Scotland Dessert Great British Menu

It's D-Day for three of Scotland's most talented chefs.

Now it's showtime!

Alan Murchison,

Mark Greenaway

and Colin Buchan.

All week, they've been locked in battle.

My job isn't to make you feel better, my job is to beat you.

For a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to cook at a dazzling Olympic feast.

Yesterday, Colin snatched a surprise victory

with a risky offal main course.

Tongue and cheek.

Everybody likes a bit of tongue and cheek.

Ramping on the pressure on race leader, Alan.

Fire!

The young pretender snapping at your heels.

Today, it's the dessert, and Alan's gunning for the opposition.

But beetroot cake's supposed to come out red.

But takes his eye off the ball with his own dish.

-These are the worst ones I've done.

-Really?

-Ever?

-Ever. Ever!

This year's competitors are taking inspiration

from our record-breaking Olympians.

They're pushing themselves to their physical and mental limits.

Good, much better.

In a bid to create awe-inspiring dishes

worthy of our world-class athletes.

One of the best desserts I've had, that.

Watching their every move is a formidable veteran of the competition

who'll accept nothing short of ground-breaking brilliance.

It's Jeremy Lee.

Ultimately, what we really want is something that tastes

absolutely fantastic.

They'll need to pick up their ante.

But for one of them it will be all over,

and with the scoring so close, no-one is safe.

OK, guys, last course. Who's going to go through?

I've got a bit of a mountain to climb,

but at the same time, these guys can't afford to make a mistake.

Yeah, I'd agree with that, yeah.

I think it's still a tough call. The competition's not over yet.

-See who can deliver at the end of the day.

-It's all about delivery here.

-Very much so.

-Certainly is.

Newcomer Colin Buchan's hoping his mix of classical cooking

and new flavour combinations will bag him gold.

But is he playing it too safe?

I think it would be stupid to take your eye off this course,

because it could easily lose you points and send you home.

-I'll see you guys in there.

-Good luck.

Hello, Colin, how are you today?

A bit tired after a busy, hectic week.

You do have a lot of vegetables in here.

What are you going to make for your dessert?

Today I'm going to do a chocolate mousse, beetroot cake,

fennel ice cream and that is it.

Short and sweet.

Now you know that Mr Murchison previously made a carrot cake

for Scotland and now we're having a beetroot cake.

I'm making a beetroot cake.

I thought I'd do something a bit different,

something hopefully that's not been done before.

But this idea of how you get the gold medal,

that extra little something that gives you the Olympic...

-Yeah, the final push.

-What's that?

I think I've done so much research for this dish, tried it,

practised it, and I think all the flavours just work so well together.

How desperately do you want to remain second,

if not even push into first?

It would be an absolute honour, but at the moment anything could happen.

Big risks involved and we'll just see how the day ends.

Colin's out to break culinary ground with his vegetable-inspired dessert

of beetroot, fennel and chocolate.

-But is it a trail-blazer?

-A lovely sounding dessert.

Beetroot cake, fennel ice cream,

but the actual brief is to do something unique

and break boundaries,

and I worry that this pudding may not deliver on that front.

Next up is ambitious molecular chef Mark Greenaway,

trailing in third place all week,

he's yet to light his Olympic torch.

But he's got a trump card up his sleeve.

I'm a ex-pastry chef,

so I've got a lot of experience and I'm confident with my dessert.

It is my strongest dish.

-Strawberries!

-You do like strawberries, don't you?

Love strawberries.

I'm going to do a strawberry and raspberry Eton Mess.

So what's different about your Eton Mess? What's up your sleeve?

It's a modern version, although I have kept it

very, very true to its original.

You've got strawberries, cream, meringue, a few other bits.

-A few other bits?

-We're doing raspberry cells.

So we're going to freeze the raspberries, smash them up and you'll eat them frozen.

So it will be like the purest raspberry sorbet you've ever eaten.

So this is going to deliver on flavour and presentation?

It's all about flavour.

