North East Dessert Great British Menu

This week on Great British Menu,

the Northeast's former champion, Colin McGurran...

A big mountain to climb here. I hope it pays dividends.

..is going up against ambitious newcomer Paul Welburn...

The scores are still quite tight. 23, 23 and 21.

..and Michelin-starred Frances Atkins...

I've just got my head down, matey.

..for the chance to cook at a banquet

commemorating the 70th anniversary of D-day

at London's awe-inspiring St Paul's Cathedral.

Yesterday's main course saw new chef Paul draw level with Colin

in spectacular style.

I'm going to give you a score...

-of ten.

-I appreciate it.

And first-timer Frances clawed back valuable points.

Best cooking from you so far this week.

Today, it's the dessert course.

With only two points separating the chefs,

there's no room for error...

BLEEP

..and returning contender Colin's under pressure to deliver...

..as only two chefs can go forward to cook for the judges tomorrow.

Ahh!

This year, we're honouring the heroes who fought on D-day.

The chefs have been tasked with creating patriotic dishes

that show just how far British food has come since wartime.

Wow.

They've sought inspiration from the people and animals

who played a vital role in World War II.

There's an awful lot of people that would not have seen

the end of the war if it hadn't been for the pigeons.

Really?

Judging the chefs this week

is double-Michelin-starred heavyweight, Phil Howard.

Somebody has to go home at the end of today,

and the truth is, I feel very strongly about all three competitors,

but there is much more scope for catastrophe in pastry,

so it's always quite an exciting course to judge.

So it all comes down to the dessert course.

Two points, you know, is nothing.

Anything can happen and I'm taking nothing for granted.

You know, you could knock one of us out.

I'd enjoy that.

First up, and behind by just two points,

is Michelin-starred Frances Atkins.

She's used her father's first-hand experience of fighting

on D-day to inspire her menu

and, after a slow start, scored an impressive nine yesterday

for her main course.

I'm still chasing the other two, but I'd love to get through

to the judges' chambers and I'm going to give it my best today.

-Hello, Frances, how are you?

-Hello, fine, thank you.

-We need another winner...

-I know.

-..so come on...

-I'll do my best.

-..what's the title of your dessert?

-Thoughts Of Home.

-The theme of your father has been very strong through your first three courses.

-Yes.

This is his dessert course,

celebrating a union between France and England.

-A Yorkshire pudding base...

-OK.

..using some ground almonds with the French ingredients from Normandy.

-Camembert, caramelised apples...

-OK.

..walnuts and it's going to be finished in Calvados.

-So it's a sweet-savoury.

-Yes.

I haven't yet conjured up an image in my head of what this creation

is going to look like.

-Very simple.

-OK.

-So I'm hoping I might please the judge.

Good.

Frances, Thoughts of Home.

I like the idea, I have to say.

It's relatively simple and straightforward.

It's a high risk strategy and she's put all her eggs into one,

quite humble basket.

Next up is determined newcomer, Paul Welburn.

Yesterday, he scored a perfect ten,

propelling him into joint-first place with Colin.

But he needs another high score today to stay in the race.

I'm taking nothing for granted. You've got to watch Frances,

she's only two points behind.

It's all to play for but, at the same time, I'm confident.

Hello, Paul. How are you? You know what happens after ten, there's only one way to go now.

-Are you a dessert man?

-Yeah, I enjoy pastry but it's not my...

-Not your forte?

-No, no.

-OK. What's the title of your dish?

-Normandy Victory.

-It's a link with, obviously, the Normandy beaches

and my interpretation of a Normandy pear tart.

It's not going to be an actual tart, it'll be slightly deconstructed.

-OK, so talk me through it then.

-Obviously, some lovely pears.

There'll be a roasted puree and then there'll be

-some compressed pears as well.

-And when you say compressed, you're just

-talking about, you'll peel them, raw, vacuum-packed?

-That's right.

-I'm going to do some salted, candied almonds.

-OK.

-I'm going to make an almond sponge.

-Yep. OK.

And then the flaked almonds will come into it with

a very well-toasted almond ice cream.

It's not surprising that you have drawn on that Normandy influence

in your pud. Frances?

-Normandy here, too.

-Using the same trump card.

-Yeah, the Battle of Normandy.

-Yes!

-Very good.

-No probs!

-Very good.

Paul's dessert, a pear and almond tart.

I think all the components sit very happily together, but, ultimately,

as soon as you start to deconstruct them and break them down,

are you going to be able to reformat them in a way that delivers

as much pleasure as the original format did?

