Food coloring is the kick off topic - imagine wanting patriotic red and Blue and ending up with Baby blue and pink?! So Sheldon invested in some of the "good stuff". Details coming forth! Also - it was finally time to "harvest" the homemade vanilla started last November. This looks to be delightful - hope to test some out soon.

We do a quick "where are they now" with Jurgen (or is it Juergen?) Krauss from season 12. In a recent interview he stated had it not been for the "fully sequestered" nature of his season, he probably would not have applied! He wanted complete focus on baking. He continues to trombone and bake like crazy! New book coming in September "The German Baking Book" - IG @juergenthebread

Five bakes in this Masterclass:

Mary's Tipsy Trifle - Key tip: don't use raspberry jam if soaking with booze... it turns grey. She used strawberry. Mary sifts her flour - is that still a thing?

Paul gives a side bar tip on avoiding soggy bottoms - blind bake... yeah ok. But interesting tip - he used plastic wrap to line the tarts... never seen that.

Ile Flottant (floating islands) are a poached meringue - the big tips from this are that when you are scooping and forming the meringues use a wet spoon to get a smooth exterior. Also - once you pop them in the pan to steam - do NOT open it until they are done. A glass top is very helpful so you don't boil and you can tell when things are done. Spun sugar... looks cool... but does it add anything? Mary does not recommend making it in the kitchen hahah

Egg custard tart is next - its a golden short crust made even "shorter" by Paul by using partial ground almonds replacing part of the flour. Paul gets in there with his hands as usual. Seven egg yolks used for the custard! A key to this recipe is rolling the crust very thin. Tip was using a tooth pick to impress a design around the perimeter of the crusts. A big key to these is to use something with a "pour spout" when filling the tarts - if you spill outside the crust wipe it up immediately or it could run behind the crust and STICK. Also critical is cooling time... remove too soon and you could have a mess.

Double crust fruit pie - Mary's "wobbly" pie names for the shape the top crust takes forming around the apricot mounds. Mary uses a sweet crust made in the food processor. Key to this is using only an egg as the liquid and not letting it get to "ball" stage in the food processor - Mary takes it out and finishes the crust to a ball by hand. In this pie is marzipan. A tip is to shred it using a cheese grater so that it gets better distributed and melts completely.

Phyllo (filo) Pie is the next one. On GBBO the bakers could do sweet or savory. Paul chooses Spanakopita ... even though he doesn't like spinach or feta. What was fascinating - watching Paul knead "automatically" while having a full on conversation with Mary... just wow. Paul uses a pasta maker to do most of the rolling (the bakers did rolling pin or one uses a broomstick to get the width!). Paul then proceeded to do the rest of the stretch by hand...that looked very precarious to me. Butter AND egg on the top make for a delightfully delish looking finish.

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