Welcome to Junior Bake Off, the show that's mixing, icing
and tasting this way to find Britain's best young baker.
The Bake Off tent is home to the greatest baking battle on earth.
Fingers crossed.
32 of the country's finest bakers
will be pushed to their baking limits.
I know what to do and I don't think I'll make much mistakes.
- But who will rise... - Feeling really confident.
..and who will crumble?
This is the final minute!
The bakers will whisk, fold and ice their way
through cakes, biscuits and bread.
It's up to them to prove themselves
cos only one can claim the title of Junior Bake Off Champion.
But standing between them and the title are our judges.
The queen of cake-making Mary Berry...
We're looking for somebody who'll reach great heights.
They've got to be imaginative, have technical skills,
and it's got to taste really good.
..and master baker Paul Hollywood.
Junior Bake Off is extremely difficult. The bakers
have to be able to produce magic in a very short space of time,
but there's one crucial ingredient -
passion for baking. That will carry them through.
It's a simple cake really and I can just impress the judges with it.
Don't forget, it has to... Ooh! Straight in the face!
- 'My name's Aaron Craze...' You did that on purpose! - No!
'..and I'll be here to support the bakers...'
I think Mary will be happy with them. They all look spot on.
'..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
following one of Mary and Paul's favourite recipes,
making a lemon drizzle cake.
In the second, they must prove themselves
by creating the most incredible and unique cake they can
inspired by today's theme, America.
It's going to be tough
as only one can make it through to the semifinal.
But who will it be?
Meet Olivia from Pontypridd.
It means a lot to me to take part in Junior Bake Off.
If I was to be crowned the first ever Junior Bake Off Champion,
I would feel on top of the world.
I'm doing this for Wales. I hope I do Wales proud.
- Sami from Leicester. - I like to experiment
and do different things.
I'm looking forward to having fun
and showing off my baking to the judges.
Hopefully they'll like it cos I'll give it my best shot.
- Abigail from Rowley Regis. - I'm going to bring to Junior Bake Off
a different style of cookery.
One thing I'm really passionate about is art
and this gives me the creative edge to all my bakes.
And Kai from the Wirral.
I'm really competitive and I'm not really nervous
about the competition because I'm a natural baker
and I'm just going to go in and bake my socks off.
It's time to stop the talking and let the Bake Off begin.
For the first challenge they're going to bake
one of Mary's recipes for lemon drizzle cake.
What are we looking for on this lemon drizzle?
A really good bake, I want a nice crunchy topping
and a lovely lemon flavour through the cake.
I can't wait. Go well with a cup of tea!
They have the same ingredients but if they don't follow the method
they could get completely different results.
- Have you washed your hands? - ALL: Yes!
Your lemon drizzle cakes will be judged
on technique, taste, texture and appearance, OK?
You've got one hour. This is your first chance to impress our judges.
Are you ready?
On your marks, get set, bake!
These guys know their way around a kitchen,
so if you fancy baking, make sure you ask an adult.
The bakers are using the all-in-one method,
which means eggs, sugar and flour go straight in the bowl
and get beaten together.
It's a simple cake really and I can just impress the judges with it.
12-year-old Kai sounds confident. He goes to
a cookery school in the Wirral but he's still a bit of a beginner.
I've only been baking for about seven months.
I've never made a lemon drizzle cake before.
It's my first attempt at it.
11-year-old Abigail's already a bit of a pro.
She's been baking since she could walk.
So what sort of age are we talking?
- About three. - Three?!
Wow! That's quite a career. Three.
Olivia's more experienced.
She's already won a bake off at her school in Wales.
I do feel quite confident with this bake.
I know what to do and I don't think I'll make much mistakes.
Across the kitchen, cakes are going into ovens.
I'm feeling really confident now.
I've just got to make the topping now.
Sami's still mixing.
His older sister taught him how to bake
but he likes to go at his own pace.
I'm trying to do what the judges said and beat it in properly.
Don't forget, it has to... Ooh! Straight in the face!
It's got... Ooh! Ow! It's got to, er...
AARON LAUGHS
- Sami, you did that on purpose. - No!
