DUCK QUACKS
BIRDSONG AND DUCK QUACKS
DRUMSTICKS TAP
MUSIC: Achy Breaky Heart
MUSIC CONTINUES
BIRDSONG
The best home bakers from across the country applied in their thousands.
Just 12 have made it...
Oh, blimey. Here we go.
Good luck, everyone!
..to our Bake Off bubble.
When you're telling people that you're going away,
absolutely nobody's guessed where I'm going.
I mean, what's wrong with my cakes?
I wasn't gonna apply for Bake Off
and my sister was like, "Just apply."
I was like, "Why did you tell me to apply? Because I got through."
When we look in the tent, it's the feeling you get
when you walk for the first time into the...the Sistine Chapel.
Every aspect of their baking skills will be tested...
On your marks. ..in 30...
Get set. ..brand-new challenges.
Bake! We're on the way. Good luck in there.
My German brain gets active when I make sweet stuff.
♪ More chocolate! ♪
I just enjoy feeding people because that's what Greek people do.
Everything they create will be judged by Prue Leith...
Don't wanna get emotional. That's so delicious!
..and Paul Hollywood. Don't look into his eyes.
I'm gonna stare him down. Don't stare Paul down.
No.
We begin with incredible cakes.
Oh, my God! That's going in my eye. Come on!
With a delicious childhood favourite...
Cos they're mini, you've got to get it really tight.
That's panicked me.
..one of the all-time tea-time classics...
It doesn't wanna come off. This is a joke!
It's very gooey. Ooh!
..and mind-bending showstoppers...
I feel sick. ..that defy the laws of gravity.
To me, to you. To you. The cake is on the move, people.
To me. To you. I'm so scared it's gonna fall.
Breathe in. Ah.
Worst thing that could happen is that I will be walking towards
the judges and I will trip over and go headfirst into my own cake.
SHATTERING Oh! Oh, my God!
Oh, no.
Once again, we've pitched our tent in the stunning
grounds of Down Hall, and our fresh bubble of bakers are about to
face three cake-based challenges,
after which one of them will be crowned Star Baker
and another will have to leave the competition.
Bakers, welcome to the tent. This is so exciting.
The winner of the 2021 Bake Off is actually in this tent.
Whoa. How about that?
By the same token, the first person to go home is also in this tent.
LAUGHTER It's none of you, don't worry.
It's Paul.
For your first Signature Challenge, the judges would like you to
bake 12 decorative mini rolls.
These need to be your take on mini rolls, so the type of sponge,
the flavours and the fillings is entirely up to you.
You have two hours.
On your marks... Get set...
Bake!
Here we go, it's lovely to start it, actually.
This is really happening, innit? It's still shocking.
It's still not settled in yet.
I think I just need to put myself back in my kitchen
and just get on with it.
I feel sick. Why did I apply for this? What is wrong with me?
The mini roll packs a punch in such a small little cake.
Think of the sponge, think of the filling
and think of the overall look.
They have to be very elegant, perfect swirl of filling inside.
And most of all they must be delicious.
If the bakers get their timing all wrong, there will be issues.
Cos as they put their filling into a warm sponge,
it will collapse, ooze out.
It's the first time the bakers have really got to impress us
and really show us what they can do.
Good morning. Good morning. Hello, Crystelle.
Hi. Hello. Hi, how are you doing?
I want to know about your mini rolls.
It's a chai-flavoured sponge, so I've got jaggery. So jaggery's
like an unrefined sugar and it's actually from Goa. So my grandma
gave me loads of jaggery from Goa, so I'm putting that in my sponge.
Crystelle is a client relationship manager
and lives in north London with her parents and sisters.
But she's not been able to see her nana Julie
and give her a hug for over a year.
Nana Julie's jaggery will sweeten her coconut and chai tea mini rolls,
flavoured with cloves, ginger, cinnamon and cardamom.
PAUL: That's strong, punchy flavours for a mini roll.
What is so lovely is the idea of coconut and chai. Yeah.
I've never had those two together.
Yeah. And I think that might be wonderful.
Well, thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. Good luck.
NOEL: Crystelle's not the only baker paying
tribute to their family heritage. I am from the Black Forest and, uh,
Black Forest gateau has always been a favourite.
Jurgen works in IT and with his wife Sophia
and son Benjamin loves to play his trombone to serenade
the Brighton waterfront...
..along with his pet rabbit Humphrey.
Great.
His classic Black Forest mini roll will have a chocolate genoise sponge
filled with kirsch cream and sour cherries.
Hello, there, Jurgen, how are you?
Hi, Matt, yes, I'm very well, thank you.
You're a musical man. Yes. I thought you might appreciate, uh, me
singing the theme to the Flintstones in German.
I would. Here we go. Yeah.
♪ Flintstones Begegnen Sie den Flintstones
♪ Sie sind eine moderne Steinalterfamilie
♪ Von der Stadt von Bedrock
♪ Sie sind ein Note gerade aus Geschichte
♪ Lassen Sie das uns mit der Familie hinunter die Strasse fahren
♪ Dank die Hoflichkeit von zwei Fusse Friedrich
♪ Wenn Sie mit den Flintstones
♪ Haben Sie ein Yabba-dabba-du-zeit
♪ Ein Dabba-du-zeit
♪ Wir werden ein frohliche alte Zeit haben!
♪ Du-du du-du-du! ♪
Wilhelmina! What do you think?
Great, I haven't heard that in ages.
I translated it myself. Hmm!
I can't quite remember the text.
Well... But...
I wouldn't call it a text.
So my theme is a Black Forest mini roll.
I'm a bit worried about Jurgen doing it
cos I think he said he has family from the Black Forest.
So I'm thinking he probably knows his stuff.
Tom and his family are from Maidstone, in Kent
and run a model railway business.
Got people waiting for the train.
He'll fill his Black Forest mini rolls with a cherry jam
before coating them in thick dark chocolate.
Hi, Tom. You seem like you're enjoying yourself.
Yeah, I mean, if I'm going to go home week one, I need to enjoy myself.
You are not going home week one.
You've got a good vibe and I think
your energy's gonna make it happen for you.
Awesome. Thank you very much. So I sound like a tarot reader.
You do. I didn't wanna say it.
You know when someone says you've got a good vibe that means
you're not very good at baking. Yeah!
Vibe's good, cakes taste like...
I am not copying Tom, I am doing my own Black Forest.
Wild-swimming enthusiast Amanda is a mum of two
and works as a detective for the Metropolitan Police.
Not too cold, but cold enough.
She's adding a coffee twist to a squad of cherry-topped mini rolls
that should set her apart from her Black Forest rivals.
I thought I'd make them standing up like little soldiers.
Yeah, like cherry soldiers I'm gonna call them.
And it's gonna stand up?
They did stand up at home. Good.
Unless the bakers create a sponge that's light and soft...
My sponge is a genoise and it's getting beautiful volume.
..their mini rolls won't roll.
I am making carrot cake mini rolls.
And Rochica is risking an unconventional batter.
I have spelt flour for my dad
because these rolls were inspired by him.
