must first prepare the filling.'

There's a lot of cheese going in this.

It'll do nothing for my figure!

It's got sultanas in it,

a bit of cheesy sweetness going on there.

I mean, sultanas with cheese, you know, it's pretty odd.

FLORA: It just feels wrong, the whole thing feels wrong.

So I'm just going to mix it together with my hands.

"Cover it and rest it," it says.

Rest it down there in the proving drawer.

Pastry next. Right, that's what we're here for.

So it doesn't give any instructions about how to make the pastry.

This is not like any pastry I've heard of.

'The pastry has two very unusual ingredients.'

-Urgh!

-Mahlepi...

Mahlepi, if that's how you pronounce it.

Mahlepi is ground pits of the sour cherry.

-NADIYA:

-Mastic, I've never heard of that,

I don't even know what that is used for.

I've used that in a bathroom a few times, like, putting things together.

I've never used it in baking.

I have no idea what this is. No idea.

'A popular spice in Greek and Cypriot cuisine,'

'mastic is a crystallised tree resin with an unmistakable...'

Ugh!

'..pine aroma.'

It's nasty!

Oh! Oh...

That's like some industrial-strength cleaner.

It's like eating sand!

'And there's something else which makes this pastry special.'

I've never made a pastry with yeast in it...

which makes it feel so much more like bread than it does pastry.

I assume they want it to be a bit biscuit-like in texture.

Don't know, maybe it's like filo. Is it like filo? I don't know.

They haven't told you whether to knead or not.

Says, "Make the pastry, then rest."

Pastry's not something you normally knead,

but it's something that you've got to make sure everything is combined.

'If the pastry is overworked,

'it will become tough and brittle and could break.'

Can't make up my mind.

My instincts say to knead it a little bit.

It's a good little workout, actually.

Just realised it's pastry week and not bread week.

'The bakers have just one hour remaining.'

"Add the baking powder to the filling, divide into 12."

Baking powder...

"Divide pastry into 12 and roll into squares."

How big these babies are meant to be, I'm not too sure.

They're not exactly square.

I've been looking around constantly.

Help me cheat!

After last week's thick pittas I did,

I'm going to try and roll them a bit thinner.

Not getting any clues from this lot.

Oh...stupid Technical.

So we've got to coat one side of the pastry with the sesame seeds.

The question is - which side?

Sesame is on the inside, just because I thought there's no way

it's going to stick to the outside.

I'm going to go for the other side. Yeah.

"Then you put the filling in the centre of each square

"and fold over the edges..."

"Leaving the centres exposed."

But then you get a really thick layer of pastry.

That doesn't seem very pleasant.

Really?

You've just got to guess.

No, it can't be.

That looks quite nice.

Sorry to all of Cyprus if I'm ruining a lovely national dish.

Decisions, decisions - all of them wrong.

'Paul's recipe doesn't state how long to bake for.'

I guess these should bake for sort of...I don't know...

half an hour or something like that?

Come on!

I hope it's right. I hope I interpreted it right.

It's all in the hands of the oven now.

Well, they're in.

That's pretty relaxing, all in all.

Has everyone got theirs in the oven?

Yeah.

I hate you. I hate all of you.

I mean, I love my fellow bakers.

Bakers, that's ten minutes and this little bird will have FLAOUNES.

"During cooking, reduce the temperature...

"to make them golden brown."

I might have turned the temperature up and not down.

They don't need to know that.

Mine is so like pizza!

Cypriot pizza.

Top one is going to be raw.

I underestimated how long it was going to take to shape them.

They do look like they're going to be very neat ones, though.

-Yeah, they look really neat.

-That's what they want, neat and raw.

Bakers, you have flao-una minutes.

-One?

-That's it.

-That's that, then.

Please bake.

OK, bakers, time's up for the cheesy Cypriot parcels.

Please bring them up

and leave them on the gingham table.

Paul and Mary are looking for 12 identical flaounes

with a thin crust and a high dome shape.

Right, shall we start over here, Mary?

Now, straight away, what we're looking for

is sesame seed on the outside.

You have the square, you have the cheese filling,

but there's no sesame seeds and it's too flat.

