14x10 - The Final

[bunniefuu]

In the beginning...

Ah, thank you very much.
Is that better?

...there were 12.

So, Nicky, tell us about your
beaver?

Now...

This is it,
the storm is coming.

...there are three.

Let's see how I get on.
No! Why's it doing that?

There can only be one winner.

To be honest I just,
I don't know with it.

Patience!

Oh, no! I didn't dust them
in icing sugar either, did 1?

It's not your best sh*t.

Oh, it's an empty tent
now, isn't it?

Just three challenges
stand between the finalists

and the Bake Off title.

Best of luck.
Go, go, go, Josh.

Josh's passion for precision
was obvious from week one.

I love the way one of her eyes
is completely gone with the fringe!

By week two, he already had
the Hollywood handshake.

It's amazing.

But every week, he's delivered
stunning Showstoppers.

It's beautiful.

Delivering him Star Baker
not once, but twice.

Just want to be able
to have three good last bakes

that I can be happy with,
but we shall see.

This year's
first Star Baker, Dan,

has often made
his life complicated.

So I am doing the aromatic flavours
of a Thai green curry.

What're you thinking?!

And it hasn't always
been successful.

It's a bit sandy and dry.

But he's fought back
from disappointment.

These aren't baked.

Winning more technical challenges
than any of his fellow finalists,

the Hollywood handshake...
That's beautiful.

And was Star Baker again
in dessert week.

I'd love to win it

but I'm against these two little
rug rats this weekend.

Such good lads, I'm going
to have to really raise my game.

Matty's time in
the tent did not begin well.

Can't give that to anyone!
But he's listened.

It looks like it's been run over.

And learned.
The look of it is really very good.

Polishing decoration...
Your box is beautifully engineered.

And perfecting flavours.

The chilli is great in there.

Oh!

But despite a handshake
and winning Star Baker twice,

he's never won
a Technical Challenge.

I would say that I'm the underdog.

Everyone likes the underdog,
though, right? Please!

Welcome back to the tent, bakers,

for your last ever
Signature Challenge.

The judges would like you

to bake eight exquisite,
highly decorative eclairs.

You should choose two different
types in terms of decoration

and flavour. Now remember guys,
this is the final,

so the judges would like you
to bake in the nude!

And when Noel says judges,
he means Prue.

You have two hours and 15 minutes.
On your marks.

Get set. Bake!

Can't believe this is
the last signature I'm going to do.

I'm a bit nervous,
I just hope these look all right.

There's a lot of personal pride
for each one of us.

We all play sport,
we're all competitive.

When I play football, I always had
to wear two pairs of socks.

I've got four pairs
of underpants on today!

Because I'm going to need 'em...

They've got to make two different
types of eclairs,

and they've got to be perfect.

The pastry needs to be really
puffed up, and crisp as anything.

But you want beautiful air holes
in the inside which you can fill

with cream or custard.

But the problem is you can add
too many creams and custards to it

and make it soggy.

They've all had two Star Bakers,
they've all had a handshake,

so they are absolutely
level pegging.

And I haven't a clue
who's going to win.

And if they want to win
The Great British Bake Off,

start now with the eclair.

Hello, Dan. Hi, good morning.
Hello, Dan. Hiya, you all right?

Right tell us all about
your eclairs. What are you doing?

So I'm doing strawberries and cream
and a summer fruit punch jelly.

And for my second one I'm doing
a salted caramel mascarpone cream

with a praline ganache on top.
Sounds very nice.

Yeah, don't they sound good?

Dan will top his salted
caramel and praline eclairs

with crisp tempered chocolate.

His strawberries and cream eclairs
will be decorated

with Chantilly cream
and cubes of jelly.

Tell us about your choux.

Some of the first pastries
I sort of learnt to make,

so I've got my set recipe
and it never fails!

Good. So far! So far, yeah.

Josh is also hoping
to fill choux pastry

with a taste of summer.

Is this some of your own fruit
from your own garden?

Well, actually it's not
now because... No!

Because I've used it all up!
You've used all your fruit!

There's nothing left out there.
Now it's just like a barren garden.

I keep bringing it all in
and it's all gone.

What flavours are you doing?

We're going to do coconut,
mango and raspberry.

Alongside his summery eclair,
Josh plans another filled

with coffee pastry cream
and topped with dark chocolate

and coffee icing.

That's for my brother because
he's not a huge fruit lover at all.

So most of the things
that I've been making recently,

he's not really liked them.

What does he say? Does he go,
"Yeah, that's all right"?

Yeah, he'll try a bit.
Exactly like that!

Thanks for the encouragement!

So you need to melt the butter
first then bring it to a boil.

Get your flour in and then b*at
the living daylights out of it!

Unless the finalists
combine butter,

milk and flour
with the perfect amount of eqg...

I'm a smidge under.

...their choux will be loose,
creating flat, soggy eclairs.

I've avoided choux pastry like
the plague up until this week.

Matty's hoping to play it safe
with two classics,

Black Forest Gateau eclairs,

topped with
a Kirsch Chantilly cream,

and Banoffee eclairs featuring
a walnut and pecan praline.

You all right?
I'm so happy for you.

I'm so happy that you're here.
So you feel like you could do this?

Yeah, no, I've not really given
any of that a thought.

I never applied, so I never really
had that as like a thought process.

So you didn't apply for this?
No, Lara applied for me.

Oh, I love Lara!

He would never have applied
for himself.

It's just not in his nature.
He's not braggy.

I wanted him to be a part
of something like this,

to show to him how amazing he is.

Because doesn't matter how much
I tell him, he doesn't believe me.

I don't actually understand most
of the things he's made.

