Revisited The Great British Bake Off

In 2010, talented baking enthusiasts from all over Britain

came together to compete in the first-ever Great British Bake Off.

We'll take our Bake Off tent around Britain

and test their baking prowess, so welcome...

BOTH: To The Great British Bake Off.

Over six challenging weeks, ten bakers battled it out.

You've got 40 minutes to bake a lemon souffle.

Texture's excellent.

We're asking you today to make four Cornish pasties.

For me, it's slightly under-seasoned,

-it's on the bland side. Miranda, you've let me down.

-Oh, gosh.

24 choux buns, 24 finger sandwiches made with the bread that you'll be making.

-Yes, yes and yes.

-Mmm.

Until finally, a winner was crowned.

The winner is...

Edd.

APPLAUSE

One year on and the experience of competing in The Great British Bake Off

has changed the lives of those who took part.

I've always wanted to bake and The Great British Bake Off

gave me the confidence to pursue a dream and follow it through.

It's been such a worthwhile thing for me and has changed my life.

If I had to do it all over again, I would love to.

If someone asked me, "How was The Great British Bake Off experience?"

my answer would be, "Fabulous.

"Absolutely fabulous."

It all began in Kingham, in the heart of the Cotswolds.

We're going to start off, bakers, with your signature cake.

Maybe something you've been given,

handed down by your grandparents or your mum

or something you liked in a restaurant.

And it's something that means something special to you,

maybe says something about you as individuals.

On your marks, get set, bake.

Every aspect of their baking ability was scrutinised

by two of the toughest critics.

Acclaimed cookery writer Mary Berry and master baker Paul Hollywood.

'The type of person who'll win this is someone who's technically superb,'

has the passion and has the innovative skills

to bring out a product and make it look absolutely fantastic.

Baking can be fickle. I've written hundreds of recipes

and I know that several people making the same recipe

can get totally different results and it's jolly difficult

when you're competing against nine other contestants.

Mark, a bus driver from south Wales, chose to bake his own invention,

marmalade teacake.

It's quite a straightforward recipe and it's quite forgiving,

so not a huge amount that can go wrong with it, hopefully.

It never has done yet.

But his confidence was misplaced.

Well, my marmalade cake was a total disaster

because as everyone now knows, it sunk.

Which, in all the practicing at home, it had never done.

When it came out it looked literally just like a house brick.

It was Mark that kept opening the oven every five minutes,

so it dropped in the middle. It's simple things.

Don't know if I can do a great deal to rectify it,

but we'll try and put some extra orange pieces in the centre.

I think everybody's had some form of disaster or another.

I was expecting it, to be honest.

Lea from Scotland was hoping to impress the judges with her

cranberry and pistachio cake.

The pressure, it creeps up to a point where you think, "Argh!

"What am I going to do?"

Moment of truth.

Oh!

SHE GASPS

As I took the cake out of the oven,

there was smoke coming from my oven gloves

and the immediate reaction was, "Argh!"

Don't panic, Harris.

I was thinking, "This is what I'll be known for."

Brilliant, we're OK.

It wasn't damaged, it just landed and just picking it up...

I mean, it ought to be damaged!

Single mum Annetha from Essex

made a Jamaican family favourite, light black cake.

-What is the moisture in here?

-Well, that's the rum and the wines.

It's part of how you'd make the black rum cake.

-Woo!

-Oh, come on.

-Happy days.

-She's getting happy!

Mary's pupils are dilated.

I've never seen her so bonnie.

When I made my West Indian rum cake, I was in my element

because it's something that I can do with my eyes closed.

I was kind of keeping my fruits guarded

so nobody would get my secret recipe.

Mother-of-three Ruth from Cheshire made her own version

of lemon drizzle cake.

This looks like lemon curd.

It is, I'm making my own lemon curd there.

-They used to do it always in a bowl above simmering water.

-Yeah.

You're bravely doing it over a low heat. That's much quicker, but you have to keep your eye on it.

You have, but I'm a firm believer in, you know...

I'll whizz my butter in the microwave to soften it up.

-Well, with three children you take short cuts.

-That's it.

Bake Off bakers, I should tell you you've got five minutes left.

Five-minute countdown, gang.

There's no way, absolutely no way I'm going to get this done.

This is where they panic. You start seeing their eyes glaze over, the pupils will open up.

The sweat will start coming again.

17, 18, 19, 20,

21, 22, 23...

OK, everyone. Last lick of the spatula, time is up.

Did that go down when it came out?

It was down when it came out. It was already down, it sunk.

Something's happened in the oven.

It's been knocked, door opened, oven's been banged.

I felt probably a bit like the cake at the time.