It is strawberry, strawberry, strawberry with a hint of raspberry and hopefully this is the dish

that pushes me over the line to get something from the judges.

Mark's exploiting his pastry skills

in a bid to blast classic Eton Mess into the 21st century.

But is it enough?

Eton Mess, lots of techniques, but very familiar, very classic.

So it will have to be exceptional for him to really pull it out the bag.

Currently in first place

is third-time competitor Alan Murchison.

This year he's out to win, but he's not to cross the finish line yet.

If my dessert is delivered the way I want it to be,

it's going to be a huge success.

I'll be cooking for the judges. If anything's wrong, I'm going home.

Ah!

Last, but oh-so-not least. What are you going to cook today?

The title of my dessert is "Going for Gold".

It is chocolate, coffee, caramel.

I like to think I've got classic flavours and there's going to be a dash of innovation.

What's ground-breaking about this?

I've got some interesting ingredients.

I've got some green coffee, which is a healthy coffee, high in anti-oxidant.

Green instant coffee?

This chocolate is a chocolate that's actually been produced

to retain its vitamins and nutrients,

so it's actually a healthy chocolate.

-I've got my hands full today.

-You certainly have.

Boys, how do you feel about this?

Just listening to Alan there, he's saying its healthy

and I'm trying to think where all the health aspects are.

I've gone healthy, I've got vegetables in mine.

-I'm trying to see if there's any fruit in there.

-Olives.

-Olives?

-Vegetable, isn't it?

-You kept that very quiet.

-Yeah, yeah.

What are you doing with the olives?

They just found their way into the box.

Is that the secret weapon to your dessert?

Alan's literally going for gold with his chocolate, caramel

and coffee medal, but it is a stroke of genius or a step too far?

Well, I'd be very surprised if Alan was not going for gold.

The sweat will be on his brow because he desperately wants to win.

But a jar of instant coffee, a jar of olives? That's quite weird.

I'm curious to see what he's going to pull out the hat this time.

Do you two share Mark's background as senior pastry chef?

Well, you never mentioned anything about that.

To be honest, it was a long time ago. I've forgotten a lot.

Yeah. It was a long time ago, boys, that's all I'm saying.

Today, there's no prize for coming third.

And with the scoring so tight

the chefs waste no time sizing up the competition.

Chef Mark, where are the risks involved in your dish?

Things setting, things freezing.

A lot of risks there, Mark. By the sounds of things.

Mark's got a pastry background, so it has to be perfect.

Anything less, he's getting the bus home.

And what's the risks with yours?

If you don't like vegetables. Yeah, that's the risk.

-I'm not the biggest fan of vegetables.

-Yeah.

I'm not sure the dish Colin's doing, one mistake from him,

and it can all change. It's still all to play for.

I can't let Mark overtake me on this course.

I'm nearly there and I'd be very stupid if I let him beat me today.

Alan's tempering his chocolate,

a risky technique requiring precision timing.

What about yours, Alan? What are your risks?

All over the place, mate.

-Really?

-Fortune favours the brave.

-That's what they say.

This competition is going to be won or lost with my own effort.

Nothing is going to divert my attention from my dish today.

Nothing.

So how does it feel to cook for the judges on a Friday?

Why are you asking that question, Colin?

Are you fancying your chances for the judge's chamber tomorrow?

Coming this far I don't want to have failure, Alan, you know?

-It's a bit ahead of yourself, if you ask me.

-No, not at all.

We've got our pastry chef there watching you, mate.

Still a long way to go, boys, still a long way to go.

What? A long way home, Mark, or a long way in the competition?

Determined to stay at the front of the pack,

Alan's kept his Going for Gold dessert under wraps,

but his game plan is starting to reveal itself.

Is this a medal I see before me in the making?

Am I seeing a crest at the bottom of this?

No!

No! Why did you do that?

Because I want to win, mate.

The brief says, you have to cook food worthy of a gold medal.

Take it literally.

Everything he's making today has something secret in it.

It's like, "Wow, is there's nothing you have not thought of?"