Rochica works in HR and loves to escape the home office to see
her nieces and nephews with her dad Colin.
Dad!
LAUGHTER
Cinnamon and vanilla cream will fill Colin's favourite spelt flour
carrot cake mini rolls.
He really enjoys my bakes with spelt flour in it.
He's quite health conscious.
Whilst Rochica is rolling with an unusual flour...
One, two, three.
..Maggie has decided not to use any at all...
19 and 20.
..choosing, instead, a tricky meringue-based batter.
This is a very dull time - 17, 18, 19, 20.
It's 20 seconds between every spoonful.
George, sing for me. I'm a terrible singer, Maggie.
I'm sorry.
Sports fanatic Maggie is a retired midwife from Poole in Dorset
and has been baking for over 60 years.
I was never, ever going to reach that.
I still think I'm 20.
She plans to top her light flourless chocolate orange mini rolls
with heavenly milk chocolate angels.
It's quite a difficult sponge to do, a flourless one.
Yeah. Because it's very mousse-y and it's sticky and it...
Yes, but it's very delicious when it's right.
It's very delicious when it's right.
Have you practised this, Prue? Um, Maggie.
Don't you start! Were you separated at birth?
LAUGHTER
I think, I think you're gonna do well.
We can sort him out, we can sort him out.
Whilst Prue, I mean Maggie, is going flourless...
This is aquafaba that I've just whisked up.
..Freya is going dairy-free.
I have tried about 15 swiss roll recipes.
Uh, cried at about 12.
19-year-old Freya is a psychology student from Scarborough.
She went vegan 18 months ago.
That is a very big circle.
Honestly, all I do is get insults around here.
Her lemon and raspberry mini rolls will be filled with a vegan
lemon meringue buttercream. Are you the youngest in here?
Yeah. I think I'm the youngest by... How old are you?
How old are you, 12? I'm... I'm 19.
You know there's a Junior Bake Off, right?
So Junior Bake Off said no, they put you into the main one,
which is a bit unfair. Yeah. But fingers crossed.
There's always the technical and the showstopper.
And those are generally easy, so... Yeah, they sound way better, eh?
Good luck. Here we go.
The sooner the mini roll sponges are baked,
the longer they'll have to cool.
We're on the way.
Please be good to me.
Nine minutes. Is the plan.
Ten minutes and counting.
If the bakers attempt to fill a warm sponge...
I'm starting to panic cos I can hear everyone putting
stuff in the oven and I've got nothing.
..their first-ever Signature Bake will end in collapse.
Oh, my God - my oven door was open.
Oh. BLEEP!
George works with carers and adults
with learning disabilities in north London.
He loves to recreate the Greek Cypriot bakes
he grew up with at home with his wife Oz,
his kids Nasis, Alarah and Elise and their dog Ely.
Who's gonna do the washing-up?
DOG WHIMPERS
His milk chocolate mini rolls will be filled with a hazelnut bavarois.
While the oven's warming up
I'll move onto something else cos I need to.
George isn't the only one running late.
Why are you at this stage and not further down the line?
Clearly, just a slow person.
There's a plan behind this pattern.
Yeah, so it is meant to be a giraffe and they're based on
going to Chester Zoo with my family.
You've got a dog, haven't you? Yeah.
What's your dog called? Prudence.
Prudence. Prudence.
Yeah, well, I've got photos of yous all on my mixer.
Paul, you've got a six-pack. I know!
LAUGHTER
Lizzie is from Liverpool and when she's not at home baking with
the judges, she builds luxury cars for a living.
Her giraffe print coffee sponge
will be rolled around a tahini caramel filling.
Me and you have got our wardrobes confused.
I mean, I think this could be an issue.
We can just share clothes. If I last more than one week.
I am a bit behind. Don't worry about that so much.
I feel like it's gonna look good cos you've got style.
Oh, have you seen my shoes?
Ears and tail. I do like those shoes.
Don't let anyone see how big my heels are, I'm like Prince.
I take these off, you will only see the top of my head.
I've gotta go apparently cos apparently you need
to get on with some baking. This is a baking show. Good luck.
See ya.
Bakers. You are halfway through.
Can't be halfway?
The competition - you slept through a couple of episodes.
LAUGHTER
Straight in the oven.
I think I'll be able to breathe once I've got that done.
Oh, that's my timer.
Here we go - right, let's check this guy out.
Can't see, mind you. Oh.
When baking thin and fragile sponges...
It's a bit spongey but I'd just like another couple of minutes.
..every second counts. No, one more minute.
Just a fraction too long in the oven...
It's coming out in about a minute.
..when rolled, they'll crack and fall apart.
Now I'm gonna turn this out.
Please be careful, I don't wanna burn any of you lot. So do you enjoy baking?
Well, I've only been baking 12 months. Right. So I'm a proper...
Oh, my goodness. ..lockdown baker.
Chigs is a telephone sales manager from Leicester.
And as well as baking, lockdown has seen him rock climbing,
playing guitar, decorating his house and cooking with his mum Joyti.
His marbled chocolate and vanilla sponge will be filled
with a strawberry Chantilly cream.
The first Bake Off that I was a judge for, the winner had only
been baking for six months. Oh, wow!
It's not necessarily a handicap. Exactly.
In the last series, the winner had only been baking for 13 or 14 years.
Oh, there you go, then!
I'm waiting on my sponges.
Helpless, aren't you? A sitting duck.
Whilst the wait continues for Lizzie and George
with sponges cooling,
the rest of the bakers still need to perfect their fillings.
How are you? Are you about to have a swig?
Has it got that bad already?
No, this is the syrup, that's the stuff you wanna swig.
That's the stuff. Yeah. Are you drunk yet? I am.
Are you? No, I'm not really.
Good on you. Course I'm not, you weren't sure then!
I was just thinking, "Lucky you."
LAUGHTER
And Giuseppe's filling is a taste of home.
I'm trying to translate Italian flavours into whatever I'm
putting together.
That's part of my heritage, that's...that's what I do best.
Giuseppe works as an engineer in Bristol and passes on his Italian
culinary heritage to his three sons, Alberto, Ricardo and Georgio.
No, no, no, don't pull it.
We still have to eat it. This is dinner, amore.
He's filling his almond and orange sponges with ricotta cheese
flavoured with a potent orange blossom water.
Hopefully balanced enough not to blow anybody's heads off.
But Jairzeno isn't holding back.
20 passion fruit to make some passion fruit caramel.
Originally from Trinidad, Jairzeno is a finance manager living
in south London with his partner Graham and their greyhound Maxie.
Shall we find some squirrels?
His passion fruit caramel buttercream will fill a lime
and chilli sponge.
How far do you think you can go in the competition?
Would I like to go all the way? Yes.
You would? Yes.
That's what I wanna hear. Yes. Don't you worry!
I'll take care of the rest. Oh, OK.
I'll take them out one by one, OK?
Who do you want to go first?
Freya? Well, that's harsh. I wasn't expecting that.
No, no comment.
LAUGHTER
Bakers, you have had half an hour.