I was pretty sunk as well, because that was the one thing

out of the whole weekend that I had high hopes for.

In that sense, I was quite upset.

-You put your heart and soul into this.

-Yes.

It really means something to you.

What I love about you is your emotion shows on your face.

-Sorry!

-It's all right.

-It's all right.

-It's all right.

To flop so badly on the very first thing

was pretty emotional at the time.

But afterwards we had a laugh about it, when we watched the programme,

we had a good laugh about it. Hey, that's life.

-You've got the whole weekend.

-All right.

-You've got a perfect tie. Perk it up, stand up straight.

-Yep!

It's all to play for.

Yeah, definitely and I'm ready for the next challenge.

Absolutely.

Too dry, unfortunately.

And I'm not getting enough flavour.

It's the way of the world, you don't necessarily

know how you're going to do unless you try it.

And there's no point in saying, "I'd like to do that,

"I'm just too scared."

Go for it. You've only got one life, live it.

-Really nice.

-Lovely.

-You get the fruit, you can taste the molasses.

-The softness of the cream is there and then bang!

-Bang.

The flavours with the rum and she had these Caribbean essences

going into some of her cakes, they were absolutely breathtaking.

I actually asked her for the recipe.

Mary and Paul absolutely adored it

and that just blew me away because cakes is my main strength

and my passion and I was like, "Whoa, yes!"

This is a lovely texture, isn't it?

It's really delicious.

Well...superb. That, you could put in front of royalty.

-Mmm.

-SHE GASPS

-Thank you, yay!

-Next time you cook for the Queen, you'll take it along?

Yeah, can I come with you?

I was absolutely made up,

that was my very first week at Bake Off, my first experience

of having some really good comments and it set me up, really.

It gave me the drive to carry on and, "Yes, actually, I can.

"I can bake really well."

Each week the most nerve-racking part of the process

was waiting to find out who would be leaving the Bake Off.

Obviously, we have to lose two today. Have you come to a decision?

I think we have.

Sadly, Mark and Lea won't be coming with us

-on our next leg to Scotland.

-Right, that's fine.

And we will miss you greatly.

-Thank you.

-As I'm sure the other eight will as well.

Thank you very much.

Feel proud. You should feel very, very proud.

We'll see the rest in Scotland. Thank you for your hard work.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Thank you.

After losing Mark and Lea in the Cotswolds,

it was off to the next round at Scone Palace in Perthshire,

where the remaining eight tackled the delicate discipline of biscuits.

You've got one shot at this, you've got one batch.

The whole batch will be served to the judges.

Policewoman Louise from Prestwick was keen to impress the judges

with her modern twist on an old classic,

stained-glass-window shortbread.

These boiled sweets, I'm going to smash them up

and when you put those into the middle, into the oven,

they melt again so it comes out like a stained-glass effect.

Last week, she said, "I'm going to do something really stunning."

I work with the KISS method, which is, "Keep it simple, stupid."

So...that'd be me.

"Keep it simple, stupid," has plagued me since I announced that

on national TV, but there you go. These things are sent to try us.

-Louise, how's it going?

-I'm having a nightmare.

I'm sorry. What can I do?

I've just gone to put my second lot into the oven.

My orange ones and these are my lemon ones.

-I've had a bit of a disaster with those.

-What happened?

-I don't know.

-They've merged.

No, they've completely collapsed. I don't know why.

The mistake in the recipe for the stained-glass shortbread

was that I've misread one-and-one-eighth of an ounce

and I've added eight ounces.

So, basically, almost seven times too much sugar than was required.

Let's see if I can just get one off.

Ooh.

-Louise, you've got a broken heart.

-You're telling me.

Oh, matey. Listen, courage.

Mother of two Miranda from West Sussex

wanted to impress with her elaborate iced vanilla biscuits.

I like this kind of baking because I can be quite artistic.

I like choosing the colours

and making a little design, so hopefully it will pay off.

OK, everyone, you've got ten minutes.

I think we can safely say these are not coming off the plate, can't we?

I'm probably behind because of the detail I'm trying to put into these.

I'm just trying not to think what stage everyone else is at.

-Do not walk near my table, sorry, Ruth.

-Oh, sorry.

-I'm having a nightmare every time someone walks past.

-Tiptoe.

Cookie countdown, three, two, one, and you are out of time.

-Louise.

-There we are.

-How are you?

Not so good.

I'm just gutted cos I've practised them so much.

I bet you did.

I had them at the right consistency.

I like the idea of the stained glass. As a chewy biscuit goes,

I think the flavour's all right.

-But obviously, technically, big mess-up.

-Yep.

