It’s finals week! Just Dylan, Georgie, and Christiaan are left.
The Signature Challenge: 24 Scones, 12 Savory and 12 Sweet
This week, the judges are looking for the contestants to bake 12 savory and 12 sweet scones, “beautifully risen and well baked.” In addition to the 24 scones, the bakers must create a filling to complement each batch.
“Thousands of bakers all over Britain make perfectly good scones and they’ll think, ‘Scones? I mean, for the final?’” Judge Prue Leith said. “Well, it is really hard to get a perfect scone.”
“What we’re looking for is a flat top and level side,” Judge Paul Hollywood said.
It should be well-risen and “really crumbly,” according to Leith. The mixture cannot be overfolded or “it’s tough as old boots,” Hollywood added.
A perfectly textured scone requires not kneading but rather folding the dough to prevent too much of a “bready” texture. The perfect scone also requires the perfect uniform shape and size.
Each finalist’s family was given the opportunity to gush about their family member and why they could win the competition. With just a minute left to finish the bake on their scones, all three bakers were stressed.
Christiaan chose to bake a coconut and lime scone with clotted cream and a passionfruit curd for his sweet scone. For his savory scone, he decided to bake a curry, mustard, chili, onion, and cheese scone. The savory scone was filled with whipped feta, parsley, and pine nut filling to counteract the chilis. The savory scone was called busy and interesting, including not too much of a kick from the chilis. But both Hollywood and Leith decided the savory scone needed more time to bake. The filling on the sweet scone was melty, not fully setting properly. Both judges called the flavoring on the sweet scone excellent and well-baked.
Dylan decided to pickle strawberries in chamomile and rice vinegar to add “a nice, gentle sourness” to his bake. The pickled strawberries are combined with a clotted cream for his sweet scone. His savory scone is flavored with fennel seeds and filled with celeriac and cream cheese purée, sautéed fennel and an elegant smoked salmon rose. He decided to bake his scones again, as they began to rise awkwardly. With the rush towards the end, Dylan’s scones turned out quite messy, but Leith found them “nice and light” and delicious. The sweet scones were a bit tough and didn’t taste enough like strawberries.
Georgie used raspberry jam and passion fruit curd as the filling for her sweet scone and folded a Mediterranean mix of olives, herbs, and cheese into her savory scone. Those will be filled with tapenade, whipped soft cheese, and anchovies. Georgie also decided to bake her dough again as she wasn’t happy with how little her scones rose. Unfortunately, because she rushed towards the end and her rise was perfect, Georgie’s scones turned out a bit “wobbly.” The savory scones tasted good but were a bit tough. The sweet scones were well-baked but didn’t have enough flavor.
The Technical Challenge: A Stunning Afternoon Tea Display
Leith set this week’s technical challenge and her advice was, “This is a bit complicated. So make a plan.”
The “stunning” afternoon tea display required the contestants to bake four individual lemon sandwich cakes, four strawberry tarts, and four plaited egg and cress rolls.
“All the bakers will know how to make bread, pastry, cake, so this is really a challenge about organization,” Leith said. “It’s a difficult challenge simply because there is so much to do. And we need to see every element perfectly executed.”
As always, the technical challenge is judged blind. Here are the results:
- Christiaan
- Georgie
- Dylan
The Showstopping Challenge: Summer Garden Party Hanging Cake
Going into the showstopper, Hollywood said, “There will be challenges. And the one that deals with the problems head-on, will win.”
For this, their final challenge in their Bake-Off seasons, the judges asked the bakers to bake exquisitely decorated hanging cakes, fit for a summer garden party. The cake needs at least three tiers, have two fillings, and be “exquisitely” decorated. A hanging cake, also known as a chandelier cake, is essentially upside-down: Instead of the smallest tier being on top with the largest tier as the base, the smallest tier is at the bottom and the largest tier on top.
“Remember, this is your final chance to impress these beautiful judges,” said co-host Alison Hammond, “So, do not hold back.”
“If I was a baker, I would be absolutely terrified,” Leith said, with a laugh.
The bakers need to be careful about what type of sponge they bake, to prevent their cakes from collapsing. The “hanging” aspect of the cake required putting all three tiers on a rod and hooking it onto a hanging stand —a seemingly very stressful experience.
Georgie, wanting to bake something “a bit special,” went for a celebration of a cake: Lemon, strawberry, champagne cake — nice, light, and fluffy. She wanted to celebrate the tastes of summer through her bake. The lemon cake is layered with strawberry and champagne confit, lemon curd, and champagne and elderflower mascarpone Chantilly. The whole cake was covered in palette knife flowers and elderflower buttercream. The judges loved the decoration, especially some of her stencil work. Leith described it as “utterly delicious,” noting that the cake was well-baked and skillfully constructed.
Christiaan also chose to bake with more summery flavors: Lemon poppyseed cake. His sponge also included lemon thyme and cardamom, and raspberry and licorice jame. Each tier celebrates unusual shapes and designs. He chose to bake an oil-based sponge to ensure that the cake would be sturdy enough for his design. The judges also loved his decoration and they found the flavors quite interesting. Leith even thought the flavor was too strong and Hollywood thought the cake was a bit overbaked.
Dylan decided to bake a genoise sponge, a sponge “as light as air,” despite any issues with structural integrity. He infused his sponge with Earl Grey tea and layered it with mascarpone cream and candied orange, covered in Earl Grey buttercream. The design is inspired by Murano, an Italian fishing town, famous for its glass-blowing. Following the trend of this week, something went wrong with his genoise which meant rebaking some of his tiers and a rush to decorate. Despite the abstractness of the decoration, he captured crumbling plaster well in his icing. The tea and the candied orange turned out nicely, as well, but it needed more orange. And the sponge wasn’t quite right, either. Hollywood said, “Nevertheless, fascinating piece.”
As the bakers reflected on the experience and how these challenges went, they complimented each other on their talents.
Cohost Noel Fielding, Hammond, Leith, and Hollywood called up all three finalists in front of a summer garden party full of their families and the other Bake-Off contestants. At the end, Georgie was awarded as Bake-Off champion. Her children ran to congratulate her, even knocking her to the ground with such a big hug.
“I’m just so proud of myself,” Georgie said, with a huge smile. “I’ve just proved to myself that I can do something. And now I’m here today. Winner! I’m the winner!”
The episode ends with a segment titled, “Since The Great British Baking Show…” It’s worth sticking around to see.
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