Actually, the interior doesn't look too bad.

It smells like a flaouna.

-Tastes like a flaouna, too.

-Mm.

Problem is, they don't look like flaounes.

Right, move onto the next one. This looks more like a flaouna.

It's got a good colour.

It's just too flat.

Tastes very nice.

Mm. It does taste good.

Right, let's move onto these pizzas.

Oh, dear. It's not encased at all.

It's a deconstructed flaouna.

-Lots of sesame seeds, though.

-Yes. Underneath.

It tastes fine.

It's just that the pastry hasn't come over the top

and got that fold in.

Now, these are a bit more like it, if I'm honest.

There's sesame seed on the outside. It's folded correctly, too.

And a lovely shine from the glaze.

They're not bad. Not bad at all.

Right, moving on.

There is sesame seed on the outside, sesame seed on the bottom.

-And it's very thick there.

-It needs to be rolled out much thinner.

-Tastes all right.

-Tastes like a flaouna.

Right, these are almost like crowns.

And they're a little bit haphazard shape.

Because it's a yeasted dough, I think they've pulled it.

It's a little bit undercooked, this one, I think.

And the glaze is a bit patchy.

It does need a little bit longer in the oven. Right, moving on.

-Interesting.

-Cornish flaounes.

-It is a Cornish flaouna.

You've got the height there. You've got the bubble coming out the top,

-which is good, but the shape's all wrong.

-They've got it all even.

And that lovely colour underneath.

'Mary and Paul will now rate the flaounes from seven to one.'

In seventh place is...this one. Whose is this?

The sesame seeds weren't there.

Did you put the baking powder in all together as well?

-I did but I flattened out the cheese.

-You need it to be high.

And in sixth place, these were just open and flat.

'In fifth place is Paul, and in fourth, Nadiya.'

And in third place is...this one.

Whose is this? Pretty good.

-You got the nice height, you just got the fold all wrong.

-Yeah.

In second place...

You've got the fold right here and a little bit flat.

A beautiful colour and plenty of sesame seeds.

And in first place is this one. Whose is this?

The overall look of that could just about pass as a flaouna.

-Well done, Mat.

-OK, Cheers.

-MEL: Well done, Mat.

APPLAUSE

That was a turn up for the books, wasn't it?

Bad morning, better afternoon,

so...yeah, one balances out the other a little bit.

I said the words, didn't I? I said I wanted it.

Sounded cocky and the universe beat me back down.

Get in your place!

It's a disappointing day. It's a really disappointing day.

What impression do you get overall as to who's doing well this weekend?

What's really difficult, and more so this year than any other year,

they go from the top down to the bottom and vice versa on every

challenge, so to actually judge it is getting harder and harder.

I mean, Mat, his frangipane tart was very bland,

and then come the Technical, there he is right at the top.

Someone like Flora, the ideas are there.

But she's got to do what we ask her to do and forget all the extras.

Who do you think's in trouble?

It's Alvin, because he was down there in the Signature

because it just wasn't baked, and in the Technical, he was sixth.

Alvin has really got to pull up his socks.

So, Alvin is in trouble.

-What needs to happen for him to be saved?

-A miracle.

If Alvin has a great day today,

I mean an unbelievable day today, you never know.

-Anything could happen.

-Anything could happen in the tent.

-I'm excited, are you?

-I'm on tenters.

I won't sleep for the rest of the day, which is unlike me.

Good morning, Magnificent Seven. Now, Showstopper day.

Paul and Mary, please, would love you to tackle

that classic of the 1970s,

the star of thousands of drinks parties.

They would like you, please, to make vol-au-vents.

They'd like you to make your own puff pastry from scratch

and two different types of vol-au-vents.

24 of each, which makes, by my mathematics, 48.

Now, I'm off to get into my Bri-nylon boob tube

-and my terry towelling hot pants.

-Hello, sailor.

In the meantime, you've got three hours and 45 minutes

while I get the white wine warming nicely.

-On your marks.

-Get set.

-Bake!

I don't think we ever had any dinner parties when I was young.

I don't know if my mum would have ever made vol-au-vents.

It wasn't the sort of thing done in my house!

