So that’s it for another week! Next week it’s alternative ingredients week, so join me then and we’ll do a gluten-free version of the liveblog. In the meantime come and say hello on Twitter @heidistephens, and we’ll commiserate over Sandy and talk all things cake. Thank you for joining in, was lovely as ever. See you next Wednesday! Hx
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Star Baker this week is...IAN! For the third week running! And going home this week is...SANDY. Nooooooo! Not Random Sandy! We loved her, right down to her sparkly shoes. We never even got to see her make a meat pie out of a cake.
So who’s it going to be? I’m punting for Ian as Star Baker again (or maybe Tamal?), and Alvin for the chop.
Ian’s looks amazing, and has exceptional flavour. Paul’s is overbaked and a bit dry, and his blackberries are bleeding. Flora’s is a bit dark on the outside, and her base is a bit thick, and it’s overbaked. Alvin’s has collapsed, and his base is bird seed. Tamal’s looks incredible, and his flavours are spot on. I want me some of that. Ugne’s looks like a tractor tyre, but her cheesecake is delicious. One layer is a bit over-sweet, however. Sandy’s third tier hasn’t made it onto the stack, and her base is raw. Nadiya’s is a work of modern art, and the cream soda flavour is great, although a bit overbaked. Mat’s cheesecakes all have lovely flavours, and great texture too.
Well these all look rather fabulous, apart from Sandy’s which is having issues. What will the judges make of them?
Sandy’s cheesecake is looking a bit like scrambled egg around the edges, Mat’s looks pretty smart though. Tamal is helping Sandy with her stacking, because he is lovely. Nadiya appears to be constructing some kind of Blue Peter craft project out of drinking straws and a pop can. No idea.
One hour left for the bakers to deliver their three-tiered showstopper cheesecakes. Sandy is demonstrating her optimum wobble again. The cakes can’t be stacked until they’re cold, but there’s no time to leave them to cool at room temperature. And this is why no-bake cheesecakes are the best thing ever.
Paul is painting leaves with chocolate. Nadiya is making Italian meringue. Tamal is doing fancy sugarwork. Meanwhile Flora is making macarons to fancy up her elderflower cheesecake.
Mat is putting honeycomb in one of his cheesecakes, coconut in another and peanut butter in the third. So Crunchie, Bounty and Snickers, then. Works for me.
Sandy is making three different cheesecake with different fillings and bases. There’s whisky in there somewhere. Flora is making elderflower cheesecake, and all three of hers are the same flavour. She’s the only one not pushing the boat out and going for different layers. She’s a bit worried, and is trying to thing of ways to make it more impressive. Cocktail umbrellas?
Paul is making a berry cheesecake tower, which includes some blackberry liqueur. Mary’s eyes have lit up. Ugne’s will include lime, coconut and hazelnut, with lots of fancy frosting.
Ian’s cheesecakes are flavoured with apple, rosemary and tarragon. What fresh hell is this?
Tamal’s have hazelnut and mango, which sounds a bit more like it. Alvin’s include lemon meringue, blueberry and mixed berry. Nadiya is making a fizzy pop cheesecake with cream soda, ginger beer and lemonade, made from reduced soft drinks. It all sounds quite complicated, I fear a meltdown.
Biscuit bases are being made, involving combining actual ingredients rather than whizzing up some gingernuts and butter in the Magimix. I like my way better.
Showstopper time! This week it’s a three-tier baked cheesecake, and they have 4.5 hours. I LOVE cheesecake. One of my favourite puddings.
“I produced what they wanted, just the ugly version”, says Nadiya. I love her.
A couple of years ago I made a Bake Off-inspired Strudel to impress the boyfriend’s Austrian mother (she declared that it was “almost a bit like the real thing”, praise indeed). I will not be making a Spanische Windtorte, what a palava. Or pavlova, sort of.
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Alvin comes bottom, and Flora’s takes third. Ugne gets second, and Paul is this week’s technical challenge winner! Not just a one-trick lion, then.
Sandy’s tastes good and has lovely ‘lairs’, but her violets are clumsy. Ian’s violets look like owl eyes. Paul’s tastes great, and Ugne’s has good height. Alvin’s has been in the oven too long, so his meringues taste the same. Flora’s looks very neat, and her ring has good height. Bit chewy, though. Tamal’s looks very elegant, but only has one style of piping. Nadiya’s is a bit of a mess. Ian’s meringue is a bit rough, but his swiss meringue tastes good.
Tamal is applying violets with a shaky hand, but generally these all look pretty fabulous. Even Sandy’s wonky lid.
Piping time! Alvin’s meringue box looks brilliant, but Sandy has squashed her lid with the oven shelf. Some of the piping is pretty impressive, but Ian seems to have overbeaten his cream. Isn’t that the easy bit?
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The whole lot goes back in the oven, and then it’s time to make Swiss meringue for the decoration. This meringue has to be whisked over a bowl of hot water to give it a marshmallowy middle. What a faff. I’ve had squashed it all into an Eton Mess by now, chucked in a bag of Flumps and gone to the pub.
Meringue rings are being stacked into massive meringue chimneys, using extra meringue as cement. “It’s the most feminine version of plastering you can imagine” says Flora, who is dressed as a 1940s housewife and is pulling off that look in a way only a 19-year-old can.
“It doesn’t say how tall your ring should be”, says Flora, to the delight of the nation’s teenagers.
