Welcome to Junior Bake Off, the show that's whisking up a storm
to find Britain's best young baker.
The Bake Off tent is home to the greatest baking battle on earth.
If I did win Junior Bake Off I think it would be the biggest thrill ever.
32 of the country's finest bakers
will be pushed to their baking limits.
Oh, I've been caught, I've been caught.
A disaster could quite easily come.
But who will rise?
Come on!
My sponges are looking great so far and I'm really proud.
And who will crumble?
No!
The bakers will whisk, fold and ice their way through cakes,
biscuits and bread.
But only one can be crowned Junior Bake Off Champion.
But to get to the title,
there's two people they must impress. Our judges.
The Queen of Cake-Making Mary Berry...
I am excited about finding the very best junior baker.
..And Master Baker Paul Hollywood.
We've got a load of young bakers with a passion for baking,
and I can't wait to see what they'll bake for us.
It's going to get through there, innit?
Er...
'My name is Aaron Craze and I'll be here to support the bakers...'
What have we done?
'..as 32 are whittled down to just one.'
In today's heat, four hopefuls face two tough challenges.
First they must impress as they go head to head to recreate
one of Mary's own recipes for a jam-filled Swiss Roll.
In the second they've got to blow the judges away
by creating the most incredible and unique cake they can
inspired by today's theme, birthdays.
They're going to have to pull out all the stops,
as only one can go through to the semifinal.
But who will it be? Meet...
Katie from County Fermanagh.
When I'm baking I really calm down, so when I'm baking I'm like...
If I won Junior Bake Off I would feel ecstatic. Really ecstatic.
Conal from Cambridge.
Being part of the Junior Bake Off is so amazing.
It's just going to be so fun, and a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
I'm really excited I have the chance to show how good I am at baking.
Coco-Nina from Bath.
I love baking cos it makes me feel really happy if I master something,
like beating an egg really well.
Even something little like that just makes me feel really nice inside.
I'm totally thrilled to be doing this.
I mean, like, it's actually really, really, really, really, REALLY awesome.
..And Jacob from Herefordshire.
If I was to describe myself as a baker,
I would say I'll be a perfectionist
and I'll be really creative and experiment with all my bakes.
I'm going to let my baking do the talking
and hopefully blow the judges' socks off.
Four confident bakers,
but who will have what it takes to win a place in the semifinal?
For the first challenge, the bakers must each make a Swiss Roll,
a light sponge spread with jam
and tightly rolled up, following Mary's recipe.
First of all, the appearance. I want a well-baked sponge,
a nice even brown, no cracks in it,
and each piece should have that lovely spiral.
The bakers each have exactly the same ingredients and time to bake,
but if they stray away from Mary's method,
they could end up with totally different results.
OK, guys. Have you washed your hands?
Good!
Now, your Swiss Rolls are going to be judged on technique,
taste, texture, and appearance.
You've only got one hour to complete the Swiss Rolls.
This is your opportunity
to impress the judges and show them what you've got.
On your marks...
Get set...
Bake!
These guys know their way round a kitchen,
so if you fancy baking make sure you ask an adult.
All the bakers are experienced sponge makers,
but this will really test them.
It's a completely new technique for them to master.
11-year-old Coco-Nina was taught to bake by her great-granny
and thinks that concentration is vital to perfecting Mary's method.
I think they key to doing well is just to keep your eye on it,
cos you can overdo it or underdo it
and that can be, like, all the difference, I think.
I think baking from a Mary Berry recipe is really cool
cos she's obviously a really good baker.
So hopefully it should be up to her standards.
Cos I really don't want to... I want to impress her!
'The bakers have all made a confident start to this tricky task,
'and 11-year-old Conal doesn't look like
'he's about to fold under the pressure.'
- Hi, Conal. - Hi. - Word up.
As they say in the hood.
What got you into the actual baking?
I started cooking when I was three,
so when I started cooking more stuff I was five, so...
So you are actually a veteran.
You've been cooking nearly as long as Mary!
That's a long time. Wow.
As good as Mary, maybe, are you? Or...
I hope so, but I don't think so.
Success or failure in this challenge
depends on being able to bake under pressure, and 12-year-old
baking perfectionist Jacob thinks he has a winning game plan.
My strategy is keeping my focus and concentration on MY thing.
Don't look around at everyone else's, look at mine.
