Patisserie The Great British Bake Off

-That cloud's shaped like a bagel.

-That one's like a Schichttorte.

-There's a baguette.

-Couple of cobs.

-Mate, we're obsessed.

-Welcome... BOTH:

-To The Great British Bake Off.

-BOTH:

-Brioche.

Last time, a tennis cake tantrum...

..and a cracked Charlotte Russe...

-It's split.

-Split, is it?

..meant a fond farewell to Mat.

Ohh! I'm going to miss you.

-But Tamal's game-changing game pie...

-Really well done.

Oh, the handshake!

..and barnstorming Bavarois made him a first-time Star Baker.

Now, it's the quarterfinal...

I can only taste fear in my mouth right now.

-..and only five bakers remain.

-I feel like we're a herd of gazelles.

Mary and Paul are the lions. And they're hungry - for bakers!

To survive the cull,

they'll have to give it their all in the Signature...

Ahhh!

..strive for Technical perfection...

I did actually see this in Mary Berry's recipe book.

I thought, well, I'm not going to make that - that's really fiddly!

..and build a Showstopper of a choux pastry tower.

Ow!

-Who will stand strong?

-I think you've done a cracking job on that.

And who will topple under the pressure?

Oh, I'm too nervous for construction!

-I've got a real treat for you.

-Oh, great!

-Tasty, beautiful, unmistakably French.

-Is it Thierry Henri?

No! He's still safe in my basement.

-No, it's Patisserie Week.

-Oh.

Star Baker, that felt pretty good,

but we're back again and the nerves are back.

Quarterfinals - big deal! Yeah.

Anything with the word final in it

is a bit daunting, isn't it?

Five of us left. There's a lot less places to hide

now and a lot less room for error.

I feel very fallible, oh, yeah.

I think it's all or nothing, now.

You have to deliver or you're out.

Good morning, bakers.

The following Signature Challenge has been assessed

by the double entendre police and I'm delighted to inform you

that this morning, Paul and Mary would love you to make cream horns.

And there's nothing fun to say about that whatsoever.

A cream horn is very simply a spiral of pastry

with some cream in the middle.

Mary and Paul would like you to make two different flavours,

12 of each flavour,

equalling 24 horns in total.

You can use rough, puff or flaky pastry.

You've got three and a half hours, bakers - on your marks...

-Horn away.

-BOTH:

-Bake.

I feel like I'm getting flashbacks from all of last week.

I, um... I have to get some puff pastry out, whatever kind it is!

Compared to the vol-au-vents, these cream horns are relatively easy.

You know, there's not much that can go wrong with them.

-PAUL:

-I actually think a cream horn is quite difficult to do.

I prefer to go down the full puff pastry route, and that'll create

great layers of dough, butter, dough, butter, dough,

so when you bake it,

the moisture from the butter infuses into the dough, it pulls away

to create steam and that's where you get the flakes in the puff pastry.

It's very important that you fill the horn right to the bottom

so that you enjoy it to the last mouthful.

To get perfect ones, it does need great skill.

I'm making rough puff pastry.

It's very tasty, you still get that buttery texture

and lightness of the puff pastry,

it's just a quicker method of doing it.

Kind of as the name suggests, you just roughly throw it together.

The rough puff, it controls the shape a little bit better.

That's the only reason why I chose it.

Flora is... She's doing full puff pastry.

She's quite clever like that.

You haven't seen it yet, Ian.

You really haven't seen it yet!

Flora's not alone in opting to make full puff.

-Good morning, Tamal.

-Hiya.

-Your puff pastry,

what're you doing for that one - rough puff or full?

-I'm doing full puff.

-What flours are you using?

-Just using plain flour.

-JUST plain?

-Yes.

-What would you have done, Paul?

-Mixed it with strong.

-OK.

It's worked out all right for me.

Tamal's use of plain flour may not have impressed Paul,

but he's hoping his fillings of lime mascarpone

and malt and honeycomb cream will deliver on taste.

It'll be good to see what yours turn out like.

You're getting him full of confidence.

We all have our preferences.

Stop, listen - just...

-Eyes down.

-Block it out.

You're like a racehorse - blinkers. Yeah?

Ian is not content with doing one flavour of rough puff -

he's making two.

Apparently, using cocoa and pastry, things can go wrong.

I don't know what those problems are.

I've cooked this a couple of times at home now and it's been fine.

Inspired by classic cake flavours,

Ian's creating a Mont Blanc horn with a chestnut cream filling

and a Black Forest Gateau horn containing cherries

and kirsch, a kind of fruit brandy.

The Black Forest Gateau one, it's going to be sort of stripy,

both normal and chocolate.

-Did you find it was more subdued, the chocolate one? For rise?

-Um...

-It seemed to be about the same.

-OK.

I am going to put this in the fridge for 15 minutes.

I'm just starting my lemon curd. I'm just conscious I need to get on with

as much stuff in between doing the laminations of the dough as possible.

One of them is coffee and vanilla swirl

and the other one is a brulee banana mixed in with the cream.

-Bananas and custard...

-Go lovely!

-It's just...

-Heaven!

That was like a big treat for me on a Sunday.

The flavours are going to be perfect.

