Exclusive First Look At Tomorrow’s Episode Of Bake Off

Bake Off fan? The countdown is finally coming to an end, with series 15 officially kicking off tomorrow evening at 8pm. If you just can’t wait that long, you’re in luck: we’ve got an exclusive first look at the brand new series, featuring fan favourites Alison and Noel getting lots of giggles out of an illusion cake challenge.

First Look: The Great British Bake Off Series 15

Recent Bake Off idents have leaned into the ‘is it cake?’ trend, and now Bake Off proper is getting a piece of the pie (or, ahem, cake). The first episode of a new series of Bake Off is always Cake Week, and 2024 is no different. Last year, this led to the contestants whipping up vertical layered cakes, a sponge animal showstopper, and perhaps the most iconic technical challenge in the series’ history: to bake the raspberry-topped chocolate cake we see in the opening credits. And this year, after a loaf cake Signature and a secret Technical, the bakers are being tasked to create an illusion cake.

It’s a throwback to 2017, when series 8’s batch of bakers were also tasked with an illusion cake challenge – with some pretty mixed results. While Peter and Chris played it safe – baking cakes that looked like a loaf of bread and a filled pie, respectively – other bakers in the tent stepped up to the challenge, with Yan crafting a beautiful bowl of ramen, Steven crafting a giant but lifelike sandwich (and bagging star baker), Liam rustling up a stack of pancakes and Sophie crafting a realistic bottle of champagne complete with bucket and lifelike ice cubes. It’s safe to say we’re very excited to see what this year’s cohort comes up with. (You can learn all about this year’s Bake Off dozen here.)

Halfway through the bakers’ first-ever Showstopper challenge, the beloved Bake Off co-hosts jest as Alison presents her hyper-realistic illusion cake of Noel (the real Noel) before taking a bite. Cake week requires our bakers to create their best illusion cake, seeing them come under pressure to pull out all the stops – and Noel can’t help but quiz our baker Gill on her bowling balls. Watch below.

What Is An Illusion Cake?

An illusion cake is a cake that is built and decorated to look like something other than it is, whether that’s an object or another type of food, crafted to scale. The idea is that the cake could be mistaken for the thing it is pretending to be – think Netflix series Is It Cake?.

As well as cake, these creations are often crafted with extra materials to reinforce the structure like straws, and are decorated with icing. Because the main element of an illusion cake is the realistic appearance, simple dense sponges are typically used, like a madeira cake. However, judges Paul and Prue are always looking for show stopping flavours, too.

WATCH

Series 15 of The Great British Bake Off begins tomorrow at 8pm on Channel 4. Catch up at channel4.com