Not only did they spread, they stuck,

they just merged into one big cathedral stained-glass window.

How about that, then?

They are a delight, couldn't be more beautiful.

Look at that texture there, absolutely perfect.

-Underneath, a good colour.

-I haven't broken any yet.

The taste is fantastic.

I'm going to stay here for a little bit, if that's all right.

Come on!

I just want to stay here, everything's so pretty here.

Bakers, it's time for the Technical Challenge.

This is about discipline, not creativity.

I can tell you now that your challenge

this afternoon will be scones.

Not just any scones, you've got a recipe there.

It's Paul Hollywood's, it's his recipe. So get it wrong,

the wrath of the Silver Fox will be upon you.

For me, I love the Technical Challenge.

I know it's probably scary for them,

but that's purely down to the art of surprise.

Just like an exam, all the bakers were given the same recipe

and they only found out what this would be on the day.

We genuinely had no idea what we were going to be making.

When we got handed something, for example, the scones,

and they were Paul's own recipe,

clearly it was even more pressurised

25-year-old Jonathan from St Albans dreamt of following

in his grandfather's footsteps by opening a bakery.

Oh, he's getting scientific.

I reckon that's about right.

How much are you expecting them to rise, do you know?

-Um, probably double again. So they'll probably be about there.

-OK.

It's important to do well in this task and the remaining tasks,

cos otherwise, I'm going home.

I don't really want to do that.

They don't look like scones, they look like bread rolls.

The inclination is to just bust them open

and try one of the bad boys.

-My inclination is to put it in the bin.

-We can't!

-I know!

It was a bit of a disaster!

Unlike the other challenges,

Mary and Paul blind-tasted the technical round

and judged the finished product without knowing who had baked which.

These have got a sort of mottle-y look on the top.

There's been hardly any egg wash on this at all, if any.

It's been overworked too much.

It's not chaffing, that's been kneaded. That's been pounded.

-See the way that's split?

-Yeah.

It's an indication that there's been too much flour added to it.

And this has risen beautifully, evenly.

What I like is the colour.

Nice and light there and it's got a lovely colour on the top.

-I think they're well baked and they taste good.

-Mmm.

-Who's the clever Dick?

-Gold, Jonathan.

-Oh!

-Jonathan.

-Yay!

Now you've made scones quite a lot before, haven't you?

Not much, cos my mum makes incredible scones. I just eat hers.

-I think she'd be very proud of you, well done.

-Well done.

King of the scones.

The highlight of The Great British Bake Off

was winning the scone challenge.

The key to the scone challenge was a cheeky little phone call

to my mum the night before.

We were in Scotland, I thought we might be making some scones.

She said, "Don't cut them out too thinly."

That proved to be the difference.

Today, we've got something rather special for you.

This is the Petit Four Challenge.

You have four and a half hours

and you've got to produce three different types of petit four.

Meringues, choux buns and macaroons.

At the end of today we're losing two of you

and the judges have that unenviable task ahead of them.

-Bakers, it's all in your hands now. Really, really good luck.

-Yep.

And please, get baking.

The last challenge of each week was the show-stopper.

The longest and most demanding of all the bakes.

If a meringue's good, if you put it above your head, it shouldn't fall down.

So, one, two, three...

Credit controller Jas from Birmingham

relished the opportunity to display her charisma through her creations.

-I'm going to join two together...

-Yeah.

-..and put chocolate in there.

In the middle, I'm going to put popping candy.

-That sparkles?

-It goes...

-Click-click-click-click.

-Oh, brilliant!

-Like moon dust.

-Oh, yeah!

I went on the programme to show that you can do classical baking

but you can also put your own little twist on everything.

You can put space dust in meringue

and you can put all sorts of little touches just to personalise it,

and just show your mark on your baking.

These have gone dead sticky, so we'll just have to wait and see

if the judges like kind of sticky meringues.

They don't look good.

I'm going to drizzle chocolate over them to hide it.

Bakers, you have one minute left.

The macaroons have become well absorbed with the cream.

It's softened them, yes.

-They've gone like that because they're so thin.

-Yeah.

-You're in danger as soon as you put liquid in that it'll get wet.

-OK.

I'm quiet because I've got the moon dust dancing around on my tongue.

-It's good.

-Can you feel it?

-Oh, there it is.

-Yes!

Every single piece of food she made, she had an edge to it,

whether it be moon dust, glitter, various colours.

It was always out of the box and that's what made her entertaining.

I can tell you now that

the two people who won't be coming with us...

..are Louise...

and Annetha.

We're very sorry to see you go, thank you so much for making this

a wonderful weekend at Scone.

I knew I was going home. I lost confidence.

