The Great British Baking Show Season 15 (Bake Off)

Complete season breakdown

Every episode and bake

Series 15 spans cake, biscuits, bread, caramel, pastry, autumn, desserts, 1970s baking, patisserie, and a final. This guide records all thirty challenge briefs and adds one original mint-chocolate biscuit adaptation designed for a home kitchen.

1. Episode 1 · Cake

   Cake

   Sep 24, 2024

   Cake Week elevates the everyday loaf cake, introduces a taste-and-bake Battenberg technical, and closes with hyperrealistic illusion cakes.

   • Signature

     Elevated loaf cake

     Create an elevated version of a signature loaf cake in two hours, combining a dependable crumb with a polished finish.

   • Technical

     8 mini Battenbergs

     After five minutes to inspect and taste an example but with no recipe, make eight symmetrical mini Battenbergs in two hours and 15 minutes, with light sponge, buttercream, apricot jam, and marzipan.

   • Showstopper

     Hyperrealistic illusion cake

     Make a cake that convincingly resembles a non-cake object in four hours.

   Episode source 1Episode source 2

2. Episode 2 · Biscuits

   Biscuits

   Oct 1, 2024

   Biscuit Week pairs delicate Viennese sandwiches with a layered mint-chocolate biscuit and an edible puppet theatre built for drama.

   • Signature

     12 Viennese whirl sandwiches

     Pipe and sandwich twelve Viennese whirls in two hours, choosing the shape, flavour, and filling while keeping the biscuits consistent.

   • Technical

     12 mint chocolate biscuits

     Make twelve biscuits in two hours, each with a buttery base, smooth peppermint layer, and tempered dark-chocolate coating.

   • Showstopper

     Biscuit puppet theatre

     Construct a biscuit puppet theatre with edible biscuit puppets, using the display to present a dramatic scene.

   Make our home version →Episode source 1Episode source 2Episode source 3

3. Episode 3 · Bread

   Bread

   Oct 8, 2024

   Bread Week tests enriched savoury buns, seven-strand plaiting after a judge's demonstration, and cornucopia displays filled with contrasting breads.

   • Signature

     12 savoury buns

     Make twelve identical savoury buns from enriched yeasted dough, with the flavour and shape left to each baker.

   • Technical

     Seven-strand plaited wreath

     Watch a demonstration of seven-strand plaiting, then reproduce the bread wreath in two and a half hours.

   • Showstopper

     Bread cornucopia display

     Build a bread cornucopia, or horn of plenty, and fill it with at least two different kinds of bread.

   Episode source 1Episode source 2

4. Episode 4 · Caramel

   Caramel

   Oct 15, 2024

   Caramel Week applies caramel to matching biscuits, a pear tarte tatin with frozen accompaniment, and mousse cakes decorated with more than one form of caramel.

   • Signature

     12 caramel biscuits

     Make twelve identical caramel biscuits, controlling both the caramel and the biscuit texture.

   • Technical

     Pear tarte tatin with walnut praline ice cream

     Prepare a pear tarte tatin and walnut praline ice cream in three hours.

   • Showstopper

     Caramel mousse cake

     Create a caramel mousse cake in four and a half hours and finish it with at least two different kinds of caramel decoration.

   Episode source 1Episode source 2

5. Episode 5 · Pastry

   Pastry

   Oct 22, 2024

   Pastry Week covers small frangipane tarts, hand-made filo spiralled around a spinach filling, and ambitious Paris-Brest centrepieces.

   • Signature

     12 frangipane tarts

     Bake twelve individual frangipane tarts in two hours, keeping the pastry, almond filling, and finish consistent.

   • Technical

     Spiral spanakopita

     Make a spiral spanakopita in two and a half hours, including the filo pastry and savoury spinach-and-cheese filling.

   • Showstopper

     Paris-Brest centrepiece

     Produce a Paris-Brest centrepiece with an edible stand in four hours, demonstrating controlled choux pastry and a stable display.

   Episode source 1Episode source 2

6. Episode 6 · Autumn

   Autumn

   Oct 29, 2024

   The new Autumn Week brings seasonal flavours to decorative pies, a vegan Yorkshire parkin, and festival cakes that incorporate vegetables.

   • Signature

     Decorative autumn pie

     Make a decoratively finished pie with autumnal flavours in two hours and 45 minutes.

   • Technical

     Vegan parkin

     Bake a vegan version of traditional parkin in 90 minutes, aiming for the characteristic ginger-and-oat flavour and moist texture.

   • Showstopper

     Autumn festival vegetable cake

     Create a cake celebrating an autumn festival in four hours and include at least one vegetable in the cake.