No, exactly! If I'm absolutely
honest. Especially you,

because you're not a dessert person
anyway, really. I'm not, no.

So it's all a bit over my head.

So his ability has obviously
increased as he goes along.

He made our anniversary cake
last year, didn't he? Did he?

Don't. It was a lemon cake.
Oh, yes. Yeah, yeah.

Sorry, it was very nice!

He'll go to school, he'll do all
of his after school clubs. Perfect.

He'll get in,
start baking straight away,

baking until we go to bed.

And there were times when he's been
running around the kitchen

like a headless chicken
that I've thought,

"Oops. Like this is all my fault."

I don't know when the penny's going
to drop that he's good at baking,

I definitely think he can win it.

Good luck, Matty.
Good luck, Matty. Cheers.

I want you to actually think about
you actually winning.

Possibly winning it. All right.
You've got to start visualising it.

Yeah, that's actually
what Lara says. Visualise.

Start visualising like you winning.

But before any of the finalists
can see themselves winning...

Come on, don't play games.

They'll need to take
a long hard look at their choux.

This is the part where I said
about trusting your instinct.

You need it to fall off
in three seconds.

Do you know how many videos
I've had to watch?

I'm going to start piping them out.

So I'm just looking for
a bit of uniformity.

You can see my hands shaking,
can't you, as well.

Choux has a mind of its own.

Without a dusting of icing sugar,

an eclair won't have
its classic crisp shell.

I'm doing two different types
of choux.

But Josh has decided
to go even further.

I've gone for a chocolate
craquelin topping.

Couple of millimetres thickness is
all you need.

Do or die now.

They're going to go in
for 40 minutes.

Half an hour, 175.



Take it down to 175
for another 15 minutes,

maybe 20. Maybe 25.
I want them to be dry.

Ah, no, I didn't dust them
in icing sugar either, did 1?

Too late now, innit? Did you
put icing sugar on yours, Matty?

Yes, mate, did you?
Forgot, didn't I? Oh, no way.

It would be me not forgetting
there was something,

would it? Josh, how you doing, mate?
Yeah, I think OK.

Choux looking all right? Yeah.

Good lad. How are ya? Flipping
all over the place like you.

I'm dreaming it's just like the most
surreal week ever, isn't it?

And your kids don't know that you're
in the final? I've told them.

You've told them?
Told them yesterday.

My kids don't know that I do this.
Don't they? No. No, it's probably

the best way, because I tell you what,
it went down like a lead balloon

yesterday when I told them.

What do you mean? What, nothing?

Gave you nothing? He just went,
"You lied." And then he give me

the old father talk, like,
"I'm very disappointed in you."

Oh, no. "I'm not angry.
I'm just disappointed.”

Disappointed.

From the top ropes.

This lie is the biggest burden

of my life, especially when
I tell my children, never lie.

But obviously this is
a slight exception.

My eldest wanders into the kitchen.
He doesn't really question anything.

"Oh, what you doing today, Dad?"
I'm just like,

"Yeah, I'm just making an electric
guitar out of puff pastry,”

and he's like, "Cool." And just like
wanders off with his iPad.

He just thinks
I'm absolutely crackers, I think.

Mm-hm.

But there are some members of Dan's
family that know what he's been up to.

It's been very difficult
keeping it quiet

and not telling the world
that my son's in Bake Off.

I'm so proud of him.

What was Dan like as a little lad?

He was a whirlwind. He was cheeky,

he was mischievous as well.

The trophies that he's won
playing football.

They used to line his bedroom walls.

It never got to his head
that he was man of the match

or Player of the Year.
He's very critical of himself.

I want to make sure I put my kids
in bed, you know, and try

and live that sort of
normal life and help out,

doing all the family stuff
as much as possible.

Soon as eight o'clock strikes
it's in here until

I'm done, basically.
So, yeah, it's totally covert,

door closed.
Luckily they're good sleepers.

Whatever happens,
I'll make sure that I leave

the tent as I came in,

with a big smile on my face,
because I've absolutely loved it.

Good luck, Dan.
You'll absolutely smash it.

Cheers, thank you.

Do you think he can win?

Yes. I think he can.

They're not as dark
as they normally are.

Bakers, you are halfway through.

As their choux bakes,

the finalists will need every minute
to perfect two delicious fillings.

Creme pat. This is
a chocolate one,

then I'L turn my attention
to the banana one.

This is for my eldest lad,
loves his salted caramel ice cream,

so I thought I'd pay homage
to the wonderful boy that he is.

Whilst Dan and Matty race
to create separate fillings

for each of their two eclairs...

Decent.

.Josh has perfected a short cut.

Just prepping pastry creams now.

I've been tweaking with the recipes

so I can have exactly
the same base for both of them.

One's going to be a coffee one.
This one has got coconut milk.

Just means I can do 'em
a little bit quicker because I know

it's a lot of pressure on today.

That's our VIP experience
at Gardener's World.

Very clever lad. Yeah.
He likes perfection.

Yeah. So he'll keep going

and doing something until he's got
as best as he can get.

See, Nanny always has a smile
on her face wherever we are.

And she's always got colourful
necklaces on like Prue, hasn't she?

Oh, like Prue. Yes, she has.

His love of baking
did stem from being with Nanny.

My mum always fetched him
out of school.

And they'd go back to her house
and then would be baking.

Josh's nan Frieda
first encouraged him to apply

for Bake Off back in 2019.

Looking very smiley.

She d*ed in 2021.

Nanny was a big part of him
applying the second time around.

He really wanted to do it
for her because...

It's OK darling.

She so wanted him
to be on that show.

She'd loved all his baking.
She says you go for it,

you go for it. And...

