The Great British Baking Show Season 5 (Bake Off)

Complete season breakdown

Every episode and bake

Series five spans ten weeks of cakes, biscuits, bread, desserts, pies and tarts, European cakes, pastry, advanced dough, patisserie, and a final built around French pastry and a structural centerpiece. This guide records every Signature, Technical, and Showstopper brief and includes two original home-kitchen adaptations inspired by Technical challenges.

1. Episode 1 · Cakes

   Cakes

   Aug 6, 2014

   The series begins with rolled sponge, a cherry cake requiring evenly suspended fruit, and three dozen uniform miniature British cakes.

   • Signature

     Swiss roll

     Make a Swiss roll in two and a half hours.

   • Technical

     Cherry cake

     Bake Mary Berry's cherry cake in two hours, distributing the cherries evenly through the crumb.

   • Showstopper

     36 miniature classic British cakes

     In three and a half hours, make 36 miniature versions of a classic British cake, all identical in size, shape, and texture.

   Episode source 1Episode source 2

2. Episode 2 · Biscuits

   Biscuits

   Aug 13, 2014

   Biscuit week moves from a large savoury batch to delicate chocolate-backed Florentines and then to an ambitious three-dimensional biscuit scene.

   • Signature

     36 savoury biscuits

     Bake 36 savoury biscuits in two hours.

   • Technical

     18 Florentines

     Use Mary Berry's recipe to make 18 Florentines in one hour and 15 minutes.

   • Showstopper

     3D biscuit scene

     Design and build a three-dimensional biscuit scene or structure in four hours.

   Make our home version →Episode source 1Episode source 2

3. Episode 3 · Bread

   Bread

   Aug 20, 2014

   Bread week tests rye rolls, the wet dough and open structure of ciabatta, and a filled loaf transformed into a showpiece centerpiece.

   • Signature

     12 rye bread rolls

     Make 12 rye bread rolls in three and a half hours.

   • Technical

     Four ciabatta loaves

     Use Paul Hollywood's recipe to make four ciabatta loaves in three hours, preserving the wet dough's air so the crumb remains open.

   • Showstopper

     Filled centerpiece loaf

     Create a filled bread centerpiece in four hours, judged for its appearance, design, crust, flavour, and internal bake.

   Make our home version →Episode source 1Episode source 2

4. Episode 4 · Desserts

   Desserts

   Aug 27, 2014

   Dessert week begins with individual puddings that create their own sauce, layers coffee and cream in a tiramisu cake, and finishes with baked Alaska under hot-tent conditions.

   • Signature

     Eight self-saucing puddings

     Make eight self-saucing puddings in two hours, using either a fondant center or a sponge that forms sauce underneath.

   • Technical

     Tiramisu cake

     Bake and assemble Mary Berry's tiramisu cake in two and a half hours.

   • Showstopper

     Baked Alaska

     Create a baked Alaska in four and a half hours, combining sponge, frozen filling, and an insulating meringue exterior.

   Episode source 1Episode source 2

5. Episode 5 · Pies and tarts

   Pies and Tarts

   Sep 3, 2014

   The pastry rounds cover a family custard tart, rough-puff-wrapped poached pears, and a self-supporting tower of at least three coordinated pies.

   • Signature

     Family-sized custard tart

     Bake a family-sized custard tart in two and a half hours, aiming for a crisp base and silky custard.

   • Technical

     Six miniature pear pies

     In five hours, use Paul Hollywood's recipe to enclose six poached pears individually in rough puff pastry.

   • Showstopper

     Three-tiered pie tower

     Create a self-supporting tower of at least three themed pie tiers in four and a half hours.

   Episode source 1Episode source 2

6. Episode 6 · European cakes

   European Cakes

   Sep 10, 2014

   European cake week uses yeast for the opening cake, compresses a complex Swedish princess cake into the Technical, and modernizes the many-layered Dobos torte.

   • Signature

     Yeast-leavened European cake

     Bake a European-inspired cake leavened with yeast in three hours.

   • Technical

     Prinsesstarta

     Make Mary Berry's Swedish princess cake in two hours and 15 minutes, completing a 14-stage recipe with 26 ingredients.

   • Showstopper

     Contemporary two-tier Dobos torte

     In five hours, make a contemporary Dobos torte with at least two tiers and prominent caramel sugar work.

   Episode source 1Episode source 2

7. Episode 7 · Pastry

   Pastry

   Sep 17, 2014

   Pastry week begins with uniform savoury parcels, introduces the laminated Breton kouign-amann, and fills two flavours of classic choux eclairs.

   • Signature

     12 savoury pastry parcels

     Make 12 uniform, well-filled savoury pastry parcels in one hour and 45 minutes, sealing them well enough to prevent leaks.

   • Technical

     12 kouign-amann

     Use Paul Hollywood's recipe to produce 12 identical kouign-amann in three and a half hours.

