Finals Dessert Great British Menu

It's decision day for nine of the country's finest chefs.

COME ON!

Oh, my God, now I'm terrified.

Over the past two months, there's been fierce competition

to impress both our demanding veterans...

I was really shocked that you put that dish on the pass.

..and the judges...

That was really good.

The whole dish is a case of the bland leading the bland.

..who today must decide which four chefs will cook at a banquet

commemorating the 70th anniversary of D-Day

at London's incredible St Paul's,

a bastion of British wartime resilience.

Finals week has seen amazing highs...

-Yes!

-That's a show stopper.

-This is delicious!

-Ten from me.

..and crushing lows.

It's certainly not good enough for the banquet.

I'm a bit miffed by that, really.

In yesterday's main course, Chris and David

finally made the shortlist,

along with James and Adam...

Nice, guys. From zero to hero.

..with Tom Sellers narrowly missing out,

much to the surprise of his competitors.

THEY GASP

-No!

-No way!

Yeah, yeah.

Today, it's the dessert course.

I've got a new dessert today

and I'm going to give it my best shot.

And it's the last chance for Aktar and Jacqueline

to make the all-important top three...

I've been feeling the pressure all week,

and right now it's...up there.

..as the judges Prue Leith, Oliver Peyton

and Matthew Fort decide on the banquet menu.

This is it, the final hurdle.

And so, to the results.

As the chefs arrive,

they're unaware there's been a drama in their ranks.

Apparently, Tom Sellers is ill and may not be able to cook.

That's a shame, because he had a spectacular pudding.

Maybe we ought to tell the chefs.

CHATTER AND LAUGHTER

-Morning, chefs.

-ALL: Good morning.

I just wanted to tell you

that we've got a little bit of unfortunate news,

which is that Tom, you will have noticed, isn't here.

He's not well.

We got a doctor to him.

He's lying in a darkened room at the moment.

I don't think it's very serious,

but he's just not well enough to cook.

-Hope he's all right.

-Yeah.

So, chefs, don't let it affect you,

cook your best, we need some good puds.

-We really do. Bye.

-ALL: Thank you. Bye.

-Well!

-Wow.

-Poor Tom, he's going to be gutted!

What a horrible blow when Tom's done so well all week.

It's going to feel as though something's missing today.

I am genuinely gutted that Tom's not here today, you know.

We've seen this through from regionals

to the Friday, to today.

And he's a brilliant guy.

And I am genuinely disappointed he's not here today.

-I'll do dessert for him.

-THEY LAUGH

He might not get a ten.

Guarantee one thing - if you do it, it'll be late.

THEY LAUGH

We shouldn't have any difficulty in finding

three brilliant puddings to shortlist.

Well, I feel a bit sorry for Aktar and Jac.

They've not even been in the reckonings at all this week.

But I do remember that Aktar's pudding was really good.

And Chris and David, who have been trying so hard all week,

have finally got onto the shortlist for the main course.

There's no doubt there's a dessert in there

that's going to be suitable for St Paul's.

Well, good luck, guys.

ALL: Good luck.

Last push!

Helping the judges decide,

and making sure the food evokes wartime memories,

is banquet guest of honour, Winston Churchill's granddaughter,

Celia Sandys.

She's back again,

having helped choose Chris McGowan

as the Northern Ireland winner.

-Hello!

-Hi, Oliver.

-Hi, Celia.

-Hello, Prue. Hi, Matthew.

Good morning.

I see you've got a lovely picture of my grandfather.

You didn't have that last time I was here.

Very good picture, isn't it? And he is smiling in it.

Yes. Wonderful one. Absolutely. It's lovely.

Well, it's quite sad, really.

Because Tom, who's no longer cooking for us today,

had done a Winston Churchill treat box.

It seems a shame, with you being here,

that we're not going to get to try that.

-Well, it is a shame. Really bad luck for him.

-Mm.

But we've got eight great puddings, I hope, coming.

And today's going to be a treat.

Whichever way you look at it.

The first group of chefs to cook are Emily Watkins from the Southwest,

the Northwest's James Durrant,

and Jacqueline O'Donnell from Scotland.

-Good luck, guys.

-Good luck.

-Good luck.

-Good luck.

-Last one in.

Yeah, last one. Let's go.

All three chefs are cooking new desserts today.

So far, James and Emily each have two dishes in contention

for the final banquet menu,

unlike Jacqueline, who is yet to secure a place on the shortlist.

Today is her last chance.

I'm really quite nervous

because I would love to get on that shortlist.

So, we've got three new desserts,

all using vintage glassware and crockery.

And I hope the judges agree with what we think,

so that all three of us can get into the top three.

Otherwise, we're stuffed.

Never mind the rest today!

First up is newcomer James,

whose menu is inspired by his wife's grandfather,

who fought on D-Day itself.

Yesterday, his main course

was one of his fellow chefs' favourite dishes

and achieved a perfect ten from all four judges,

but in the regionals

the judges felt his dessert didn't hit the brief.

So he's come up with a new dish

A fruit cake and Earl Grey tea burnt cream

with prune and Armagnac jam.

I am concerned. It's a new dish.

They're good flavours, it fits in with the brief

and so hopefully, fingers crossed, I won't be last out.

This guy James has been the dark horse to me, this whole time.

-He's got two dishes already in the top three...

-Good Lord.

However, his last pudding was a complete disaster.

He's doing a celebratory afternoon tea.

Does that fit the brief?

Well, it is the WVS Celebratory Afternoon Tea.

And I am sure I don't need to tell you - Women's Volunteer Service.

Got to be better than last time.

James is pinning his hopes

on a simple, nostalgic interpretation of the brief.