I'm old enough, unlike some of the rest in the tent,

to remember vol-au-vents!

Of the '70s, the late '70s, '80s.

And normally, in them days, it was egg mayonnaise.

At the moment, I'm just going to mix the dough.

I'm doing the dough for the pastry itself.

Brand-new day, brand-new challenge, so going to give it a good go.

We've given them plenty of time to do it,

but the trickiest part is making the puff pastry.

We want a good rise, we want it nice and straight, with all equal colour.

I love vol-au-vents,

providing they're beautifully cooked, lovely light pastry,

beautiful layers and well-filled.

Lots of filling.

'Puff pastry's light and flaky texture is made by creating

'layers of butter and pastry in a series of folds.'

So, this is my pastry mix.

At the moment, just flour and water.

I'm going to get that sort of fully combined and get it to chill down

in the fridge before I add the butter as another layer,

and then start the process of folding my puff pastry.

'Once the pastry's chilling,

'the bakers can concentrate on the butter layer.'

I need to break the butter down - there's two blocks.

Got to fold them together, break them down, get them to the shape

that I need, ready to go into parts of pastry.

The main thing with puff pastry is that the butter stays really cold,

so the pastry and the butter are both the same temperature,

so that when they meet they don't melt.

If the butter all melts, there's no rise in the dough at all

and you just get a kind of fairly nice circle of stodge.

'When the butter has reached the desired shape and depth,

'it's then encased in the pastry.'

It's important you seal everything

so there is no butter sort of exposed.

'Then it's rolled and folded.'

The secret to this was to keep everything really neat and form edges

to be straight so everything's sort of folded together nicely.

'The pastry then needs to be chilled.

'This process should be repeated several times.

'More folds means more layers and better puff.'

You want the dough to roll easily so you don't need to use too

much pressure, because the more pressure you use, the more

you're pushing the butter into the dough,

which, again, messes up the layering.

I need to get the lamination of the pastry right.

If I'm going to perform well today, it's got to be that.

The rest is just a bonus but the lamination needs to be perfect.

-Hello, Ian.

-Good morning, good morning.

I am very impressed with the way you've kept your ends straight.

-Very neat, very Ian.

-Yeah. Mm-hmm!

-You should get a wonderful rise from it.

-I really hope so.

These have been my nemesis.

They've been the thing I've been dreading the most.

What kind of vol-au-vents are you making?

So, I'm making a mushroom vol-au-vent,

three mushroom vol-au-vents,

with just regular horse chestnuts and porcini,

-and then some truffle oil on top.

-Ooh!

-How delicious.

-With some lemon and thyme in there as well.

-Yes.

-And the other one?

-And the other one, this is my risk for the week.

This is my scallop one, with some squid ink in there.

'Ian will add bacon and vermouth

'to his black scallop and squid ink vol-au-vents.'

-Is there anything that's worrying you?

-I spoke to my wife

the night before last. I left her some of this filling.

She said, "Ian, I don't like it."

-You can't tell me that now!

-I mean, it is daring.

-Yeah, I mean,

jet-black food is a little bit risque.

I don't want to sort of manipulate it too much.

You know, you don't want the butter to get too warm.

I'm going to wrap these up and I'll put them in the freezer.

Just for 10, 15 minutes.

Just get that in the freezer.

My vol-au-vents are...just remind myself.

I'm doing a garlic and chilli prawn

marinated on risotto, with a pea puree underneath,

and then I'm doing a sweet one,

which is my take on the '70s, '80s trifle.

'Paul's trifle-inspired vol-au-vents will be layered with creme pat,

'raspberry coulis and cream, with a fresh raspberry sitting on top.'

This is unreal, innit?

THUNDER RUMBLES

That's horrendous.

It's jolly cold, so it's a perfect day for making pastry.

Just adds some drama to the occasion, doesn't it?

Biblical pastry.

'Creating perfect puff is a tricky enough challenge for the bakers.

'But, true to form, Flora is pushing herself

'by adding another element to her pastry.'

I am just doing my second dough, which will be the chocolate one.

-A chocolate one?

-Ooh!

-How are you incorporating the chocolate?

-I've never seen her so excited!

-Well, it is quite different.

It is quite different.