And he's gone and he's got to the
final and I can't believe it.

Sorry. It's all right.
Poor mum. I know.

Do you want it, Josh?
I mean it'd be. Do you want it?

It would be lovely wouldn't it but.
Come on Josh, you gotta...

All I'm visualising in my head is
what my Showstopper should look

like tomorrow.
Yeah. What's the one thing

you're going to miss
from the tent? You, of course.

Is the right answer!
Is the right answer.

See you in a bit, bub.

Apart from not putting
my icing sugar on so they're not

as coloured as I'd like, they're
looking all right. I'm quite happy.

Another five minutes just
to make sure I finish those off.

Think I'm all right
with how it looks.

Ah, let's give it a minute.
Out of my depth.

Alison's just informed me that she
went, "What you going to miss most

out of this tent?"
and you said "you" to her.

Absolutely furious.
Thought we had something, Josh.

Seven years I've been doing
this, Josh, seven years.

I'm going to prick some holes
in the top of 'em

to let that little steamies escape.

Chocolate creme pat is done,

the Chantilly cream is whipped.
Trying to multitask.

Bakers, you have half an hour left.

Oh, you're joking me.

You having a tin bath?

This is it, the storm is coming.

This is banana for the banoffee.

The choux are a minute off
being done.

Really, really happy.

I can, I can just hear
that they're hollow.

Just going to poke some holes
in 'em to release steam.

Then I'm going to put 'em back in
just for like five minutes.

This just hopefully
completely dries them out.

I've left,
I've left them on the bloody tray,

haven't 17 Now they've gone soft.

This tent does strange things to me.

Fortunately I've got
lots of really good ones,

so I can just pick
my four favourites.

Cherry jam.

I'm just going to blitz this
so it can fold through into

the cream. Yeah, that's cool.

These are going to be macerated
with summer fruit punch.

See how I get on. Ah,
why's it doing that?

This is the coffee pastry cream.

I'll pipe a bit in the first hole
and then I go for

the second hole then

I'll stop once this first hole
starts to ooze out again

so I sort of. I know that
I've gone all the way through.

You have 15 minutes left.

I don't think I'm going to be able
to do it, am I?

Creme pat first.
I need to get as much in as I can.

Chantilly cream, voila.

Icing.

It's difficult to get
the bananas to squeeze through.

This is my debut appearance of
a transferring onto acetate.

Just do some very thin lines
of chocolate.

This is my praline paste.
This is going into my ganache.

You have five minutes left.

Just about OK, time wise.

I just want to finish off these
other ones now.

I'm going to run
out of filling I think.

Ah! BLEEP.

Sorry.

Bakers, you only have one
minute left.

One minute?

I've done that the wrong way round,
haven't 1?7 BLEEP. You berk.

Oh, you flipper.

Ah!

Bakers, your time is up.

Please step away from your final
Signature Challenge eclairs.

It's judgment time in
the final Signature Challenge.

Hi, Josh. Hello. Hi, Josh.
Hiya.

Like the look of them.

I think they're all pretty
much the same size.

Pretty uniform across the board.

Well, that's perfectly filled.

I'm always so cross when I have
an empty eclair.

The flavours are very delicate.

But they are absolutely delicious.

I think, for me, it's
a little bit too sweet.

OK. It almost needs a sharpness
to make that pop even more.

This is the chocolate coffee.

Yeah.

Now, that's clever.
Chocolate's the right level.

It gives a lovely texture to it
as well, the craquelin on the top.

The craquelin. Coffee level is
absolutely spot-on, filled well.

Baked well. That's delicious.

I love coffee eclairs.

And it is perfect. Thank you very
much. Thank you, Josh. Thank you.

Those cherry on
the top look ridiculous.

OK. Um, if you're going to put
cherry on

the top make sure it's all the same.

Shall we start with
the banana first?

I like the flavour of the banana.

You're missing the caramel.

I know you tried to get it on
the outside.

But for banana lovers,
this is perfect.

Thank you.

Now that's the first one we've had
that is properly firm.

I like the taste of
the Black Forest gateau.

You could've done more cherry. OK.

But I think the chocolate is lovely.

Booze is good.

And most of all I like
the crisp firm eclair.

Thank you, Matty. Thank you.

These look a bit messy.

These, it's the wrong shape
for this. Ah, right, OK.

You can't have something that's
too big that sits over the top.

Right. Shadowing underneath.
Shadowing what's underneath.

Right, OK, got ya.
I think you've attempted too much.

They do look very soggy.

The flavour is lovely,
it's not too sweet.

It's really strawberries
and cream but it's a bit soggy.

You've destroyed it by adding
too much cream on top. On top.

This is the praline, isn't it?

Not convinced about
the flavour on that.

Are you not?
I think it's probably the grain.

I agree that the filling is not
satin smooth

but I think the flavour's great.

I think it looks a mess.

Paul picked up on all my
technical issues.

And again I've been guilty
of overthinking it.

Nine weeks ago I would not
have been able

to produce anything like that so,
yeah.

Weird.

I think I had quite a strong
signature, overall.

We've just got
the technical now to get through.

And hopefully it isn't just
step one,

make this and that's it.

I'm hoping for a little bit
of help along the way.

The bakers' last Technical Challenge
is as ever a total mystery.

It's time for your final
Technical Challenge

and today it's been set
for you by Mr Paul Hollywood.

What can we say about
Paul Hollywood?

We've heard his poetry,
we've seen his dance moves,

we've seen him strip down to trunks
and wrestle a live bear.

I'm sure you've all fallen in love
with him

and he loves you too, although he
will destroy you one by one.

Paul, have you got any words

of advice for our
incredible finalists?