Paul's bananas seem to have the seal of approval.

He's confident his coffee creme pat horn will also be a winner.

Anything that you think could go wrong?

Maybe the consistency of the creme patisserie -

I need a lot more firmer to pipe,

because I'll pipe them as a swirl.

How are you going to obtain a thicker creme pat?

-I've added a bit more cornstarch and put a bit more egg yolk in it.

-OK.

Nice banana-coloured shirt, as well, Paul. You look good.

It's all in the mix.

Paul is using classic, tried-and-tested flavours.

As ever, Flora is going a little more avant-garde.

I am making peach, lemon and thyme cream horns and butterscotch

-and smoked almond.

-You've chosen unusual flavours, haven't you?

Flora is also getting arty with her toppings,

which include caramel wafers and tuile cigars.

I'm going for the ice cream look,

-so they'll all sit upright on top.

-Oh, right.

I used ice cream cones covered in tinfoil at home.

-When Madonna makes cream horns, she simply uses her bra.

-Why not?

-If you've got one of those conical bras...

-You go for it.

'Flora's not the only one taking a risk with her flavours.'

So I'm doing rose, pistachio and white chocolate cream horns.

It's interesting. It's such a dangerous flavour, rose.

You can overdo it so easily.

Nadiya's hoping that rose syrup mixed with mascarpone and whipped cream

will provide the perfect balance for her floral-flavoured horn.

I don't want to do another week and not produce pastry.

It would be nice to have some puff pastry.

-Now, if things DO go wrong, don't lose your rag.

-No.

-Bear with it and just show us what you've got.

-(Quarterfinal, Nadiya.)

-It is.

-No pressure.

-No pressure at all. Thank you.

It's weird how quiet it is.

I feel like we're a herd of gazelles that's being

picked off one by one by lions.

Mary and Paul are the lions.

And they're hungry - for bakers!

It's important not to overwork the pastry.

So I'm doing four turns in my pastry.

Doing too many turns will weigh down the layers,

resulting in a closer texture and create a dense pastry.

So I think I'm going to try and do six, maybe nine.

Paul was saying he would have used a bit of strong flour,

because it holds its shape a bit better.

But I'm not having any breakages so far,

so I think mine is working OK.

Starting is the pain.

No, no, no, no, no.

The bakers must get the correct amount of overlap

on their pastry spirals.

Too much, and the pastry will be thick and won't cook through.

Not enough and the horns will separate when baked.

The biggest problem is inconsistency between them -

I roll them up on the cones, they all look identical, to the point

where I was taking pictures of them before they go in the oven.

They come out and they look like they're different sizes,

some have unravelled, some haven't...

Which is really frustrating.

Flora has decided not to shape her horns.

Instead, she's preparing a wafer dough for her tuile decorations.

I just thought I'd get the tuiles done first.

I'm trying to do as many toppings

that looked like ice cream as possible.

I'm hunting for the perfect almond.

We're getting there. Finally a few really lovely flaked almonds.

I am a bit concerned, just because I'm just watching everybody

do what we're supposed to be doing,

ie cream horns and I don't want to start doing the pastry when I've

still got these in the oven, because they'll just go over instantly.

One tiny little tray of flaked almonds(!)

One, two, three, four, five, six,

seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve. Fine.

Whether rough or full puff, the pastry must be kept cold.

If not, the butter will melt and it won't produce its classic flake.

-What's going on here, what're you making?

-Some tuile cigars.

You know the bit when we asked you to do the Challenge?

The Challenge bit, the main bit? Like, the THING, the horn bit.

-The cream horns?

-Have you started that?

-Yes.

My pastry's ready, I just need to shape it, which...

You could shape that instead of shaping the cigars.

I could, couldn't I?

I didn't do that and I'm not quite sure why at this moment in time.

I've just put the cream horns in for 12 minutes.

I will only really know when they bake whether they are OK.

They are leaking a little bit.

I am panicking a little bit.

Paul said don't lose your rag, so that's what I'm going to do.

I'm going to not lose my rag.

You have one hour on your rough puff pastry protuberances.

They're puffing up. They look OK.

A little bit of butter always melts from the puff pastry anyway.

They're not...perfect.

Once the cream's in it, it'll hold them together.

-Cream horns!

-Are we horns up, Nadiya?

-Is that what we're doing?

We're horns up.

They look all right.

With 24 horns to make, they're being baked in batches.

I'll just get these in.

A bit behind scheduling, it's probably fair to say.

Really thick creme pat.

That's what I'm looking for and it'll cool down

and thicken up more in the fridge.

Not exactly a perfect creation, unfortunately.

I'm not using the rose water, I'm just using rose syrup.

I don't want them to be too strong.

OK, bakers - just 15 minutes till you give Paul the horn.

So let's say you've got...

30 seconds per horn?

-Yeah.

-For fill-age.

-Is that going to be all right?

-That'll have to be, won't it?

-Still one set in.

-They need to cool.

-Got to get out and cool them, yeah.

They look like a right dog's dinner.

I've probably made about 200 cream horns.

If you ask me, do I like cream horns...

..I will tell you no.

We're going to have a little bit of kirsch in there.

