It's bread week meaning all things yeast, with the signature challenge, making a Tarte Tropézienne, perhaps seeming outside of the nature of bread by its very name. Named by
Brigitte Bardot, this tarte is actually a brioche "cake" sandwich filled with pastry cream. Beyond the basics identifying it as a Tarte Tropézienne, the bakers are given free reign as to flavors and other embellishments. The bakers are given two and a half hours to complete the challenge. For the technical challenge, the judges want the bakers to make twelve pretzels accompanied by a cheese spread. What the judges are looking for are a crispy brown salted exterior, a melt-in-your-mouth interior, and uniformity, not only between the twelve pretzels in the classic shape, but in the strands of the braid of each. The bakers are given two and a half hours to complete the challenge. And for the showstopper, the bakers are asked to make a two-tiered bread centerpiece. The two tiers must be made of different types of bread, each stuffed with a filling of the bakers' choice, and as a centerpiece be visually appealing as viewed from any side. The bakers are given four hours to complete the challenge.
—Huggo