The Great British Bake Off has confirmed that dedicated chocolate and ice cream rounds will not feature in the forthcoming season, due to conditions in the tent during a heatwave this summer.
The popular reality baking series filmed its 17th series over the summer, with conditions in the tent said to be proving prohibitive to some of the more delicate food tasks.
In a video shared on the social media platform TikTok, the official Bake Off account noted that it had been the “hottest summer on record and there’s no Chocolate Week or Ice Cream Week”.
“We think it’s time to break this news to y’all,” they wrote in the caption.
While there has never been a designated Ice Cream Week on Bake Off, contestants have often been tasked with making ice cream for particular technical challenges.
Chocolate Week was first introduced in the 13th series back in 2020, and has featured intermittently since.
Bake Off – which now features Paul Hollywood and Nigella Lawson as judges, with Noel Fielding and Alison Hammond serving as presenters – has yet to announce the full list of theme weeks for the new series.
It has already featured Cake Week, on Tuesday 22 September, and Biscuit Week, on Tuesday 29 September. Coming up next is a new theme week, dubbed Audience Choice Week, which is set to air on Tuesday 6 October.
Biscuit Week featured the first elimination of the new series, as Danni, a service centre administrator from Dorset, failed to curry favour with the judges.
In the episode, contestants were tasked with making American-style cookies, recreating iced gems, and constructing a “visually striking” biscuit mosaic.
By the end of the episode, West Yorkshire hairdresser Tom had been anointed as the week’s star baker, while Danni, 25, was eliminated.
“Oh my goodness, I am really happy that I was the first one out because I know everyone in there has more skills than me,” they said.
“But I think I’ve learned something about myself, which is that in the right circumstances I can make quite a few friends. Finding love in a group of strangers – that’s just beautiful.”
The Great British Bake Off continues next Tuesday at 8pm on Channel 4.
First baker eliminated from Great British Bake Off tent after emotional biscuit week
Great British Bake Off 2026: Meet the 12 bakers stepping into the tent for season 17
Paul Hollywood says Nigella Lawson is a ‘warmer’ Bake Off judge than Mary Berry
How much are Celebrity Traitors being paid and what prize will the winner get?
Claudia Winkleman explains why she could never take part in Celebrity Traitors
Could you spot a traitor? The physical sign that could mean someone is lying