No, I can only taste fear in my mouth right now!

Just a bit more kirsch.

It's maybe not quite as set. It was given another two hours.

Ahhh!

It's thick, all right.

I think I just need to accept that they may not be perfect.

Oh, no!

I think I'm going to freeze this, just to stop them...

Ah!

I need another freezer.

Ah!

-Paul? Are you needing it?

-No. Go, go.

-Ian, are you all right, mate?

-No!

OK, bakers - mourn the horn, in a minute, it's gawn! One minute.

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

Please move your horns to the ends of your benches.

Paul and Mary are expecting 24 perfectly baked cream horns,

with a filling that reaches all the way down to the bottom.

I think they look very, very good.

They're all the same size, you've finished them nicely.

-Which pastry did you use?

-I used a rough puff.

Start on the top one, which is the rose.

Nice flake.

It's nicely baked all the way through -

you can see all the layers in it, as well.

To get that flake on the rough puff pastry - excellent.

You've got the mixture right down to the bottom, and that's tricky.

Beautiful, buttery pastry, with that hint of rose inside, as well -

which works, but it's quite delicate.

This is the mocha, isn't it?

That is, yeah.

The flavour is quite something. It's a cracker, well done.

It's an exemplary horn.

You've got the actual twisting of the pastry so even on every single one.

-Mm.

-The pastry looks baked, the filling looks attractive.

I'm dying to taste it, really.

I think I will try it with the banana one first.

-Pastry's good.

-The banana's not strong enough!

-Really?

-No!

Angry baby Paul.

It's so light - it needs to be pungent, you know?

Real kick to it.

Quite annoying.

-I really wanted that banana and custard thing, you know?

-Oh, right.

So, what's in here? Creme patissiere.

Creme patisserie, and it's coffee and vanilla.

Where is it?

No filling in the bottom of that one.

-Did you pipe that in?

-I did, yeah.

You didn't need to thicken it up as much as that.

Better have a banana for lunch.

You've built me up, then, Paul, and just kicked me back.

They're very difficult to do with a full puff.

You can see this is puff pastry.

You've managed to get that flakiness without strong flour.

They're a beautiful even colour, and that's good.

-So, this is the lime and mascarpone.

-Yep.

You can see all the layers of the puff pastry going down -

and crispy.

Not too complicated, and a good flavour.

I can taste the malt.

Very unusual to choose these, and they go.

I think you've done a cracking job on that.

Really have.

There is an issue at the bottom, where it's been pouring out.

I think they're great fun.

It's a very nice idea to stand them all up,

but it hasn't done you any good.

We'll start with the peach.

Which pastry did you choose?

I did full puff.

It's not flaky enough. It's almost shortcrust-like.

-Do you understand?

-I rolled it really fine.

I thought that was what I was supposed to do!

Could do with a little bit more peach - or have I missed it?

I'm going to pinch over here.

That's absolutely delicious, but it's run straight to the bottom.

I think you attempt too many things.

One should remember, it's cream horns,

-and not spend too much time on the extras.

-Sorry.

You were being very ambitious -

but very difficult to get two different pastries two bind.

The plain rough puff and the chocolate just haven't bonded.

There's lots of issues with the chocolate.

Right, we'll take one, a decent one.

This is not cutting through like crisp pastry.

That's raw inside,

and the chocolate one looks quite raw, as well.

Yeah.

-The cherry liqueur...

-Yeah, mm-hm.

-Far too much. It dominates everything.

-Mm.

The flavour is strong.

-FLORA:

-I'm completely gutted.

You can't make rookie mistakes in the quarterfinal.

Tick.

I really needed to get some pastry out.

I'm so pleased, I can't tell you how pleased I am

to have been able to do that today.

The pastry was much more tricky than I thought it would be.

I really got it wrong.

The work of a patissiere, or pastry chef,

is seen by many to be the pinnacle of the baking profession -

and yet, some of their delicacies have extremely humble origins.

In late 18th-century France in the city of Nancy,

a group of nuns sought to profit from their patisserie prowess

by selling small almond biscuits known as macarons.

They were dubbed the Macaron Sisters,

and their bakes became legendary.

Patissiere Nicolas Genot makes his macarons

to the nuns' original recipe.

This is the first time in 30 years

that I'm actually going to use my modern languages degree.

Please don't judge me - ne me jugez pas.

IN FRENCH:

The exact formula for the nuns' recipe is a closely-guarded secret,

and Nicolas is the only baker on the planet who knows it.

The macarons' popularity grew,

and in 1930, an enterprising Parisian baker named Pierre Desfontaines

spotted their potential.

Smothering the bottom biscuit in glorious ganache, he then took...

SHE GASPS ..another biscuit,

added it on top, double-decker stylee,

and there, the filled macaron as we know and love it,

was born.

Sounds like my kind of baker.

Mm!

Bit too small, though.

I think we might need just to try another one.

For Patisserie Week's Technical Challenge,

the bakers will have to tackle another French classic.

Quarterfinalists, what lies beneath the gingham?

As usual, Mary and Paul, you won't be in the tent for this little bit.

It is one of Mary's recipes, however - Mary, any pearls of wisdom?