I did, I lost confidence and that was that.

I already felt in the danger zone,

going into that second show,

I definitely knew that my cards were marked

and it came as no surprise.

If I was a judge, I wouldn't have had me stay either.

You know, to be fair.

In Round Three, it was the Bread Week

and the Great British Bake Off pitched the marquee in Sandwich, Kent.

Entrepreneur David from Milton Keynes felt confident

in his bread-making skills.

Is this going to be your week, David? You like bread, don't you?

Most baking I do is bread, really, at home.

-Very manly, so we're told, to make bread.

-Yeah.

Which recipe are you making?

I decided that I needed a phoenix from the flames,

so I had the inspiration of doing a chilli bread.

With only six bakers left in the Bake Off,

he wanted to secure his place in the next round.

-Look at him now. He's full of spirit, ambition.

-He's raring to go.

-He is.

-And he's determined.

He's very determined.

-What's going on in there?

-In here,

we have anchovies, sweet paprika, fresh oregano

-and some extra virgin olive oil...

-Ooh, hello!

..which is going to go into my bread.

I'd normally add water to a hot tray in the bottom of the oven.

It creates a lot of steam,

which is a great oven environment to bake bread in.

Where's my temperature gone?

-Why's my light off?

-Safety cut-out.

While steam creates a crispy crust on a loaf,

it's not an ideal addition to an electric oven.

David almost blew up his oven by deciding to pour water into it,

not the most sensible thing to do.

Do you want to use my oven?

You can't open yours in the first ten, 15 minutes.

How long's your... Yours will be affected if you open the door.

'Baking with an oven that's not working'

is always going to be difficult, so it did cause a panic.

Other people could have just let me sink

and have problems at that point, but Ruth offered that I could go

and bake my bread in her oven.

It was very nice. Although we're very competitive,

everyone was still very friendly.

Yeah, it's back on now.

I think I've rubbed chilli in my eye!

No, you're crying cos your oven went off.

OK, everyone, that's time, so bread needs to come out the oven

and cool down.

OK, done.

When it came to judging, the bakers had additional pressure,

knowing that bread was Paul Hollywood's own personal obsession.

The dough's a bit tight. It is a bit stodgy.

You've cut down the salt a little bit much on your dough.

It does taste as though it needs more salt.

This is a whopper, isn't it?

Look at that - it's so high!

-It's bouncy.

-Bouncy's good.

-That's almost praise.

-That is, isn't it?

-Think it's under-proved.

Any pressure on that takes it to dough.

One baker who was consistent but kept a low profile was Edd,

a litigation clerk from Leeds.

He dreamt of becoming a professional baker.

-Oh, yeah.

-Ooh.

You look at the structure of that, it's all open, it's irregular.

You can tell how taut it was. Look at the bake

-and you feel that - it's bouncy.

-Mmm.

-Of all the loaves, that structure is the best.

-For me, yeah.

I said on the day that I kind of felt lucky

that everything went well for me, but I think in some ways...

I don't know, just the shock of it -

it makes you think, "Well, it's not me - it's just luck,"

but in the end I did make really good bread.

-Technically excellent.

-Thank you.

-About halfway through, I think he decided that he wanted to win.

-Mmm.

And very quietly, without discussing it with other people,

he went from strength to strength.

Edd proved it wasn't just luck when he was crowned

king of the cobs in the technical challenge later that day.

That's a nice loaf. That's a very nice loaf.

You've done really well today. You can come and work for me any time.

Paul gave me comments that kind of changed my attitude a little bit

and kind of blew me away in some ways.

It all culminated in the final judging

when he said I can work for him any time.

It was a good thing to hear

and it definitely gave me a massive boost in confidence.

I told him that he could come and work for me any time.

It's still open. It's still open.

Edd, you can come and work for me now if you want.

The show-stopper in Bread Week required the bakers to

make 12 sweet and 12 savoury bread rolls.

-Two...

-So I'm doing six different types of flavour and five doughs.

So a lot of work, Jonathan, again.

Well, I have a lot to go, so...

Yeah, I'll leave you alone! HE LAUGHS

Bye-bye.

So this is a big day for Jonathan today.

-He's got an awful lot to do.

-Yeah.

-Hope he can cope.

-And I think he is panicking today.

-He's very concerned.

True to form, Jas was not holding back

when she revealed her take on pain au chocolat.

I'm going to put melted Mars bar in the middle

as I'm a chocoholic, roll the pastry into a square...

-A pain au chocolat with Mars bar inside?

-Yes.

Well, my baking is rather like my life, really.

I like to enjoy myself and see how much I can push myself,

and I like to add a little spark to everything I do,

not just the baking.

