Three out of the four of you will move onto the final.
For this week's signature challenge,
we would like you to bake a cake which symbolises your journey
through the bake-off. I imagine the ingredients will be a few tears,
a couple of tantrums, and a little bit of panic.
And that's just me! (LAUGHTER)
Bakers, for this week's signature challenge, you have three hours.
On your marks, get set... bake!
The bakers must create a cake that represents.
We are looking for the best amateur home baker,
but nevertheless, good imaginative presentation well-finished.
We need that today, we need it in the final.
And flavours most of all.
I'll be looking for all these in the bake this week.
I did not think, particularly coming in the first day
the standard of all the bakers who have been here
I'd ever make it this far. Being in the bake-offs
but being selected for the final 12 and now the final 4
it just really makes you think that the people who are in this final 4,
we are actually quite good.
I can never really appreciate my own baking.
It's just a weird, I suppose, trait of mine
that I can't experience of enjoy what I bake myself.
I might have all the confidence in the world,
but I don't generally have the confidence in my own technical baking.
I feel like I can bake now. Biddy and Paul have validated
that I can actually bake and they've commented on my flavours.
I'm really proud of myself. I'm delighted.
As the cake is cooking, it will have a little bubbling, popping noise.
And it stops when the cake is done, so... there we go.
Oonagh hopes to toast her success
with a cake of star anise, chocolate, lime and champagne.
This is the most I've been having. I'm really enjoying today.
In terms of flavour, Oonagh's work has been top class all the way through.
I'm just folding the almond mix into the egg whites
to make the macaroon.
All her mixes have been very, very nice
and that's really what's got her to this stage in many ways.
At this point now, Oonagh really has to up her game on presentation.
It's so, so important for every bake.
I believe we're all part of your cake.
Yes, everybody is part of my cake.
Can't wait to hear this! Want to know why, do you?
I want to know what part I am.
The bottom is chocolate and anise, and the top is lime and champagne.
The sandwich filling is Anna in the middle.
The lime part is gorgeous. It's erm, zingy and er, fun and bright
and sharp as well.
That sounds perfect. Well done. You are the winner.
Thank you. (LAUGHTER)
And then I've got macaroons on it
to represent all the friends that I've made along the way.
Are you confident that your macaroons
are going to be nice and crunchy on the outside?
I was till you say things like that, then everything falls apart!
It's turning out nice there, Steve. Huh?
Quarter-lengths is as close as I get to shorts.
Once you get past your mid-30's, shorts are not an option.
Think of all the 50-year-olds who want to wear shorts.
Will's been on an amazing journey. He'll admit that himself.
He's really come out of his shell,
both in his personality and in his baking skills.
I'm more happy with what I'm doing.
The oven, all that sort of stuff. There's no excuses anymore.
Very OCD with cleaning here.
Everyone cracks up because I use so many tea towels.
Will is flying the flag in his bake.
A chiffon cake with green and orange on the inner layer,
decorated with a Dutch flag and buttercream icing.
That smells nice.
On the outside it's the Dutch colours to represent
a lot of the dishes that I've made so far
with either a Dutch element or Dutch implements.
So green and orange. It's gonna be inside the cake.
Are you gonna cover the cake with something? A Dutch flag-coloured icing,
so blue, red and white and inside it's green and orange.
I find I use ten times more baking parchment here.
Sheets of it coming out!
Maryanne is revisiting her journey through the bake-off
with her own spin on a fraisier cake.
I choose a fraisier cake because the basis of it is a Geonese sponge.
It was the first cake we made in the bake-off and I'd never made one before.
It was a big step for me, particularly being made star baker,
so I'm taking that as the basis for my cake.
It's not a traditional one, because I'm going to change
the patisserie and use the white chocolate bavarois instead.
Very good. I'm also going to attempt to master my nemesis of praline
and get it right!
And mine's going to be petite.
It's what we said before, it's important just to focus on yourself.
(LAUGHTER) Don't look back there!
I think when you get this far you tend to concentrate
on what you've messed up
and it's very hard to remember the things you've done well in
cos you're constantly trying to remind yourself what not to do wrong.