It's all based around the Women's Voluntary Service.

They provided tea, morale-boosting tea,

for the people back home.

It was a big thing.

And then beyond D-Day

and once our troops started advancing through Europe,

the Women's Voluntary Service actually went over to Europe

and were providing tea and cake

and providing support, morale-boosting support,

-for the troops.

-Fantastic.

This is more like an afternoon tea than a dessert, do you think?

-That's harsh, Chef, that.

-Is it?

-Yes, that's harsh.

Fighting talk, that.

It's put doubt in his mind.

He's been up there twice already, so...

James starts his plate by slicing his fruitcake,

which goes on his wartime-inspired tea tray.

He tops his Earl Grey tea burnt cream with brown sugar.

What's the sugar cubes?

-It's butter cream.

-Och!

Finally, he caramelises the sugar with a blowtorch

and adds a quenelle of his prune and Armagnac jam.

OK, thank you.

-Looks very elegant.

-It looks beautiful.

I've worked so hard to get here and put 110% into it.

To get through to the banquet will be a big honour,

to be able to celebrate with the surviving veterans

and also to commemorate the guys who fought for their country.

Pretty.

There are terrific smells coming from this!

It looked so pretty!

-Bring a real smile to their faces, the veterans.

-Yes.

-I think the sugar crust...

-Mm!

..is much too...fine.

In fact, it hardly exists at all.

I think there's a lot of sugar on the top.

I would like it to have been a bit more caramelised,

so it was more like a glass sugar than crunching brown sugar.

I think the burnt cream itself is...

..extraordinarily poor! I can't taste any great flavour in it.

The Earl Grey is nicely balanced, for me, with the prune.

But for me, that's where it stops.

I mean, it's clever, very cleverly done, but...

I don't like that, at all.

I'm finding it very sweet.

I can't help feeling that those fearsome ladies at the WVS

would've been rather disappointed by this.

I think it's an afternoon tea,

not a dessert to end a banquet on.

I think we should send it away and see what comes next.

In my world, tea will never be a pudding.

Probably a six, for me.

It's his weakest dish of the week and I'm going to give it a five.

I'm not going to mark it high, at all.

I would give it a very low score.

Flavours are far too sweet. For me, it's a five.

Hold the front page... What A Shocker!

Next up is Scotland's Jacqueline O'Donnell.

It's her first time in the competition

and she's failed to make an impact so far,

finishing seventh with her fish course,

and last with her starter and main.

In the regionals, the judges thought her dessert failed to hit the brief

and wasn't appropriate for the D-Day banquet.

So she's come back with a new creation -

Wartime Treat of sticky gingerbread, marmalade, orange curd and parfait

with ginger snap biscuits.

Oh, I would really love to get onto the judges shortlist today.

It's been such a long, tough week

and just to get that wee glimmer of hope

that my dessert's good enough to make the top three

would be amazing.

I think she can do it because you know what,

these are just such good flavours.

I think it sounds wonderful. I love gingerbread and ginger.

And we used to have gingerbread for tea at Chartwell.

Oh! All the flavours I love! So I have great hope.

Well, I really, really hope she does it.

Things haven't started well for Jacqueline.

After two failed attempts at baking her ginger snap biscuits,

she can't afford any more mistakes

if she's going to have a chance of making the shortlist this week.

Jac, those biscuits OK?

That's my third batch, so hopefully third time lucky.

-You've got a timer on there?

-Yeah, I do. It's just about to go.

The country's best chefs are here.

You know, it's a tough, tough competition to be in.

I think Jac feels like she's under quite a lot of pressure.

She's not got in the top three all week,

let's hope she does it today.

With her wartime-inspired presentation ready,

Jacqueline starts plating up with chilled jars

of orange curd, gingerbread and marmalade.

That looks spectacular!

-Happy with your biscuits?

-I am.

-SHE CHUCKLES

-Took a while!

It all goes in her nostalgic boxes,

along with ginger snaps, which she's finally perfected.

Hey, look. I've just seen the picture -

-in their hand's a ration book.

-I know, it's the ration book.

Picture to the waitress.

That's beautiful.

It does look really fantastic.

Yeah, it looks amazing.

I think the competition this week has been so, so tough.

And I think I gave it my best shot.

Really lovely.

Normandy Veterans 70th Anniversary. D-Day 6th of June, 1944.

I am going to give this at least five points,

-because the presentation is so fabulous.

-Isn't it pretty?

In terms of brief, I think you have absolutely nailed it this time.

I think it looks absolutely fantastic.

Oooh...!

-Doesn't that look lovely?

-That looks gorgeous.

It only gets better.

-And so simple.

-Mm!

-I just think you need more in a banquet.

-Yeah.

It needs to be grand and..."Ooh," you know?

I think that's delicious! Really delicious.

And it is not too sweet.

The biscuits are completely wonderful. They're so snappy.

CRUNCHING

-Delicious.

-Mm-hm.

-Lovely and crisp.

Celia, you and I, I regret to say,

are just old enough to have been children after the war.

Do you remember anything like this?

Well, I remember not having very much food

except when we were with my grandparents

and then there always seemed to be a lot of food

because I think people sent him all sorts of presents.

I think we would have thought this was delicious!

We'd have eaten it all and not thought it was too much.

We'd have gulped it down.

This is her last chance to do it

and I just feel that perhaps this isn't going to be her week

because it's so, so sweet.

I'm a little worried that it's a bit too sweet.

Oh, stop it. It's a little jar full of treasure!

It's a touch sweet, but aside from that,

-that's me being really picky.

-Yeah.

