Top 20 Worst Great British Bake Off Creations

#20: Maids of Dishonour

In series 10, this technical challenge caused issues for just about everybody in the tent. They were making maids of honour, a traditional English, puff pastry full of curd cheese. As usual, because this was the technical, certain things were left out of the instructions they’d been given, so some guesswork was involved. As occasionally happens, they nearly all made a hash of it, with none of the tarts rising enough. Paul and Prue were horrified by how poorly they’d done. The tarts were hardly edible, with only one plate even remotely resembling a proper curd tart that you’d actually want to taste. We’re not sure the crew enjoyed these leftovers.

#19: Sugar Dome Catastrophe

It’s not just the ordinary version of “Bake Off” that goes wrong; mistakes are made on “The Professionals”, too. In this challenging task, they had to build a sugar dome showstopper, something beyond the amateur bakers on the normal version. They were almost beyond the pros, too, especially when one of them catastrophically fell to the floor during assembly. Honestly, this challenge was almost cruel, and devastating that the crew could see it leaning and were powerless to intervene. It was one of the most heartbreaking moments we’ve ever witnessed on a cooking programme.

#18: Parkin

If you’re from the north, you’re probably very familiar with parkin, this traditional oat, treacle, and ginger cake often eaten in Yorkshire and Lancashire during autumn. But it remains obscure in other parts of the UK, which was why it made for such a good technical challenge: hardly anybody in the tent had made it before. Only Gill was familiar, but unfortunately, that familiarity didn’t help when she forgot to add the baking powder. She was devastated when the parkin didn’t rise, and there certainly wasn’t enough time to make another. Tragedy aside, it’s undeniable that you probably wouldn’t enjoy Gill’s bad batch of parkin.

#17: Vol-au-Vents

All they were asked for in this signature challenge were vol-au-vents; how hard could that be? Well, very, apparently. It was miraculous that so many of them managed to bungle what should have been a relatively simple pastry challenge, with each baker able to put their own spin on the task. Clearly, though, they put too much of a spin on it, with many going wrong. Abdul’s didn’t rise enough and Paul thought the flavours didn’t go together, mixing strawberry, coconut, and kiwi. Elsewhere, they found others that were boring, raw, and burnt. The challenge was disappointment all round – then again, perhaps Paul was just having a bad day.

#16: Stroopwafels

Another fiendish technical, they were this time asked to make stroopwafels, Dutch “syrup waffles” with a caramel filling. All of them struggled, not knowing how to get through the recipe or even what the finished waffles were actually meant to look like. To a layperson, they looked passable, but of course, Paul and Prue are not laypeople, and had a lot of issues with the stroopwafels. Overall, the caramel was the problem rather than the waffle itself – interesting, since you’d have thought the bakers would have had a bit more experience at making caramel. But every single waffle was a dud, leaving Prue deeply disappointed.

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#15: Banoffee Ice Cream Roll

Everybody was sceptical when David O’Doherty announced that he was going to make a banoffee flavoured ice cream roll. It didn’t look too bad – although, it didn’t look too appetising, either – but everything fell apart when Paul tried to cut into it and found that he wasn’t able to. Neither he nor Prue could work out what was in the bottom making the ice cream roll rock-solid, but it may have been the caramel. Worse, the texture of the sponge made it impossible to eat, and even the flavours weren’t good. Paul didn’t mince words when he told David what he thought. Still, at least this one was for charity.

#14: Brownies

How can you possibly go wrong making a plate of brownies? Perhaps the simplest thing to bake, brownies are very difficult to go too wrong with. And yet, the tent was in disarray when, in 2020, they were asked to cook up a batch. They were allowed to top the brownies with whatever they wanted, with some going for honeycomb, others for meringue, and so on. But it wasn’t the toppings that were the trouble, but the brownies themselves. None of them managed to cook the brownies enough, with them all coming out raw. It makes you wonder whether there wasn’t a problem with the ovens, since it’s odd that they all failed in exactly the same way.

#13: Yorkshire Puddings

These roast dinner staples are deceptively tricky to get right, with many amateurs often having trouble getting their Yorkshire puds to rise properly in the oven. That was, indeed, the same issue here, with the group tasked with making a dozen identical puddings. Again, though, they were having heating trouble, with the ovens not hot enough to cook them properly. It makes you wonder whether the bakers ought to account for that, and should start turning the “Bake Off” ovens up to a higher temperature. It was devastating for Val when her puddings didn’t rise, but she did alright in the end. Certainly better than Tom and his Yorkshire biscuits.

#12: Treacle Puddings

They had to make steamed, orange and ginger treacle puddings, along with custard and syrup, for this devious technical challenge. Paul set this one and knew full-well that it was asking a lot, with the steamed pudding, custard, AND syrup, all requiring precision timing. Perhaps unsurprisingly, everybody’s puddings went wrong. None were cooked enough, with many still with a mostly liquid consistency. They had to scrape the liquid off and serve what they had left, much to Prue and Paul’s disappointment. Only two had been baked enough to even be worth tasting, though it was difficult to work out which was the worst.

