Welcome back to Clonabreany House in the beautiful countryside
of County Meath.
We've got rain, but we don't care because we have a tent.
And inside that tent, there are 11 bakers.
This week, they're going to have to tart themselves up
because it won't only be the eggs that are seperating.
By the end of this show, one of the bakers will go home.
This is the Great Irish Bake Off.
Last week, the bakers challenges involved cake.
They were tested on their signature cupcakes...
...and Paul's technical challenge, his Genoese sponge.
Maryanne was crowned star baker...
I was the star baker.
...but for Laura, it was the end of the road.
What a disaster.
11 now remain and this week, it's all about making the perfect tarts.
It's a bit more real now that we've had an elimination.
It's more of a competition now than it was before.
Oh, God. Once more they will face a technical bake,
as well as their very first showstopper challenge.
Are you nervous about that? Should I be?
Their task-masters for this tarty challenge,
Bake Off judges Paul Kelly and Biddy White Lennon.
With 13 cookbooks, food writer and forager of wild ingredients,
Biddy has become one of the leading experts in Irish baking.
The flavour is what I'm really interested to see.
Will they be creative about the way they use flavourings?
And renowned pasty chef Paul Kelly
whose five-star creations have won awards worldwide.
My expectations are getting higher.
The contestants are going to have to really prove themselves now,
if they want to stay in the competition.
You're scaring the life out of me. (LAUGHS)
11 bakers competing for their place in the kitchen.
Damn, I'm good. Not all will make it.
That's not the way it should look. I'm actually raging.
Week two, and the search for Ireland's best amateur baker continues.
To make it to the next stage,
they must now show they can master the art of making tarts.
I have some concerns because I don't think pastry is my strongest suit.
Although neither is Genoese sponge, really, so...(LAUGHS)
I'd love to get star baker, but I don't think about that
because that'll get me too excited. (LAUGHS)
I don't want to make a mess of things.
Hello, bakers. Welcome to the technical challenge.
We all know you can bake well,
but we want to see how well you can bake a Bakewell tart
with raspberries, pistachio nuts and an apricot glaze.
We all love a good tart. Eh, Paul?
Love them. (LAUGHTER)
But this one needs to be really special.
Because, as you know, one of you will be the star baker
and one of you will have to go home.
Why did you choose this tart?
Well, this particular bake, a Bakewell tart,
has erm, good memories for me.
It was one of my first competitions on the world scene,
and we actually got a gold medal.
It looks simple on the outside, but what goes on in the inside
is where the fun starts.
The technical challenge is judged blind,
so I'm going to ask Biddy and Paul to leave the tent.
OK, bakers. You have 2 hours and 15 minutes.
On your marks, get set... bake!
For this technical challenge,
the bakers all have the same ingredients
and the same basic recipe.
But they have never seen what the finished product should look like.
Another technical challenge, another new thing
and just to... add it, it's a gold medal winner for Paul.
So... no pressure. (LAUGHS)
PAUL: What I'm looking for is that contestants follow everything to a tee.
We're not looking for anything else,
just follow the instructions to the tee.
A classic Bakewell tart is made using ground almonds.
But Paul's recipe calls for pistachio nuts instead.
I've only ever used pistachios roughly chopped in things.
So... wait and see! But everyone's in the same boat, I think.
I hope!
I think they will be pressed to do it well.
There's an awful lot of elements in it,
and I think each one of them has to be done just right.
Biddy, the raspberry and pistachio Bakewell tart.
One of my favourites. It looks quite simple on the outside,
but it's all the different layering of the flavours.
The raspberry jam, the marzipan and then making up the Bakewell.
It's unusual Bakewell. We don't use any almonds, it's all pistachio,
crushed pistachio nuts. Oh my goodness me.
That is so beautiful.
But you see, it's so moist. It's not overcooked.
The pastry has to be nice and thin,
the raspberries have to be arranged in the right sequence.
An outer round circle and then an inner round circle,
to give this kind of a cross-section.
Well, nobody would accuse that pastry of not being thin.
But is it crisp, like a biscuit?
It will be.
Oh.
It's delicious, isn't it? The flavour is delicious.
All those textures. The nuts still have a little crunch in them.
That's another element. You can't overcrush the nuts, either.
So, lots of a heavy challenge ahead.
The recipe calls for a sweet pastry,
which consists of plain flour, eggs, butter and icing sugar.