You know I just got this shirt! 'He doesn't seem worried,
'but if he doesn't speed up, he won't have time to finish his cake.'
The judges are looking for a really tangy cake
and Kai's got a scientific method
- for squeezing juice from his lemons. - I'm making the lemons go soft
so I can squeeze them easier.
The rest are chilling and waiting for their cakes bake
by the time Sami's is ready for the oven.
He's still going at his own steady pace and not panicking...yet.
I'm feeling quite confident, hopefully nothing goes wrong.
Well, guys, you've got 15 minutes left to bake.
Deciding when to remove a cake from the oven is tricky.
Leave it in too long and it will over bake,
but take it out too soon and the sponge will be all soggy.
When I stick this in the middle, there's nothing on the skewer,
which means it's all cooked inside.
Sami's sponge is sill in the oven.
I'm not sure he understands how serious the situation is.
You've got 15 minutes left. You have to get your cake out,
drizzle it...
- Then you have to cut it. - ..cut it, plate it.
Which will take another five minutes out of it.
You do the maths.
- Minus two. - Now you're getting technical.
I have to make sure it's even by spreading this with my spoon
so it reaches all the edges.
The others are on the drizzle stage.
They need to add the lemony mixture while the cakes are still hot,
but if they're not cool
when they slice them, the edges won't be neat.
I'm putting it in the fridge now
and I'll cut it into pieces when it comes out.
OK, bakers, five minutes left to go.
'Sami's sponge is finally out of the oven.'
Now I'm going to put it in the freezer to freeze
and then I'll put the... Ooh, no!
I've got to put this on first.
He needs to get his drizzle on
and then get his cake cold as quickly as he can.
Please!
The other bakers still need to cut out 15 squares
and get them onto the plate.
Olivia's racing ahead, but some of her cake is being left behind.
Still warm.
Abigail's taking her time to get her measurements precise.
I think Mary will be happy with them. They all look spot on.
There's no time left to chill.
Sami's been forced to get his cake out and get cutting.
One minute left, this is the final minute.
Warm cake is hard to cut
but he's got no choice except to get his squares on the plate
any way he can.
Your time is up. Step away from the worktops.
The proof is in the pudding
and now the bakers are about to have their cakes judged by two
of Britain's toughest baking critics.
Mary and Paul are looking for neatly sliced lemon squares
with a crispy top and a tangy lemon flavour.
At stake is a place in the semifinal
and the chance to move one step closer to the title
of Junior Bake Off Champion.
Here they are, all out of their tins. They look good, don't they?
But how will they taste?
Olivia confidently raced through the recipe,
but did her speed mean she cut corners?
You've cut it up not too evenly and there was a bit of mixture left
on your lining paper.
You needed to get the palette knife underneath to lift it up
because there's quite a lot of it left on the tray.
I can't fault the flavour.
The lemon has drizzled down into the sponge.
It's a lovely even bake
and a nice, crisp top.
- Well done. - Oh, thank you.
Before today, Kai had never made a lemon drizzle.
Will his first attempt impress the judges?
TAP-TAP-TAP
- We've got a crisp top. - We have.
- It's got nice flavour. - Mmm!
Watch your sizes, cos at the end of the day,
you've got one this big
and a little one on the top. They must all be the same, OK?
- But well done for your first go! - Well done, Kai.
Abigail's presentation is precise,
but will her cake taste as good as it looks?
I just want to see if that's got a crisp...
TAP-TAP-TAP
It is crisp on top. It was hot when you poured it over.
- But that's nice. - Good texture, good flavour, evenly baked.
I mean, the browning of it is nice.
If anything, it's probably slightly over,
- but saying that, it's still perfectly baked. - Perfectly baked.
Sami had a slow start,
but will his last-minute rush be enough to impress the judges?
You've got some issues with this.
Some are rectangles and some are little squares.
Just be more even and careful when you're marking them in future.
I'll try this one here.
TAP-TAP-TAP Nice crisp top.
Let's see how the flavour is.
The flavour's good. It's slightly underbaked.
It's a bit too wet inside the cake.
Would you do anything different next time?
