Sat, Oct 16, 2021
The ten contestants for season 5 are walking into the unfamiliar, namely the tent for the first time, but have some aspects that should be familiar to them: the recognizable faces, at least on television, of the returning hosts and judges; that they, while on site, will need to maintain COVID-19 protocols as they do in everyday life; that this, the first week of any season, is cake week; and that they, as their first, challenge, are each asked to make something that is a classic, namely a pound cake, they allowed to put their own person spin on whatever they bake. They may be going back into the unfamiliar in each required to make twenty identical Lammingtons for the technical challenge, it an Australian favorite. Beyond the judges looking for perfectly decorated cubes, the bakers have to contend with the multiple components: the cake sponge, the mostly seedless raspberry jam filling, the chocolate glaze, and the coconut dusting which should not be discolored by the chocolate. And for their first showstopper, they are each to make a fault line cake, an illusion cake that has a "fault line" to reveal something different inside.
Sat, Oct 23, 2021
It's cookie week, where the bakers will have to put modern spins on classic cookies. For the signature, they are asked to make icebox sandwich cookies. Icebox cookies historically have been refrigerated dough in a log for those sweet treat emergencies to slice off and bake as needed. Beyond the time restriction limiting how long they can chill their dough, the bakers will have the challenge of having a multi-colored dough to exhibit a "picture" in the cookie. They also have to ensure their sandwich filling is firm enough so as not to ooze out when biting into the sandwich. For the technical, each baker is required to make twenty pirouette cookies. Because of how thin the cookies are and that they need to be rolled immediately after being baked, there is a fine line of minutes between the cookies being underbaked and overbaked. The bakers also have to ensure the hazelnut chocolate filling is thin enough to be able to pipe into the cookies, yet thick enough so that it does not drip out the ends of the cookies. And for the showstopper, each will make a mosaic out of cookies. There will be two cookie elements: a base upon which the mosaic tiles will be placed to display a picture. Most of the bakers will color their tiles using tinted royal icing.
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Sat, Oct 30, 2021
The bakers are moving away from a theme centered around a bakery item, to a more general theme as it is the first ever Celebration Week, meaning everything they produce must be in celebration of something. For the signature challenge, they are each to make a dozen éclairs in celebration of an event of their choosing using flavors of their choosing. The celebration is more defined in the technical, where they are each asked to make a Halloween spider web cake. The challenge with the technical is the multi-component nature of the product, which includes a cake sponge, a candy-like base, a mousse, a frosting, a fried tuile, and not only one but two mirror glazes, the second which is to produce the spider web effect. And for the signature, they or someone they know will be getting married in they each making a meringue centerpiece for a wedding. While they can use other edible items, the piece must consist primarily of meringue-based items, such as macarons, pavlovas, dacquoises and meringue kisses.
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Sat, Nov 6, 2021
It's bread week, and for the signature, the bakers are going to have to impress especially Kyla who grew up eating what they are asked to make, namely babka. They can use whatever flavors they want for their babka, but should incorporate the braids and twists revealing the filling, this look for which babka is known. The bakers are figuratively traveling further east in each being asked to make twelve bolo baos - six sandwiched with a homemade butter - for the technical. In being told that the Chinese to English translation is pineapple buns, they may be perplexed if they have never seen or eaten one in that it contains no pineapple, but rather the top of the bun is to evoke the look of the exterior of a pineapple. And for the showstopper, they are each asked literally to make a bread basket - a vessel of some sort made of bread - the vessel which will be filled with at least two other different types of bread.
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Sat, Nov 13, 2021
For the signature in this, pie and tart week, the bakers are each asked to make a sweet pie representing some aspect of one of the Canadian provinces. The judges want to see the provincial representation not only in the flavors, but also the design and even the type of crust. The bakers, for the technical, are moving to the smaller tarts in being asked to make fourteen pastéis de nata, more commonly known in English as Portuguese egg tarts. The challenge as with any custard based tart or pie is that the already finicky crust, which in this case is a laminated dough, prefers a high temperature, whereas the custard itself prefers a lower temperature. Additionally, the judges will be looking for the signature swirled bottom of the pastry, and the charred filling top without the custard being turned to scrambled eggs in being overbaked. And for the showstopper, they are figuratively going to olde England in making classic hand raised pies using hot water crust pastry. They need to make two different pies, each with at least two distinct layers of filling, and baked in the traditional method without any external supports.
