1062 – Pâtisserie Week | Great British Bake You Off to Sleep C5/S8 E9

Notable Language:

• Is Nana a THOT?
• Unctuous
• Big Steeple Zoom

Notable Culture:

• “Shine On, You Crazy Diamond” – Pink Floyd
• “Cracklin Rosie” Song
• The Moonwalk

Notable Talking Points:

• We don’t need to call Guinness Book of World Records
• Steven is not into the low and slow
• More strain on a fragile meringue

Episode 1062 – Pâtisserie Week | Great British Bake You Off to Sleep C5/S8 E9

 

[START OF RECORDING]

 

SCOOTER:    Friends beyond the binary, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, and my patron peeps…thanks for the support, my patron peeps.

 

INTRO:    [INTRO MUSIC] Hey, are you up all night tossing, turning, mind racing?  Trouble getting to sleep?  Trouble staying asleep?  Well, welcome.  This is Sleep With Me, the podcast that puts you to sleep.  We do it with a bedtime story.  Alls you need to do is get in bed, turn out the lights, and press play.  I’m gonna do the rest.  What I’m going to attempt to do is create a safe place where you could set aside whatever’s keeping you awake, whether it’s thoughts, things on your mind from the past, the present, or the future.  So, anything you’re thinking about or running through your brain, or…slow…what about those thoughts that slow-walk through your brain?  Or that just sit…they say no, I’m gonna sit down.  I’m gonna stay a while.

 

You say well, I’m trying to go to sleep; I don’t need to…oh yeah, no, don’t worry about me.  I’ll be here, just like a nana.  When you’re trying to parse out, like, what do they really mean?  Oh, no, I’ll be here; I’m fine.  You say nana, when…every time you say you’re fine or just do what you want, that…it never really means that.  You say Scoots, tell me more about your nana.  I say well, that’s the nana that lives in my mind.  Believe it or not, I don’t have…somehow, I’m not even kidding; I never had a nana but I have one within me.  I have an internal nana and I don’t know where she came from.  Now she’s saying oh, just go on.  Don’t pay him any mind.  He doesn’t know what he’s talking about.  I don’t want to disturb nana.  I’m not trying to mess with your sense of reality.  You’re as real as can be.  Oh boy, are you real, nana.

 

You may not have corporal substance…oh boy, he doesn’t even know what that means.  I know, but she’s there, always.  Nana; she’s there.  Always there; nana.  Everywhere, all the time, she’s there.  She’s watching, she’s judging, but she says she isn’t and she says it’s all…just go ahead; it’s fine.  Don’t worry about me.  I’ll just be sitting here.  I’ll be fine.  Don’t even think about me, except that I’ll keep…nana; at bedtime, she’s around, or something similar.  So, any thoughts similar to…or based on that.  I don’t know if nana’s a thought.  She causes me to think.  Oh boy, does she.  She points out so many things I need to think about.  I say nana, that never worried me ‘til you brought it up.  Thank you so much.  I would have never thought about that in that way, especially when I’m trying to go to sleep.  Thank you.

 

Well, I’m pulling a nana ‘cause I’m saying thank you and I don’t even mean it.  So, it could be thoughts, could be feelings, anything emotionally coming up to…related to your thoughts or feelings that are just there or that are appearing, coming up, physical sensations; you could…your schedule could have changed, it could be a work schedule that you don’t have a choice about, you could be a guest, you could be traveling, someone else could be traveling.  It could be a lot of different things.  Whether you’re a long-term listener — so glad you’re here — a new listener, or just someone listening for the time being, right, because you got something going on; what…how…whyever…however you got here, I’m glad you are here.  What I’m gonna attempt to do here is take your mind off of stuff so that you can fall asleep.

 

Like I said, whatever’s keeping you awake, I’m gonna take…I’m trying to create a safe place.  I’m trying to smooth it, I’m trying to pat it.  I wonder what would happen if I put my nana in a safe place.  I mean, she would have to recognize and feel like she was in a safe place.  The first thing I would say, nana; always in my mind you’re sitting in one of those hard, wooden chairs with…those ones you see at people’s houses and you say, you must not eat at your kitchen table, because those chairs…or I guess they’re those…the kind of chairs you sit in…maybe they’re…I don’t know if they’re from the 30s or the 50s or the 70s or the 80s, but maybe they designed chairs back then so you’d be at your full attention at dinner.  I guess that kinda makes sense.  You say, I want your full attention.

 

Well, but I’m trying to eat dinner, pa.  Yep, we need your full attention.  I want you to be as…these chairs are for sitting, not for sitting comfortably.  They’re for sitting to eat your dinner and minding your mind.  So, if nana was not in one of those chairs, you can…I think you’re nodding along with me.  You can picture them; they come in a lot of different forms, and…but they’re hard and you say, okay, can’t imagine taking a flight in one of these chairs.  Don’t give the airlines any…air…the newest airline with old kitchen chairs.  Yeah.  Oh, that’s wooden kitchen chair class, Scoots.  That’s what you bought your ticket in.  Sorry.  Can I bright my own seat pad, at least?  Nope, afraid not.  That’s a $5 fee.  Well, if it’s only $5, then I’ll definitely do it.  Okay, so, where was I?  Oh, whatever’s keeping you awake.

 

I’m gonna send my voice across the deep, dark night.  I’m gonna use lulling, soothing, creaky, dulcet tones, pointless meanders, superfluous tangents.  So, what that means is I’m gonna go off-topic, as you’ve already seen, get mixed up, not make a lot of sense, then go back, get interrupted by different beings within me, try to say something witty, maybe even…I don’t feel like I’ve stepped over any lines this time with my nana.  A lot of times when my nana comes up, I have to apologize to her.  I don’t want to call…I don’t think we need to call a Guinness Book of World Records or whatever, but most number of times someone’s made an…public apology to an imaginary part of themselves.  I think I could be at least in the running for that, but I don’t keep track of that kind of stuff, so…person least is…oh no, I guess that’s more of an award.

 

They say, person least likely to keep track of stuff they could win a Guinness Book of World Records for.  I’d say, that…I’ll take that.  Put it…you know, I’ll take it, but don’t give it to me ‘cause I don’t know what I’d do with it.  I’d probably lose track of it.  Then my nana would say, where is that…?  How come you don’t shine your awards any…what kind of person doesn’t shine their awards?  I’d say, you know, nana, if you…how about that?  Would that make you feel like we’re in a safe place if we shined some awards together?  I’m looking for something for us to do together, nana, some sort of soothing activity.  I just realized that you pointed out something brilliant.  Maybe we could do…what if we volunteer together and start touring high schools and other schools?  I don’t think they would let us in.

 

They’d say sir, what are you here for?  I’m here to buff some awards, shine ‘em up.  Sir, most of our awards are made of plastic now.  Well, we could also dust your awards if you’d like.  I’m here with my nana and her…formally, she would be in a wooden chair, but now we’re just here standing around, waiting for you to let us — for free — service your awards.  If you have any service awards, we’ll shine those, too.  That goes for metals and placards and all that kinda stuff.  So, just show me the way to your awards, and we’ll get right to it.  Sir, why do you and your nana do this?  Well, one, it’s secondary but we didn’t realize it; people like the idea of their awards being shown, or shined and then shown, and shining.  Shine On You Awards and Trophies is a song that’s never been sung.

