The Great British Baking Show’s Dessert Week Hits Netflix Friday, October 23: Self-Saucing Puddings, A Retro Dessert Trolley, And Who Went Home Waits Below The Spoiler Line
The Great British Bake Off’s Dessert Week is here. Series 17, Episode 5 aired on Channel 4 in the UK on Tuesday, October 20, and it reaches American viewers as the fifth episode of The Great British Baking Show, Collection 14, on Netflix on Friday, October 23.
Channel 4 describes the episode in one line: “The bakers make self-saucing Signatures and multiple classic retro puddings.” Its longer listing says the bakers “make a self-saucing Signature and take a trip down memory lane on retro dessert trolleys,” and ends with the show’s own tease: “Who’ll roll merrily along, and whose wheels will come off?” The results are at the bottom of this story, below a spoiler warning. Everything above it is safe to read before Friday.
The bakes
The Signature is self-saucing puddings, and Channel 4’s press office says it was the show’s first-ever “staggered-start Signature.” Nigella Lawson set the Technical, which Channel 4 describes only as “a traditional British classic.” The Showstopper is a retro dessert trolley: the bakers “dusted off their dessert trolleys and attempted to serve up a selection of classic retro puddings,” Channel 4 says.
Bake Off posts challenge recipes on its official recipes page, which already carries this series’ Iced Gems and a Nigella Lawson cake. We do not reprint them here.
Nigella’s first Dessert Week
This is Nigella Lawson’s first series as a judge. Channel 4 and Love Productions announced in January that she would join the tent after Prue Leith’s departure, following nine series. In the announcement, Lawson called the show “more than a television programme, it’s a National Treasure.” She judges beside Paul Hollywood; Noel Fielding and Alison Hammond present. Twelve bakers started the series, which runs ten episodes, according to Channel 4’s press office.
Netflix carries the series in the US under the title The Great British Baking Show. Collection 14 premiered on September 25, and Netflix says a new episode arrives every Friday until the finale. That puts Dessert Week on Friday, October 23, and the show’s Netflix page reads “New Episode Coming Friday.”
Eight of our cookies that belong on a dessert trolley
None of these is a Bake Off recipe. They are our own cookies on the same ideas, and each description comes from its recipe card.
Retro puddings, in cookie form
- Banana Pudding Cookies: a brown sugar dough with a box of banana pudding mix and a mashed ripe banana in it, white chocolate chips folded through, and a drizzle of melted white chocolate on top.
- Tiramisu Cookies: a melted-butter cookie with espresso in the dough, topped with a mascarpone, cream and powdered sugar frosting and a dusting of cocoa.
- Butterscotch Pecan Cookies: melted butterscotch chips go into the dough itself, with chopped pecans and a little cinnamon; the card calls them crispy.
- Cherry Pie Cookies: a butter cookie with a thumbprint well, filled after baking with a cooked fresh-cherry filling, with an optional white chocolate drizzle.
Trolley classics
- S’mores Stuffed Cookies: a chocolate chip dough wrapped around three mini marshmallows, a piece of Hershey’s bar and a piece of graham cracker, then frozen before baking so the stuffing stays put.
- Golden Oreo Brownies: a brown sugar and white chocolate chip batter baked in a 9 x 11 dish with whole Golden Oreos pressed on top.
For a self-saucing chocolate pudding’s flavors
- Double Chocolate Hot Cocoa Cookies: cocoa and cinnamon in the dough, melted dark chocolate stirred into the batter, milk chocolate chips, and mini marshmallows pressed on while the cookies are hot.
- Fudgy Triple Chocolate Chip Cookies: a cocoa dough with chopped chocolate, chocolate chips and white chocolate chips, chilled for an hour before baking.
Where the series stands
Channel 4’s press release for Week 4, Bread Week, says Tom was named Star Baker and Molly became the third baker to leave the series. Nikki also left the tent that week for family reasons, the release says. US viewers saw that episode on Friday, October 16.
Spoiler warning. The next section reports what happened in Dessert Week. Stop here if you are waiting for Friday.
Dessert Week results
Connie was named Star Baker, and Yannis became the fifth baker to leave the series. That leaves seven bakers in the tent.
Yannis is a 28-year-old paediatric doctor from London. “Thank you, it has been a pleasure,” he said on leaving. “I grew up watching this programme and being here for five weeks is surreal.”
The results above come from Channel 4’s press office.
Featured image: our Tiramisu Cookies.