They should be sheer perfection.

The sort of thing that you would find in a patisserie window.

MEL: Off you go, Mary and Paul.

See you in a little while.

So, we would like you to make nine identical mokatines, OK?

These are delicate squares of sponge,

and they're covered in buttercream and a coffee icing.

-You know, mokatines. You've got two hours.

-Thank you.

-On your marks...

-Get set...

-BOTH:

-..and bake!

What?!

The bakers have been given just the ingredients,

and a pared-down version of the recipe.

I did actually see this in Mary Berry's recipe book.

Did I read it? No.

I thought, "Well, I'm not going to make that. That's really fiddly."

Didn't read it.

No, I haven't heard of mokatines before, no.

So, a bit at a loss with this, really.

First of all, they've got to make a true genoise,

and the raising agents are purely the eggs, that are whisked.

Got buttercream in the middle, hasn't it?

-So, if I cut this down there...

-It has.

..each layer's exactly the same.

It's all about precision.

The fondant icing has got to be just the right consistency

to make a pool in the middle.

Too much, it'll run down the side.

Too little and it won't reach the edges.

I think we've brought the patisserie into the Bake Off tent,

and I think that's a great challenge.

Let's hope that they do something as perfect as those.

So, the first line is, make a genoise sponge.

Helpful(!)

The genoise is a light, delicate sponge that's tricky to get right,

as it contains no chemical raising agent.

So, the rise in it comes from whisking the eggs and the sugar

until they've increased in volume.

No, I haven't made genoise before, actually.

That's one thing I haven't made.

Should have done, but I haven't.

So whipping up the eggs, putting some air into it.

Hopefully that's how it's meant to be done,

but, again, I'm not too sure.

I made a genoise last week.

So I know how to make a genoise sponge.

It's really important to get the egg really light.

Really not too sure.

It is a bit of guesswork on this, really.

I don't think this is going to go well for me, I think.

I don't feel like I'm very good at making cake.

It's like - well, that's a bit of a fundamental flaw, I would say,

but, you know - somehow I've managed to get away with it so far.

You do the number eight in the eggs,

and then if it sits there for more than three seconds then it's ready.

Really don't know what I'm doing here.

Everyone seems to be warming their butter up.

Of all the sponges not to have made, it would be genoise, wouldn't it?

I'm just folding the flour into my eggs,

and trying not to lose too much of the air.

I'm just going to make a sponge -

I mean, whether it's the right one, I really don't know.

I think that's OK.

Completely wrong. I know it is.

Cos it's not proper genoise.

They've not specified a baking time. Predictable of them.

I think it's going to need a good half an hour, at least.

Good - so, hopefully nothing goes wrong with the sponge.

Definitely going to jinx it with that, aren't I?

The heat from the oven will cause the air in the cake mix to expand,

giving the genoise its rise.

Just bake at 160 degrees.

If the bakers haven't incorporated enough air,

their sponge won't get the perfect height that Mary's looking for.

-A sponge is in.

-Does it look genoise?

Er...

No.

No, it's going to be a sponge of some description,

but it's not going to be what I want it to be,

which is gutting. But never mind.

You never know.

We've had some pretty interesting turnarounds on Bake Off before,

and this might be one of them.

There's an hour and 20 minutes remaining.

It's a guessing game today.

A few minutes more.

I think that's OK.

Damn it, Ian, yours looks good.

Dare I say it,

I think I've cooked a cake.

I think it's all right.

Mine is looking not very good.

I'm glad it's getting lots of decoration and things on top,

to sort of neaten it up a bit.

Which is the nearest exit out of the room? That's what I'm thinking!

It's raw.

HE SIGHS

Don't know what I'm going to do.

Mary's mokatines require three different types of icing -

a fondant topping, a piped creme au beurre mocha

and a coffee buttercream for the centre.

Very light sponge - this is tough.

We'll do that again.

With an hour to go, Paul's having to make another cake from scratch.

Is it geno-easy? Or geno-difficult?

FLORA LAUGHS

-Very good strained laugh.

-Good, strong.

IAN: I've been weighing out the icing,

making sure there's exactly the same amount in each square.

I'm going all out to win the Technical.

-TAMAL:

-My sponge is so under-risen.

Maybe mine will go in the window of a French patisserie

that's maybe a bit down on its luck -

they've been through some tough times, but...

plucky little guys, they keep on going.

-So, the other one's in?

-The other one's in, it's...

-At this stage of the game, it's very difficult.

-It is, yeah.

Sometimes the Technical Challenges

do just say really glib things like "make a cake".

I've always said, it's one of those - you mess it up,

it's so close to the end, now, that's game over, really.

Coating the sides of the cakes with buttercream,

and dipping them in the nuts.

This is so fiddly, it's unbelievable.

Flat, that's how it's looking.

Same as before.

-That's it.

-It's cooked, it's cooked, mate - come on, let's be positive.

It's hardly light and fluffy!

(Just put a lot of icing on it, and a lot of nuts.)

Bakers, time to start your screams - just 15 minutes on your mokatines!

Nowhere near enough.

Um....

Cutting it fine.

Pipe tiny rosettes, yeah.

