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The Great British Baking Show Season 10 Episodes
Season 10 Episode Guide
12 Episodes 2019 - 2020
Episode 1
Cake Week
67 mins
The new batch of bakers to the tent are initially tested in one of the most basic of bakery items, namely cakes. Their signature challenge is the English staple of fruit cake, albeit having to have it table ready in a much compressed time frame than it generally takes to make one. The technical challenge, set by Prue, is to make six angel slices to certain specifications down to the feathering of the icing adorning the slices. Finally, the bakers are transported to their childhood for the showstopper in making a birthday cake, one that they would have dreamed of as a child, understanding that they have to impress the adult palates of the judges in the process.
Episode 2
Biscuit Week
57 mins
For the signature, the bakers are asked to make chocolate covered biscuits, basically a chocolate bar with some sort of biscuit as part of the filling. For the technical, they are asked to make twelve identical fig rolls, the dough which is almost cake-like but needs to be sturdy enough to hold in the fig filling. And for the showstopper, they have make a three dimensional biscuit sculpture, where the biscuits are used as structural pieces rather than just stacking biscuits one on top of another.
Episode 3
Bread Week
57 mins
The bakers' signature challenge for bread week is the comforting share and tear loaf in their choice of flavors, including either savory or sweet, style, and type of bread. For the technical, the challenge is scored ninety percent for eight burger baps, and ten percent for four veggie burger patties - hence four completed veggie burgers - this challenge which Paul, who devised it, warns is not as simple as it appears. And for the showstopper, the bakers are required to make what Paul and Prue believe may be the hardest challenge they've ever issued: artistically scored bread loaves as the scores have to be the right depth in breaking open just enough for the artistic effect the bakers are trying to achieve and not too deep so that the scored areas will burst, all the while getting their loaves in the oven as quickly as possible after scoring so that the risen dough does not deflate from being over-proofed.
Episode 4
Dairy Week
57 mins
It's dairy week, which does not necessarily mean using solely cow's milk products. For the signature, the bakers are asked to make a cake using some sort of cultured dairy, such as yogurt, sour cream or buttermilk, the cultures which not only are healthy but make the cake crumb inherently moist unless there is the mistaken urge to overbake. For the technical, the bakers are transported back to Tudor times and food at the table of Henry VIII, with the unexpected process of having to make cheese curds for maids of honor. The bakers are then transported geographically to India for the showstopper in having to make three types of mishti, requiring the time consuming process of making the milk based koiya, which the bakers have to ensure doesn't burn when they cook it as milk is apt to do.
Episode 5
The Roaring Twenties
57 mins
The bakers are transported back in time as it's the Roaring Twenties week. For the signature, they will have to make four custard tarts apiece, the tarts, which were popular in the era, which also have to have some decoration evoking the time. With a deep fryer in front of them, they will each have to make eighteen beignet soufflés for the technical, it only one of many elements for this challenge which also includes a jam filling and sabayon accompaniment. And for the showstopper, they will be making a prohibition cake which has to remind the judges of whatever cocktail they choose, but much like the signature, contain the glitz and glam of the era in their decorations.
Episode 6
Dessert Week
57 mins
It's Dessert week. Three sweet challenges mean a bitter end for one of the six remaining bakers as they battle for a place in the quarterfinal. For starters, the bakers face a sweetly-filled signature challenge that has them rolling out their skills to impress Prue and Paul. And, if that weren't enough, the technical challenge is one of the toughest of the series so far, which layers on the sweet pressure the bakers are tested on a tricky French dessert. And finally, there's a multi-bake mini showstopper that's a bit of a mousse marathon.
Episode 7
Festival Week
57 mins
This week is all about celebrating as it's festival week. For the signature, the bakers are required to make twenty-four festival buns apiece, they need to be yeast raised and meant to celebrate something, whether it be a holiday or something else. And in setting the technical this week, Paul wants a perfect texture both inside and out in the bakers making twelve Sicilian casatelle apiece, they a ricotta-filled, fried pastry. The bakers then move half way around the world to Malaysia via Indonesia for the showstopper in each making a kek lapis sarawak, a multi-colored and geometric patterned grilled cake. The bakers need to show precision in making the layers even, any errors which are only highlighted by the layers being different colors. Another challenge is the grilling of the cake, as any failure in later grilling will affect the layers already grilled.