That sounded rude. That wasn't supposed to sound rude!

Is this your way of relaxing, then?

Yeah, and escaping kind of everyday...humdrum.

-And also just feeling you've achieved something.

-Yeah.

I like the creative side of it - making it just a bit more special than you could buy.

That's just spare, isn't it? You're not using it.

No, that's for my...buns.

You're kidding?

No, that's for my buns!

-I thought you were using those.

-No, that's the one I'm not using.

I've just eaten half of your ingredients, there.

Yes, that's... I needed a whole bar.

They were genuinely really lovely about my baking

and showed that through regularly stealing my ingredients

before I'd even used them,

whether that be pistachio nuts or big bars of chocolate

that they'd eaten. They would be licking my bowls,

they would be putting their fingers in my mix.

It was just lovely and it made me feel totally so much more relaxed

and more like baking at home with friends, and how baking is for me.

OK, you've got ten minutes left! Just ten minutes!

I've got the last couple of bits in the oven.

I'm just making a couple of glazes.

They smell great.

Ooh, ow. Ooh, ow. They're a bit hot!

I've done the best I can do.

You can never be confident, cos everyone's done a great job.

OK, everyone, that's time up. Baskets to the end of your stations.

Hopefully the bread is to the texture that they want.

I mean, the dough was a lot wetter,

so hopefully that will show in the bread.

I got it all done, did six different doughs in six hours,

so, yeah, I'm pleased to get it all finished.

Miranda, would you like to bring your buns up?

-What have you got on the sweet front?

-This one's a...

chocolate and orange sort of sweet bun, really,

but it's a sort of slightly-spiced dark chocolate.

Texture's good.

That's nice, that.

Yeah, that's good.

-Look at that.

-Interesting.

It is rocket, tomato, mozzarella and chorizo.

Mmm, isn't that good?

Now, this one is the cinnamon Chelsea bun. Texture...

This is dry because it is overcooked. The middle's all right.

But they are burnt.

-And this one is the...

-Mars bar.

-The Mars bar one.

HE CHUCKLES

You get a nice chewy effect with the Mars bar.

-It's quite stodgy.

-Mmm.

-The Mars bar doesn't work in there.

-Mmm. OK.

-What's this one?

-It's a red berry and almond.

When you push your finger down, it's not springing back.

Yep.

So that's underdoing, isn't it?

That's similar to your stuff yesterday.

Once again it was a close call,

with three bakers in the firing line.

Who do you think is in the danger zone?

Jonathan. He was consistently not as good as I thought he would be.

I think Jas. I was quite surprised - she has got a good touch.

And she enjoys making bread.

She makes bread at home.

I can see a pattern with David and the pattern is...

the idea is very good and visually it looks very good,

but as soon as you cut into it, you're coming across problems.

Bakers, you know the drill - six of you here,

we can only take five of you with us on our next Bake Off,

and the person who I'm afraid will not be coming with us...

..is Jonathan. We're extremely sad to see you go, Jonathan.

-We're very sorry to see you go.

-You've been brilliant.

-The spirit of the Bake Off.

-Spirit of the Bake Off.

Being upset is just because you want to continue.

But it's ridiculous, being so upset about...

about baking, but my family, my grandfather had a great heritage

with baking and that's why it's emotional,

because it's about trying to bring back to life something

that so many people in my family worked so hard for, for so long.

When you're passionate about something then emotions

kind of run riot and things get the better of you,

but I'm very happy I took part.

I think it's a great thing to be part of my history.

Looking back in 20 years' time, we'll put the DVDs in, have a laugh about how I went out, how I cried.

I mean, it gave me everything I needed to step forward

and move into a baking career, and hopefully

have a long and successful one.

At the halfway point, the Bake Off pitched up in Bakewell,

the home of the world-famous pudding.

In order to reach the semifinals, the remaining bakers

would need to conquer puddings.

Welcome, bakers.

Six have become five and here we are in Bakewell.

It's time now to ask that classic British question,

"What's for pudding?"

and this is the answer.

You're going to make your own classic signature pudding.

I'm doing a sticky toffee pudding, very traditional.

-But there's going to be a twist.

-Everyone's been saying that to me.

No - I'm trying to show that I can do traditional.

-The only twist in it...

-There IS a twist.

-A little... All right, a little one.

-Mini twist, half twist.

OK. I'm putting in tropical fruit.

-I knew it.

-A bit of tropical fruit again.

Ruth was hoping that her own invention,

peach and blueberry boy bait,

would catch one man's eye.

It's like a cake layer. I would say it's more like a buttermilk-type sponge.

-Right.

-But with whipped egg whites so it's quite light.