And one important technique is using the 'rub in' method when mixing,
to give the tart a sandy texture.
It's my attempt at light feathering hand motions.
I'm not a very light feathering person, so...(LAUGHS)
Did you ever do a Bakewell? No.
That's two of us. Oh, really?
You see, you can't go wrong with tarts, really.
Famous last words.
(LAUGHS)
Yes, because in baking, anything can go wrong.
For instance, if the pastry's over-handled, the butter melts
making it sticky and hard to work with.
It just felt very moist. Different to the texture I would normally...
associate with a shortcrust pastry.
So that's why, you know, it's very hard to get into...
a couple of attempts to get into the tin.
Freezer. Five minutes in the freezer and then work quick with it.
I'm still making my pastry.
I popped it in the fridge for a while just to get the temperature down.
Ah. And you're happy with this?
Erm, it's looking OK so far. I went to Bakewell on my holidays last year.
Did you? And stayed in Pudding Cottage.
Where is Bakewell? It's in the - I'm gonna get this wrong now -
it's in the Lake District. No, it's not.
Oh my God. It's in the Peak District. OK.
I have a good feeling about this one. (LAUGHS) Thank you.
Do it one more time for luck, and if it doesn't roll out
it's going back in the freezer.
I think I made my pastry wrong.
(LAUGHS) It's cracking a little bit.
Like me under pressure.
26-year-old Tom from Kilkenny
isn't one to shy away from a challenge.
This year, he takes on his first triathlon.
He finds baking very therapeutic
but admits that when he gets stuck with a recipe
he still calls his mum for help.
How's it going, Anna? In your lovely blue pants.
Yes. My pants are blue, aren't they?
I love those! Very nice. How's it all going?
Erm, OK. I made an automatic hames of the pastry first.
Did you? Yes.
I'm used to making pan dulce which is a type of sweet pastry.
But this is icing sugar and eggs, not egg yolks.
So, I'll have to start from scratch.
OK. I'll leave you to it, Tom. Thanks, Anne.
Dust the life out of it with icing sugar,
cos it stuck to itself the last time.
It's so sticky. Mine's seriously thin.
I've got loads of pastry left.
Look it. That's what I've left over. Yeah.
Once the bakers have lined their tins,
the next step is Paul's frangipane filling.
Flour, eggs, butter, sugar and, of course,
those ground pistachio nuts.
They'll have to be very careful that they don't over-mix,
or over-grind the pistachios cos it'll turn into an oily paste
which will ultimately affect the end result of the tart.
It just says "grind the pistachios."
Does he want a crunch and a bite? Does he want it really smooth?
So, I went with the consistency of ground almonds... who knows?
How are you getting on?
(LAUGHS)
Pastry wouldn't be one of my strongest points.
This is the first time I've made a Bakewell tart.
This will be interesting to see how this turns out today.
Daire lives in Kildare with his wife and two children.
His prize possession is a recipe book
written in the 1950s and passed to him from his mother.
And he loves baking so much, that he's installed two ovens
in his kitchen. I've not worked with the pistachio filling before,
so I'm not exactly sure what the right consistency should be.
Any concerns at all?
About the filling. And what should the texture be, do you think?
Adding flour into eggs...
that is marzipan, a layer of marzipan as well, so...
I actually don't have a clue, really. (LAUGHTER)
To be honest! You were doing so well!
We'll see. Well, whatever happens it'll be a good surprise.
Exactly. For everybody, I think. (LAUGHS)
Not only for me!
Mm, that's really nice.
Before the pistachio filling can be added,
the bakers must insert a layer of jam and a layer of marzipan
into the base.
I just keep eating marzipan. (LAUGHS)
I hate it and love it.
Bakers, you have one hour remaining.
For the tart to look perfect when cut,
it's essential that they arrange the raspberries
in two concentric circles.
That's not it...
They're gonna have to put two rings, different sizes, of the raspberries.
This is very important because of the cut.
I have to be able to see seperate raspberries in each wedge.
Two circles, he said. Seems simple.
It isn't.
The bakers will be watching out for 21-year-old Steven.
He claimed first place in last week's technical challenge.
I'm pretty confident that I should be OK in this one.
Hopefully it turns out as I planned.
I've never made this before, so I don't know how much to put in.
Does it rise up? Or does it just...? I don't know.
I'm gonna just kind of... guess.
Once the raspberries have been placed,
the final step before baking is to pipe in the pistachio filling
which will act as a support to the fruit.