And is there nothing you're going to leave to chance to excel,

and, oh my word, you've actually minted your own medal.

Mark's sprinting ahead.

He's made his Chantilly cream and a strawberry puree

which he'll transform into four different elements

for his modern Eton Mess.

How are you doing, lovey?

I am doing frozen strawberry espuma to go with my Eton Mess.

-Is this one of your magical techniques?

-Yes.

So I just need to let this set for half an hour in the fridge,

and then I'll freeze it.

And it will just end up being the lightest strawberry sorbet

you've ever eaten.

-A lot going on at the moment.

-You're telling me.

A lot of activity, a lot of heads down. Quite frantic.

Furiously chopping and whisking, and spuming, and God knows what else.

I've got a huge amount to do, and I'm going to do all I can

to try and score as high as I can.

Colin's making his fennel ice cream.

He's hoping his tactic of combining vegetables with chocolate

will tick the innovation box.

-How are you, Colin?

-I'm good thanks, Jeremy.

My fennel infusing here for the fennel ice cream.

There's quite a ferment of activity, isn't there?

-A lot going on.

-There is, yeah.

Are you on track?

Yes, the wheels are still intact, so hopefully they won't fall off.

But I'm doing all right so far, Jeremy.

A classical chef by nature, Colin was keen to bring out

his radical side and experiment with more unusual flavour combinations.

My strategy is to not replicate dishes I've done before.

I want to try and come up with something original.

Put a bit of fun in it, put a bit of my personality into the dish.

He went to London's Belgravia to see William Curley,

an award-winning chocolatier

famed for his innovative chocolate creations.

-Hello, Colin.

-Good to see you, mate.

I've brought some crazy ingredients and I'd be quite interested

to see what your thoughts are about my ingredients.

There's a little kitchen downstairs, so we can nip down there,

-get the ingredients out and do a bit of shaking and baking.

-OK, let's do it.

A personal friend of Colin's, William loves working with unusual ingredients.

But what will he make of Colin's ideas?

This is what I brung here.

-Some smoked butter.

-We can do something with that.

-That's interesting. What have we got here?

-Golden beetroot.

Some red beetroot. And some horseradish.

A lot of people will think that's far-out, but you know, horseradish,

we use wasabi in chocolate, so there's a synergy there.

Time to start experimenting and to put Colin's flavour,

combinations to the test.

First into the chocolate melting pot, beetroot and horseradish.

Oh, that's good.

That horseradish is coming through quite strong, isn't it?

Yeah. Yet you get that on the back of the tongue.

The next magic ingredient is smoked butter.

-That's amazing, that stuff.

-It comes through straightaway, doesn't it?

Wow!

William can't resist throwing in

some confectionery wizardry of his own.

So, Colin, I've cooked down these tomatoes a bit earlier.

-Tomatoes with chocolate?

-What do you think?

It's all about that William crazy. Go wild.

-So the magic ingredient is going to be the Japanese black vinegar.

-OK.

That's really good, William. I like that.

I can definitely put my little own take on that,

and take something from it, definitely.

-Good luck.

-Thanks, mate.

-No worries. Take care.

He's bringing the chef's element into play which I think is quite clever.

If spends time developing the flavours further,

I think he's got something very special there.

Not wanting to leave anything to chance,

Colin's keen to try out his savoury chocolate

on the unsuspecting public.

Are they ground-breaking?

First on trial is William's tomato and Japanese vinegar.

-That's pretty nice, yeah.

-That taste is a bit odd.

What about the smoked butter?

I don't know. That has a really odd finish.

Is Colin's beetroot and horseradish chocolate worthy of Olympic gold?

It tastes nice. I like that.

It's something I like, but I can't work out what it is.

The best element from today is definitely matching savoury with sweet.

I think people want subtle flavours in chocolate.

It's just getting that fine balance to get a perfect result.

Mmm!

Back in the kitchen, despite his experiments,

Colin's gone for the safe option,

making a plain chocolate mousse and a separate beetroot cake.

Could this caution cost him?

