The Great Canadian Baking Show Season 4

Complete season breakdown

Every episode and bake

Season 4 covers cake, bread, cookies, Italian baking, botanical bakes, pastry, fancy desserts, and a wide-ranging finale. This guide records all 24 challenge briefs and includes one original home-kitchen adaptation inspired by the Bread Week technical.

1. Episode 1 · Cake

   Cake

   Feb 14, 2021

   Cake Week begins with glazed Bundts, reveals vertical red velvet stripes in a Cupid cake, and finishes with cascading mirror glaze over multiple tiers.

   • Signature

     Bundt cake with glaze or drizzle

     Create a Bundt cake with a complementary glaze or drizzle in one hour 45 minutes.

   • Technical

     Cupid cake

     Make a vertically striped red velvet cake with Swiss meringue buttercream and tempered ruby-chocolate decorations in two hours.

   • Showstopper

     Multi-tier mirror glaze cake

     Build a multi-tier cake in any flavour in three hours 30 minutes, arranging the tiers so mirror glaze cascades down the design.

   Episode source 1Episode source 2Episode source 3Episode source 4

2. Episode 2 · Bread

   Bread

   Feb 21, 2021

   Bread Week features cream-filled tarte tropezienne, soft pretzels with cheese dip, and a two-tier centrepiece displaying multiple breads.

   • Signature

     Tarte tropezienne

     Bake a tarte tropezienne with a complementary cream filling in two hours 30 minutes.

   • Technical

     12 soft pretzels with cheese dip

     Make 12 soft pretzels and a complementary zesty cheese dip in two hours 30 minutes.

   • Showstopper

     Two-tier bread centrepiece

     Construct a two-tier centrepiece showcasing at least two different breads in four hours.

   Make our home version →Episode source 1Episode source 2

3. Episode 3 · Cookies

   Cookies

   Feb 28, 2021

   Cookie Week progresses from identical Linzer sandwiches to caramel-striped stroopwafels and a family portrait sculpture made with two cookie types.

   • Signature

     18 Linzer cookies

     Bake 18 identical Linzer sandwich cookies in 90 minutes.

   • Technical

     12 stroopwafels

     Make 12 thin waffle cookies sandwiched with syrup filling in one hour 45 minutes.

   • Showstopper

     Family portrait cookie sculpture

     Create a two- or three-dimensional family portrait in three hours 30 minutes using at least two cookie types and royal icing.

   Episode source 1Episode source 2

4. Episode 4 · Italian baking

   Italian

   Mar 7, 2021

   Italian Week pairs two flavours of biscotti with puff-pastry cannoncini, then asks for a three-foot tower of varied Italian treats.

   • Signature

     24 biscotti in two flavours

     Bake 24 biscotti divided between two flavours in one hour 30 minutes.

   • Technical

     12 cannoncini

     Make 12 Italian puff-pastry cream horns, or cannoncini, in three hours 15 minutes.

   • Showstopper

     Three-foot Italian treat tower

     Build a tower at least three feet high from at least three different sweet or savoury Italian treats in four hours.

   Episode source 1Episode source 2Episode source 3

5. Episode 5 · Botanical baking

   Botanical

   Mar 14, 2021

   Botanical Week uses fruit and herbs across miniature tarts, two-tone pan-fried dumplings, and a tiered cake covered with handmade edible flowers.

   • Signature

     8 mini fruit tarts

     Make eight miniature fruit tarts in two hours using any combination of custard, pastry cream, frangipane, and fruit.

   • Technical

     16 herb garden dumplings

     Cook 16 pan-fried dumplings in one hour 45 minutes with two-tone white and spinach wrappers plus a scallion sauce.

   • Showstopper

     Two-tier botanical cake

     Create a two-tier cake with a botanical flavour element and handmade edible flowers in four hours.

   Episode source 1Episode source 2

6. Episode 6 · Pastry

   Pastry

   Mar 21, 2021

   Pastry Week tests hand-stretched strudel, a classic feather-iced Bakewell tart, and a colourful vegetable tart using three or more vegetables.

   • Signature

     Sweet or savoury strudel

     Stretch and bake a strudel at least 12 inches long with a sweet or savoury filling in two hours 30 minutes.

   • Technical

     Bakewell tart

     Make a Bakewell tart in two hours 30 minutes with pate sablee, raspberry jam, frangipane, feathered two-tone icing, and a glace cherry.

   • Showstopper

     Colourful vegetable tart

     Create a vegetable tart featuring at least three colourful vegetables in two hours 30 minutes.

   Episode source 1Episode source 2

7. Episode 7 · Fancy desserts

   Fancy Desserts

   Mar 28, 2021

   The semifinal combines miniature entremets, a six-component passion-chocolate charlotte, and a layered meringue cake that must retain a crisp texture.

   • Signature

     12 mini entremets

     Bake and finish 12 miniature entremets in three hours.

   • Technical

     Passion chocolate charlotte

     Assemble a charlotte in two hours 15 minutes from two mousses, chocolate ladyfingers, passion-fruit gelee, chocolate-passion ganache, and cookie crumble.

   • Showstopper

     Layered meringue cake

     Build a meringue-layer cake in three hours 30 minutes with curd, custard, or cream between crisp meringue layers.

   Episode source 1Episode source 2

8. Episode 8 · Final

   Finale

   Apr 4, 2021

   The final starts with layered ice cream bombes, tests puff, choux, and Chiboust cream in a Gateau St-Honore, and ends with a 21-item treat trolley.

   • Signature

     Ice cream bombe

     Create a bombe in two hours 30 minutes with at least two ice cream varieties over a sponge-cake base.

   • Technical

     Gateau St-Honore

     Make a Gateau St-Honore in two hours 45 minutes, combining puff pastry, choux pastry, and creme Chiboust.

   • Showstopper

     21-item treat trolley

     Fill a treat trolley in four hours 30 minutes with one decorated pie, six mini cakes, six viennoiseries, and eight elegant cookies.

   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

Soft Pretzels with Cheddar Dip

Eight chewy browned pretzels served with a sharp mustard-cheddar sauce for dipping.

Time

51 min

Makes

8 pretzels

Level

Medium

▶View ingredients and method

Ingredients

• 500 g strong white bread flour
• 7 g instant yeast
• 10 g fine salt
• 25 g light brown sugar
• 300 ml lukewarm water
• 30 g unsalted butter, melted
• 50 g bicarbonate of soda
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 150 ml whole milk
• 150 g mature cheddar, grated
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

Method

1. Mix the flour, yeast, salt, sugar, water, and melted butter into a dough. Knead for 8 minutes, cover, and leave to double for about one hour.
2. Divide into eight pieces. Roll each into a 60 cm rope, form a U, cross the ends twice, and press them onto the base to make a pretzel. Rest for 15 minutes.
3. Heat the oven to 220 C, or 200 C fan. Bring 2 litres water to a simmer and carefully add the bicarbonate of soda.
4. Poach each pretzel for 20 seconds per side, drain, and place on lined sheets. Brush with egg and bake for 14 to 16 minutes until deeply browned.
5. Warm the milk gently, add the cheddar a handful at a time, and stir until smooth. Mix in the mustard and serve warm with the pretzels.

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

Add the bicarbonate slowly because the water will foam.

Open the full recipe →

Episode guide sources

Challenge details verified 2026-07-14. en.wikipedia.org, cbc.ca, 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 4, listed alphabetically without result spoilers.

Season fact sources

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