'Flora's chocolate puff pastry will be filled with chocolate ganache

'and topped with hazelnut and praline.

'Her savoury canapes will be filled with asparagus and Parma ham.'

How does the chocolate react with the puff pastry

-when you're baking it?

-The cocoa powder can affect

the actual puff but I've managed to get it to work twice,

so I hope that it happens for me today.

'Not only do Paul and Mary want to see light, layered pastry,

'they also want fillings that are flavoursome

'and transform the vol-au-vents into the perfect canape.'

I'm sort of doing a his'n'hers vol-au-vent.

So, one for my wife.

I asked what she'd like in the vol-au-vent

and she wanted smoked trout and horseradish,

and then I worked out what I was going to have,

and I was going to have...almost like a full English breakfast vol-au-vent.

'Mat's full English vol-au-vents will contain sausage and bacon,

'and be topped with a quail's egg.'

It's a fancy sort of dinner party vol-au-vent,

and then one just from a caff. That's the look I'm going for.

'While Mat opts for traditional British flavours,

'Nadiya is drawing on her Bengali roots to impress.'

So, I am doing a Bengali korma vol-au-vent

with a poached quail's egg on top,

and I'm doing a cod and clementine vol-au-vent.

-Cod and clementine?

-Yeah.

'Nadiya's cod recipe will use the peel of two small clementines,

'while her Bengali chicken korma is spiced with cardamom, cinnamon,

'star anise and cloves.'

What made you choose these?

These are my mum and my grandma's recipes.

When my mum was little,

my mum would eat the clementines and my grandma would keep the peel,

wondering what she could possibly do with it,

and that is what she came up with.

And that is an unbelievably - for me, anyway,

and I hope you guys like it - but it is such an amazing combination.

'Like Nadiya, Alvin's also using his childhood memories

'as inspiration for one of his vol-au-vents' fillings.'

Chicken a la king is obviously an American dish,

and being in the Philippines,

we sort of get this recipe from them, so I grew up with it.

It brings back memories - Mum making it in a big case and stuff,

so it's quite good.

'Alvin's other vol-au-vents will be his version of salmon en croute,

'using smoked salmon, creme fraiche and dill.'

There's a lot going on in there to get into that small vol-au-vent,

-isn't it?

-Yes, I'm not going to put everything in,

but I made some for me later.

I'm going to be standing very close to you

because I know there's going to be an awful lot left over.

-Thank you, Alvin.

-Thank you.

'The fillings are a key part of this challenge,

'so Tamal's chosen a recipe that has been close to his heart for years.'

This is basically inspired by a sandwich that I had

a few years ago. It was top two sandwiches of my life.

It was a pork sandwich and they fried the meat with the fennel

and the rosemary, and I think about that sandwich quite a lot.

'Tamal's pulled pork vol-au-vents

'will be matched in flavour by his second filling,

'which will be spicy chicken and coriander.'

It's definitely got chilli in it!

OK, bakers, you're halfway through

your three-and-three-quarter-hour challenge,

which means you've got one hour, 52 and a half minutes remaining.

It's looking good. I can see the butter lamination inside, so...

What you don't want to see is butter being in there,

because it means it hasn't amalgamated with the dough.

That's not a good thing for puff.

Look at my butter. Why is it so lumpy?

-My butter looks a bit mottled, like it's chunks.

-Yeah, so's mine.

Because I've tried to get it to cool quickly,

the butter's just frozen so fast,

when I've gone to roll it, it's just broken up into pieces.

-There's quite a lot of, um...

-Lumps?

-It's a bit like a cellulite-y thigh.

-It is.

Nadiya's has gone the same.

Um...I don't know, it's all right.

Are you feeling the presh with the puff?

This isn't ideal but, yeah, I think I'll be all right.

That's what they're getting now, anyway.

I haven't got time to start again.

I'm making a second batch. I just need it to work.

There's time, there's always time.

'Once the bakers have got their hard-earned layers,

'they need to keep them.'

So, this cutting is very important.

The crucial bit to it, I think, really.

If I sort of cut like that, then grease it,

the butter will lock the sides

and then it will not rise above me.

It's those little things, I think, that if you focus on it,

you'll be rewarded in the end.

