The Final - Day Two Junior Bake Off

After three weeks, it all comes down to this challenge.

By the end of today, either Macy,

Nikki or Tyrese will be crowned our Junior Bake Off champion 2016.

Do they get a crown? I thought they got this.

-BOTH:

-Welcome to Junior Bake Off.

It's going to be fun today.

'Macy, Nikki and Tyrese are about to face the ultimate Showstopper.'

-I'm quite nervous about...

-Do you think the judges are going to be,

-like, harsher?

-I don't know.

'This final bake will be served to their friends and family

'at a garden party this afternoon,

'before the judges determine who is the best young baker in Britain.

'Yesterday, the finalists produced rough puff-pastry canapes for the

'Signature Challenge and faced a tricky meringue pie Technical.

'They were joined in the tent by guest vloggers...'

No way.

'..Marcus Butler and Oli White.'

-I am so excited.

-I'm really excited.

'In the morning, Nikki's flavours won high praise.'

It's not too sweet. It's very clever.

'Though it wasn't perfect.'

It is just slightly underbaked.

'But she went on to take first place in the Technical.'

Lovely thin pastry and pillowy meringues.

Well done.

It feels crazy-slash-amazing to know that it's the last day

in the tent. It's quite nerve-racking,

cos we know it's going to be the hardest challenge

that we've been set so far.

'Macy impressed with her pastry...'

They're crisp on the bottom, crisp on the inside...

It's really exceptional pastry.

'But in the Technical, she lost her focus.'

I think this baker forgot to put something into their meringues.

'For the Showstopper today, I am feeling quite confident and I'm'

really determined to impress the judges.

'Tyrese's canapes packed a punch...'

-Oh, that is so good.

-That is a delicious filling.

You should be very proud of yourself.

'..but slipped up with his chocolate pastry.'

It has been overbaked slightly, which is a shame.

And the curd and the meringue are really, really good.

'I am, like, 30% excited and'

70%, like, nervous.

'I think that my plan is just to make sure I'm focused,

'I'm concentrating,'

and making sure that I leave myself enough time to correct everything.

So, judges, it's the final day of Junior Bake Off.

We have got three amazing finalists.

How happy are you with them?

We've had 40 great bakers go through this tent,

but Nadiya and I have no doubt

that these are the right three to be here today.

They feel like such accomplished bakers.

It's the last challenge

and I'm so excited to see what they've got to give us.

What do our bakers have to do to win it?

I mean, Nikki, she's given us amazing flavours.

I think she has the ability to give us perfection

and I think that's what we're looking for.

Macy, on the other hand, has been phenomenally consistent.

Very strong on technique but less so on flavour.

-What about Tyrese?

-He's cool as a cucumber, isn't he?

-Mmm.

-When he's in the kitchen he knows exactly what he's doing.

And I've never really seen Tyrese break into a sweat,

and that sweat is healthy.

It's an absolutely essential part of a pro,

and I would like to see him ratchet up and find a fifth gear.

Bakers, here we are for your last ever challenge.

Allegra and Nadiya would like you to bake a cake

fit for a royal garden party.

Now, it can be any design or flavour that you wish,

but it must be a minimum of four layers.

All right, bakers, here we go.

You have two and a half hours.

For the last time, on your marks...

-Get set...

-BOTH:

-Bake!

'It feels incredible to be baking for the very last time in the tent.

'I'm definitely feeling determined today.'

'I want to do really well in this challenge,

'and I just basically want to make my cake to the best of my ability.'

It's the final of Junior Bake Off.

They have everything to play for, so we are looking for perfection.

There's three of them in there. There is nowhere to hide.

If they make a mistake, we are going to see it.

This is one occasion where we want to pull out all the stops.

We want the bakers to give us a real visual masterpiece.

It's got to be appropriate for a royal garden party,

and nothing less.

How many eggs?

I'm making strawberry and raspberry chocolate cream cake.

I'm just separating my eggs

and then I'm going to whisk up the egg whites.

It makes the cake really light.

