Sixty years later, 77-year-old Jenny Quinn spends the afternoon baking a tea loaf, using her grandmother’s recipe. When her husband Bernard returns from the doctor with a new asthma diagnosis, Jenny is disturbed by his nonchalant attitude and upset by his claim that there are no more adventures left in their life.

That evening, the couple watches Jenny’s favorite show, Britain Bakes, a baking competition featuring amateur bakers. Determined to prove Bernard wrong, Jenny decides to apply for the show. However, she grows intimidated by the application form and worries that her skills won’t measure up. When she sees the application deadline is January 11, a painful date in her memory, she closes the application.

When Jenny and Bernard first discovered the small village of Kittlesham while on vacation early in their marriage, they knew it would be the perfect place to retire. Over the years, they have come to know the town and its residents very well. As they walk to church, the couple encounters their friends Ann and Fred, who are excited to introduce their newest grandchild. Jenny is hurt when Ann implies that the Quinns have infinite free time because they don’t have grandchildren.

Later, while baking her mother’s bread recipe, Jenny narrates the recipe as if she were on Britain Bakes. Although the loaf is a failure, she determines to hone her skills in order to apply to the show. She decides not to tell Bernard until she is officially accepted. It is only the second time she has lied to him in their nearly 60 years of marriage.

Jenny decides to take advantage of the Christmas season to practice baking for her application without raising Bernard’s suspicions. She carefully prepares a chocolate log cake following her late sister-in-law Margot’s recipe. The cake is a family tradition for the Quinns, and baking it makes Jenny and Bernard feel like Margot is still with them. Jenny arranges the bakes on a red gingham cloth and casually asks Bernard to take a photo, hoping he won’t question her.

Bernard grows out of breath as he loads the desserts into the car, and Jenny begins to worry about his health. As he drives them to visit family, Jenny reflects on all the adventures she has had in the passenger seat of his car in their decades of marriage.

In a flashback, Jenny’s mother teaches her how to make mince pies. She shares the secret to her recipe: a thin disk of almond paste under the crust. Jenny feels as if her mother’s kitchen is the sweetest and safest place in the world.

In the present, Jenny and Bernard spend Christmas Eve with Bernard’s niece Rose, the daughter of his late sister Margot, and her family. Jenny is astonished at how well Rose has taken to motherhood and wonders if motherhood is easy for everyone. She is delighted to watch Rose’s daughter Poppy eat her family tiffin recipe, and later, she shares her mother’s secret mince pie recipe. On Christmas morning, Bernard gifts Poppy an elaborate handmade dollhouse called Margot Manor.

On the day after Christmas, Jenny and Bernard take a walk through the country with Rose’s family. Rose reminisces about the summer holidays she spent camping with Jenny and Bernard. When Rose shares her concerns about balancing work and motherhood, Jenny feels as if she has no advice to offer. Bernard falls behind the rest of the group, causing Rose to reveal her concerns about his health. Rose’s concerns amplify Jenny’s worries about living without Bernard.

The family joins a crowd gathered to observe wild deer. When a two-year-old boy runs toward the deer, Jenny pulls him back, angering the boy’s mother. As she and Bernard drive home, Jenny is overcome with the sense that time is passing her by. She determines to make it onto the show.

Jenny spends the first week of January practicing her bakes and working on her application. She bakes so much that she is forced to ask Bernard for more money for groceries. Bernard invites Jenny to watch him play indoor lawn bowling with their friends Ann and Fred. Jenny declines, choosing to stay home and finish her application instead.

On the application, Jenny writes that she comes from a family of bakers, and that baking connects her to the generations of people who have come before her. She admits that she feels as if she hasn’t achieved anything significant in her life, and she hopes success on the show can be her legacy. Privately, Jenny worries that Bernard will be hurt that she is looking for meaning outside of their life together.

In a flashback, Jenny and her Aunt Ethel bake shortbread together shortly after the death of Jenny’s mother. Aunt Ethel is strict and cold, rushing through the process and refusing to let Jenny taste the baking. Jenny misses her mother’s warm, loving attitude in the kitchen.

In the present, Jenny practices her shortbread recipe while Bernard works in the garden. She receives a call from the producers of Britain Bakes. After she passes a short quiz on the foundations of baking, the producers invite Jenny to attend an in-person interview, with multiple bakes, in London the following Wednesday. Jenny enthusiastically agrees but does not tell Bernard. Shortly after, Bernard reveals that he has agreed to spend the same Wednesday in London with Poppy.

On the morning of her audition, Jenny wakes early to complete her final test bake, a loaf of bread. When the bread is a failure, Jenny decides to use it to make her family’s bread and butter pudding instead. Bernard wakes and reveals that he ate one of the 12 identical sausage rolls that Jenny prepared the prior day. Jenny panics but knows she cannot reveal why she needs exactly 12 rolls. She convinces Bernard to go into London without her, promising to meet him later.

At the audition, a prospective contestant named Azeez helps Jenny fix her cake, which has fallen in transit. Jenny is one of 32 contestants, including Azeez and influencer Sorcha, invited to participate in a blind test bake. She leaves the audition feeling excited but guilty about lying to Bernard.

In a flashback, Jenny makes an omelet for her father while sharing her plans to attend secretarial school and establish her own career. Jenny’s father tells her that her mother would have been proud of her.

In the present, Jenny arrives at Rose’s home in London hours after she promised to meet Bernard and Poppy there. She lies to Bernard, claiming to have been home sleeping all day. Bernard seems suspicious when he sees her audition bakes but says nothing. When Jenny sees the ruined omelet Bernard is preparing for his dinner, she feels guilty about leaving him alone all day.

Later that night, Jenny sneaks into Poppy’s room and leaves her a pound coin in exchange for a tooth Poppy lost that day. She reflects on all the moments she lost out on without children.

Jenny and Bernard spend the night at Rose’s house in London. The next morning, Jenny overhears Bernard confide to Rose that he believes Jenny is keeping a secret from him. He reveals that he overheard snippets of her recent phone conversation, and he believes she is ill and afraid to tell him. He suspects that she lied to him the previous day in order to attend a doctor’s appointment.

Jenny bitterly regrets keeping the audition a secret from Bernard, feeling that two secrets are impossible for her to hold. Later that day, Bernard questions Jenny about her health and seems dissatisfied with her answers. Jenny considers telling him the truth about the audition but decides not to.