The Great British Bake Off (series 7)

For the first challenge, the bakers were given two hours to make a drizzle cake, the brief being that the cake be moist and well permeated with the drizzle. For the technical challenge, the bakers were instructed to make Mary's recipe for twelve jaffa cakes. The recipe used a whipped fatless sponge, orange jelly and tempered chocolate with a design of sorts. For the final challenge, the bakers were instructed to make a mirror glaze cake. The cake had to have a genoise sponge and have a very shiny, mirror-like top, covering the cake entirely.

For the Signature Challenge, the bakers were given two and a half hours to make 24 iced biscuits (cookies). The biscuits had to be crisp and uniform. Viennese Whirls were set as the technical challenge. To be completed in an hour and a half, they had to be filled with buttercream and jam, and had have a defined shape. For the showstopper, a gingerbread scene was set as the challenge, the only brief being it that it had to be 30 cm high, and contain eight characters or objects. The bakers had four hours for this challenge.

Host Sue Perkins did not appear in the episode.[23][24]

For the bakers' first challenge, they had to make a chocolate loaf in two and a half hours. The loaf had to contain chocolate in some form, whether it be cocoa powder or actual pieces of chocolate. For the technical challenge, the bakers were required to make twelve Dampfnudel, a recipe Paul called "notoriously difficult". In two hours, the bakers had to make twelve steamed bread rolls with two types of sauce. A savoury plaited (braided) centrepiece was set as the showstopper, to be created using at least three different flours, in four hours.

The first task was to make Yorkshire puddings, in 2 hours. The bakers used the standard recipe filled with a variety of savory ingredients and flavors. The technical challenge gave the bakers 1 hour to make 12 heart-shaped "lace" pancakes, which required them to draw a heart-shaped design with the batter. They were only allowed one practice pancake. The showstopper challenge was to make 36 sweet churros in 3 hours.[25]

For the signature bake, bakers were tasked with baking 24 breakfast pastries. Two different batches of 12 pastries were to be made. The technical challenge required the bakers to make one feathered Bakewell tart. For the showstopper challenge, the bakers were challenged to make 48 filled filo amuse-bouche; 24 with a savoury filling and 24 with a sweet filling.

In the signature, the seven remaining bakers were asked to create a meringue pie containing citrus fruit, such as orange, grapefruits and lemons. In the technical, the contestants had to create two leaf-shaped herb fougasses. In the showstopper, the contestants were asked to create a three-tier cake with a flower theme. All the tiers could be the same flavour, or each one a different flavour, and the cakes could be decorated with flowers.

The Signature challenge required the bakers to make a family-sized roulade in ​1 ¹⁄₂ hours. The judges were looking for a light sponge cake, even layers of filling, and a clean swirl. The technical challenge gave the bakes 3 hours to make a Marjolaine or Dacquoise, an unusual layered cake made with meringue, decorated with ganache and nuts. The showstopper challenge allocated 4 hours for the bakers to make 24 mini mousse cakes in two flavours (12 of each).[26][27]

Week eight featured the show's first Tudor theme, featuring food common in the 16th century. During the signature challenge, the five remaining bakers were asked to bake a shaped pie with Tudor flavours. The pie could be any type of pastry and they could use whichever fillings they wanted. In the technical, the contestants were asked to produce a dozen jumbles – six knot balls and six Celtic knots. In the showstopper challenge, the contestants were asked to bake a marchpane (marzipan) cake in a three-dimensional shape. However, all of the cakes had to be Tudor-themed.[28]

The first task for pastry or pâtisserie week required the remaining four contestants to bake 24 palmiers, with two different savoury fillings and shapes. The technical challenge was to make a Savarin, a liqueur-soaked yeast cake, which none of the contestants had made before. The final challenge was to make 36 fondant fancies.[29][30]

In the final signature challenge, the bakers had to make a filled meringue crown, which had to contain at least three layers of meringue, in three hours. In the technical, the judges decided to make a familiar bake challenging: the bakers had to make a Victoria sandwich, with no recipe or method given, in 90 minutes. The final showstopper involved the largest number of bakes ever requested in a challenge. The bakers were given five hours to make a picnic fit for the Queen, including one chocolate celebration cake, 12 sausage rolls, 12 mini quiches, 12 savoury scones and 12 fruit and custard tarts.[31][32]

The signature challenge required the bakers to create 2 batches of edible Christmas tree decorations, 12 of each type, using biscuits. The technical challenge, set by Mary, tasked the bakers to make a choux wreath consisting of 36 choux buns, filled and decorated festively with chocolate. For the showstopper challenge, the bakers were required to make a Christmas scene cake, with at least three tiers, in four hours

The bakers were tasked to make 24 savoury Christmas canapés, 12 of two types in the signature challenge. The technical challenge was set by Paul, in which the bakers were tasked of baking a Kanellängd, a spiced Scandinavian celebratory Christmas loaf with the meaning of "cinnamon length". For the showstopper challenge, the bakers were required to make 36 sweet Christmas miniatures, 12 each of three types, arranged as a celebratory centerpiece.