I don't think I've been happy with any of my finished cakes,
not any of them. Maryanne has had her ups and downs.
She's been star baker, she's been last.
How's yours coming on, Maryanne?
I'm doing the individual components. I haven't put it together yet.
That's where it could all go pear-shaped.
I think she panics a bit sometimes and then beats herself up
and loses time worrying about what's gone before.
She's made sometimes some not good decisions
and then some very, very good decisions.
She needs to be able to stand back and relax
and just enjoy the moment as much as possible.
Interviewing strawberries for a job. It's ridiculous!
I'm just sizing these buddies up. Nothing is perfect in nature.
I've got to work with what I'm given.
Bakers, you have one hour remaining.
That's 60 minutes to go.
The last of our four bake-off semi-finalists is Stephen,
twice nominated as star baker.
Stephen's here. I'm putting some mint leaves
on top of some macaroons.
Going to experiment a little bit.
I don't know if it's going to work or not.
Stephen has been star baker twice.
He's a very steady, methodical worker.
He's skilled. He's calm.
His presentations have been possibly amongst the best.
I think Stephen does have a panache for baking.
He's bringing unusual stuff into this bake
and it's pushing him and also pushing the other bakers
to reach that high level.
This is a very brave bake. Where did you get the idea from?
Which are traditionally eaten at the Lughnasa festival in August.
In Irish mythology, there was a set of games played
thousands of years ago called the Tailteann Games.
So I thought this represented the competition we've had.
You know, 12 bakers of unbelievable skill
and everything's come on strength from strength each week.
Look at them ones! But I've nearly cooked them already by mistake.
I've had them over heat just to give them some volume and er...
they're not soft. They've been out for 15 minutes and not sank.
Oh, the macaroons! I tried them four times.
The first time they were a little bit stiff and stodgy-looking
so I made a new batch and that was too runny.
Then I thought, OK, third batch, I'll mix the two batches together
cos surely that'll equal out.
No, they were even worse. Then I made a brand new batch
and hoped these were perfect and they were the worst of all!
So I actually used the first batch that I made, so...
I'm going in.
Paul said to try and tuck your elbow in and keep it in one place.
Wow!
And they need to reflect that in this bake.
But Stephen and Will's journey has brought them
to the same type of sponge.
Or what it's supposed to look like. It's supposed to be as light as a cloud.
They're so light and everything
it's so the protein doesn't stretch on the way down.
So they don't actually collapse when you bring them out.
I need to leave all three of these to cool. You love being here?
It's great. Best fun ever.
You can maybe build a little tent out in your own back garden.
Just go out every Saturday...
In my apartment complex, yeah, a big massive tent!
"Hi, guys. I'm baking for the weekend!"
It's the semi-final of The Great Irish Bake-off
here at Clonabreany House
where the clock is ticking for our four bakers
on the signature challenge.
Decorating is very, very important because we've asked them this week
to basically express themselves and their journey in the cake.
The last time I used this was for a nine-year-old's
cupcake decorating party with 20 9-year-olds running around.
There was glitter on everything. I'm just trying to
recreate the stalk of the strawberry in such a way
that Paul will be happy with it.
(LAUGHS) This is making sure that everything on the plate is edible
because he thinks it's much more polished.
I love cake decorating.
I'm probably more into it than the baking aspect of things.
I forget how long these bloody things take.
Great idea at the time!
A critical time. That looks so beautiful.
Gorgeous. What is it, a daffodil?
Only joking!
I'm here doing another very manly thing.
Drawing some faces to put on my macaroons.
Trying to make them all just look the same.
And they're all different sizes as well, so it's a bit difficult.
The significance is to show the different emotions.
The drama face, you've got the happy and you've got the sad,
and the smaller ones at the top. It's showing that at the start,
we had so many people and towards the end, our numbers have dwindled.
Bakers, we have ten minutes remaining.
Not long.
Basically.
At home, I think my presentation is really good.
And they're all so professionally done.
Mine look like a complete mess.
So I do have to focus on my presentation.
My flavours are grand, but my presentation isn't.
So that's what I'm trying to do.