Jarek is first to get his tart into the oven.
Are you done? In the oven.
(LAUGHS) So, hopefully...
You did a little blessing before it went in, did you?
Always, yes. It was my mother's thing.
She's always blessing. She's really Catholic.
But... she was always blessing the cakes before they went in the ovens.
Jarek moved to Ireland from Poland seven years ago.
He bakes nearly every day, in spite of his Dalmatian, Allie,
getting under his feet.
His dream is to one day own his own bakery.
Look OK for now, but that's only two or three minutes.
I think it looks absolutely fine,
but I don't know how this is supposed to look either.
I'll go and Google it later!
(LAUGHTER)
Once in the oven, the Bakewells will take 45 minutes.
They should be golden brown and springy to the touch.
How many nights a week would you bake at home?
Four, maybe. On average. Four nights a week?
Yeah. Because you don't look like you eat lots of cakes.
Oh, thanks very much.
(LAUGHS) What's happening to that?
Dripping down the sides. It's over-filled.
Oh, no. It'll be fine. I'll clean it off
when it comes out and hope for the best. That's not a disaster.
Not a COMPLETE disaster! Bake well!
Did you get it? Nice.
Bake well! You been working on that?
How did you get on with yours? I left a little bit of egg
out of the pistachio mix because I thought it was too soft.
It's not raising as much, which might be a good thing.
Should you be able to see the raspberries?
What's going on? I'm just taking a bit of the mixture out,
so it doesn't run over. OK. You don't want the edges ruined?
I don't want the edges ruined or coming over
and burning on top of the pastry. Yes.
Well spotted. Yeah, we'll see. We'll see how it goes.
Maybe it'll be a disaster. But I don't think so, though.
There's a little too much wobbling there.
They've got to be sure it's cooked.
Because it's moist, but you don't want it soggy, drippy, wet.
My plan is to keep opening the oven repeatedly
to ensure that it gets ruined(!) Do you like it?
Everybody, there's five minutes remaining.
OK? Just five minutes to go.
(GASPS) Oh, God.
Completely gone.
Welcome back. This week, the Great Irish Bake Off is all about tarts.
And the technical bake is judge Paul Kelly's award-winning
pistachio and raspberry Bakewell.
The pastry has to be wafer-thin for me.
I love thin pastry. If the pastry is too thick,
it takes everything away from the tart. It becomes a biscuit.
The tarts are now out of the oven
as the bakers apply the final touches.
If you just push that back, the tray.
Bakers, you have one minute remaining.
One minute?!
Next, a coating of apricot glaze.
Do you want me to hold a bit for you?
Careful, careful...
Yes. OK...
Right, well done.
That's raw. That is raw in the middle.
Bakers, stop baking.
Time is up.
I'm very happy with the way it looks.
I'm very happy with the way that it baked.
I never cooked with pistachio before.
So that was my first time and... yeah, I'm feeling really confident.
I don't think that was what Paul quite wanted
when he wanted Bakewell tarts with the circles!
It's in a lot of circles, now!
It's a wee bit of a reality check when something like that happens,
but... you learn from it.
Any kind of criticism is hard to take
when you've spent hours making something.
It's important to impress Paul because it's his recipe.
Hello, bakers.
We are here to judge you.
Not your character, just your cakes.
Off you go, judges.
Wow.
This looks nice. Beautiful, nice and full.
Perfect. Let's cut into this, Biddy.
It's a nice even colour, isn't it?
Yeah, it's nicely baked.
Maybe a little light on the glaze.
That looks so rich. See how moist it is?
Yeah. Beautiful colours.
I love the colours.
Beautiful. I'm looking at the thickness of the pastry.
It just looks a little bit thick. It's quite thick.
It is quite thick, yeah. This looks interesting.
A little bit undercooked from the first glance, anyway.
A little bit wet in the centre.
The pastry's a little bit thick on this one as well.
The outside edge pastry is lovely and crunchy,
but not on the bottom so much.
Beautiful flavour on this one.
But just a fraction undercooked and the pastry a little bit thick on the base again.
Cooked a wee bit on the top, the next one. A little bit dark.
Looks nicely cooked, nice and even across the top.
The colour is lovely there. It's singing out the green, isn't it?
It's gorgeous, yeah.
Mm. Do you know what's very striking about this one?
The flavour from the marzipan.
It's beautiful and gives that chewy texture as well.