So...I feel quite confident at the moment,
but you never know what's going to happen.
'Whilst the other bakers are trying to keep a tidy workstation,
'nine-year-old Katie's having much more fun.'
- Want me to get rid of that for you? - Yeah.
Oh!
Oh, look at that. Brand new, that is!
How are you finding the challenge, Katie?
- Good. - Yeah? - I've only made a Swiss Roll once, so... - Once? - Yeah.
- Ooh. - That's what happens in the technical challenge -
you've either not made it before or you've only made it once.
- Oh! - What?
Oh, yeah.
HUMS INNOCENTLY
I never said nothing, yeah? I never said nothing.
Don't... Oi! Are you going to put your head in it?
Whole head in it, yeah?
Nice. I like that.
- It's going to get through there, innit? - Er...
They're lovely. Oh!
Beautifully done.
With all the mixture in her tin -
just -
Katie can join the other bakers
in getting her Swiss Roll into the oven and baking.
All the bakers can do is wait patiently as the sponges rise.
It's looking good at the moment. It's rised a lot,
it's only got two to four minutes left in the oven.
But in one oven, it seems disaster has struck!
Er...well, I'm hoping that in the next couple of minutes,
it will work.
But I think there might have been a little disaster.
It's sort of risen on the edges and sunk in the middle.
Both the things I've been dreading to happen, at the same time.
Hopefully it'll sink down when it cools.
Work!
I'm really worried this isn't going to work now.
Coco-Nina will just have to cross her fingers
and hope her sponge levels out in time.
OK, guys, you've got ten minutes left to bake. Ten minutes.
When I came out the oven I steamed my glasses up,
so I had to put them down. Annoying.
'With the clock running down, Jacob and Conal
'are the first to get their sponges out the oven,
'and they're looking good.' Well done!
It's looking very nice, and I wouldn't say it's overcooked
or...undercooked. I'd say it was pretty much perfect.
Katie is next to get her sponge out of the oven,
and she gets a nasty surprise.
This kind of folded in on it,
so it's a wee bit down from the other side.
And so's this side. But it's all right.
You won't see it once it's cut up and rolled.
As expected, Coco-Nina's sponge need serious emergency treatment,
but she's not giving up on it yet.
It's not quite as I'd have hoped,
but still... I might be able to flatten...
Yeah, just, I thought this might happen. It's sort of hollow.
But I have a plan.
My plan is to cut off the bits which haven't worked.
They'll be on the inside, so hopefully they won't notice.
But there's no escaping hawk-eyed Hollywood!
Oh, I've been caught, I've been caught!
No!
OK, guys. You'd better get your Swiss Roll.
You've got five minutes left.
Now the bakers only have a few minutes left to master
the trickiest part of the challenge - rolling.
And things are going from bad to worse for Coco-Nina.
Her first roll was a disaster!
I think it might have risen a bit too much. Cos, um...
If you look at that, I think you're meant to see jam, and...
I'm just going to spread around the jam.
Will it be second time lucky?
I'm making a bit of a mess of it.
Not sure whether it'll taste good, but I'm hoping that it will,
because I don't think it's going to win appearance-wise.
'Coco-Nina must get her Swiss Roll in a suitable state for judging
'and she's hardly got any time to turn it around.'
Bakers, you've got one minute left to bake.
I think what I have right now is very good,
and I'm just going to leave it there before something bad happens.
Hmm.
Hopefully they won't look underneath. That's the plan.
OK, bakers, stop rolling! Step away from your worktops.
The bakers are about to have their cakes
judged for the first time by two of the country's best baking experts.
Paul and Mary are looking for each Swiss Roll
to have a light golden sponge, be tightly rolled and neatly presented.
Well, I think they've done well, don't you?
It's a difficult challenge.
- Jacob, we'll start with? - We'll start with Jacob.
Jacob's strategy was to be quietly focused from the start,
but will his technique show through
in the look and taste of his Swiss Roll?
Cuts through very nicely. We've got a lovely spiral there, haven't we?
There is a little bit of a crack just here.
Yeah.
Good bake.
- Excellent bake. - Fantastic.
- Great spiral. It's a nice Swiss Roll, that, well done. - Thank you.
Coco-Nina had to save her sponge when it over-inflated in the oven,
and she had a nightmare rolling it out.