This is a pudding which could speak for all time,

not just for wartime or for now-time.

I'd happily give that an eight.

Yeah. It's an eight from me, as well. Definitely.

I think this could get through to the shortlist.

I really think it's lovely.

I know how Jacqueline feels at the moment, but...

To me, this is average, so I'm going to give it a five.

Jac called this a Wartime Treat

and I certainly think it's a banquet treat.

Emily and James have just told me they gave me an eight

so I am absolutely delighted.

Really, really good news.

The third chef is returning contender Emily Watkins,

representing the Southwest.

In the top three for her starter and fish,

she slumped to seventh with her main yesterday.

So, twice on the leaderboard. Didn't quite make it there yesterday.

Are you hoping you'll get there today?

Obviously, I'm hoping to. We wouldn't be here otherwise.

But, erm...it's always quite nerve-racking when it's a new dish.

Could be anyone's game.

Emily's cooking a new dish after her dessert failed to live up

to expectations in the regionals.

I really like what the dessert is.

It's delicious to eat,

and for me, it is very nostalgic of the era.

I sincerely hope that the judges agree with that

and the other chefs, most importantly, as well.

She's hoping her Victory Trifle with blackberry jelly,

old English sponge, baked custard and syllabub

will see her get a third dish in the running for the banquet menu.

-It sounds delicious!

-It's going to be one trifle and a half!

Would you trifle with a trifle?

Well, I don't usually like trifle,

but this sounds rather exciting.

All week, Emily's been cooking dishes

inspired by her grandfather's wartime experiences,

but today, she's taken a different tack with her dessert.

Today I wanted to do a kind of celebratory British dessert.

-End of war, let's celebrate.

-Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And I felt that trifle has always been a party piece.

-Yes, yes.

-For everybody.

It's not a posh dessert, it's not a thing...

A trifle was something that was a real treat for everybody.

Emily's scooped out the centre of her blackberry jelly

and places in a slice of blackberry, sherry-soaked sponge...

..which she tops with vanilla, baked custard.

Look at that. Stunning, isn't it?

Onto her wartime-inspired tea tray

goes honeycomb, dehydrated blackberries...

..and her squirty syllabub,

all finished off with a glass of blackberry-infused sherry.

Sherry, Squirty Cream, sprinkles on the top.

# Hip-hooray, hip-hooray...

# The Sun has got his hat on...#

-Amazing.

-Well done.

Both my grandfathers served in the Navy during World War II,

so it would be a great honour to get through to the banquet

to show Remembrance and respect to them.

WINSTON CHURCHILL: "..victory of the cause of freedom in every land.

"In all our long history,

"we have never seen a greater day than this."

Celia, that VE Day speech...

That day must've been, for your grandfather,

just extraordinary.

It was absolutely what he'd been...

Someone said his destiny was that

he'd been put on this Earth to do something

and that was the moment that he'd achieved it.

Absolutely amazing day. Yes.

I think the speech and the music really set it off.

Set the mood for the whole idea behind the dish.

This is wonderful stuff. It's got strawberries or something.

Yes, but it's not exactly authentic, is it?

-Oh. It's good, though.

-Did they have them in 1945?

The cream is a nice, quirky addition in the canister.

The custard on the inside is absolutely bang-on.

It's set perfectly.

Are you telling me that that is the texture of a proper syllabub?

-Not quite.

-No, thank you!

But I tell you, this is delicious.

It is not delicious.

I mean, I think the theatre is very nice.

I think the blackberry jelly's too thick, there's too much of it.

There's a nice balance of everything -

not too much jelly or too much custard.

-I think you need more sponge, more custard, less jelly.

-Yes.

But I think it's delicious. I'm enjoying it.

Celia, your grandfather, did he like to trifle with a trifle?

I don't think he would've wanted to have all this...DIY stuff, really.

I think he'd have liked it presented to him to eat.

I think the veterans would get it.

And I think for the judges...

-I think they'll love it.

-Yeah. That's exactly right.

-Yeah.

Come on. This is not a shortlist pudding.

BOTH: No.

I think it's all too complicated.

-We are breaking out in...

-..in unity, here.

-We are.

As for marks - I wouldn't give it the lowest, or the highest.

I'd be somewhere in the middle.

Nice clean and fresh. I love the little shot afterwards and...

I'm going to say nine.

Not right for the banquet,

not the worst dish we've ever had by a long chalk.

-Can I ask what you gave it?

-I gave it a nine.

-Thank you.

-Nine from me, as well.

-Thank you.

-I gave it a delicious eight.

-Thank you.

If our chefs can't come up with a better pudding than this,

then we are in deep, deep trouble.

The second group of chefs

are London and the Southeast's Adam Simmonds,

Chris McGowan from Northern Ireland

and Wales's David Kelman.

-ALL:

-Good luck!

-Last time.

-Last time we'll cook together. It's emotional.

So, Celia, six more puddings to go.

There's one I liked very much from last time - the rice pudding.

So I'm looking forward to that. I know I'm going to like that one.

You're only a third of the way through.

Well, as my grandfather said - never, never give in.

-THEY LAUGH

-Very good!

All three chefs have dishes in contention for the D-Day banquet.

You're there twice, so far, Adam.

-Yeah.

-Me and Chris have just got one chance, so far.

-At least you went up.

-Well, yeah.

-And not down.

-Well, that's true.

First to cook in this group is Adam Simmonds

who's had a good week,

making it onto the shortlist with both his starter

and his main courses.

But in the regionals his dessert did not deliver.

BLEEP!

My dessert was a howler.

It was a complete disaster.

I've reworked the ice cream,

I've put an orange gel on it.