Because it's three tiers on top of each other
so I really don't want that to happen.
This is why I'm putting on the cake dowels.
You just stick them into the cake erm, for each layer.
It goes on and they act as a bit more...
If I put the cake on, it could all sink down
whereas this spreads the weight of it a bit more.
With a place in the final at stake,
for one of these bakers.
So if at first you don't succeed...
I'm gonna start again, I wasn't happy. It was off-centre.
Very Willy Wonka.
I never put the praline in. Again.
Bakers, you've actually two minutes now. Two minutes remaining.
What are you doing? I'm gonna try and add the praline.
Cos if I don't, it's just... it's not what it's supposed to be.
Good on you. Got to get it back on, though. That's the problem!
There's one minute left.
60 seconds to go.
Bakers, time is up. Stop baking.
I'm happy. I think that's probably the only time I've ever said that
here in the bake-off. I am.
I don't think if I had left out the praline
it would have affected the taste very much,
There's a story that goes with it
and I think there would definitely have been a major chapter missing
if the praline hadn't been included. (LAUGHS)
I think it's kind of fun, the colourful decoration.
It's really bright and elegant, I suppose.
I'm expecting to hear from the judges today that they like my cake
and like the lightness of the sponge.
The challenge went pretty good, I thought.
I got everything made that I wanted to get made
and it looks OK, I think, yeah.
But will it be all smiles for the bakers
when they face the judges with their signature challenge celebration cake?
Time to find out.
The macaroons, the lovehearts, are for me, a little bit cracked.
They're supposed to be. They're broken hearts.
Gotcha! (LAUGHTER)
Paul, how do you feel about how the cake looks?
The presentation, for me, it's just not...
at this level, at the semi-final level,
The cake has to be very visually pleasing as well.
This, to me, is not.
The macaroon's spot-on. Is it?
Absolutely spot-on. Oh, great.
I was expecting it to be hard and chewy... it's not at all.
It's melt-in-your-mouth. Fantastic.
It's not what you expect. But then, your flavours are always beautiful.
I want you as my flavour-o-meter in my house forever!
You're spot-on. Beautiful.
The chocolate and anise is gorgeous. Good.
I think it's very jolly.
That's what I'm going for.
I'm seeing a bit of a mish-mash here with all this stuff.
I mean, is this the way it should have looked?
Er... ideally not, I suppose, because the choux went all a bit... haywire.
We're cutting into a bit of Ireland now, are we?
Lots of colours going on there, aren't there? Wow.
That's a colourful cake. Cake's delicious.
It really is. You don't know how much I practised that sponge.
It's so important. Especially when you're trying to explain a story or a journey.
That's so colourful, it's almost blinding.
Paul, how do you feel about the look of it?
The smiley faces are really impressive
and it's the saviour of the cake.
You've got cake boards inbetween each layer, do you?
I don't, actually. Just the dowels, yeah.
So each cake layer should have a small thin board
to keep it nice and straight
because otherwise, the dowel will just go up through the sponge.
That's an interesting flavour off that.
The blueberries, they've more flavour in there
than they normally have.
It's lovely and moist because of the syrup as well.
The macaroons are a little bit dry. OK.
They're a little bit powdery as well.
That looks beautiful.
Beautiful combinations there. Beautiful flavours.
Looking at this cake as well, it's very clean, it's very nice.
I would just question what point are you trying to bring across?
What are you trying to point out? It'd be nice to have
specific things on top of the journey.
I was trying to decide whether I'd go with something
that's very visually my journey or to go with something from a recipe point of view.
I made the decision to go with the recipe.
Yeah. I'm big on visual. I like to see something first,
and then ask you questions.
Just imagine, for example, from day one you had the cupcake.
Maybe a bit of pistachio cake. You know, small little figurines like that on top
in a kind of organised way on top of the cake.
That would have been just amazing.
They were very tough in the judging just there now
so I think everyone's feeling a bit worried.
There was not one thing they didn't comment on, really.
Yeah, it was quite tough. Disappointed in their response
to what we thought was a lovely theme, their journey.
Different events that would have happened along the journey in the bake-off.