For perfection, you're
going to need patience.

As ever this Technical Challenge
will be judged blind

so we're going to have
to ask these two to leave the tent.

And it's the last
Technical Challenge

so you know where they're going,
don't you?

Where they going?
To make sweet, sweet love.

For your final Technical Challenge
Paul would like you

to bake a batch
of nine lardy cake slices.

Now the judges will be looking

for perfectly laminated dough,

packed with soaked fruit
and home-made candied peel.

You have three hours.

On your marks. Get set.

Bake!

Right, let's have a look at ya.

A lardy cake?

I've heard the name but I don't have
a clue what one looks like.

No-one makes lardy cake, do they?

No. Not since the w*r.

No, it s it, it sounds like one from
that era, doesn't it?

Do you not know what
a lardy cake is? No.

Oh, dear.

What a lovely nostalgic bake
for a final. Lardy cake.

We've revisited a British classic.

It's been around
for hundreds of years

and it was a way
of using up predominantly pig fat.

But don't forget fat is flavour.

Yeah.
So I'm really flavoursome.

It's a cross between
a Danish pastry and a bread.

This is all about getting your
timing right.

Get the dough done as quickly
as possible

to get it in that prover and then
you're layering it with sugar...

Folding it. ..lard, butter and
fruit.

On the second prove, be patient.

The longer the better.

That opens the whole thing up

but it'll condense if they don't
bake it properly

and it'll look and taste quite raw.

You can see the layers. It's lovely.

And you can see all the fruit in
there evenly distributed.

Lard, sugar and a bit of
fruit. Heaven.

Line the roasting tin
with baking paper then grease

with lard and sprinkle with sugar.

I assume this is going to help
colour up the lardy cakes.

Obviously, you are the oldest of
the bakers.

I am, yes. So you must know what
a lardy cake is.

Make the bread dough.

Make the bread dough.



So I'm going to bread crumb it
then add yeast and water.

I'll just add a little bit at
a time.

Add the water and then I think once
it comes together I'm going to put

the lard in. I don't know.

Don't know if I should be doing it
like this.

Sounds really healthy, lardy cake.

That's the problem
with baking, innit?

Yeah, I've got to do plenty
of runs once this has finished.

The kneading.

How many times have we made
a variation of bread?

Is this even bloody bread?
What is this?

I'm going to lob it in
the proving drawer.

Probably go for half an hour
but we'll just see how we're doing.

I'm not happy with that
but I'm just going to go with it.

Bye-bye, my little cherub.

I'm going to go for about 30 mins.

See how it looks.

Patience is the key.

Step five, make diced candied orange
boiling twice in fresh water

and then a third time in
sugar syrup.

Using the microwave for speed,
infuse the dried fruit with the tea.

Smells lovely.
Do you put any rum in it?

No. Because I'm from Jamaica I soak my
fruits in rum.

In rum. There's none.

Any vodka?

No. Gin?
Nothing unfortunately, just water.

Oh. Just water. Dry. Yeah. I know.

With a, with a... BOTH:
..with a teabag!

Finalists, you are halfway through.

Brrr-uuupppp.

That's been in for about


That's been in for 45 minutes.

Laminate the dough with lard,
butter and filling mixture.

Doesn't say what to do with
the lard?

Do you reckon I smear the lard?

Let's get rocking and rolling.


sure |I've got this evenly spread.

Maybe I brush the lard on.

Have you had a breakdown?
What's happening here?

Look at you just brushing lard.

It's a bit strange...

I think me and you might as well
just grease ourselves up in lard.

Just go the whole hog.
I'm in if you are.

I'd never turn something like
that down.

Right lamination let's make some
space for t'lamination.

Perform three single letter folds.

Which is that.

Or is it that?

Going to do it carefully because I
want them to see those layers.

Spin it round 90 degrees.

Obviously everything's
a bit warm, unfortunately.

But that's one letter fold so.

I want the layers to be even.

Butter's getting a bit warm.

That's two. Stay with me, bread.

Need to give it one more fold.

I'm not liking the look of this.

Pleased with that.

And then it just says prove in tin.

The second prove needs
to be as long as possible.

But any attempt to speed
it up in the heat of

the proving drawer
could melt the lard,

ruining the rise
and the lamination.

No, maybe I just leave it on
the side.

Oh, no, yeah, put it in the drawer.

, I really want to give it half
an hour prove.

Half an hour.

Um...

I don't know how long to bake for.

If I can work out bake time.

So, bake 407

Bakers, you have an hour left.

That means prove only two minutes,
uh, 20 minutes.

I'm going in.

It's feeling very, very springy so
that's what you want.

So I'm going to put that in.

I'm going to start with
half an hour.

Look at that. This is looking great.
Look at that. The worst thing is,

Dan, you don't...

...know whether that is what it's
supposed to look like, do ya?

Uh, not a clue, no.
And it doesn't look brilliant.

Bake, I'm thinking 200... 200's my
go-to temperature for bread.



Patience.

It's like painful.

You have 15 minutes left.

Just don't, I don't know with it.

It's had half an hour now.
I shall give it another.



I've just cranked it up
to 220 just to...

...give it a wiggle.

Maybe another five?

Wants you to leave it in the tin
for ten minutes before turning out.

OK start that now.

I'm bringing it out.

It's dark, mine.
Looks like it's been cremated.

Brush the lardy cake with
the reserved orange syrup.

Cool completely upside down then
cut to nine rectangles.

There's no chance
of me cooling it completely.

How long do we have left?

Bakers,
you've got five minutes left.

Right.

Looks pretty tasty, doesn't it?

This is very hot still

and I'll be lucky to cut it in any
way, shape or form.