That's delicious. I'm not sure that icing sugar adds to the look of it.
It might be hiding something that's a wee bit burnt!
(LAUGHS)
That sounds like a mean thing to say!
(LAUGHTER) Actually, it's not, to be fair.
It... it's just a design element.
Again, yeah, the base and the edge of this one... It is too thick.
It's far too thick, yeah. It's not really crisp underneath at all.
This one looks... different.
Changing the er... the award-winning Bakewell. (LAUGHS)
This could be dangerous! Yeah, very, very thick base on this one.
Everybody seems to be afraid to roll the pastry out thinly.
It's so important. And we're missing a circle of raspberries
by the looks of things. There's only one circle in here.
Yeah. How's the taste?
The taste is nice, but the pastry is... Too thick.
It's too thick. It's not crisp at all, you know.
This one is... entirely different!
This one is entirely different, yeah.
Is this the same recipe? (LAUGHS)
This is hurting me now! (LAUGHS)
Straight away, it's undercooked for sure.
Yeah, it's lost all the edges.
The pastry has completely gone from this one here. Look.
It's sad-looking, isn't it?
This is not great. But let's taste it.
It's an amazing recipe.
It was. It still tastes good!
It does taste very nice, yeah. Yeah, but...
that's not the way it should look.
This has some visual difficulties.
This one's been left a little bit long, I'd say, in the oven.
But it's nice and full. It's important that the raspberries stay in one place,
and that's a real trick.
Cos the raspberries go out there, do you see?
That's more like a cake around it, isn't it?
It does. It's very thick.
That looks like sponge cake, almost.
Yeah. It's like a biscuit with a pistachio and raspberry topping.
Somebody has definitely tried to outdo my original cake recipe.
Look at that pastry. Leaves. That's what they are, look.
There's no apricot glaze on this one.
But look at that. The inside's beautiful.
That's one of the thinner pastries we've had. That is thin.
And I think it could go a fraction thinner.
The crunchy base on that is stunning.
The pastry's definitely the best. The flavour of that is stunning.
And it's not burnt! (LAUGHS) No!
This one's caught just around the very, very edges.
Just the edges, yeah.
Nice colour. It's a bit soft in the centre. See? Look.
So it just needed... Undercooked.
Yeah, look.
Still, a good flavour.
It's just not cooked.
This one looks nice, doesn't it?
Everything is nice and even there, isn't it?
It is. Evenly cooked. The raspberries look good.
Look at the nice circle of raspberries. You can see them.
This has great potential. I hope it cuts well.
Let's not say anything just yet.
Very, very nice.
Look how thin the pastry is. Beautiful.
Yeah, that's great. There's loads of flavours in there.
It's beautiful. The flavours are all coming out.
And the base is not too thick, which is great.
Now to the last one.
Mm-hm. It's interesting.
It's got the raspberries on the outside.
Looks a little bit wet here, doesn't it? Can you see that?
It does. This one has a lot of interesting things going on here.
The pastry is quite thick, though.
It's missing the raspberries from the centre.
It doesn't look as nice cut.
A little bit soft, a little bit... yeah.
It needs more cooking for sure.
And cooking the raspberries on the outside
has created that moisture release.
You're a hard task-master! (LAUGHS)
Without knowing the baker, Paul and Biddy must now rank each tart
from 11th all the way to first place.
Who owns this one?
I'm sorry... (LAUGHS)
I can see! You clearly had a bad time.
Perhaps we won't go into too much detail.
You are in 11th place.
Who owns this one?
The pastry is very, very thick.
It's burnt on one side.
The raspberries are submerging and drowning.
Then you tried to save it all with some icing sugar.
You are number ten.
Who owns this one here? Me.
With Jarek taking ninth place,
Steven is placed eighth,
and last week's star baker Maryanne is seventh.
I know. It was in for actually just over an hour.
I've no idea why it was, but... anyway.
That's mine. Daire's Bakewell gets him in sixth place,
Bridget is fifth
Barbara comes in fourth.
And Tom takes third place.
Who owns this one? Who owns this one?
This one, as I mentioned earlier, missing the glaze, the apricot jam on top.
I did glaze it, but I don't know if the glaze was made right or...
Probably too much water. OK.
The addition of the leaves wasn't in my challenge.
When you add something like that, it just takes it away more
especially when we're being specific what we want done.
This one here, beautiful circles of the raspberries.
