The Great British Baking Show season 4 recap: “Patisserie”

The four bakers of The Great British Baking Show had to contend with patisserie-themed challenges to make it to the finals.

The Great British Baking Show went black-and-white and French for Mel and Sue’s opening in the semi-final. Would we expect anything less for patisserie week? Of course, they had their own jokes about “never making” and “always eating” patisserie — the art of French pastry.

To start things off, as we previewed, this episode’s signature challenge consisted of three hours to make palmiers, specifically two batches of 12 savory instead of sweet puff pastry delights. Paul had a lot to say — or not say, as the case was — about puff pastry recipes.

Signature. Jane cooling and plating her palmiers. Credit: Courtesy of Tom Graham (via PBS pressroom)

Signature challenge results:

"Jane: Pesto and Sun-dried Tomato Palmiers; Goats Cheese, Olive, and Parma Ham Palmiers. Mid-tier. Her palmiers needed some more baking, but Paul complimented the flavors.Candice: Red Onion, Cambozola and Walnut Palmiers; Mushroom, Streaky Bacon and Parmesan Palmiers. High-tier. The bacon ones went over like gangbusters, but Paul and Mary pointed out that her walnut ones weren’t shaped well even if they liked the flavors.Selasi: Sun-dried Tomato, Onion, Peppers and Parmesan Palmiers; Salmon, Spinach and Mushroom Palmiers. Low-tier. Paul only needed to look to see the underbaking, and he said “untidy” in presentation. Then Mary had raw pastry.Andrew: Cheesy Elephant Ears and Herby Treble Clefs. High-tier. Second batch of pastry? Not much of a problem. “I love these,” Paul said about the cheese ones."

Paul Hollywood’s advice was to focus on the presentation as much as the taste of the four bakers’ savarins. Since he only gave them two and a half hours for, as Mel and Sue noted and as previewed, a yeast cake with cream, chocolate, fruit, and caramel involved … and a cake that no one had made before … it was not easy, as one might imagine for the semi-final. Sue even called it a “ring of doom!”

Technical challenge results:

"4th: Selasi. Weird coloring in the bake, and not decorated well.3rd: Candice. Overbaked and underproved, but pretty chocolate work and a decent flavor.2nd: Andrew. “Slightly overdone,” and missing some liquor at the bottom, but it did look good, as is normal for Andrew.1st: Jane. “Slightly underproved,” said Paul, and the caramel was still Jane’s bane, but “okay” was Paul’s final judgment."

Mel and Sue broke out their French accents again to set the final four off on their showstopper challenge of 36 fondant fancies (two batches of 18 each) in four and a half hours. “We want sheer perfection,” said Mary to the camera.

JANE – SHOWSTOPPER – Jane’s Pistachio and Raspberry, decorated with Fondant flowers and Leaves. Credit: Courtesy of Monika Frise (via PBS press room)

Showstopper challenge results:

"Candice: Chocolate Praline Fondant Fancies; Cherry Bakewell Fondant Fancies. “Two cracking fondant fancies,” said Mary, although both of them dinged her presentation.Selasi: Lime and Ginger Fondant Fancies; Pink Velvet and Raspberry Prosecco Fondant Fancies. Did well on his sponges, but the pink velvet was too sweet, though the lime and ginger went over better."

ANDREW – SHOWSTOPPER – Andrew’s Philharmonic Fondants. Credit: Courtesy of Monika Frise (via PBS pressroom)

"Jane: Pistachio and Raspberry Fondant Fancies; Lemon Curd Surprise Fondant Fancies. Yes, the judges didn’t like her fondant method, but they liked eating both fancies.Andrew: Philharmonic Fondants. His display won praise, and the vanilla ones had no knocks."

It came down to Candice and Andrew for Star Baker, but Andrew won it out and did not quite believe it. Selasi took fourth place.

Next: GoT season 7: Episode 4 leaks online

Stay tuned for our look at The Great British Baking Show‘s final round!