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The Great British Baking Show Season 14 Episodes
Season 14 Episode Guide
12 Episodes 2023 - 2024
Episode 1
Cake Week
Fri, Sep 29, 202367 mins
As is tradition, the twelve bakers new to the tent for the start of season 14 are making cakes this week. For the signature, they will have two hours for each to make a vertical layer cake, which is basically a rolled cake placed on its side. The biggest challenge will be the rolling itself which if it is not perfect, imperfections which may include cracks in the sponge, or filling and rolling when the sponge has not cooled sufficiently, may result in a tilting or collapsing cake. For the two hour technical, they will each make what may arguably be the most visually iconic cake in the UK, and throughout the world where Bake-Off is shown. The question for the bakers in meeting what they know the visual to be will be to add or not to add the missing raspberry. And for the showstopper, they will have four hours to make a cake in the shape of an animal of their choice. While they can use lighter edible items such as puffed rice cereal to make structural elements, the finished product must be primarily cake sponge. Paul and Prue fear some bakers might go for style over substance in a challenge where the visual is outwardly important.
Episode 2
Biscuit Week
Fri, Oct 6, 202366 mins
The bakers who have made it past the first week know that they are all starting from scratch as they enter this second week, Biscuit Week. They will have two and a half hours for the signature where each is to make a dozen identical marshmallow biscuits, akin to wagon wheels or tea cakes. With chocolate and marshmallows, the main components both being inherently sweet, they will have to add another flavor to cut the sweetness. They are going back to another supermarket staple for the ninety minute technical in each making a dozen custard cream biscuits. Much like the marshmallow biscuits, most know what they are, have probably eaten them, but have never made them themselves in just resorting to the prepackaged biscuits aisle in the supermarket. And they are moving from the standard to the fantastical for the four hour showstopper where each is to make an illusion biscuit display depicting their favorite meal, they free to use any style of biscuits they like. The judges want to be fooled in that they truly are looking at what the bakers are trying to depict.
Episode 3
Bread Week
67 mins
Most of the remaining contestants admit fearing this week, unofficially Paul Hollywood Week in the baked goods being his specialty, but officially Bread Week. For the two and three-quarter hour signature, they will each make a cottage loaf, one of the major issues being its appearance in that the smaller top loaf needs to be centered on the larger bottom loaf, and that the bread should rise more than it spreads in the final product to be considered a resounding success. For the technical, they are each asked to make eight Devonshire splits, for it they needing to make their own strawberry jam. Proofing will be the issue in they only having two and half hours for the entire challenge including the two proofs. And for the four hour showstopper, they will each make a plaited bread centerpiece, which must contain at least two types of flour thus two types of bread. The issue with all three challenges will be the addition of other ingredients, either to make an enriched dough or to add different flavorings, which will affect how the dough rises.
Episode 4
Chocolate Week
Fri, Oct 20, 202357 mins
Most of the bakers have mixed emotions about it being Chocolate Week. While they like eating chocolate and it is a flavor that pairs well with many other things, they also find that it as an ingredient can be temperamental and thus can be difficult to bake with. Making it even more difficult is that it is one of the hottest weekends of the year, chocolate which is obviously heat sensitive. For the signature, they will have two and half hours for each to make a chocolate torte without (wheat) flour. The replacement "flour", usually a nut flour if one indeed is used as a flour of any sort is not actually required, will result is a finished product that usually is denser than a typical cake sponge. For the technical, they will each have two hours to make six individual caramelized white chocolate cheesecakes. Beyond the short amount of time to bake and cool fully set cheesecakes, the issue they will have is caramelizing the white chocolate, there being a sweet spot between just melting it and burning it. And for the showstopper, they will have four hours for each to make an edible chocolate box filled with a chocolate cake and filled chocolate bon bons. Many will use a mold to make the box, while others will make flat chocolate panels which they will "glue" together with melted chocolate. The heat takes its toll additionally on one baker who has to leave the weekend halfway through. Having that baker guaranteed to return next week in the probability that she will have recovered, Paul and Prue have to decide if they will still send someone home this week, their decision based on how the poorly the least successful baker fared compared to the one who had to drop out.
Episode 5
Pastry Week
Fri, Oct 27, 202357 mins
The bakers are hoping that it will be a week with no soggy bottoms as it's Pastry Week. They have reason to be doubly concerned as the medical issue with Tasha leading to no one being sent home last week, they are aware that two people will be sent home this week. And with as diverse an item as pastry, they are cognizant that they will probably be making a different pastry type for the three challenges, each with its own issues. It's hot water pastry for the two hour signature where they are each to make a dozen individual savory picnic pies. It's rough puff pastry for the two and three-quarter hour technical where each is to make a pithivier. Not only will they need to be concerned about the pastry actually puffing, but about cooking the Dauphinoise potato filling fully as under-cooked potatoes will be a noticeable error. And it probably will be a short crust pastry in the four hour showstopper where they are each to make at least three sweet pastry pies in an artistic display. Paul and Prue would like at least two if not three different flavored pies apiece for the bakers to demonstrate their versatility, for the pies to be removed from their tins in that display element, and the three plus pies to be tied together both in flavor and display theme.
Episode 6
Botanicals Week
Fri, Nov 3, 202357 mins
Regardless of what the bakers are requested to make, Paul and Prue want them to be "garden" forward in it being Botanicals Week, meaning spices, herbs and edible flowers. It's spices for the two and three-quarter hour signature in they each making a dozen spiced buns of their choice. Beyond being spice forward, Paul in particular will be particularly judgmental about consistency of look of all twelve. It's an herb for the ninety minute technical in each making a lemon and thyme drizzle cake. With no amounts being specified, each baker will have to gauge how much thyme is too much or enough as the botanical element, especially as Prue, the challenge setter, tells them to "be bold with the botanicals". And it's flowers for the four and half hour showstopper where each is to make a layered floral dessert of their choice, floral both in flavor and design. The only caveat is that the final product has to be comprised primarily of a baked element.