I can smell the orange.

Oh! Looks a bit dense in places.

Well, you can see the layers,
can't you?

Baked anyway.

Bakers, your time is up.

Please bring your lardy cakes
and place them behind your photos.

They're varying degrees
of weirdness, aren't they?

Paul and Prue are expecting
golden brown lardy cakes

with clearly defined layers

and evenly packed
with plump sweet fruit.

Obviously they've been struggling
with proving.

OK.

We start with this one.

We have got nine
and they are sort of square.

That one feels a little bit light,
which is good.

The lamination, you can see
the lines going across.

Mm. The flavour's there.

But what's so lovely about this
is the mixed peel.

I think that's really delicious.

Now, moving on to this,
um... King Alfred, um...

Now, it's only slightly King Alfred,
come on.

It's... Slightly?

Well, it's caramelised a lot.

It is caramelised a lot.
It's over baked.

So you can see the layers.
They're sort of not very even.

It's a nice flavour.
It's just a little bit dry.

Hmm, it's too dry.
It is too dry.

Moving on.
This isn't properly baked, is it?

No. Got lots of fruit in it,
but it's a bit raw.

It has got lots of fruit
in it. Yeah.

It needed more proving as well,
but it is quite dense, this.

You see how quite raw that is?
Hmm.

Because that hasn't been laminated
properly. It's a shame.

Paul and Prue will now rank the
lardy cakes from worst to first.

OK, in third spot, we have...

...this one. Whose is this?

Matty. Lamination is really bad.

It needed more proving and more
baking. Right. No problem.

Number two, we have this one.

Dan. Stayed in the oven a bit
too long, didn't it?

Which means in first place, we have
this one, Josh.

It's pretty decent.
It's the right colour

and it's certainly the right
flavour, so well done.

Well done, mate.

I'm buzzing after that.
Really, really pleased.

I would say Josh has probably got
his nose in front

and then, yeah, me and Matty
are scrapping at the bottom.

Oh!

Bloomin' hell.

I'm glad I had a good Signature,

because otherwise I'd probably be
a bit deflated.

There's just one challenge remaining
in this year's Bake Off.

Very quiet walk this time, isn't it?
Yeah, very quiet.

In the zone.

Well, guys, we've made it
to the final. I just hope

the sunshine comes out. I'm sure it
will. I'm gutted.

So who do you think's bringing the sunshine
right now? Are they even at the moment?

I think it is pretty even.
I think Josh has got a slight edge.

Yeah, I think he's slightly ahead.

Weirdly, Matty is sitting in second
place, I would say.

If he wins it, he would've played an
absolute blinder. A blinder,

absolutely. Because he's always just
underneath the top.

Can we talk a little bit about Dan?

I think he's going to struggle
against the other two at the moment,

but I think what often happens
in the final bake is

the pressure gets to them.
Any one of them could win.

What about Amos?

Outsider. Great.

So I've just put £20,000 on Amos
to win.

It's good odds.

I bet.

Bakers, it's your final ever
Showstopper Challenge.

The judges would like you to create
an elegant tiered celebration cake

inspired by your very first bake.

They would like you to take your
first bake

and elevate it into
something incredible,

something that could win
the entire competition.

You have four and a half hours
for this.

On your marks.
Get set.

Bake!

Come on, Dan, flour power is needed.

There's lots of elements to do so timing is
definitely the thing I'm most worried about.

I just know how I want it to look.

I will spend the time to make it,
and that will be my downfall.

They have to make
a minimum three-tier cake

to celebrate their very first bake.

But we're looking for that to be
the inspiration

for something completely new
and different and wonderful.

We want it highly decorated,
we want tartness,

we want sweetness, we want textures.

This is the biggest bake
they will ever do.

If it was me, I'm a big fan of
the lemon drizzle.

That would be my favourite.

But sometimes the bakers tell us
that this is

going to be a lemon cake and it
doesn't have enough lemon flavour.

You have to deliver what you say
you're going to deliver.

My first footstep into baking
was a lemon drizzle cake.

A lemon meringue pie as well,

so my three-tiered cake today is
celebrating both of those

two absolute beauties of
the baking world.

Dan's final tilt at the title

is a towering triple-tiered love
letter to lemon drizzle,

layered with lemon curd,

limoncello creme mousseline
and raspberry compote.

His Showstopper will be finished
with torched Italian meringue,

shiny white chocolate collars,
and one final citrus flourish.

And I'm also going to make some
macarons as well

to decorate round the outside.
Lemon macarons?

Yeah, lemon macarons with lemon curd
and raspberry compote filling.

I mean, he's obviously been doing his
homework. He knows that we like lemon.

It's something... Which is fine,
because it was your first bake...

Yeah, I love lemon. ..which is
lucky! Oh, OK. Well, yeah.

I hope... Well, I need to do
it right.

You know, Rahul made me a lemon
drizzle cake for my 50th birthday.

Oh, did he? Lovely.
Ten years ago.

But one finalist is going
even more traditional

than a lemon drizzle.

The bake that it stems from is
a Victoria sponge.

It's the first one I remember doing
with my nan.

Josh will combine his first bakes
with his other passion

in a seasonal celebration
of his garden,

with a spring and summer-inspired
rhubarb and strawberry jam

and autumnal apple in his
Victoria sponges.

It's quite tricky to put apple in sponge,
to get the flavour to come through.

Yeah. For decoration, what's the
whole thing going to look like?

So the three tiers are decorated
for spring, summer and autumn.

And then I'm going to do a biscuit
greenhouse on top.

With boiled sweet windows?

Yeah, with little panels.
Yeah, like that.

