Ahh hello again you divine flavoursome ingredient, but the arch nemesis of a tidy bake day. This week more than anything other I wish I was doing the signature or the technical bake and not the show stopper. Oh well onward we go…
Signature – Chocolate tart
It’s semi final week and in the word of Paul and Mary the bakes’ need to be immaculate with superb flavour and it has to be brilliant. There is no room for error this week either
Key Points
- Adding cocoa to the pastry can make it brittle and bitter so just enough liquid needs to be added to make it to counteract this dryness.
- Blind bake to ensure a non-soggy bottom, although this can be tricky with a chocolate pastry, you have to be careful not to burn it
My favourite offering this week from the bakers is tough to call. As usual Flora spent a lot of her time making the tart look good with all the additional extras, but you could see that Paul was a little exasperated by this, when he tasted the macarons. However having said that the colours and flavours looked impressive. Ian’s offering was a little simplistic in design and the flavour of his caramel let him down, but he had a nice shine on his mirror glaze. Tamal is still my favourite, he is solid on his flavours (even though I can’t taste them) and he doesn’t over fuss things. Nadiya is beautifully experimental with her flavours but kept the design simple, and this week she was awarded the golden Hollywood handshake!
Technical – Chocolate soufflé
A staggered start, basic recipe and a creme pat melt down from Ian. Another first for the bake off and a nice change for the set up of the semi finals. The judges were looking for a flat top, with a mousse like centre and a good rise but no one was able to deliver all three
Key Points
- Both elements need to be made simultaneously in order to combine at the right consistency
- To thin a creme pat will mean the soufflé won’t rise and too thick it will sink to the bottom
- The egg whites need to be stiff enough to trap the air and then gently folded with into the creme pat
- Over fold the creme pat and the egg white’s too much the soufflé won’t rise, Under fold and you’ll be left with lumps of egg whites throughout
Flora managed to pull of first place even if it was a little under mixed. Ian had an almost prolific creme pat meltdown and had the utter fear for his bake, however he did manage to pull off 3rd place. Tamal had a good rise, but a few cracks but it was beautifully light. Poor Nadiya is bake to a poor technical result, and the only words for her reaction is heart wrenching. I couldn’t help but feel for her this week, especially considering the weekend of baking hell I had last week! What does make me laugh is that they say each one has good flavour. Surely it’s not that surprising, especially when they wall have the same ingredients, and asked to make the same thing.
Showstopper – Chocolate centrepiece
How vague a brief do you need for the semi final? I know it’s open to interpretation, but a little more help would have been useful. I guess I should just be grateful that I’m not being judged by Mary and Paul or sticking to a time
Key Points for the brief
- Contain a biscuit element
- Contain white chocolate
- All moulds, cutters etc must be homemade.
- It must show detail, precision and artistry….no pressure then!
All I can say is wow! Everyone interpreted the brief differently whether it was a baked biscuit or a rice krispie biscuit (which I had never thought of). Tamal’s tower looked impressive, but not as tidy as he usually would be. However he did demonstrate a number of skills with the chocolate, and had a good shine on his chocolate. Ian’s was a contemporary design, and showed ingenuity but he didn’t show off many advanced chocolate skills. He was really close to being out this week and to be honest I’m not sure the right decision was made. Flora had a better signature and came first in technical. She may not have delivered on flavour on the showstopper but she did show off a bit more skill.
And so to the final we are left with Tamal, Nadiya and Ian. Personally I feel that the fight for first place will be between Tamal and Nadiya. Ian is solid but the other too seem to push the boat out more. Oh well, onto planning my chocolate mess of a centrepiece!
Quotes of the week: More than once this week as there were some real beauties
“ I would sooner have another baby” Nadiya
“If it makes a souffle, I’ll eat my hat!” Ian
“Will you remind be to breathe?” Flora
“Everyone needs a sprinkle of Mary” Sue
Telling off of the week: Paul to Flora, “If you’re going to do a macaron, do it properly!”