 

But really, I was looking for some sort of common activity that we would both enjoy, my nana and I, and that we could do together that would be soothing, and we would pass the time building community between the two of us, I would say, servicing our community.  Sir, where’s your nana?  Oh, sorry about that.  I forgot to point that out.  She lives within me.  So, that…it wouldn’t work out, I guess.  It was a great idea, but I could see…I mean, I guess I could do it somewhere else.  I don’t know where.  I don’t know where else you’d find…easily find repositories of awards.  I don’t know, maybe there’s a trophy museum.  But then I’d say well, but you charge admission, so I don’t know.  I can’t do it, sorry.  My nana would…she’d say something and it would ruin the whole thing.  So, that’s…oh, so that’s my nana.  Sorry if you’re new.

 

Oh, what I…send my…oh, that was a pointless meander by accident added onto a superfluous tangent.  So, if you’re new, I want to give you some info so that you…so you have it.  One, the reason I make this show is because you’re important and your sleep is important.  You deserve a good night’s sleep.  You really do, and while I can’t provide that for everybody…this show is so different.  It doesn’t work for anyone on the first try almost ever, but even the people it works for, it takes two or three tries, and it just doesn’t work for everybody.  It’s very different.  I’ve been talk…how many other podcasts talk about award-dusting?  I mean, other…may…there’s probably the Trophy Podcast.  Trophy Cast, a podcast about trophies and things interesting to trophy-makers.  Craig and John don’t make that one; they make Scriptnotes.

 

Trophy Notes Podcast.  Yeah.  I mean, I guess I could make that.  I don’t think…I don’t know anything about trophies, even…I just got rejected by another imaginary being, so yeah, I probably am not qualified to make that podcast.  Okay, where was I, though?  Oh, so your sleep is important.  That’s one of the reasons I make this show.  If I can help you get the rest you need so your life is more manageable, that’s really important to me.  One, because I know how it feels in the deep, dark night, tossing, turning, talking to nana, all that stuff.  But I also really believe that our world will be a better place if you’re rested and your life is fuller and more manageable.  That’s just…it’s true.  So, that’s why I make the show.  One, I’ve been there, and two, it’s important to me.

 

The other thing, kinda like I was saying, is if you’re skeptical or doubtful, you could always check out sleepwithmepodcast.com/nothankyou if you definitely don’t like me or the podcast.  That’s the other sleep…there’s other sleep podcasts and sleepy stuff on there.  But for most people, it just takes two or three tries ‘cause the show’s very different.  Also, this is a podcast you don’t really listen to; you’re just kinda barely aware that it’s running.  You can listen, ‘cause I’ll tell you what; if you can’t sleep for some reason tonight, I’m gonna be here to keep you company for the next hour.  If you need other episodes, queue them up.  So, that’s…but you don’t have to listen to me.  You can kinda barely listen.  Just kinda see how it goes at first, but kinda think of me as a jug with a bunch of holes in it or something.

 

You’re not gonna use me to store water.  Just picture…I mean, I guess the podcast is…you…visually, you could picture me dusting trophies.  I might be humming and you’d say okay, what’s that person doing?  They’re dusting the trophies.  Okay, alright.  I’ll move on, then.  Nothing interesting there.  Oh, they’re doing it with their imaginary nana, though.  Okay, well, makes sense.  Why else would someone dust, unless it’s on their work order?  Okay, so…oh, so the podcast does not work for everybody, you don’t really listen, also it doesn’t put you to sleep.  I’m here to keep you company while you fall asleep, to take your mind off of stuff with my nonsense.

 

So, I’m here to be your bore-friend, your bore-bae, your bore-sib, your bore-cuz, your bore-bestie, your bore-bruh, your bore-bor, your neigh-bore, your friend in the deep, dark night, to keep you company, and to give you something else to listen to than whatever is keeping you awake or whatever’s going on, right?  So, that’s why I make the show.  Those are two important things to know.  The other thing that’s hard to get used to at first is the structure of the show, and the structure of the show…the show’s designed in a very specific way, but then as you become a regular listener, you could kind of adjust how you listen for what works for you.  But at first, it could throw people off.  So, the show starts off with a greeting; friends beyond the binary, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, then I say something else so that you feel seen and you feel welcomed in.

 

Then there’s support, support for the show so that it can come out free twice a week, all podcast platforms, over 400 episodes you’re able to access for free anytime you want.  So, if you needed to listen to all 400 in a row, that’d be a while, but you could do that.  So, that’s…oh, support helps us do that on a regular basis twice a week.  Then there’s support for listeners, support for the community around the show, and then there’s the intro, which we’re twelve minutes into or something.  The intro goes on and on and on of me unsuccessfully trying to introduce the podcast, which I probably…another person could probably do it in two or three minutes.  Like, Scriptnotes, their introduction is…they talk about what they’re gonna talk about, but then they say Scriptnotes, the things interesting to screen…something like that.

 

Scriptnotes…talking about screen…things interesting to screenwriters and something about screenwriting.  I don’t know.  So, see?  I can’t even un…introduce a podcast successfully that has a concise intro.  Talk about…they don’t say ‘talking about’, though.  Things interesting to screenwriters and screen…I don’t know.  But so, the intro goes on and on and on, so for some people, they can get really strongly-feeling about that.  They say, when’s the show gonna get started?  What is this nonsense?  I say well, it’s a show within a show that helps ease you into bedtime.  So, a lot of people listen while they’re getting ready for bed or while they’re winding down or they’re in bed winding down.  So, the intro is a transition from the daytime or the evening to when you fall asleep, ‘cause from everything I’ve learned and all the feedback I get, it takes us a while to get to sleep, some of us.

 

So, the intro’s that transition.  Then there’s support for the show again, and that’s…again, goals of the show; free twice a week.  Then tonight, we’ll talk about the Great British Bake Off and there will be thank-yous at the end.  So, that’s the structure of the show, that’s why I make the show.  Yeah, anybody that wants to take up that pastime of…not in…of polishing trophies or other, whatever, awards…though that didn’t go well in A Christmas Story.  But if you want to join in, let me know at some point, or just go do it, or make sure you get permission first, too.  Also, don’t associate it with the podcast, now that I’m thinking about it.  But do it with your…if you got a nana, shine some trophies with her.  Sleep With Me podcast; bonding with imaginary nanas everywhere.  Well, not really; just the one in my…well, unsuccessfully not bonding yet with the imaginary nana that lives within my mind and is always there.  But I’m glad you’re here.  I work really hard, I yearn and I strive, and I really hope I can help you fall asleep, and here’s a couple ways I’m able to do it for you for free twice a week.