It is looking like the picture that I saw in the book,

which is bizarre!

It could all rest on the placing of the icing.

-FLORA:

-God, they're such a mess.

Coat them in the almond nibs.

Flood the icing across the top of each cake.

HE SIGHS

-TAMAL:

-Never made a fondant icing.

Oh...

Is it meant to look...?

Mary's recipe doesn't say how to make the fondant icing,

but it needs to be just the right consistency

to pour on top of the sponge and set in time.

Ooh...

Wow, why is it so stringy?

I need to freeze that, pronto.

I think this is probably the worst day of baking to date.

I'll never give up, I never give up.

Throw my dolly out the pram a couple of times,

but I never give up!

Right, bakers, one minute.

-Tamal!

-What?

-Less than a minute, now - come along.

-OK.

-Can you give me a second?

-No, Tamal.

Argh!

It's now 40-something seconds.

Why won't it pipe?!

Oh, that's so bad.

OK, bakers, that's time,

so if you'd like to bring your bakes up to the gingham altar

and pop them behind the photo of yourself, thank you.

MARY: So, bakers, what are looking for?

Well-risen genoise, creme au beurre piped beautifully,

and a good flow of icing in the middle.

-PAUL:

-Start on this one.

-The fondant icing should be shiny...

-Yeah.

..and a little bit more runny.

The piping is not good.

We have got filling in the middle, yeah.

It's about equal to the sponge.

Yes - it's a well-risen sponge.

-It's a very good flavour.

-OK.

Moving on to the next one - these look all round much, much neater.

The pipe work is very good.

Good bit of height, don't you think?

Yep, very good.

Let's have a look.

Good layer, as well, in the middle.

-Really very nice indeed.

-Yeah.

-Good genoise.

-Well done, that's good.

-Yeah, nice and light.

-Right.

-Here we have a genoise that hasn't risen very well.

-Yeah, it's quite flat, that, isn't it?

-It's flat.

Let's have a look.

Oh, dear, it's solid when you cut into it.

Icing hasn't set.

It's almost raw.

It's like rubber.

Good flavour of coffee from the icings.

And that's it, really.

What happened with the icing here?

-On...

-There's been icing halfway up - nothing on the bottom, there.

The fondant icing is too runny.

The way that they've cut the sponge,

you've got a really thick layer at the bottom,

and a very thin layer at the top.

-But the bottom layer looks as though it's a good genoise.

-Mm.

Mm, it is a good genoise.

Right.

The creme au beurre has been done in a shell pattern,

and perhaps sometimes we've got a few little rosettes -

but we did ask for rosettes.

The resistance on that sponge...

Even though the icing on this one hasn't set,

it has not soaked too much into the genoise.

I think the genoise was slightly over-baked, as well, actually,

which is why you've got that tension breaking into it.

Mary and Paul must now decide

which baker has achieved the perfect mokatine.

In fifth place...

This genoise is very thin, and the icing has run off the top.

In fourth place is this one.

Tamal.

It was the overall bleeding of the icing on top of the top sponge.

And in third place...

The top is very runny. We asked for rosettes and we got shells.

In second place is this one.

The genoise was fantastic. Well done.

And in first place...

What a joy!

APPLAUSE

Very neat piping, good icing,

good height to your sponge - well done.

Thank you.

Technicals don't feel like my Achilles heel any more.

It's almost like - I feel like I'm having an out of body experience -

I feel like I didn't even do any of that,

I feel like, "I didn't do that - who gave you that first?"

I'm pretty nervous about tomorrow, because today's been so average.

I was really hoping that I could sort of up the ante.

I thought that went very well.

HE LAUGHS

Weren't expecting that, were you?!

No, that was a complete disaster.

Still got one more to go tomorrow. Better just bake your heart out,

and see what you can come up with.

Just one challenge stands in the way of the bakers and the semifinal.

Going into Showstopper day,

there is certainly one person who's looking very, very strong.

Nadiya.

MARY: I mean, she was top in both of the challenges.

And to dominate it in the quarterfinals the way she has done,

first and first, that's never happened before.

But on the other hand, the unflappable Paul -

he's a good baker...

And yet unable to make a genoise.

He hadn't got that knowledge - and I'm amazed,

because he has such skill.

Flora, she's in a very precarious position

if she has a bad day today.

You can slip down coming into the quarterfinals,

-I think the pressure gets to them.

-Yeah.

-Yes.

I think they do struggle.

We'll see what happens. Showstopper day - let it commence.

Morning, all. Now, so far, your bakes have been dainty and petite -

now we would like you to go large.

Paul and Mary would like you to create a religieuse a l'ancienne.

-Mm!

-Now, this is a choux mountain

in the shape of a nun.

We want her to be at least three tiers of eclairs -

we also would love her to be freestanding.

-No dowelling, please...

-No.

-..and decorated with buttercream.

-You've got four hours on the clock - on your marks...

-Get set...

-BOTH:

-..bake!

-PAUL:

-I do need it to go well.

It's a construction - that's what it comes down to,

and obviously the flavour in there, as well,

so there's a lot of elements to get right, on this. Not easy.

The religieuse a l'ancienne is a tower of eclairs

stacked on top of one another,

each tier supported by a shortcrust pastry disc.