But has she successfully salvaged her Swiss Roll?
- The swirl's not bad. - That swirl, I think she's got there, don't you?
We've got the brown bit in the middle,
and we've obviously got the air pocket that you peeled off, I can see that.
- It's a little bit tougher. - Mmm.
And has, I think, a little less rise.
Conal was calm, collected and confident throughout his bake,
but will his Swiss Roll send the judges in a spin?
I think you did really well,
and it looks a nice, even bake.
And it's a good colour. Nice swirl.
- It's a lovely light-looking mixture, isn't it? - It is.
Lots of air in there.
That tastes really good. Perfect bake.
Katie's sponge didn't rise as well as she hoped,
but she still managed to roll with the punches.
What will the judges make of her cake?
You have got a nice swirl.
- You've got a bit of a nice size as well, it's come up well. - Yes.
Let's just have a quick look inside.
A nice lot of jam in there.
That tastes really good. It's a lovely flavour.
It just tastes good, and it's a nice Swiss Roll.
That's your first challenge complete.
You just have one more to face before Paul and Mary
decide who goes through to the semifinals.
Best of luck.
I'm very proud of the comments and I think I did really well.
I thought the judges' comments were strict, but kind of fair.
Cos it wasn't the best.
The only negative comment the judges gave me
was the little crack in the cake.
If that's the only thing wrong, I'm quite happy.
I'm quite confident after that challenge.
My Swiss Roll was good, and...
my cake for the next challenge is great, so...
Just have to wait and see, won't we?
OK, guys, this is your second test. It's the invention challenge.
where you have to let your imaginations run wild.
Cos you've got the opportunity of making the ultimate birthday cake.
Now Paul and Mary are going to be looking for great ideas,
clever decorating, but most of all, it's got to taste fantastic.
On your marks...get set...
bake!
The bakers only have an hour and a half
to bake the birthday cakes they've been practicing at home.
It's the perfect chance to show off their skills and imagination,
with a little slice of birthday bling.
Katie is wasting no time cracking on with her cake.
- Hello, Katie. - Hello. - How are you going? - Messy.
- Messy? - Yeah. - As usual.
so what are you baking for the invention challenge?
Well, I'm baking a butterfly cake with caterpillars.
My cousin just turned 18,
so the caterpillar and the butterfly is to represent
moving on from being a child to an adult.
I get that - the old cocoon, and then...like it.
Earlier, Jacob wowed the judges with his Swiss roll,
but he's not about to play it safe with his birthday bake.
I'm making a Victoria sponge, but I've made it mine
by adding orange zest and different ingredients
into my mixture
and I'm going to make a buttercream and mango filling.
So, I'm hoping... Simple, but it's going to be really nice.
I'm not very confident, to be honest, with this recipe,
because I've only done it a couple of times,
so a disaster could quite easily come.
After her Swiss Roll didn't quite go to plan, Coco-Nina knows she needs
to pull out all the stops to impress the judges with her birthday cake.
So, Coco, you're making a special birthday cake. Tell us about it.
I'm making a lemon drizzle cake, but a square one.
- It'll be easier to decorate. - How are you decorating a lemon drizzle?
Cos it's quite simple for a birthday cake.
I did these crystallised lemons
and I did them over a couple of days.
- I thought they might look quite nice with it. - Who is this cake for?
For anyone that doesn't like chocolate cake, really.
Lemon cake is a refreshing change.
Let's hope your lemon drizzle is up to scratch!
Coco-Nina might be baking a classic,
but Conal has got some very unusual flavours planned for his cake.
What is it that you'll be making for the judges today?
A chocolate sponge with vanilla icing in the middle.
- Then, for decoration, flowers and lavender icing. - Fantastic.
What have you got that the others haven't?
I think the wow factor might be the lavender icing,
because you've got to use lavender from your garden or something.
Yeah, OK.
Which you put in milk overnight or something
and the milk starts tasting like lavender.
Whilst Conal is confident his unusual flavours
will give his cake the edge, the judges aren't quite so sure.
Conal's doing the chocolate cake. Nice idea.
Chocolate and lavender, what do you think?
I can't think they'll complement each other,
but he's thought about it - he's got something different.
The bakers have worked super fast to get their cake mixes finished,
now they must let the ovens work their magic.
All they can do is wait.
I'm praying my cake is going to cook in time.
