Croissants. It's been on Sheldon's list to try. Well, he did. we discuss this and the lessons learned. There were many. The experience required a cupcake recovery bake. I find a nice buttercream recipe from natashaskitchen.com We also talk "mixers". We dive into the Masterclasses of season 4 with the first one today. Five bakes: Spiced orange cake with orange buttercream. Mary boiled a whole orange. Victoria sponge with self rising flour AND baking powder - why both? Key - keep oven doors CLOSED - we saw the debacle from a contestant on the show. Tip from Mary on flipping out cake without getting "grid marks".We also see Mary make crystalized orange peel. yum! Next up - Angel Food cake with lemon and passionfruit curd.This cake uses a massive TEN egg whites. I hate when I have a ton of eggs and the recipes only needs one component... I need a list of recipes for "yolk" or "whites" only to use when I have this situation! Special pan needed... but Mary gives a tip if you don't have it. This cake you cool upside down! Keys: pour batter close to surface to retain air. Stir curd constantly at VERY low heat (Mary touches side of pan). When making meringue - just a spoonful of sugar at a time. Yeasted breadsticks made the next appearance. a very soft and sticky dough - so much that Paul even uses a mixer! The dough structure looks amazing. Tips: listen to mixer - if motor struggling, add water. Temperature is critical - must be very hot of you want that crisp. 220C Fan! We get a quick tip on two tone icing from Mary. English Muffins - one of my favorites. A reasonably easy looking recipe. Paul says "you can see if it needs more milk".... can you, Paul? Show us! Full 10 minutes of kneading and REST time. 30 if in warming drawer... 90 if in the kitchen. The hot griddle (a hot cast iron pan can also work!) is the key for that nice brown finish. MUST let these cool 90 minutes as they continue to "cook". Final bake was the E1 Showstopper - a Chocolate Fudge Gateau. Three different cake sizes makes this a logistical nightmare to keep track of for us normal folk... Tips on tempering chocolate: heat to 47C cool to 31C (Paul adds chocolate to facilitate cooling). Acetate used (available at a hobby store) to pipe the chocolate on and apply to the cake. Something they seem to do a lot - cover the cake in sieved apricot jam to hold the crumbs in - could a crumb coat do the same? Next week - S4E12 MC. Follow us on Instagram: scrummyhandshakes