Yahoo News Bake Off Professionals contestant 'in pain' from caramel burn
Judge Cherish Finden rushed to contestant Neil Dunlop's aid and rubbed his back as whined in pain while treating his burnt fingers with cold water.
What did you miss?
Bake Off: The Professionals contestant Neil Dunlop was left wincing and "in pain" after suffering a burn making caramel.
Teammates Neil Dunlop and Nicole Rafferty — who represent Balbirnie House Hotel in Fife in The Great British Bake Off spin-off on Channel 4 — made a snakes and ladders-themed choux showpiece in the latest episode of the competition.
But after a technical problem making his caramel, Neil was racing to remain on schedule when he burnt his hand and judge Cherish Finden rushed to his aid.
What, how, and why?
The professional bakers were challenged with making a Play-themed showpiece made from 160 choux buns in two flavours, held together only with nougatine. Neil and Nicole opted to make a snakes and ladders themed choux showpiece with red counter amaretto and cherry buns and green snake decorated buns flavoured with white chocolate and tonka bean.
As they began Neil admitted: "I am making nougatine which I'm really not confident about." And as he struggled with the time constraints he added: "This is going to be tight."
Due to a technical problem Neil's caramel needed to flavour the showpiece took an hour and half to cook, leaving him racing to keep time. The Scottish chef admitted: "This is not going to plan," before dashing to the sink to run his hand under cold water.
Judge Finden raced to his side asking with concern: "You burn yourself?" Neil told her: "Yeah, yeah, I do it all the time." Finden told him: "Okay breathe," as she rubbed his back. Neil confessed: "I'm in pain."
As he carried on working host Ellie Taylor asked: "I heard you burnt yourself?" Neil snapped back: "I'm good." As he and Nicole struggled to build their showpiece on time, Neil confessed: "We would have been well ahead if I hadn't burnt my fingers." And as soon as host Liam Charles called time, Neil dashed back to the sink to run more cold water on his hand.
As the pair presented the judges with their showpiece, Neil's hand was shown to be bandaged. Finden began: "Before I go any further, how is your hand? I want you stand very proud the two of you, because there is a showpiece."
But the judges were not impressed with the quality or the flavour of their choux buns.
What else happened on Bake Off: The Professionals?
Neil and Nicole had a lot to prove following the first challenge, to demonstrate their skills in the art of viennoiserie by making 18 savoury croissants and 24 maritozzi, which are Italian cream-filled buns.
Nicole chose to make caprese salad savoury croissants with mozzarella, basil, tomato and balsamic vinegar. But she confessed as she rolled out her dough: "I made croissants for the every first time three days ago, so not wildly confident." As he walked around the kitchen to see how the bakers were doing, judge Benoit Blin told her her dough, "looks a bit sticky." Neil quickly interrupted: "But don't panic, don't panic!" Nicole replied: "I'm not panicking, no one is panicking."
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Dunlop has more than 20 years of experience as a pastry chef, while Rafferty took up the profession in her 30s in order to pursue her love of baking.
Judge Benoit Blin said of their savoury croissants: "It's not a croissant it is completely doughy and the filling is completely lost. All the moisture has gone. It is quite bland and dry, and you can see that this layer is a bit raw for my liking." But judges Blin and Cherish Finden both loved their coffee and amaretto maritozzi.
Nicole said afterwards: "Of course they loved the maritozzi, they were delicious. But he croissants were s**t" Neil added; "We pick ourselves up, we dust ourselves off, tomorrow's going to be even worse!"
Who went home?
Neil and Nicole from Balbirnie House were sent home. Neil said: "We knew we were going home. We're sad that we're going because we've made such good friends here. Give it a year or two, we'll come back, and see if we can go further next time."
That left Bharat and John from Soko Patisserie, Carlos and Fausto from Real Pâtisserie and Tanuj and Narayan from InterContinental London at The O2 still in the competition.
They join friends Ben and Jason, Gerol and Michael from The Royal Air Force Club ans Ajay and Petra from Michelin-starred Birmingham restaurant Adam's in the final six.
What did viewers say?
Viewers were reminded of Scotland's recent defeat by Hungary, knocking them out of the Euros 2024 football tournament.
One wrote on social media platform X: "Scotland out of the Euros and out of Bake Off #GBBO" And another said: "Looks like they weren’t the only Scots to go out this week #GBBO #EURo2024 #ch4 #BakeOff "
Bake Off: The Professionals 2024 airs on Mondays and Tuesdays at 8pm on Channel 4.
