Great British Bake Off viewers have shared criticism of the difficulty of the first technical challenge following the show’s return on Tuesday night.
*Warning – spoilers for the first episode of Great British Bake Off 2025 are below*
During the launch episode, the latest batch of 12 amateur bakers were tasked with making a patterned Swiss roll, before tackling fondant fancies in the technical challenge.
A twist was introduced that saw a range of ingredients placed in front of the bakers – but not all of them were included in the recipe. Instead, the bakers were given the chance to taste-test a fondant fancy to figure out what had been used.
Viewers agreed the new challenge was too difficult for the first episode, with one fan writing on X/Twitter: “Why have they made the technical so much harder...I don’t like it.”
Another person wrote: “No recipe. Extraneous ingredients. This technical is evil!”
“Seems a very harsh technical. Especially for week one,” said one viewer.
The 2025 season of the BBC baking show arrived on Tuesday night, with Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith returning as judges, with Noel Fielding and Alison Hammond on presenting duties.
The first star baker of the season went to Ukrainian 32-year-old office assistant Nataliia – who moved to Britain before the Russian invasion – for her stunning showstopper inspired by her home.
However, 30-year-old scientist Hassan was the first to be eliminated from the competition after his Swiss roll creation collapsed. Judges agreed they enjoyed the taste, but Hollywood told Hassan that it looked “like it dropped out of a tree”.
“Hassan’s swiss roll is probably the worst thing I’ve ever seen served up on #GBBO – IT’S LIQUID,” wrote one viewer on X/Twitter.
“Omg poor Hassan, that swiss roll is a disaster,” said another, while plenty of viewers compared the moment to comedian James Acaster’s infamous baking breakdown.
Speaking about his exit, Hassan said: “[My Swiss roll] didn’t come out as planned, but the worst thing was that it affected my baking after that.”
“Honestly, for my first ever bake in the tent to come out looking like that was appalling to say the least, for all the practice and work put into it. On the positive side, it tasted better than it looked, I guess?”
He praised his fellow bakers as a really fun bunch who were supportive and knowledgeable in his short time on Bake Off.
“I guess the biggest takeaway is that I actually got onto the show,” Hassan added. “For me, I’m usually always interested in how things work, so being part of Bake Off gave me a big understanding and insight into TV work, how things all work and the effort that goes into developing a TV show like this with all the secrecy involved.”