 

Alright everybody, it’s Scoots here.  It’s the last season before the finale.  I don’t know if that’s called the semi-finale or the quarter-finale.  But it’s Episode 9; Collection 5, Episode 9, Patissiere Week.  I started a new notebook for this one, not that that’s important to anybody but me, but let’s see where we get here.  Making eggs…should we do a Scoots walkthrough and then…yeah, let’s do that.  Making eggs, need more for Patissiere Week.  Teaser…devastating close call.  Drone shot.  Find shot…four bakers.  Only room for three.  No coats, only…Steven’s got a vest on.  Aprons go on.  At first, I put Stacey sunglasses?  Question mark, but later in the episode, I realized yeah, Stacey probably had sunglasses on.  Maybe other people did in this scene.  Turn it up.  Let’s leave that one there.  Steven; gong?  Going?

 

No pressure.  Relaxed vibes.  Twenty-four choux buns.  Light, airy.  Half iced, half with craquelin.  Is that not craquelin rosy?  Two fillings…choux buns don’t rise?  I put, question mark, maybe?  Even though I’ve looked up the facts for…a Great British Bake Off facts show and read about choux buns…I…and watched them be made, I still don’t understand what they are, but that’s just me.  I say okay, wait a second, is it a filling that hardens and then you eat the filling, but it has filling on the inside?  But then this one is like no, it’s some sort of…so, I don’t know.  I guess what I’ll have to do is make it to understand.  Crispy on the outside, crispy, airy in the un-cuts filling.  Unctuous, probably, but that’s not what I put.  Crispy, air in…filling…unctuous filling, maybe?  Expecting exquisite; there’s some alliteration.

 

Stacey’s craquelin goes first in the freezer.  They try to describe what craquelin is, Stacey and Steven…a little jacket for the choux bun.  Actually, even watching it out…play out, I said wait a second, that’s like a…it looks like a puck at first.  ‘Cause sometimes I watch these episodes a bunch of times, also one time normally on really low volume or mute, kinda in the background.  The first time, I said what is that puck on the thing?  Back to fruit cheesecake.  Buns in a bake…buns into Bakewell tart.  Bright red cheeks on Steven.  Presses on.  Accruing craquelin.  Craquelin I tried to spell out so I’d be able to pronounce it.  Don’t rush.  Chouxmogeous.  Choux and kerns?  Choux and corns.  Oh, these are the thing…chouxmojis and chouxnicorns.

 

Stacey’s very creative with her stuff, and actually, again, watching it on mute, when I saw the inside of her uni…chouxnicorn, I said that looks delicious.  Banana Chantilly…no boring bun, but don’t forget about the bake.  In the fridge.  Choux must be cooked before baked.  So, that’s one of the things that confused me.  It’s like, they’re making a custard, then piping it, then baking it.  One go beat…furious…totally smooth.  Sophie; vanilla craquelin.  Strawberries and rhubarb, chestnut puree.  Kinda stuff I love, somebody says.  Like a pang in the stomach.  Oh, she’s also talking about that she kinda likes the pressure and doesn’t like it at the same time.  Kate; esprintur, Valencia…European tour, Valencia oranges, bellini, peach puree.  Not artificial prosecco?  Yeah, artificial prosecco, yo.  Over egg…won’t puff up under.

 

Egg will collapse.  Oh, if you put…under-egg it, it won’t puff up.  If you over-egg it, it’ll collapse.  Steven uses his fingers to test whatever they’re doing to the egg, whipping it up.  Noel and Kate; do you dream…dream about final?  You seem calm.  Topping the buns.  Steven and Sophie; to get right shape, making the extracts…almonds extract.  Halfway through.  Noel, Sophie stressed.  Put top over choux.  In the go…today…work totally today mind.  Van Gogh was hover…hoovering.  Talk about…would Van Gogh ever be using a vacuum cleaner.  Van Gogh was hoovering.  Wavy gravy.  Keep going.  Time…things warp.  Stacey very stressed.  Noel and Mr. Spoon.  Perfect balance.  Shine over outside in Belgium.  Perfect balance…oh, I think there’s somebody walking around outside, yeah, in the background.

 

That’s what I…shine over outsid in Belgium.  No, somebody walked by in the background.  Steven’s tops are burning.  Three minutes.  Noel has sunglasses.  Get this done.  Filling buns.  Stacey out of order.  Noel; try to be care-er.  Filling buns.  Fifteen minutes left.  There must…three minute?  I don’t know what the three minute…maybe it was thirty minutes?  Unfilmly ken.  Unfamiliar is Ken?  Lots of running.  Last minute.  Time up.  Stacey, Stacey.  Then we go to the judging.  Steven; untidy and burnt.  Quite flat.  Under-baked.  Too soft.  Tastes great, though delicious.  Bakewell untidy as well.  Too sweet versus…dim the lights.  Bloody gorgeous.  Bloody…I don’t know.  I think Paul likes it, the taste.  He loves Bakewell tarts, so we’ve learned.  Sophie; nice shine.  All same size.  A little flat, under-baked.

 

Don’t get rhubarb, but great flavor.  These are flat as well.  More chestnut.  Disagreement though, because I…one of them…I don’t know if…I think it was probably Prue; after absolute perfection or pelican.  Or it could be abstract pelican.  Kate; how lovely.  Great size.  Cake good.  This is how I like it.  Nice tube.  More filling.  Delivers reality words well.  Done.  Steven; well done to Kate.  Oh, well done.  That wasn’t…this is still Kate.  Story…rush…unicorn…no, no; this is not Kate.  This is Stacey.  Unicorn eyelash.  They’re very neb…look amazing on inside.  Bit sickly taste-wise.  Looks like curry and burnt, the craquelin.  Flavors inside good.  Texture’s not found here.  Talking heads.  Steep big…steeple big zoom.  What bakers don’t know is the most complicated ever.  Tin size electrogram.  Every electric counts.

 

Five less Marshall slices.  Five slices of Les Miserables, which no one’s ever heard of.  Three hours.  Stone Nuseldorf.  Storn Nuseldorf…yeah.  She’s matted up.  Stacey flipped past it.  Kate; treat story.  Prue and Paul…creme au beurre.  Perfect layers.  Jacard…joconde.  Egg whites…two bowls; flour them.  Green…Stacey shot…Stacey shot.  In oven.  Five, eight rider.  Green Herbert.  Sugar, egg yolks, and butter.  Firmness is crucial.  Not too fault…not too fault…not too doubt…not too…Stacey stops feeling it.  It’s not right.  Take butter…cream runny…oh, Kate’s buttercream is runny.  Stacey; no, no, no, or Noel, Noel, Noel.  Halfway.  Jigsaw puzzle.  Reversing the sponge.  Kate; too runny.  Les Mis all-time…sit here with my kids.  One hour.  Noel; moonwalk.  Teapot, chocolate…who would do this?  Not a clue.  Scone it.