For me, it's a far better dessert

and hopefully, it will carry me through.

Adam struggled with his chocolate moulds last time

and has made some tweaks to the recipe for his dish

Logan's Legacy chocolate bar,

a tribute to our American allies in World War II.

Why is it called Logan's Legacy?

Prue, you're our expert.

I think Logan Bars were chocolate bars

that were made for the American troops.

A nutritionist colonel called Logan designed it

and said how it was to be.

The manufacturer's instructions were not to make them delicious

because the troops would break into their emergency rations

and eat them, so they had to be made disgusting.

-Are you looking forward to that?

-Very much, yes.

I'm looking forward to it all.

To see how the chefs are coping in the heat of the kitchen,

Celia pays them a visit.

Hello, Celia. It's a pleasure to meet you. How are you?

-Nice to meet you.

-Hi, Celia, I'm Chris.

Lovely to see you again.

Very nice to see you. How are things?

Well, I'm much looking forward to the rice pudding ice cream.

-It was the highlight of my day last time.

-Really?

What kind of desserts did your grandfather like?

He loved ice cream, he really liked ice cream.

We used to have queen of pudding, I think.

I think someone's doing that.

I'm doing a chocolate bar.

Oh, yours said chocolate something and something. What did it say?

Chocolate orange and evaporated milk.

I couldn't, was it evaporated milk ice cream?

There's that and there's an evaporated milk mousse in the chocolate bar.

-That's very interesting.

-Hopefully, you'll enjoy it.

-I hope so, too.

I didn't think I was going to enjoy rice pudding ice cream

and I really loved it, so there you go!

-There's no way of knowing, is there?

-No.

Known for his technical cooking,

Adam's granita is attracting the attention of the other chefs.

He's full of tricks, this boy, isn't he?

As it stands at the moment,

London and the Southeast has all bases covered.

Starters, fish, main course,

if I can get this one in the judges' top three, then we'll have

a full house for London and Southeast.

Well, you did have an advantage over us by having two in the final, Chef.

But that may or may not be the case,

but we still had to perform, didn't we?

Well...

It's time for Adam to perform again as he starts

his British-American plate with his chocolate Logan Bar

filled with evaporated milk mousse and orange jelly.

Next, chunks of aerated chocolate

followed by his evaporated milk ice cream,

topped with milk and orange granita.

That's the last, Chef.

Well, that's beautiful.

All it was was a chocolate bar.

Over the course of the week, there's a lot of pressure.

You know, you want to get in the top three as much as possible because

that would then give me a better chance to get a dish to the banquet.

Look, so we've got all of this about the Logan Bar

in this copy of The Daily Times.

That Logan's Bar is incredible, really breathtaking.

Superb dish yet again. Technically brilliant.

Well, it's all light and fluffy on the inside. Armour-plated chocolate.

I like the Logan Bar. I think that's really good.

Chocolate's not too thick.

This has taken a huge amount of effort on his part.

I don't know if it's paid off.

The parfait inside, for me, is absolutely perfect.

It's so light and delicate.

There's not enough intensity about this pudding.

-And the chocolate's not very nice.

-No, it isn't very good.

Who doesn't like chocolate and orange?

It's a classic combination, isn't it?

And flavour-wise, it really works.

The bit I liked the best was what I would call

the evaporated milk ice cream.

That, for me, was the best bit.

I don't get evaporated milk.

The only real shortfall, is that evaporated milk,

whether it needs to be there at all, you know?

I think this is a really thinking chef who has tried really hard

with an intellectual idea.

Unfortunately, he's lost the flavour.

Definitely, completely on brief.

-It would be a nice end to the banquet.

-Yes.

Can you see that at the banquet?

No.

I'm very happy to give this dish a nine

because I think it's so brilliant.

-I'm going to give it an eight.

-Yes.

The idea itself and the presentation warrants a reasonable score.

It's a nine from me. Almost faultless, you know?

I would give it a low mark.

I'm certainly not going to give Adam a low mark.

But not perhaps the highest.

Next up is Chris McGowan.

He scored highly in the regionals with his dessert, Can All You Can,

of chilli, pineapple and rice pudding ice cream.

He made the shortlist with his main course

and is aiming to repeat that today with some tweaks to his dish.

Chris has made changes to the presentation,

with a wartime-inspired larder

and the addition of a coconut sponge cake and coconut marshmallow.

Today is a new day, dessert - I'm throwing it all at it today.

I want to get my name on that list again

and give myself the best possible chance to get to that banquet,

representing Northern Ireland.

I thought that was the highlight of my day with you.

The rice pudding ice cream. I liked it better than anything.

He's obviously a very good chef. And I really hope he's changed it a bit.

I hope he's changed the presentation

because last time, the connection between Can All You Can

and what was on the plate was not immediately obvious.

Chris might be throwing everything at this last course

in a determined effort to get his name on the shortlist again.

But he's up against stiff competition in the form of

returning champions Colin and Aktar,

who received top scores for their desserts in the regionals,

and are both eager to get into David's top three,

especially Aktar, who has yet to make his mark.

Right now, you know, legs are flapping away.

You know, I just want to see my name on here.

Aren't you pinning your hopes on pudding as well, Colin?

Yeah, I got, including the veteran, got four tens, yeah.

So it's the battle of the puds?

-The puds are going to be quite strong courses, aren't they?

-Yeah.

Chris starts filling his wartime larder with a host of new elements,

including passion fruit cream, coconut marshmallow

and his coconut sponge cake.

On his plate goes lime curd, passion fruit cream-filled meringue

and strips of coconut.

His rice pudding ice cream's next

and is topped with grated fresh coconut.

Easy, keep it straight, please.