Beautifully glazed on top.
Nice thin pastry on both of them. Nice thin pastries.
This was a really tough decision to make.
But I had to make a decision.
First place... is here.
Second place is here.
(APPLAUSE)
Well done, Oonagh. Congratulations.
Well done to all of you as well. It's been a very long day.
Tomorrow, you have to come back and bake all over again.
So, go away, get some rest and we'll see you in the morning.
I'm quite disappointed, yeah.
Because I know that I can do better than that
and I... yeah, I'm just really quite upset about it.
The leaves. I kinda wish I hadn't done it now.
But I'm feeling delighted. Yeah.
Over the moon.
Can't believe on a bake like that, set by Paul Kelly,
er, to do that well. I'm really pleased.
I'm not happy. Paul said there was only one circle.
I did two circles and that's for sure.
If you cut another slice, you would get two circles.
So, I'm actually raging.
So... yeah.
Not happy at all.
Day two, and the bakers are back in the kitchen
to bake some very different tarts.
This will be their first showstopper challenge.
They've got the freedom to choose their own tart,
and had time to practice in their own kitchen.
But now the judges are expecting something truly spectacular.
Every time we have a challenge, you see more skill
from all the other contestants. Nobody wants to go home
so everybody is doing their absolute best to make sure they stay.
My technical bake was a bit of a disaster
but if I do go out today, at least I want to go out knowing
that I did my absolute best in the showstopper.
That's the plan! (LAUGHS)
Bakers, this is the showstopper challenge
where you can really give it your all.
We would like you to make two little circles of creativity and flavour.
A savoury tart and a sweet tart.
You have five hours for this challenge.
On your marks, get set... bake!
This tart should stand out amongst all the competition
as the very best that the baker can produce.
A boring old tart is not going to cut the mustard.
You've got to put spins on it, add extra ingredients,
or have a very exciting way of presenting it.
Our first showstopper. I'm quite excited about this
because they can do what they want and that's what I'm looking for.
They're gonna have to be creative, have to wow myself and Biddy.
There's quite a lot of time but it's going to be about doing everything
in a really particular way. A lot of attention to detail,
which... probably isn't my best virtue.
It's strange, because you've got five hours, you think that's loads.
But they're giving you so much time to make it perfect. I know.
That's the concern. (SIGHS) I'm sick.
Really? Yeah. I'm so nervous.
(BEEPING)
I have about five timers on the go right now, so I'm very confused.
I don't know what's going to go off any second!
And where I should go when it goes off.
Tom's savoury tart is layers of black pudding,
with roasted beetroot and blue cheese.
His sweet option is a dark chocolate tart
topped with shards of tempered white chocolate.
Very interesting combination of flavours.
Where did you get the idea? Well, I love all the different ingredients,
but I normally would complete it with goat's cheese.
But instead, the blue cheese is nice and gives a sweetness to it as well.
You've set yourself quite a challenge.
It's a showstopper, so I wanted to put out something
that I haven't, you know... I hope it works now.
Yeah, well, so do we. (LAUGHTER)
I'm not a savoury man. I'm in no way, shape or form, a cook.
I'm a baker. Preparing savoury or doing anything savoury,
would not be my strong point at all, so I'm dreading that part.
Steve's savoury tart is smoked haddock and sweetcorn.
His sweet option is chocolate, pear and apple.
Have you tried this recipe out on people at home?
My wife loves it, so that's good enough for me.
(LAUGHS) If I can please her, I can please anyone.
Great. Doesn't matter about the seven kids.
No. They don't eat, anyway.
Unless it's got chocolate on it. Yeah.
Just finishing off my shortcrust pastry for my sweet tart.
Make sure I have enough water in it.
With no restrictions to hold them back,
the bakers can produce any tart with any type of pastry.
From shortcrust to quick puff.
I fold it in and in and then again, like a book.
You do that four times? I do that twice every time. Four times.
Whoa. Because it's quick puff.
It doesn't sound very quick at all. It doesn't sound very quick.
Puff pastry takes 24 hours to make. Oh, days!
Hi, Aoife. Hello.
How are you feeling about the little mishap that you had?
I was actually embarrassed because I enjoy pastry,
and I... I quite like doing it and everything
but that just went to shambles completely.
These things happen. When you pick yourself up from something like that...
That's what I'm hoping to do today. I'm hoping for a clean slate, start all over again.
