The Great British Baking Show Season 14 Episode 7: Desserts Week

It’s time for some dessert!

On The Great British Baking Show Season 14 Episode 7, “Desserts Week,” the bakers are asked to create a series of desserts that it seems like no one has made in a long time with a mix of custards, sponges, and meringues. 

The delicate techniques and dishes they’re being asked to make have us asking two questions.

First, aren’t desserts supposed to be sweet? 

And second, isn’t every week on this series dessert week? 

Signature Challenge: Creme Caramel

For the first challenge, the bakers have just under three hours to make eight creme caramels with perfectly set custard and a caramel sauce. 

This challenge feels slightly different than other signature bakes and feels more like a technical challenge because of how authoritarian it is with the base ingredients. 

The judges walk through a few of the challenges with this bake, one being the perfectly set custard. A well-made custard should wobble like a jelly. Meanwhile, an overbaked custard will become stoggy and rock-hard while an underbaked custard will collapse once removed from the shell. 

In order to do well in this challenge the bakers need to let the caramel be the star of the show. 

That doesn’t stop bakers from taking a chance at striking the perfect balance.

Dan presents a custard infused with the flavors of a Thai green curry. A choice that has the judges asking, “Why?”

Tasha is also challenging the balance of savory and sweet by infusing rosemary into her custard with a honey caramel and fig compote. She’s also making caramel with honey, which concerns the judges. 

Others are taking a more subtle approach. Matty is working with chai for his creme caramel and Christy is working with layered citrus flavors. 

Some bakers are choosing to honor family favorites. 

Saku is working with jaggery to make mini Watalappan puddings inspired by a Sri Lankan dessert. However, the use of jaggery in place of caramel poses an additional risk if she waits too long to tip them out of the mold. 

Then we have Josh who is paying tribute to his Nan once again with a cinnamon-spiced plum with cinnamon and orange custard. 

As the challenge progresses, Matty is having problems making the caramel for his desserts, causing him to restart three times (he also makes 12 for some margin of error) and Saku has to race against time to get her custards out of the molds. 

The real stress comes when the bakers start demolding their custards. There’s tension in the air as they each flip their custards out and hope that they won’t collapse. 

After a race to the finish, it’s time for the judges to taste each of these concoctions. 

First up is Dan and his Thai-inspired creme caramels (the judges discourage him from putting the word curry anywhere near this dessert). His custards are slightly underbaked but Prue liked the texture and Paul thinks the flavors are spot-on. He walks away with “a very nearly perfect” review. 

Next up is Christy. Her orange creme caramels are slightly overbaked and boiled inside. Her custards are too solid and the orange overpowers her caramel.

Tasha’s fig, honey, and rosemary creme caramels are next. The judges don’t think that her use of honey as a caramel substitute paid off, but her custards had a smooth set. Her flavors were slightly middling with her rosemary barely being present. Overall her flavor

Next is Saku who produced eight identical custards. Her Watalappans are too thick due to her use of eight whole eggs. However, the cardamom comes through. 

Josh’s creme caramels are slightly overbaked but Paul loves his flavors.

Last is Matty’s chai-infused creme caramels. Matty’s race to the end pays off. His chai flavor pays off and both Prue and Paul like the overall taste, but his caramel should be darker. 

Technical Challenge: Orange and Ginger Treacle Puddings

Next up, is the technical challenge which has the bakers asking “What the heck are the judges talking about?” 

The bakers have an hour and a half to make six orange and ginger treacle puddings with steam sponges and serve with a smooth custard and ginger and orange syrup. 

This recipe has three distinct textures and they all have to be right for the dessert to work. 

As the bakers start work the judges break down where the dangers are in this challenge. No surprise, it’s all about timing. 

One of the biggest troubles: steaming the sponges. Paul Hollywood says that it’s a minimum of 40 minutes to make sure the sponges steam well enough and at an hour and a half, that doesn’t give them a lot of wiggle room if anything goes wrong. 

If you’re thinking, damn he just jinxed it, you’d be right.

While a lot of the bakers start baking really well the wheels come off the wagon as the sponges come out drastically underbaked. 

Cue the frantic music as the bakers try to figure out how to add more time and get these bakes out to the judges. 

And still, all the sponges come out raw, collapsing, and underbaked, resulting in a technical that looks a little bit like a car crash. 