   • Showstopper

     24 eclairs in two flavours

     Make 12 eclairs in each of two flavours within four hours.

   Episode source 1Episode source 2

8. Episode 8 · Advanced dough

   Advanced Dough (Quarterfinals)

   Sep 24, 2014

   The quarterfinal handles free-form enriched fruit loaves, a tightly layered povitica, and a large two-flavour assortment of doughnuts.

   • Signature

     Free-form enriched fruit loaf

     Bake a free-form sweet fruit loaf from enriched dough in two and a half hours.

   • Technical

     Povitica

     Make a tightly rolled, filled povitica in two and a half hours, baking its many layers fully through.

   • Showstopper

     36 doughnuts in two varieties

     In four hours, make 18 doughnuts in each of two different varieties.

   Episode source 1Episode source 2

9. Episode 9 · Patisserie

   Patisserie (Semi-final)

   Oct 1, 2014

   The semifinal begins with two kinds of handmade-filo baklava, counts 20 grilled layers in schichttorte, and finishes with two refined entremets.

   • Signature

     24 baklava in two varieties

     Make 24 portions across two baklava varieties in three and a half hours, including filo pastry made from scratch.

   • Technical

     20-layer schichttorte

     Use Paul Hollywood's recipe to build a 20-layer schichttorte in two hours.

   • Showstopper

     24 entremets in two varieties

     In five hours, make 12 each of two small, refined entremets suitable for a French patisserie window.

   Episode source 1Episode source 2

10. Episode 10 · Final

    Final

    Oct 8, 2014

    The final moves from two kinds of viennoiserie to a stripped-back trio of British basics, then ends with a freestanding piece montee.

    • Signature

      Two varieties of viennoiserie

      Make two different kinds of viennoiserie in three and a half hours.

    • Technical

      12 mini Victoria sandwiches, 12 mini tartes au citron, and 12 mini scones

      In two hours and from only three instructions, produce 12 miniature Victoria sandwiches, 12 miniature lemon tarts, and 12 miniature scones.

    • Showstopper

      Freestanding piece montee

      Create a self-supporting piece montee in five 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 2

Dark Chocolate Florentines

Thin caramelized almond-and-fruit biscuits backed with dark chocolate and finished with a simple forked pattern.

Time

39 min

Makes

16 Florentines

Level

Medium

▶View ingredients and method

Ingredients

• 50 g unsalted butter
• 50 g light brown sugar
• 50 g golden syrup
• 50 g plain flour
• 60 g flaked almonds, roughly chopped
• 40 g candied peel, finely chopped
• 40 g dried cranberries, finely chopped
• 150 g dark chocolate

Method

1. Heat the oven to 180 C, or 160 C fan, and line two baking sheets with baking paper.
2. Melt the butter, sugar, and golden syrup gently. Remove from the heat and stir in the flour, almonds, peel, and cranberries.
3. Drop level teaspoons onto the sheets, leaving at least 7 cm between them. Flatten each mound slightly.
4. Bake one sheet at a time for 10 to 12 minutes, until spread, lacy, and amber at the edges. Cool on the sheet until firm.
5. Melt and temper the chocolate. Spread it over each flat underside, allow it to thicken slightly, then draw wavy lines through it with a fork and leave to set.

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

Bake a single test biscuit first; if it spreads too far, cool the mixture for a few minutes before portioning the rest.

Open the full recipe →

Inspired by Episode 3

Home-Oven Ciabatta

Two broad, open-crumb loaves made from a high-hydration dough with gentle folds instead of heavy kneading.

Time

53 min

Makes

2 loaves

Level

Medium

▶View ingredients and method

Ingredients

• 500 g strong white bread flour
• 7 g instant yeast
• 10 g fine salt
• 420 ml lukewarm water
• 30 ml olive oil
• Fine semolina, for dusting

Method

1. Mix the flour, yeast, salt, water, and oil into a very wet dough. Beat with a sturdy spoon for 3 minutes, then cover for 20 minutes.
2. With wet hands, lift and fold the dough over itself from all four sides. Repeat the fold twice more at 20-minute intervals.
3. Leave covered until doubled and visibly bubbly, about 60 minutes after the final fold.
4. Heat the oven to 230 C, or 210 C fan, with a heavy baking sheet inside. Tip the dough onto a heavily floured surface, divide it in two, and ease each piece into a rough rectangle without pressing out the gas.
5. Transfer to semolina-dusted baking paper, slide onto the hot sheet, and bake for 25 to 28 minutes until deeply browned and hollow-sounding underneath. Cool fully before slicing.

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

The dough should remain soft and sticky; extra flour during mixing will close the crumb.

Open the full recipe →

Episode guide sources

Challenge details verified 2026-07-14. bbc.co.uk, 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 5, listed alphabetically without result spoilers.

Season fact sources

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