 

Not ideal.  Not set.  Just stare at it.  Sophie’s looks perfect.  Curdled?  Carded?  Half-hour left.  Remove cake from tin.  Chocolate problems.  Time is up.  Being miserable up.  Stacey; like a harsh column…char likeness.  Tastes nice.  Needs rafters.  This is great stuff, my handwriting.  Sophie; looks net…chocolate.  Looks get…good looking.  Kate; untidy, right mess.  Tastes lovely.  Steven; neat, could be creamier.  Chocolate too gold.  Snoz not your best.  Sponge not the best.  Kate comes in fourth, Steven third, Stacey second, Sophie first.  We do the talking heads.  Let’s keep running with it, this poetry section.  Tamsins a new day.  Tomorrow’s a new day.  Kate; incredible…tangled…Steven walk…in more chocolate.  Everybody takes sunglasses off times three.  Kate’s not wearing sunglasses.  Table talk.

 

Stacey; struggle…signature.  Flour is the thing that matters.  Kate; scaring, tricky caring into showstopper.  Most fragile stop…showstopping structures.  So, two sets of triple alliteration scores there; Stacey’s signature struggle, her struggle signature, showstopping structure.  A scope luca kofer prize.  A meringue masterpiece.  Something centerpiece.  Sculptural centerpiece, a meringue masterpiece.  Showstopping is seven fronds…not nearly as much batter.  Over-extended eagerness.  Some desserts…elven curds mousse…creams.  Prue wants some acidity.  Books…see into fronds.  Mango to make…Stacey; flamingos in love.  I’m ahead…a flamboyant…a flamboyance of flamingos.  I’m in, Noel says.  A group of them is called a flamboyance of flamingos.  French mango Thanksgiving.  Hold hand…Ida shy.

 

Kate; so, take off…exit.  Steven; Easter gorge and egg rolls.  Sophie; tube throwback to ballet.  Tutu throwback to ballet days.  Always surprising.  Nine-layer opera Kate…gateau.  Sandi had three years or three weeks…oh no; three weeks, I think, at Royal Copenhagen Ballet.  Steven; cheerful childhood memories of nana.  Sane overflow rainbow.  Pro…pie cloud and balloon.  Crunch powder softness.  Craquelin is…cracking is danger.  Who’s in the basket?  I’m leaving it empty.  Powder…rainbows are rare enough.  Not one, but two.  Mewing Kate…meringue rainbow, two pots of gold.  Swiss meringue.  Indigo; no purple.  Paul is colorblind.  Noel has fun.  I like pink, Stacey says.  Steven; purest of cumberbunds.  Watch out.  Purest of something, Steven says.  Watch out.  Piping can begin.  Steady hand.

 

Critical…unstable structures.  Once it sets, there’s no going back.  Tutor start…central keys…lots of focus.  Bodice…oh, so that’s a tutu skirt.  Bodice…tutu…alright, pinkuly.  Texture can alter on bake.  Long, chewy, but not…but sturdy.  150 degrees for hours.  Steven; not into that, not into the low and slow.  Decadent elements, flavor for flavor…flav…it looks like flav for flavor.  I have a e, too, there.  Flair for flavor; maybe that’s what it is.  Steven; lemon drops…trouble with drop…troubles melt like lemon drops, he says.  If your gram of flavor…do a flavor.  If you’re going to do flavor, do a flavor.  I think Stacey says that.  Maybe Steven says it.  If you’re going for it, you gotta go for it.  Stacey does…Paul, Noel shaving…oh, so Sandi does a imitation of Paul while Noel’s standing there.  Some glum…Steven done?  Oh, what is that called?

 

Whatever it’s called cracks.  What’s it called?  It’s the whole challenge.  My brain’s just saying margarine.  Less stuttle…subtle.  Faff…errands…last one.  Hot sugar.  Very hot, indeed.  Chocolate.  Stacey and Steven…Prue watches.  350 degrees.  See outside.  Stacey in freezer.  Noel is Prue.  Out of order…out of oven sequence.  Never racking consternation.  One slip of hand and all will shatter.  Meringue; that’s what they’re working on.  Stacey; chocolate stuck in her molds.  She almost knocks her whole thing off of her table, thank goodness…or her workstation, but she did crack one of her flamingos.  Kate; gold dust.  Taut…lots of cracking.  Vocabulary…Kate’s color’s not clear as Steven.  Every action make or break…every element add on now.  Half an hour.  Sophie cracked.  Not great.  Pretty hot here in room.

 

Sophie; cover up cracks.  Steven; basket melts in heat.  So hot.  Five minutes.  Lots of stress.  Horrible to watch, Sandi says.  Fiddly.  Crack is back.  Shaking hands.  Melting chocolate…rushing, music.  Series of shots of stressed faces.  Time is up.  Long stress music.  Pause.  Pause to wipe the clear…grass and birds.  Back to the tent.  Talking heads before judgement.  Sophie; wow.  Prue fixes glasses.  Hot or…hat or tutu?  Piping good.  Splitting off a lot.  Ward…very nice Bakewell.  Nine should be serum.  Is that not good?  Tastes amazing.  Highly impressed.  Very well done.  Thank god for that.  Kate; oh, wow, colorful.  Childish.  Just amazing.  Love look.  I like when Prue disagrees with Paul.  A little uneven.  Meet neater.  Every color is a different flavor, though, of the rainbow.  I like that, but a bit like sweets.  Winter fall.

 

Italian meringue; delicious.  In lordy.  Splash of flavor and color.  Then they kinda have this 60s joke.  They must have been expanding on it and they cut it, ‘cause Paul’s like, the color blast, man, freaked me out.  Then Prue says free your mind, man.  This is Kate on a plate and I love that.  I love it when Prue takes…kinda takes control and says, listen…she checks Paul, but not in a…in a way that she’s basing it on her tastes and not…I don’t know.  I like it when she advocates for people.  Stacey; easily responsible…easily recognizable.  Nice meringue, chewy.  I don’t know…too sweet and sticky.  Very taut, very creamy.  Quite tart.  So sweet.  Needs a sweet shop.  Well done.  They do say…and maybe they said…Prue said you need something tart.  Steven; too close to the sun.  Color’s lovely.  Love pasodic shades.

 

Love pastel shades.  Psychedelic tree is what you should have gone for instead of a balloon.  His top is a eaten mess with clotted cream.  Paul clears his throat.  Flavor’s nice.  So delicious.  Italian meringue, lemon drop pie.  Prue laughs it’s so good.  Very light taste, but messy.  Method not up to normal Steven standard.  Then we do the table talk.  Tight name…the wiser.  Who was a learning vision?  Paul and Prue…hardest desire is eight years.  Sandi does Star Baker, but we’ll do this stuff at the very end.  Alright, so let’s roll the tape here.  Okay, so we got Steven with…or Noel and Sandi doing the eggs joke.  Malcolm…I don’t know who Malcolm is, either.  Then we do a teaser of everybody kinda working on their stuff and not…Steven…filling choux buns and the like, wiping faces, close-ups.