I'm absolutely dreading this one.

It's designed to be an eye-catching

and impressive centrepiece to a party,

which means it needs to stand for a number of hours without collapsing.

The last practice I did for the whole thing

looked beautiful for about five minutes,

and then just made a gentle topple down.

What we're looking for is a structural marvel

being baked to perfection.

Inside must be filled beautifully with the flavour of their choice -

the flavour must come through.

The eclairs have to be strong and crisp.

If they're underbaked, haven't been dried out, they'll bend,

which would be ghastly.

It's the last chance for them to impress us

to get through to the semifinals.

All eclairs start with a choux pastry,

which produces a light and airy bun.

To succeed in this challenge,

the bakers must find a way to reinforce their eclairs.

-Morning, Tamal.

-Hello, morning.

What sort of flour have you used in your eclairs?

-I'm using strong bread flour for my...

-Do you approve of that?

-Yeah.

-So, it's structurally pretty sound.

-Yeah.

And what flavours are you having?

I'm doing a mango and passion fruit creme pat.

-A classic.

-Yeah.

You're playing safe!

Tamal's also gone for a pistachio creme pat and raspberry filling.

He's hoping his strong flour

is another safe bet to keep his choux tower upright.

I've done one full timed run, which was like a beginning thing,

and I didn't do it in the time, but it all stood up.

I've rewritten my method, and hopefully that will work.

Like Tamal, Ian's also using passion fruit as one of his flavours.

I'm calling it a nun with hidden passions.

It'd be great if I could tell some exciting story

about a nun with hidden passion I met on my travels somewhere,

but, um... no, nothing as exotic as that.

Ian's nun, on the other hand, IS exotic,

with fillings of cardamom and coffee, and pistachio with vanilla.

Hidden among these

are eclairs containing a passion fruit creme pat.

What flour are you using?

I'm using very strong flour.

-Very strong flour.

-Very strong flour. I just need that rigidity.

It's quite a rough thing - it can make it quite brittle

at the same time as making it strong.

-Mm-hm.

-It depends how you bake it, really.

You're quite a scientist, aren't you?

-This is my kind of challenge.

-I can see that!

Kind of thinking through all the various elements of it.

The ruler's out, it's all good.

-Good luck, mate.

-Thank you.

I read somewhere, if, when you lift the choux,

you get a good V on the spatula, like that,

you've got enough egg in it.

If it's too runny, then it'll make it balloon too much,

so... And we don't want that.

That's good.

I'm using half plain and half strong flour.

I've always found that just a little bit of strong flour

helps to strengthen it a touch.

For her fillings,

Flora's chosen a coconut creme pat for one eclair.

The other will contain vanilla creme pat with a lime and basil curd.

How high do you think this will be?

It's been around about there when I've done it at home.

-A Dalek, essentially.

-A Dallick?

-Yes!

-Yes, a Davros.

-What's a Dallick?

-A Dalek.

-Oh, a Dalek!

-From Doctor Who, a Dalek.

-You're saying it in Gaelic.

-Gaelic? A Gaelic Dalek?

A Daelic.

Unlike the others,

Nadiya and Paul have chosen not to go with strong flour.

-Morning!

-Morning, Paul, morning, Mary.

The flavours are going to be vanilla banana.

-Banana?

-Banana again!

-Banana again.

Is it going to be mega banana-ey?

This is going to be banana-tasting, I guarantee.

Paul's banana eclairs will be topped with a red cherry glaze.

He's making a raspberry and basil filling for his other eclair,

iced with a chocolate fondant.

Everything under control -

let's just hope we get that banana flavour.

And make sure the creme pat doesn't curdle,

-otherwise we'll have banana splits.

-HE CHUCKLES

I'm using a star nozzle to pipe,

just to help with the construction of them.

-IAN:

-It's the corrugation that gives strength to the structure.

I'm hoping that that principle extends to the eclair.

-Morning, Nadiya.

-Morning.

-What flavours are you doing?

I'm doing bubble gum and peppermint cream.

How are you getting that bubble gum flavour?

-Bubble gum essence.

-Oh, this is going to take me right back.

I absolutely love candy and sweets,

and these are my two favourite flavours.

It puts a smile on your face!

-Yeah, it's quite nostalgic.

-It puts a smile on your face.

Nadiya's the only baker not using a fruit flavour

in any of her fillings - instead, her candy-inspired choux buns

will be topped with bubble gum icing and a peppermint fondant glaze.

-Can't wait to try that bubble gum.

-Thank you!

All of the bakes today, they have to be slightly overdone, than under,

because if they're under, you just run the risk of them becoming soft.

Soft, in terms of construction, it's a no-go.

Right...

-IAN:

-It's quite a juggling act.

There's sort of the taste, the texture

and the strength and the structure.

And I don't want to have a pile of eclairs,

I want to have tower of them.

-FLORA:

-I'm a bit concerned about the flavours and the fillings.

The lime curd is probably what I would say I'm most concerned about.

I haven't practised it with the creme pat.

They will taste bananas today.

A few extra for luck, going in there.

Definitely going to give you a stronger flavour, blitzing it.