   Episode source 1Episode source 2

7. Episode 7 · Desserts

   Desserts

   Nov 5, 2024

   Dessert Week starts with filled meringue nests, returns to a steamed suet pudding and custard, and asks for personal versions of tiramisu.

   • Signature

     8 filled meringue nests

     Make eight miniature meringue nests with two fillings in two hours and 15 minutes.

   • Technical

     Spotted dick and custard

     Steam a traditional currant-studded suet pudding and prepare custard to serve with it.

   • Showstopper

     Reimagined tiramisu

     Create a personal interpretation of tiramisu in four and a half hours while retaining recognisable layered dessert elements.

   Episode source 1Episode source 2Episode source 3

8. Episode 8 · 1970s

   The 1970s (Quarterfinal)

   Nov 12, 2024

   The quarterfinal revisits towering profiteroles, banoffee pie with almost no method, and elaborately tiered gateaux in a deliberately retro style.

   • Signature

     Decorative profiterole stack

     Create a decorated stack of at least thirty profiteroles.

   • Technical

     Banoffee pie

     Make a banoffee pie from supplied ingredient quantities but no written method, relying on baking knowledge for every stage.

   • Showstopper

     1970s-style tiered gateau

     Produce a tiered gateau that embraces the flavours and decorative style associated with 1970s celebration cakes.

   Episode source 1Episode source 2

9. Episode 9 · Patisserie

   Patisserie (Semifinal)

   Nov 19, 2024

   The semifinal tests overnight lamination in two breakfast-pastry batches, the many precise layers of opera cake, and fruit-shaped entremets.

   • Signature

     16 laminated breakfast pastries

     Prepare two batches of eight rich laminated breakfast pastries, with one batch filled or topped; the bakers receive an additional hour the previous evening to start their dough.

   • Technical

     Opera cake

     Assemble a classic opera cake with precise, even layers of almond sponge, coffee syrup, coffee buttercream, chocolate ganache, and glaze.

   • Showstopper

     12 fruit-shaped entremets

     Make twelve individual entremets in four and a half hours, disguising the refined mousse cakes as realistic fruit.

   Episode source 1Episode source 2Episode source 3

10. Episode 10 · Final

    Final

    Nov 26, 2024

    The final returns to scones and a compact afternoon-tea spread before a structural finale of three suspended celebration-cake tiers.

    • Signature

      Sweet and savoury scones

      Create delicate scones in both sweet and savoury flavours, showing consistent rise, light texture, and balanced flavour.

    • Technical

      Afternoon tea display

      In three hours, make four strawberry tartlets, four miniature lemon cakes, and four plaited bread rolls filled with egg and cress.

    • Showstopper

      Three-tier hanging celebration cake

      Build a three-tier celebration cake in four and a half hours, suspending the tiers as a centrepiece for a summer garden party.

    Episode source 1Episode source 2Episode source 3

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

Dark Chocolate Mint Shortbread

Tender cocoa-edged shortbread rounds topped with a thin peppermint icing and dark chocolate, simplified for ordinary equipment and relaxed home baking.

Time

46 min

Makes

12 biscuits

Level

Easy

▶View ingredients and method

Ingredients

• 150 g plain flour
• 25 g rice flour
• 1/4 teaspoon fine salt
• 120 g unsalted butter, softened
• 55 g caster sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 90 g icing sugar, sifted
• 1 to 2 tablespoons whole milk
• 1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
• 120 g dark chocolate, chopped
• 1 teaspoon neutral oil

Method

1. Whisk the plain flour, rice flour, and salt. Beat the butter, caster sugar, and vanilla just until creamy, then mix in the dry ingredients to form a soft dough.
2. Roll the dough between two sheets of baking paper to 6 mm thick. Chill for 25 minutes, then cut twelve 6 cm rounds and arrange them on a lined baking sheet.
3. Heat the oven to 170 C, or 150 C fan. Chill the cut biscuits for 10 minutes, then bake for 14 to 16 minutes until firm and faintly golden at the edges. Cool completely.
4. Stir the icing sugar with the peppermint extract and enough milk to make a thick spreadable icing. Spread a thin circle over each biscuit and leave for 20 minutes.
5. Melt the dark chocolate with the oil. Spoon a thin layer over the mint icing, leaving a narrow border, and let the chocolate set at cool room temperature.

This is an original Baking Show Guide home adaptation inspired by the challenge brief, not a contestant recipe or an official show recipe.

This version uses a simple peppermint icing instead of the technical's butter-and-white-chocolate fondant and does not require tempering.

Use peppermint extract sparingly; brands vary considerably in strength.

Open the full recipe →

Episode guide sources

Challenge details verified 2026-07-14. 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 15, listed alphabetically without result spoilers.

Season fact sources

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