Oh, my goodness, Josh,
this is quite a lot.

Sounds like a Showstopper!
Keep your cool.

Yeah, I'L try.
Thank you, Josh.

I have gone for a bit of a
stronger batter

so it doesn't lose its shape when it
gets put together.

Genoise is a little bit of
a risk, I guess,

to go on the bottom tier
because it's such a light cake,

but I feel like the pros outweigh
the cons on this one.

I've gone for it
because it's quick to make,

quick to bake, quick to cool.

But I've never stacked a cake
until this week.

Inspired by the chocolate treats
that got him into baking,

Matty's first-ever tiered cake will
see chocolate genoise sandwiched

with French butter cream
and crumbled brownie,

and a lemon and rosemary
Victoria sandwich

with a fresh summer fruit jam.

Now that you're a baker, do you
think you'll bring baking into the school?

What bake would you bring
to your kids?

Probably the brownies. I've already
brought them in to 'em once,

but they think Lara made 'em.
Really?

Yeah. So you just lied and said,
"My girlfriend's brought them."

Yeah. Why, though? What is so embarrassing
about people knowing that you're a baker?

No, I don't know, really.
I've never told anyone.

You don't have to lie any more
because your bakes taste amazing.

How these final Showstopper taste
could prove even more important

than the spectacular look.

I want my cake to be strong
with lemon,

but not too sort of like bleurgh!

I want to have the essence of Victoria
sandwich but I also want to sort of elevate it.

So this is my rhubarb. They're not
my strawberries, because I ran out.

They've been ravaged from all of
the past weeks that I've done.

But past weeks may not bode
well for Matty's chosen flavours.

In week one, I had a stinker
with the butter cream,

so I've changed the recipe slightly.

I kind of need to learn
in my own way.

It takes me a few mistakes
to... to learn.

I am slightly worried about
time already.

For three tiers, the finalists
will need to bake at least six sponges...

Seven minutes left.

...which will require batch baking...

Have a little look at that brownie
in a second an' all.

...and a constant eye on the clock.

There you go, I've stopped it.
Cheers, mate.

Imagine if that hit Josh in the eye and he had to
go to hospital and the whole thing was cancelled.

One way to stop him winning it,
wouldn't it?

what we onto now??

Done. Happy with that.

I can start to make
the next batter.

Now I'm going to go on my second
mix now.

Four and a half hours - do you think
it's enough time?

I mean, so, I think
it's ample, right?

No?

See how they get on.

Pretty happy with that.

These are going in. It's now all on
me getting the bakes done

quick enough that I can have
enough time.

But Dan will need to find the time
to bake more than just sponges.

I'm only on step four. Ridiculous!

The idea of a macaronis to get
a nice skin on them,

so once |I've piped them, I'm going
to leave 'em for a good hour.

Let's get these in.

This is the Swiss meringue
butter cream now.

So I've got two on the go,
plus a bit of cake.

That's got about eight minutes
to go.

Whilst they're in the tin,
whilst they're still warm,

make some holes in it and then just
soak lemon juice on.

"Too much lemon in that, Dan."
Sorry, Paul!

Bakers, you're halfway through.

What?!

I know!

Love these ovens.

I think they're done. They're a bit,
like, not straight

but I'll have to trim that.

Just tasted the curd.
That tastes beautiful.

I've done that, that, that, that.

You've just got a big list
you're working through.

Yeah, look. The butter creams are
made. The jam's made.

Not too bad. Yeah, but this part is
where it gets, like, hard. Crazy?

Is that assembly? Yeah.

If constructing a
three-tiered cake wasn't hard enough...

It's the assembly and making it look
pretty is where I'm pants.

...whilst building, Dan still has
baking to do.

Well behind.
It's all right, I'll do it.

But he's not alone.

What's going down here?

This is my, um, greenhouse on top.

You're like Da Vinci. Have you got enough
time to do everything you want to do?

I'm never going to have enough time to do
everything that I would love to do, but...

Have you factored that in?
Course you have.

Yeah. I've got a couple of backups
of what I can do in terms of...

That's why I love you.

Just in case things don't go
to plan.

Plan B and a plan C in your
back pocket.

Matty could be in need
of his own plan B.

That one's a little bit
not too done.

The sponges for his middle tier
are under baked.

That's a bummer.
How long do we have?

Bakers, you have one hour left.

Can I go home now, please?

Come on, Josh, come on.

Five minutes at really high,

and then I'll put 'em straight in
the freezer.

Probably will affect the bake
slightly, um...

...but it is what it is.

Oh, I've got my meringue to do as
well, haven't I? Flipping heck.

I don't think I'm going to do it. I
don't think I'm going to do it. Help.

Once I've got these out the oven,

we'll start straight away doing
the assembly.

So we've got chocolate genoise,
Swiss meringue,

and then a chocolate French
butter cream and then brownie.

Let's have a little gander.

I'd say them two are done.

I don't know, but I haven't got that
much time left.

Whose stupid idea was this?

That's the last lot of panels.

Beautiful. Right.

That can go off now.

I'm inserting dowels.

Oh, I need to put the dowels
in, actually, as well.

This is the
white chocolate butter cream.

We need to get going with cake.

And then freezer.

That's the first one of those done.

Right, come on.



Bit of summer fruit jam.

I just need to get it in the fridge
for as long as it takes.

It's nearly there.

Right, macarons.

I've just done the middle layer
with strawberry and rhubarb jam,

and now I'm doing the final layer.

Just swapping the tiers.

So how long do we have left?

Bakers, you only have
half an hour left.

Yeah, I'm happy with that. Right.

Oh, you're joking me.

These should just basically
peel off perfectly.

Come on, you stupid thing!