I would have done the timing better.
You should all be proud of yourselves, you've done very well.
Now onward and upward.
I feel very confident about going through to the semifinals
as the last bake went really well
and my next cake for this round is epic.
I'm feeling really good as the comments were mostly positive
and only a couple of things to improve on.
My timing went a bit astray.
I'm quite excited with the next bake because I think
my cakes will be quite nice.
Anyone could win at this point, so I've got to
work really hard to make sure my inventive bake goes to plan.
OK, bakers, it's time for your second test -
the invention challenge.
It's your task to bake a cake inspired by today's theme,
America. Paul and Mary will be judging on brilliant ideas,
intricate decorating, and most of all it's got to taste fantastic.
You've got an hour and a half to complete your task.
This is your last chance to impress the judges
before they decide who goes through to the semifinals.
On your marks, get set, bake.
The bakers have spent hours perfecting their American creations
at home so they get straight down to business.
Olivia thinks she's onto a sure-fire winner.
Today I'm going to be making a red velvet sponge
with stars and stripes of the American flag on the top.
I call this sponge Star-Spangled Red Velvet Cake.
I've practised a lot with this.
I normally make a Victoria sponge,
so it's not that different from making that.
But Kai is risking everything on an experimental sponge.
I'm baking a peanut butter and jelly sandwich cake.
- Talk me through it. - I went to Canada and all the kids wanted to eat
a peanut butter jelly sandwich when they came in from school
so I just adapted that idea to make it into a cake.
Very clever. You did say to me earlier on
that's the kind of baker you are - you're a bit scientific,
- mucking about with things. - Young Heston Blumenthal.
The young Heston. You can see right here.
In the last challenge Sami started slowly.
Can he pick up the pace and make a cake that will win him
a place in the semi-final?
- I like these. - They're loaf tins.
Is that for the seven dwarves? It's quite a small loaf tin.
- It's for the cake. - So you've got individual little ones? - Yes.
Like it. So, what are you baking?
Coconut and lemon cake.
As lemon is an American ingredient,
I thought, "Why don't you add that and add the coconut on top,
"as lemon and coconut complement each other nicely?"
May the force be with you.
And don't forget to save me some cake!
- OK. - Promise? - Yeah.
Jedi promise with a spud-knuckle.
Like it.
Mary and Paul have invented their fair share of classic recipes
and are keeping a close eye on the bakers' creations.
Sami is doing this beautiful lemon cake
and surrounding it with coconut icing.
I like the idea of lemon and coconut.
I'm just worried about his timing.
He did not get it right this morning.
Abigail's found an opportunity to show off her artistic side.
But will the judges be happy with a hamburger for pudding?
I'm making burger cupcakes, so I'm just doing the plain ones,
then mix the cocoa powder in
and I'll get 12 chocolate cupcakes for the beef in the middle.
Abigail, American beefburger cupcakes,
where did that idea come from?
I thought of it when I thought of America cos they have
a lot of burgers.
I want to see what's in that box.
There's cheese there, there's tomatoes,
and then there's lettuce leaves underneath.
That's rather exciting and fun, isn't it?
Yes, it's a very good idea.
Olivia's mixture is almost ready to go in the oven.
To make her cake red, white and blue,
she's adding blue food dye to the icing and red food dye to the cake.
But the tricky thing about using food colouring
is knowing how much to use.
This time, Sami's got his cakes in the oven nice and early.
It's a bit unusual to bake a burger,
but that's what Abigail's doing.
I'm feeling pretty confident now I've got the cakes in.
Like a true pro,
Kai's got a trick for knocking the air out of his sponge.
Once the cakes are in the oven,
all the bakers can do is wait to see how they turn out.
If there's one baking that screams America more than any other,
it's got to be the cupcake.
All those flavours and all that icing.
But it's not as easy as it looks.
Who doesn't love a good cupcake, eh? They're like totally awesome!
Recently there's been a cupcake craze,
and we just can't get enough of 'em.
So I've come to the Hummingbird Bakery
where they mix, bake and frost over one million yummy cupcakes a year.
That's at least 3,000 a day.