-Beetroot cake batter, by any chance?

-Yes, it is. Lovely colour, that.

Meanwhile, Mark is pushing Eton mess to the max.

He's made a strawberry glace

and gets on with another of the nine elements of his dish.

Will these state-of-the-art techniques give him the edge?

Another tray!

Yeah, so this is the frozen espuma I was telling you about earlier.

Strawberry juice with one sheet of gelatine

and that's what's going to stabilise it before it freezes.

Because otherwise it would just become liquid again.

An awful lot of inventive stuff going on around here.

I can't help feeling that it all hinges on this course,

and they all want to win.

So they have to up the ante considerably to say the least.

You can cut the atmosphere in there with a knife. It's amazing.

No-one's more desperate to win than Alan.

He's cut out the cocoa nib base for his medals and is just about

to add a very risky ingredient to the salted caramel filling.

A lot going on here, my love? How are you? Ah, the olives.

Is this your secret weapon?

It's one of my many secret weapons. I'm taking a dare with olives.

Now he's revealed his unique formula,

the other chefs are keen to find out what his game plan is.

Wow, he's just stirring caramel into some olives.

A little bit grainy, is that?

What you're getting in there is salt crystals.

You think about sort of peanut brittle,

what's the difference between salted peanuts and salted olives?

Having gone to all this trouble, the olive, which shall

we just say has quite a definite presence in this dish, and there's

a vinegary tang to these olives which has me slightly alarmed.

I'm not quite sure where he's going with this.

Across the kitchen,

Mark's also stretching himself to his absolute limit,

using every technique in his armoury,

he's not going down without a fight.

I love that tray of something.

Yes, this is strawberry custard jelly.

So it's made in the same traditional way as you would a custard,

and it's been set like a jelly.

It's just another texture on the plate, but carrying the same flavour.

It'll be interesting to see how many elements he's got

and to see if it will be ground-breaking or not.

Every time you turn round, Mark's got another layer of something

going on a tray to be frozen or chilled or cooled.

It's quite remarkable. They really are beasts unleashed in there.

Mark is first two plate up and with so many elements to his dish,

he's feeling the pressure.

He's placed cubes of custard jelly, strawberries

and Chantilly cream on the plate.

He finishes with strawberry glace, frozen espuma,

and a sprinkling of raspberry cells.

Mark!

A study in strawberry.

-Eton Mess.

-How are you feeling?

-Good.

-Alan, what do you reckon?

Love the impact.

Astonishing presentation.

Yeah, the name speaks for itself. Eton mess, a lot going on there.

You think it's a mess?

It's an organised mess. A well-organised mess.

Has Mark pulled it out of the bag at the 11th hour?

Will his modern Eton Mess keep his Olympic dream alive?

What's all is in this dish?

So we have the frozen espuma, which is this bit here.

Which is a frozen strawberry mousse.

With no cream, so as soon as it hits your palate, it should disappear.

It's just air.

Frozen espuma is something I've certainly not had before.

I like the frozen espuma.

Very nice.

It is beautiful texture on the strawberry jelly.

And I actually like the frozen rasps.

The strawberry custard jelly.

And what do you think is the unique, boundary breaking

quality of this dish?

It's the different elements of the one ingredient that I've used.

You know, the techniques are ground-breaking, innovative,

pushing boundaries.

-My only concern is it is sweet, sweet, sweet.

-Yeah.

I'm looking for some acidity to cut through that sweetness, for me.

This dish is going to get him out of the danger zone in the competition?

Well, Mark has got stronger every course

and what he's done here is bold.

Four dishes down. A few points to make up.

Is this the dish that's going to make a difference for you?

You know what? I think I've done enough. I think I have.

So that's the end of another day.

Jeremy, I think, again, didn't give much away, quite stony-faced.

But I've done all I can do and I need to wait now on the scores,

and hopefully I can get just enough

to go into the judging chamber tomorrow.

Next up to the pass is Colin.

He paints the plate with beetroot reduction before revealing his cake,

and the colour has caught Alan's attention.

