Welcome to the fourth week of The Great British Bake Off here on my little blog! This week was pie and tart week, in which we saw the nine remaining bakers battle the Signature double-crusted fruit pies, Technically impossible egg custard tarts and Showstopping filo pastries.
In the true spirit of the Bake Off, I made an endearingly ugly lemon meringue pie for our delectation during the show. Sadly, images of said pie are too distressing to show -
What's that? You really want to see my sort of-pie? Oh, go on then.
Anyway, while we had our lemon meringue upon which to nom, the contestants began their Signature Bake. I had cunningly avoided the issue of pastry all together, using a digestive biscuit base (I feel a Masterchef/Gregg Wallace clip coming on...), but the bakers' fruit pies had to have a top and bottom - hence the 'double-crusted' part.
Now the obvious danger here is the dreaded soggy bottom; as Mary explained, if the fruit filling in the pies is overcooked, it 'releases too much wet', rendering either the sweet or shortcrust base a damp mess. Oh dear.
It will come as no surprise to regular Bake Off viewers that Frances decided to reimagine the eponymous Giant Peach (from the Roald Dahl children's classic) in pie form. Of course she did. As they had previously said last week, Paul and Mary worried that she might be placing style over substance, but only time would tell.
Rob was one of several bakers to use fresh herbs in his fruit pie, adding thyme to his pastry, while others used sage and rosemary to complement the fruit flavours.
Once the bottom layer of pastry had been fitted into the tin or dish (or, in Rob's case, laid straight onto a baking tray, which would then go on top of another hot tray in the oven - some took no chances with soggy bottoms), the fruit filling had to be added.
Many of the bakers opted for a traditional apple filling, although peaches and rhubarb also featured. I thought that some of the more unusual and imaginative ingredients included Ruby's marzipan, Frances' frangipane and Glenn's maple syrup custard, which sounded delicious - but would obviously contribute dramatically to the amount of moisture in the finished pie.
As some of the contestants had taken a little longer than they ought getting their pies into the oven (looking at you, Glenn and Ali), with ten minutes to go, the ovens were 'becoming thermo-nuclear'. Sue kept Glenn company on the floor by the oven, which was now set to 230C...
'I think that brown stuff is burn?' she pointed out helpfully as Glenn removed the Vermonster from the nuclear reactor.
Christine and dear little Ali had also left it until the last minute to take their pies out of the oven. With the distinct possibility of soggy bottoms looming, it was time for the judges to test the Signature Bakes...
Glenn's was the first to be diagnosed with a soggy undercarriage, thanks to the moisture-laden maple syrup custard filling, although the judges complimented his perfectly cooked apples and I personally really liked the rustic leafy topping.
Kimberley's was deemed perfect, delicious and 'the best pie I've had in quite some time' - praise indeed from Paul Hollywood himself. I'm hoping that Kimberley is going to go a long way in the competition; I really like her style of baking, although I would never think to create the flavour combinations that she uses. But she was on perfect form again today and, if she can keep it up, she'll undoubtedly be one of the favourites to win.
Frances' peach pie, although it looked stunning and the judges commented on 'the artwork' of the bake, disappointed. Mary 'would have liked more peaches' and Paul even went so far as to call it 'bland and dry'. As beautiful as her bakes always appear, I think that now Frances will definitely have to concentrate on getting the flavours and other aspects of the bake right to avoid more 'style over substance'-type criticism.
Meanwhile, the judges weren't overly keen on Beca's Mamgu's cherry-apple pie, although it had a nicely baked, dry bottom, as the pastry was too thick and the rhubarb filling somewhat overcooked and thin. Rob's baking tray-on-baking tray construction had worked and resulted in another well baked and dry pie bottom, which held together very nicely and Paul complimented the filling. Mary loved Ruby's apple and marzipan 'family pie', but Howard's pastry was too crumbly for the judges' liking and unfortunately the sage flavour didn't come through.
Now, as we all know, one of Paul's least favourite things in a pie is a soggy bottom. So it was with some misfortune that Christine managed to bake a pie with not only the afore-mentioned issue, but also with a soggy top. It was a real shame, because her peach filling looked very tasty, but, as Mary pointed out, there was just too much juice and moisture.