Episode 7
Dessert Week
Tue, Nov 7, 202357 mins
This week, it's all about desserts, which encompass things like puddings, custards, jellies and mousses. The bakers will each be making eight individual crème caramels for the two and three-quarter hour signature. The two main components must be done just right, as a brown or blond as opposed to amber caramel, and a runny or rubbery as opposed to just set custard are not what Paul and Prue are looking for. The bakers will each be making half a dozen individual orange and ginger treacle puddings, to be served with a custard, and a ginger and orange syrup for the technical. Challenge setter Paul states behind closed doors that the bakers have to be aware of timing as steaming the puddings themselves take up almost half the allotted ninety minute time, leaving them little room for error. The result is arguably one of the more memorable technicals in the show's history. And they will each be making a meringue bombe which is to encase a shareable dessert of their choice for the four hour showstopper. They have to be careful in that the meringue casing is structurally fragile, and an overly heavy or moist dessert may compromise that shell, if they are even able to produce that shell without it cracking in the first place.
Episode 8
Party Week
Tue, Nov 14, 202357 mins
For this, the quarter-finals, it's Party Week, Alison using any excuse to participate in a conga line to party. But the competitors still have to focus on the three competition bakes for the week. They will have two hours for the signature, which is each to make a dozen sausage rolls, the only caveats in the brief being that it must be pastry rolled to encase a sausage. Much like the fear of Bread Week, the bakers might fear this challenge upon learning that sausage rolls are one of Paul's favorite things to eat. The bakers should be familiar with what they are each asked to make for the two and a half hour technical, although they will have to read the instructions carefully to create the intricate pattern for a caterpillar cake, specifically chocolate. One baker hopes to gain the favor of someone in the tent with a specific design element. And for the four and a half hour showstopper, they will each create a literal and proverbial "anything but beige" buffet which must consist of both sweet and savory baked elements of what would be considered party food. Paul and Prue fear that some bakers will try to impress with a greater variety of baked goods rather than focus on perfecting a smaller number.
Episode 9
Patisserie Week
57 mins
As is tradition, this, the semi-finals, is all about patisserie, Paul and Prue wanting the bakers to produce goods with the elegant and precise detail fit for a Parisian patisserie shop window. While some are still focused on just doing the best that they can, some cannot help but think about success or failure meaning making or not making it into next week's finale. For the signature, each baker will have two hours to produce two different batches of a dozen financiers apiece. While the bakers are free to use whatever flavors they want including a nut different than the traditional almond, Paul and Prue will still be looking for the hallmarks of what they know to be a good financier. For the two-and-a-half hour technical, challenge setter Prue tells them to focus on presentation as it will be difficult to ruin the taste of the classical tarte aux pommes (apple tart). The bakers will be cognizant of time as they will need to bake the tart three times to set the individual components of the short crust pastry, the frangipane, and the apples/applesauce separately. And they will have four hours for the showstopper where they will each be making a millefoglie, an Italian cake version of the French classic, mille-feuille. Paul and Prue will expect the bakers to make a full puff pastry (as opposed to a cheater's or rough puff) despite a full puff usually a multi-day process, as a thin and extremely flaky pastry is the key to success as the name implies (i.e. thousand leaves).
Episode 10
The Final
58 mins
Although the three finalists Matty Edgell, Dan Hunter, and Josh Smalley enter this last weekend statistically tied with two Star Baker titles and a Paul Hollywood handshake apiece, they know it means nothing in all that matters being the final three challenges of the competition this weekend. For their final signature challenge, they have two and quarter hours for each to make a total of eight of two different types of high decorative éclairs. For the final technical challenge, they will each be making a batch of nine lardy cake slices, a British classic, in three hours. And for the final showstopper challenge, they, in four and a half hours, are each to make their upgraded layered version of the first cake they ever baked in their lives. After these three challenges, Paul and Prue will make the decision of which of the three will be this year's winner, the announcement made in front of their friends, family and some faces familiar to the tent.
Episode 11
Great Festive Bake Off - Christmas
57 mins
Six people familiar with the pressures of the tent convene for this one weekend only annual Christmas baking competition, most who are looking for some sort of redemption from past tent failures, especially the one that sent them home the first time around. For the two hour signature, each baker is required to make a dozen highly decorated individual mincemeat pies. While the bakers are given some leeway as to the final product, the flavors of the mincemeat should evoke Christmas. For the two and three-quarter hour technical, they are each required to make an intricately snowflake-shaped tear and share bread. And on that theme of redemption, the bakers, for the four hour showstopper, are given a second chance in recreating a failure, either a specific bake or the week itself, from their first time in the tent, albeit one that is showstopper-worthy and in cake form if that failure was not previously a showstopper or a cake, with most choosing some sort of Christmas theme.
Episode 12
Great Festive Bake Off - New Year's
58 mins
Mark from series 11, Jurgen and Maggie from series 12 and Maxy from series 13 return for the New Years - Bake Off. The signature challenge is to make 12 Religieuse with a festive theme. The technical challenge is to make a Galette Des Rois with crisp, buttery pastry and an almond frangipane filling. The showstopper challenge is to create an exquisite New Year's Smash Cake that had a chocolate dome shell.