-Well done.

-Well done!

I gave it everything today.

I just threw it all at it today.

I'd love to be in the mix.

If you're not in, you can't win. Simple as that.

This person has thrown the kitchen sink at this problem!

I think he's thrown the kitchen store cupboard! The larder.

Lovely plate of food. Really nice idea with the larder cupboard.

Loads of flavours going on.

Mm. These little scones, they are as light as a little duster.

-Yummy.

-Good, isn't it?

-Wonderful.

-Oh, that's how I like meringue.

The meringue's fantastic,

the sponge cake's nice and light.

Loads of different elements to it,

all of them work really well together as well.

I can't actually find a technical fault in any of the elements

and there are quite a lot of them.

-What's inside?

-Rice pudding.

-Is it?

-Yeah, rice pud ice cream.

Really?

The rice pudding ice cream, which I liked so much last time,

is absolutely wonderful, just as good.

I think he'll be upset himself.

I think that rice in there is undercooked.

That's a shame, mate.

What would you complain about here?

It's a joy, it's very generous, there's lots and lots of ideas here.

It's a massive, massive dessert to finish the banquet off.

-It's a lot of stuff.

-It is a lot of stuff.

I think he's done too much.

The point is, I would be very reluctant to see any part of this,

you know, not presented at the final banquet if this got through.

I think if you left a few elements off and just reduced

the size of the portion down, you would have a better dessert.

-Do you like the new bits?

-I do, rather, yes, I do rather like them.

So what can I say? The proof of the pudding is in the eating.

Apart from the rice pudding, I can't fault it,

so I'm going to give it an eight.

Actually, I'll push it to a nine.

For me, it's an eight. Erm, again, it's the rice pudding.

Doesn't do it for me, but everything else was fantastic.

It's not going to get ten out of ten, but it's pretty high.

Do you think, by changing it, you've compromised what you had originally?

You're right, I hear what you're saying.

You mean there's a lot going on, I get that.

I think this is one of the most accomplished puddings

we've eaten so far today.

Last up in this group is ex-Army cadet David Kelman,

whose family have served in the military for generations.

After two fourth-place finishes, he finally made it onto

the shortlist yesterday with his main course

and is hoping to repeat that success today.

I want my dessert to win because I'm doing this for my family.

It's got Remembrance all over the plate

and that's the one I want to get taken to the banquet.

David's serving a raspberry delice and sponge poppy, poppy brandy snap,

lemon and poppy seed shortbread, and evaporated milk ice cream.

Last time the gastronomy wasn't there,

it didn't taste good enough.

It just wasn't working together as a thing

and it didn't feel very passionate.

What you want is heart, you want a sense of emotion,

that's what the poppy is all about.

And as he has this military connection,

I want to see that reflected in the pudding.

I'm waiting anxiously to see what's going to appear.

I think we all are.

All right, listening to the judges' comments,

I've changed it slightly to make it more fitting for Remembrance.

-It's such a special flower.

-Everyone relates to the poppy.

-Yeah.

They know what it's about, it's about remembering the people

-that did so much for this country.

-Mm.

David kicks off with his raspberry poppy and fresh raspberries,

followed by a brandy snap and lemon shortbread biscuit.

He fills the centre of the poppy with chocolate sauce...

..and finishes the plate with his evaporated milk ice cream,

topped with a white chocolate Union Jack flag.

APPLAUSE

Well done.

It's a lot better than the original dessert.

It is what it is, it doesn't need anything else,

it tells a story and that's it.

That's really pretty, I think.

Very neat and professional.

This is why we're here, just what that represents on the plate for me.

I love it.

Ooh!

-Oh, it's chocolate.

-Very bitter chocolate.

When I had the chocolate,

it kind of masked everything I was having cos it was so sweet.

I don't actually like this poppy at all.

It's quite insipid, the sort of, erm, raspberry mousse.

-It's not very flavoursome.

-Yeah.

I'm not sure if there's any raspberry in the mousse.

It doesn't taste very raspberry to me.

The biscuit, I believe he said had lemon in it, but...

I didn't get any lemon.

The ice cream is very nice, but it's just, I certainly don't think

this is a desirable connection between past and present.

It is really an unfortunate series of things on a plate.

And not always the best of them.

He's got modern food, he's almost fulfilled part of your brief

in that way, but I'd question whether the food is nice to eat.

I don't think it's that nice to eat, personally.

We asked him to do something more imaginative with the poppy

and it's a disaster.

Does it taste of what it should do? The answer to that is no.

-So, for that reason...

-Yeah.

..I'm going to have to give it a six.

Purely because of what's on the plate, I'm going to say a seven.

-I won't be giving him high marks.

-It's just the poppy thing for me.

So I'll give it a nine.

Let's face it, this is not a poppy for Remembrance,

-it is a pudding for forgetting.

-Mm.

The final chefs today are two former banquet champions.

The Northeast's Colin McGurran and Aktar Islam for the Central Region.

-OK. Good luck, my friend.

-Yeah.

-Good luck.

-Want to get your name on the boards today?

-Yes.

-That's what it's all about.

-Don't do too well, though.

One chef is missing from this final group.

I can't believe poor Tom hasn't made it today,

he's going to be absolutely gutted.

It's a shame for Tom cos he got good scores from the judges

on his regional dessert.

-And I think Adam's a bit lost without him today as well.

-I'm sure.

None of us can annoy Adam the way Tom does.

Celia, I promised you a blizzard of sugar and a tidal wave of cream

and I think we've gone some way to delivering that.

Well, we certainly have.

Not quite a tsunami, which is what you threatened.

Let us hope for a ten or so.

