Andrew Evers, 40 (he/him)
Hometown: Toronto, ON
Occupation: Public Service Manager
Instagram: @andrew_alamode
Baking in the tent has been at the top of Andrew’s bucket list since watching Season 1. After growing up in the Niagara region, he began baking as a stress reliever in grad school. He upped his game to woo his now husband, Marc, by baking him delicious treats. The couple live in Toronto where they parent their white shepherd dog, Tristan. Outside of work, Andrew keeps active by playing in a local LGBTQ dodgeball league.
Andy Bui, 30 (he/him)
Hometown: Montreal, QC
Occupation: Nurse practitioner
Instagram: @bui.tiful
Montrealer Andy grew up in La Belle province with his immigrant parents speaking a mixture of English, French and Vietnamese. Now he integrates all of his cultures into his baking. A nurse practitioner who works in mental health, Andy experiments with cooking and baking to unwind from work. He likes to try out new techniques or flavours until they’re perfected, then moves on to the next challenge.
Camila García Hernández, 28 (she/her/they/them)
Hometown: Toronto, ON
Occupation: Software Developer
Instagram: @camixbakes
Camila, originally from Bogotá, Colombia, moved to Canada for her tech career. Now happily settled in Toronto with her husband and their two cats, Lola and Simona, they have become ensconced in the local Latin American community. Camila’s baking hobby developed into a full-blown passion since arriving in Canada. She is eager to bring the flavours from home and experiences from her world travels to the tent.
Candice Riley, 48 (she/her)
Hometown: Brampton, ON
Occupation: Partner at a tech firm
Instagram: @candicebakeson
Candice started baking after she moved away for university and missed indulging in her family’s traditional Goan Christmas sweets trays. Now, baking is among several hobbies she uses to unwind from her workday. Candice also enjoys photography, especially capturing moments with her three children and her husband of 22 years. She rounds out her creative pursuits with music as the conductor of her local choir and as an avid patron of opera.
Heather Allen, 40 (she/her)
Hometown: Winnipeg, MB
Occupation: Literacy Educator
Instagram: @heatherswildbakes
A proud prairie girl, Heather is passionate about her Winnipeg community and often bakes for local charitable causes. She, her husband and two children love to spend their time exploring the Manitoban countryside, and their own backyard, to forage and harvest ingredients to infuse nature’s goodness into everything they make. As a literacy educator for children, Heather is also a voracious reader and immerses herself in books.
Katherine Neiman, 57 (she/her)
Hometown: Leduc, AB
Occupation: Retired professor
Kathy grew up on an Albertan farm with four siblings, where baking with her mom was part of everyday life. Now retired faculty from MacEwan University, Kathy continues the daily baking tradition while indulging her creative passions full-time, like painting, sketching, and even welding! Kathy is also an accomplished quilter, having earned prizes for her creations. Her competitive side also extends to her pride and joy, her two papillons, Sizzle and Tonka, whom Kathy enters in agility competitions.
Loïc Fauteux-Goulet, 32 (he/him)
Hometown: Creston, B.C.
Occupation: Teacher
Instagram: @loicbakes
Loïc is an all-around maker who enjoys brewing beer, sewing, building furniture, and making jewellery for his partner. He’s also an avid sailor and even took on the challenge of restoring an old sailboat. Loïc has been baking since his youth but his discovery of The Great Canadian Baking Show inspired him to take his baking to the next level. Loïc grew up in Quebec and now lives in B.C.’s Kootenay region where he teaches high school and spends his spare time foraging for ingredients to use in his baking.
Niv Saberi, 31 (she/her)
Hometown: Port Elgin, ON
Occupation: Full-time parent
Instagram: @niv.witherwhisk
Niv formerly worked in nuclear engineering and left work to focus on parenting and pursue her love of baking. She enjoys getting creative with flavours from her and her husband’s Indian and Persian cultures. Niv is active in her small community on Lake Huron where she is a vital member of the curling club, and enjoys thrifting, playing volleyball, and practising reiki. She also makes her own kombucha and teaches creative baking to kids at the local gallery.
