Bake Off: The Professionals

Ellie Taylor and Liam Charles welcome a new batch of professional pastry chefs from hotels, restaurants and patisserie shops around the UK to compete for the title. To get things rolling, judges Cherish Finden and Benoit Blin have a French classic up their sleeve in a secret challenge for the teams, and without proper recipes to hand, the chefs must rely on their knowledge and teamwork to create 36 individual tarte aux fraise and one chocolate amenity in just three and a half hours.

The remaining teams must turn all their patisserie experience on its head by creating 24 identical reimagined custard tarts and 24 cotton cheesecakes. In their second gruelling challenge, the teams have five hours to turn the spectacle of carnival into astounding showpiece structures adorned with exotic flavoured desserts. Whose custard tarts will see them through to the next round, and who will have egg on their face and be going home for good?

The four best teams from the last round take on pastry week. In their first challenge, the teams must turn their hand to viennoiserie, and make 18 cross laminated pain Suisse and 24 savoury brioche doughnuts. For their showpiece challenge, the teams become ring masters of their craft, as they produce a choux showpiece featuring 160 individual choux buns inspired by a circus theme.

Six new teams are thrown in at the deep end, with a secret challenge: to make a classic coffee éclair, accompanied by an amenity. They must draw on all their knowledge and experience as they have no recipe to follow. In their second challenge, the teams play illusionists as they create a Trompe l'oeil showpiece sculpture inspired by everyday household objects, within which a tarte Tatin to serve 40 must be hidden. Whose patisserie prowess will shine through?

The remaining teams let their imaginations run wild as they're charged with creating 24 individual sticky toffee puddings and 24 individual charlotte à la russe, both of which must be reimagined and individually identical across each batch. In the second challenge, the teams need to channel their inner fashionistas as they create a haute couture inspired showpiece display in just five hours.

In the first challenge, the remaining bakers must deliver 18 buttery, flaky savoury croissants and 24 perfectly filled maritozzi for judges expecting nothing but absolute perfection. In the showpiece challenge the teams will need to tap into their light-hearted natures, as they produce a towering choux and nougatine showpiece with a playtime theme and featuring 160 filled choux. All this needs to be delivered to the judges in just five hours. Which teams will have structured their ascent to a spot in the final six and whose time will come crashing to an end?

Liam Charles and Ellie Taylor welcome back the best three teams from each set of heats for a chocolate-fuelled pursuit to reach the final. For their first challenge, the chefs create two batches of chocolate bars, after which they must create a hanging showpiece made entirely from chocolate and delicately suspended from the ceiling, inspired by a Mythical Beasts theme.

It's the quarter-final, and the five remaining teams take on a secret challenge to create a plated dessert celebrating caramel for each of the judges. For their second challenge, the teams have five hours to create a display of frozen lollipops presented within a delicate sugar sculpture, inspired by a Winter Wonderland theme.

Guest judge Nicolas Houchet, executive pastry chef at the Savoy, joins the team for the semi-final of Britain's toughest patisserie competition. The four remaining teams must perfect Nicolas' modern version of the peach Melba with a minimal recipe to guide them. For their second challenge, the teams create an entirely edible fairy-tale scene with hidden rhubarb and custard desserts to serve 40.

The final of Britain's toughest patisserie competition, hosted by Ellie Taylor and Liam Charles, with judges Benoit Blin and Cherish Finden. The remaining three teams create an Afternoon Tea display and make a banquet celebrating the very best of British, with towering sugar and chocolate showpieces and enough desserts to feed 120.