The Great Australian Bake Off Season 8

Complete season breakdown

Every episode and bake

Season eight balances classic cake, bread, biscuit, and patisserie work with back-to-basics, celebration, cheese, spice, and Italian themes. The ten-week run ends with a botanical cake, Paris-Brest, and an unrestricted final showstopper chosen by each baker.

1. Episode 1 · Cakes

   Cake Week

   Sep 18, 2024

   Cake week begins with a cupcake pull-apart design, a passionfruit chiffon technical, and an elaborate birthday cake made for the baker's own celebration.

   • Signature

     Pull-apart cupcake cake

     Arrange individually baked cupcakes into one cohesive pull-apart cake and decorate the surface as a single design.

   • Technical

     Passionfruit chiffon cake

     Reproduce a tall, light chiffon cake flavoured and finished with passionfruit.

   • Showstopper

     Epic birthday cake

     Create an ambitious birthday cake for the baker's own imagined celebration.

   Episode source 1Episode source 2

2. Episode 2 · Bread

   Bread Week

   Sep 25, 2024

   Bread week tests savoury breadsticks with an accompaniment, a six-strand Swiss braid, and a matched pair of decorated artisan loaves.

   • Signature

     24 savoury breadsticks with a side

     Bake 24 crisp or chewy savoury breadsticks and serve them with a complementary dip or accompaniment.

   • Technical

     Six-strand braided Zopf

     Reproduce a neatly woven Swiss Zopf using a six-strand braid.

   • Showstopper

     Two scored and painted loaves

     Present two artisan loaves decorated through controlled scoring and edible painted detail.

   Episode source 1Episode source 2

3. Episode 3 · Baking fundamentals

   Back to Basics

   Oct 2, 2024

   A fundamentals-focused week covers filled or topped scones, a decorated chocolate tart, and a tall freestanding stack of pies.

   • Signature

     Nine scones with a filling or topping

     Bake nine matching scones and give them a complementary filling or topping.

   • Technical

     Decorated chocolate tart

     Reproduce a chocolate tart with a crisp shell, smooth filling, and precise decoration.

   • Showstopper

     25 cm vertical pie stack

     Stack one or more pies into a stable vertical construction measuring about 25 cm high.

   Episode source 1Episode source 2

4. Episode 4 · Biscuits

   Biscuit Week

   Oct 9, 2024

   The biscuit rounds progress from jam-filled Linzers to chewy mocha mochi cookies and a three-dimensional edible vehicle with moving parts.

   • Signature

     12 jam-filled Linzer biscuits

     Make 12 matching Linzer sandwich biscuits with clean cutouts and a visible jam filling.

   • Technical

     Mocha mochi cookies

     Reproduce coffee-and-chocolate cookies with a distinctively chewy mochi center.

   • Showstopper

     Moving 3D biscuit vehicle

     Construct a three-dimensional vehicle from biscuit and include a working moving element.

   Make our home version →Episode source 1Episode source 2

5. Episode 5 · Celebrations

   Celebration Week

   Oct 16, 2024

   Celebration week combines the geometric layers of Sarawak cake, tempered chocolate ornaments, and a spooky cake designed to transform under blacklight.

   • Signature

     Geometric Sarawak cake

     Build a Sarawak layer cake with a clean geometric pattern revealed in every slice.

   • Technical

     Tempered chocolate Christmas ornaments

     Produce hollow or assembled Christmas ornaments from correctly tempered chocolate.

   • Showstopper

     Spooky blacklight cake

     Create a spooky celebration cake with decoration designed to produce a second visual effect under blacklight.

   Episode source 1Episode source 2

6. Episode 6 · Cheese

   Cheese Week

   Oct 23, 2024

   Cheese appears in a tear-and-share bread, a three-cheese pie, and a decorated three-tier cheesecake engineered to appear as if it floats.

   • Signature

     Cheesy tear-and-share bread

     Bake a pull-apart bread in which cheese is central to both flavour and texture.

   • Technical

     Three-cheese pie

     Reproduce Rachel Khoo's savoury pie using three complementary cheeses.

   • Showstopper

     Three-tier floating cheesecake

     Build a decorated cheesecake display with three tiers, at least two flavours, and a convincing floating effect.