No, no, no. They've got half an hour.
Oh, you've got half an hour left. That makes more sense.
Lovely, thank you very much.
Same difference, isn't it? No. Oh.
That's panicked me. So I'm, like, miles behind.
I hope that these cool in time.
As George and Lizzie finally begin cooling...
Come on, come on, come on. Ah!
For the rest of the bakers, it's the moment of truth.
It is the orange buttercream. I've hopefully cooled the sponges
enough so it won't melt.
The cherries go on the edge.
As a child, if in any of the cafes this filling was missing
I was a very unhappy child.
That's a strong smell, Jurgen.
What is that? Kirsch syrup. Wow.
BLOWS AIR THROUGH LIPS
Compose myself.
Right, come on, just do it.
Cos they're mini, you've got to get it really tight.
Paul and Prue have demanded a perfectly defined swirl.
I try to roll them like sushi.
We often make sushi at home.
But if the sponge is even a fraction overbaked...
Come on!
..it will split.
It can't crack, cos if it cracks
then you don't get your perfect swirl.
Not perfect, but whatever.
SHE SIGHS
I'm trying to keep it all in one piece.
Swirl is coming out nicely.
There's a swirl. Stay, stay, stay, stay.
Oh, there is a crack.
I'm gonna hide that. Quite a lot of cracking.
Which is why I'm covering them in something to make them
a bit more attractive. This is the fiddly bit cos I do not like
doing equal measurements on anything. We need a ruler.
Anyone got a ruler? This is the best tool of an engineer - a ruler.
They should be exactly eight centimetres each.
How long have we got?
Bakers, you've got 15 minutes until the end of this challenge. Ah!
We haven't got much time left.
It's a bit hotter than what I would like
but I ain't got time to mess around. There you go.
The sickness is setting in.
I feel like it's just hit me like a slap in the face.
Oy, yai, yai. Come on!
Roll. Oh.
How are you? All over the place at the moment. Are you?
When you have disasters at home, it doesn't really matter.
But here, it's just like pressure's on.
I'm gonna leave you cos that looks really tricky.
Good luck, George, use the Force. Yeah, I will.
The caramel's probably gonna be running out.
The coffee cream's gonna melt.
Oh!
You've come right at the right moment if you like chocolate.
I do like chocolate. Cos this is about to go all over those.
All right, here we go. This is what I call covering up the cracks.
They're not too bad.
Covering the cracks up with chocolate
so they won't know any different. I'm dipping one end.
I didn't want to coat it entirely cos I like to see the swirl.
Oh, man. They taste wicked.
But they look like...
Bakers, you have five minutes left.
Perfect.
Should get there in five.
My soldiers are falling over. Covering the cracks, round two.
What are you doing? Is this baking? Yes. Stop it.
Of course it's baking. Are you just making these hairy?
Please help me, someone.
More chocolate. A few minutes to go, people are flapping
but you're cool as a cucumber. What's cucumber in Italian?
Cetriolo. You're cool as a...
A cetriolo. ..cucumber.
Now, little angels. Ah!
This has lost its body.
My hands are too hot. Ah.
Oh, another broken angel. Oh, no.
Well, you might just have to have one angel.
There's caramel everywhere.
Stick some flowers on it and hopefully cover up all my sins.
These are very, very drunk.
So the photos are me and me family
when we go to the zoo every Christmas. I'm shaking, I'm shaking.
How many seconds?
Bakers, you have one minute left.
So this is my jaggery whipped cream.
This is me trying to be fancy.
Have some gooeyness.
Right, that will have to do.
Bakers, your time is up.
Ah! Can I walk out now?
Ah, it's dripping on everyone's faces.
Oh, my white chocolate ganache is dripping off my stool.
Ah!
That's cake carnage.
Oh, no, your floor, the coconut on the floor.
My mum is gonna kill me.
She was like, "Crystelle, please be neat."
Oh, God.
Our 12 new bakers
and their mini rolls are about to face Paul
and Prue for the very first time.
Hello, Maggie. Hello. Still smiling I see.
One has to.
I wanted them all to have a little angel on top,
but I'm afraid I must admit to having the shakes
and they kept losing their wings.
Well, one of them's got it.
The chocolate is a little bit rough and ready.
You've got a nice little swirl in there, actually.
I think your sponge is excellent. Thank you so much.
Texture of it's lovely. Great flavour.
You couldn't eat a lot of it, because it is so rich.
The cocoa content's quite high. Yes.
My husband would find this far too much chocolate.
He'd like a milk chocolate. Oh! Oh, for heaven's sake.
He likes adulterated chocolate.
This is pure... This is chocolate! ..dark.
Loving listening to you and Prue chat.
I've never felt more like a chimney sweep in all my life.
Lawks! Come on, let's go, Paul, let's go.
It's like a Dickens novel.
There's a sort of fold in there,
not a swirl.
The bitterness from the sugar is perfect.
And the passion fruit is absolutely delicious.
Is it so worth the calories.
That is wonderful.
They are a bit uneven.
I think they're a little bit drunk.
I don't think that's a swirl. No. It's a blob.
Cherry's not strong enough, cos it blended so much
with a little bit of coffee in there.
Nice lot of booze, though. I like the booze.
Not much of a mini roll. You know, it's not at all bad,
because you have got a bit of a swirl. Thank you.
The texture of the cake is lovely. Thank you very much.
But you're not getting enough of the cherry coming through.
They're pretty neat. I think they look rather attractive.
Oh! Let's see what they look like inside, shall we?
Don't want to look.
There's not much of a swirl in there, is there?
There's like an abstract swirl.
I think maybe the cream kind of hides the swirl.
I have to tell you it's delicious.
Oh! I think you've got a great blend of the spices,
but more so the cardamom and the coconut together
work beautifully well.
My only complaint is there's a touch too much jaggery.
OK. It's too sweet.
That's absolutely fine. I'll take that.
Too hot. Bad timing.
Rushing. Maybe a bit of panic, as well.
Hm.
It's pudding.
It's not cake. It's still warm.
And the whole thing's collapsed, because you put a massive amount of chocolate.
There's a famous saying in Cyprus which you will probably be
more than aware of - siga, siga. Yeah.
What does that mean? Slowly, slowly.
Yeah. Slowly, slowly.
You've got a fairly good swirl.
I think the flavours are lovely. It is a little stodgy.
Even with spelt in, you've managed to over-mix it.
Oh, OK. And so it's too rubbery.
There was a bit of a wind in the forest. The forest suffered a storm.
The Black Forest is not entirely healthy.
A nice bit of a swirl in there.
You haven't over-sweetened the filling,
so you get that sour cherry. You're from the Black Forest?
Yes.
Try some.
What do you think? I would buy it. Why?
The balance between cream, chocolate is right.
And you have enough sour cherry, and not sweet.
I agree. I agree entirely. Thank you.
Just needs to be neater. Just judge your own cake.
It's very, very good. Well done. Thank you very much. Well done.
I'm going to eat a bit.
Black Forest from the Black Forest.
Mmm.