I do feel like there's a lot of pressure,

but this should be a winning cake.

The whisked egg whites will give Macy's four layers

of Genoese sponge its rise.

It will be sandwiched together with whipped cream and home-made

raspberry jam, and covered with white chocolate ganache.

It will be decorated with chocolate-dipped strawberries.

I've never made cake for a garden party before because I've never been

to a garden party, but I have made, like, summery cakes,

so that's, like, what I'm doing today.

When Macy's not baking cakes for her nine brothers and sisters,

she can often be found on a pair of roller skates,

and loves going to roller discos.

-Hi, Macy.

-Hello.

Oh. That looks fluffy.

What fat are you using in here? Butter, oil?

-I'm not using any.

-A fat-free cake? What stops it being dry, then?

The filling that I'm using. I'm using loads of jam and cream.

So the fillings complement the cake.

-Yeah.

-Where did you get the idea?

I ate a cake at a party a few months ago and it was really nice,

-so I tried to recreate it.

-Well, good luck. Enjoy yourself.

Thank you.

I've practised at this cake once, erm, with the decorations on it,

and I've practised it twice without the decorations on it,

and I've practised it another time just doing the decorations,

so I think I'll have enough time.

I'm doing a white chocolate and raspberry cake

with a white chocolate ganache in the middle.

Nikki's two-tiered regal cake will be covered with fondant icing and

home-made flowers. She's adding white chocolate and

fresh raspberries to her four layers of sponge.

So, give us the overall vision, here, Nikki.

I wanted to make it quite white and clean but add some greenery,

because royal garden party.

I've made, like, loads of flowers.

-Oh.

-Oh, poppies!

-And then here's a crown.

-Oh, they're just lovely.

-It took me, like, five hours.

-Oh.

-That's good.

That's really good.

At the age of six, Nikki developed a rare, life-threatening condition

that affects the flow of blood to her face.

Despite having undergone 28 operations,

Nikki regularly vlogs on her own lifestyle channel.

Hi, YouTube. It's Nikki from Nikki Lilly.

She's also managed to raise £400,000 for a medical charity

which she founded herself.

I'm just folding the raspberries into the cake mix.

OK.

-TYRESE:

-I think that my biggest worry is time,

because sometimes a cake might take longer in the oven than it, like,

usually does. But I'm hoping that it will cook on time.

Tyrese, how are you?

-I'm good.

-What are you making for us?

I'm making a two-tier red velvet cake.

Is this one of your favourites?

Everyone that's asked me to make a cake asked for red velvet.

Because you bake it all the time...

-Yeah.

-..I'll be expecting a perfect cake.

-Yeah.

Can I just point out, we've got not one, not two,

but three types of red food colouring?

Yeah. I like my red velvet cake to be, like, really rich and red.

Tyrese will be covering the bottom tier of his red velvet cake with

buttercream rosettes.

The top tier will be covered with a quilted white fondant,

decorated with silver pearls and adorned with a home-made replica of

the Queen's crown.

I'm using buttermilk because it's, like, creamier

and kind of sour - it just evens out the sweetness.

I'm just alternating the buttermilk and dry mixture,

so that it doesn't, like, curdle with the other ingredients.

As well as baking, Tyrese loves to act,

and has performed the lead role in the number of school plays.

That is a lot of cake mix.

-It's a lot.

-That is going to be a big cake.

What makes this cake fit for a royal garden party, Tyrese?

-Well, seeing as it's red velvet...

-Yeah.

-The Queen's sash is velvet,

and I find velvet is - and silk - they're quite royal.

-Yeah, yeah, they're luxury.

-They're luxury. Yeah, yeah.

What's the deal, Tyrese?

We're in the final. Do you want to win it?

I do want to win, but it's whether I will...

Erm...

-Yeah?

-I've got quite good competition, so...

You definitely have, but it's pretty close between all three of you

at this stage in the game.

So not to put any pressure on,

but the Showstopper might win it for you.

-Oh.

-Yeah, this is going to be massive.

It's going to be huge.

Two, oh...

If you're going to do some baking, make sure a grown-up is aware.