BLEEP. It's cracking.

Let's see how much I learnt from
Lara's art lesson.

Look a bit underdone, actually.
Too soft.

I just don't think I've probably made the batter
well enough, to be honest, but deal with it.

I need to just collect my thoughts
for a second, I think.

Number two.

Lara said you have to build up
the colour.

Be patient and always go
in the same direction.

You OK? No.

But you need it all to go smoothly
today, don't you?

Yeah. Dig deep.

You can do this.
I can do it.

Where did you get this
design from?

It's kind of, like, because I'm not very
good at doing it any other way.

No, but it works, though. It looks
really arty, doesn't it?

This is going to be spring
at the top.

Hard to quickly temper chocolate.

This is going
to look very rushed, this.

Bakers, you have 15 minutes left.

Come on. There we go.

Don't swear, Dan.

We're getting to kind of like

the critical point where I need to
stack it.

Don't want it to lean.

Dog's dinner!

I want to put the greenhouse on now
and then I can finish - any time

I've got spare
I'll just do some decoration.

How's long's left?

Looking good, bakers,
you have ten minutes left.

I'm going to have to rush
a lot of decoration now.

I need a blowtorch.

Don't know why I'm even bothering.

Gold leaf BLEEP out of it.

These are my giant marrows that
I harvest in the autumn.

I'll hide it with a macaron - Paul
and Prue will never notice.

I want to do some piping round
the outside of it just

to make it look
a little bit fancier.

How long we got left now?

One minute left.

It's messy, too messy.

Don't look behind you and look at
Josh's whatever you do.

Bakers, your time is now up.

Walk away rapidly!

Please step away from your bakes.

We love you! Well done!

Come on bring it in mate,
bring it in. Well done boys.

Woo. Well done. I just got Swiss meringue
butter cream all over your back now!

It's all right don't worry
about it.

Oh, no my mistake you've got
four minutes left!

The winner of this year's Bake Off
will be announced at

a very special garden party in
front of

the bakers' families
and some old friends.

I'm back at the tent.
It's so exciting.

Just like one wee family all
together again.

We've got like a group chat
and we all talk on there

and post pictures of what we've been
doing and that's really lovely.

It's so nice to be here
and not be baking

and just feel like you can enjoy all
the wonderful cakes

and that that have been made.

In my mind I think Dan's going to
win,

but I think it's going to be so
close.

I think they're all incredible,
they're all good at different things.

I don't, I literally can't call it.

If I had to say someone maybe
Josh.

Either Dan or Josh or Matty.

One of those.

I think Matty could
surprise everyone.

It's probably like asking a parent
to pick their favourite child,

it's a very difficult call - Josh!

Dan, for one last time bring up
your Showstopper.

Dan tell us all about your
final Showstopper.

So, this is my lemon drizzle

and meringue cake with a lemon curd

and raspberry compote,

topped with Italian meringue and
decorated with some

macarons filled with the lemon curd
and raspberry compote.

I quite like the white chocolate
against the raspberry.

I like the meringue as well.
Those macarons are terrible.

I know, I don't know what's gone on with them.
I wouldn't even bother putting them on... Yeah.

Because it sort of ruins it.

I did think it was quite ambitious
to do three chocolate collars.

It's cracked quite a bit.
Yeah.

Looks a lovely sponge though.
Does look really nice?

Doesn't it? Doesn't it?
Yeah.

You know, it needs more lemon.

Does it?

The drizzle only comes in to
so far and then it stops so.

Ah, OK.
But the flavour is delicious

and I think the bake is lovely
as well.

Macarons let it down dramatically.
Yeah.

And the bake's not right either.

No, I don't know what's gone on.
It's really pasty.

Is it? Have I not, have I not cooked
them for long enough?

No, you've definitely not cooked them
for long enough. No I've not, have I? No.

It's just a
little bit flawed for me.

Work to be done for next week, then.

Thanks, buddy!
Thanks very much.

Matty, would you like to bring up
your Showstopper, please?

Matty, tell us about
your Showstopper.

The top and bottom tier are inspired
by a chocolate cake.

So, it's a chocolate genoise
sponge, with

a French chocolate butter cream

and chocolate brownie coated in

a Swiss meringue butter cream.

Middle tier is a Victoria sponge,
so it's lemon

and rosemary

with summer fruit jam
and an American butter cream.

It's leaning a bit.
Dramatic effect!

What happened then?

Well, I mustn't have done much of a
job with the dowels.

I must say, Matty, I love
the colour combinations.

And the way you've done it.

I like the decoration,
I like the piping,

I like the fruit,
the drop for me is the big problem.

Yeah, it's done me.

But let's have a look
and see what it's like inside.

Wow, that's one light sponge.

Oh! That looks beautiful, doesn't
it? Wow.

I mean I'm surprised it weighs
enough to cause the lean.

What a great cake.
Thank you.

Now you're getting
the chocolate coming in.

And it's a really light chocolaty
moreish sponge.

It's absolutely delicious.
Hmm.

I have no good reason to having
another bite, but I've got to.

I love the jam.
I like the cake.

It reminds me of some of the nice
birthday cakes I had when I was a kid.

It's a beautiful sponge.

All the flavours are perfect.

Thank you.
Really perfect, Matty.

You know what, there's nothing wrong
with this cake,

except it's on the lean.

That's such a pity, because it's
only one mistake.

Yeah. Everything else is
absolutely perfect.

Thank you, Matty.
Thank you very much.

Well done, Matty, lad.
Thank you. Awesome well done, mate.

Good luck, mate.

Josh do you need
a hand getting it off the table?

I think I'll be OK. We'll see.