I'm full of admiration for you,
because on the few occasions that I've tried to use aquafaba
instead of egg whites, it takes ages. Oh, yeah.
It is a bit of a faff, isn't it, really?
I mean...
Well, let's see if it is worth it, shall we?
I like the nice tart flavour of the raspberries.
And you've got a little hint of lemon in there, as well.
The cake is a little bit hefty.
That's got a lovely swirl in that one. Thank you.
I like the fact that the sponge is a little thicker because it
means it's risen more and the fresh strawberries are just delicious.
They're giraffe-patterned, giraffe-esque.
And, er, we could even go as far to say
the caramel drips are, you know, like the sea lion bit.
Water.
Not the best-looking mini rolls I've seen.
There was obviously a rush.
The cream and the caramel's run out because it's been warm
when you've done it. Then, your flavours are all wrong.
It's down to the timing.
And I bet you did better when you were practising.
Yeah, but tent pressure, isn't it?
Goodness, Giuseppe, that looks as neat as a pin.
Absolutely beautiful.
You've come up with something that's very elegant.
Cuts lovely.
Classic, lovely swirl inside there.
Perfect swirl. That is a perfect swirl.
Classic almond cake with orange.
Yeah. Ah, it's my favourite kind of cake. Oh, good.
It's delicate and it's so well balanced that it grows on you.
With every mouthful, it's getting better and better.
I think your flavours are beautiful.
The orange blossom comes through and it's very delicate,
but it's enough there to create a great flavour, because ricotta
carries a little bit of flavour, so that between the two,
it's perfect. It's a triumph. Well done.
Oh, good. Thank you, Giuseppe. Thank you.
WHISPERS: Well done. Amazing. They look fantastic.
Let me recap -
a triumph, neat as a pin. Perfect.
The only problem there is, there is only one way from here.
Paul made me eat my own cake and judge it.
Uh, crazy, crazy.
They said they looked terrible.
Everyone knew that, anyway.
The seepage was massive.
Each week, the bakers' second challenge will be a mystery
shrouded in gingham.
It's time for your first-ever technical challenge,
which has been set for you by the delightful Prue Leith.
Prue, any words of advice?
This is a really old-fashioned recipe.
And those of you who are under 35 may never have heard of it.
Don't panic, just read the recipe.
As ever, this technical challenge will be judged blind.
So we're going to have to ask these two poppets to leave the tent.
Bye-bye.
So, for your first-ever technical challenge, Prue would like you
to make that tea-time classic - the malt loaf.
Served with home-made butter on the side.
It should be rich and moist. Like Paul Hollywood.
You have two hours, which doesn't seem nearly enough, does it?
On your marks. Get set.
Bake!
Malt loaf is my absolute favourite. Love it.
Never made it, though.
Damn! I wish I'd made it.
In the technical challenge, the bakers are all given
identical ingredients and the same pared-down recipe.
Because Prue said under-35s won't know what it is,
but, of course, all the under-35s said, "Do you know what it is, Maggie?"
Of course. Yes, I do. I'm over 35 -
well over 35, so, in theory, I should know what this looks like.
In reality, I haven't got the faintest clue.
I've never had.... Er, what is it called?
Mal.. Malt loaf.
So it's our first technical challenge and you've set them
a malt loaf. It's sticky, rich.
Nobody doesn't like a malt loaf.
Where can they go wrong?
Because it's just a simple mix, it's a little bit easy to undermix
and so just take trouble to make sure that you haven't got any
lumps of flour left in there.
And under-bake it and it's likely to sink in the middle.
And overbaked, it's just too hard and dry.
That's perfect.
Nicely distributed fruit.
Beautiful dark colour.
We just need some butter on it. Have you got enough there, Prue?
No.
It's gorgeous, isn't it? It reminds me of my nan.
When I was a kid going round there,
given a little piece of malt loaf with butter on it.
Oh! Judging them is going to be hard, though.
I can't talk, I've got a mouth full of malt loaf.
PRUE MUMBLES
Feeling quite excited.
My wife asked me to make a tea loaf years ago,
and I never did.
So here I am.
"Tip the raisins and chopped prunes into a microwave-safe bowl."
I'm just cutting the prunes now. I hate prunes. Ugh.
If the bakers leave the fruit in large chunks...
I think if these are the same size as the raisins, it will probably
be quite good.
..it could sink to the bottom of their malt loaf.
There's a bit of guesswork here.
Just re-chopping them, cos clearly
they're not finely done enough.
Are these the sort of ingredients you would bake with in Italy?
Er, no. I love prunes, but on their own.
I've never put them in a cake.
Well, they, they keep you busy, you see.
It does, it does.
I don't think I've ever actually seen malt extract before.
Black treacle, 40g.
Another ingredient I've never used in my life.
Oh, it doesn't want to come off!
This is a joke.
Hey!
Malt loaf? Gross.
Don't like it? I just don't really like any of the smells.
I think when you present it to Paul,
just hold his mouth open
and drop in chunks. Like you're rearing a sort of small...
So you don't want me to... ..ostrich...
I don't like ostriches. ..that's fallen out of a nest.
You don't like ostriches? No. Or malt loaf?
An ostrich ran away with me on it. With you on it?
As a child. You got on an ostrich? Yes.
So, we were in a ostrich farm. Was there any? It had a bag on its head.
A bag? So it was clearly unhinged. This is a dream surely.
An unhinged ostrich. There's an ostrich with a bag on its head.
This ostrich went...waaagh!
Went crazy? Crazy.
Started to like run off. And the ostrich is running round
the pen with me on it screaming. Wow.
Horrendous. Traumatised.
This sounds like the best day ever.
Does it?
"Combine the remaining ingredients to form the cake batter."
If the bakers under-mix the batter...
Just going all in. Give it a good stir.
..lumps of inedible flour will be left after baking.
It's not overly mixed, but it's a nice gooey texture.
Fingers crossed it'll come out OK.
But over-mixing will create gluten,
leading to a tough, chewy loaf.
This doesn't look very promising now, does it?
How can this be baked into a cake?
Pff.
You can live off malt loaf, apparently. Can you really? Yes.
Don't look that up.
It's going in now.
Oh, that is a lot for this little cake tin, isn't it?
I might actually take a small amount out.
I hope I've made the right choice.
Wish me luck.
And they don't tell you how long to cook things for. Cheeky.
I ain't got an idea how long I've got to bake this for.
It's dark, so how would you know if it's overbaked?
I suspect that it's quite a long bake.
I'm putting it in for 45 minutes.
I was going to say 40 minutes, but that maybe is a bit... No,
I don't think that's bold.
An hour to start with and then check after an hour.
Well, let's see.
"Cut orange peel and ginger into matchsticks."
"Add the sugar and water to the pan, bring to a boil
"until the peel is translu...
"trans-ulent... tran-solent and s...and soft."
Kind of like see-throughy.
I've got a question to ask you. Go ahead.
Do people tell you that you look like someone?
Um... Well, who do you think I look like? Well, somebody...
I said a young Robert De Niro.
What?! I'll take that.
Someone else said a young Andy Garcia. OK.