Our bakers are making some pretty bling birthday cakes,
but what does it take to bake a cake for an A-list celebrity?
To find out, I went to meet Eric Lanlard, master of baking bling.
He's made cakes for David Beckham, Madonna and Lady Gaga.
Eric, what's the secret to baking a cake for A-list celebrities?
It needs to taste good. That's the important part.
In the look, as well, it needs to be spectacular. It needs to be bling.
- Bring on the baking bling. - Let's go.
So Eric is going to show me the cake he made for singing sensation...
# Ra, ra, ah-ah, ah Ro-mah ro-ma-mah... #
..Lady Gaga.
When Lady Gaga rung you up, did you come to the phone and was it like...
# I want a cake, cake, cake I want you to bake, bake, bake. #?
- Was it...? - Exactly. - Was it really? - No, don't be daft!
# Gaga, ooh-la-la... #
Eric made Lady Gaga a layered vanilla sponge with raspberry cream.
That is starting to take the shape of an A-list cake.
A celebrity cake must have star quality, so each and every raspberry
is placed on by hand with perfect precision. Well, almost every one.
Look at your lines, compared to mine.
It's a good job you didn't do the cake for Gaga! Imagine.
She'd be on the phone, complaining. "I had a slice of cake.
- "The raspberry went all over the place!" - # Rah, rah, rah-rah-rah! #
And to give the cake celebrity star status,
Eric adds the secret ingredient.
- Baking bling. Edible glitter. - Wow.
Edible glitter gives a sparkly bling finish,
but has a strange side effect.
Glitter pooh? Oh!
Glitter pooh.
With a final flourish, the Junior Bake Off Lady Gaga celebrity cake
is ready for the red carpet!
Oh! Just eating this cake is making me feel like an A-list celebrity.
Let's face it. There is only one A-list celebrity here - the cake.
You're right.
At last, the cakes are ready to come out of the oven.
And there we are. Two chocolate sponge cakes!
But Katie's butterfly cake doesn't seem ready to come out of its tin.
It's stuck!
Oh, yeah! I forgot to cut round the edges!
With Katie back on track, all the bakers' sponges
are safely put aside for cooling.
It's time to prepare those all-important birthday decorations
and, as ever, Jacob's in full control.
My sponge is in the fridge.
Now I'm just going to give a quick tidy-up, get some room,
and then I'll get all the icing ready and chop some mango
off the stone for decoration on top, get my icing decorations ready.
I have petals and stems in here, that I've made.
Fingers crossed, it'll all work out.
OK, guys, you've got 15 minutes left to bake. Make this time count!
Coco-Nina has raced ahead with her lemon drizzle cake.
This is just decorating. I'm using a bit of this to stick them on.
She made her decorations at home,
so it's just a case of popping them on the top,
and she's finished, but will her super-speediness pay off?
I'd like to see her push the boat out more.
I expect the decoration to be perfect,
and the bake to be absolutely pulled off.
With Coco-Nina nearly finished, the other bakers still have
a lot of work to do to complete their cakes.
Conal's buttercream has caught the judges' eye.
- Hello, Conal. - Hello. - You're making some lavender colour.
Yeah, this milk is infused with lavender.
I've already put some of that in.
- You smell it, it smells completely like lavender. - It does.
- So, that's icing sugar and butter in there. - Yes.
With the infused milk, then I've just added
blue and red colouring to make it purple.
How are you going to finish off the decoration on top?
- I'm going to do flowers around the outside. - Oh, piping?
That's good that you're piping.
There's only ten minutes left and it's all about attention to detail
if the bakers want to impress the judges.
But, despite being so organised,
Jacob's best-laid plans seem to be falling apart.
That icing is way too dry. It's cracked everywhere.
I'm going to have to go for option two,
which I don't have.
Time is rapidly running out
and Jacob needs to come up with a plan B, fast.
I'm just going to have to try to patch it up the best I can.
Jacob's under intense pressure, but he knows his cake must look perfect
if he's going to have any chance of winning that semifinal place.
Guys, you've got one minute left to go. Finish your last touches-up.
One minute.
I feel really competitive,
because they are brilliant, but I think I can do it.
OK, guys. Your time is up.
Stop what you're doing and step away from the worktops, please.
For three of the bakers, this will be the final time
they face the judges, as only one can go through to the semifinal.