Paul Hollywood’s reaction to the collapsed raw treacle puddings is hysterical as he turns around to walk out of the tent. Many of the puddings are inedible, and the ranking is less “worst to best” and more “worse to least worse.”

Matty is in last place with his “disaster.” Saku is in fifth place earning a “terrible.” Christy comes in fourth place and Josh is in third. Dan comes in second, and they’re still on the “terrible.” 

That leaves Tasha in first place. Paul says:

Paul: Not as terrible, but pretty terrible. But at least it’s edible.

And with that, the technical concludes with a final roast from Paul Hollywood. At least everyone learned how to make steamed puddings this week; a skill that comes up almost never! 

Showstopper Challenge: Meringue Bombes 

So with a middling signature challenge and a disappointing technical, Desserts Week seems to be only moderately better than The Great British Baking Show Season 14 Episode 4, “Chocolate Week.”

For the showstopper challenge, the bakers have four hours to make a sharing-size dessert that is encased in a highly decorative meringue bombe. 

Alison: You don’t make meringue bombs every day do you?
Matty: No and there’s a reason for that?… They’re hard!

The main task here is a meringue bombe that looks like a sphere. Inside the bombe can be any dessert that the bakers like. Really the test will be their meringue engineering skills and if they can produce a dessert that works well together in two parts. 

And some bakers are rising to the occasion by taking risks. 

Matty is working with pistachio, strawberry, and basil to create an “English Italian Summer Meringue Bombe” that will have a summer sandwich cake in the center. 

Dan is making a “Pale Blue Dot Meringue Bombe” that will feature a trifle with mouses and jams.  The judges express concern over all the wet layers breaking the meringue.

Josh is bringing in flavors from his garden for a Wimbledon-inspired meringue bomb. His “Game, Set, Match Meringue Bombe” will feature a strawberry cheesecake. 

Meanwhile, Saku is working on a beehive-inspired design that will hold choux pastries. 

In a turn of events, Tasha who has previously produced some intricate bakes is keeping her flavors simple today with plum and ginger. 

Christy is also working with choux pastry to make a mini croquembouche in a bombe covered with multicolored meringue kisses. 

Much like the creme caramels, demolding the meringues is a tense process with some of them cracking and others demolding perfectly. 

Really the concern comes during judging. The weight of the choux pastry could cause collapse while the liquid ingredients could weaken the meringue. 

Showstopper Judging

Josh is up first. His tennis-inspired bombe is well decorated and catches the eye of the judges. The flavor also captivates the judges and he walks away with some very high praise. 

Next up is Tasha who understood the assignment. Her bombe looks beautiful, and her pastries inside have a nice flavor. However, Paul mentions that they are slightly acidic on their own, but when he takes a bite of the meringue they work well together. 

Matty’s “English Italian Summer Meringue Bombe” is hailed as colorful and artistic, but the bombe looks messy inside. Prue finds the pistachio too heavy, and Paul doesn’t like the basil with the strawberry flavors. 

Saku’s beehive looks pretty but doesn’t look like a bombe to the judges. Inside are two flavors of choux pastry, but Paul says that the choux looks a little too flat and Prue says that Saku needed more flavor. 

Up next is Dan’s representation of Earth. He has a gorgeous dome shape and his trifle works beautifully with his meringue. However, Dan is at a bit of an advantage here because he has had other showstoppers that should have been baked but had more of a dessert consistency. Really, if this was anyone’s week it was his. 

Last is Christy, whose croquembouche immediately gets immediate praise from Prue who loves the immediate presentation. However, the inside is a mess with too much icing that makes it too sweet. 

Star Baker and Elimination 

With the judging out of the way, it’s time to award the title of Star Baker. 

This week, it’s Dan. This isn’t surprising since it feels like he hit a stride this week with desserts. His signature challenge and his showstopper had amazing praise, and he was definitely. one of the standouts.

This leads to the baker being eliminated. This week, it’s Saku.

This isn’t surprising because she’s struggled the last couple of weeks. While I’ll miss her personality and her use of Sri Lankan flavors, it definitely felt like it was her time to go home. 

Moving into the quarter-finals though the competition will only get stiffer. (Not unlike a good French meringue!) 

The Great British Baking Show airs new episodes Fridays on Netflix. 

 Follow us on Twitter and on Instagram!

Want more from Tell-Tale TV? Subscribe to our newsletter here!

15 Must-Watch Streaming Original Films With a Hispanic Lead