That's lovely in itself but then you add the blueberry and peach jam

that I'll knock up in a bit. And a bit of crispy crumbly on the top.

-Ooh!

-You can catch boys with it.

Tasty.

There's a lot of pressure - you really want it to be good.

And it's hard because at home things just do come out well,

then you do something differently and hope it's going to come out the same.

You either burn it or you undercook it and it's...

damned if you do and damned if you don't.

Ladies and gentlemen, time is up!

Can you please stand by your ovens

and ready yourselves for the judging.

Are you reckoning that this is for one hungry person?

I cut it out for display purposes.

Can you bring it over so we can see?

-What are you going to do with that?

-MEL: I'd eat it, Mary.

I know you would, but it would have been better to cut that into six.

PAUL: So you've got your caramel sauce.

-I'm not getting the flavour, any depth whatsoever.

-It's a bit dry.

-Is it?

-Yes.

Oh, no.

You've got the peaches, the blueberries

-and a sponge mixture around there.

-You've got a good bake on, there.

I would never have thought of peaches with blueberries

-and they really go well together.

-It works really well.

The flavour is fantastic.

'It looked, actually, a bit of a mess,'

but when I ate it, it was delicious.

I mean, she baited this boy, that's for sure. That was spectacular.

It went down a storm, which is exactly the idea behind the dish.

It's for catching boys.

Each week, the surprise of the technical bake was a cause of great concern.

And in Pudding Week, the bakers were to face the greatest challenge yet -

souffle.

We're about to ask you to bake a pudding

which strikes fear into the most addled and hardened

of professional chefs.

You've got 40 minutes to bake a lemon souffle.

Every time you see it on TV or in a book, it's always like,

you know, these are tricky, these are hard.

So you go in with that tension already there.

I've made one souffle in my whole life, on the show,

and I think it scarred me for life.

Souffle requires precision and exact ingredients.

Without egg yolks, the structure of the souffle is unstable,

it lacks flavour and depth of colour.

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

So annoyed! I get all the little tricky bits right.

I saw the list - I was aware they were there. Just read through it and just didn't see it.

David's lapse of concentration proved fatal.

'Poor David. He addled on with the recipe'

but he forgot to put the egg yolks in and so the results

were pretty disastrous, and he was so cross with himself!

Simple little mistake, overlooked something,

massive, massive kind of consequences.

Making souffle without egg yolk is a bit like making bread without flour.

I was the only person who'd done souffles before.

Again, one of those things, really - rushing, pressure.

It was when I saw the egg yolks. It was such a simple thing to do -

that made it even worse, really.

Messing up something complicated or difficult,

but to just simply not add an ingredient is unforgivable,

really, and extremely frustrating.

I can't imagine what he felt like, because, once it's in the oven,

you can't take it out and mix the egg yolks back in.

-It's a very good flavour. It's a lovely flavour.

-It's great, but...

It's evenly browned.

It's down to the egg whites, again.

Very white, is there not any filling in that at all?

And there, just look at that,

that is a white piece of egg-white, not folded in.

It's annoying. I know I didn't fill 'em right to the top,

taking the butter up the sides, run your finger round the top and get a nice consistency.

But without the egg yolks, David, it wouldn't hold together.

I had a woman in the street walking down the road,

who just said to me, "How's your souffles?"

SUE: Now, new day, new challenge and today's challenge -

you've got five hours to create three puddings.

Miranda chose to make a classic chocolate roly-poly

for the showstopper bake.

But unlike her performance in previous weeks,

not everything was going to plan.

I've done it in this steam thing in the oven, but it's very soggy,

so I need it to dry out a bit, because it looks a bit like...

-Can we see what it looks like?

-..Something's died in there.

I don't want to open it again.

-Wow.

-I've rolled it back up, I've put it on a hot baking tray,

put it back in the bottom of the oven, and...

It sort of looks like a fox pelt.

In rainwater.

So how are you going to rescue the otter? Fox? Pudding?

You're just so mean!

We had an enormous laugh about my chocolate roly poly

that was perhaps less roly-poly than it should have been.

-Miranda.

-Yes?

-I've got an idea.

-What?

You have invented the chocolate ciabatta.

MIRANDA LAUGHS

So far, Pudding Week had proved problematic for David and Miranda,

but now it was Edd who was to encounter difficulties.

It's OK, keep calm.

I can't get it off, can't get a grip on it.

Forceps!

Could do with those.

Aah! A big pile of crap.

It's beyond recovery now.

If I can have some icing sugar...

And he actually asked us, "Has anyone got any icing sugar?"

I thought he was looking for a bag of icing sugar just to hold it up.

