The Great Australian Bake Off Season 5

Complete season breakdown

Every episode and bake

Season five mixes core cake, bread, and biscuit skills with vegan baking, classics, patisserie, spice, hybrid bakes, and party work. The ten episodes culminate in a final built around Dobos torte, Mont Blancs, and a geometric three-tier cake.

1. Episode 1 · Cakes

   Cakes

   Oct 3, 2019

   The season starts with a decorated butter cake, small chocolate-raspberry cakes, and an illusion cake designed to resemble something else entirely.

   • Signature

     Decorated family-sized butter cake

     Bake and decorate a family-sized butter cake with the baker's chosen flavours.

   • Technical

     12 Raffa cakes

     Produce 12 matching small chocolate and raspberry Raffa cakes.

   • Showstopper

     Ultimate illusion cake

     Create a cake decorated to convincingly resemble a non-cake object.

   Episode source 1Episode source 2

2. Episode 2 · Bread

   Bread

   Oct 10, 2019

   Bread week combines decorated scrolls, a rye loaf coloured and flavoured with beetroot, and two complete sets of soft pretzels.

   • Signature

     12 decorated bread scrolls

     Make 12 sweet or savoury bread scrolls and give each a decorative finish.

   • Technical

     Rye and beetroot bread

     Follow Maggie Beer's brief for a rye loaf incorporating beetroot.

   • Showstopper

     24 soft pretzels

     Produce 12 sweet and 12 savoury soft pretzels with even shaping.

   Make our home version →Episode source 1Episode source 2

3. Episode 3 · Biscuits

   Biscuits

   Oct 17, 2019

   Chocolate biscuits lead to thin chocolate-and-ginger arlettes before the bakers build edible boxes and fill them with another batch of biscuits.

   • Signature

     24 chocolate biscuits

     Bake two dozen matching biscuits in which chocolate is a central flavour.

   • Technical

     24 chocolate and ginger arlettes

     Produce 24 thin, crisp spiral arlettes flavoured with chocolate and ginger.

   • Showstopper

     Edible biscuit box with 12 biscuits

     Construct a lidded edible box from biscuit and fill it with 12 matching biscuits.

   Episode source 1Episode source 2

4. Episode 4 · Vegan baking

   Vegan

   Oct 24, 2019

   Every round excludes animal products, moving from a sweet baked slice to a set terrine and a large four-dozen cupcake display.

   • Signature

     Vegan sweet baked slice

     Create a sweet baked slice using no animal-derived ingredients.

   • Technical

     Vegan terrine

     Reproduce a layered vegan terrine with a clean set and distinct components.

   • Showstopper

     48 vegan cupcakes

     Bake and decorate four dozen cupcakes without eggs, dairy, or other animal products.

   Episode source 1Episode source 2

5. Episode 5 · Classic bakes

   Classics

   Oct 31, 2019

   Classic pastry and cake skills appear in savoury hand pastries, a chocolate-citrus flan, and a chiffon cake inspired by botanical flavours and forms.

   • Signature

     12 savoury pastries

     Make a dozen matching savoury pastries with the baker's choice of style and filling.

   • Technical

     Chocolate, hazelnut, and orange flan

     Prepare a flan combining chocolate, hazelnut, and orange in a neat pastry shell.

   • Showstopper

     Botanical chiffon cake

     Create a chiffon cake whose flavours and decoration both follow a botanical theme.

   Episode source 1Episode source 2

6. Episode 6 · Patisserie

   Patisserie

   Nov 7, 2019

   The patisserie episode tests filled cream horns, small fluted caneles, and a large fruit tart featuring elaborate pastry craft.

   • Signature

     12 decorated cream horns

     Make and fill 12 cream horns, then decorate them consistently.

   • Technical

     12 caneles

     Produce 12 caneles with deeply caramelized shells and custardy interiors.

   • Showstopper

     Crafty fruit tart

     Build a fruit tart that showcases extravagant decorative pastry work.

   Episode source 1Episode source 2

7. Episode 7 · Spiced baking

   Spice

   Nov 14, 2019

   Spice week moves through filled Turkish-style pides and ma'amoul before scaling filo and nuts into a 75-piece baklava tower.

   • Signature

     12 savoury pides

     Make a dozen savoury pides with a spiced filling.

   • Technical

     12 ma'amoul

     Produce 12 traditional moulded ma'amoul with a spiced filling and clear pattern.