14, 15.

I'm under pressure because we're running out of time

and they're not even in the oven yet, let alone filled.

OK, bakers, you've got an hour to go

before the vol-au-vents buffet will be served.

One hour before the vol-au-vents buffet will be served.

Thanking you.

I am rushing, so I need to just stop and just calm down

and just do this, because I will just mess it up otherwise.

Ah, this is so fiddly.

I'm all right at the moment, yeah.

I'm just sort of trucking on, you know what I mean? It's, um...

I'd prefer they came out of this - the cutter - a little bit easier.

I'm putting a sheet of silicone on top of all the vol-au-vents.

This just helps them to rise evenly.

These are going in.

I'll just put the wire rack on top.

The idea is to stop them rising too far.

If they rise that far, I'll be jolly happy.

Anyway, that's 20 in, so that's good. I'm on the way.

NADIYA GROANS

'Mary and Paul will want to see a perfect batch of vol-au-vents

'from each baker - well-risen, uniform and vertical.'

They're not going straight, which I knew they would

because I've had to rush it. Which is not good.

Melting.

I didn't chill them before I put them in

because I'm running out of time.

Well, there's some vol-au-vents.

Oh, my God.

-They look all right?

-They're perfect.

This is disaster. This is not good.

Look at Mat's. Like straight soldiers.

Mine look like they've been drinking.

I've now got to take out 48 middles, though.

One.

Two.

I'll keep you up to date, yeah?

My pastry's just melting away in the oven. It's not rising very much.

Oh, it's not looking very good.

OK, bakers, 15 minutes left

before Puff Daddy comes to judge.

I've still got to rebake the breakfast ones. Oh, that's not good.

-I've still got lots to do.

-They're not straight but I'd rather have

something on there, filled, than nothing at all.

I've got so many piping bags on the go.

I need to make sure I'm putting the right one in.

-Nadiya, my love?

-Yes?

-Just a thought.

-Yeah?

Worth trying to put some filling, even if it's just on there,

-just so you've got something to show.

-I cannot do 48 in five minutes.

OK, well, do as many as you can in five minutes.

Right, going in with a finger. This is ridiculous!

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

Terrible. That's how they're looking.

It's hard to pick, they're all so hideously deformed.

Come on, come on, come on.

Better hide the ugly one, eh?

I'm going to give them everything I said I would, just deconstructed.

OK, bakers, the Showstopper has been stoppered.

Vol-au-vents at the end of the bench.

They look amazing.

The puff, the height that you've got from it, the lamination,

the shape, the bake.

It all looks fantastic and great size as well.

-Flavours are gorgeous.

-Good.

Well thought out, actually, and well baked.

And I promise you, the egg yolk is beautifully runny,

it's dripping down my hand.

Delicious.

The horseradish with the smoked trout, the blend is beautiful.

They're delicate, they're really good, strong flavours.

You've done two excellent vol-au-vents.

-Well done.

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you.

-They look a little bit under-baked.

-It looks anaemic.

-Mm-hm.

-You've got the layers there, but they're a bit tilted.

-Yes.

You can see right down the bottom, it's raw.

Right, let's check the sweet one.

-The flavours are coming through.

-It's a lovely creme pat.

-They just look hideous.

-Yes, I agree there, yeah.

Your savoury ones look a picture.

Those are very delicious.

I don't think you've got the rise of your pastry.

-They're little bit heavy.

-But it's neat and the filling is beautiful.

-Right.

-The chocolate ones, they've risen in the beautiful flakes.

Quite dense again for a puff pastry, the chocolate,

but the flavour is stunning. It's even better than the savoury.

I think they're brilliant. You were exceptionally brave to do it.

-Thank you.

-And we haven't got any extra things stuck on the side.

Well done.

They are a bit of a mess, aren't they?

They do look a little bit pale, bit topsy-turvy, but well filled.

Let's have a look at this one.

Quite a good bake underneath, look. It's a lovely flavour.

As a canape, I think it really works.

That coriander chicken is delicious.

Next one is pulled pork.

The filling is delicious.

-I thought it was going to be dry, it wasn't dry.

-Two fantastic flavours.