 

Heads down, serious faces.  Great British Baking Show.  Drone shot of the steeple and the grass, people walking in.  Everybody took off their sunglasses on that one too, except for Kate.  Okay, you gotta be…you know…I know I can do it.  This is stuff I love doing, Sophie says.  That’s not necessarily…Stacey says I gotta…I’m not…I’m gonna turn it up this week.  Three more bakes to become…you deserve a chance to be a champion.  Very close.  People are saying yeah, I want to prove to myself or I want to make the finals.  Kate’s like, I’m just glad to be here.  That was a rough week last week.  Stacey says she’s proud.  Good morning, congratulations, and no pressure.  Only four left.  Noel says, I can feel your relaxed vibes.  Twenty-four choux buns, two different flavors.  One iced, one craquelin.  Perfect, by the way.  Crunchy, sugary bit.

 

Two and a half hours.  On your mark, get set, bake.  Then everybody goes into gear.  Worse thing that happens is if your choux buns don’t rise or they’re irregular or they cave in.  Steven knows all the bad things.  Paul says they gotta be beautiful, airy.  Flavors gotta compliment each other.  Unctuous; he does say unctuous.  Craquelin…thin dough on the top that bakes in the oven with it.  Exquisite…expecting exquisite pastry.  Are you worried they’d get into the final?  So, people are…Stacey’s working on her craquelin.  Everybody’s kind of explaining…a little disc that goes on top, a little jacket, and it get split apart as you bake it.  Morning, Steven.  Tell us about your buns.  Wholemeal coconut top.  Wholemeal?

 

Oh yeah, because I’m making a key lime coconut cheesecake for one, and then a Bakewell tart for the other.  So, it looks like he’s gonna have two layers on the inside.  Then Sandi says you turn red when you’re stressed.  Pressure’s on.  Good luck.  Sophie’s rolling out.  Everybody’s rolling up.  You gotta be accurate to make craquelin, so that’s out for me.  Two millimeters, Sophie says?  Stacey has to redo hers.  Steven looks over.  Good morning, Stacey.  Are you gonna start over?  Yeah, it’ll be okay.  Choux buns, chouxmojis, and chouxnicorns.  Chouxnicorns?  Yeah, it’s gonna look like a unicorn.  Looks more like a…even better, in a complimentary way, like a unicorn donut or a unicorn bun, perfect for parties, I think.  I’m not making anything boring; I gotta go for something different.  So that’s…I like Stacey.

 

But Paul says you gotta find the balance for the bake, too.  I’ll hire you for my next birthday party.  Everybody’s putting stuff in the fridge, the freezer are rolling.  Start of the choux.  Choux must be cooked before it’s baked, which confused Scoots because he never made it.  Plus anything that you have to tube out, I’ve tried that; doesn’t work for me.  I make a mess.  Getting my choux on.  Gotta pour it, gotta mix it, gotta bake it, mark it with a P, put it in the oven for everybody.  Cleanly away from the plan.  Strawberry rhubarb, vanilla craquelin, chocolate ganache.  Yeah, we’re gonna make chestnut puree, strawberries, rhubarb.  Oh, this is what Sophie’s working on.  The chestnut thing is a classic, I guess.  A little more pressure?  Yeah, but I love making patissiere.  Feeling nervous?  A little pang in my tummy, butterflies.

 

Then we go to Kate; European tour, Valencia orange, brown sugar craquelin, prosecco peach bellini, peach puree, artificial prosecco, though.  But I mean, I don’t know…I don’t even know…isn’t prosecco some sort of liqueur?  Is that a artificial flavor anyway?  Okay, well, don’t…make sure you find the right balance of flavors.  Prue says she’s got good ideas, so…okay, Stacey’s mixing her eggs.  That’s when she talks about…you gotta get…her and Steven are kinda the narrators, a little bit.  Too much egg…oh no, and Sophie…too little; won’t puff up.  Steven’s kinda showing us how he tests it with his hands.  It’s a lot of egg and other stuff in there.  One test for finished choux is the peak should fall over.  Almost there.  Steven keeps adding egg.  Stacey’s doing it and Sophie’s doing it with their spoons.

 

Kate is now putting hers on the parchment paper.  Equal shapes and sizes you need.  Stay calm.  Noel’s showing a lot of skin; his shirt is unbuttoned way down.  But I do like his shirt.  Stacey and…or Sophie and Steven are kinda flattening…you gotta flatten your choux bun out, too, I guess before you put your craquelin on?  I don’t know.  They put them in the oven.  Maybe these are the other ones.  I don’t know.  Twenty minutes.  Monitor them.  Perfect patissiere is about precision baking.  Going on curds and the jams and the fillings.  Finely-tuned flavors.  Creme pat, strawberries, rhubarb syrup, something lush.  Gotta color it, too.  Stacey’s making her different colors.  Frangipane, almond extract.  Noel says if I drink it, will I be small or big?  Birds chirp.  Halfway through your choux.  They come out of the oven.

 

I think I would have liked them a little more puffed.  Another load of choux buns, craquelin on top.  Everybody’s cutting them.  You can definitely see [inaudible] our whole meal.  Everybody’s joking.  Sit on the top, put them in the oven, time it right.  No calming…toffee sauce for the banana choux buns for Stacey.  Chestnut puree…pulse from fresh chestnuts.  Loads to do.  Peace and prosecco to make the bellini.  Noel likes the mess.  He doesn’t believe in a tidy workspace.  Picasso got paint everywhere, Kate says.  But Paul does.  I can’t keep anything clean, so…Stacey does her unicorn horns on a stick.  Toffees are a little grainy.  Might have to do that again.  She’s really…it’s getting to her, the pressure.  So, she starts again.  One hour remaining.  Mr. Spoon’s gonna not be happy if you’re not done, Noel says.

 

Get the balance right.  Not far off.  Nice and crispy.  Get it out of the oven.  Everybody’s…Steven’s are a little bit…his craquelin’s a little burnt.  Everybody else’s looks pretty good.  Thirty minutes left.  Noel has sunglasses on.  Now we get a lot of cuts as things speed up.  Filling the buns, glazing the buns.  Stacey said I think I did the glazing wrong, out of order.  He’s trying to help her.  Chouxnicorns…I’m gonna send the nurse in.  Creme diplomat…fill them up.  Orange creme pat, lime…fifteen minutes.  Not much time left.  Get them iced.  Everybody’s like, I don’t know if these look as good as they should be, if they’re going in a pastry window.  Everybody’s running to cool…everybody…a lot going on.  Gold foil, unicorn decorations, chocolate hearts on top, trying to get them laid out.  Time is up.  Stacey’s still putting hers on.

 

They say, Stacey.  Signature choux buns; put them at the end of your station.  Then we get a sky shot, a baker shot, everybody sitting with their stuff shots.  Steven’s Bakewell, key lime cheesecake; untidy, burnt, flat, too thick.  Restricted the growth.  Let’s have a go.  Wow, okay.  Under-baked, too soft.  Thought they were ready and they weren’t.  They take a bite.  Tastes great, though, like a key lime pie.  Absolutely delicious.  Doesn’t look good.  Noel says, at least it wasn’t style over substance.  The bake ones look…Bakewell ones look untidy.  They bite them, chew them.  A bit too sweet for Prue, but Paul loves it.  Tastes heavenly, look awful.  I have to close my eyes.  Then we go to Sophie; strawberry and then chestnut and vanilla.  They do look beautiful.  Nice shine on the chocolate.  Same size.  A bit flat, under-baked.  Okay.