In some cases, that just didn't happen.
Presentation-wise, Paul didn't think it was what it should have been.
I think what he expected would have been a bit of a big ask in three hours.
I know it's semi-final level and some people get amazing finishes on their cakes.
I know it could look better, but I'm an amateur baker.
I'm not a professional. Going into technical bake,
I need to be as good as I can possibly be to see myself into the final.
I know that the judges are going to expect a huge amount from us.
I was very surprised at what the bakers put out in front of us today.
I was expecting so much more from them, I really was.
Semi-final stage in the competition.
They really need to step up their game.
It's the semi-final and the bakers have had some harsh words
from the judges after their signature bake.
Now they have to impress in the dreaded technical challenge.
Today's definitely the most nervous I've felt in the competition.
It's the last chance to prove you belong in the final.
It's quite a level playing field.
Very nervous going into the technical bake today.
Today will be make or break.
You're looking for the harshest criticism possible
cos you can't learn unless you're getting criticised properly.
Or at least given a good critique on what you've just done.
Biddy has created recipes in which the ingredients
are from nature's supermarket.
We would like you to make a crab and sea beet tart
with wild garlic leaves.
Served with a sabayon of white wine and rock samphire.
And for dessert - (QUIETLY) What?!
With a berry compote, garnished with crystallised wildflowers
and served with whiskey snaps.
(MUTTERS) That's all.
Biddy, would you like to tell us about these recipes?
This series of recipes, they're very simple.
It reflects the sea shore, the sea and the woodland
and things that are in season now.
Thanks very much, Biddy.
This challenge will be blind-judged so I'm going to have to ask.
Biddy and Paul to leave the tent.
Good luck.
Bakers, you have two-and-a-half hours for this technical challenge.
On your marks, get set... bake!
For this two-course challenge,
"Crab and sea beet tart flavoured with wild garlic leaves in a sabayon sauce,."
It's all stuff that Biddy has foraged in the past.
I can imagine Biddy going around the woods of Ireland on all fours
like something from Twilight. (LAUGHS)
Biddy is passionate about baking and wild natural ingredients.
Her crab and sea beet tart is the perfect combination.
So, Biddy, I've been looking forward to this challenge.
This is one of your babies.
This is my baby. Tell us a little bit about your tart.
It's a lovely combination of flavours.
None should overwhelm the other. Will we have a taste?
Look at that. How juicy does that look?
The lovely sabayon, the way it blends into the crab.
Oh my God, that's beautiful.
That is exactly what it looks like. That just looks delicious,
and tastes delicious as well. That's fantastic.
Step one is making the shortcrust pastry with wild garlic leaves
using the 'rub in' method.
I'll be looking for the quality of the pastry, the thickness of the pastry.
The quality of the bake.
What do you feel about Biddy's menu?
There's so much to do!
But I think Paul and Biddy made it very clear
that's only the tip of the iceberg.
The hardest part of this dish is the timing.
There are so many components in two-and-a-half hours. It's not even funny.
It can be done in the time.
Biddy's got a sense of humour, I'll give her that.
(LAUGHTER)
The bakers have never seen the finished tart
so with the pastry in the oven, time for the savoury filling.
Both the judges want everybody to perfect the presentation.
At the end of the day, if you have big chunks of onion in a tart,
It needs to be finely chopped. That, inside a tart
outside a tart, as to how it looks like, you know. Yes.
That's what it's all about and what Paul and Biddy are looking for.
To the carefully chopped onions
the bakers add finely chopped garlic, peppers
and then Biddy's foraged sea beet.
I just tasted it and it tasted a bit cabbage-y.
A lot of them are really native Irish ingredients
that no-one would ever go near,
so learning about all the different leaves that Biddy provided,
the sea beet, the wild garlic, it was a real treat if anything,
to be doing what we were doing today.
Once I start smelling the crab I'm gonna start hurling.
When the sea beet is softened,
Do you do any savoury baking at all? Oh, yeah.
I absolutely love doing savoury cooking.
There's a couple of little holes where I dropped the pastry
so that the filling doesn't actually go through
and I did grease it very well, but I'm hoping that it's not going to stick.
