Sat, Oct 14, 2023
It's primarily about the bakers' decorating skills with a piping bag and royal icing in the Cookie Week signature challenge in they being asked to make a dozen embroidery cookies, the icing decoration over the stamped cookies meant to resemble embroidery. For the technical, the bakers are sent half way around the world in each being asked to make something which most have probably never heard of before, a dozen kaak nakache, an Algerian date filled and crimped shortbread. There is no room for error as the challenge setter Bruno has only provided a recipe to make twelve and no more. And for the showstopper, each baker is to make a cookie layer cake, much like a regular layer cake with the cake sponges replaced by cookies. The cake must have at least four cookie layers, and should otherwise have the hallmarks of a good layer cake including being easily sliceable showing the perfect layers inside.
Sat, Oct 21, 2023
It's the show's first ever Harvest Week, which will be all about harvest of fruits and vegetables from the garden. The bakers are each asked to make eight pide, a filled Turkish flat-bread, as the signature. While pide are generally filled with a variety of food items, Bruno and Kyla are wanting these ones to be vegetable forward to match the theme. The bakers head even further east for the technical in each being asked to make a dozen thousand layer moon cakes, usually associated with the the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival celebrating the harvest in China. Beyond the salted duck egg yolk, they will be working with an ingredient from the garden for the filling that most have probably never used, namely taro. And for the showstopper, they are each to make a fruit tile tart, where a fruit layer on top should resemble some form of tiling. As such, the filling below the fruit must be sturdy enough both to allow the tart to be sliced cleanly and to hold up the fruit so that it doesn't sink and thus lose the tile effect.
Sat, Oct 28, 2023
The bakers are spanning the generations for Old School Week. They are heading back to the 1970s for the signature in each being asked to make ten toaster pastries. Some bakers not only decide to go back to the 1970s for the item itself, but in their flavors and the style in the way they decorate their pastries. While some of the bakers were not even born by the 1970s, none of them were born for the era of the technical in each being asked to make a knafeh, a tenth century middle eastern pastry. The pastry itself, which is to be made from scratch, is akin to phyllo, but the most difficult aspect of the bake may be the actual cooking in that it will be done on the stovetop, they thus needing to regulate the temperature so that the pastry browns without burning while being cooked all the way through. And for the showstopper, the eighteenth century and Marie Antoinette "let them eat cake" is the inspiration for the kitsch cake, which is decorated in an over the top manner, but the bakers will pick their favorite era for the kitsch decoration of their choice.
Sat, Nov 4, 2023
It's the quarterfinals, and only half of the original ten bakers are standing to participate in the first ever Spice Week, for which the bakers must be cognizant to make their bakes spice forward but not to make them so muddled in taste by combining too many spices or other flavors. They are heading to India for their signature in each being asked to make ras malai. While they are free to use whatever flavors they like, they must make it noticeably ras malai in using an eggless sponge soaked in milk, and chhena, a simple cheese made by adding an acid to milk, in some form. They are moving to the Caribbean for the technical in each to make a dozen Jamaican patties. They will be using an old-fashioned ingredient which many have probably never used, namely suet, and while they are provided all the spices to be used, they are not provided quantities, the most problematic arguably being Scotch bonnet peppers, a few which go a long way. And for the showstopper, each is to make a structure out of spice cookies, in other words a gingerbread house on steroids. Beyond the spices used, they have to choose cookie types that are sturdy enough to withstand gravity, while not making them too sturdy as to be inedible.
Sat, Nov 11, 2023
It's the semi-finals, when one baker, at the end of this week's three challenges, will learn what for many would be the most heartbreaking news of the competition in not making it past this final hurdle into the finale. This week is all about finesse and precision in it being Patisseries Week. For the signature, each baker is to make eight religieuses, stacked choux bun confectioneries so named for their supposed resemblance to nuns. While nuns are the traditional shape, the bakers are free to use their artistic vision to create any other stacked choux bun shape they like. While patisserie is generally considered synonymous with the French, Bruno throws the bakers for a loops in issuing for the technical a Uruguayan cake, the chajá, which is characterized by an extremely aerated sponge, a generous cream filling, and the white exterior decorated with poached fruit and meringue. And for the showstopper, the bakers each not only have to make an entremet, but rather two dozen entremet apiece of two different varieties, presented in some structural manner.
Sat, Nov 18, 2023
It's the Finale, and of the original ten bakers, only three remain standing: Loïc Fauteux-Goulet, Camila García Hernández, and Candice Riley. While they had various levels of success during the competition in terms of Star Baker wins, they all realize that this weekend is a clean slate, especially as Bruno and Kyla can throw anything at them for what will be the twenty-second, twenty-third, and twenty-fourth and final challenge of the season. For the final signature challenge, the bakers are each to make a torta diplomatica, which is characterized by its soaked sponge, puff pastry (the time constraint meaning probably a rough puff), and buttercream layers. For their final technical, they are each asked to make a passion fruit crêpe cake to exacting specifications, including the number of crêpe layers the cake should have, the chocolate collar and gelée decorations, and the ombré effect of the crêpe layers themselves. And their final showstopper has them each making an anti-gravity cake. While taste and appearance are factors, it is arguably the anti-gravity aspect of the presented product that will sway the judges the most. These three challenges will determine who Bruno and Kyla choose as the Great Canadian Baking Show winner for Season 7, the announcement which is made in front of family and friends, some who are familiar faces to the tent.
Sat, Nov 25, 2023
For this one weekend only holiday special competition, the show does a first in inviting back to the tent only past champions, specifically from seasons 2 through 5 inclusive. For the signature, they are each asked to redefine Santa's treat, namely milk and cookies, the only item in the brief being that it must be in tart form. They are celebrating Hanukkah for the technical in each being asked to make six strawberry jam filled and six pastry cream filled sufganiyah, a doughnut a signature of the holiday. And for the showstopper, it's all about gift giving as they are each asked to make a gift for Bruno and Kyla. The gift, some baked good, will be encased within a cookie gift box. The winner will have bragging rights as the only person to have two winner cake plates.