 

That could be darker on the bottom.  Collapsed slightly; have a look.  Paul takes a bite, Prue takes a bite.  I didn’t get the rhubarb, but the strawberry’s strong.  Great flavor.  Craquelin’s crisp.  These are a little flat, the one…glazed one, chocolate glazed.  Would have liked more chestnut; it’s overpowered by chocolate.  Tinge of disappointment.  Don’t say that.  We’re after absolute perfection, Prue says.  They give everyone a reaction shot.  They did it after Steven, too.  Then they go to Kate’s.  Prue says they look lovely.  All the same size.  Craquelin worked.  Color’s good; golden brown.  Start with the orange.  Yeah.  This is how I like it, soft in the middle, crisp on the outside.  Nice orange taste.  Craquelin’s unbelievable.  Filling’s delicious.  Could have used more filling.  Then they go for the peach bellini.

 

Paul laughs; delicious.  Got the peach, got the prosecco.  Prue says it really works.  Very, very good.  Well done.  Steven says well done.  Kate wipes her head, oof.  Then everybody’s reaction, then we go to Stacey.  She says, here’s the one that’s most unicorn-like.  I kinda rushed it.  Had to rush the unicorn eyelashes, Paul says?  Or Noel says.  Paul says they look a mess.  But then they cut it open; you see the colors on the inside, like it’s a rainbow pastel.  But a lot of icing.  A bit sweet, but sickly.  Craquelin’s a little yellow, like curry.  Doesn’t taste like curry.  A bit burnt on the bottom.  Banana cream, salted toffee.  Prue says, mm.  Flavor’s not your finest hour, Paul says.  Stacey says, the risk didn’t take off.  Should have made it simpler.  Steven says too bad it didn’t look good.

 

Kate’s like, I’m happy with my comments, relatively happy.  Sophie says, the criticism was sharper than expected.  They were all tasting everybody’s things.  Now they go to the next one.  Most complicated ever for a technical.  Any advice, Prue?  Finesse, elegance, and every element, lots of them that count.  So, we’re gonna ask them to leave.  Off you go.  You have to make nine Les Miserables slices; Belgian cake, pistachio, lemon joconde sponge, creme au beurre, tempered chocolate decoration.  It is complicated.  You got three hours.  On your mark, get set, bake.  Never heard of it.  Two pages of info.  Is she even making this up?  Stacey says I saw it in a book once, but I didn’t stop; I went through it.  Is this a tragedy, Les Mis?  Prue, why’d you choose the Les Mis cake?  It’s the most difficult thing I could think of.

 

Look at those layers.  Perfect layers, by the way.  Creme au beurre, three layers, four layers of joconde, and then two of which are pistachio.  Twenty things could go wrong; you could have uneven layers, scrambled egg cream.  I could go on with more, but let’s go to the bakers.  Bake the joconde, castor sugar.  Sophie says I think I was placing my strength…you gotta put your egg whites in to keep your volume.  Divide it between two bowls, one with lemon zest, the other with pistachio paste and green food coloring.  How much food coloring?  Steven’s gonna put a tiny bit in.  Stacey’s putting more in, but she says I don’t want it to be garish, but it’s bright green, same as Stacey and Sandi’s shirts.  Then put the joconde in the oven.  Eight minutes, maybe?  I don’t know.  Creme au beurre…creme Herbert, Stacey jokes.

 

Sugar, buttercream, egg yolks, butter.  Adding the beurre to the creme au beurre.  You gotta have it firm, which is crucial.  So, do it slowly.  You don’t want it to be a gloopy mess.  Stacey’s like, mine’s not thicker.  I’m gonna stop.  Maybe I did something out of order.  Got a feeling it’s not right.  Kate’s is runny, might be wrong.  No, no, no.  No, or did you say Noel, Noel, Noel?  Kate’s gonna put hers in the fridge.  Stacey’s gonna redo hers.  But time’s…bakers, you’re halfway through your slices…right layering.  Jigsaw puzzle together…paint with chocolate.  Chocolate side down.  Reverse the sponge.  They have to put the…they have to cut the sponge and then put it in this square thing to make the…I didn’t realize how complicated and difficult this stuff is ‘til I watched this show.

 

So, they’re layering the cake, layering the fillings.  Birds are chirping.  One hour left, one hour.  Moon-walking Noel.  Must have been windy ‘cause the cups were swaying.  Tempering chocolate; never done this before, either.  Usually I just melt it.  You gotta heat it to a certain degree, raise the temperature, loosen the crystals, and then reform them.  Cool it quickly.  Only Belgians do that.  Some people are tempering it on a cold…what do you call that?  Marble slab or something.  Not a clue.  Prue also says the chocolate has to be cut a certain way and then shaped.  None of this would be good for me.  I have good spatial relations with some things, but not…this would be outside of my thing.  Chef’s rings…how…what do they mean?  There’s no picture.  Steven’s the one that figures it out.  You gotta roll it up.

 

Roll it, pat it, mark it with a B, kind of.  Birds are chirping.  Half-hour left.  Remove cake from tin.  That’s stress city.  Come on, dear, Steven says.  Don’t want to drop it.  Chocolate…Kate’s chocolate didn’t come off evenly.  Alright, freeze-dried raspberry powder.  What on earth?  Everybody’s trying to figure out how to make the chocolate rings, spraying them, decorating them, assembling them.  Everything’s melting, too.  One minute left.  Then you have to put some buttercream or something on the top, and the chocolate slices.  Time is up.  Bring your Les Miserables to the table.  Looks more like you would have as something at a tea, like a…it looks more like a sandwich, a savory sandwich, except for the…yeah.  Harsh coloring.  Chocolate’s a bit of a mess.  Let’s see what it tastes like.  This is Stacey’s.

 

Creme au beurre is nice, but you need to be neater.  Sophie’s nice, shape is beautiful.  Let’s have a look; cuts nice.  Light, airy.  Pistachio’s there.  Lovely.  Kate; looks untidy.  No definitive layers.  Raspberry’s a mess.  Lovely, but not elegant.  Or tastes lovely.  Last one; pistachio could be greener.  Chocolate curls too gold.  Taste…sponge on that.  That’s not the best.  Paul and Prue rank them.  Fourth is Kate.  Highly untidy.  Third is Steven, second Stacey.  Stacey’s pretty happy that she got second.  Sophie’s first.  She says, I needed that.  Kate says tomorrow’s a new day.  I did bad on the technical.  Stacey’s relieved.  Tried to work hard.  Steven’s disappointed.  Tomorrow’s really important.  See the sunrise and you’re setting.  Bakers walking in.  Oh, Kate had sunglasses on, but she took hers off before.

