Who are Grete and Goda Butkute from Bake Off: The Professionals 2026?

Grete and Goda Butkute are two of the pastry chefs competing on Bake Off: The Professionals 2026.

The sisters, originally from Lithuania, have built their careers side by side since moving to the UK, creating ambitious patisserie and avant-garde desserts at some of the industry’s most prestigious establishments.

Together, they now run Scotiq, a personalised catering business based in the Scottish countryside, an area they say reminds them of their native Lithuania.

Bake Off: The Professionals returned to Channel 4 on Tuesday, May 26, with teams tested across illusion cakes, secret recipes and ambitious showstoppers.

Dubbed “Britain’s toughest patisserie competition”, the professional spin-off focuses on trained pastry chefs from hotels, restaurants, bakeries and patisserie businesses, with teams judged on flavour, structure, technique, creativity and execution under pressure.

Who is Grete Butkute?

Grete Butkute is a pastry chef and founder of Scotiq, a luxury private dining and catering venture launched in 2022.

Her career has spanned a number of five-star establishments, including Gleneagles Hotel, and she has worked at high-profile venues including Cakes & Bubbles at Hotel Café Royal and Heart Ibiza.

Both venues are associated with Albert Adrià, the acclaimed Spanish chef once named The World’s Best Pastry Chef.

Grete has previous experience of Bake Off: The Professionals, having competed in series five, where she reached the final six.

This time, she has returned to the competition alongside her sister Goda.

Through Scotiq, Grete showcases local Scottish produce while drawing on the sisters’ Lithuanian roots, fine dining experience and shared creative approach to pastry.

Who is Goda Butkute?

Goda Butkute is Grete’s sister and teammate on Bake Off: The Professionals 2026.

She once dreamed of becoming an architect, but after stepping into the kitchen to help Grete, she quickly fell in love with patisserie.

That early interest in architecture gives Goda a natural connection to the structural and visual side of pastry, where design, balance and precision are central to the finished piece.

She worked as a pastry chef at restaurants such as Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, before teaming up with Greta at Scotiq in the Scottish countryside, combining creativity, technical skill and a close family bond.

With their shared vision and long-standing connection, the sisters are one of the most distinctive teams in the 2026 series.

What happened in episode four?

Grete and Goda entered Bake Off: The Professionals 2026 in episode four.

The episode featured two patisserie challenges, beginning with a secret challenge in which the teams had to create 24 citrus meringue tarts.

Grete and Goda used grapes, pomelo, yuzu, lime and mint in their tarts.

Commenting on the tarts, judge Benoit Blin said: “Presentation could have been a little bit more elegant. The pastry is nicely baked, the curd is set beautifully.”

Fellow judge Cherish Finden added: “Too much meringue on the top. I love your guts. Nobody else would take grapes, but you did it.”

The second challenge was a showpiece inspired by a childhood hobby.

The showpiece had to stand at least one metre tall, look realistic and include an elevated chocolate fudge cake hidden within the design.

Teams were given 1.5 hours of prep time followed by four hours to create their finished pieces.

Grete and Goda created a quad bike showpiece.

Cherish told them: “Congratulations, I think you did very well.”

Benoit added: “There is good potential.”

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Announcing the episode-four result, presenter Liam Charles said: “The judges thought that the team in first place delivered across both days.”

A shocked Grete and Goda won the episode, with Grete looking at Goda and exclaiming: “It’s us!”

Goda replied: “You’ve got to be f***ing joking me, right?”

An emotional Grete later summed up the feeling, saying: “It means a lot. It was worth coming back.”

Who are the judges and presenters?

Bake Off: The Professionals is hosted by Liam Charles and Ellie Taylor.

Liam first became known to Bake Off viewers as a contestant on The Great British Bake Off before going on to present Junior Bake Off and Bake Off: The Professionals.

Ellie is a comedian, actress, writer and presenter, and returns alongside Liam for the 2026 series.

The judges are Cherish Finden and Benoit Blin.

Cherish is one of the UK’s best-known pastry chefs and has judged Bake Off: The Professionals across multiple series.

She has worked as executive pastry chef at The Langham Hotel and Pan Pacific London and won a host of awards during her career.

Cherish has also been appointed as chair of pastry judges for the 2026 National Chef of the Year and Young National Chef of the Year competitions.

Benoit is an award-winning pastry chef with a long career in luxury hospitality and fine dining, known for his technical standards and classical patisserie expertise.

He notably worked at Raymond Blanc’s two-Michelin-starred Belmond Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons for more than 30 years, leading a team of 13 pastry chefs in his role as chef pâtissier.

Together, the pair judge the teams on flavour, structure, finish, technique, creativity and execution under pressure.

What is Bake Off: The Professionals 2026?

Bake Off: The Professionals is the professional spin-off from The Great British Bake Off.

Rather than amateur bakers, the series focuses on trained pastry chefs from hotels, restaurants, bakeries and patisserie businesses.

Each team is tested across demanding pastry, chocolate, sugar work, illusion cake and showpiece challenges, with the weakest teams leaving the competition as the series progresses.

The 2026 series is the 11th series of the show and features 12 teams competing for the title.

Grete and Goda made a strong impression when they entered the competition, but with more technical challenges and showstoppers still to come, the pressure is only just beginning.

For more on the full series, read our Bake Off: The Professionals 2026 guide.