It's not even cooked.

It's a rustic, rustic rhubarb roulade.

HE LAUGHS

If you can't laugh about it, what can you do?

Ladies and gentlemen, time is up!

The pudding trio challenge is over, thank you.

And then we come to the roly poly.

Obviously, visually, there is a huge error here.

I've never seen a chocolate suet crust before.

So you've been a bit inventive.

That tastes lovely.

You've done really well with that.

-That rhubarb is crisp.

-Yes.

-That needs quite a lot more cooking.

-That's a shame.

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you.

-Thanks, Edd.

Fingers crossed, by some miracle I survive another week,

but I think I've maybe resigned myself to the fact

that there's a very strong possibility it's me going.

Overall, must remember egg yolks.

So, yeah, overall pretty poor weekend, really.

We can only take four of you on our next leg of the journey.

And I'm very sorry to say,

the person who will not be coming with us to Cornwall...

..is David.

-Sorry, David.

-That's all right!

-We're sorry to say goodbye.

-Thank you, thank you.

I feel I struggled to do that transition from baking well at home

to baking well in a competitive environment.

I struggled with that.

So, it's disappointing that I didn't do as well as I know that I can.

But if you can't prove that, it doesn't count for anything in Bake Off.

The beauty of Cornwall.

The land of the Cornish pasty

was the destination for the semi-finals and the backdrop for pastries.

Just four remained in the competition -

Ruth, Edd, Jas and Miranda.

For one of these bakers, it would be their last performance on the Great British Bake Off.

Your challenge today is to make a savoury pie,

so we're looking for a pastry bottom and a pastry top.

Any filling you like, something that expresses your personality,

and you've got two and a half hours in which to do it.

We're getting through to near the end now, of the whole Bake Off.

They now have the skills to produce something a bit special.

To guarantee a final place, the bakers needed to produce perfection.

The cardinal sin of pies is a soggy pastry.

For her signature bake,

Miranda made a summery salmon, cod and prawn fish pie.

What sort of pastry are you using?

At the bottom I'm using a shortcrust but it's more of a pie shortcrust. It's a bit lighter.

I cubed the butter into the flour, froze it for a little while,

blasted it in the food processor, and that's got some egg in

and on the top I'm using a sort of quick, flaky pastry.

You're doing two pastries?

So, shortcrust underneath and flaky on top?

-It's sort of a buttery shortcrust underneath.

-I think it's really luxury fish pie.

Yes, it's sort of smarter fish pie.

Ruth opted to create a classic minced beef pie.

Oh, no!

'The amount of oil that's come out of it is phenomenal.

'I'm just conscious it's got into the bottom. That's my only worry.'

Edd's signature pie was chicken, ham, leek and tarragon.

Wowsers! That looks amazing, Edd.

Jas played it uncharacteristically safe,

filling her pie with chicken and mushroom.

-I was expecting Jas to jazz it up. She hasn't.

-No.

-For the first time in quite a while.

-No, she normally does.

I was expecting a sort of Hawaiian pie.

She usually says, "I made a chicken and mushroom pie

"but jazzed it up a bit."

Then she'll bring out some sort of space dust,

chocolate cigarettes and a couple of kangaroo steaks.

Chicken and mushroom pie is a classic. And she's got to

get it right, cos there'll be no second chances now.

With just four people left in the Bake Off,

Paul and Mary had high expectations.

-Look away...

-I shouldn't look.

I know! I can't bear it! Ooh!

You have a soggy bottom.

Well, yeah.

you can see where it sort of starts, there, and there's not much colour.

-It's on the bland side. Miranda, you've let me down.

-Oh, gosh!

-I thought you'd say the opposite!

-No.

-Oh!

-You do not have a soggy bottom.

Yay!

The flavour of that is fantastic.

That is a very good example of a mince pie.

It's baked perfectly. You haven't got too much of a soggy bottom.

-But very well done.

-Thank you.

Can you see that pastry is not quite done?

It's in fact, it's... You're dying to say soggy bottom.

-Yes.

-Just look there.

What's the seasoning like?

It does need a little bit more, I think. It's quite bland.

When I was told my food was bland, it got me here,

because Indian cookery is to have lots of taste and flavours.

As a baker, she surprised me every time.

Always something out of the box, and she did exceptionally well with it.

She let herself down in Cornwall. It was bland, unfortunately.

And that, to Jas, was just like the killer blow.

'I should've done a chilli pie. That wouldn't have been bland,'

would it? Would've knocked the socks off Paul!

Time now to put aside your pie-in-the-sky creative work.

We're looking now for picture-perfect pastry precision.

It's time for the technical challenge.