Someone else said a young Peter Andre.
Nah, no way. Not that one. No? Not taking that? Not taking that one.
No offence, Peter, by the way, if you're watching.
He's not watching. He's in the gym.
Bakers, you have four minutes plus six minutes plus six minutes
plus four minutes plus four minutes
plus six minutes. Lovely. Clear as mud.
Oh, 30 minutes.
Still looks really wet in the middle, but I think that's the point.
I think that's cos it's supposed to take ages.
No. Needs loads of time, still.
It's very gooey.
I'll give it more time. Another 15.
And I want to get the butter going.
Instructions just says to make the butter.
Because we make butter all the time, don't we?
I'm weighing out my double cream,
so I'm going to chuck that into a stand mixer,
whisk it up and, if you over-whisk it,
it'll then eventually form butter.
Right, beat.
Oh, my God, that's going in my eye!
I've just got to, like, squeeze it.
Quite therapeutic, actually.
I'm just hoping, when I open this muslin, that it resembles butter.
It looks like it.
It smells like it.
That's butter. "Chill." Sounds good.
Bakers, you've got ten minutes left. Ow, my ears, you've burst them.
SORRY! That's better.
See if it's ready.
I might just give it a few more minutes.
This is nerve-racking, isn't it?
SHE SIGHS I dunno. Painful.
TIMER BLEEPS Right.
Looking all right?
Probably five more minutes.
SHE SIGHS
No, I'll maybe leave it a little bit more.
Will I? Unsure.
Still got a real bad wobble.
I reckon that's done.
OK that's it. It's coming out.
The cake is on the move, people.
It looks fine.
Scrumptious!
So I think it's just right.
Either it's done or it'll have to do.
Agh!
This is this really dense cake.
Come out totally clear.
Not totally clear.
Mine looks a bit doughy, innit?
Bakers, you have one minute left.
My God.
Just letting it glaze up.
Can't have a dry bottom. Oh, hot, hot, hot, hot, hot.
I've got to somehow get attractive orange on top.
Just need to put the butter on.
What a shebang. Honestly.
This is a nightmare.
It's really quite pretty.
Bakers, your time is up.
If malt loaf is supposed to have a split in it, then it's perfect.
I hope it's not raw in the middle.
Well, you know, I just don't know.
Who knows? And who knows? Who knows? They could cut into it
and say that's overbaked. It looks fantastic.
I hope it's worked out, this time.
Please bring your malt loafs down to the gingham table
and place them behind your photograph.
Off you go. I don't want to crash into anybody.
I'm coming.
Where's my ugly mug?
Oh, I'm first. What a nightmare.
Oh, your peel looks really nice.
Look at mine, mine's still wet.
I need the toilet.
Prue and Paul are expecting deliciously rich
and moist malt loafs, served with freshly made salted butter -
and they'll have no idea whose is whose.
Right, let's start.
The crystallisation on this looks pretty good.
They're nice and even, aren't they?
Distribution's good. Yeah, no, that looks lovely.
Yeah, feels good.
The butter's nice. There you go. Yeah.
That's so delicious.
It's sticky and it's got that characteristic chew.
Hmm. And it's well balanced with the fruit, as well.
Now, this one looks very small.
Let's have a look inside.
It's probably going to be a bit tough, I think.
The fruit distribution is there.
It's just a bit bread-like. Hmm.
This one has beautiful topping on it. Yeah.
It's not very evenly distributed, is it? No, it's not.
It's in lumps.
There's almost too much fruit and not too much of the malt loaf.
I quite like this. I do, too.
That's got a nice distribution inside.
Hmm, this butter's not too salty.
It's got a little bit of a chew to that one.
That's lovely.
Moving on to number five.
It's got a good height. It's not too domed.
That's got a good texture,
got that little bit of tension in it, as well, which I like.
Moving on. Quite a strong colour on there.
Lots of fruit. Yeah.
That's very short.
I think that's probably been slightly over baked.
It's quite a pale colour.
But I think it's properly cooked.
There's a bit of flour not quite distributed evenly. Hmm.
Got a nice chewy edge to it.
It's sort of there, it nearly is.
This has got a lot of candy peel on the top. I like that.
I like that look. I like that, too.
Hmm, nice colour.
Nice bit of tension in that one.
That's excellent.
It's got lots of fruit, it's got a malty taste,
it's got a lovely tension. Very good.
Nice colour all the way round.
The flavour's good.
But on the second bite, it feels quite bready again.
OK.
This looks a bit small.
And it's a little doughy there.
That's raw. You can tell by the colour how light it is.
Hmm. I think it's slightly underdone.
Definitely.
Quite pale, but decent.
I like that look.
Good blend of fruit.
Probably needed longer in the oven,
because it's sticking to every bit of my mouth.
We'll have to take your teeth out and clean them later.
God, she slapped him...
OK. It's quite a strong colour, which I like.
Lots of little flour pockets.
Whoever did this, you need to mix it more evenly.
Prue and Paul will now rank the malt loafs from the worst to the best.
In 12th spot, we have...
..this one.
Amanda, there's loads and loads of flour pockets in there.
In 11th place, we have this one.
Chigs, it was under baked and squishy.
In tenth spot, we have this one.
Not sure, Giuseppe, what happened with the fruit distribution,
but they're all in clumps.
Jairzeno is ninth, Crystelle eighth,
seventh Rochica, Jurgen is sixth,
Tom is fifth, Lizzie is fourth,
and George is third.
In second, we have...
..this one.
Me.
Freya, that's a nice loaf.
Ah, thank you. And the only reason why you're not in first
is because number one was better.
And that means that this is number one.
Yay! Woo!
Well done, Maggie.
It's a beautiful loaf.
I won't say you're anything like as old as me,
but you're getting a little bit older than some of these,
and you can make the perfect malt loaf. Well done.
Thank you very much.
When they went down the numbers,
I kept thinking, they've just missed me out.
And then it went down and down, and then there I was!
You know what I'm going to do now...
So, yes, I'm terribly... I'm terribly pleased.
Really pleased.
I thought it was quite ironic that she was saying that
this is like a challenge for old people, and I was the youngest,
so that was quite exciting.
Not great. I don't think that one went that well.
I'm gonna throw all the flour out of my house when I get home.
I'm never gonna bake with flour again.
Just one challenge remains before we crown this year's
first Star Baker and reveal who will have to leave the tent.
Well, kids, another day, another bubble.
Here we are.
We're back in the bubble.
I do think we've settled in pretty easy.
Overall, I've been really impressed with the bakers.
The only person that's in a little bit of trouble would be Amanda.
She has to have a good day today. Yeah.
Tom didn't have a good Signature.
George likewise, a terrible Signature.
I think, up at the top, Giuseppe has to be with that Signature
cos it was so good. Jurgen's done really well.
And actually I think Maggie... Sorry, Prue. Maggie.
Maggie slash Prue. Yeah.
Is this going to be a running joke for ten weeks? Yes, yes, yes.
Absolutely. Sorry Maggie. Prue.
