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The Great British Baking Show Season 12 Episodes
Season 12 Episode Guide
12 Episodes 2021 - 2022
Episode 1
Cake Week
Fri, Sep 24, 202167 mins
Noel and Matt tell the twelve contestants, who step into the tent for the first time, some good news and some bad news. The good: that the person named Bake-Off winner season twelve is standing in the tent. The bad: the first baker eliminated for season twelve is also standing in the tent. Who those two people will be will be somewhat determined by the three challenges in this, Cake Week. For the signature, the bakers are given two hours to make twelve mini rolls, they given free reign on flavor. Paul and Prue will be looking for a good rolled shape, which could be hindered by filling the rolls when the sponge is still too warm, and/or over-baking which may cause the sponge to crack when rolled. The latter is made all the more difficult in that these will be mini rolls, which need to have a tighter spiral than regular-sized rolls. For the technical issued by Prue, they are again given two hours to make a malt loaf, which she suspects those under age thirty-five will never even have heard of, it to be accompanied by a homemade salted butter. She ensures those that don't know what it is that if they follow the recipe, they should have no problems as it is in and of itself a simple cake to make. They are given twice the time of four hours for the showstopper, Paul and Prue truly looking for the showstopping element in asking them to make an anti-gravity cake, which, in other words, looks like it is defying gravity in some aspect, and it must be decorated in a way depicting a precious memory. The bakers have to ensure that the cake they make is dense enough to hold up to whatever anti-gravity aspect they are applying to it, yet not to make it so dense that it is inedible.
Episode 2
Biscuit Week
Fri, Oct 1, 202167 mins
For Biscuit Week, the bakers take on filled brandy snaps for the signature. They produce a jammy childhood favourite in the Technical and finally put their engineering skills to the test to create an interactive toy made exclusively from biscuit.
Episode 3
Bread Week
Fri, Oct 8, 202167 mins
It's the week that bakers either dread or relish in the challenge of making bread for bread-expert Paul. And unlike previous years, each challenge is specific in the type of bread they are to make. For the signature for which they have two and three-quarter hours, it's focaccia. They are given free reign as to almost everything about their focaccia, just that it must be recognizable as such, especially in the texture and open and irregular crumb structure, which requires a well-hydrated dough. For the technical for which they have two hours, it's ciabatta. They will each make fifteen ciabatta bread sticks with olives and cheese apiece served with a homemade tzatziki. The dough for this type of bread is even wetter and thus more difficult to handle than the focaccia. And for the showstopper for which they will have four and a half hours, it's milk bread. With it, they will each construction a three-dimensional display on a theme of their choice. The potential problem is that milk bread is inherently soft, and thus may either collapse under too much weight, not hold up to use in a vertical manner, and/or not retain its desired shape when baking.
Episode 4
Dessert Week
Fri, Oct 15, 202157 mins
It's dessert week, where the bakers will be making items suitable for the end of meal. They have two and three-quarter hours each to make a pavlova for the signature. They are given free reign on flavors and decorations, the finished product which must have the pavlova characteristics of a crispy exterior and pillowy interior. They are given ninety minutes for the technical, in which each is to make four individual serving sticky toffee puddings, accompanied by the sticky toffee sauce, triangular tuiles, and a crème Anglaise. And they have four and half hours each to make a multi-layered dessert wrapped in a decorative imprimé joconde sponge, the interior for which they have a variety of options. Those interior components need to be set (especially risky with things like jellies, mousses or bavarois) i.e. the joconde wrap should not be the only thing holding the interior together.
Episode 5
German Week
Fri, Oct 22, 202157 mins
Much like many saw two weeks ago as ethnic Italian Giuseppe Dell'Anno's star baker crown to lose in two of three challenges being Italian-centric, even more see that Paul and Prue should just hand the star baker crown this week before the bakes even begin to über ethnic German Jürgen Krauss in the show's first ever German week. The bakers will have two and a quarter hours for the signature to bake one dozen each of two different types of German biscuits, which, as they are usually served at Christmas, must be highly decorated in either being dipped, iced and/or dusted. They are free to veer away from traditional flavors, but the end product must be distinctly German. They will have two and three-quarter hours for the technical, in which they are each asked to make a Prinzregententorte, translated into English, Prince Regent Cake. As one would expect in being served to and named after royalty, it is a highly decorated cake made up of eight thin layers of genoise sponge sandwiched by a chocolate custard filling. And they will have four and a half hours for the showstopper for which each will be making a multi-layered German yeast-leavened cake. The conclusion of these three challenges will show if the prediction going into the week is right in that Jürgen is clearly star baker, or if an alternative of someone else being named star baker and/or if he will even be left in the tent occurs instead.
Episode 6
Pastry Week
Fri, Oct 29, 202157 mins
It's proverbially no soggy bottoms week. In other words, it's Pastry Week. The bakers have two hours for the signature to make chouxnuts, namely what in the United States and Canada are called crullers: doughnuts made with choux pastry. They each have to make two batches of six, one batch filled, one batch not filled, both sets decorated with either a glaze or icing. They have two and three-quarter hours for the technical, each to make a baklava to specific standards including a specific shape, design on top, and flavors. In addition, they have to make their own filo pastry, as it is pastry week. Even the two Greeks left in the tent don't think they have an advantage when it comes to making the pastry. And they have four and half hours for the showstopper, each to make a terrine pie. While the exterior pastry must be highly decorated, the pie, when sliced, must also reveal an intricate pattern in the interior. They have to factor in necessary chilling time, as a hot or even warm filling has the risk of not being set and oozing out of the pie when unmolded and/or sliced.