I need to bake them for 20 to 25 minutes.

Bakers, you've got an hour and a half left on the bake.

'With the cakes in the oven,

'the bakers turn their attention to their fillings.'

I'm just melting some

white chocolate into some double cream to create a ganache.

I have to do it over a bain-marie,

because it can be overdone so quickly and then separate.

Macy's also making a white chocolate ganache,

but she'll be using hers to cover her cake.

I know the ganache is ready

when it's not got any lumps of chocolate in it.

I'm just putting mine in the fridge, just to firm up a little bit.

I'm making an almond and vanilla buttercream.

Adding two teaspoons of almond essence.

It's just so that it gives it more flavour, basically.

What are we doing, Nikki? What's happening?

I'm just making some orange buttercream.

So, you've been, like, constantly baking when you're at home?

Yeah, I've definitely taken over the kitchen, and we've sort of, like,

been having a schedule where, like,

I have my baking time from this time to this time.

It's a race against time,

which is quite good because it's sort of like what it is in the tent.

My brother and sister want to make a snack and I'm just like,

"You can do it in, like, three hours."

THEY LAUGH

-MACY:

-I'm making raspberry jam for the filling,

and I'm just waiting for them to start to simmer.

I have made a lot of jam before,

but I make strawberry jam more than raspberry.

-You know the Queen?

-Yeah.

She's 90 but she looks like she's, like, 67.

That's a bit of an accurate number.

I think she looks, like, 65.

I think she looks like she's 62.

Well, that's a bit accurate too.

Oh, and she does this...

Oh, good evening, dear.

Oh, I can smell cake.

Oh, snap.

Oh, gosh. The cake's, kind of, overflowing.

I think I filled them a bit too much.

Them ones at the top are fine. It's that one.

I hope that they're going to cook in the time.

One hour, bakers. One hour to go.

Oh-hoo.

Let me check if you're done.

It should be bouncy when you put your finger on it.

They're ready.

Still wobbly.

It's not cooked.

Yeah, it's done. These are really good, actually.

I'm going to leave it to cool for a few minutes and then I'll flip it.

Waiting outside at a rather damp garden party

are the bakers' family and friends.

I am extremely proud of Macy.

She's been baking every single day, sometimes till midnight,

just to get it right.

She's been working very hard.

We've been looking forward to having her back.

We miss her cooking and that at home.

Nikki hasn't been well for a few years,

and so baking became a great hobby of hers.

It's really changed her life in a lot of ways, I think.

It's just made her realise,

"There's so much I can do and there's so much I can achieve."

There are no words to describe how proud I am and we all are.

I think Tyrese is in the final

because of his passion for baking.

He really loves it, and he enjoys it.

He does amazing bakes,

but being here just goes to show how amazing he is,

and it shows him how amazing he is.

It's done. I'm going to take them out and put them in the freezer

so that they cool down quicker.

I don't think I'm going to have enough time to decorate.

Bakers, you've got half an hour

until we party on down with your friends and family. Come on.

I think it's really important to make sure all the layers are even,

because you don't want one layer that big and one layer that big.

-MACY:

-On there.

It's thinner on this side.

And this isn't even. I think I'll put that on there.

When I cover it in ganache, hopefully you won't be able to tell.

I'm just popping some ganache on top of each layer.

It will give a white-chocolatey flavour.

The only thing I'm not sure about is my ganache is quite thin.

-Hi, Nikki.

-Hello.

-How are you getting on?

-Good.

My ganache has just not thickened up, really.

What amount of cream and chocolate?

-Were they equal?

-There was a bit more cream.

OK. So what do you think you could do?

Maybe whip it.

-I might whip it.

-OK, I'll leave you to it.

-OK, thank you.

-OK.

This jam's really thin.

I don't know why. When I practised at home

it didn't come out thin like this.

But actually, I can just use the thick bits.

Because there is cream in it, it's, sort of, whipping the cream,

so it helps it thicken. It's made a big difference.

I'm so glad I did that.

I am going to level my cakes.