I'm beginning to hope Maggie goes out just to get rid of this joke.
Good luck, everybody.
Good morning, bakers.
Welcome back to the tent.
Are you excited for your first-ever Showstopper?
ALL: Yes.
I can't hear you are you excited for your first-ever Showstopper?
ALL: Yes.
No, I can't hear you, I've got a inner ear infection.
It's actually quite painful.
Now, today, Prue and Paul would love you to make an awe-inspiring
anti-gravity illusion cake.
Your vertically sculpted cakes
must appear to defy gravity
and should be decorated in a way
that represents a precious memory.
You've got four hours to defy gravity.
On your marks. Get set.
Bake.
I've got something to prove after the Signature yesterday.
And I really want this to go well.
I'm rocking and rolling. There's no room for error today.
The whole point of an anti-gravity cake is a top-heavy cake
that looks like it's falling or cascading
so they've really got to think of the framework
to build the anti-gravity cake on to.
We want to look at these cakes and think, "How did they do that?"
"How can that still be standing"
But as always, it has to be a delicious cake.
And it mustn't be style over substance
so, as usual, it's difficult.
Morning, Chigs. Morning. Hello. How are you all?
Right, good. Tell us all about your anti-gravity cake.
My anti-gravity cake is called Where It All Began.
As you probably already know,
I've only been baking for a short period of time. Check him out.
And he's on Bake Off already.
That just goes to show it's not that difficult, kids. No.
Not that difficult. Well, we'll see.
We'll see, yeah we'll see.
Chigs is attempting a baking scene
where a gravity-defying jug will pour chocolate into a bowl
made from delicate chocolate sponge with peanut butter
and chocolate buttercream.
The jug is actually cake as well, isn't it?
It's got cake in it.
And how is it all going to be, elevated?
Um...
With magic.
Also relying on a sprinkling of magic is Giuseppe.
My anti-gravity cake is going to be Jack and Beanstalk
cos it's a story that I read to the kids at night.
A fondant beanstalk will hold his cloud-shaped chocolate cake aloft
in a spectacular fairy tale scene dedicated to his three young boys.
They don't know I'm here just yet and I was practising
this last week. Oh, really?
Yeah, and my eldest went, "Papa, this cake is really good you know."
It would look good even on Bake Off and I'm like,
"Yeah, hold on to that thought." Oh, I love it.
Oh, my God, that's amazing. Yeah. When are you going to tell 'em?
Well, I'd like... I'd like... Not at all? No, not at all.
And then just go, "Hey, shall we watch this?"
Yeah, "Look, look what's on TV."
Oh, I want to be there when that happens. Well, I...
That's the best thing ever.
Giuseppe's not the only baker
inspired by a little bedtime reading.
I'm making a lamp and a book.
The first book I read in English from cover to cover.
What book? Thomas More's Utopia.
Light reading.
Orange chiffon sponge, a honey buttercream with rose
and a pistachio praline will form his weighty tome
and his precisely engineered childhood bedside lamp.
I'm using spanners, yes.
They have been through the dishwasher.
I'm a bit of a DIY person.
Avoiding collapse won't be easy.
It is a very difficult one cos you want a stable cake
but you want a tasty cake.
A delicate sponge could fall apart as it tries to defy
the pull of gravity.
Hopefully the cake will be like clouds.
But any denser and it won't be pleasant to eat.
It's quite a thick batter so there is some density to it.
Forgotten how many eggs I put in.
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.
No. One, two....
I keep losing count.
If he can get his measurements right,
George's sponges will become a backgammon board
and suspended coffee cup in mid-flow.
When I'm on holiday in Cyprus,
when you walk through the villages,
you see little Greek old men playing backgammon.
How are you going to hold up the coffee pot?
Well, I've built a little platform
where the coffee pot will sit and then the coffee
will pour down the threaded rod. Yeah. I just hope it stands.
Fingers crossed. So, do we. So, do we.
Rather than sunny Cyprus,
Maggie is off on a staycation.
I come from a beachy area and I'm making an ice cream cornet.
Oh, lovely. When you go to the beach,
what ice cream do you like best?
A mint choc chip. Are you doing mint choc chip?
Oh, no. Oh, no. No? No, no, no, no.
Why would you eat toothpaste in an ice cream?
Oh, controversial!
Maggie will recreate her favourite raspberry ripple ice cream,
complete with a suspended bag of sprinkles
which she hopes will impress Paul and Prue.
You've missed my ears.
Hello, Prue, how you doing? You all right?
How are things going today, Prue? Are you all right?
Is it weird being here?
Thank you, Maggie.
That wasn't my idea. Or yours I dare say.
No, I know, he's so naughty.
Shoo.
You're just trying to make me squash my raspberries.
Good luck in there.
Unless they get their cakes baked as soon as possible...
Please be good to me.
..the bakers won't have enough time to pull off their
gravity-defying constructions.
And the more sponges they need to stack and carve...
Loads of cake. Loads of cake.
..the more complicated the engineering becomes.
The lamp part, I've put white fondant there
and then I'll put this on top,
and then I'll build the cake up.
So it's going to be six layers of cake,
all stacked on top of each other
and then sort of V-shaped bouquet of flowers with all the stems.
It's a bit of a monster.
On top of moulded puffed rice and marshmallow,
Crystelle will stack cinnamon sponges with Italian meringue,
buttercream and roasted pecans.
All decorated to look like a bouquet of flowers.
So I'm dedicating it to my auntie.
She actually used to do a lot of flower arranging back in the day.
And also she used to bake a lot.
So I thought, if I go out in week one,
I want to dedicate at least one bake to her.
So it's not an anti-gravity cake it's auntie gravity cake.
Oh, nice one. Clever. See you later, guys.
Flowers are, like, my favourite thing. My mum loves flowers as well.
So it's kind of just, like, the perfect theme really.
Freya's all-vegan floral scene
will feature chocolate sponges
filled with a kirsch cream
and cherry jam
all decorated with dozens of hand-piped buttercream flowers.
Honestly, when I first made this chocolate cake,
I thought it was the best chocolate cake that I'd had.
I don't think that you'd know it was vegan.
But I'd eat cake off the floor so...
I feel I'm probably not the best judge of that, really.
Bakers, you are halfway through your anti-gravity challenge.
Ooh.
Let's get this baby out.
Yeah, they're done. That's beautiful.
All they have to do is cool down.
Hot, hot, hot, hot, hot.
With the last of their sponges out of the oven...
Oh, that'll do. That'll do. I'm happy with that.
..the bakers need to use every minute to perfect
their decorative elements.
I just want to let my cakes chill for as long as possible,
which is why I'm just doing all my decoration now.
So, this is my sweetie bag.
Let's see if we can a dolphin.
My cake is going to look like a wave hitting a rock
and I'm going to have a couple of little dolphins coming out of it.
Inspired by a trip to Florida,
Amanda's dolphins will emerge from a towering wave
of lemon and elderflower sponge.
You need a good day today, don't you?
I do need a good day today, yes. Have you practised it?
I've made about four of these.
Course she has. And they didn't collapse?