Two meringue discs are piped and baked, but not for too long or they will crack. Nadiya is praying constantly, every time she puts something in the oven. The recipe says “make 13 violets”, but nobody knows what a violet looks like. Ian is making pansies, by the look of it. Alvin is pretty sure that a violet is a flower, but that’s about the extent of his knowledge. Get thee to the WI, Alvin.
Looking at Mary’s version, it’s an Eton Mess in a meringue box. And they’ve got FOUR HOURS to make it. Why bother?
This week’s technical challenge is Mary’s choice - a Spanische Windtorte, which is a pudding from Austria. My boyfriend is Austrian and he’s never heard of a Spanische Windtorte, although to be fair he mostly grew up in Norwich. He’s just demonstrated the correct pronunciation, which sounds a bit like “sparnisher vindtwatter”.
It’s a posh Pavlova, by the sounds of it.
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Judging time! Nadiya’s custard has separated, and Paul’s is scrambled egg (DRINK). Flora’s custard hasn’t set, but Ian’s are perfect. Paul isn’t keen on the pomegranate, however. Mat’s caramel isn’t glossy enough, and his custard is runny. Ugne’s caramel is a bit lacking, but her custard is fantastic. Alvin’s blackberries have scrambled his custard, and Sandy’s looks like soup. Tamal’s have a lovely flavour, and his custard has kept his shape. Good work Tamal.
Anyone else adjusting their TV set to account for Mary’s jacket?
They all look lovely, but I’d be gutted to stick my spoon in Sandy’s and find out it tasted like a Pontefract cake.
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Sugar is being spooned on for caramelising, although Ian is using a fancy method and pre-caramelising his caramel. Nadiya’s creme brulees are in coffee cups, whilst everyone else has gone for the traditional ramekin.
Oops, Alvin forgot to heat the grill. Bye Alvin.
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Sandy’s brulees are in the freezer, because she had to take drastic action. The wobble on them was a bit more wobbly than the optimum brulee wobble, so she’s decided to freeze the wobble out of them. She does the actions, as you would.
Paul’s brulees haven’t set, but he can’t put them back in the oven or they might burn. Flora, meanwhile, is making ginger tuiles to go with her rhubarb and custard crème brulees, which sounds like the best pudding ever. Although I’d rather Tamal was holding the spoon.
Mel grabs Flora’s tuiles and wears them as bracelets. She thought they were trial runs, rather than the actual tuiles Flora plans to use. To be fair, they look like bicycle clips.
Creme brulees are being cooked in a bain marie, which stops them cooking too fast. There is much talk of wobble - “how do yours wobble? The brulees that is” says Mat to Ugne. Wahey, dessert banter.
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Ian is making his creme brulee with pomegranate and molasses, whilst Nadiya’s have cinnamon tea and mint. Tamal’s include rhubarb and ginger, which sound yummy. Paul has been practicing his almond creme brulees, which have an adult theme. Mmm, adult custard.
Mat is making coconut and lime creme brulee. Sandy’s creme brulees are liquorice flavour, which sounds disgusting. Ugne’s include marula fruit and coffee; I have no idea what a marula fruit is, but Alvin’s vanilla and blackberry sounds far more edible, especially with a flourish of edible pansies. Get him.
Paul is looking for a delicate little wobble. Mary wants it to be beautifully smooth. There were no such things as blow torches when Mary was young, we learn. But there were grills, apparently.
This week’s Signature Challenge is the French Classic dessert, crème brulee. It needs to have a wobbly middle and a nice crack on the surface, but they have to use the grill rather than a blowtorch.
I’ve made these before, high risk of rancid scrambled egg. Also basically grilled custard, lord only knows what this lot are going to do to fancy things up.
Weather-wise, it’s wanging down with rain on Bake Off. Also outside my window.
Right, grab your spoons, we’re off!
Previously on Bake Off – Bread Week, featuring quick breads, French baguettes and a 3D dough showstopper. Paul’s lion was possibly the best thing made out of bread ever, so he was given a nice but essentially meaningless commendation (but not Star Baker, because his baguettes were dreadful).
Ian was awarded Star Baker for being all-round excellent. Dorret made her Tracy Emin Raw Bread Bed (for the first time), and then had to lie in it. Bye, Dorret.
I’ve been looking up the difference between a pudding and a dessert. In general, seems puddings are baked and desserts aren’t, but not everyone agrees. I think a food fight is in order.
This week’s Bake Off Bingo – a sticky tart for any occurrence of the following:
• Sneaky use of vanilla extract, rather than scraping out an actual pod
• Panic cooling in the Smeg
• Saucy puns about whipping and beating
• Curdled custard
• Any mention of last year’s #bingate
Evening all, and welcome to this week’s Great British Bake Off Liveblog! It’s all about Desserts this week, or puddings if you’re less fancy. Either way it’s the bit at the end of a meal that gives you the custard sweats.
We’re down to nine bakers now, and a few are definitely standing out as being potential finalists. Ian and Paul are both very solid performers, and it wouldn’t surprise me to see Flora in the final three either. Nadiya could do very well if she doesn’t crumble under the pressure, and Tamal, Mat and Ugne are currently making up the safe middle ground. Random Sandy and Alvin are currently in my danger zone, but I’m usually wrong about most things, so don’t listen to me.
What you can do, however, is join in with tonight’s show by adding your wit and wisdom in the comment box below. Meanwhile I’ll be up here keeping an eye on proceedings, minute-by-minute style. Liveblogs aren’t just for hard news, you know.
See you at 8!
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