Is beetroot cake supposed to come out red?

I was expecting fluorescent red beetroot cake.

I've just gone for the flavour, you know.

I wasn't out to have a red beetroot cake.

Despite Alan's jibes, Colin's standing his ground.

He adds a scoop of fennel ice-cream

and chocolate mousse followed by a final flourish of beetroot tuile.

That's it. My beetroot cake, fennel ice cream, chocolate mousse

and beetroot tuile.

-How are you feeling?

-Yeah, it's tough. I'm glad it's over.

-Alan, what do you think?

-I was expecting pink.

-Yep.

But it's all about the taste, so I'm looking forward to it.

Has Colin pushed the boundaries enough to secure a podium finish,

or will his safe bet dessert scupper his Olympic hopes?

It wasn't what I was expecting. I was expecting a study in purple.

And I was expecting a shocking colour on it, and it's got neither.

I do like this coral-like effect. What is this?

This is the beetroot tuile, just to give it a different texture

because obviously the rest of the elements are soft,

so it gives it a little bit of crunch.

Is there a bit of aniseed and there as well?

A little bit of aniseed in the fennel ice cream.

-And then the beetroot cake.

-It went in red and came out blonde.

I think it was just by roasting and cooking in an oven

and obviously it changes colour.

Hopefully it doesn't change the flavour and texture.

Can I be honest?

I can't taste the beetroot.

Me, I'm disappointed.

The chocolate mousse, I should have worked a bit firmer.

A little bit disappointed in that chocolate mousse.

-Why's that?

-It's just a bit softer than I wanted.

I needed it a bit more lighter.

It's not set.

It's not a mousse, it's more of a thick almost custard consistency.

I think maybe his timings at some point have gone away with him.

Pressure. That's pressure.

I think so.

And what do you think is the unique boundary breaking

quality of this dish?

I hope the flavour and the different elements

and the fact I've used fennel and beetroot with the chocolate.

And this quite bold move of taking vegetable in the dessert.

You want to push your boundaries and do something a bit different,

and I thought it would work, to be perfectly honest.

Is it ground-breaking enough?

-I don't think so, no.

-I'm a little bit disappointed.

I think he will be as well.

So, just finished the final course of the competition

and a little bit disappointed with the dessert.

I could have made the chocolate mousse a little bit lighter,

but hopefully my dessert will keep me in the competition

and hopefully it would just give me that extra edge over Mark.

Back to Alan and his Olympic gold medals are revealing their final secrets.

Gold inside. Lots of treats!

-What's that you're putting on top?

-That is my green coffee mousse.

Intriguing.

But the attention to detail doesn't stop there.

Next, he spreads white chocolate onto natural food colouring

to make Olympic ribbons for his medals.

Alan Murchison, a man possessed. Hell bent on winning. It's extraordinary.

Is this somebody's pan here melting on the stove?

-I don't mean to be leaving

-BLEEP

-behind me. Sorry, mate.

They're the first signs of being under pressure, leaving things on the stove, Alan.

-We're all under pressure today.

-Nobody's safe.

Time to plate up. Alan sprays the medals with edible gold.

And carefully places on presentation boards.

But with so many elements to get right, he's starting to crack.

-These are the worst ones I've done.

-Really? Ever?

Ever. Ever!

Finally, he's ready to serve his Going for Gold dessert,

but is it a case of style over substance?

A ground-breaking dessert, worthy of a gold medal.

Attention to detail.

Every simple Olympic medal is always served on a cushion. That's the way it's presented.

-So the brief said food worthy of a gold medal.

-Mark, what do you think?

I cannot work this man out. That's all I'm going to say.

I can't work him out.

Alan's Going for Gold chocolate dessert looks the part,

but will it deliver on flavour?

Talk me through what's inside here.

So you've got salted caramel with black olives.

Coffee mousse and a grue de cacao tuile which is going to give you the bitterness.

You can certainly taste the black olive, can't you?

I'm going to be blunt and honest. The base is too thick.