Um, one of them did collapse.
The next two were perfect.
Never say that the practice went weird to these two.
The first one collapsed. The others didn't collapse.
I'm just going to start building.
To defy gravity, most of the bakers will have to carefully layer
delicate sponge and filling
onto precarious, custom-made structures.
This is all exciting now.
I feel sick.
But Jairzeno plans to take an even bigger risk.
I'm going to cut the sponge and roll it up like a cylinder.
He'll attempt to stack guava, lime and chilli Swiss rolls
with a suspended paint can
pouring technicolour shards of chocolate
to celebrate his passion for colourful bakes.
It should be steady enough yes.
And the buttercream will have, will kind of reinforce it - like cement.
It won't taste like cement.
With every additional layer of sponge and filling...
I have to thread the screws all the way down.
..the Showstoppers get heavier...
Oh. I just want to get as much flavour in here as possible.
..and defying gravity gets harder and harder.
But Jairzeno has yet to leave the ground.
I am struggling now.
I think the buttercream is a bit too soft.
Right, this isn't quite...
Oops.
No, no, no, no, no.
Oh. BLEEP.
Bakers, you have one hour left for your anti-gravity illusion cake.
Jairzeno's showstopper doesn't look like it'll defy gravity
any time soon.
Right.
I'll put the thing in the fridge to chill cos I'm trying to get
the main cake to stand up.
And he's not the only one struggling.
Oh, OK it's completely split down the middle.
And the bottom layer has broken.
Rochica will have to repair a giant apple made from a caramel
and spiced apple sponge to be able to hang it from a puffed rice
and marshmallow tree, inspired by her uncle's garden.
It's really fragile so I'm gonna ice it
and then just get it in the freezer.
Oh, I'm so stressed out. It's all right.
Just, you know... Breathe. You'll be fine.
My dad told me to...breathe in. Ahh!
Actually I feel a bit better, breathing in and out.
Did it feel better? Yeah.
Your dad knows. He's got some skills. My parents are so wisdomous.
Wisdomous!
Is that a word? That's a new word. Wisdomous.
Lizzie has also had the benefit of some fatherly wisdom.
What are you using to build it?
Me Dad's gone a bit crazy with the superglue and a chopping board.
Her dad, Andy, had built the base for a cake jug that will pour
cream into a peach and vanilla bowl-shaped cake
in honour of their Nana's tinned peaches and cream puddings.
And have you practised it with this armature? Yeah.
And it worked?
It was horrific! THEY LAUGH
So, you can tell it's, like, leaning.
You've really thrown your own dad under the bus here.
Well, I've got to throw someone under -
as long as it's not me, isn't it?
This is the jug.
Most of the bakers still have to complete smaller, even more
fragile cakes to suspend.
The lamp is nearing completion.
Stressful, man.
This is gonna be a coffee pot that will sit here.
It's a hazardous process...
It's like a jug pouring cake batter into a big bowl,
with splashes coming out of it.
..that Tom has chosen to avoid.
So, I'm actually just using dowels for my cakes.
You know we want an anti-gravity cake? Yes.
Do you think it qualifies? I'm hoping it's enough.
It does lean quite significantly.
Tom plans to use lemon and almond sponges to construct
a teetering triple-tiered concert hall, to celebrate his love
of classical music, complete with cannon for the 1812 Overture.
We must look at it and think, "My goodness! How does that stand up?
OK, OK.
I'll see what I can do. I mean it's a bit late in the day, innit, now.
That's the problem with that, isn't it? I've designed it!
Good luck, Tom.
Bakers, you have half an hour left.
Oh, my god.
I don't think I'll be able to decorate it.
There won't be a paint pot at the top with the colours falling out.
no.
Because it's not even standing up.
Whilst Jairzeno has been forced to abandon his plans...
That's perfect.
..the rest of the bakers face the nerve-wracking task
of seeing theirs through.
Oh, this is a bit stressful, isn't it?
God, it is so silent in here.
I do like painting.
I'm not sure I like it so much at the moment.
I'm horrendous at doing any finishes.
Paul's gonna love you.
Don't look into his eyes, right?
I'm going to stare him down.
Don't stare Paul down!
You will not win that battle.
If it falls, then it can be a fallen apple.
So now I'm going to put...
..that there.
Stay there.
Slipping a bit.
This looks as though I'm doing nothing,
but I'm waiting for the white chocolate to set and I can't move.
Oh, hell.
Mine is wobbling so bad.
I think this has taken, like, a year off my life.
So, this is just having something to present.
Hopefully it'll stand up.
I'm so scared it's gonna fall.
Ah. Ooh! Ha-ha!
I think I'm done, you know.
In the show? Yeah.
My God, I can't breathe.
Ooh.
How much time do we have left?
One minute left.
Come on, man.
Chigs, do you think you can help me move it up onto there?
The book needs pages.
I don't know if it'll fall off, to be honest. Don't say that.
Dearie me.
Wonder if I can spell "Sorry" in cannonballs?
Eh!
Are we on?
Let's put it flat and then slide.
Slide. Oh, what a breeze.
I usually quite like improvising. Not so much today!
Bakers, your time is up!
Step away from your bakes.
Gladly!
Well done, Jurgen. Well done, my friend. Thank you.
George, how you feeling?
I completely rushed it.
Oh, have you seen some of mine? Gorgeous.
Giuseppe, it looks a ten out of ten.
Giuseppe, you've got some skill, dude man. Thank you.
It's judgement time for the anti-gravity illusion cakes.
Chigs, would you like to bring your cake up here?
Matt, could you help me, please?
Yeah, I'll give you a hand. CHIGS LAUGHS
Right, you ready? Yeah.
To me. To you.
Just cupping the cup.
There you go. It's going to break.
It's going to break.
Right, I'm going to step back now.
GROANING
Well, it was anti-gravity before but I don't know what it is now!
When I say anti-gravity...
Well, it's not much any more.
But I like the bowl.
It's got a bit of movement in it, which I quite like.
So it's chocolate fudge? Yes.
PRUE: The layers are good.
It's got a chocolate and peanut butter buttercream
around it as well.
PRUE: I think it's delicious. Yes. I also like the texture.
Beautifully moist.
The sponge is delicious,
and so is the peanut butter buttercream as well.
You're a very good baker.
Maybe your engineering skills need honing a little.
PRUE: It could be neater.
I agree. I'm sure you can paint better than that.
I can certainly paint better than that, absolutely.
PAUL: Let's have a look.
I think you've got some nice flavours.
But you need to concentrate more on the finesse.
Yeah.
I feel it looks more like a plant pot than an ice cream.
It's gone from a cornet to a tub.
Your Victoria sandwich is delicious.
Thank you. But there is not much flavour in there.
I was expecting something very different to this.
Yeah, I was expecting something very different to that.
It's quite mortifying, actually.
I think the sponge is perfect.
I love the flavour.
It tastes like guava. I love it.
All the elements to it are there, but there's nothing else.
PRUE: Love the little dolphins, and I think it's beautifully done.
You've certainly got the gravity-defying bit.