Josh, it's time
for your Showstopper.

Josh tell us all about your
final Showstopper.

So I've called this Showstopper
A Slice For All Seasons.

So it's all representing
the seasons in the garden.

It's all inspired by
a Victoria sandwich,

so the bottom tier is an apple

and lemon sponge with a lemon curd

and a white chocolate butter cream.

Then the top two tiers are
the same - they're an apple

and vanilla sponge, with
a strawberry and rhubarb jam

and a white chocolate,
butter cream in as well.

And it's all got a Swiss meringue
butter cream around the outside.

And my biscuit greenhouse on top.

I think the greenhouse is great

and I think the colours
are beautiful.

It is straight and it is level.

The pipework is not very neat.

You could've spent another half
an hour on that

to create a much more
polished image.

Do you want to keep this intact or
can I taste the biscuit?

You can taste it if you want.

There's just some strawberry in
the biscuit

and they're mints used for
the panels.

Very clever that.

It's a sugar biscuit, isn't it? Yeah, just,
yeah, bound together with some egg white.

Really minty, isn't it? Mm, it is
minty. Incredible, yeah. It is minty.

Thank you, I really like that.

Well, let's have a look
and see if we can try this spring.

Mm, jam is perfect.

I like the sponge.

I'm not getting any apple.
It hasn't showed up to the party.

No, you can't taste the apple.
No.

You've gone with the rhubarb

and strawberry on this one.

It needs something more.

OK.

This one's got a little compressed
with the weight of the others.

Yeah, it ha.
Mm.

Mm.

Lovely lemon curd.

The lemon curd's nice.
Got a nice flavour.

I think you need another layer
of lemon curd.

I question whether that sponge is
actually over baked as well.

I think your flavours are adequate

and for me I wanted
to see much more of your journey in

the tent in that cake.

I think boring is too strong
a word, but it's on its way.

It's not your best sh*t.

Thanks Josh.
Thank you very much, Josh.

I think he was probably being
a bit harsher

because I've set my own standards
on my Showstoppers

and I and I know that was not

the finesse wasn't probably quite
there as I'd like.

I don't know who's going to win.

I think it might be between me
and Matty, maybe?

Hopefully I've done enough
with yesterday as well.

Maybe.

I've got absolutely no idea
to be...

...honestly I don't feel
like I'm going to win it.

So, I think it's between them
two, personally.

Blimey!

That could be enough.

Hey. Hello, you come here!

Whilst the bakers are reunited
with their families,

Prue and Paul have
a huge decision to make.

That's it,
we've done the last Showstopper.

Pretty good cakes.

Just stick your fingers in all
of 'em you'll be all right, Sammy.

You guys are always telling Dan
to simplify.

Today he definitely did simplify.

Yeah. But he didn't get all
the elements right.

But with Josh you've never told him
to simplify

and usually his Showstoppers are,
they're a bit more clever.

I don't think that
the decoration was defined enough

and it wasn't up
to his usual standard.

But he's still in line

for winning because he had
a good day yesterday.

Yeah, he did. And I think Matty has
also pushed himself into that

possibility of winning as well,

because of what he's done today
and because of his flavours.

The only thing that was wrong
with Matty's was there was...

It was on the wonk.
..on the wonk.

But then you look at yesterday, in
the signature they were very close.

Josh won the technical and Matty
came third in the technical.

Matty was bottom.

Technical yesterday was really good.
Really pleased with that.

It is tight.

I wouldn't want to be in your
shoes!

I want a cup of tea
and another slice.

OK. Can I be the person who actually
announce the winner?

That's all I want?

You should do it,
because it's probably your last year!

You all right, mate? Yeah, I just
need another nervous wee!

You do, yeah?
I'm getting that way as well.

First we'd like to thank everyone

for coming on this beautiful
sunny day.

And I'd like to invite up
the three finalists.

Round of applause for Dan!

Josh!

And Matty!

Obviously, we'd want every single
one of you to win,

but there can only be one winner.

So, it gives me great pleasure to
announce

that the winner of the Great British
Bake Off



.Matty!

Well done, darling!
Thank you. Well done!

Congratulations.
Well done, mate! Well done.

Thank you. Congratulations.

Bloody hell! Do you believe that?
What do you think, Matty?

You won, mate!

Bloody hell! Thank you!

I don't know what to say!

I don't know what to say.

Well done!

People say you should go on Bake Off
and I just thought it

was like a throw away comment -
never really listened to it.

I never thought that I would be on
this.

Let alone win it.

Where are we going to put this?

I can't even have it on show for a
while, can I?

Well done! Oh. my God!

So chuffed for Matty.

When it always comes to the cake,
he has been fantastic,

so he's just a worthy winner
and such a lovely chap as well.

You're only the winner!
How amazing is that?

He was going home six times!

I had a feeling Matty was
going to win.

He's done it on the date counted
and I am honestly so happy for him.

What a kid, I absolutely love him!

I never met a more cheerful,

smiling, uncomplaining
and willing baker.

He just was having a good time,
learning as much as he could,

taking on board anything
either of us said.

And he's just got better
and better and better.

And if you're going to smash it you
do it in the last challenge

and that's exactly what he did.

That chocolate cake was
one of the best chocolate cakes

I've had for a long, long time.

Lara, Lara I need you.

There's been so many ups,
there's been so many downs,

there's been so many times
when I've been pulled through

by the people closest around me.

Certainly Lara,

I can't imagine I have been too much
fun to live with the last ten weeks.

I'm happy for them as much as
I am for me with this one.

It still doesn't really feel real.

I don't really know.

What do you think it was
got you here?

Lara!

Look at him!

Sorry! Get out the camera,
will you?!