First up is Colin,

who previously cooked the starter course at the banquet.

His dessert is a homage to the animals

who played a vital role in the Second World War.

It's a medal of chocolate, peanut biscuit, hazelnut praline

and raspberry jelly, served with parsnip ice cream.

In the regionals, veteran chef Phil Howard scored it a perfect ten.

I think my dessert course is my strongest dish.

I think it's invaluable to honour the animals that served in the war,

that contributed to the success, so I'm very much looking forward...

to make sure this goes to the banquet.

The thing that I find most interesting about this dish,

and I didn't think I would like it,

it was fantastic, is parsnip ice cream.

-I know you like ice cream.

-I do. That's a new one for me.

If he does it anywhere near as well as he'd done it in the heats,

we are in for a real treat, cos it was absolutely delicious.

I really felt it was banquet potential, this dish.

I'm looking forward to it.

Have you made any changes since the regionals?

In regards to what's on the plate, no, I've not changed anything.

The only thing the judges said is that there's lots of people out there

who don't know what a Dickin Medal is.

And it's obviously a medal that was, erm, awarded to the animals,

be it, you know, a bomb squad dog or the pigeons, in this case,

that used to communicate across the Channel,

and I wanted to pay homage to that part.

It's a different angle of the brief which I felt was quite clever.

Colin's preparing his main element, the chocolate medal.

I know that Tom was supposed to be cooking in this heat, though,

and obviously he's not here cos he's unwell.

But he is here and he's keeping his eye on you two.

There's only one thing missing there.

-What's that?

-Stopwatch.

As it so happens...

-THEY LAUGH

-..I have one here.

-And I think you've got an hour, no?

-I'm not going to let him down.

See you in an hour.

Colin starts his plate by piping on white chocolate.

On goes his four-layered Dickin Medal.

He garnishes with fresh raspberries.

Hot pouring chocolate is served in jugs on the side.

And finally, he pipes parsnip ice cream into cones.

-Done, thank you very much.

-That looks fantastic, man.

-Well done, mate.

-Yeah, looks lovely.

-Thank you.

-All over.

-For another year.

THEY LAUGH

My dessert is fantastic.

You can read the message on the plate, erm,

so I think there's a great chance for me getting to the banquet this year.

My, that is beautiful,

absolutely beautiful.

PDSA, so that's People's Dispensary for Sick Animals,

"For Gallantry. We Also Serve."

Very clever. Very apt.

The nice nod to the animals who helped

in the war as well, which...

None of us have covered that so far.

OK, I'm going to pour this onto the top.

Mm, if you go slowly enough, the hot chocolate will melt the middle.

Oh, it's going, so exciting! So exciting.

I love the chocolate sauce melting through the top, and, erm,

I think the parsnip works really well with the chocolate as well.

-This is so good.

-Parsnip ice cream is really interesting.

-Mm.

Mm, it's delicious and it does taste like parsnips.

My only thing was that the parsnip ice cream didn't taste of parsnip.

I understand why he used the parsnip because it was used as a sweetener.

It's...it's a very nice dish, very accomplished as well.

I mean, this is a grown-up pudding, you know,

it's someone who understands praline and the crunch from praline.

I mean, it's all those little layers that just make it.

Little bit of chocolate, little bit of peanut,

little bit of...hazelnut.

-Yes.

-And it tastes as good as it looks,

so I think this is absolutely amazing.

It's got drama, it's got a little bit of information,

so it's got a lot of interest. It's easy to serve.

I think it has everything that a party banquet pudding should have.

I can't fault it, it's a ten from me.

It's a ten from me as well.

I think it's absolutely delicious, really nicely put together.

Perfect party pud.

-But was it supposed to taste of vanilla or parsnip?

-Parsnip.

OK, for me, it was not strong. I'll give it an eight.

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you.

I don't know about the Dickin Medal

but I think this pudding deserves a medal all of its own.

The final chef to cook is Aktar Islam,

who's struggled to find his form all week.

Today's his last chance to get in contention

to cook again at the banquet.

His dessert course impressed the judges in the regionals.

-Did he get four tens?

-Yeah, four tens, yeah.

-Four tens, apparently he's the one to beat.

-Really?

-Yeah.

-I'm excited.

Aktar's serving the same top-scoring dessert today.

Victory Is Sweet, a classic queen of puddings with

Winston Churchill-inspired chocolate and praline cigars.

I'm seriously feeling the pressure.

This means so much to me and I know this is my last chance

so I've just got to make sure... it's got to be perfect.

Getting low scores from the judges is one thing, not getting into the

top three, but you punish yourself when you know it's not right.

Well, I'll certainly punish myself

if I don't make it to the top three today. I mean, it would devastate me.

If it's the Aktar I know,

he's really holding out for this pudding, cos we all loved it.

It was a really delicious pudding.

-I love queen of puddings, do you remember queen of puddings?

-Mm.

It was a very good, old-fashioned pudding.

-We used to have queen of puddings at Chartwell.

-Oh, did you?

-Oh, did you?

Yes. There was a wonderful cook called Mrs Landemar,

and she was terrific,

and she went to Downing Street during the war

and then she went to Chartwell with him after the war

and back to Chequers again.

-She made very good ice creams.

-That's why you love ice cream.

But certainly queen of puddings was on the menu and it was delicious.

Everything's riding on perfection with this dish.

But Aktar's having an issue cooking his custard in a water bath.

I've just had a problem with one of the, er...bain-maries that I've made,

one of them split and the water dripped into one of the plates.

It's going to be, once again, right to the edge.

He needs to make sure everything's perfect

because I know what it was like, last year.