Ali came under fire for not tasting his bake during its preparation. By his own admission, he hates fruit pies and so neglected to test his filling while it was cooking, resulting in a lack of ginger and a displeased Paul Hollywood. Dear me.
Technical challenge time. Mary and Paul retired to their secret tipi to discuss this week's task - egg custard tarts. This is what I had planned to make for our snacks during Bake Off viewing, as they are in the lovely new Everyday book which accompanies the series, but do you know what? I'm really, really glad that I didn't attempt them.
Paul didn't ask for much; just a perfectly crimped, evenly-baked pastry case and smooth custard with just the right amount of wobble. How hard could it be? Err...
As always, the instructions that the bakers receive are deliberately vague. 'Make the custard,' read Beca, 'helpful!' Some, like Frances, heated the custard through before pouring it into the tart cases, while others, including Glenn, decided that it should bake with the pastry in the oven. Then the pastry had to be rolled out and fitted into the moulds. Ruby's little lifting devices look like they might come in useful, don't they...?
Once the tarts were filled to the brim with the custard mixture, they were topped with nutmeg and baked. All that remained was to remove them from their cases and that can't be difficult, can it?
Oh.
Eventually, when the majority of the custard tarts had been transferred from their tins onto the display stands, Mary and Paul had the unenviable task of judging them. Glenn came bottom, in ninth place, followed by Ali, Christine, Ruby, Howard and Kimberley, while Rob, Beca and Frances made up the top three.
All in all, it had been a very trying day in the Bake Off tent.
The Showstopper, though, always provides ailing bakers with a chance to redeem themselves and this week was no exception. The bakers were challenged with making a filo pastry pie, perhaps inspired by traditional Greek or Moroccan varieties or an entirely new creation.
These were my favourite of the Showstopping designs this week - don't you just love the concept artwork?
Ruby was the only baker to attempt a sweet filo pie with her rose, almond and raspberry filling. Once again, Frances had designed an outrageously complicated bake, while Kimberley's appeared simple in concept, but was packed full of flavours and spices.
Once the dough had been rested and then worked to create the complex networks of gluten, it needed to be stretched. Some of the bakers opted for several smaller sheets of filo, while others took on the challenge of creating one enormous, wafer-thin layer.
Poor Kimberley was relegated to a table on her own at the back of the tent, as Ali's creation was over two metres long and took up the entire workbench!
While most of the bakers had filled and rolled their pies, Rob was very much behind schedule. At this point, even my dad, who has never ever baked before, was getting stressed out and hiding behind his hands. Bake Off fans are definitely a very involved audience!
Getting Howard's pie out of its lovely decorative tray also provided another nerve-wracking moment. Even Beca and Glenn couldn't watch as Mel and Sue haphazardly yet successfully assisted in transferring it from baking tray to plate. Phew!
Two of my favourites from the Showstopper Challenge were Kimberley's and Christine's. As in the Signature Bake, Mary and Paul loved Kimberley's flavours as well as her presentation; Mary declared it 'ready for a party'. Christine's flavours were pronounced 'stunning' by Paul, although sections of her pie had slightly come adrift during baking.
Frances' filo cherry tree, however, suffered some criticism. The middle was uncooked and remained raw. 'Style and substance,' were Paul's last words to her before she returned with pie to her workbench.
Glenn's traditional Spanakopita thankfully ticked all the right boxes with the judges, as he had been languishing near the bottom of the pile for most of the show. They also seemed pleased with Ali's m'hanncha, but we worried that it would not be enough to save him.
Ultimately, after much deliberation by the judges, they had to make their decision. Kimberley was finally crowned Star Baker, after consistently fabulous baking over the course of the show so far.
But Paul and Mary chose Ali to leave the competition. It was sad to see such a promising baker and a lovely, funny personality leave the show, but I think we all know that he has the potential to go on to bigger and better things. The worst part about Ali leaving was that it made poor Howard cry, which nearly set off the rest of us at home!
Next week, it's time for biscuits, including these amazing Showstopper structures. With only eight bakers remaining, tune in to see who will be triumphant and who might crumble...
The Great British Bake Off continues next Tuesday on BBC2 at 8pm. Don't miss it! #GBBO
(: xx
