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Chai Pear Frangipane Butterfly Pie
As seen on TV
Which Show?
Who made this dish?
Showstopper challenge: one large, beautifully decorated free-form pie, sweet or savory, shaped and baked without tins. Time allowed: 3 hours 30 minutes.
Mo made a butterfly-shaped free-form pie in a sweet, shortbread-like short crust, filled with chai spiced pears over a creamy almond frangipane.
Mo: "I like the flavors of it and I feel like if you just put it in the freezer, it will hold its shape."
Mo: "I think I might go home if this is kind of rubbish. One of my concerns is when I'm decorating and layering, it could be quite a lot of pastry. So I don't want it to be a boring pastry. So it is a bit like a shortbread."
Mo (asked by Paul about sweetness): "I'm hoping that the spice breaks that up a bit."
Mo (asked by Nigella about the pears' water): "I'm hoping that the frangipane layer prevents it from getting soggy."
Mo: "I don't want to overfill it."
Mo: "I think it's done, but I'm going to leave it at a really low temperature. I'm worried about a soggy bottom."
Mo: "The filling's bubbling out, so it should be baked."
Mo: "I feel like it looks a bit bad."
Mo (presenting): "I did a chai spiced pear with an almond frangipane."
Mo (after judging): "I think it wasn't terrible. The fact that the pastry wasn't good and it's pastry week. I feel like Clara and me are both in the danger zone."
Paul: "Beautiful looking butterfly. Slightly burnt."
Paul: "A short crust that you can pick up. That color is a little bit too dark."
Paul: "The pastry is too thick and you want more filling than base."
Nigella: "I do think having a sweet filling and a sweet pastry means you don't get that contrast. Pastry contains a secret, and then you bite in and you want something to come out that's in a different register."
Nigella (deliberation): "The two people who have been struggling this week are Mo and Clara. Mo did a too tough pastry. Neither has found a way to redeem themselves from earlier slip ups."
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