A staggering 9.1 million bakers and cake-enthusiasts alike sat glued to their screens on Tuesday night. Weeks of collapsed pastry cases, towering disasters and soggy bottoms had led to this moment, the Great British Bake Off final.
If you haven’t seen it/discussed it/had the results shouted at you from an enraged housemate then (where have you been?!), spoiler alert: Frances won.
It was a nail-biting episode with some surprise failures and successes all round. Ruby was gobsmacked to be told her picnic pie “looked like Frances made it” – the ultimate compliment, whilst Kimberley uncharacteristically had issues with a soggy bottom on her chicken and piggy pie.
The technical challenge took the finalists, and Mel and Sue’s accents, to downtown New York: pretzels. The real test for the bakers here seemed to be trying to remember what on earth a pretzel looks like. We were pretty stumped too – for some reason as soon as you are without a visual guide, the shape becomes incredibly elusive.
In the end it was the showstopper that allowed the ladies to show off their flair in the kitchen. The challenge of a three-tiered wedding cake seemed to be the ultimate trial but our fearless bakers tackled it head on. Kimberley took her usual modern approach, incorporating raspberry cake pops into a luscious chocolate layer. Ruby went for an intriguing mix of flavours including a passion fruit layer and a lemon Victoria sponge. Frances’ creation, inspired by A Midsummer Night’s Dream, featured a variety of flavours decorated with scrumptious looking beetroot, sweet potato, mango, and rhubarb confetti. Unfortunately Kimberley’s lacked the panache that a showstopper required whilst Ruby’s was lacking in flavour. Cue more tears.
Finally, and slightly anti-climactically, Frances was crowned the winner. I mean, we all wanted to see Ruby win and then run off into the sunset with Paul Hollywood didn’t we?
What now?
How do we fill the Charlotte Royal-shaped void in our hearts and our Tuesday nights? Whilst we keep our eyes peeled for Frances’ debut cookbook which promises to be a “smorgasbord of ideas” – gosh isn’t she fancy – we can keep our calorie count up with the delectable recipes found on the finalists’ own websites. Get an inside into Frances’ stylish mind here, sample some of Kimberley’s flavoursome treats here or enjoy the delights of our favourite self-deprecating baker at rubyandthekitchen.co.uk
Photo Credits:
dailymail.co.uk, mirror.co.uk