They taste good, they don't look too good.

They are a bit irregular. I didn't expect that.

Most of them have risen fairly straight.

They're a little squat in size.

The mushroom ones look a little bit over-baked.

Truffle oil with the mushrooms, though, is delicious.

The filling is very good.

But the scallop and the ink look interesting.

I ran out of time, so didn't get a chance to garnish them,

-so they look a little, um...

-Look plain.

-Look a bit black. Mmm.

-I think the black ink with that is... It's not good.

-No, OK.

They're all very neat, but that's not Ian, really.

We haven't got your style.

-Oh, dear.

-Yeah.

I'm sorry, they weren't obviously supposed to be presented like that.

Is this the pastry you made initially or is it the second lot?

-It was my second lot.

-This is why you ran out of time.

-Yeah.

And once you run out of time, to try

and laminate a dough when the butter is trying to melt

and you try to rush it and bring it out and then the butter just leaves

the pastry, which is why you end up with these massive gaps.

It's very sad that it has all toppled over and so forth.

You've got wonderful layers there.

-The pastry was properly made, but you needed to chill it.

-But...

..the fillings look fascinating.

It's so annoying.

The cod and the clementine together, that is stunning.

-The korma...

-I'm not, as you know, a very spicy person

-and it really is absolutely scrumptious.

-It tastes amazing.

And I was a bit worried, thinking, "Would you have that cold

-"in a canape?" But, actually, yeah, you would.

-It's lovely.

And we can see that you can make the puff pastry,

because the layers are there.

-It just... It didn't get chilled in time.

-Thank you very much.

Overall, they don't look too bad.

They look lovely and colourful, those. And these are well garnished.

But they look quite raw here in the middle.

Did you notice that on a few of them when they were coming out?

Er, to be honest, no, I did not.

-Goes back to dough when I push it.

-Yeah. Oh, sorry.

That is a shame.

I like that filling. I've tried that filling before.

-The flavour's good.

-The filling is delicious.

I think your pastry is better baked on this one.

-I'm not getting much flavour throughout that.

-Sorry.

But I'd say the flavour on that is delicious.

Thank you. Thank you. Sorry about that.

BIRDSONG

I actually think one of the stars of today was Mat.

I mean, look at them, they're perfect

and the flavours were stunning

and he even got his yolk runny too.

What a relief that Flora just made what she was asked to make.

Who's had chocolate puff pastry before?

But she had confidence in it and it worked.

Mary and I have got a few ideas for Star Baker,

but I think when it comes to the person who has to go,

I think it is between two.

And I think we have to sit down and try and figure out

over the three challenges, who has baked the better.

Did Alvin do enough to save himself?

Well done, bakers. Who knew that puff could be so tough?

So, I've got the very nice job this week -

Star Baker goes to somebody whose vol-au-vents today

are as tall and proud as the baker himself.

Mat, you are this week's Star Baker. Well done.

Thank you.

I've drawn the short cheese straw.

With great regret, the person who is leaving us this week...

..is Alvin.

Alvin, you cherub.

Being in the tent, it taught me how to be resilient.

I feel like I'm leaving the tent a better man, a different man.

-Well done, mate.

-Thank you, sir.

'It was unfortunate that Alvin had to go,'

but the Showstopper to save him really had to be fantastic

and it just wasn't good enough.

Nadiya, who's also in the drop zone,

but the flavours were honestly some of the best stuff I've ever had.

I can't believe I made it through.

I thought I was going home.

I am so grateful that I'm here. I'm so grateful.

Yes!

'Mat has improved beyond belief.'

His Showstopper was really stunning.

It's great, innit?

The biggest surprise is Mary Berry double-punched me

in the stomach when she congratulated me!

That's a surprise.

Little bit winded.

Next time - the tent turns Victorian...

Oh, my God.

..as the remaining six bake recipes from the past...

I've filled it too much.

..go overboard with decoration...

Queen Victoria would be proud.

Agh!

..and get to grips with old-fashioned techniques...

I mean, it can't be that hard, right? It's a cake.

'..which turn even the tent's toughest to jelly.'

Don't let a fondant tennis court be the end of you.

HE EXHALES