Perhaps not since The Beatles have Americans been so excited by a British import as they are by The Great British Baking Show (known as The Great British Bake Off in England). Since 2010, the television baking competition has been gathering anywhere from 10 to 13 amateur bakers from across the country and plopping them in a tent in the picturesque English countryside to bake their bums -- or "buns" -- off. Contestants are eliminated weekly until three remain. They battle it out on the finale, and one is crowned the winner.
The Great British Baking Show was hosted by Sue Perkins and Mel Giedroyc from its premiere until the show switched from the BBC to Channel 4 in 2017. The current presenters are Noel Fielding and Sandi Toksvig. Celebrity chef Paul Hollywood is a judge alongside restauranteur-chef Prue Leith who took over for British food writer, Mary Berry.
While the show features an abundance of British dishes, the recipes also include tasty treats from around the globe. If you don't know what marzipan or choux or soggy bottoms are, it's never too late to learn. Netflix is currently streaming collections 1-6 of the show in its entirety and releasing a new episode of collection 7 every week.
Just to get your mouth watering, here are the 10 most outrageous dishes ever featured on The Great British Baking Show.
Collection 1: Patisserie -- Schichttorte
Each episode of The Great British Baking Show consists of three challenges: Signature, Technical, and a Showstopper. For this semi-finals, Paul Hollywood chooses a particularly brutal Technical Challenge. The final four must produce (with very little instruction) a schichttorte. It's a German cake consisting of 20 alternating layers of light and dark. The layers are thinner than a pancake, and the entire concoction is covered in apricot jam and topped with a chocolate glaze.
Collection 3: Desserts -- Nadiya's Fizzy Pop Cheesecakes
For this showstopper, the bakers must construct a tier of cheesecakes -- no less than three. This means different sizes and different baking times. They can choose the flavor(s), but they must be sweet, not savory. But who wants a savory cheesecake anyway? The contestants can decorate their cheesecakes however they choose.
Nadiya's fizzy pop cheesecakes are a mix of unusual flavors: cream soda, ginger beer, and lemonade. The addition of Italian meringue gives the illusion of a can of pop levitating above her cakes. You won't see that at The Cheesecake Factory. Paul calls Nadiya's multi-tiered creation "ingenious."
Collection 4: Tudor Week -- Andrew's Da Vinci Inspired Gear Pies
For the Great British Baking Show's first-ever Tudor Week, the contestants display a mastery of cooking techniques used 500 years ago. The standout dish is Andrew's eight individual meat pies which he showcases on a rotating display stand. It bears a striking resemblance to Game of Thrones' Winterfell if the castle was filled with apricots, pork sausage, and potatoes.
This very British dish is unlikely to appeal to an American's palate, but fans of the cooking show can undoubtedly appreciate the imagination and attention to details that go into this crusty sensation.
Collection 6: Spice Week -- Kim-Joy's Christmas Spiced Ice Chandelier
Paul challenges the bakers to build a chandelier composed of yummy cookies that can be hung as a centerpiece over a table. Not only do the competitors have to prepare anywhere from 50-150 biscuits, but there are also other considerations besides taste. If the biscuits are too hard, the whole structure may crumble, and if they're too soft, it will collapse. What could go wrong?
Nothing at all in the case of Kim-Joy's chandelier which she constructs out of snowflake-shaped cinnamon and nutmeg cookies. This piece of art earns Kim-Joy the title of Star Baker.
Collection 5: Biscuit Week -- Steven's Check Bake Game
Someone forgot to tell these bakers not to play with their food. The showstopper challenge requires them to develop a board game made entirely out of biscuits, and every component, including the player pieces, must be edible as well as functional.
Steven pulls off the most ambitious undertaking of the bunch: a game of chess set with a spiced orange board, and 32 individual 3D chess pieces each topped with its own fondant.
Collection 3: Victorian -- Tennis Cake
A tennis cake is an English Victorian cake that reflects the rise in popularity of lawn tennis following its invention in 1873. Mary's Technical (bakers must create dishes with only an outline of the recipe) requires the bakers to make a tennis cake of their own. It's a fruit cake covered with layers of almond and colored sugar paste.
The top is trimmed with piping, and it's decorated to look like a tennis court complete with a net and racquets. Bakers must come as close as they can to recreating a cake that peaked in popularity over a century ago.
Collection 4: Biscuits -- Candice's Gingerbread Pub with Sticky Ginger Carpet
When it comes to Showstoppers, a simple gingerbread house with gumdrops just won't do. Judges Paul and Mary want an entire story told in gingerbread that says something about each of the bakers. Candice opts to recreate the pub where she was raised. She uses three different types of gingerbread, and the pub includes a bar, dartboard and a few locals lounging about. Candice's sticky pub carpet earns her Star Baker.
Collection 2: Quarter Final -- Ruby's Carrot Cake and Pistachio Garden Plot
For the quarter-final Showstopper, the final five bakers must create a 3D dairy-free novelty cake in any shape. It must also be a vegetable cake. The competition is fierce, but Ruby's garden-themed treat takes the cake. In addition to poppy seed soil and pistachio grass, Ruby creates a shed constructed from dark chocolate, pralines and caramel. The design is deceptively simple, but most importantly, it's delicious.
Collection 5: Cake Week -- Steven's A Baker's Lunch Cake
A new batch of bakers must excel when it comes to an unusually tough inaugural Showstopper. Each baker must make an illusion cake. The purpose is to fool the eye into believing the sweet treat is anything but. Among a watermelon, a purse, a stack of pancakes and a bottle of champagne is Steven's faux BLT.
White fondant covers a hazelnut and chocolate sponge. Steven uses a spray gun to disperse the splashes of color that account for the bacon, lettuce, and tomato.
Collection 3: Bread -- Paul's King of the Jungle
Bread is infamously brutal on the bakers because it happens to be Paul Hollywood's area of expertise. This Showstopper has the contestants making 3D bread sculptures. Paul's lion sculpture contains two types of dough. Its body is filled with fruit and nuts, and its claws are comprised of almonds.
Before Paul Hollywood even takes a bite, he proclaims Paul's lion to be one of the best things made from bread he's ever seen. To top it off, this lion is "packed with flavor." Paul doesn't get Star Baker, but he does get a special shout out from the judges for his bread sculpture.