The Sugar Also Melts in 'The Great British Baking Show's "Caramel Week"

Oh dear, it's Caramel Week on The Great British Baking Show, and that's always a sticky situation, ready to shatter at a moment's notice or, worse, melt into goo. The last time we saw Caramel Week was Season 12 (Collection 9), when it turned up, not at Week 4, but Week 7, featuring that Season's Top Five, the episode just before the quarter-finals. The contestants had a lot of challenges (mainly due to the Pandemic Schedule; it was August), and, at the time, I noted that Caramel Week was usually reserved for the creme-de-la-creme*, and was very happy to see the show at least attempt to keep it as a later challenge.

Sadly, that was before National Theme Weeks. Since that change, Week 4 has suddenly stabilized into Fussiest Ingredient in the Pantry Week. Last season, it was Chocolate Week, which was a disaster. Now, it's Caramel, the only other truly miserable thing to work with when you are in a tent outside. It may not seem like that big a deal; there's only a four-week difference between Weeks 4 and 7. But there's a steep curve between what the Top Nine can handle in the first four weeks and what the Top Five can handle after two months of competition.

With that in mind, let's see which of our bakers can crack the caramel code and which wind up burnt sugar at the bottom of a pan.