Fat is your friend… wait, what?
Its another double serving of your favorite hunger-inducing competition show.
Its the first time Victorian baking has been attempted in the tent, so expect plenty of kitchen calamities.
Credit: PBS
Lets do this thing!
(Drinking-game words for this round will be queen and gelatin.)
For the Signature Bake, the contestants have three hours to prepare a Raised Game Pie.
This was a favorite of upper-class social circles in the Victorian era.
And they have the option of adding homemade jelly made from the carcass of the slaughtered animal.
Paul should win this challenge for the sheer genius of his pies name.
Hes making Not a Boaring Pie, which you guessed it contains boar, along with venison and pigeon.
Hell be adding some decorative pastry leaves for an herbivore touch.
Tamal and Nadiya, as always, are shirking tradition for modernity.
By now we know Ian likes to bring some of his own fresh ingredients.
Sounds like a budget-busting way to make family dinners, if you ask me.
Of course, hes dubbed his creation of venison, partridge, and guinea fowl Roadkill Pie.
With mere minutes to go, she measures the temperature and its finally reached the required 65 degrees.
(Its nicely chargrilled on top, though).
Unfortunately, Mats antlers look more like dolphins, but his pie is well-packed.
Ians pastry is too thick, but the filling is exceptional.
Nadiyas got the look and an all-around strong bake, but the game flavor is lost to the spices.
To change it up a bit, timing is super important in this challenge.
The cake mix is so rich and dense that it takes about two hours to bake.
Poor Mats got the hump.
Hes getting frustrated his isnt like anyone elses.
Things go from bad to worse when he bakes his icing and it takes on a yellow tinge.
Nadiya doesnt help matters when she seems genuinely alarmed that he did such a thing.
At least his net is upright.
Nonetheless, when the judges dig into Mats cake, they discover its raw in the middle.
The icing isnt up to par either.
Its a double fault for Mat, but Nadiya serves up an ace to win the challenge.
The Showstopper this week is a Charlotte Russe.
The bakers can flavor the jelly as they wish, but fancy decoration is a must.
Ian, on the other hand (sorry!
), has brought along a homemade ladyfingers chopper.
Tamal is adding some unusual flavor: spiced blackberry and cardamom.
Hes also using jelly as a base instead of sponge seems like a solid and steady choice, no?
Sadly, despite keeping things simple with strawberry flavoring and minimal decorations, Mats not having a good time.
Paul has to help him transport his cake to the serving plate.
He pretends to call out for a taxi, convinced hes going home.
And unfortunately, hes right.
Hes sad to be leaving, but believes its definitely the right decision.
His banter will be sorely missed.
(Tamal, were looking at you for all the in-tent funnies from now on.)
He calls his mom to tell her, and she screams excitedly in response.
Mission accomplished, Tamal.
The tent is turning into a patisserie, where French pastries and sweets abound.
Your drinking-game words will be French, any word said in French, or anything remotely French-sounding.
The first of those window-worthy sweets is a cream horn.
Sounds simple, though perhaps a little vulgar.
Mel and Sue love the innuendos this double entendre of a Signature Challenge is awarding them.
The cream must reach the very bottom of the horn so that every last bite is enjoyable.
They have three and a half hours.
Ian boldly declares theres not much that can really go wrong with these pastry spirals.
Unlike Tamal, he clearly isnt afraid of jinxing himself.
If in doubt, get the judges drunk.
Paul is adding bananas to half of his and coffee to the other half.
Floras adding caramel wafers to decorate her horns, in an effort to make them resemble ice-cream cones.
Too many spirals and the horns will be undercooked; too few and theyll be overcooked.
Time is marching on and cream is seeping from the bottom of Floras horns.
She dashes around the kitchen in desperate need of a freezer to keep the cream solid.
Paul notices and rushes to remove whatever hes chilling so she can have the space.
By the time Sue and Mel call times up, Floras head is on the counter.
Mary and Paul are the lions, and theyre hungry for bakers.
Now you understand the tension levels, right?
(He even gets a cracking job, from Paul.)
Floras are great fun, but the ice-cream cone idea is working against her.
She focused too much on appearance instead of the bake, so her pastry isnt flaky enough.
Ian was too ambitious; his pastries didnt bond and ended up raw inside.
He also added far too much cherry liquor.
It turns out trying to get the judges drunkisntthe key to success on this show.
Nadiyas just glad she managed to make pastry this time shed been flashing back to her vol-au-vent demise.
The Technical Challenge for patisserie week is straight from the pages of one of Mary Berrys cookbooks.
Nadiya almost read it once, but flipped past it when she decided it was really fiddly.
Kicking yourself now, arent you, Nadiya?
They should look like something youd find in a patisserie window, of course.
As always, theres a lot of guessing going on.
Pauls particularly confused and looking around at the others only makes him feel worse.
He decides to just make a sponge, any sponge.
He knows its wrong, but what else can he do?
He doesnt know what a genoise is.
Let me amend my previous statement: Ian has some competitive spirit.
Pauls pretty sure its game over for him.
His non-genoise sponge looks particularly flat, but he bravely vows not to give up.
At the gingham altar, Nadiya is right about her mokatines theyre perfect both in looks and taste.
Mary declares them Really nice, indeed.
Theres little surprise when she snags first place.
Pauls are flat and almost raw, like rubber.
Baker Paul comes in last.
NEXT: Who will flake away before the semifinals?
Paul should start saying his prayers because the French-themed Showstopper is a Religieuse a Lancienne.
Its French for old nun sounds appetizing, right?
This nun/tower of choux pastry eclairs is all that stands between the bakers and the semifinals.
And stand, it must.
Theyre looking for a structural marvel baked to perfection, says Paul.
If theyre underbaked or havent been dried out, theyll bend which would be ghastly, Mary adds.
Once again, the Showstopper Challenge is a towering feat.
As they stack pastry upon pastry, Tamals coaching his shortcrust pastry disks.
Theyve got a lot to carry on their little pastry shoulders, he says.
Big responsibility, guys.
Their towers must remain standing during this time.
Tamal delicately creeps away from his workstation, saying, Light steps, light steps.
Instead, we cut right to judgment time.
His nun has stayed standing and has lovely flavors.
It even punches you between the teeth, according to Paul.
Nadiya presents a Leaning Tower of Pisa nun.
Its not completely toppled, but its well on its way.
Her icing is cheerful shades of pastel blue and green, and her piping is pretty.
Paul likes the daring bubblegum and peppermint flavors, but theyre not exactly Marys cup of tea.
Pauls hasnt held up properly.
Tower Flora is standing, albeit in two parts.
She saw her nun begin to fall and took her apart.
Despite the flavor explosion that was Nadiyas Showstopper, she takes the Star Baker spot this week.
Shes so excited, she says she could streak down the river behind the tent.
Somebody needs to remind her this is the BBC.
Sadly, Paul is leaving the tent.
It just wasnt his weekend.
Flora thinks she dodged a bullet and its unfair Paul had to go.
She better get her act together for next week its the semifinals, and that means chocolate!