 

Then table top pressure’s on.  Sophie’s…wasn’t good on the signature, but her Miserables was perfect.  Stacey struggled in the signature.  She’s feeling the pressure.  Choux buns weren’t good.  Steven’s flavors were good, but it looked a mess.  Flavors are more important than aesthetics, as Prue reminds us.  Kate’s been see-sawing.  Her choux buns were brilliant, perfect, but then she was at the bottom of the technical.  So, it’s tricky coming into the showstopper.  Three of them are going to the finals.  That’s a big deal.  Okay, this is our fragile showshopping structures.  Morning, bakers.  Last challenge.  Who’s going through?  For your showstopper, sculptural centerpiece of meringue.  Two different types of meringue; French, Swiss, or Italian.  Meringue masterpiece embellished with dessert elements.

 

Four hours and forty-five minutes.  Fantastic, sensational meringue showstoppers.  Okay, everybody’s getting to work.  Sculptural design in meringue is what Paul says.  Architects and engineers as well as bakers.  It’s gotta support itself.  Wrong meringue, the whole thing will collapse.  Gotta do dessert elements; curds, mousses, creams.  Acidity…must taste fantastic.  Put your personality in.  Book your seat to the final.  Everybody’s up against it.  I don’t want to think about it.  I need to nail it; everybody…pretty much everybody’s saying that.  Morning, Stacey.  Tell us about it.  Flamingos in love.  I love it.  I’m in already, Noel says.  Flamingo…flamboyant flamingos, self-supporting.  Well, they’ll be chilling out on grass, so you don’t have to do the legs.  Yeah, I’m not silly.

 

White chocolate, eggs, Italian meringue, passion fruit eyes.  I’ve practiced it a lot.  Hold your hand out; you’re not shaking.  Yeah, you are shaking.  So, I got my Swiss meringue, Kate says.  Thermometer…waiting ‘til it gets to 50 degrees.  Steven’s doing French meringue.  Tablespoons of castor sugar with the egg whites…don’t want it to crack.  Make sure it’s glossy and firm.  Throwback to my ballet days.  A lot of people…no idea.  Dance friends…tutu with opera filling.  Meringue centerpiece.  Pipe buttercream, chocolate ganache, coffee mousse, Swiss meringue.  Did you like dance?  Yeah, I took it ‘til I was twenty.  Sandi says I took three lessons when I was six and they said no.  Sophie says yeah, well, I did it for twenty years before I left.  Steven’s cherished childhood memories of his nana, a song nana would sing to us.

 

Oh, it’s called Some Air Over the Rainbow, so she had it wrong.  So, that’s funny.  Blackberry curd, peppermint white chocolate ganache.  Steven wants that crunch.  Powder…I’m gonna suspend it.  Central rods…and hopefully it won’t crack.  Very ambitious, Steven.  Who’s going in the basket?  I’m gonna leave it empty, which turns out to be a good move.  No one’s flying this one.  So, they say rainbows are rare enough, but not only is Steven doing one, Kate’s doing one as well.  Bright, bold.  She’s mixing.  Morning, Kate.  Tell us about your meringue centerpiece.  I’m gonna do a meringue rainbow, two pots of gold.  I look forward to this rainbow.  Lovely idea.  Mango, passion fruit, and cream, blueberry jam, meringue kisses.  Meringue extracts…that’s when Paul’s color blindness comes up.

 

They say oh, that explains your fashion.  Red, orange, pink; I like pink.  I do like pink.  Pink, red, orange…oh, rainbow purist, Steven says, ‘cause his is red, pink…I don’t know.  I forgot.  Tutu…sky shot.  One hour gone.  People start piping, piping meringue into ruffles.  Hands are shaking.  Steady hand…no imperfections now, ‘cause that’ll lead to unstable structures.  But it’s interesting watching the meringue come out so soft and then…that it hardens up.  I don’t eat a lot of meringue, but it’s good stuff.  Central layers…don’t…you gotta have a stable base.  Swiss meringue is good for sculpting, precision.  Piping bags, piping the bodice.  But Sophie says I actually never performed in a tutu before.  Alright, pinkuly, I wrote a song about a flamingo once, Noel says.

 

Now it’s more of a drying-out process than a baking process.  Low temperature for as long as you can.  It makes it sturdier.  Two hours, maybe?  An hour…one hour and a half.  Steven’s only doing an hour, though.  It’s just not how he likes it.  Meringues are in the oven.  Now you gotta do the flavor.  Blueberry jam, dessert elements.  Show off your flair for flavor.  Steven’s doing cocktails, like the lemon drop.  Troubles melt like lemon…got my ganache; that’s another one.  Sophie said that.  Vanilla panna cotta Stacey’s working on.  You know what I mean?  Passion fruits always freak me out, Kate says, ‘cause it just doesn’t look appetizing.  Noel’s messing with her…one of her mixers.  She says dude, don’t mess with my mixer.  Careful.  Then Sandi does a imitation of Paul, but it’s really just Paul’s real voice.

 

Steven’s meringues are done, but they’re cracking already.  Fracture lines.  Everybody’s looking in their oven; they’re seeing the fractures, weight of the meringue.  Annoying.  Faff around.  Getting their other ingredients ready, blow-torching.  Hot sugar, egg whites.  Hot in here.  As if making meringue in a tent wasn’t hot enough.  Some bakers are working with chocolate; Stacey and Steven.  It’s really hard for…350 degrees Celsius outside.  Stacey puts hers in the freezer.  She got white chocolate eggs.  Noel does Prue; he even has her jacket on, I think, or somebody’s jacket.  Meringues come out of the oven.  Very delicate.  Huge amount of risk.  One slip of the hand…and they are falling apart, but people do manage to repair them.  Sophie’s are cracked.

 

Stacey’s trying to get her eggs out of the mold; this is when she breaks one of her flamingo necks, but luckily…she almost knocked her whole thing off.  So, it would have been…could have been much, much worse.  Gold dust, give it some sheen.  Most of them have a bit of cracking.  Stacey’s repairing her flamingo.  Sophie’s is cracked, but it looks impressive.  Bit of a frenzy now.  Colors in Kate…vibrant.  Steven; looks like it’s a lot of weight to hold up.  Not clear it’ll stay together.  Make or break time, they say.  Assemble the insides.  More strain on their fragile meringue.  Kate starts…or Sophie starts assembling her cake.  Everybody else is doing piping and trying to put…make sure everything fits together.  Things are cracking.

 

People are staying calm, or Sophie’s staying calm, ‘cause hers is what could be a disaster, but somehow she stays calm.  It’s pretty hot.  Kate does have a little dip in her rainbow, too.  Heats in the room.  Lots of cracks, trying to cover them up and repair them.  Steven’s basket…chocolate basket is literally melting away.  His trouble melts like chocolate drips.  Sophie says mine’s holding, then it cracks again.  Five minutes left.  Sandi…that’s when Sandi says this is hard to watch.  Then everybody’s trying to put it together.  Fits nicely on itself.  Stop faffing around again.  Very fiddly.  Piping anywhere there’s a hole and a crack.  Steven’s like, my cracks are bad.  Oh, what a brilliant idea, actually; Sophie fills…decoratively fills…almost like it was a seam in the…what is that thing called?

