The Great British Baking Show Season 11 (Bake Off)

Complete season breakdown

Every episode and bake

Series 11 was filmed in a production bubble and delivered ten weeks of progressively demanding baking, including the show's first Japanese Week and a heat-struck 1980s episode. This guide records all 30 challenge briefs and offers one original home-kitchen adaptation for each episode.

1. Episode 1 · Cake

   Cake

   Sep 22, 2020

   Cake week begins with patterned Battenbergs, compresses a retro fruit cake into miniature form, and ends with sculpted portraits of personal heroes.

   • Signature

     Battenberg cake

     Create an intricately patterned Battenberg in two hours.

   • Technical

     6 miniature pineapple upside-down cakes

     Bake six matching miniature pineapple upside-down cakes in 90 minutes.

   • Showstopper

     Celebrity hero cake bust

     Sculpt a three-dimensional cake bust of a personal celebrity hero in four hours.

   Episode source

2. Episode 2 · Biscuits

   Biscuits

   Sep 29, 2020

   Uniform florentines and two differently finished coconut macaroons lead into an architectural biscuit table setting based on a remembered meal.

   • Signature

     36 chocolate florentines

     Make 36 identical chocolate florentines in two hours.

   • Technical

     12 hand-shaped coconut macaroons

     Produce six mango-curd macaroons and six chocolate-filled and drizzled macaroons in one hour and 45 minutes.

   • Showstopper

     3D biscuit table setting

     Mold a three-dimensional biscuit table setting that recalls a memorable meal in four hours.

   Episode source

3. Episode 3 · Bread

   Bread

   Oct 6, 2020

   Quick soda breads with handmade butter precede brightly colored bagels and a large decorative bread plaque modeled on harvest sheaves.

   • Signature

     2 soda bread loaves with butter

     Make one sweet and one savory freeform soda bread plus an accompanying butter in one hour and 45 minutes.

   • Technical

     6 rainbow-colored bagels

     Shape, boil, and bake six rainbow-colored bagels in two hours and 45 minutes.

   • Showstopper

     Large bread plaque

     Create a decorative harvest-sheaf-style bread plaque showing something for which the baker is grateful in three and a half hours.

   Episode source

4. Episode 4 · Chocolate

   Chocolate

   Oct 13, 2020

   Chocolate Week returns to brownie fundamentals, introduces a tightly twisted babka, and scales up to a polished two-tier white chocolate celebration cake.

   • Signature

     18 chocolate brownies

     Bake eighteen chocolate brownies in 90 minutes.

   • Technical

     Chocolate babka

     Make a traditional chocolate babka in two and a half hours.

   • Showstopper

     Two-tier white chocolate celebration cake

     Produce a spectacular two-tier celebration cake centered on white chocolate in four hours.

   Make our home version →Episode source

5. Episode 5 · Pastry

   Pastry

   Oct 20, 2020

   Pastry week reworks the Cornish pasty, demands two precise flavors of eclair, and encloses a sweet tart beneath an intricate freestanding lattice cage.

   • Signature

     8 pasties

     Put an original spin on eight pasties in two hours.

   • Technical

     6 eclairs: 3 raspberry and 3 salted caramel

     Make three raspberry and three salted-caramel eclairs in two hours and 15 minutes.

   • Showstopper

     Caged tart

     Hide a sweet tart beneath a latticed pastry cage in three hours and 45 minutes.

   Episode source

6. Episode 6 · Japanese

   Japanese

   Oct 27, 2020

   The first Japanese Week pairs characterful steamed buns with a many-layered matcha crepe cake and a kawaii-inspired cake using Japanese flavors.

   • Signature

     8 steamed buns

     Make eight decorated steamed buns with either a savory or sweet filling in two and a half hours.

   • Technical

     Matcha crepe cake

     Layer twelve matcha crepes with white chocolate ganache buttercream and strawberries, then finish with fruit and edible flowers in two hours.

   • Showstopper

     Kawaii cake

     Create a cake inspired by Japanese kawaii culture and incorporating Japanese flavors in four hours.

   Episode source

7. Episode 7 · The '80s

   The '80s

   Nov 3, 2020

   The 1980s theme revives quiche and finger doughnuts before an unusually hot tent turns ice cream cake into a race against melting.

   • Signature

     8 quiches in 2 flavors

     Make eight classic-style quiches split between two savory flavors in two hours.

   • Technical

     6 custard and jam finger doughnuts

     Deep-fry six identical finger doughnuts and fill them with custard and jam in two hours and 45 minutes.