   Episode source 1Episode source 2

7. Episode 7 · Spice

   Spice Week

   Oct 30, 2024

   Spice week splits filo pasties between sweet and savoury fillings, uses Australian native spices in crullers, and scales spiced biscuit into architecture.

   • Signature

     Sweet and savoury spiced filo pasties

     Make a set of spiced filo pasties divided equally between a sweet filling and a savoury filling.

   • Technical

     Two cruller styles with Australian native spices

     Produce two styles of cruller that incorporate indigenous Australian spices.

   • Showstopper

     3D spiced biscuit structure

     Construct a freestanding three-dimensional structure from biscuits flavoured with spice.

   Episode source 1Episode source 2

8. Episode 8 · Italian baking

   Italian Week

   Nov 6, 2024

   The first Italian week covers handmade pizza, peach-shaped cream pastries, and a large tiramisu-inspired centerpiece.

   • Signature

     Two handmade pizzas

     Make two pizzas from hand-worked dough with the baker's chosen toppings.

   • Technical

     Three pesche con crema

     Produce three peach-shaped Italian pastries, filled with cream and finished to resemble fruit.

   • Showstopper

     Tiramisu centerpiece

     Transform the flavours and components of tiramisu into an elaborate freestanding centerpiece.

   Episode source 1Episode source 2

9. Episode 9 · Patisserie

   Patisserie Week

   Nov 13, 2024

   The semifinal demands laminated kouign-amann, a layered strawberry tart, and a coordinated assortment of small, highly finished petits fours.

   • Signature

     Sweet laminated kouign-amann

     Make sweet kouign-amann with crisp caramelized layers and the baker's chosen flavour.

   • Technical

     Layered strawberry tart

     Reproduce a tart of strawberry cream and creme patissiere on a buttery sable base.

   • Showstopper

     Petit fours collection

     Present a coordinated collection of small patisserie pieces with precise, consistent finishing.

   Episode source 1Episode source 2

10. Episode 10 · Final

    Finale

    Nov 20, 2024

    The finalists interpret a botanical cake, reproduce Rachel Khoo's Paris-Brest, and use a free-choice brief to deliver their most personal showstopper.

    • Signature

      Botanical cake

      Bake and decorate a cake inspired by plants, flowers, or another botanical subject.

    • Technical

      Paris-Brest

      Reproduce Rachel Khoo's version of the ring-shaped choux pastry with a precise filled finish.

    • Showstopper

      Free-choice showstopper

      Design the baker's choice of final showpiece, demonstrating the range of skills developed across the season.

    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 4

Espresso Mochi Cookies

Dark cocoa cookies wrapped around chewy espresso mochi centers and finished with milk chocolate.

Time

47 min

Makes

12 cookies

Level

Intermediate

▶View ingredients and method

Ingredients

• 80 g glutinous rice flour
• 25 g caster sugar
• 1 teaspoon instant espresso powder
• 100 ml whole milk
• 15 g unsalted butter
• 120 g unsalted butter, softened
• 110 g light brown sugar
• 50 g caster sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 170 g plain flour
• 30 g cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
• 60 g milk chocolate, chopped

Method

1. Whisk the glutinous rice flour, 25 g caster sugar, espresso powder, and milk in a microwave-safe bowl. Cover loosely and microwave for 60 seconds, stir, then microwave in 30-second bursts until thick and translucent.
2. Stir 15 g butter into the hot mochi. Scrape it onto a lightly buttered plate, cover the surface, and cool. Divide into 12 pieces with buttered hands and roll into balls.
3. Beat the softened butter, brown sugar, and remaining caster sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg and vanilla.
4. Whisk the plain flour, cocoa, bicarbonate of soda, and salt, then mix them into the butter mixture. Fold in the chopped chocolate and chill for 20 minutes.
5. Heat the oven to 180 C, or 160 C fan, and line two baking sheets. Divide the cookie dough into 12 portions, flatten each, wrap it around one mochi ball, and seal completely.
6. Space the cookies well apart and bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until the edges are set but the centers remain soft. Cool on the sheets for 10 minutes before moving to a rack.

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

Use glutinous rice flour, not ordinary rice flour, to create the stretchy center.

The mochi is easiest to portion while cool but still pliable.

Open the full recipe →

Episode guide sources

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

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 8, listed alphabetically without result spoilers.

Season fact sources

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