Episode 7
Caramel Week
57 mins
The bakers are a little nervous about this being Caramel Week if only because it can be a temperamental ingredient in going from crystallized to burnt in a flash, and it being totally different than any week thus far. They have two and a half hours for the signature each to make a shareable caramel tart in any style and with any additional flavorings they want, they needing to keep in mind that caramel should be the star of the show, yet still not overly sweet in the overall final product. They have ninety minutes for the technical, each to make ten chocolate covered caramel bars with a shortbread base. As it is what Paul considers a relatively simple recipe, he is expecting perfection. And they have four and a half hours for the showstopper, each to make a caramel dessert of their choice, it which must have at least one baked element and two caramel elements, it all finished by being encased in a caramel dome or cage. In the most temperamental item of the dome, the judges want it to be translucent to be able to see the dessert inside, which means as thin a layer of whatever material they choose to use, the dome more fragile the thinner it is. One baker literally turns the challenge upside down on its head, which may be a risk in working slightly outside of the brief.
Episode 8
Free-From Week
56 mins
It's Free-From week and a chance for the remaining bakers to explore alternative ingredients. The Signature challenges them to bake without dairy, there's a hearty vegan Technical, and showstopping celebration cakes that must be gluten-free.
Episode 9
Patisserie Week
57 mins
It's the semi-finals, traditionally when the four remaining bakers are tested on their patisserie skills, one of the finest arts of any in the baking world. The four remaining are relatively even in all having been named Star Baker, and all having previously received a handshake from Paul. They have three hours for the signature, each to produce eight identical layered patisserie slices - minimum three layers - the key being that the slices must hold together and the layers well defined and impeccably clean when cut. They have two and three-quarter very tight hours to complete the technical, each to make a sablé breton tart decorated to Prue's exacting standards, with each component having different requirements, especially chilling/setting times, which may compromise the other components. And in one of the longest showstoppers ever at five hours, each baker will create a themed banquet display comprised of at least twelve entremet desserts around a centerpiece. With Paul and Prue stating a number of superlatives over the three challenges, the one receiving the heartbreaking news of not making it into next week's finals may come down to who made the most errors and whose bakes were the least technically difficult.
Episode 10
The Final
58 mins
It's the season 12 finals, with the last three standing - Giuseppe Dell'Anno, Chigs Parmar, and Crystelle Pereira - knowing that the judges can throw anything at them for these remaining three challenges of the thirty in which they will have competed. In the third to last challenge, their final ever signature, they are each required to make a carrot cake in two and a quarter hours, needless to say it needing to be elevated beyond what would normally be served for an afternoon tea. A problem would be that the time will not allow for a standard cream cheese frosting which would melt on a warm cake, so the bakers have to come up with an alternative. In the penultimate challenge, their final ever technical, they are each required to make twelve lemon curd and sultana filled Belgian buns, the issue being that Paul has provided only two instructions in the recipe, one being basically to make the buns. And in the last challenge, their final ever showstopper, they are each required, in four and a half hours, to create a Mad Hatter's themed tea party of both sweet and savory baked good demonstrating at least four different baking disciplines.
Episode 11
The Great Christmas Bake Off
57 mins
Olly Alexander, Nathaniel Curtis, Shaun Dooley, and Lydia West, who star on It's a Sin (2021), convene under the tent for a Christmas baking competition. In most confessing to be non-bakers, they will be relying on other things to become Star Baker, including channeling what they know from watching the show, some smoke and mirrors, and a little charm to woo the judges. For the signature, they are each asked to make a leftover Christmas pie. In this contemporary world, the leftovers may not be confined to traditional turkey and ham. Regardless, Paul and Prue, who admit not to be as judgmental as they normally would be, will still not tolerate a soggy bottomed pie. For the technical, they are each to make a chocolate yule log with multi-colored stocking fondant decorations. As non-bakers, they may struggle with the sponge and the concept of needing both to beat the egg whites to retain air and not to deflate that air when mixing in the other ingredients. And for the showstopper, they each will construct a three-dimensional Christmas tree made out biscuits and/or meringue, the two building materials having opposing requirements, biscuits which have a quick baking time and slow cooling time, while meringues are to be baked low and slow but will cool much quicker. Regardless, the baked items must be sturdy enough to retain their shape in construction, especially in withstanding weight, but not so hard as to be texturally inedible.
Episode 12
The Great New Year's Bake Off
57 mins
Four friends of the tent return to compete in what has ended up being the annual new year's edition of the bake off, each of the four who demonstrated the first time around that he/she has very specific strengths and weaknesses as a baker in this competition format which may dictate what happens this weekend. For the signature, each baker is to make a dozen New Year's breakfast yeast leavened buns suitable for the morning after the celebratory evening before. Each of the buns must be decoratively topped. For the technical, they are each to make a vasilopita, a traditional Greek New Year's cake. The issue with this challenge, beyond most not knowing what it is, is the short time to complete it, they needing to cool their Bundt-like cake completely before icing it. And for the showstopper, they are each to make a biscuit shadow box depicting a winter story. The entire display components must feature at least three different types of biscuits, and must be three-dimensional.