Episode 8
Pastry Week
57 mins
It's technically the quarter-finals, and rather than be happy, most of the remaining bakers are apprehensive in knowing that pastry, this week's theme, is not their strong suit, especially in dealing with the finicky dough, which does not like heat when being prepared, this weekend in which a heatwave is passing through. For the showstopper, they are each required to make a tarte tatin with a rough or full puff pastry, but unlike the traditional which is sweet made with apples, their tarts must be savory. A major challenge is for the filling to have the correct balance of moisture in the filling to taste good without sogging the pastry. For the technical, Paul warns that he and Prue will be looking for consistency - in the pastry layers - in the bakers each making a Moroccan pie with twelve pastry layers. And for the showstopper, the bakers are asked to make a vertical pie, with a stack of at least three separate pies creating that vertical presentation. Beyond the pies themselves, the issue will be the vertical structure, which must be architecturally sound and interesting as a piece of art.
Episode 9
Semi-Final: Patisserie Week
57 mins
In this, the semi-finals, the remaining four know that it will be one of the most demanding weeks in the precision that is required for patisserie in all its French elegance. For the signature, they are asked to make eight domed tartlets apiece fit for a French patisserie's window display. For the technical, they are each required to make the multi-component Gâteau Saint Honoré, which is caramel covered cream filled profiteroles, all atop a puff pastry base. And for the showstopper, they are asked to make a sugar glass display case enclosing a figure that has some meaning to them, that or those item(s) which must include one baked element. These three challenges will lead to heartbreak for one who arguably reaches the most painful point in the competition in being eliminated just before the final.
Episode 10
Final
56 mins
It's the finals, and the last three of the original bakers' dozen standing are David Atherton, Steph Blackwell and Alice Fevronia, whose friends and family, as well as the season's eliminated bakers, will be on hand to see the crowning of this season's winner at the conclusion of the last three bakes. For the signature, the bakers are given the seemingly easy task of making a chocolate cake, the trick being to make theirs stand out from the regular. They are even more apprehensive than usual for the technical as there is no theme this week, meaning that the judges could throw anything at them. What is thrown are six twice baked unmolded Stilton soufflés apiece, served with wafer-thin, crispy lavash crackers. And for the final bake - the showstopper - they each have to make an illusion picnic, complete with illusion picnic basket made of nougatine. In other words, they have to make picnic type foods out of some baked good completely different than what it is, one example from each of the finalists being "cheese wedges" that are really lemon pound cake, "scotch eggs" that are really carrot cake, and "strawberries" that are really macarons. Beyond the nervous anticipation of the announcement of the winner, Alice has an additional worry in whether her parents will make it to the ceremony, they who were necessarily out of town the evening before and are flying back this day with their original flight canceled, hence there being no guarantee they will make it on time.
Episode 11
The Great Christmas Bake Off
55 mins
The show welcomes back four former contestants for this Yuletide themed special, they who had various levels of success and most who are looking for that holiday redemption in overcoming especially the failure(s) that sent them from the tent the first go 'round. For the signature, the four are asked to make twenty-four Christmas-themed cake pops apiece in at least four different designs. For the technical, they are each required to make a festive sausage roll wreath with an accompanying cranberry sauce. And for the showstopper, they each need to make a gingerbread structure in their favorite Christmas setting, the decoration utilizing at least two different confectionery skills. The winner of this special Christmas competition may come down to who of the four has learned from their previous biggest mistake of not managing time well.
Episode 12
The Great Festive Bake Off
55 mins
Five of the younger cast members from Derry Girls (2018) convene for a "ringing in the new year" themed bake-off style competition, most who know them expressing their surprise in many not being known as bakers, and some of the relationships on the show which may filter into the competition. For the signature, the five will each have to make a trifle, at least three layers of made-from-scratch items. While Siobhan is hoping for a "slime" technical stemming from an incident in the signature, what they instead get is twelve salmon and beetroot blini, topped with horseradish and beetroot, and garnished with hot smoked salmon and caviar. And for the showstopper, they are asked to make a tiered cake representing their favorite decade.