Sounds like fun. I wonder if they'd give me a job?
Tarek Malouf is the cupcake maker extraordinaire
and he's knows the secret behind a truly American Cupcake.
What makes the ultimate cupcake? And why do people love them so much?
For me, the ultimate American-style cupcake is all about abundance.
So you have a nice, plump, moist sponge with a lot of frosting,
buttercream or cream cheese frosting.
Lots of sprinkles, lots of decoration,
and it just tastes amazing.
Most of the cupcakes here have an authentic American flavour,
from popcorn to cherry cola,
and they all have loads of frosting!
I want to know how Tarek and his team
frost so many of these little beauties.
And what I do is I'm going to smooth down the sides
so you've made like a little volcano.
- Yeah. - I'm going to put my palette knife in the top and twirl it.
If I wanted to get a job here,
how fast would I have to do one of these cupcakes?
You're going to have to do each cupcake in about 12 seconds.
I'd like to introduce you to my colleague, Joanne.
- She can do that, no problem. - I'm going to count. One, two, three,
four, five, six, seven...
- Is that seven? - Yeah.
Are you sure she's not a robot?
She's good. But I reckon I can take her on.
- I can do it quicker than that. - Show me then. - Bring it on.
It's a frost-off, the first to frost 12 cakes wins.
Two, one...frost.
How is she so speedy?
She's cheating, man. You can see, look at this.
No, you're just too slow.
Hang on a minute, that isn't fair. I've got an idea.
I think a few more thousand cupcakes of practice, you'll be OK.
I was really looking for this job cos this has been one of my dreams.
- I think we might be able to find something for you. - Oh, yes!
- Yeah. - Yeah.
I'm going to beat her.
I was that quick I could have beaten her any day.
"I've got a job for you." Sweeping the floor!
He'd better be paying me in cupcakes, I tell you that.
Back in the tent, cakes are coming out of ovens.
The time's come for Olivia to reveal her red velvet cake.
- There we go, look. - Thank you.
It's a little bit pink in the inside, but it's a bit red as well.
It's a pink velvet cake now. I've changed the name.
My recipe is no longer red velvet cake.
Quick thinking, but will the judges be fooled
by a last-minute name change?
Kai's spreading peanut butter all over his sponge,
but is it a flavour too far?
Peanut butter in a sponge mix.
I think it's very unusual. It could go either way.
If it tastes as good as I think it could do, we're on a winner.
We shall see.
This is it. You've got 15 minutes left to bake.
Each of Sami's delicate lemon loaves have to be turned out individually.
The first one looks like a winner.
Yes.
But then disaster strikes.
- One just broke. - All right, Sam?
- One of the cakes has come apart there. - Yeah.
You could go ahead and use it, or you could discard it. You know?
- Fresh? - Mm-hm.
Good stuff. I wouldn't worry too much about that.
So there's my top baking tip - if it goes wrong, eat it.
And don't tell the judges!
OK, guys, five minutes.
I think my cakes look pretty cool so far.
This is the final minute.
OK, stop what you're doing. Your time is up.
Step away from the worktops.
The bakers have baked their socks off,
but only one of them can go through to the semifinal.
For three of these bakers, this will be
the last time they face the judges.
As this is the invention challenge, Mary and Paul will judge each bake
on its taste, texture and creativity.
Olivia, you're up first.
Olivia's hopeful that the her star-spangled pink velvet sponge,
topped with strawberries and blueberries,
will win her a place in the semifinal.
The bake looks good.
You've got a nice red there as well inside, which is the red velvet.
Well, it's certainly bright.
I like the idea of the strawberries on the top. The icing looks good.
My only concern would be that it is essentially
a basic sponge with food colour in.
- But you've got the right ratio of icing, filling and sponge. - Yeah.
Kai's created a peanut butter and jelly sandwich cake.
But will his combination of peanut sponge and strawberry jam
be too out there for the judges?
- It's good, isn't it? - It is, it's very, very good.
- Totally original. - You've done nice work
with the jam, and the icing's very neat as well.
It's really strange. I've never had a cake like that before.