Might even put banana essence in.

Is that a risk?

This is strong stuff, it really is.

Having the fresh stuff's probably always better.

Some quite nice, juicy passion fruit.

This tastes like bubble gum.

Oh, yeah.

They're looking good. Yeah, I'm happy with that.

Just going to turn the temperature right down now,

and then put the spoon in the door,

just to try and get all the moisture out.

OK, bakers,

the abbey bell is tolling,

and it's saying two hours till your Sister Mary Eclairs

needs to be back in the abbey.

Pleased with them so far.

They should make for quite sturdy construction.

They're fine.

I tap them, just to make sure that they're hollow,

and to make sure that they're cooked all the way through,

and they're not going to collapse.

They feel strong, but light at the same time.

-Well done, Paul!

-So, it's...

-It's gone well, hasn't it?

-It's not over till it's over.

-I know it's not over yet.

-It's not over till it's over.

-It's not over till the big nun sings.

-TAMAL:

-So, this is the shortcrust pastry

that's going to make up the discs that go between the tiers for this.

They've got a lot to carry on their little pastry shoulders.

Big responsibility, guys!

This your first nun?

-No, she's my eighth nun.

-Gosh, you get through 'em.

-I've had a few nun disasters, some nun landslides.

-OK.

Some nun explosions.

I'm just dreading construction.

Is it bonne, or are we bricking it? ALARM BEEPS

-Bricking it - yeah, exactly.

-Bricking it.

-I might put them on the back here.

-OK.

-Can you excuse me?

-Yeah, no, absolutely fine.

-Mm-hm.

(Bricking it.)

He bigger ones are starting to get soft.

It's not what I wanted.

Soft is not good.

I can't taste which one's which of mine.

That's coconut...

I think.

In just 40 minutes,

Mary and Paul are expecting to see five choux pastry masterpieces...

Agh! Time, time, time.

..and with all the components now made,

everything rests, quite literally, on the strength of the eclairs.

Oh, I'm too nervous for construction!

-NADIYA:

-This is my glue, yeah. Sugar water and glucose.

SHE SIGHS

This one, it's just... Ooh!

I'm not looking forward to this bit.

I'm trying to avoid it!

It's a serious nun.

Oh, my hands are shaking now!

Stop shaking, stop shaking.

(Please hold, please hold.)

Hey! Get back.

Ow!

So hot, it's unreal.

Ooh!

Come on.

The sugar syrup is really crystallising.

20 minutes to go.

Keep going, keep going.

-TAMAL:

-This is my second batch of caramel.

It's really frustrating, cos I was nearly there.

Come on!

-TAMAL:

-I'm going to be so glad when this stupid nun thing is done!

-PAUL:

-Piping's not brilliant.

How can I change that? How can I change that?

Oh!

Icing sugar everywhere!

It'll stiffen up the icing sugar.

Hopefully it's worked.

Right, I don't want to make a HABIT of this, guys,

but you've got one minute left. One minute.

I'm nearly there.

-PAUL:

-No, no, don't do this to me.

Please put your constructions at the end of your benches.

Time is up.

(That was so stressful!)

It's up, and it's standing.

The bakers have a two-hour lunch break before they're judged.

Light steps, light steps.

Their creations, if made correctly, should remain standing.

But, with a place in the semifinal at steak,

any collapse could be disastrous.

Tamal, please bring up your nun.

MARY: Well done, it's holding up.

The piping is a little bit haphazard,

but it's beautifully detailed.

OK, we have raspberry and pistachio.

I hope it's not overbaked.

No, it's fine.

The flavours are lovely. Sharp.

In these sort of things, you really want something

that's going to punch you between the teeth, and it does.

Mango and passion fruit - hello.

This SHOULD work.

And it does.

Quite difficult for these things to stand up, you know -

-and you used strong flour, didn't you?

-Yeah, strong flour,

and I baked the eclairs longer than I would do normally.

-I like it.

-Well thought through.

-Well done, Tamal.

-Thank you.

Here you go, Paul.

Erm... It has collapsed, though.

It's meant to stand up for some time.

At the end of the day, something like this,

would normally last three or four hours

before it even went to a party to be broken into, you know?

-The colours are fascinating.

-You've got good piping on it.

Trying the bubble gum, Mary?

I will be brave.

The choux pastry is actually nice and soft.

It's got a lovely bake on it, actually, when you look underneath.

That's bubble gum, isn't it?!

That is potent and the icing's very good.

I'm afraid it's not quite my favourite.

Now, the green one is obviously the peppermint, OK.

The actual cream inside's fine, and the choux bun is OK,

but I just think the flavourings are slightly over the top.

Good creme patissiere, good choux buns, almost stayed up -

the two flavourings, both too strong for me.

Paul, can I give you a hand?

Yes, please, yeah.

So, we know you had a problem, and it didn't hold up.

-Obviously we can see they've collapsed.

-Mm.

The colour of the choux pastry looks good,

but I think that's part of the problem.

-It's so light...

-Right.

-..that it can't support it.

-The actual piping is a little bit haphazard.

-Mm.

But everything else I think's good.

Very good, in fact.

I think you've done the icing particularly well.