Mary and Paul will judge their birthday cakes on ideas,
presentation and taste.
First up, it's Katie, who has made a butterfly cake
with cream-cheese icing and fondant decoration.
But will the judges' reaction really give her something to celebrate?
It is extremely colourful. The idea is very good.
The execution of it is pretty good, as well.
The decoration is very busy.
Quite a busy little person, and quite a busy little topping.
The orange in there works really well.
The sponge is really good.
Tastes good, well baked, but I think the idea was fantastic.
Thank you, Katie. Well done.
Next to try and wow the judges is Coco-Nina.
She struggled with her Swiss roll,
but finished her lemon drizzle cake topped with crystallized
and marzipan lemons with plenty of time to spare.
Will it meet the judges' high standards?
The theme is certainly lemons, isn't it?
- I think the decoration has gone over the top. - Yeah.
Sometimes, simplicity can be more effective.
I think that a lemon drizzle is a lovely base,
but I think we needed to do more to it, and have a few more skills.
You've got a nice bake on there.
You certainly get the lemons through.
You've got a nice colour in there, too. Well done. Thank you, Coco.
Up next it's Conal,
who has made a chocolate birthday cake with vanilla cream filling
and lavender icing - will his risky flavour combinations pay off?
You've done it well. You've done the piping beautifully.
That was very clever of you to infuse the lavender in the milk.
- It's just a hint, not too strong. - I think vanilla comes though.
The chocolate is nice, I like it. The flavours of it, the bake...
- It's delicious. - You should be very proud of that cake. Well done.
Jacob stared disaster in the face
when his icing split with only minutes to go.
He recovered just in time to finish his mango and orange cake
covered with icing and a fondant flower.
But has he done enough to impress Mary and Paul?
It looks quite nice.
You had a problem with your sugar paste,
but I think, overall, it looks OK.
- You've got a nice bake on those sponges. - Thank you.
In fact, it looks very neat round the outside. It's all down to taste.
- Mm! That's really lovely, isn't it? - I really like that. - Mm! - Thank you.
Texture's lovely. Mango's getting a bit overwhelmed by the orange.
I like this simple pattern on the top. Well done, Jacob.
Thank you very much.
Guys, it is now up to Mary and Paul to judge your cakes
and make that very tough decision on who goes through to the semifinal.
But what exactly are the judges thinking?
- We're going to start with Coco-Nina. - The cake was all right, tasted nice.
It's jolly nice to eat, but it needed more work,
and she had plenty of time to do it.
I think, technically, she's got the basics sorted,
but she needs that little bit of finesse just to round it off
and give a bit of polish to her work.
If I could say something to the judges, I'd just say,
"Please, with icing and a cherry on top!"
- Let's go on to Jacob. - He put orange and mango in his cake.
That was an experiment. It worked really well.
But, when he iced it, it all fell apart. But, he managed to finish it.
The Swiss Roll he did was very, very good.
Technically, he did it extremely well.
My changes of getting through to the semifinal today
are quite possible,
but it is really anyone's game, cos everyone has worked so hard.
- Let's go on to Conal. - The chocolate was a good chocolate cake.
I was a bit concerned about lavender and chocolate.
But he did put the right amount of lavender in there.
He did exceedingly well with his Swiss Roll. He did beautifully.
I really hope it's me,
because it'd be the most amazing thing that ever happened to me.
- Let's go over to Katie. - That is a busy butterfly.
- The cake is baked well. - She'd certainly got a very good theme.
When it came to her Swiss Roll, it was all right.
It wasn't one of the best.
Nevertheless, I think she's a great baker.
I'm really, really excited and really, really nervous
about the result. I just really want to get through.
'Mary and Paul have made their decision.'
The person going through to the semifinal is...
- ..Jacob. - Yes!
'Can't believe that I got through!'
Everything's rushing through my head and coming out
and coming round the other side, and...yeah!
Jacob was inventive. He had flair and he got his flavours right.
I like the type of baker that Jacob is.
Going forward, I expect he, as a baker,
will really start bringing it up.
I've got a message for the competitors in the semifinal.
They better watch out, cos Jacob's about.
Next time, it's the last of the heats.
Four new hopefuls battle it out for the last place in the semifinals.
- I'm going to bake my socks off. - Au revoir!
It's kind of black instead of orange.
Bake!
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