It's an acquired taste. You'd have to like peanuts, wouldn't you?
- I like peanuts, so I like it. Thanks very much, Kai. - Thanks.
Abigail's hoping her chocolate sponge burgers, with lettuce,
tomato and cheese fondant icing, will taste as good as they look.
You've been very original, and it was your own idea, wasn't it?
- They look great. I've never seen anything like this before. - Such fun.
Looks great inside. It actually looks like a burger, doesn't it?
That really is very clever, isn't it? But is it going to taste good?
I was expecting it to be dry, it is not dry.
It's very moist.
The only thing I will say is it needs something else in there.
If you had a raspberry jam in there, like a relish,
that raspberry jam would have lifted the whole thing up.
Thank you.
Sami's already tried one of his miniature lemon and coconut loaves.
He's hoping the judges will like them as much as he did.
- Little, individual loaves. - Quite tricky to do
- in the metal tins you chose. - Let me taste it.
I'd have sprinkled that coconut with sugar
and just browned it
because you've got the white coconut and white icing.
I feel it could be lifted a little,
and roasted would be quite nice, wouldn't it?
As it is, it's a great idea. Good flavour combination.
- For me, a bit more lemon. - Thanks, Sam.
Faced with four great bakes,
the judges now have an impossible decision.
They'll have to get tough
if they want to identify the best baker.
Let's start with Olivia.
I thought her cake was fantastic. It had a lovely flavour.
My only concern would be that it is
essentially a basic sponge with food colouring.
That was my only issue.
It tasted good and it was very moist.
Olivia's lemon drizzle was very good. Executed well.
The only problem was she didn't get her palette knife
underneath to lift it up.
But she was tidy, quick and organised.
Yeah, very good little baker.
'I hope I've done enough to make it to the next round.'
Bessie and the others baked as well. I think it's a tough competition.
Let's move over to Kai, the little Heston.
He has done an original cake.
- I think he was very brave to do it. - Yeah.
Just so strange. But it worked.
Actually, his lemon drizzle was pretty good.
- Yeah. - Right at the top. - Neatly done.
I think I deserve to go through to the semi-finals
because my inventive bake was the best I've ever made it
and overall I think I'm the best baker in this competition.
Moving on to Sami. The idea of lemon and coconut worked for me.
- You needed an additional flavour other than lemon. - Definitely.
When you look at Sami's lemon drizzle,
there were a few issues with it.
I think I've done enough to go through to the second round,
but you never know with the judges.
So, Abigail, what a brilliant idea.
It looks wonderful, but this is about baking.
And it wasn't a superb cake, it needed something.
If you had a raspberry coulis, it would look a bit like ketchup.
That would have just moistened it. But it looked magnificent.
When you look at Abigail's lemon drizzle this morning,
that was very good.
I think I've got a good chance of getting through.
And if I did, I would feel outstanding.
- I already have two people in mind. - I've got two. - Yeah?
- Two that are well at the top. - This is a tough decision
and I wouldn't like to be in your shoes now. So good luck.
Guys, thanks for all your hard work. You've done fantastic.
Paul and Mary have made their decision. It's been
the toughest decision they've made so far.
The baker that's going through to the semifinal...
..is...
..Kai.
I feel amazed, over the moon.
A bit sad for the other contestants because they did really well,
but I'm just shocked and excited and nervous at the same time.
Kai, I thought your inventive bake was very brave.
It was a risky move to make. But I think you pulled it off.
Kai did something out of the box. He's an extraordinary young chap.
Like a breath of fresh air. He's really thinking. He's quite cheeky.
He is enjoying this immensely.
Kai in the semifinals, I'm looking forward to.
He'll come up with something different, I know he is.
After what I've seen today, the way he delivered it, superb.
I'm not really bothered about the other competitors
that have come through to the semifinal
because, at the end of the day, it's about me.
So I'll just bake.
So Kai has made it through to the next round.
But who will join them next time,
as four new bakers battle it out for a spot in the semifinals.
Those are the things I've dreaded happening at the same time.
It'll be fine. It'll be fine.
That's one of my tricks.
You can't criticise it cos it's in your recipe.
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