But I'm not convinced he will.

Last up is former champ, Colin McGurran.

He's back with a point to prove and until his main course yesterday,

had a healthy lead, when a seven saw him draw level with Paul.

This is my third year in the competition. I've never not been

to the judges' chamber, so the pressure is really on me now.

It's absolutely imperative that I super-nail this dessert.

-Tell me the name of the dish, Colin.

-OK. The inspiration about this dish

-is...

-Oh, hello.

-.. is this. This is a Dickin Medal.

This was awarded to something like 64 animals in the war.

Half of them were pigeons, and there was one particular pigeon

called Gustav, and he was the first to fly back and inform everybody

of the news of D-day.

-That's the reality, that's the truth?

-Absolutely, yeah.

So I thought it was vital to get that somewhere in my menu.

I hope we're doing more medal-making

-than working a pigeon into our dessert.

-Yes.

OK. Basically to create the medal, I've got a transfer that I'm going

to then put on top of tempered chocolate, to replicate the image

of the medal. It's going to have a little, light biscuit base

and then the feuilletine melted chocolate

and then jelly and a chocolate mousse.

That's going to be served with parsnip ice cream.

Any reason for choosing a parsnip?

Yeah, this was one of the most used vegetables in the time,

because of their sweetness, and extracted for sugar.

-Interesting.

-The 1940s.

-Sounds technical.

-Yes, again with a lot to do.

Brave man.

Colin's Homage To The Dickin Medal, I haven't quite bought into

his level of confidence with this dessert.

Quite a complicated flavour profile going on in there, so I'm intrigued.

With just a couple of points separating the chefs,

and only two places up for grabs in the judges' chamber tomorrow,

all three must deliver a knockout dessert.

Obviously, the scores are still quite tight. It's 23, 23 and 21.

How do you feel?

I've just got my head down, matey.

Michelin-starred Frances is aiming to impress

with an apple and Camembert Yorkshire pudding dessert.

A continuation of her soldier father's culinary journey through the war.

And inspired by a meal he ate at a monastery in Normandy,

shortly after D-day.

They got to the dessert course and his host boasted to him

that the cook had got relations in Yorkshire,

and so the pudding became a celebration of the two unions,

with the base being a Yorkshire pudding.

With her Yorkshire pudding in the oven, Frances moves on to the

French part of her dish - the apple, Camembert and walnut filling.

-How's Frances doing?

-Fine, thank you.

Talk me through the stage that you're at.

I'm just trimming up the Camembert, then I'm going to caramelise the apples.

And the walnuts? They're going to be, what, dipped in caramel

-or rolled in...

-Just rolled in...

-..caramelised...? OK.

-Yes.

Frances' Yorkshire pudding certainly looks simple.

It is going to be hard for her to get a top mark.

Unless it just actually turns out to be a gobsmacking thing to eat.

I'm a Yorkshire man. I love Yorkshire puddings, but it's a risk, you know?

Is it too simple? You know, my dish could be classed as too simple but,

I think with my dish, it's got a little bit more of a wow factor.

Like Frances, Paul's also hoping to secure a place in the

judges' chamber with his French tart.

He's making a classic almond sponge with pears instead of apples.

So, Paul, you've got quite familiar ingredients with Frances there.

Well, obviously, I'm doing a classic Normandy pear tart

but I'm doing it with my modern interpretation.

Interesting.

To bring his tart into the 21st century,

he's taking the risk of deconstructing it.

With his sponge baked, Paul is busy making pears two ways -

an almond tuile and a toasted almond ice cream.

-Where are we at, Paul?

-The sponges are cooling down now.

-Happy with it?

-Yeah. Really happy with that.

Do you think deconstruction is the way to go?

Well, I mean, I wanted to do a Normandy pear tart.

I didn't want to just do a tart, I wanted to do my version of it.

-In this process, I think it will work.

-OK.

The thing about deconstruction, when you bake two things together,

the point where the two connect and there's heat and there's sugar

and there's caramelisation,

that's actually the most delicious part of that dessert.

As soon as you pull it apart, what you're going to get

is pure and simple pear

and a piece of straightforward, one-dimensional sponge.

Sponge can only be so good.

Paul's not the only one taking a chance today.

Former champion Colin has saved the most elaborate dish

of his highly technical menu until last.

The pressure is on, as he's never failed to make it

to the judges' chamber before.