Yeah, just the thickness at the bottom.

Because the rest of it's all delicate

and then you get the bottom and it's a bit hard.

Are there aspects of this that you might change or rethink?

Slightly more mousse and slightly thinner tuile

and I want that white chocolate to be very, very crispy.

And what's this extraordinary colouring here?

That's red and blue cocoa butter.

For me, personally, I think it's a bit too sweet for me.

This is very advanced confectionery, but is this ground-breaking?

Presentation of it, I don't think you seen anything like that before.

If that's not innovative, what is?

I've actually studied the size of Olympic gold medals.

They're all on average about 17mm across. It's 17mm across.

So I think that detail is ground-breaking.

Yeah, I hope it's enough. I hope it's enough.

I'm reasonably happy with it.

Should we give the gold medal a gold medal? I don't know.

I think I'd give it a very strong silver.

Just served dessert.

OK presentation, white chocolate ribbon needs tidying up,

but I'm confident with that dish having seen the guys' dishes today.

I think it's probably enough to take me through to cook for the judges.

Cooking complete, all they can do is anxiously await the results.

So, guys, that's it. Are we happy? Happy with your dish, Alan?

I'm content with it. I wouldn't say I was happy, I'm content with it.

-What about you, guys?

-Yeah, yeah.

The dishes, some were stronger than others.

Maybe time was against me a little bit, unfortunately.

It's not been an easy week. It's definitely not been easy.

-I think it's going to be close between you two boys.

-You think?

I think Colin, quite frankly, your dessert wasn't exactly what you were looking to achieve.

So, I can't call this one. I don't know.

I don't think any of us can call it.

Alan, on 22 points, sounds confident.

But only Jeremy can decide which two chefs will go through to cook for the judges tomorrow.

Colin is in second place with 21 points.

Mark is trailing three points behind with 18.

The last dish is done. Menus complete.

And for the desserts today, Mark.

Your modern-day Eton mess, lots of lovely confectionery.

Your frozen espuma, exceptional, lovely.

And it worked and your jelly was delicious.

Ultimately though, the dish was a bit too polite.

Not quite ground-breaking, but for a dish to serve at a champion dinner,

just a little short of the mark.

Colin, your chocolate mousse, beetroot cake and fennel ice cream.

The beetroot tuiles I loved. A little sheet of coral, very pretty.

Fennel ice cream, bit powerful.

And then the beetroot cake, curiously blonde in its appearance.

Maybe more tea-time than dessert?

And the chocolate mousse, as you know, not quite set.

Alan's "Going for Gold". Wow, almost a category of its own.

I've never encountered anything like it.

Some very serious confectionery going on there.

But I had a big problem with the olives.

And that, along with the salt

and the coffee overpowered all the other flavours going on in there.

And I think the chocolate got completely lost, ironically.

Without further ado, as you know,

only two of you can go through tomorrow to the judge's chamber.

And so, with a score of five for your dessert...

Alan, congratulations, you'll be cooking for the judges tomorrow.

And that leaves two chefs.

Mark.

I'm going to give you seven out of 10.

And Colin...

I'm going to give you five out of 10.

Which means, Colin, you will be the second chef going through

to the judge's chamber tomorrow.

-Thank you.

-Congratulations. Well done. Thank you.

-Thank you.

Congratulations. Well done. Congratulations. Well done.

So Alan and Colin will be cooking for the judges tomorrow.

Mark must sadly leave the competition.

I'm obviously gutted not to be cooking for the judges.

Unfortunately, there were two people that got in my way,

and that's what the competition's all about.

So I'm cooking for the judges tomorrow. Very excited.

Tomorrow, for me,

the only outcome has to be to go to the national final.

I think I've got every chance of doing that.

Tomorrow, the Scottish finalists are one step closer to cooking at the Olympic feast.

Colin's on the attack.

What is the point of doing simple, safe food? Retro food? What is the point of that?

Ooh! Is that a little dig?

And the judges get stuck in.

I hate the look at this dish.

He hasn't even eaten this!

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