The Great British Bake Off Series 16: Episode 1 Recap
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Here’s how our bakers kicked off the 2025 season
It’s finally that time of year again. Britain’s favourite baking show is back for its 16th series, airing every Tuesday for 10 weeks from 2 September to 4 November 2025. Twelve fresh-faced bakers entered the tent this evening, ready to show off their homespun skills in the traditional way: with Cake Week. From fondant fancies to Swiss rolls and landscape cakes, here’s a recap of everything that happened in Series 16, Episode 1 of The Great British Bake Off.
What Happened In The Great British Bake Off Series 16, Episode 1?
Is it really a Great British Bake Off opener without some kind of quirky, cinematic skit? This season opened with Alison Hammond, Noel Fielding and a bearded (yes, really) Prue Leith driving a safari buggy through the gates of ‘Jurassic Bake’ to meet a dino-clad Paul Hollywood – although, as ever, nothing goes to plan. A chance encounter with an inflatable T-rex dressed in blue jeans (and sporting matching blue eyes) ends in a biting demise for Noel, leaving Alison and Prue to speed away (‘I’ll just call Dermot,’ the TV host compromises) only to find the real Paul in a much less impressive dinosaur costume – leaving the remaining Bake Off collective to wonder who, or rather what, exactly snapped up Noel.
But that’s enough dramatics (at least, of the non-baking variety) for now.
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As is tradition with the first episode of every series of The Great British Bake Off, this week’s theme is Cake Week. But every year, the challenges are different. In series 16, the 12 bakers were tasked with making a Swiss roll in the Signature Challenge, fondant fancies in the Technical, and a landscape cake in the Showstopper. But who crumbled under the pressure, and who walked home with the year’s very first Star Baker? Here’s what you missed.
Memorable Moments
Leave it to Bake Off to kick off a series in the most chaotic possible. We had bleeped (bleeted?) out swears, collapsed Swiss rolls (honourable mention for Hassan, whose chocolate caramel creation looked ‘like it had been dropped out of a tree,’ according to Paul), a blind technical challenge (‘We’ve given them a perfect example, so they should understand what type of sponge it is.’ Easier said than done, Paul…) and more than one gloopy Showstopper (although Iain did manage to pull it back in the end).
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Who Left Bake Off?
Hassan was the first to leave the tent after a string of small (and big) disasters in the tent – including a messy Swiss roll, low-ranking Technical and ‘flavourless’ Showstopper.
But it was a close call for bakers Leighton, who presented a wonkily tiered Victoria sponge, and Toby, who struggled against the clock.
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Who Won Star Baker?
On a cheerier note, it was Nataliia who wowed the judges enough to bag the very first Star Baker of the series. She impressed with her consistent bakes and Ukrainian landscape cake, which put her ahead of the curve this week.
She beat out Jessica, whose ‘amazing’ toffee apple cake wowed the judges, and Tom, who despite failing to impress in the Technical Challenge with his ‘overbaked, too dark… not very good’ fondant fancies (not one to beat around the bush, our Prue) managed to pull it back with an ‘exceptional’ Showstopper.
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What’s Happening Next Week?
Again in keeping with tradition, next week is Biscuit Week. This year, our 11 remaining bakers will be tasked with rustling up Hobnobs and time capsules. Intriguing…
‘Whose keepsake crunch will see them hobnobbing as star baker?’ the Channel 4 preview asks. ‘And whose time has crumb to an end?’
Bake Off Themes 2025
Every episode of Bake Off is governed by a theme, which changes every week. Some themes are consistent and appear every year; think Cake Week, Biscuit Week, Bread Week, Chocolate Week and Pastry Week. But there are also more surprising themes introduced by the producers each year, including in recent series things like Botanicals Week, Vegan Week, Autumn Week, Tudor Week and the regrettable Mexican Week. Frequent returners are themes like Halloween Week and Dessert Week, though we don’t know just yet if we will see them in 2025.
The themes we know so far for The Great British Bake Off series 16 are as follows:
Episode 1 (2 September): Cake Week
Episode 2 (9 September): Biscuit Week
Episode 3 (16 September): TBC, usually Bread Week
Episode 4 (23 September): TBC
Episode 5 (30 September): TBC
Episode 6 (7 October): TBC
Episode 7 (14 October): TBC
Episode 8 (21 October): TBC
Episode 9 (28 October): TBC
Episode 10 (4 November): Series finale, usually a garden party or picnic theme.
Where To Watch The Great British Bake Off
Catch up with The Great British Bake Off series 16 at channel4.com