Feeling nervous, Colin?

A little bit stressed. A big mountain to climb here,

so I hope it pays dividends.

Colin's Homage To The Dickin Medal

consists of four complicated layers.

A peanut biscuit base,

a praline feuilletine,

chocolate mousse,

and raspberry jelly.

Colin looks like he's under a lot of pressure on this dessert.

I don't know whether he might have bitten off more than he can chew.

This will be the peanut biscuit base.

The feuilletine goes on top of that. The jelly goes on top of that.

So the actual medal will be this thick.

-OK.

-And as you eat it, then obviously you're forced to have

all the texture, a little bit at one time. Every time you take a bite, you get the same hit.

-Still got plenty to do.

-Yes.

So, getting a clear idea of where Colin is going on his medal journey.

And, basically, the template that he is using is probably all of 1.5cm deep.

And I have a belief with puddings that there needs to be

more than 1.5cm of depth

for it to deliver the luxurious mouth-feel that he referred to.

So, I might be wrong but that is my fear.

With his layers done, Colin moves onto his parsnip ice cream.

-Colin?

-Yes?

-The Dickin Medal - you're talking about pigeons?

-They were awarded for bravery in the World War?

-Yes.

-Oh, amazing.

The communications were vital and, of course, the pigeons were

the ones who would fly over from Normandy back to the mainland.

Just amazing.

It was huge, and a lot of the Germans knew this and were shooting them down.

So we lost an awful lot. That just resonated with me

and I thought it was very important.

That's why there's no pigeon on the main course.

To research his dish, Colin visited Colin Hill...

-Good morning, Colin.

-Good morning.

..a wartime homing pigeon expert,

with 50 pigeons himself in his back yard.

Wow, look at that. Amazing.

250,000 pigeons were used for carrying messages in World War II.

How exactly would they have been used?

They were dropped by parachute.

-Attached to a parachute?

-Yeah.

-Not individually?

-Yeah.

They were in a tube, dropped behind enemy lines by the RAF

into the hands of the resistance fighters.

They brought so many important messages back.

There's an awful lot of people that would not have seen

the end of the war if it hadn't have been for the pigeons.

Really? How would the pigeon know where to go once it's been released?

Well, they've got the built-in homing instinct.

They want to get home to their hen bird.

-With a message on their leg?

-They're not worried about the message,

as long as they get home to their hen.

It was Gustav, the pigeon, who first made it across the Channel

with the all-important message that D-day had been a success.

-That is Gustav.

-Is it, really?

-Yeah.

-Wow.

-And a lady kissing him.

I bet he'd be quite pleased with that.

That is the Dickin Medal.

"For Gallantry", "We Also Serve". Fantastic.

-I'd like to lend you this...

-Wow.

..so that you can get your dish dead right in the kitchen.

Wow, I'm really touched. Thank you very much. That's fantastic.

I think this is so worthy

and we completely underestimate the use of animals in warfare.

With plating up fast approaching,

the heat of the kitchen is too much for Colin.

What are you doing out here, Colin?

It's so warm in that kitchen and, of course, tempering chocolate in these

conditions just doesn't happen. The room has to be less than 25 degrees.

He's tempering the white chocolate on which he'll stick

edible transfers of the Dickin Medal.

An intricate process that should give a glossy finish,

but only if done to very exact measures.

I've got to do the best I can.

-Extra pressure.

-Good luck, Colin.

-Thank you very much.

If anyone needs luck today, it's Frances,

who's two points behind the others.

She's first to plate up and needs to deliver a knockout

with her Thoughts Of Home dessert,

marrying an almond Yorkshire pudding with Normandy ingredients.

Frances, you seem to be organised, almost finished, and you've got seven minutes to spare.

I hope that extra seven minutes doesn't make you suffer.

Well, if it does, Paul, there's nothing I can do about it now.

But the taste is good.

She has a fantastic dish.

If she gets a ten, and if I don't execute everything perfectly,

you know, I could be the one who could be going home.

Frances starts her plate with caramelised walnuts

and micro-coriander.

Her unusual Yorkshire puddings, filled with Camembert cheese,

Calvados and caramelised apples, are drizzled with extra caramel

before being plated.

She serves sour cream on the side.

As always, accompanying Frances' dish is a modern version

of one of her father's wartime letters.

"The cook was very creative and celebrated our union

"by making Normandy apple, Camembert, walnut and Calvados pudding,

"the base being prepared similar to a Yorkshire pudding.

