The final eight contestants are back for another three rounds of baking goodness. Who will make it one step further in realising their culinary dream?
We return to the marquee where the eight contestants gear up for biscuit week and their first challenge- a signature bake. They have to put a personal spin on two Aussie favourites and have two and a half hours to make 12 of each- 24 biscuits!
Monique is making choc coconut macaroons with ANZAC biscuits. She has won a Blue Ribbon for her ANZAC biscuits. Mark & Brendan are also doing ANZAC biscuits. Mark will be adding bitter almond oil to his biscuit. He’s also doing an Australian Royal Mint which will be topped by a 50c piece-mimicking edible top.
Sara-Jayne is baking some cornflake catastrophe cookies and fizzing Mandarin creams. She makes cookies all the time at home. Maria is baking Mango Macadamia Melting moments and mint marshmallow swirl biscuits.
Jonathan, last week’s star baker, is making some Chocolate & caramel oat biscuits and some chocolate Wagon Wheels. Nancy is also doing a wagon wheel as well as Earl Grey Shortbread.
With an hour to go, the contestants get their cookies in the oven. Kerry is on the prowl looking for things to criticise.
Monique doesn’t think the ANZAC biscuit needs to be altered, however that’s what Brendan is doing with his. He is also making a Lemon Myrtle biscuit. Julie is making Macadamia, Mango & Passionfruit Shortbread with Chocolate mint yo-yos.
Mark’s chocolate tempering skills concerns Kerry while Nancy is the first, and hopefully the last, to burn cookies.
Time is soon called and judging begins. Maria didn’t have enough time to put marshmallows in her marshmallow melting moments. That’s a shame. Will they notice?
Sara-Jane is first up for judging. Dan likes the layering of her flavours and the chocolate. Kerry loves the fizzing biscuits. To Mark and they like his royal mint but Kerry isn’t sure about the look. His ANZAC biscuit fails to impress. Nancy’s appearance is great however her biscuits have no flavour. To Jonathan and his wagon wheels are amazing, according to Dan.
Julie’s yoyos are ‘right’ according to Kerry. Her biscuits should be on the flag of Queensland according to Dan. To Brendan and again, his ANZAC creation was not impressive. His myrtle biscuits are a hit.
To Maria and they love the chocolate flavours of her biscuits. Kerry was not impressed with the state of her kitchen. Monique is the last person to have her ANZAC biscuits tested after her overcooked alternative. Her ANZAC biscuits were a hit. Nancy (AGAIN!!!) & Mark are on the bottom whereas Jonathan & Julie are on top.
To the technical bake now and the dish they will have to cook with little guidance are 12 perfectly formed brandy snaps- ten with filling and two without.
Maria has never made brandy snaps before however Sara-Jane calls this challenge ‘good’ however she is petrified. Brendan is dancing. OK.
After a while in the oven, the contestants remove their mixture and the rolling begins. Most contestants fail before they roll! Even Jonathan is struggling. They need to be 12cm in length. Some contestants have had enough success to create testers. After Mark’s usual technical bake failures, Mark plates up success.
It’s time for judging.
Brendan is first. He has snap but the filling is seeping through the laces. Maria’s snap doesn’t have snap, but it has brandy! Sara-Jane’s snaps are short and they’re undercooked and under colour. Nancy’s snap sizes are close to perfect but they’re a bit undercooked. Julia’s snaps have good colour but there’s not flavour. To Jonathan and the judges don’t like his technique of cutting the mixture out with a cookie cutter. Monique’s have a rich flavour but it’s leathery. Mark’s snaps are too porous and have too much cream.
In order from worst to best are Sara-Jane, Jonathan, Maria, Mark, Nancy, Monique, Brendan and Julie.
It’s now onto the showstopper bake and the challenge today will be the classic gingerbread structure. They begin with their gingerbread before creating their individual structures. Nancy is doing a carousel with flavour. Will her architecture skills come in handy? Mark is doing an alpine hut! Monique is not shaping her structure before baking her gingerbread church- an ode to the city of churches, Adelaide!
Maria is doing an Eiffel tower in bloom. That looks complicated! Sara-Jane is doing a smaller creation with a wintry village. Brendan is doing a Sydney Harbour Bridge on NYE structure! This one also looks complicated.
As the contestants begin removing ginger pieces from the oven, they realise all of their mistakes as burnt piece after burnt piece come out to horrified pieces. Maria can’t even find one of her pieces and begins to contemplate foul play!
Julie is doing an outdoor dunny which should impress Kenny- ah, I mean Shane Jacobson!
Jonathan is doing a giant monster robot design. It’s complicated looking as well.
One hour is left, so they better hurry up with that decorating. Some are still trying to assemble their pieces. All of a sudden, Nancy drops a whole heap of gingerbread. Sara-Jane’s method is not coming together.
Brendan’s firework is looking great! Monique loses a wall from her church in the dying minutes of the competition. Soon enough, time is up. Safe to say some of these designs are a disaster.
Monique is first. Her church has collapsed however her flavour is a winner. Brendan’s harbour bridge looks wonderful and it comes complete with sparklers. It’s a hit! To Maria and while it doesn’t look like an Eiffel tower, it looks wonderful. Kerry doesn’t let this fact go and makes Maria cry. She does comfort her afterwards. Still, Dan likes it.
To Julia and Kerry likes the attention to detail. Dan calls it brilliant and what to expect. Jonathan’s robot is described as fun however Kerry is critical about it. Nancy’s is praised, as is Mark!
To Sara-Jane now and Kerry notices the lack of bottom. Dan likes the flavours.
It’s now time to decide a star baker and who will be going home.
The star baker is… Julie.
The person going home is…Sara-Jane.
Seven now remain. Who will leave next week?