 

The tutu with the cracks; she fills it with decorative piping.  Sandi and Noel can’t watch.  Time is up.  Step away from your showstoppers…end of your benches.  Everybody tries to clean up their stations with total stress and defeat on their faces.  We see some grass from the outside.  Meringue centerpieces will now face the judgement of Paul and Prue.  Hopefully it’s good enough.  Doesn’t look too bad.  I’m happy if I leave, Stacey says.  Kate hopes her rainbow stands up.  Steven’s like, I hope they realize that I put a lot of effort into this.  Sophie, bring up yours.  So, she brings up hers.  They say, wow.  Looks like a hat.  No, it’s a tutu.  You could wear it as a hat though, Paul, either or a tutu.  Design’s good, piping’s good.  Split a lot, but let’s take a chunk out of the base.  Wow.  That’s sure one of your meringues.  Very nice.

 

Crispy on the base.  How many layers in the opera cake?  Nine.  Should be seven, Paul says.  She says well, I gotta fill up the cake, man.  Prue says, isn’t that great?  Could have done the ganache thinner; it would have been a ten out of ten.  But highly impressed.  Well done.  Thank you.  Steven looks stressed, Stacey looks stressed.  Kate, can you bring yours up?  She brings it up.  Prue says wow.  Paul stares at it.  A bit childish, colorful.  Colors are amazing, Prue says.  They shine at you.  I like the look of it.  Rainbow’s a little uneven.  Needed to be neater, Paul says.  Every single color is a different flavor, so they cut them up.  Blueberry…raspberry; I like that.  Tastes a bit like sweets.  The different flavors’ wonderful.  Italian meringue, lightly blow-torched.  Delicious.  Cream, Swiss meringue, all absolutely lovely.

 

A bit of splat of flavor and color freaked me out at first, Paul says.  But that’s when Prue says release your mind.  Kate on plate; celebration of fruit, cream, and meringue.  Well done.  We get reaction shots from everybody.  Stacey, can you bring up your showstopper?  They take a look at it.  Centerpiece is…needs to be easily recognizable.  These are birds, but it’s simplistic, but you thought it through.  Hope it tastes as good as it looks.  They taste the meringue.  Very nice, very good.  Chewy.  This is the Italian meringue.  Too sweet and sticky.  I can only taste…take a very bit of it.  Vanilla panna cotta…like a takeaway dish.  Paul tastes that.  It’s tart.  You get the sweetness underneath.  Very creamy.  The raspberry’s quite tart as well.  All that meringue’s too sweet.  You need something sharp.  Well done, Stacey.

 

Reaction shots.  Steven’s head’s down.  Steven, can you bring up your meringue centerpiece?  He goes up to the front, gets it up there.  They say, what is it, man?  I mean, they know, but they…hot air balloon in a basket got too close to the sun.  Icarus; yep.  Colors are lovely.  I love the pastel shades.  The basket was there; you get it, but looking at it, it looks more like a tree, a psychedelic tree.  What happened with the cracking?  Yeah, once one cracked, the whole thing cracked.  Shouldn’t have happened, Paul says.  Prue says yeah, a centerpiece needs to last for five hours.  Then they do the top pink layer, balsamic clotted cream, and very…flavor’s nice.  Probably…execution, I don’t know.  Maybe you should have dried it out more.  It’s a pity ‘cause it’s so delicious.  Italian meringue lemon drop pie.

 

That’s when they say you gotta be kidding me; it’s so good.  Very light.  It’s great.  They think about the flavors, taste, the method.  It’s not up to Steven’s standard.  Thank you, Steven.  Steven drinks some water.  We see the thing, we go to table talk as the sun goes down.  Prue and Paul must decide who’s Star Baker and who misses out.  Okay, showstopper; who stood out?  I liked Kate’s.  Fantastic colors.  Textures, flavor’s spot on.  Sophie; most skill in the showstopper.  Bright texture.  So, Sophie and Kate are in line for Star Baker.  Yeah, tight, very tight though.  Then Sandi says, but I’m none the wiser.  Who’s leaving?  Well, Stacey was in a difficult position.  What she did was pretty simple with the flamingo and some puddings.  Did look like a centerpiece, though.

 

Steven was so ambitious, he couldn’t achieve what he was going for.  Love the colors and the flavors, so not clear-cut.  Can you have a look back?  Initially we’ll look at this weekend and if that doesn’t have any answers, then if it’s so close, then we’ll look back retrospectively over the whole series.  It’s only happened a couple of times.  So close, it’s horrifying.  Then we see all the baker’s faces.  Everybody comes out.  Paul says before you hear the results, this is the hardest decision we’ve been involved in in eight years, so let’s start with the good news, though.  Star Baker delivered Miserables, made everyone happy, danced away with the showstopper, Sophie.  So, I was glad Sandi got this…to do that one.  She had to go last week.  Noel wipes his face; he says, I got the horrible job of announcing it.

 

I know this is the cruelest blow at this point, but it was tight as Paul said.  He gives a long pause as he says it.  The person won’t be joining us in the final.  A little bit too drawn-out for my taste, but he says Stacey.  Sorry.  Okay.  Everybody’s shocked, everybody’s sad.  It is…sorry, darling, Paul says.  Stacey obviously is upset.  It was close, very close.  You did an amazing job, going out on a high.  Difficult decision.  Think Stacey should be really proud.  She’ll be disappointed.  Truth is, she’s done something remarkable.  Could have waited another week, but it’ll be fine.  It’s fine.  Steven hugs.  I accepted my fate.  I was going home.  Can’t believe it.  Three good bakers going to the finals.  Exciting, vibrant.  New textures in the tent.  I think the final…thanks, mate.  Hugs.  Star Baker…and…but next week’s next week.

 

Kate says I was expecting to go.  Made it through the final.  She calls her dad; hey, I got through to the final.  Her dad is so happy.  Nine weeks of trying harder than I’ve ever tried, Steven says.  I want this.  Then Kate says jeez, I think my family was happy for me.  Let’s see if I have any other notes here, though.  I mean, quite…hardest in eight years.  Danced away…showstopper…Stacey…Noel; so tight.  Sadly, cruelest blow, long pause.  Stacey’s out.  Sorry.  Sad music.  Paul hug.  Sorry.  Tears…so close.  Going out on a high.  Prue says be proud.  You can go back to being a good mom.  Oh, could have waited another week, that’s…I think…Steven; tears.  Paul; hug.  Sophie and Steven hug.  Final talk…Sophie; what about next week?  Prove…Kate calls her dad.  That’s when I…oh, I put in parentheses, that’s when I cried, when Kate called her dad.  It was ‘cause I could relate to that.  So yeah, that’s the end of this episode, and I’ll see you soon for the finals.  Goodnight, everybody.

 

[END OF RECORDING]

(Transcription by Leah Hervoly)