The Great Canadian Baking Show Season 1

Complete season breakdown

Every episode and bake

The first season moves through cake, bread, dessert, Canadian baking, British classics, holiday baking, French patisserie, and a three-round finale. This guide records all 24 challenge briefs and includes one original home-kitchen adaptation based on the documented Canada Week technical.

1. Episode 1 · Cake

   Cake

   Nov 1, 2017

   The opening week starts with two cupcake flavours, tests precise Battenberg construction, and finishes with a layered chocolate cake built around more than one kind of chocolate.

   • Signature

     24 cupcakes in two flavours

     Bake 24 cupcakes in two hours, dividing the batch between two distinct flavour combinations.

   • Technical

     Cherry and pistachio Battenberg cake

     Make a cherry and pistachio Battenberg with jam, marzipan, and fondant in one hour 45 minutes, leaving the patterned ends visible.

   • Showstopper

     Chocolate layer cake

     Create a chocolate cake with at least two layers and at least two kinds of chocolate in four hours.

   Episode source 1Episode source 2Episode source 3

2. Episode 2 · Bread

   Bread

   Nov 8, 2017

   Bread Week progresses from shaped focaccia to honey-poached Montreal bagels and an elaborate sweet-filled bread centrepiece.

   • Signature

     Flavoured focaccia

     Make a flavourful focaccia in any chosen shape within two hours 30 minutes.

   • Technical

     12 Montreal bagels

     Produce six poppy-seed and six sesame-seed Montreal bagels in two hours 10 minutes, poaching them in honey water before baking.

   • Showstopper

     Sweet bread centrepiece

     Build a bread-based centrepiece with one or more sweet fillings in four hours.

   Episode source 1Episode source 2Episode source 3

3. Episode 3 · Dessert

   Dessert

   Nov 15, 2017

   Dessert Week combines pastry and decoration in a sweet pie or tart, uniform fondant fancies, and a large pavlova.

   • Signature

     Sweet pie or tart

     Bake a sweet pie or tart in two hours, demonstrating control of both pastry and finishing.

   • Technical

     12 fondant fancies

     Make 12 evenly square sponge cakes with buttercream and a smooth fondant coating in two hours.

   • Showstopper

     Pavlova

     Create a fully decorated pavlova in three hours, balancing a crisp meringue shell with the chosen toppings.

   Episode source 1Episode source 2Episode source 3

4. Episode 4 · Canadian baking

   Canadian

   Nov 22, 2017

   Canada Week pairs a tourtiere and condiment with maple cream sandwich cookies before closing on two differently flavoured batches of doughnuts.

   • Signature

     Tourtiere with condiment

     Bake a tourtiere with a filling of the baker's choice and prepare a complementary condiment in two hours.

   • Technical

     16 maple leaf cream cookies

     Make 16 maple leaf-shaped sandwich cookies with a maple cream filling in one hour 45 minutes.

   • Showstopper

     12 doughnuts in two flavours

     Produce six doughnuts in each of two flavours within three hours.

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

5. Episode 5 · British baking

   Best of Britain

   Nov 29, 2017

   British classics take the form of a layered, boozy trifle, cream-filled brandy snaps, and a themed high-tea platter of sweet and savoury bakes.

   • Signature

     Layered trifle

     Create a trifle in two hours with distinct layers of sponge, custard, cream, fresh fruit, jelly, and a boozy element.

   • Technical

     20 brandy snaps

     Make 20 thin brandy snaps, rolled into cylinders and filled with whipped cream, in one hour 30 minutes.

   • Showstopper

     Themed high-tea platter

     Present at least three different sweet and savoury bakes, totalling 18 items and united by one theme, in four hours.

   Episode source 1Episode source 2Episode source 3

6. Episode 6 · Holiday baking

   Holiday Baking

   Dec 6, 2017

   The holiday episode moves from a rolled yule log to two-filled rugelach and a large gingerbread structure.

   • Signature

     Buche de Noel

     Create a decorated Buche de Noel in two hours 30 minutes.

   • Technical

     32 rugelach

     Make 32 rugelach in one hour 45 minutes, filling half with apricot jam and half with chocolate.

   • Showstopper

     Gingerbread structure

     Design and assemble an elaborate gingerbread structure in four hours 30 minutes.

   Episode source 1Episode source 2Episode source 3

7. Episode 7 · French patisserie

   French Patisserie

   Dec 13, 2017

   The semifinal demands laminated pastry, a precisely layered Opera cake, and a freestanding croquembouche assembled from filled choux and spun sugar.

   • Signature

     12 mille-feuille in two flavours

     Make 12 mille-feuille in two flavours in two hours, each with at least three puff-pastry layers and a complementary filling.

   • Technical

     Opera cake

     Build an Opera cake in two hours 15 minutes using coffee-soaked almond joconde, chocolate buttercream, ganache, glaze, and a piped Opera finish.

   • Showstopper

     Croquembouche

     Construct a freely flavoured and decorated tower of cream-filled choux buns bound with spun sugar in four hours.

   Episode source 1Episode source 2Episode source 3

8. Episode 8 · Final

   Finale

   Dec 20, 2017

   The finalists make two varieties of miniature mousse cake, tackle a multi-component pear charlotte, and finish with a three-tier wedding cake.

   • Signature

     24 mini mousse cakes in two varieties

     Make 24 miniature mousse cakes divided between two varieties in two hours 30 minutes.

   • Technical

     Pear charlotte

     Complete a pear charlotte in two hours 20 minutes, coordinating components that revisit techniques from the season.

   • Showstopper

     Three-tier wedding cake

     Create a wedding cake at least three tiers high in four hours.

   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 4

Maple Cream Sandwich Cookies

Crisp maple cookies paired with a smooth maple buttercream, shaped as simple rounds for a practical home version of the Canada Week technical.

Time

47 min

Makes

16 sandwich cookies

Level

Medium

▶View ingredients and method

Ingredients

• 225 g unsalted butter, softened, divided
• 100 g light brown sugar
• 60 ml pure maple syrup, divided
• 1 large egg yolk
• 260 g plain flour
• 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
• 140 g icing sugar
• 1 tablespoon whole milk

Method

1. Beat 125 g butter with the brown sugar until smooth, then mix in 30 ml maple syrup and the egg yolk.
2. Stir in the flour and salt to form a soft dough. Flatten, wrap, and chill for 30 minutes.
3. Heat the oven to 180 C, or 160 C fan. Roll the dough to 4 mm thick and cut 32 rounds with a 5 cm cutter.
4. Bake on lined sheets for 10 to 12 minutes until the edges are lightly browned, then cool completely.
5. Beat the remaining 100 g butter with the icing sugar, remaining maple syrup, and milk. Pipe or spread the filling over 16 cookies and top with the remaining rounds.

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

The round shape avoids requiring a specialty maple-leaf cutter while preserving the sandwich-cookie format.

Open the full recipe →

Episode guide sources

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

Season result

The winner stays hidden until you choose to reveal it.

See every Great Canadian Baking Showwinner, season by season →

Full cast

Everyone recorded for Season 1, listed alphabetically without result spoilers.

Season fact sources

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