I'm not totally convinced it does
because that's just the Rice Krispie bit, isn't it? Yeah.
But I love the colour of it and the concept of it.
This is lemon drizzle?
Yeah, lemon and elderflower.
I think your sponges are slightly overbaked.
They're a little bit too dry.
Did you use an extract with that one?
I used elderflower liqueur. There's quite a lot in there.
I think there's a touch too much. It's quite...
It burns, doesn't it? ..powerful. Yeah.
Thank you very much. Thank you.
WHISPERS: Well done. Thank you. It stayed up. It stayed up.
Lizzie, would you like to bring up your Showstopper, please?
GASPS
Oh, no!
Whoops. Oh, my God.
God! Sorry!
NOEL: Paul's slowly sabotaged you.
It's a bit simplistic.
But it does defy gravity.
But the side of it is a real mess, isn't it?
It may taste fantastic yet.
Best hope so.
I could happily eat a bowl of that.
Cool.
I think your flavour's nice - just neaten up your work a little
bit more.
I think those flowers look incredible.
Thank you. You've spent some time on that.
It's chocolate sponge, kirsch buttercream
and then a little bit of cherry jam as well.
Hm. I think that's lovely. Ah, awesome.
It's very boozy. PAUL: I think it's delicious.
I think you have got a nice chocolaty flavour there.
Nice kick from the alcohol as well.
You've got some beautiful textures running through there.
And it's vegan. Yeah. I think you've done a great job.
Oh, thank you so much. A really, really good job.
I really appreciate it.
PAUL: It's very elegant.
Think the pipework is beautifully done. I think between you
and Freya you've done an amazing job with these flowers.
PRUE: And you've certainly hit the gravity-defying, because you cannot
believe that such a heavy cake is not going to fall over.
And just remind us about what the cake is.
It's a cinnamon sponge with a vanilla Italian meringue
buttercream and roasted pecans.
Hm. Looks good.
PAUL CHUCKLES
I got exactly that, exactly as you said it. Oh!
It's absolutely beautifully flavoured. Lovely.
The cinnamon hit is very powerful, but it works
because you've balanced that out with the vanilla as well.
And then the nuts just leave that little bit of texture as well.
So I think you've created something that is actually quite remarkable.
I absolutely agree. Thank you so much. That was amazing. Well done.
Well done. It really is lovely.
He doesn't say remarkable very often,
unless he's talking about himself. LAUGHTER
Aw, well done.
Well done.
You've definitely got the excitement in there.
You probably could've done with a little bit more detail.
Look at that - apple and caramel, how lovely.
Oh, your flavours are lovely.
Thank you. The anti-gravity is certainly there.
It needs to be a little bit more honed. Yeah.
I have to say,
I'm a bit disappointed about the gravity-defying bit.
It was a bit of a disaster to be honest.
It's a, uh, lemon and almond cake.
It's rather more almond than lemon. Yeah.
And although there is a little bit of a lean, there's no way
that's defying gravity.
Fair enough.
It's simply beautiful.
And it's certainly gravity-defying, especially as you've got the cloud
off-centre, so that really makes you feel this should fall over.
PAUL: It's a great kid's cake, that.
Let's have a look, shall we?
The inside of the cake is XXX-inspired sponge
with a raspberry jam and cream cheese buttercream.
The sponge is a little dry.
OK.
Good flavour, though - really good.
Flavour's superb.
Because of the size of the cake, I would've put two layers in there.
Right. OK. It's true. If you'd had three layers of the sponge
and a bit more filling, you wouldn't have noticed the dryness so much.
It's a pity, because you've absolutely nailed the illusion bit.
I think it's so elegant, don't you? Yeah.
It's so clean and simple but beautifully done.
Is there cake in this? Yes.
There is? So this has got a rod support, and then you've... Yes.
With the plinth, and you've put the cake onto that.
Uh, yes, and I've got two more supporting discs inside.
It's well-engineered.
The cake is an orange chiffon sponge with honey buttercream with
a hint of rose and pistachio praline.
I'm glad you said hint, because rose can be so strong. Yes.
You've got the rose absolutely right.
You can hardly taste it but it's there. Yeah.
It's beautiful because the chiffon's quite a light sponge, then you've
got texture coming from the nuts, which gives you a beautiful flavour.
And then the background, you've got this rose sort of floating
through, so technically the way you've baked it is perfect.
You could become the flavour king.
Very, very good. Thank you very much.
Well done. Well done, yeah, so good.
Smashed it. Smashed it.
Phew.
Still sinking in.
I can't believe it.
I'm a very happy Jurgen indeed.
I really thought my cake was raw.
And they cut it and I was like "Oh, my God, it's raw."
And it wasn't!
Oh, blimey. I think it's the worst bake I've ever done.
That's pretty bad.
To be honest, I expect to go home
because it doesn't even have an anti-gravity element.
I just think week one's nerves have just got the better of me.
I hope I don't go, but I think I might be, you know, going home.
I absolutely want to stay - of course I want to stay.
What a great bunch of people.
I've never been able to sit and talk to
someone in detail about a cake and not bore the pants off them!
Prue and Paul have made their decision.
I don't want to get emotional.
No, come on.
Well done, bakers.
Luckily, I've got the amazing job of announcing the first Star Baker.
And the Star Baker this week...
..is...
..Jurgen.
Well, I have a job that no-one wants, and it's a real shame because
we've only just met and we're already losing one of the gang.
I'm sorry to say that the first person to be leaving us is...
..Tom.
Absolutely, that's fair enough.
Did not go to plan at all!
Oh, dear.
Hey. Thank you very much.
I always have been harder on myself than I really should be,
but I definitely am proud of myself, and I never say that.
So that must mean quite a bit.
But I'm mostly going to miss spending time with all the lovely
other bakers, to be honest.
They're really talented and absolutely lovely people,
so I'm so going to miss hanging out with them every day.
You see, you can do it, can't you? Thank you. Thank you so much.
I was absolutely thinking I was going to go first.
But I'm really sad for Tom. He's such a gentleman.
I love him, he's so...such a nice man.
George, lift it up a bit.
I'm in shock.
I'm just so pleased that the judges have seen something in my baking
and I'm here for another week.
Well done, Jurgen. Well done, Jurgen.
Fantastic. Thank you, thank you very much. So good.
Thank you. Really, really good. Thank you.
It is incredible.
It is incredible. Uh, before, I thought, "Star Baker, hm,
"doesn't matter too much," but I feel so... Woo!
Well done! I'm so excited, yes.
LINE RINGS
Nobody at home.
Next time...
Good luck, my little pretties.
..it's biscuit week.
I'm sure talking to them helps.
With a delicate signature... Oh!
..that could see the bakers snap.
This is killing me.
A deliciously nostalgic Technical...
Who makes biscuits that you can buy in the shop?
Why?! Get a tub for 11p, can't you?
..and show-stopping... Oh, no.
..interactive...
ALL: Oh! ..all-biscuit toys.
If it collapses, it collapses.
Ah!
Please don't fall.
Oh! Oh.
Oh, no!
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