If it does, that's gonna be the end of that.
Bakers, you have one hour to go. One hour remaining.
Once the pastry is semi-cooked, the crab mixture can be added.
You don't realise how much you rely on cookery books
to see what the end product is supposed to look like.
This is complete guesswork, no drawing on our knowledge or experience.
Next, they add lightly beaten cream and eggs.
Care must be taken not to overfill, leaving room for the sabayon layer.
It seems quite... wet. There's a lot of liquid
because you have to add the juice of a whole lemon.
Seems a lot.
Oh, shoot. One second.
It's overfull.
I'm making the sabayon of white wine
which is going to go onto the tart which is already in the oven.
This is the first time I've made this, so...
Anyone find what the samphire's for?
Er... haven't got to there yet, in fact.
Unless it's considered a wild herb.
The sabayon by whisking egg yolks, pickled samphire
and white wine vinegar. Then whisked over a water bath at low heat.
Sabayon, I think it's curdled a little bit.
The heat was just too high.
So I'm not going to risk it. I'm going to start again.
Perfectly flush to the crust of the tart.
Like an omelette. Omelette-y texture.
The second part of Biddy's technical challenge
reinforces her passion for ingredients
that can be foraged in the wild - carrageen mousse.
You're afraid of carrageen. I am afraid of carrageen.
I am afraid of it. I had some nightmares early on in my career
of carrageen. I haven't really ever. What happened?
Working with it was just an unusual flavour for me.
So what have you done here?
You take the carrageen and you simmer it
over an extremely gentle heat.
You know what I'm thinking when I'm looking at this?
I'm thinking of the classic panna cotta. It has the same texture.
It's like the Irish version of panna cotta.
That's so light. Yeah.
That's just gone. Yeah.
That's really nice. I'm converted.
First, the dried carrageen moss
must be softened by soaking in warm water.
The carrageen stuff. What do you think it tastes like?
A little bit apprehensive about that one.
That's the leftover bit and it's kind of gloopy.
But I'm sure it will taste lovely. (LAUGHS)
How's your er, moss thing?
Mine went into a sort of jelly. Did yours?
Yeah, it did. It says to soften it, it doesn't say to... jellify it.
Once softened, the carrageen moss is added to milk, sugar and vanilla.
Will you know when this is done? Apparently, it's to nearly dissolve.
The sweet side of this particular technical challenge
I'll be looking for textures and flavours
and how they approach this particular challenge.
To create the mousse texture, egg whites are added.
Are they in? Yeah. Good for you.
I don't know whether they'll work or not. That's a different story.
Ha! Presentation is everything at this stage.
Four bakers are working on the technical bake,
hoping to make it through to next week's final.
The recipe, using wild natural ingredients,
is Biddy's crab and sea beet tart, followed by carrageen mousse.
Cos there's so many different things to do,
I'm not too sure about half the ingredients we're using.
Next, the bakers tackle the whiskey snaps,
Is yours really runny? They are cooked at 190 degrees
for five to seven minutes, or till golden brown in colour.
Bakers, you have 15 minutes to go. That's 15 minutes remaining.
That was five minutes. Oh, no!
(GASPS) OK, start again, then.
Burnt.
Begging the higher heavens to... let me get through
and not mess this up, cos it's kind of burnt a little bit.
I'm really pleased with that. Afraid to say it, but I am pleased with that.
Right, berries.
The final touch for Biddy's technical jigsaw
is a berry compote to be served with a carrageen mousse.
How much cornflour do you use? Couple of teaspoons.
Presentation, for me, is massive.
Whether it's Biddy's challenge or my own, I'll be looking for clean presentation,
clean plates, no fingerprints, no messy sauces,
and nothing that's burnt or might not look very well.
This is going to be hard to get off. Just trying to...
Come on... get off.
Well, it's underbaked. Sugar.
It's just ever so slightly pale and I know they hate pale pastry.
I'm just going to give it another minute or two.
Five minutes remaining.
Do you leave yours on the... the metal?
I think I'll leave mine on the metal.
I'm gonna have to. It's not cool enough to take off.