#11: Rainbow

For the showstopper in this celebrity edition, Alan Carr decided to make a cake that represented himself dreaming about the classic children’s television show “Rainbow”. That wasn’t exactly what the judges were looking for with the brief “rainbow cake”, but actually, the colours in the layers when the cake was cut into were alright. Unfortunately, the texture left a lot to be desired. Prue and Paul both said it was overbaked, and then Paul snapped a piece of it like a cracker. It takes a lot to shock these two, but Alan Carr managed it, creating something the tent had never seen before or since.

#10: Rylan’s Poo

You’d be right believing that some of the absolute worst creations on this show come from the celebrities who quite frankly have no clue when it comes to baking. Very few can compare to this vile sweet by reality star Rylan Clarke who had attempted to make a bake shaped like a cove in Ibiza. Something that would clearly be hard to convey as appetizing on premise alone. But somehow, Rylan managed to make it look like a big dollop of poo. Somehow the rest of this bake made up for the harrowing sight!

#9: Celebrity Faces

After watching the first showstopper round of season 11, we believe there may be some people who no longer believe that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Tasked with creating a bust of a celebrity they admire, the bakers surprised us all with an array of hilarious results. From a Freddie Mercury that many likened to the Pringles man and nightmarish David Bowie to David Attenborough taking a tumble, many conceded that the disastrous results seemed fitting for the unprecedented theme of 2020. Most of the results were laughable but who doesn’t need a good chuckle these days.

#8: Dan’s Portrait

There are far more flattering ways to portray your newborn baby. When the bakers were challenged to create a self-portrait Dan chose to draw himself with his child on a biscuit. Say what you will about his amateurish drawing of himself, but the baby is sure to get your eyebrow raising. Paul suggested that it looked more like a shrimp than a child, but the viewers at home had far more dirty thoughts as to what it looked like. Perhaps something more phallic. Maybe choose a different colour next time, Dan.

#7: Jamie’s Banana Loaf

If the heir to McVities and founder of Candy Kittens promises to produce a delicious cake, you’d believe him, right? Jamie Laing announced that he had never even touched flour before and then proceeded to mix his banana loaf ingredients in a food processor all at once, allegedly following his mother’s example. Despite its unappetising texture, the judges bravely taste it but regret it soon after. Prue spat hers out and Paul dubbed it the worst cake ever baked in the tent. Well, at least there was only really one way he could go from there.

#6: Dorret’s Black Forest Gateau

In the season premiere of the sixth series of “Bake Off”, the contestants were charged with making their spin on a classic Black Forest Gâteau for the showstopper round. But Dorret was off to a rough start when her mousse didn’t set properly, making it impossible for her cake to retain any structural integrity. Dorret was understandably devastated when her Gâteau completely collapsed, leaving a gooey mess instead of a pretty end result. Despite this major error though, she managed to stay in the competition for another couple of episodes after the incident.

#5: Ruby’s Cakes

Baking using only vegan-friendly ingredients can be tricky enough, but creating a gorgeous tiered cake without using eggs and dairy like you’re used to can result in complete chaos. That’s what happened for Ruby in series nine when her showstopper couldn’t stand up on its own. When the clock ran out in the baker’s time, her cake wasn’t stable so she was forced to leave the tent and hope for the best. But the other contestants watched helplessly from outside as the dessert slowly toppled over onto her work station.

#4: James’s Barn

For the quarter final of the third series of “Bake Off”, James Morton endeavored to make a wood-frame gingerbread barn but it ended up falling apart, forcing him to put a spooky spin on it, calling it a haunted barn and even adding cobwebs. While what he intended was an indisputable failure, the end result wasn’t actually that bad, and he was even named star baker that week. Not only that, but he ended up in the final of the show, and has been successful ever since!

#3: A Salty Treat

John Waite eventually became the winner of the third series of “Bake Off”, but in the season premiere, things didn’t look too hopeful for this baker. During the technical challenge, the contestants were charged with making rum babas, and John mistakenly used salt instead of sugar in his dough. The result was about as disastrous as you would imagine, with Mary refusing to touch them and Paul spitting them out. Somehow though, John only came in second to last in the ranking, managing to edge out Natasha, who was eliminated that episode.

#2: The Not-So Baked Alaska

Ask any “Bake Off” fan what the most dramatic moment in the show’s history is, and they’ll undoubtedly agree it was this one. Dubbed “bingate” by fans and the press, this incident took place in the fifth series in the “Desserts” episode when the contestants were asked to make versions of a baked Alaska for their showstopper. Iain’s dessert was chilling when fellow baker Diana removed it from the fridge for an indeterminate amount of time, causing it to melt in the sweltering heat. While this would have been an unfortunate occurrence, Iain made it a true disaster when he had a tantrum and threw the entire dessert into the bin.

#1: Lucy’s Showstopper Cake

It’s a rare honor to get a Paul Hollywood handshake. It’s even rarer still to have him spit your bake out in disgust. But that’s exactly what happened to Lucy Beaumont on SU2C. While the other contestants brought their A-Game, Lucy floundered when creating her ‘sunday lunch’ cake which featured cake layers of varying burntness. As Prue said it looked less like Lucy’s dream day and more like her nightmare. As such she was named the worst baker to ever step foot in the tent.

Let us know your biggest baking disasters in the comments.