If you don't send it out perfect, you won't get into the top three

and Aktar really needs to get into the top three today.

As usual, Aktar's running late

and has no option but to plate up regardless.

He starts with meringue topping, dots on fruit jam...

..sprinkles crumble and blowtorches his meringue.

Next are quenelles of raspberry sorbet.

And finally his spun sugar crown with pink sugar diamonds.

It's good. Very royal.

APPLAUSE

-I can see you definitely in the top three today.

-Thank you very much.

If not, I can see that at the banquet.

Oh, thank you, that means so much to me.

It's been killing me, I've always known this was my strongest course.

Knowing that this is it, everything's pinned on this,

fingers crossed it delivers the goodies for me

because, for me, the GBM roller coaster's had ups and downs,

and I'd like to finish on a high.

-Hm.

-Pretty.

Beautiful.

Ah!

I think we should pass these down to Celia, don't you?

Isn't that great?

Wonderful. Romeo y Julieta, his favourite.

How lovely.

Of course, you have to understand that, during the war, when he was

flying in unpressurised aeroplanes,

he had his oxygen mask adapted so he could breathe in the oxygen

and smoke a cigar at the same time.

THEY LAUGH Good man!

The cigar's a great little clever way...

I think it looks just like a cigar.

Lovely, lovely dessert.

This is all a work of art, I think, absolutely amazing.

I think the puree's perfect, the flavours are perfect,

the right amount of sugar...

And the meringues are really delicious, aren't they? Perfect.

And the raspberry sorbets are lovely.

I actually thought one of the meringues

should have been a bit firmer.

The sorbet's lovely, the texture.

Mmm.

Superb dish, very nice touch on the wee cigar at the side.

Have you put the snap, crackle, pop in your mouth?

I'm going to put a complete spanner in the works!

I'm just not a lover of queen of puddings.

It's not a dessert that really excites me.

I don't think, technically, it's as good as before.

That's the problem with it, but it's still a great pudding, you know.

I still love it, and, you know,

I would not be unhappy seeing this at a banquet.

I think it's amazing, really ambitious and really well executed.

Absolutely perfect.

It's just such a part of that time, so Churchillian.

It'll be lovely.

Only one thing to say for that, myself, is perfect.

Something as dramatic as this has got to play a part in our top three.

It'll certainly cause a stir in the room, so a ten for me.

-Yes, ten for me.

-Yeah, ten for me, as well.

I'm giving it a nine.

I think this is the one that would make the most impact

and give a finale to the dinner.

It's a neat, sweet treat that makes me feel replete.

We've seen this week that the chefs' top three

doesn't always mirror the judges' top three, at all,

so it's still anybody's game at this stage.

Well, we have had lots of highs and lots of lows, I felt.

It was not just a sugar high,

it was a gastronomic high.

Some of them were so artistic, weren't they? Absolutely wonderful.

This is where the real tension is starting now,

I'm desperate to find out how I did.

I didn't give a ten, did you?

-I gave one ten.

-Oh, fantastic.

I am very interested to see if the chefs agree with...

Us.

Before the dessert shortlist is revealed,

it's time to find out from the chefs' scores alone...

Thank you very much.

..who is in their top three.

The top three chefs, according to our scores,

in no particular order...

-This is quite interesting, actually.

-OK.

-Come on, then.

Colin.

-Good judgment.

-Good judgment.

Aktar.

-Aktar.

-Good judgment.

And Adam.

Adam?!

Where's Chris?

Nowhere, apparently, in their judgment.

Let's add them up and put them out of their misery.

Welcome, chefs.

-Good evening.

-Hello.

I'm sure you all want to know who's going to make it onto

the shortlist for the desserts for the final banquet.

In eighth place...it's...

..James.

Sorry, but we just didn't think your dessert was good enough on the day.

-OK, thank you.

-Thank you.

In seventh place...it's...

-..David.

-OK.

We thought the poppy was much improved, we thought it all

looked great, but we just didn't think it delivered on the taste.

-OK, thank you very much.

-Thank you.

-Hard luck, mate.

-Never mind, eh?

In sixth place...

..it's...

..Adam.

All of the chefs loved it,

but we just didn't think it delivered on the taste.

-OK.

-So, thank you.

-Thank you.

-There's a shock.

-BLEEP.

In fifth place...

..it's...

Emily.

Sorry.

It was a nice idea, but we just didn't think it was special enough.

OK, thank you.

-Hello, guys.

-BLEEP.

-Yeah.

-I'm slightly shocked.

-I'm shocked.

So, four of you left - who will be on the dessert shortlist?

In fourth place...

..and just missing out...

..Jac.

-I'm sorry.

-That's OK.

You were so close.

I can tell you that we thought your pudding was a serious contender

for the final banquet.

Unfortunately, all those guys who've been helping you out all week

didn't think so.

Right, guys, no drams from me tonight.

LAUGHTER

So, Aktar, Colin, Chris, congratulations.

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you very much.

Aktar.

You finally made it onto the shortlist.

It's been a tough week. I'm glad I've made it to the top three.

You know, one big hurdle,

but ultimately we're all here to make it to the banquet.

We loved your dish, it was really special

and it was so full of hope and glory

and pomp and circumstance, it was fantastic.

Chris, a second shortlist placing for you.

Oh, yeah. It's such an emotional roller coaster, you know?

Nothing ever prepares you for this, honestly.

Well, Chris, congratulations.

I must say, I thought that was a technical display of extraordinary

range of cooking techniques, but also it was a great story.

Thank you very much, thank you.

So, Colin, a second placing for you - how are you feeling?

No, it's great, it just means that...