Aoife from County Kildare is the eldest of five children.
They're a very close bunch, and baking runs in the family.
Her passion for baking was passed down to her
by both her grandmothers.
You deserve a bit of luck today. (LAUGHTER)
I'm hoping to redeem myself. Maybe they're redemption tarts.
Aoife's redemption tarts are a savoury recipe
of goat's cheese, potato and chorizo.
For her sweet offering, strawberry, mascarpone and rhubarb compote.
Trying to think how thick of a layer to do on the bottom,
cos I like the rhubarb, but I don't want to kill them with it.
I don't anything, Aoife.
Go for it.
I'm an empty vessel!
They may be their own recipes,
but the pressure of the Bake Off kitchen presents a whole new challenge.
Rubbish. Rubbish, rubbish, rubbish, rubbish.
I've a line in my recipe to add butter
and I haven't put it in anywhere in my method, where to add the butter.
So I can't remember from making it last time
whether I just have it in my mistake...
...when it belongs somewhere else, or does it go in...?
I don't know what to do. I don't know whether to...
...add it.
Barbara is from Balbriggan, County Dublin.
She met her husband on a blind date
and is now a stay-at-home mum to four children.
Any spare time she can find is spent as an active member of her local GAA club.
Barbara's savoury tart is smoked coley, leek and new potato quiche.
Her sweet option is spiced pear, caramel and chocolate
topped with Italian meringue and a chocolate design.
I'm going to go without the butter.
Nothing I can do now, anyway.
Chocolate is on.
For my savoury tart, it's kind of unusual
because there isn't a wet feeling inside of it.
It's a Mediterranean tart with a red onion marmalade base.
To go with her rough puff red onion and Mediterranean vegetable savoury tart.
Maryanne is also making a shortcrust tart
of white chocolate, rose syrup and raspberry.
My only concern is when you go to cut it,
I feel all the Mediterranean will just go...
Well, I've done it as a standalone round tart at home.
I do it with either filo pastry or a very thin shortcrust. (LAUGHS)
I've never done with puff. Now you're scaring the life out of me.
(LAUGHS) The... parchment that I put on this to make it blind
when I went to lift it out, it's pulled some of this away.
It's pulled little patches away, so I'm going to start from scratch again.
With a sweet tart of shortcrust, peach, amaretto and almond,
Oonagh will be serving savour black pudding and pear tarte tatin
with a balsamic and thyme caramel.
The thing that's exciting me most is your tarte tatin.
Some combination. I mean, balsamic, pears and black pudding.
You're gonna cook it and then turn it out? You nervous about that?
Should I be? (LAUGHTER)
Yeah!
Paul has this great knack of going around
and just making everybody feel a little bit nervous with his questions.
Bakers, you have one hour remaining.
What are you doing? I am doing a profiterole tart for my sweet tart.
I'm trying to catch as many bases as I can,
and hopefully I can redeem myself from yesterday.
As the song goes, "The only way is up."
I can't go any further down! (LAUGHTER)
You're putting cloves into your dessert, aren't you?
I'm putting cloves into my sweet tart, yes.
Cloves remind me of, you know, the dentist.
Are you saying you don't like cloves?
I do like cloves in moderation,
but it does bring back some scary memories.
(LAUGHS)
You're piggy-in-the-middle!
You can put as many cloves as you like in for me!
So what have we got here today?
We have strawberry tart. Absolutely gorgeous.
How are you feeling today after the adjudication
that you got in the previous challenge?
Feeling OK. I'm just... still a bit sick, really, to be honest.
You said to me I had one circle of strawberries.
But when I cut it again, I had one strawberry and one strawberry.
There was two circles, so I was kinda...
I must have cut the wrong wedge. Did I miss the two circles?
Yes. I wasn't really happy. You were a little upset, weren't you?
Upset? I was frustrated.
Bakers, you have 30 minutes remaining.
I think it's actually draining itself.
They have the freedom to do anything in the wide world they want to do.
They've got to get used to the fact they have to pull out the stops.
What's that there? This is the filling for my exotic fruit pie.
Yes. So there's mango puree, passionfruit juice
and lime juice in it. I can't believe the amount of ingredients
you have in your tarts. Yeah, there's quite a lot.
I know I like them, my friends and family like them.
Who do you make the tarts for?
Er, a whole load of people. My family, my friends, erm...
Do you ever worry that people only love you for your baking?
Oh, no, not at all. I know people love me for other things.
