Wow what a week! Shaky hands, tears over creme pat and pasty and a giant carrot. This years final was a little tense and incredibly emotional throughout, and not just from the bakers!
Signature – 16 x iced buns (two flavours)
One of Pauls favourites and one that featured a few series’ back. He likes a batch bake on these classics and messing with what Paul thinks is a classic could be dangerous, especially at this stage in the game!
Key Points
- Icing needs to be crisp on the outside, but once you bit into it nice and soft.
- Best to do a batch bake to help guarantee continuity
- The Buns need to have good colour, and a slight crispness, but light and fluffy in the middle.
You can tell it’s the final just buy the shear amount that each baker is pushing themselves. Each one had at least 2 fillings to their two flavours.
Ian pushed himself a little too far with two doughs, and ended up leaving out his sugar from his spiced buns. Having said that his elderflower and lemon curd buns were inspired and loved by Mary.
Tamal again managed to get his flavours spot on. His apple and whipped cream filling sound yummy and so did the citrus lemon with creme patisserie, it’s just a shame that this element let him down. His icing was a disappointment, as yet again timing became his nemesis.
Nadiya certainly gave herself a little more to be fearful about when Paul hinted about his preferred baking style for these buns. Choosing to make round buns rather than fingers was risky, but it certainly paid off for her. Cardamon buns with an almond flavoured creme pat, sounded sublime and they looked beautiful. I thought the finger buns looked a little amateur for her but the flavour of Nutmeg with a sour cherry jam won the judges over
Technical – 6 x Millefeuille
This was certainly a challenge aimed the key weakness of these three bakers. Mean, but a clever idea from the judges. I wonder else they had up their sleeve for this one though
Key Points
- The butter needs to be grated to guarantee a fast distribution and less folding for the layers
- The sugar syrup is used on the top layer to help bond the icing to the pastry
- The pastry needs to be crispy, flaky, delicate and buttery
Oh lord, armed with the shear basic of recipes this was really going to test the bakers. Tamal decided to go off piste and interpret the instructions of grating the buttiner in his own way, by keeping it in a block! His end result was messy, with loose layers, that looked more like ruffles, which meant he came 3rd. Nadiya managed to snatch 1st place from Ian’s under baked pastry. Nadiya’s was the most neat and the only one to have bonded her icing to the top layer of pastry. For Nadiya to come first in the technical at this stage, the final, can only mean good things for her.
Showstopper – 3 tiered classic british cake
Not much a of brief this week, but I have got used to this and almost embrace it, almost. I’ve learnt that everything in the showstoppers are open to interpretation, and this week is the perfect example of this
Key Points
- All the cakes need to have the same taste, consistency and texture. Tricky when you’re baking them in different sizes.
Ian went this the classic of carrot and orange cake. He gave himself the extra challenge of making not 3 tiers (the minimum) but 5 tiers of sandwiched cakes, which meant he have to bake 10! His choice of icing decoration was simple but effective, and a waterfall of carrot, Iangenius! He pushed himself this week and most of it worked, but some for the stress did get to him this week, He forgot the sugar in his spiced buns and some of his bakes in this challenge needed repeating. Having said that he has been consistent, even if cakes aren’t his strongest and sometimes his decorations are simple he has been steady strong and a calming force throughout.
Tamal decided his bring his own special spin to the Sticky toffee pudding. He turned a classic british pudding into a cake, by adding fruit and using a chocolate style ganache as the filling. He pushed the boat out with his sugar work which was certainly risky considering the weather that day! But the biggest challenge for him had to be timings, and with this challenge, the last, he managed to conquer it! Tamal has been one of my favourites throughout, his bravery with flavours and turning things on their heads. He’s made things work, and made the judges question their tastebuds for the better.
Nadiya, stronger than ever after two great bakes behind her, went into this challenge calmer and determined. She knew what she wanted, and created her version of the wedding cake she would have had, had she got married in the UK. Marshmallow icing certainly threw Mary, but she ended up being awestruck. Paul gave a teasing shake of the head before congratulating her on a simply stunning cake. Her lemon cake had a great distribution of flavour and by using lemon butter cream and lemon curd kept the zestiness but not making it too wet. Simple, smart and sophisticated.
A clear favourite from the start and a baker I can sympathise with in more ways than one. At the start for the series although clearly accomplished she always questioned her ability, but she stuck with her instincts. She never succumbed to the pressure of the Hollywood stare and his questioning. She has had bad weeks, and has been so close to leaving, but she showed her determination and continued stronger the following week. Well done Nadiya x.
One liner of the week, could only come from Nadiya, the winner: “I don’t need fingers after this week, so it’s ok!”