   • Showstopper

     Ice cream cake

     Assemble an ice cream cake in four and a half hours despite the heat in the tent.

   Episode source

8. Episode 8 · Desserts

   Desserts (Quarterfinals)

   Nov 10, 2020

   The quarterfinal tests small baked cheesecakes and old-fashioned suet puddings, then asks for suspended jelly art above mousse and sponge.

   • Signature

     12 mini baked cheesecakes

     Bake twelve miniature cheesecakes in two and a half hours.

   • Technical

     2 Sussex pond puddings with creme anglaise

     Make two suet-pastry Sussex pond puddings and serve them with creme anglaise in two and a half hours.

   • Showstopper

     Jelly art design cake

     Combine an artistic clear-jelly design, mousse, and a baked sponge element in four and a half hours.

   Make our home version →Episode source

9. Episode 9 · Patisserie

   Patisserie (Semifinals)

   Nov 17, 2020

   The semifinal calls for syrup-soaked savarins, a towering Danish almond-ring cornucopia, and 25 sharply finished cube cakes.

   • Signature

     12 pate a savarin

     Make twelve pate a savarin in two hours and 45 minutes.

   • Technical

     Danish kransekage cornucopia cake

     Build a Danish kransekage cornucopia from graduated almond rings in two hours and 15 minutes.

   • Showstopper

     25 mini cube-shaped cakes

     Produce 25 precise cube-shaped patisserie cakes in four and a half hours.

   Episode source

10. Episode 10 · Final

    Final

    Nov 24, 2020

    The final moves from crisp custard slices to chocolate-coated walnut whirls, then asks each baker to summarize a range of skills in a towering dessert display.

    • Signature

      8 custard slices

      Make eight beautifully decorated custard slices in two and a half hours.

    • Technical

      8 walnut whirls

      Create eight matching chocolate cones with marshmallow filling, biscuit bases, and walnut tops in two hours.

    • Showstopper

      Dessert tower

      Construct a large dessert tower with a cake base and at least three sections representing different baking disciplines in four and a half hours.

    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

Chocolate Hazelnut Babka

A rich twisted loaf with dark chocolate, toasted hazelnuts, and a glossy syrup finish.

Time

1 hr 15 min

Makes

One loaf, serving 10

Level

Medium

▶View ingredients and method

Ingredients

• 350 g strong white bread flour
• 7 g instant yeast
• 50 g caster sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
• 2 large eggs
• 100 ml whole milk
• 100 g unsalted butter, softened
• 120 g dark chocolate
• 75 g toasted hazelnuts, chopped
• 50 g sugar for syrup

Method

1. Knead the flour, yeast, sugar, salt, eggs, milk, and 75 g butter until smooth. Cover and chill after it doubles.
2. Melt the chocolate with remaining butter. Roll the dough into a rectangle, spread with chocolate, scatter with nuts, and roll tightly.
3. Split the log lengthwise, twist cut sides upward, and place in a lined loaf tin. Proof for 45 minutes.
4. Bake at 190 C, or 170 C fan, for 35 to 40 minutes. Brush with a syrup made from the remaining sugar and 50 ml water.

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

Chilled dough is easier to cut and twist cleanly.

Open the full recipe →

Inspired by Episode 8

Individual Sussex Pond Puddings

Steamed suet puddings enclosing lemon, butter, and brown sugar that form a sharp caramel sauce.

Time

2 hrs 30 min

Makes

4 puddings

Level

Medium

▶View ingredients and method

Ingredients

• 200 g self-raising flour
• 100 g shredded vegetable suet
• Pinch of salt
• 120 ml whole milk
• 2 small unwaxed lemons
• 100 g unsalted butter
• 120 g light brown sugar

Method

1. Mix flour, suet, salt, and milk into a soft dough. Reserve one-quarter and roll the rest to line four buttered 300 ml pudding basins.
2. Pierce each lemon several times and halve it. Put half a lemon, 25 g butter, and 30 g sugar into each basin.
3. Top with dough lids, seal, cover with pleated baking paper and foil, and tie securely.
4. Steam over gently simmering water for 2 hours, topping up as needed, then rest for 5 minutes before turning out.

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

Keep the water below the basin rims and never let the pan boil dry.

Open the full recipe →

Episode guide sources

Challenge details verified 2026-07-14. thegreatbritishbakeoff.co.uk, channel4.com, en.wikipedia.org.

Season result

The winner stays hidden until you choose to reveal it.

See every Great British Baking Showwinner, season by season →

Full cast

Everyone recorded for Season 11, listed alphabetically without result spoilers.

Season fact sources

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