"It made me long for you and home,

"but it gave us all hope for a better future.

"You are in my heart always. Tom."

-Are you happy with your pudding?

-Yes.

-Let's go and taste it.

-So it's turned out how you expected it to be?

-Yes.

-OK.

-It's not supposed to look polished like a French apple tart.

It's simple and simplicity is usually successful.

It's consistent, with the letters and the presentation.

-Very nostalgic...

-Yep, exactly.

-..of the era.

But I don't think it has the flair,

I don't think it has the wow factor for a banquet.

The real key part of the pudding is the base.

-You wanted something that's soft and mellow.

-Yes.

-OK.

For me, obviously, you know, I'm a big fan of Yorkshire puddings.

-That's not pleasant.

-It's not the best.

The rogue ingredient in the dessert is the cheese.

I do think it works for this dessert,

-or I wouldn't have put it in, in the first place.

-OK.

-The cheese is strange, isn't it?

-Yeah, it's...

-Camembert.

-The apples, mellow enough, not too sweet?

-Yes, what do you think?

I'm not going to tell you anything...

-Fine.

-..yet.

I don't think it's her strongest course.

Do you think you've done enough with this dessert, Frances,

-to get you through to cook for the judges on Friday?

-Yes, I do.

How about a mark?

-Eight.

-OK.

-I'm going to go for a five.

-A five, as well.

It's all, obviously, down to Phil

and he certainly never gives anything away.

So we have to look forward to being lined up

in the headmaster's study.

Rival Paul is plating up next, with his deconstructed pear tart.

He begins his plate with the pear puree, infused with camomile,

followed by broken pieces of his almond sponge,

lightly salted candied almonds

and slices of compressed pear.

What's it on the wood for?

I'm trying to recreate the, sort of, the driftwood,

-feeling like you're part of the Normandy beach.

-Yes.

Next, Paul adds a scoop of toasted almond ice cream,

candied almond brittle and, finally, a sprinkling of camomile syrup.

It's all over, Paul. Will victory be yours?

The proof's in the pudding.

The proof is in the eating of the pudding. Come, let's go and try it.

So, the question is, do you think, deconstructing it - does it work?

I think so, obviously, you know, desserts are not my biggest forte, but I'm happy with this.

I think deconstructing a classic tart is OK,

-but I think it has to be better than the original production.

-Yeah.

-I didn't want to just copy a dish from another country.

-Yep.

So I wanted to just take the flavours and bring it back to our shores.

-Would our veterans understand the story of this deconstructed tart?

-No.

The sponge - is this how you wanted it?

Yeah, the sponge is a slightly moist sponge than, you know,

-classic sponge.

-Yup.

I quite like this sponge. The compressed pear tastes of pear.

The ice cream, are you happy that there's enough sugar in there

to bring out the flavour of the almonds that you wanted?

Yeah, definitely.

I'm afraid I don't like the ice cream.

-It's too rich and there's not enough flavour there.

-Yeah.

Are you confident that you've done enough to cook for the judges tomorrow?

-I hope so. I think so.

-Let's have a score.

-I'd score it a seven.

-OK.

A six, and I wouldn't be surprised if he got a five.

I would have said a five.

-How did you get on?

-Dunno. Lap of the gods. We'll see.

-It's over now. We can relax.

-This man can't, though.

Last to plate up is Colin with his intricate four-layered Dickin Medal.

BLEEP

Once again, the heat of the kitchen is proving too intense,

but this time, the victim is the cones for his parsnip ice cream.

-Dear me.

-Can I do anything for you at the moment?

-I've seen you make so many cones.

-I know. It's the heat.

The mix has to be quite cool, so they start to split.

His last batch of cones must work,

or his parsnip ice cream element will be ruined.

Luckily for Colin, his cones appear to have come out intact.

But he's now under pressure to assemble his dish in time.

He's scattered raspberries and made a white chocolate ribbon

on a glass plate, which sits above a miniature field of poppies.

Next, he finishes his medal

with his intricate tempered white chocolate transfer.

Hidden under a chocolate glasage are all four layers

of peanut biscuit, raspberry jelly,

chocolate mousse and praline feuilletine.

Colin pipes his temperamental cones with parsnip ice cream

and finally fills jugs with hot chocolate sauce on the side.

-There we go. A few more grey hairs there.

-I was going to say.

Let's go and taste it.

So this is just a bit of hot chocolate.

It wants to fall through the centre.

-Wow.

-Brilliant. That's clever, isn't it?