This is whipped double cream.

This is orange buttercream, just to crumb-coat my cake.

A crumb coat is a thin layer of buttercream which helps

any subsequent layers of icing stick to the cake.

This is a fondant board, and it just helps things not stick.

Rather than, like, using fondant, I'm just covering it in ganache,

which should be quicker.

And I don't like fondant anyway.

I'm just going to crumb-coat it lightly,

just cos I haven't got enough time.

I'm just going to...

Bakers, you've only got 15 minutes left on your final Showstopper.

Come on.

I just have to pipe rosettes on the bottom,

which I'm really good at doing, and I'm quite quick as well.

Pipe like the wind.

I do feel like decoration is one of my strong points.

I was meant to put a crumb coat on this part, but I've run out of time.

Tyrese, that is looking brilliant, mate.

-I'm in the zone.

-He's in the zone.

-He's in the zone.

-NADIYA:

-I don't envy them, because

this is the most crucial point, and this is the big one really.

Oh, what's happening?

Tyrese, he hasn't got anything to fix the buttercream on to?

-Yeah.

-It's beginning to slip off.

-MACY:

-I'm going to use these strawberries around the edge.

It's not looking very good.

Oh, God.

The rosettes are falling off.

HE SIGHS

Just two minutes, bakers, and all the hard work is over.

It keeps slipping down.

Cos they're falling down, I'm just going to, like, spread it.

This is not what I wanted to do.

They're sugar diamonds.

Oh, this is my crown.

OK, bakers, that is it.

Step away from your Showstopper for the final time.

Well done.

Hmm... Oh, gosh.

I'm really glad that's over.

'I am proud of myself for using my initiative,

'but I wish that I had left myself more time to crumb-coat'

and then put the buttercream roses on.

In the end, the Showstopper bake did go, actually, really well.

'I think I have quite a good chance of being crowned'

Junior Bake Off champion. But as does everyone else,

because I feel like everyone's done really well over the last two days.

'I baked my heart out, so hopefully the inside tastes nice.'

Yeah, I'm quite nervous, but fingers crossed.

Macy, for the last time,

could you please bring your cake up to our judges?

We asked you for a cake for a royal garden party,

and we got exactly that.

That is stunning.

It just sings of Great Britain in the summertime.

It's a beautiful thing.

We're judges, we've got to say it, it's a little bit on the wonk, Macy.

But it's a big cake.

It's meant to be family-sized.

-Yeah. Royal-family-sized.

-Let's go.

That's a nice-looking cake.

Mmm!

The Genoese is perfectly baked.

It's a very pale, elegant shade of white.

The raspberry, the Genoese, the ganache on top,

it's a delicious combination.

The jam is just a delight.

This just sums up you as a baker.

Thank you very much, Macy.

-Thank you.

-Well done.

-Well done, Macy.

-Well done, Macy.

Tyrese, over your time in the tent,

we have known you to be a very clever baker, and to me,

this is a clever bake.

You've made this fantastic crown on the top here,

which is exactly what our Queen wears.

We've got this gorgeous old-school top half,

and any graffiti artist would be very proud of that.

Things don't always go right,

but you produced a plan B that I think has a lovely effect.

-Let's get into it.

-Can I just move your crown?

Oh, hello, loads of crown jewels under there.

-Mm-hmm. Nice.

-I like it.

Look at that.

Right...

Wow. What a colour!

Just glorious.

It's delicious. I can taste the cocoa.

You get the buttermilk as well.

There is an almost tart taste of the buttermilk.

It would have looked better if I had more time.

I'm not sure that it ever would have tasted any better, Tyrese.

-It's a great cake. Thank you.

-Well done, mate.

-Well done.

It's good.

That is absolutely...stunning.

It really is a thing of beauty, Nikki.

All of your flowers are beautiful - the daisies, the chrysanthemums,

the roses, obviously.

And then the crown on top - I mean, that is a proper Showstopper topper.

Let's look at what you've got inside.

Oh, Nikki, that's rather pretty.

That is, kind of, not fair. Look at her slice and look at mine.