Sat, Nov 20, 2021
It's the quarter-finals, and the five remaining bakers will be partaking in the show's first ever Caramel Week, with the bakes either inherently caramel or a caramel version of what is requested. Regardless, the caramel must shine through respective of what other flavors the they choose to incorporate. They are each asked to make twelve each of two different versions, both in flavor and design, of Florentine cookies, which use caramel as their structural base. Beyond the finicky baking times, the challenge may be to make a version that stands out from the crowd while retaining those characteristics standard to the cookies. Moving to the technical, they are each asked to make a baker's dozen yeast raised doughnuts that are caramel forward in being filled with a praline infused pastry cream, covered with a caramel glaze and topped with praline pieces. And they are given free reign in their showstopper. which is for each to make a caramel layer cake.
Sat, Nov 27, 2021
It's the semi-finals, when the four remaining bakers will have to demonstrate that they can be delicate in making patisseries worthy of a French pastry shop window. For the signature, they each will be making sixteen vol-au-vonts with two different fillings. The difficulty with the signature may be adapting their recipe, especially the puff pastry, to complete it within the short time given for the challenge. For the technical, they will each be making a baba au rhum, a yeast risen cake. In addition to not being given a mixer in needing to make all the components by hand, including kneading the very sticky dough and whipping the Chantilly cream, they have the added pressure in Bruno admitting this was his favorite dessert as a child. And for the showstopper, they will each be making twelve each of three different styles of petit fours, one a "sec", the second a "frais", and the third a "glacé". This week's star baker will be guaranteed a place in next week's finale, while another baker will face the heartbreak of being sent home not to make it to the proverbial finish line of the finale.
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Sat, Dec 4, 2021
The finale has arrived, and the final three standing are Vincent Chan, Aimee DeCruyenaere, and Steve Levitt. They realize that as the finale, the judges could throw anything at them, but whatever they produce has to be spectacular in every way. They are each asked to make a mousse tart for the signature, the multi-component bake which should also include a gelée. The tart's layers should be distinctive with the flavors combining into a cohesive whole. The technical is another multi-component bake in they each being asked to make ten delizia al limone apiece, the domed desserts which include a sponge, a lemon flavored pastry cream filling, a lemon syrup, and a lemon glaze, all topped with an icing and candied lemon. The twenty-fourth and final bake of the season, the finale showstopper, will be a culmination of their baking lives in they each being asked to make what the judges are calling a journey cake: a representation of how they arrived to this point of their baking, from childhood memories, to what may have got them started to bake to begin with, to who they are as a baker today. The story behind their cake may be as important as the product itself. Following Bruno and Kyla's deliberation, Alan and Ann announce this season's winner in front of the three finalists and some other familiar faces to the tent.
Sat, Dec 11, 2021
Four friends of the tent return to compete in a one weekend only holiday baking competition. All four former finalists, they each want to accomplish what they didn't quite achieve their first times in the tent, namely to take home the winner's cake tray. For the signature, the judges ask each to prepare a festive treat tray with at least two types of baked goods, one which should be a cookie. While taste and texture are always important components, festive may be the key in it being the holidays. Kyla sets the technical, which is for each to make what none have probably heard of before: a vínarterta, an Icelandic celebration cake which has now become a holiday staple. The anomaly is that is looks like a cake and must slice cleanly like a cake, but that it is comprised of stacked layers of seven biscuits sandwiched with prune jam, those layers which should be even and visible in it not being iced on the sides. And for the showstopper, they are each asked to make a wreath made of choux pastry. The embellishments may set them apart as the color of the baked choux itself does not generally evoke the holidays. After Bruno and Kyla's deliberations, Ann and Alan announce the winner in front of the four and other familiar faces to the tent who have also returned to cheer on their baking friends.