It just gives you a better chance to get into the banquet,

just try and get in with one of them, I don't care which one.

I just hope it's fish.

LAUGHTER

Well, Colin, also, we loved your dish and we loved your tribute

-to the forgotten heroes. Very good.

-Thank you.

So, now all we have to do is create the perfect menu

for the D-Day banquet.

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you very much.

-Well done.

It's been very tough.

You know, you don't realise until you're here

cooking against these guys, and with them in the kitchen

every day and the competition is right up there.

I want this thing. I love it.

I feel like I'm being hustled here. You are hustling me.

What's wrong with that, then?

I just don't think it's right.

Obviously, I've got two dishes in the shortlist,

and even better to get one of those through to the banquet.

I'm just really happy to be where I'm at right now.

I've a lot of really positive, focused energy,

I just want to get into that banquet and represent Northern Ireland.

-If you insist on that, I shall be very unhappy.

-What's wrong with it?

I'm not insisting on it - it's a done deal.

We're looking for a menu here.

We're not looking for our "my favourite dish".

I think it might be a struggle to decipher

whose is going to the banquet once we get into the judging chamber.

I really want to be there,

I know what it feels like and I'm driven to get there again.

Let's see... If we did that and that...

-How about that?

-Not that.

I've got two chances at the moment,

if I don't get in, I will be extremely gutted.

-Gosh, that was lovely.

-Great fun, that's what I liked about it.

Yeah, and it really resonated, you know,

it says beaches of Normandy sort of thing.

OK, well, what about that then?

I can't ask for any more, to be honest.

I think I've done the best I possibly can to try

and get something to that banquet.

-What about this? How can we not have this?

-Hmm...

That, that, that and that.

Ladies and gentlemen, that is the banquet.

I've always wanted to have the opportunity

to say thank you to the veterans

and I just hope I've done enough to do that.

Those are our four dishes.

-Well done.

-Happy days, happy days.

Well, welcome, chefs, and thank you all for your patience.

This is it, the final hurdle.

We have looked at the shortlist for the four courses

and, after much deliberation, we think we have reached

what we believe is the ideal D-Day banquet menu.

And so, to the results.

The dishes shortlisted for the starter are...

..James' scallops...

..Emily's luncheon meat...

..and Adam's chicken.

So, cooking the starter at the banquet is...

..Adam. Congratulations.

APPLAUSE

How does it feel?

I can't believe that, thank you very much. Honestly, I'm so delighted.

-I'm delighted.

-Well, you've cooked really well all week.

Thank you.

-Good for you.

-Thank you.

Right, well, now for the fish course.

The dishes in contention are...

Emily's scallops.

..Tom's turbot...

..and Colin's langoustine.

So, cooking the fish course at St Paul's will be...

-..Emily.

-Wh...? Wow!

APPLAUSE

-COLLEAGUES:

-Well done.

Emily, you look astonished.

Well, obviously I'm absolutely delighted,

thank you very, very much for being given the honour to do that.

I'm totally flabbergasted.

Well, there are four possible contenders for the main course.

There's Chris' pork.

There's David's chicken.

There's Adam's venison.

And there's James' veal.

And cooking their main course for the D-Day veterans will be...

..James.

-APPLAUSE

-Thank you.

-COLLEAGUE:

-Well done, James.

James, I think your fellow chefs thought as highly

of your dish as we did, so wonderful solidarity there, how do you feel?

A little bit shocked, actually,

cos I think some of the competition this week's been so high.

Yeah, I'm over the moon.

So, and last but not least, is the dessert course.

On the shortlist are...

Colin's chocolate medal.

..Aktar's queen of puddings...

..and Chris' pineapple and coconut.

So the chef cooking for the veterans at the D-Day banquet will be...

..Colin. Congratulations.

-Phew!

-Let it all out, Colin!

-LAUGHTER

-What a week!

Absolutely delighted. I'm overwhelmed to be put through.

Thank you very much.

Well, it's awful that everyone can't win,

but, you know, as Scarlett said, you know, "Tomorrow's another day."

And we look forward very much

to eating the dishes that have been chosen

at the banquet.

So, congratulations - Adam, Emily, James, Colin.

It's going to be an incredible occasion and a real treat for all those war heroes.

I look forward to seeing you at St Paul's.

Thank you all very much.

-Champagne for everybody! ALL:

-Yes!

-Wahey!

-LAUGHTER

The commemorative D-Day banquet will start with Adam Simmonds'

complex chicken dish - Your Share...

To kick off the banquet for the veterans at St Paul's,

what a great honour.

..followed by Emily Watkins' Churchill tribute

Fight Them On The Beaches seafood and shellfish dish.

I'm so excited about calling my family and telling them I won it.

If my grandfathers could see me cooking a banquet

for their fellow war heroes, they'd be absolutely proud as punch.

Then James Durrant's nostalgic veal-sharing plateau Blitz Spirit,

inspired by his wife's grandad.

Main course, main event, I'm...

I'm ecstatic.

-ALL:

-Cheers!

And finally, Colin McGurran's exquisite dessert -

Homage To The Dickin Medal.

A lot of it's to do with family and it's such a relief.

Fantastic, happy days.

Cheers to you, well done.

-And to Tom.

-And to Tom.

The champagne may be flowing, but now the real work starts.

-ALL:

-Wahey!

Tomorrow, our World War II veterans gather for a spectacular banquet

hosted by Prime Minister David Cameron.

I'm so proud to be in the presence of so many D-Day veterans today.

But despite the pressure...

Let's go, go, go, guys, yeah?

Ow!

..the chefs are determined to do our heroes proud.

# Remember those who made it so

# On the shores of Normandy. #