-Just watch this.

-Oh-ho-ho!

-It's kind of unfair, right?

We've got even layers.

They're well-baked. Love the bursts of raspberries in there.

-Thank you.

-Gives it a lovely colour.

You know your flavours.

It just all works really, really well together.

The white chocolate ganache tastes delicious cos you actually need that

extra creaminess to cope with all of that sponge.

It's massive. It's well-baked.

They're nice and light and, all in all, I think that is spectacular.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

APPLAUSE

As Nikki, Tyrese and Macy make their way outside

to the royal garden party, the judges must decide

which of the finalists has baked their way to victory.

Well, here we are again, judges. It's the end of the day.

This is our last, or I should say your last, deliberation.

This morning you said that Nikki was slightly ahead of our other

two bakers. How has it gone today?

I mean, we've got three cakes, all of which reflect their

personalities that we've come to know so well.

And Tyrese, probably the place to start - he was disappointed.

Actually, the taste is delicious.

He made the best of a bad situation, and that's really important in here.

The one that I'm looking at now, which is Macy's...

Just give me a fork. I'm in there. That looks stunning.

She did really well today, didn't she?

It's so perfect for this occasion.

It's intricate. It's exact. It's exactly what she wanted.

So, moving on, finally, to Nikki.

From the get-go, she was off and she was focused, in the zone.

I mean, she really did deliver a cracking cake.

Beautiful.

So, judges, have you got your winner?

-We think we have.

-We have.

-Wow.

-A direct answer.

-Wow.

APPLAUSE

Oh. Bakers, friends, family,

welcome to a rather British Junior Bake Off royal garden party.

Now, we are, of course, here to celebrate our fantastic finalists,

they really have been a pleasure to have in the tent.

Give them a round of applause. They've been brilliant.

APPLAUSE Finalists, come and join us.

Now, your bakes have been absolutely awesome,

but after much deliberation,

Allegra and Nadiya have decided that the winner of Junior Bake Off

2016 is...

..Nikki.

-CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

-Hey, hey, hey!

Well done, Nikki. Here you go.

-It's very heavy.

-Thank you.

Well done, darling.

Thank you so much.

SHE LAUGHS HAPPILY

'Oh, my gosh. I can't really put into'

words how unexpected this feels.

-Well done, darling. You were brilliant.

-Thank you.

I never in a million years or a blue moon thought that I'd be

the winner of Junior Bake Off.

-Thank you so much.

-Can I give you a hug?

-Well done.

-Thank you so much.

We picked Nikki to be the winner of Junior Bake Off because she gave us

imagination, amazing flavour combinations...

She bakes with her heart and you could see that in her bakes.

-Hey, didn't you do well?

-Thank you.

Nikki is nothing short of an exceptional, extraordinary baker.

She's grown throughout this competition and, with confidence,

her bakes just got better and better.

Guys, you did so well, seriously.

-MACY:

-I'm really proud of

Nikki and I think she deserved to win because all her

bakes were really, really good.

'I've learned to believe in myself a little bit more,

'and I'm definitely going to carry on'

and I'm going to try to keep getting better and better.

Hey, give me a hug!

-TYRESE:

-I'm just really happy with myself.

-Fantastic!

-'Being in the final is, like, a great achievement.'

I'm going to cherish these memories for a very long time,

like, a very long time.

-Come on up.

-Come on up.

-Come on up!

-Come on!

-Just over the moon.

-Absolutely can't believe it.

Nikki's just a believer that whatever's going on,

however sad you are,

there's always something that you can do that will cheer you up,

and that's, I think, what baking became to her, really.

Don't cry!

And the fact that she's won it is just the most awesomest thing.

APPLAUSE

She'll show people that no matter how hard you feel that your life is,

there is always a bright day out there.

All you have to do is try your hardest and keep on smiling

and you'll get there.

-NIKKI:

-It's given me a lot of confidence

and it's made me feel good about myself.

Baking is the one thing that keeps me going,

and to have been so good at it and got an award,

it just means everything.