In just a few minutes, one baker will leave the competition
and these finishing touches could make all the difference.
Taste and presentation are vital
and the mousse is one place where you really don't want to break the mold.
Whoa. OK, that came out OK.
First one turned out beautifully and I thought, "Great. This is fantastic."
The second one, nothing. Put it in hot water again, a bit of it came out.
Went another time. And about four or five times later,
it kind of just went -
Oh, yes.
Oh, well done.
Bakers, there's 60 seconds left.
One minute remaining.
That's ridiculous now.
Ah, shit...
Bakers, time is up. Stop baking.
I'm beating myself up about one of the mousses at the end
because when I turned it out it didn't hold together
and kind of splayed all over the plate.
Very nervous about the judging, I think all of us are.
I didn't even feel as nervous going in and getting my results
I can't imagine there's going to be that much of a difference between them.
It's probably going to go down to presentation and the finer details.
The judges' task is massive in trying to decide.
We'll soon find out fairly soon.
Any three of us can go through to the final.
I think a lot of the weeding out has been done at this stage.
It's going to be very tough to call.
I'm really not looking forward to the judging.
I think that there's a strong possibility
that this could be it for me,
because just looking at other people's, theirs turned out quite well.
Yeah, not looking forward to it.
They just expect now that all the bakes will be perfect.
Or anything else like that.
It's all fine to say the presentation is nice,
but that's assuming everything else is OK, which they're expecting.
We're here to judge today's technical challenge.
Tiny bit underbaked.
The sabayon on the top of this was a little extra treat, really.
Almost like a hollandaise on top of your steak,
but it would be nice to have this a little bit browner on top,
a little bit longer baked.
I like the garnish very much. I think it's attractive.
Again, pastry's not really been cooked.
(LAUGHTER)
I think the flavours are gorgeous. They really hit you, don't they?
That's just beautiful. Wow. Really, really nice.
When I started cooking, carrageen souffle was on the menu
and none of us could get it right.
This seems to be served upside down.
Yeah. That's bringing back memories.
(LAUGHTER) Good or bad?
I don't know, what I'd like to do is taste it all together.
That's better.
That's much better, yeah.
These are a nice colour. They are a nice colour.
That's nice, a nice flavour off the snaps.
I'm immediately attracted to the look of this.
It's still quite pale the pastry, isn't it?
It is.
That's bursting with flavour. Lovely flavour.
And the vinegar and the sabayon on top is coming through later again.
It's just beautiful.
One perfect one and one that's collapsed.
One disastrous one here.
The whiskey snaps are perfect. That's nice.
They look great. Yeah, that's bringing back memories.
I can't get those memories out of my head, Biddy.
(LAUGHS)
It is a bit, isn't it? Yeah.
This tart has a little bit more colour which is really nice to see.
I love the different layers.
You've got the sabayon, then you've got the filling,
you've got the tart on the base. Really, really nice.
They've removed the base from the tart as well, which is nice.
It's drier inside. But I kind of like that in a way,
because you actually taste the crab more. That's stunning.
That's gorgeous. Yeah.
This carrageen has completely flopped.
The whiskey snap is gorgeous. Really, really nice.
This is the way I imagined it.
The combination there again is really good.
The berries and the carrageen go really well together.
The carrageen here hasn't set properly.
It's not really what both of us were looking for here.
It's flopped on the plate. You couldn't possibly serve that.
This looks nice. Yeah.
This one has a nice even layer of the sabayon
which is really what we were looking for.
Is that on the thin? Yes, it is.
A little bit light on the cooking.
It's undercooked.
Just a little bit undercooked with that.
Everything else has been executed pretty well.
These have really held their shape well. Yeah.
Whoever has done this has took the time to cook the carrageen,
given it time to set and to settle.
It's still a bit grainy, rather than smooth, but it's beautifully set.
I'm getting to quite like the carrageen actually!
The more I taste it!
Now, time for Biddy and Paul to score the final four.
Well done on this very difficult technical challenge set by Biddy.
I think they rose to the challenge pretty well.
To my eye, this all looks like something I would want to eat.
