'The Great British Baking Show' Series 3 Episode 5: Alternative Ingredients Week

We’re at the halfway point of this season’s Great British Baking Show and the competition is heating up for sure. This week our bakers must find ways to substitute ingredients they’ve been asked to subtract; namely sugar, gluten and dairy. While this is a very common dietary situation for many, it presents a unique set of challenges for the eight remaining bakers who must create tasty and attractive bakes regardless of the recipe restrictions.

Before we move into the alternative baking reality that dominates this week’s episode, let’s review the nitty gritty of last week’s dessert-themed competition.

Ian pulled off a hat trick by winning three Star Baker titles in a row for his above average crème brûlées and spanische windtorte as well as his spicy and herby baked cheesecakes which Mary declared were “heaven on a plate.” Sandy left the c-mpetition after a tough weekend of runny crème brûlées , middling meringue and a disastrous cheesecake showstopper. Alas, I was sad to see this fun-loving, easy going baker depart.

This week's signature challenge required our bakers to make a cake sans sugar. They were given two and a half hours to complete the task which included finding a surrogate sweetener. Paul issued the technical challenge to make twelve identical gluten-free pita breads (pronounced “pitta” by the British apparently) in two hours.  The showstopper featured the always treacherous ice cream roll. Remember “bin gate” a few seasons back? This time the bakers were asked to create a dairy-free ice-cream and were given four and a half hours to complete the project.