   • Showstopper

     75-piece baklava tower

     Construct a stable tower from 75 individual pieces of baklava.

   Episode source 1Episode source 2

8. Episode 8 · Hybrid bakes

   Hybrid

   Nov 21, 2019

   The bakers combine established formats into choux-doughnut hybrids, laminated muffin-shaped pastries, and a layered cake made from giant biscuits.

   • Signature

     12 chouxnuts

     Make a dozen pastries combining choux technique with the shape and finish of doughnuts.

   • Technical

     Six prosciutto and Gorgonzola cruffins

     Produce six laminated croissant-muffin hybrids filled with prosciutto and Gorgonzola.

   • Showstopper

     Three-layer shaped biscuit cake

     Build a shaped celebration cake from three large biscuit layers, filling, and decoration.

   Episode source 1Episode source 2

9. Episode 9 · Party bakes

   Party

   Nov 28, 2019

   The semifinal demands savoury canapes, a layered Sicilian cassata, and 20 highly finished individual entremets for a party display.

   • Signature

     24 savoury pastry canapes

     Make two dozen savoury pastry canapes, with at least 12 presented as vol-au-vents.

   • Technical

     Sicilian cassata cake

     Reproduce a layered Sicilian cassata cake with a clean finish.

   • Showstopper

     20 entremets

     Present 20 individual multi-component entremets with patisserie-level finishing.

   Episode source 1Episode source 2

10. Episode 10 · Final

    Finale

    Dec 5, 2019

    The last three bakers reinterpret a seven-layer Dobos torte, reproduce small Mont Blancs, and finish with a geometric three-tier cake.

    • Signature

      Reinvented seven-layer Dobos torte

      Rework the classic Dobos torte while retaining its defining seven cake layers.

    • Technical

      Eight Mont Blancs

      Produce eight individual Mont Blanc desserts with meringue, cream, and chestnut components.

    • Showstopper

      Three-tier geometric cake

      Construct a three-tier celebration cake built around precise geometric decoration.

    Episode source 1Episode source 2

Inspired by the briefs

Bake it at home

These are original Baking Show Guide adaptations for a home kitchen. They are inspired by the challenge briefs, not the contestants' recipes or an official recipe from the show.

Inspired by Episode 2

Beetroot Rye Tin Loaf

An earthy everyday loaf made with roasted beetroot, rye flour, caraway, and enough strong white flour for a dependable home bake.

Time

1 hr 12 min

Makes

One 900 g loaf, about 12 slices

Level

Intermediate

▶View ingredients and method

Ingredients

• 220 g cooked beetroot, cooled and roughly chopped
• 140 ml lukewarm water
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 7 g instant yeast
• 350 g strong white bread flour
• 150 g wholemeal rye flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons fine salt
• 1 teaspoon caraway seeds
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon rye flakes or rolled oats, for topping

Method

1. Blend the beetroot, water, and honey to a smooth puree. Stir in the yeast and leave for 5 minutes.
2. Combine the bread flour, rye flour, salt, and caraway in a large bowl. Add the beetroot mixture and olive oil, then mix until no dry flour remains.
3. Knead for 8 to 10 minutes by hand or 6 minutes in a mixer. The dough will remain slightly tacky but should become elastic. Place it in an oiled bowl, cover, and leave to rise until increased by about half, 60 to 90 minutes.
4. Grease a 23 by 13 cm loaf pan. Press the gas from the dough, shape it into a tight log, and place it seam-side down in the pan. Cover and prove until the center rises about 2 cm above the rim, 45 to 70 minutes.
5. Heat the oven to 210 C, or 190 C fan. Brush the loaf lightly with water, scatter over the rye flakes, and score once lengthwise.
6. Bake for 15 minutes, reduce the oven to 190 C, or 170 C fan, and bake for another 25 to 27 minutes. Turn out and cool completely on a rack before slicing.

This is an original Baking Show Guide home adaptation, not a contestant recipe or an official show recipe.

Wear gloves while handling the beetroot if you want to avoid staining your hands.

The crumb will look brighter while warm and deepen to a burgundy-brown as it cools.

Open the full recipe →

Episode guide sources

Challenge details verified 2026-07-14. tvguide.com, en.wikipedia.org.

Season result

The winner stays hidden until you choose to reveal it.

See every Great Australian Bake Offwinner, season by season →

Full cast

Everyone recorded for Season 5, listed alphabetically without result spoilers.

Season fact sources

en.wikipedia.org, en.wikipedia.org.