I know, don't you worry.
I'm hoping to present the apple and blackberry tart with leaf design,
an apple and blackberry design through the pastry
but it'll just take a little bit longer than I thought.
You're not worried about that, no?
There's nothing I can do about it now.
I'll just see how it gets out. OK.
All right.
My technical bake was OK, it ranked number five.
I know if I make more mistakes, it's not going to recommend me to the judges.
Welcome back to the Great Irish Bake Off.
The bakers have undertaken their first ever showstopper challenge;
Two tarts, one savoury and one sweet.
What this is giving the contestants is a blank piece of paper.
They can do what they want. It's got to look good, too.
There's so many ways they can do that.
It's perfect.
For nearly five hours, the bakers have been rubbing, blending,
sieving and stirring. Now they have less than ten minutes to go.
Getting nervous.
Put some strawberries on it in a minute.
I don't think it's going to go on. Hang on...
If I hold the metal bit here...
Oh, yes. Thank you very much.
(RELIEVED SIGH)
Bakers, you have one minute remaining, OK?
60 seconds to go.
With high standards expected, every second counts.
Time is up.
Stop baking.
That was... tense.
After that showstopper, I'm absolutely shattered.
I'm so tired.
I'm happy with the way the savoury tart went.
But not so happy with the sweet tart.
Orange custard leaked while it was in the oven,
which meant that it kind of got stuck to the tin.
I never actually had a leak before on that particular tart
so that was a bit upsetting today.
But I got on with it and hopefully it'll be OK.
An elimination is in the wind.
And insight the baking tent, Biddy and Paul
will judge each tart individually
before deciding who will stay and who will leave the show today.
Wow, that looks very refreshing, doesn't it? Lovely looking.
Oh, yeah.
Oh, that's beautiful.
That's a relief. (LAUGHS)
I think that's lovely, but for me, the peppers and the courgette
I felt they needed to have a slightly more roasted taste.
OK. Yeah, I agree.
Oh! That's nice. That was my concern about this,
that you put too much gelatin in, but you haven't.
So I'm not concerned.
Ah. That's spot on.
Yeah, you've got away with it. That's a bit of a relief!
I think "you've got away with it" is nearly praise from Paul. (LAUGHS)
(KNIFE CRUNCHES INTO TART) Listen to that.
That's quite nice and crumbly, isn't it?
That's nice pastry. Very nice pastry.
Phew!
That's delicious.
You've created a very interesting tart. You like it? Yeah.
Good. That's beautiful.
Now, this one is full of life, isn't it?
Lots going on there. It's a busy little tart.
It is a busy little tart. Looks like a sunburst design.
The pastry is lovely and thin as well.
Fantastic. I love thin pastry.
What do you think? I think it's good.
Got a crunch in there, despite the very moist filling.
That's lovely. Lovely flavours.
There's something light to it
despite the fact that it looks too rich.
It's actually quite light to eat. It is, yeah. Very summery.
This one looks a bit messy, eh? It's a bit messy, yeah.
Hopefully when you cut into a slice, it will look very nice on the inside.
You want us to do that now, do you? Yes, please!
It looks nice. A surprise inside.
I love surprises, you know that!
It's like a gateaux.
Oh, wow. That's delicious.
Seriously. Thank you.
If you ate it in the dark now, it would be just perfect.
That reminds me of caramel slices.
That's delicious.
And it's not too sweet.
You're actually getting the taste of the chestnuts and the pastry
and the cream and just a little bit of the sweet caramel.
Kind of pale. It is very pale.
Were you erring on the side of caution with that?
No, it was just the wrong oven temperature.
Just a wee bit low. Yeah, yeah.
It's just a wee bit dry possibly in the centre.
Your egg mix. Did you season that as well?
I did, yeah. I think you've gone just a little...
I didn't actually realise that the haddock would be as salty.
It looks gorgeous. Thank you.
There's a nice crack. What's that? The chocolate.
The garnishes are lovely. Well done, that's really brave.
Very tricky.
Erm, I think that piece has gone quite soggy
with all the leakage. Yeah, yeah.
It is soggy, yeah. It is.
I mean, all the flavours go wonderfully together,
it's just... executed, it's just not... Not quite there.
No, it's not quite there, to be honest.
Yeah, the chocolate has really, really set here.
It's been in the fridge as well.
That's very tough. It's quite cold.
