The Leaves Also Fall in 'The Great British Baking Show' Season 15's "Autumn"

The last couple of theme weeks on The Great British Baking Show initially caught my attention because they followed a similar pattern to the previous year, not just because it felt deliberate, but because Season 14 marked the series "changing up" the themes used previously due to the calamity that was Mexican Week. It continues to be true that viewers do not yet have enough data to be confident in saying the production is formalizing the entire theme calendar or that it plans to follow the same pattern every season going forward. But it sure looks like it.

The formalization of the "Cake-Biscuit-Bread" trio that opens every season was already semi-permanent when the series moved from the BBC to Channel 4 after Season 7 (The Candice Season). One of Channel 4's earliest moves was to formalize those first three installments to the point where you could practically set your watch to them. Since picking themes for the middle part of the show has proven perilous, organizing them into a repeating pattern is a form of putting up bumper walls and plausible excuses. ("We always do Colloid Ingredients in Week 4! We've never had a problem before!," etc.)

If I had to name Week 6's new assignment, I'd go with "Wild Card" Week. (I can hear Alex Trebek reprimanding me, "The category is "Potpourri.") Last year, it was "Botanicals," a throwback to an earlier era. This season, the series gives us the accidentally hilariously timed theme "Autumn." 

(If it's not obvious, this episode was filmed in late April in the U.K., under the assumption airing in the U.S. in late October/early November would match the season. The show would have gotten away with it, too, if it weren't for that meddling climate change.)

Personally, the best part about Autumn Week is Nelly’s headband. The little golden horns, the delicate leaves, this woman knows how to play the fan-favorite. However, it won’t help with the Signature Challenge this week, an “Autumnal Pie” with a delicate pastry crust and an “Autumn-themed flavor” filling. (If someone turned in a turkey gravy and mashed potato pie, it probably wouldn’t fly..... depriving us of Noel saying, “As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly.") Sumayah is already talking about her love of seasonal pies, so it’s a good bet she will do well on this one; she needs to after skating by on past performances these last two weeks.

Let’s see what kind of pies fly in this tent. As always, the Signature is judged on a pass/fail metric.

• Christiaan’ Forest Cano-Pie’ (Pass): It’s super cute, and the crust is spot on.
• Gill’ Blackberry & Apple Windy Day’ (Pass): It cracked a bit on the way out of the tin, but otherwise “almost unimprovable.”
• Nelly’ Out in Nature’ (Pass): It’s underbaked and a touch pale, but Paul calls the filling exquisite.
• Illiyin’ Autumnal Fruit Pie’ (Pass): The birds in the center of her pie are raw (tragic), but Paul says it’s good anyway.
• Sumayah’ Butternut & Pecan Pie’ (Pass): It’s country fair blue ribbon worthy, baked perfectly, but it has too much spice for Paul.
• Dylan’ Autumnal Apple Pie’ (Fail): The top apple slice rose is stunning, but the edges are too crisp. It’s burnt. Also, he made a rough puff pastry, not shortcrust.
• Georgie’ Pumpkin & Pecan Pie’ (Fail): The entire edge is burnt. It’s cracked and leaking and way too spicy. Prue requests ice cream.

I feel like Dylan psyched himself into failing to tell you the truth. Meanwhile, Georgie is starting to come up on her time. This may be the beginning of the countdown to see how many people who are better bakers go home first.

The Technical Challenge is as close to proof that we'll get that the producers see "Botanical" and "Autumn" as corollary themes; this is where they stuck this year's "We Acknowledge Vegans Exist Challenge." Oh, man, these poor bakers. Prue is the one who submitted the recipe, which is a "vegan spin" on Parkin, the traditional dessert served at November 5th parties in the 1970s and 80s. A Parkin is a ginger cake flavored with syrupy molasses, oatmeal, and spices; the recipe supposedly originated in Yorkshire. If that grin you hear is super loud, that's because you're standing too close to Gill; it's been a long time since we've seen someone competing in the Technical hit the jackpot center of their wheelhouse that precisely, and it's almost sure to go all wrong. Illiyin has at least heard of it and knows what it is, but she's actively avoided having to make one up until now.

Let's see who drives this Parkin into their cakehole and which flips upon hitting a pothole.

7. Gill: Poor Gill. She may make these at home but doesn't make vegan ones.
6. Christiaan: They're too dense and flat.
5. Nelly: It needs more icing and spices
4. Dylan: Noty nearly enough ginger.
3. Sumayah: Good icing, good flavor, good stickiness.
2. Georgie: They look good, they're just uneven.
1. Illiyin: These look like they came from a bakery shop. Maybe she should stop avoiding them.

