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8 Episodes 2025 - 2025
Episode 1
44 mins
The ten bakers new to the tent for season 9 display differing levels of excitement and confidence as they enter their first challenge in their first week, which as is tradition is Cake Week. That first challenge, the signature, is a two hour one where each is to make a Korean lunchbox cake. As it is more a style in being small, layered and served in a takeout container, it provides the bakers with much leeway to add their personality, most who are turning to the ethnic background and/or flavors from where they live, as well as the type of cake sponge they like. Their apprehension arguably ratchets up a notch entering the two hour technical, where they are asked to make a bolo de cenoura, a Brazilian version of a carrot cake. Beyond the blender cake which many bakers will be unfamiliar with, they have to demonstrate many different techniques including tempering chocolate and candying specifically carrot strips. And the final challenge, the four hour showstopper, before Bruno and Kyla name the first star baker and the first baker asked to leave the tent, is to make what Alan and Ann are calling a home grown cake, which is anything that represents where the baker lives or has lived.
Episode 2
44 mins
The nine remaining bakers compete in Bread Week. For the two hour signature, they are each to make eight identical steamed buns, steaming as opposed to baking, especially for "baked" goods, which may be a foreign concept to some. But the biggest question becomes: to steam then fill, or fill then steam their buns. For the two and a quarter hour technical, they are figuratively going to Europe for each to make a dozen Norwegian school buns, so named as a lunchbox staple. They will not only have to deal with dough, but know about spices in adding the right amount of cardamom, and sufficiently cook a vanilla custard, undercooking which will result in a lava flow of the custard out of the buns. And for the four hour showstopper, each will make a muffuletta sandwich. While they can fill their sandwiches with whatever fillings they choose, the judges still want to see the traditional distinct layers of filling, and the made from scratch bread must be the star of the show.
Episode 3
44 mins
It's the series' first ever Carnival Week. The two hour signature has each baker making a staple of any carnival: fried dough. Choosing the carnival treat of their choice whether it be funnel cakes or doughnuts or some other fried confection, they have to make eight servings apiece. For the two and a quarter hour technical, the bakers are figuratively going to Malta each to make a prinjolata, which is not only a staple of Maltese carnivals, but is festive looking in having a jewel-toned multi-colored interior. The bakers will have to multi-task in needing to make a lemon sponge, cookie dough and a meringue. They are going to the visual for the four hour showstopper in each making a carnival mask out of cookies. With all three challenges, the judges are looking for fun overall.
Episode 4
44 mins
For the second time in as many weeks, the bakers are heading into new territory in a theme that may be seen as quintessentially Canadian as it's the first ever Maple Week. They are indeed heading to Québec, largely seen as the home to maple, for the signature in making a traditional Québecois pudding, pouding chômeur, which is generally a pudding baked in a maple sauce. The bakers will be able to place their own spin on it and will each need to make eight identical individual puddings in two hours. They're going double maple for the two and a quarter hour technical where each baker is to make a maple mousse tart. There will be two maple components, the mousse as well as a fudge. And with maple generally associated with pancakes and waffles, the bakers are going toward that part of the day for the four hour showstopper where each is to make a maple brunch platter, consisting of six items each of three elements: a laminated pastry, a quick bread, and something else of their own choice. Their platter must also contain both sweet and savory items.
Episode 5
44 mins
For the third time in as many weeks, the bakers are heading into new territory as it's the show's first ever Indulgence Week, the judges looking for pure decadence. The bakers will have to make six individual mini cheesecakes for the two and a quarter hour signature, which provides them much leeway to place their own spin on the final product. They are moving to social media for the two and a quarter hour technical in each asked to make half a dozen Dubai chocolate cookies, which started its life online as a chocolate bar but which has morphed into a baked good for this purpose. The cookie has a good number of a different textures, the most unique being the crunch provided by the fried kataifi pastry, which of course they have to make from scratch, and which is incorporated into the creamy pistachio paste-tahini filling. And they are doing a two for one in each making a cake wrapped cake for the four and a quarter hour showstopper. The premise is that the outer cake layer will be imprinted with a design that will be the exterior, it which must be thin and flexible enough to mold but not tear or crack and still be sturdy enough to be a structural element.
Episode 6
44 mins
After three weeks of new themes, the bakers are back on familiar ground for this, the quarter-finals, as it's Pastry Week, pastry something that is usually an either love it or hate it in how the bakers feel about making it. Indeed, for the signature and the showstopper, they will be on generally familiar ground as they are each asked to make a "birthday" pie (a pie that evokes the celebration of a birthday) and a family sized mille feuille (mille feuilles which are usually individual servings such as Napoleons), respectively. What gets them back into the unfamiliar is the technical when they are each to make a lenza, an Egyptian tart. While the challenges with making it are its multi-components, including a set milk custard and a pomegranate jam, the two which should remain distinct in the final product, it is the pastry itself which may be the most unfamiliar in it being a press-in pastry almost more like a cake.
Episode 7
44 mins
The bakers are hoping for a bit of magic to don their bakes not only as it's the first ever Fairy Tale Week, but that this week's three bakes comprise the last hurdle before the announcement of the three bakers who will make it into next week's finale. The two and a quarter hour Signature has each of the three making fairy bread, this time in a reimagined version as eight identical "fairy buns", the only seeming requirement being the addition of sprinkles. The one and three-quarter hour Technical has them each making something only described in fairy tales, most specifically those associated to Christmas: sugarplums. These sugarplums are really jam and cream filled sandwich cookies shaped and decorated to resemble sparkling plums, with most components having the predominant flavor of nothing other than plums. And they will have four and a half hours for the Showstopper in which they must use a combination of cake sponges and cookies to construct a pop-up storybook of a fairy tale of their choice.
Episode 8
44 mins
It's been eight weeks since the beginning of the season, and three bakers remain standing to go into the finale where only one can emerge victorious: Ryan Gridzak, Jo Mandet, and Zoë Weinrebe. They realize this is not only the most difficult week because of the end prize, but also because the judges can throw anything at them for the final three challenges. The antepenultimate challenge of the season is the final signature where each, in two and quarter hours, will be making the two component bossche bollen vlaai: "vlaii" being a flat tart with a yeast leavened crust, and "bossche bollen" being the cream puffs adorning the top of the tart. They are moving from the Netherlands to the Philippines for the penultimate challenge of the season, the final technical, where in two and quarter hours each will make a higher end reimagined version of a crema de fruitas, which is usually a pantry clearing dessert, but which the bakers here will need to make many of those pantry staple items from scratch, such as the fruit cocktail and the graham cracker crumbs. And the final challenge, the final signature, has the bakers in four and a half hours each making a madeleine tree, which must contain one other baked confectionery beyond the madeleines. These three challenges will lead to the judges making the decision of who will be The Great Canadian Baking Show Season 9 winner, the announcement made in front of family and friends, some in the latter category familiar with the pressures of the tent.