Most of all the flavours. Fantastic.
And all the pastry is nice and thin.
(LAUGHTER)
Who baked this one?
Stephen, I very much liked the flavours coming through in this one.
It was perhaps a little bit drier than the others.
The plus side of that was that we got.
The carrageen mousse didn't quite work for you.
You're in fourth place.
Oonagh is third, Maryanne comes in second.
First place goes to Will.
This is the nearest to a really well-made carrageen.
The texture is right, it's very, very smooth.
While you didn't quite get the sabayon
right into every single corner
it still is a beautifully baked tart.
Makes you the winner of this one.
After the initial comments, I didn't think I would come last.
Maryanne's tart was underbaked,
whereas mine was probably better baked.
You're just praying that you're not fourth.
Hopefully now when they give us the deliberation
I've done enough to be in the final.
If we start off with the first of our semi-finalists, Will.
Who I think has probably created a psychedelic trip
in the shape of a cake. Biddy?
It was just a disaster area for him. I mean, it doesn't look nice.
Will wanted to get a celebration of both the Dutch and the Irish together
and in many ways, it just didn't work out like that.
He had the flag colours, but the point is they don't go together.
Therefore, the idea was ill-conceived right from the start.
Have been really, really tough.
It's tough to tell who's going to be eliminated.
Maryanne surprised me. Sometimes she has a good week,
and then she has a bad week. The only thing I would say
is I think she could have done better.
She played it a little bit safe. She chose a cake
that was actually quite simple to make.
Because there wasn't too much that could go wrong in the cake itself for her.
I'll be absolutely gutted to go. I really don't want to go.
But if that's the case, I'm just gonna have to take it.
His carrageen is a complete disaster.
That's very unusual for Stephen, because normally
in the technical bakes, he's very good at reading.
He's very good like that, so I'm just...
Our friend the rain has arrived again.
It has. Welcome back!
In two technical challenges I came first,
I got star baker one week and my bakes and my flavours
have always been good. So maybe that might save me,
but I really don't know.
Oonagh, our queen of flavours.
Oonagh's got a gift for flavours. It's remarkable how she does it.
Bakers, the rain has arrived just as we deliver the tough news.
I think we all agree that you should feel so proud
that you've made it to the semi-finals.
We think you've done an incredible job,
so congratulations on being here.
Unfortunately, only three people can go through to the final next week,
But there is good news. We have decided our star baker.
Like all the bakers this week,
there were highs and lows, but actually for this baker,
there were more highs
and the judges really feel that it's a return to form for this person.
So, the star baker this week is...
...Maryanne.
We wish that we didn't have to say goodbye to anybody,
but unfortunately, one of you has to go home.
So, the person who's leaving The Great Irish Bake-off this week is...
...I'm sorry, it's Oonagh.
I'm very sad to be going home. Very, very sad.
They chose the right person to go home
and they chose the right three people to go into the final.
I'm disappointed, but I think I'll probably go away now,
take a few deep breaths, and realise, well,
I got to the semi-final. I was absolutely thrilled to get to the semi-final.
She has not had one bake that hasn't gone well.
All her baking has been spot on.
But I'm genuinely really, really shocked.
I'll never stop baking. I've been baking for 30 years or so now.
I don't think I'll ever stop baking, I love it.
I loved it before I came in, I still love it.
The strongest three contenders are in the final.
Very shocked to be through to the final of the Irish bake-off.
(PHONE RINGS)
I'm through to the final. WOMAN: Oh my God!
Oh my God, congratulations!
Well done! Thanks.
I'm so proud of you. Thanks very much.
Yes, of course I want to win. Everybody who entered wanted to win.
I completely want to win this. This is the number one goal.
I'm really hungry for the title. Next week, the final.
Only one can claim The Great Irish Bake-off crown.
I think I'm going to be a very, very tough judge in the final.
I'm going to be looking for so much detail.
We have to find a winner. Any one of them could win, and they know that.
I just hope they all rise to that challenge.
This has everything, do you know what I mean? It's just fantastic.
The winner of The Great Irish Bake-off 2013 is...
by Deluxe