This isn't the first time a Technical that one of the bakers knows well at home tripped them up in the tent because the show wanted them to do steps they weren't used to adding. I hope that doesn't mean we lose Gill yet; she's a quiet favorite of mine.

For the Showstopper Challenge, the brief is for the bakers to make a fanciful cake "based on an autumnal festival." This "Autumnal Festival Cake" can celebrate any culture's harvest festival (Alison namechecks Bonfire Night, Diwali, and Halloween as ideas), but it cannot mix them; it must clearly be a tribute only to the festival it represents. (This is probably their best way to discourage anyone from doing a Halloween/Day of the Dead cake.) There is one twist: because this is the harvest season, every cake must have a vegetable as part of the ingredient list. (Here come the carrots and parsnips.)

The contestants have four hours, but considering they're making multiple cakes and layers, decor, and icing, that's a really short amount of time. Let's see who celebrates with an explosive cake and who turns in the horror of Halloween.

Sumayah’s ‘Autumn Leaves’ Harvest Cake: It’s super pretty, and the leaves are gorgeous. Her flavors run from beetroot to carrot (the only socially acceptable vegetable cake). Paul calls the top layer a sticky toffee pudding-like cake, but the bottom layer stops both judges in their tracks. Prue stares at Paul like she can’t quite believe what she’s eating and pronounces Sumayah “one hell of a baker.” 

Paul does something he’s only done once or twice before in the history of GBBO. He walks out from behind the table and gives Sumayah the one compliment he hasn’t overused: a Showstopper Hollywood Handshake. 

Christiaan’s ‘Roots of Samhain’: Noel admits he is in love with this gothy Halloween cake, and he should be; the stained glass ghost is spooktacular. Paul likes the flavors more than the decor, but he loves them, which makes up for it. Prue has to be the one to tell Christiaan his Halloween cake is more than passable, marking him probably safe from Paul.

Gill’s ‘Bonfire Parrot Cake’: It's hilarious with the little candy whizbangs like cake pops. The bottom layer is basically a parkin as Gill strives to make up for yesterday, but, you know, a parkin with animal-based ingredients, like she's used to. Prue is well relieved and says, "Very good," as Gill flees to her station, knowing she's probably safe now.

Illiyin’s ‘Day of the Dead Cake’: Prue calls the colors astonishing and the decor stunning. Paul even has to admit it's very beautiful, though he mutters about it being a "big cake" as he slices. The good news is that Illiyin finally nailed her spice levels, which is what Prue needed her to do in this round, and that's Illiyin safe for another week.

Georgie’s ‘Tree Trunk Scene’: Paul starts overpraising her the second her cake hits the table. Listen: It's not a bad stump; it looks like a homemade Winnie the Pooh-style cake for Halloween. The sort of thing a semi-talented village baker might put in the window, not a professional. Anyway, the cake is stodge af, because she forgot pumpkins have juice.

Nelly’s ‘Woman in Autumn Cake’: This cake is so cool. I didn't realize at first that the slope was deliberate, the jaunty angle of the hat. The icing work is really great, and the artwork faces, being a bit Picasso-esque, go with the slanted cake. Unfortunately, as a seven-layer cake with avocado icing, it got super dense super fast. Prue says it was slightly overcomplicated, but it's still an achievement.

Dylan’s ‘Diwali Cake’: Dylan failed to manage his time; the icing isn't covering it correctly, the peacock is unfinished, and the piping is a mess. Dylan is trying to be all tough and "Screw this challenge, man," but you can tell he's totally fighting not to crumble on camera. Paul is like, "C'mon man, you're better than this," at Dylan's attitude, and then quickly dismisses him when the flavors are good. The rest of the baker's body language speaks to how awkward that all was.

Star Baker is going to Sumayah, so there's no arguing about this. If Paul gives you a Showstoppert Handshake, that's Star Baker right there. The problem is that there isn't a good candidate to send home this week other than Georgie, and you can tell that Paul's not sending Georgie anywhere right now. That means whoever does leave will be slightly robbed, but even I wasn't prepared for.... Nelly. 

Bless that woman; she jumps up and yells, "I'm not going anywhere!!" The rest of the bakers are crying their eyes out, especially Gill. Nelly marches right over to Dylan and says to buck up, straighten up, and bake right for her. 

I think he will, too. The Great British Baking Show continues on Netflix with new episodes every Tuesday in the U.K. and Friday in the U.S. through the end of November.