How many layers have we got there?

The biscuit, the feuilletine, the jelly and the mousse. Four layers.

-Mm.

-Lovely.

-That's lovely.

The ice cream, you're confident

that it's got a genuine reason to be there?

It's almost like a dry sweetness

that with the raspberries I think worked quite well.

Parsnip ice cream.

It's a strange choice, but obviously he found a story behind it.

And it works.

Are you confident you're going to be cooking for the duchess tomorrow?

Of all the desserts I've seen, I think this one is the best.

And, I think, as a brief, as a whole,

visually, I think it ticks all the boxes.

I think this is a really fitting end for D-day banquet.

It's a fantastically conceived and executed dish.

-Give it a score.

-I've cooked everything how it's meant to be,

-so therefore I'd give it a ten.

-My guess is ten.

-We've got a fight on here.

-He's cracked it.

-I think he's there.

So that leaves me and you.

-Here he comes.

-What have we got here?

A little tipple, Colin.

Well done, congratulations. Your pudding is lovely.

-Could this be a ten on the horizon?

-Could it? I don't know.

-It is.

Cheers.

-Well, I'm happy with my dessert.

-I'm sure you've got a ten coming.

How do you guys feel about your desserts, then?

-It's between myself and you, Frances.

-Of course it is.

Obviously it's another one of those where it depends how Phil scores it.

The end of a long week.

Frances, I'm going to start with you.

With your Thoughts Of Home, Normandy apples and camembert.

I really enjoyed your take on the brief.

The end of your father's D-day journey.

I wasn't convinced by the idea of mixing the ingredients that

you had, but actually, that was the real strength of the dish in the end.

The batter, soft, mellow.

Apples, tender and sweet.

However, it was, in truth, just a very simple,

modest plate of food, and it just didn't quite have

the impact that it needed to have to get a really high mark.

Paul, for your Normandy Victory of pear and almond,

again, I liked the idea of the brief.

Geographical, bring it back to home, a modern interpretation.

The almond sponge had some richness and some body to it.

The compressed pear I thought was really effective.

But I did however think that the almond ice cream genuinely

needed a little bit more sugar just to bring it alive a bit.

It was just muted flavours.

And ultimately, the eating qualities of a stonking Normandy tart

are better than the deconstructed version.

Colin, for your Homage To The Dickin Medal,

with chocolate and raspberry, big call.

You had a lot to pull off.

Yours was packed with technique.

There's nowhere to hide in a pudding like that.

If something doesn't work, it's obvious,

and, you know, you know it, we're going to know it.

The chocolate medal,

I was worried when I saw the mould that it wasn't going to have

enough depth to produce something that was really luxurious to eat.

In the end, it was just deep enough.

Parsnip ice cream...

It was quite nice, I enjoyed it.

And I think it had its purpose on the plate.

After all your hard work, running round,

a couple more grey hairs, I thought you absolutely nailed it.

So, the scores.

With a score of ten,

giving them the highest score across the week...

..Colin.

-Put me out of my misery!

-BLEEP

Congratulations. It was a cracking, accurate, highly accomplished desert.

-Thank you very much.

-Well done.

So, there's two chefs left, and sadly,

only one can go through to cook for the judges tomorrow.

Frances, for your Thoughts Of Home...

..I'm going to give you...

-a six.

-Thank you.

Paul...

..for your Normandy Victory,

I'm giving you a mark...

of eight.

Which means, Paul,

you'll go through tomorrow to cook with Colin for the judges.

-Commiserations, Frances.

-It's fine.

It has been a real pleasure to be on the receiving end of your food.

As food to eat, not necessarily as the competing food in this context,

-so thank you very much.

-A pleasure, thank you.

You two are through to the judges tomorrow. Get in there.

Both got a ten. Two dishes that clearly are great contenders.

-Make sure you nail them. Best of luck.

-Thank you very much.

Thank you, Chef.

Well done.

I'm very proud to have told my father's story,

and it's been a great experience.

Getting a ten from Philip Howard is the best feeling in the world.

It's fantastic.

It's been a great week so far, and I want to finish on a high.

Tomorrow, Colin and Paul will go head-to-head...

-You come to these competitions to win.

-I'll try and stop you.

..cooking their four courses again for the judges.

Their food must be both delicious and fitting...

-Poppies make me feel sad.

-I don't think you'll feel sad for long.

..as only one chef will emerge victorious.

The chef going forward to represent the Northeast is...