You've got a high shine on it.

This is a banana one, isn't it?

-You put some banana extract in there.

-I did put three extra drops in.

Bit artificial, but the banana's coming through.

It's OK. It's not going to blow your mind, but I think it's OK.

I saw it going, and I lifted it -

I was not confident in it staying any longer.

The bake on them looks OK.

You've got reasonable piping, they're all the same length.

Is this one lime and basil?

Not getting either.

Are you sure you put it in?

Yeah, I did about seven limes.

Not coming through. Let's try this one.

I get the creaminess of the white chocolate in that, but that's it.

-No coconut either?

-No.

-Sorry.

-Thank you very much, Flora.

-Sorry.

It's holding up.

It would look fine for a celebration.

The coffee is really lovely.

-Coffee and cardamom.

-Mm.

-Really good.

-Good!

They enhance each other quite well. I never thought of that before.

-Spot on. Nice and tart passion fruit.

-Mm-hm.

I was a bit worried, initially, about the choux buns,

-but I don't think there's any other way around this.

-No.

You had to create something that was going to be stable...

-Yeah.

-..and hold flavour.

Very good.

You pair of fiends.

-This was a really difficult challenge, wasn't it?

-Yeah.

I think coming into this challenge

we had four people that were potentially in trouble.

-Tamal, Flora, Paul and Ian.

-Yeah.

Overall, Ian and Tamal have actually saved themselves.

I think strong flour was always going to be the way forward,

because it had more rigidity to hold up the weight that it did.

And the flavours on both of those guys' were very good.

-We had a bit of a flavour explosion...

-Oh, dear.

..in this corner here.

Those two flavours - big mistake.

Nadiya's bake was very good, the choux pastry was very good.

Bearing in mind she'd raced ahead,

and was all set for Star Baker, does this slightly change things?

It doesn't really change it so much, because she's shown us other skills.

It's a really difficult position for us,

because what we've actually got to do is move someone

we thought originally was going to be in trouble today,

which was Tamal,

into the possibility of being the Star Baker, along with Nadiya -

and then Ian, I think, saved himself,

so I think he's moved middle ground.

On the other side of the coin, there, you've got Flora and Paul,

who are in a bit of trouble.

I was really disappointed in Flora's, because it should taste of lime.

Paul's flavours are in abundance -

but you only liked 50% of them, it's fair to say.

You got the banana flavour, but it was a bit artificial.

We're going to get together in a minute

and have a full discussion about everything.

-Let's put the kettle on, then.

-We should, probably.

-You might need something stronger.

-Hip flask, Mary? Same as usual?

Let's get on to that.

Quarterfinalists, I'm as pleased as punch -

I've got the really nice job, this week,

of telling you who Star Baker is.

Now, this person absolutely nailed it yesterday,

and they provided us today

with the most vivid, Day-Glo nun I've ever experienced in my life.

This week's Star Baker goes to Miss Nadiya.

APPLAUSE

Well done.

I'd like everybody to stay in this tent every single week...

and it's with total personal sadness...

..that I have to announce that leaving us today...

is Paul.

-That's fine.

-What a champion dude you are, sir.

Come on, guv'nor.

That's OK.

Ohh!

Right from the beginning, I was in this to win it.

I've had some real fantastic highs -

-I've had some really bad lows!

-HE CHUCKLES

I've had some really bad bakes - but that's the nature of it,

you're not going to come in here and just bake everything to perfection.

Really gutted, mate.

I knew it was me.

That bullet had my name written on it -

it was so, so not fair that Paul went.

-Unlucky, buddy.

-Cheers, Paul.

-Unlucky, mate.

MARY: This really wasn't Paul's weekend.

His genoise didn't go too well - he should have known that.

Paul was in a very difficult position

coming into the Showstopper - he really had to blow our minds,

and, unfortunately, he didn't do that,

and that's why Paul had to go.

I hope your taste buds recover. I'm so sorry!

That means that I am coming back to participate in the semifinals!

Yes!

Nadiya won the first two challenges coming into today.

She did let herself down on that Showstopper,

but when we looked at the choux bun and the filling,

they actually tasted fine.

Nadiya was Star Baker because yesterday she had a fantastic day -

top of both challenges.

Today she made good eclairs, but, oh, those flavours weren't so good.

I've had good fun, it's been brilliant.

OK? You owe me a pint.

I owe you such a big pint!

Yeah, I'm going to make genoise again,

and I'll make sure I know how to make the damn thing.

Live to fight another day!

Yay!

I really didn't think that was going to happen

after yesterday morning's dog's dinner.

I'm so excited, I could streak down this river.

Yeah, that's how excited I am.

SHE SIGHS

Next time, it's the semifinals...

My hands are shaking.

This is the least funny thing I've ever done.

..and the bakers must get to grips with chocolate...

Ian, there's chocolate in the microwave,

chocolate on the hob, chocolate in the proving drawer.

'They face a technical challenge that's out of the ordinary...'

We're going to stagger your start times.

'..and then show off with a centrepiece

'that will earn them a place in the final.'

Perhaps I was a little bit too ambitious on this one.

Anyone got any free hands?

There's nothing good coming out of that oven this afternoon.