OK. You want to get it to the point
where it goes into your mouth and begins to dissolve.
Yeah, yeah.
Because you can't really taste it when it's so cold.
It cuts nice.
Oh, it's beautifully set, isn't it?
It's gorgeous.
No, that's gorgeous.
Oh, yum.
Isn't it?
My God, that's bringing my palate back to life, I tell you.
Really. Zingy in the mouth!
Got to get that recipe off you. I'll give you it, yeah.
It's gorgeous. And it looks gorgeous.
So who makes the best raspberry and pistachio Bakewell?
I have to say...(LAUGHS)
That tastes delicious.
Great flavours. Well done. Thank you.
The pastry OK? Yeah. OK, yeah.
(LAUGHS)
No falling out, boys! No, no!
And you've got nice circles.
(LAUGHS)
A bit pale on top.
The pastry on the base isn't er... Not quite.
...not cooked. It's a little bit bland for me.
I'm just fascinated by the er... the art work.
We're calling it art work. The art work didn't go according to plan,
because I ran out of time. Biddy loves her leaves.
I like REAL leaves!
It takes what's a beautiful, natural tart
and it just takes... for me, it takes it all away.
Oh. There's the clove.
That can just overpower everything. It's so strong.
Even a hint, even one in a tart like that might just do enough.
It's beautifully cooked. Yes, it is, yeah.
Oh, yeah.
Hopefully you're getting a bit of cayenne pepper in there
just to give it a wee bit of a kick.
I think even that idea in itself, is what I'm going to try.
I like it. Cos I love goat's cheese!
And this one I'm very excited. This is the one with the rhubarb?
That's quite crumbly, isn't it? It is, yeah.
But that's sometimes good.
That's delicious, isn't it? I love the combination
of rhubarb and strawberry, anyway.
But that brings it to a new level in taste. That's gorgeous.
Well done, that's gorgeous. Beautiful. Thank you very much.
Decision time for the judges.
Who will face elimination and who will be crowned
this week's star baker?
Were you impressed? I thought it had lovely flavours.
It does look a little bit messy on top
but when you cut into it, the flavours are fantastic.
The flavour just bursts out of that.
That pastry was just divine.
It's just hard to eat. It was disappointing.
We thought it was going to taste good and it didn't.
Once we cut in, it kind of fell apart.
And then, of course, the pastry was raw at the base as well.
You have a lot to think about, cos you have to make two big decisions today.
So I'm going to leave you to deliberate for a while.
Leave you to it. Thanks, Anna.
We've a lot to think about.
I am feeling very vulnerable. I had a very bad technical challenge,
so, yeah, I'm feeling vulnerable about today's elimination.
I would be a bit nervous and a bit worried
because of what happened with the sweet tart
and not having that fully finished on time.
I think so far I've shown some of my abilities,
but I don't feel I've executed anything
as well as I would have liked to do.
Bakers, you have been absolutely wonderful.
Today, we saw some top tarts, I think you'll agree.
Erm, so congratulations to you all. Well done.
But unfortunately, there is a winner and a loser.
This week's star baker is...
...Oonagh. (APPLAUSE AND WHOOPING)
I also have to deliver some horrible bad news.
So the person who's leaving the Great Irish Bake Off this week is...
...Daire.
I definitely enjoyed my time on the Great Irish Bake Off.
To have got this far, I'm very proud of my achievement
but I'll go back to doing what I do best
which is baking in my own kitchen, baking for friends and family,
baking recipes that I'm familiar with and that everybody likes.
I survived despite the disaster technical bake
so thankfully I think the redemption tarts worked this time!
Being star baker, it's fantastic,
especially considering the quality of the other contestants.
They are amazing and I'd put most of them way above me.
So... I'm a bit gobsmacked.
She's some lady, Oonagh Barrett.
She did extremely well. Her peach and amaretto tart
for me was just wonderful. I was just very, very impressed
with her overall bake, both savoury and sweet.
Big round of applause for this guy here.
(CHEERING)
Next week on the Great Irish Bake Off -
the bakers have to get to grips with bread.
The dreaded yeast.
You never know bread until you open it up inside and see.
We're really expecting a lot more from the bakers.
They have to up their game, or they'll be out as quick as a flash.
And they know it. Yours are in, though?
No, they're not!
Think you could do better? Visit -
for all of tonight's recipes.
Plus, a chance to find out about the contestants.
Then catch up on anything you might have missed -