Rainier Maksoud, 29 (he/him)
Hometown: Laval, QC
Occupation: Business Analyst
Instagram: @maisonrainier
Rainier has been baking since childhood when he spent his time creating Easy Bake Oven delights. He now works as a business analyst and uses his baking hobby for charitable efforts, such as a massive online bake sale to support disaster relief in Lebanon. Rainier’s extensive Lebanese family also keeps him busy with birthday cake orders nearly every week. He loves to make artistic and dramatic cakes influenced by the world of fashion.
Sydney Hayden, 23 (she/her)
Hometown: Halifax, NS
Occupation: Student
Instagram: @sweetlysydney
Sydney is full of ambition, studying to become a surgeon and professor, while also working as a server and at a local boutique to pay for school. That may mean that her baking projects start in the middle of the night when she’s finished work, but that doesn’t stop her from going big and trying unexpected ideas, such as lighting a seven-layer snowman cake on fire. Why not! Sydney is a proud Maritimer who loves to use local East Coast ingredients in her concoctions.
7×1: Cake Week
Ten of the country’s best amateur bakers arrive at the iconic Great Canadian Baking Show tent to complete three Cake Week challenges.
Signature challenge: patterned roll cake
Who made what: [Spoiler (click to open)]
Andrew – waterfall cake with vanilla honey sponge, white wine buttercream, peach compote
Andy – fallen Greek column with vanilla milk cake, maple buttercream, pecan, banana
Camila – bocadillo con queso roll with vanilla cake, guava jam, ricotta, marzipan guava
Candice – spring roll with coconut sponte, chocolate ganache, cherry jam, cherry blossom decorations
Heather – ancient scroll roll with spiced sponge, rhubarb mascarpone, marzipan dragons
Kathy – vanilla cake strawberry rhubarb jam, cinnamon oat crunch, marzipan pin cushion
Loïc – treasure map cake with Génoise sponge, peach curd, salted caramel
Niv – vanilla cake, rose petal jam, pistachio whipped cream, curling rock truffles
Rainier – evil eye cake with citrus vanilla sponge, mango lime jam, pistachio cream, somalt spikes
Sydney – Poppy the bunny with pistachio poppy cake, lemon ricotta, candied poppy seeds
Technical challenge: Boston cream pie
Rankings: [Spoiler (click to open)]
1 – Candice
2 – Loïc
3 – Heather
4 – Kathy
5 – Niv
6 – Camila
7 – Sydney
8 – Andrew
9 – Rainier
10 – Andy
Showstopper challenge: top forward cake
Who made what: [Spoiler (click to open)]
Andrew – fish bowl with coconut ake, mango butter, macadamia crunch, isomalt coral
Andy – did not bake
Camila – world travel with chocolate hazelnut cake, hazelnut praline, and white chocolate decorations
Candice – bizz buzz with amaretto soaked honey almond cake, cereal milk frosting, fondant bees
Heather – prairie skies with honey lemon cake, poppy seed jelly, Swiss meringue buttercream
Kathy – choose a hue with dark chocolate cake, Baileys Irish cream ganache, mint buttercream, and fondant
Loïc – cake with a view with lemon sage cake, cherry jam, tempered chocolate tree bark, buttercream orchard painting
Niv – koala’s paradise with chocolate sage cake, raspberry jelly, yeast extract buttercream, fondant koalas
Rainier – ocean waves with kashmiri chai cake, speculoos, halva, rice paper waves
Sydney -dream come true with chocolate espresso rum cake, passionfruit, coconut cream
Star baker: [Spoiler (click to open)] Heather
Eliminated: [Spoiler (click to open)] Andy
Make your predictions – who will win this season?
Bake Off round up preference
Have a separate post for The Great Canadian Baking Show on Sundays
0(0.0%)
Combine the GBBO and GCBS into one post on Fridays
2(100.0%)