We're asking you, today, to make four Cornish pasties.

And of course, we're in Cornwall, so no pressure.

-If you mess up their regional dish, trouble's to be had.

-Get baking.

The technical bake in round five was the Cornish pasty.

Like every technical challenge, the bakers were given a basic recipe

-and needed to use their knowledge of baking to work the rest out.

-Oh, God, no.

It's got to go like that, sideways, I think.

The Cornish pasty, oh my gosh. I get so much stick over it, even now!

I don't know why, but my head told me that the filling that we have

must be split between four pasties,

so I was trying to fit it all in.

Watching the programme back, I'm thinking "Why?" "Why did I do that?"

I was shouting at the telly, going "Take some out! Take some out!"

They're in. That's what matters, they're in.

Oh, yeah, that's packed.

Now this, really, this one's got the most filling of any of them.

I kick myself for putting too much filling in the pasty and having a bland pie.

Even now, how silly is that? It was ages ago!

To reach the semifinals was a huge achievement.

Saying goodbye to someone at such a crucial stage of the competition was difficult.

And not just for the bakers.

You've worked so brilliantly and so hard.

SHE EXHALES

As you know, I'm afraid only three of you

can come through to the grand final.

And I'm sorry to say that...

-Jas, you won't be coming with us.

-It was expected, it's OK.

But you know what?

It's been an absolute pleasure to have you with us, it really has.

'I felt quite sad, I felt that'

I wanted to be in the final. And I felt disappointed with myself.

Over the course of six weeks the Bake Off had travelled

the length and breadth of the country.

Ten bakers, tested in all disciplines of baking,

and finally, the winner will be crowned in Fulham Palace, London.

Just three remained, and their last challenge - an afternoon tea party

featuring finger sandwiches, scones, tarts and choux buns.

I'm feeling sick with nerves.

I didn't sleep at all last night.

My life depends on one miniature cake.

Bakers, welcome to Fulham Palace here in London.

As ever, you are going to be judged and doing so will be Paul and Mary.

Mary, the queen of tarts, she'll be probing and dissecting

in her usual majestic fashion, and Paul, terror of the high teas.

It's time for your first challenge, the signature miniature cake bake.

And for one of you, this will be your last challenge

because we will be asking one of you to leave the Bake Off after this.

Ready, steady.

Good luck and bake.

On the first day of the Bake Off final, tension was high.

Miranda made lemon cup cakes for her signature miniature cake.

I would like to see a little bit more going on,

and I'm not trying to be funny, but this is the final.

What would you like to see, then?

If it was sliced and filled with something

then fondant was dripping down the side,

or something which is five-star, something which screams quality.

It is very difficult to make cupcakes absolutely perfectly,

the base. If the icing is perfect, and she's got hidden up here,

a very attractive decoration, I will go with it.

Everyone's loved it who's tried it, so if they don't love it, I can't do any more.

Miranda earned her place in the final

with a broad knowledge of baking and remarkable talent for presentation.

Absolutely wonderful. Simply delicious.

The taste of that is fantastic.

It's amazing to be in the final.

But strangely enough, now I'm in the final, I want to win even more.

I'm making a mint, ginger and blackberry cake.

They're all going to fight each other, aren't they?

I have never done a sweet recipe with fresh, grated ginger.

-No.

-So it'll be, to me, very interesting.

And she's always been one to experiment.

Paul thought the flavours were going to fight with each other.

They don't fight with each other, but he might find a fight in there, who knows, who knows?

Ruth had secured her position in the final by carving out a flawless reputation

for being a bold and ambitious baker, not afraid to experiment.

That, you could put in front of royalty.

Crispy, and you've got a very wet filling, and it's very good.

-Very good.

-Yeah?

It's a life-changing situation. I'm just going to give it my best shot.

Edd encountered a few problems with his signature bake,

cinnamon and banana cakes.

Made a slight mistake.

I over-filled my, um, things, so they've risen above

where they should've done, so I might have to trim them a bit.

Not good.

-Edd.

-Hiya.

-Slaving over a hot stove?

-Yep.

-How are you?

-Not good.

-What's happened?

-Everything.

They've never stuck like this before. So I'm not sure what's wrong.

But then I've had an issue with my frosting for the top.

-So I'm having to restart that.

-Is it because it's very stressful?

Yes, it's all down to one cake and if anything goes wrong, you feel like that's the end.

All right, well...

Oh, it tastes amazing!

Yeah, but it's meant to look amazing too, and it...

-Well...

-Just a bit stressy, that's all.

Edd had made it to the final by dazzling the judges

with his inventive flavours and ability to excel in technically demanding areas of baking.

-They are excellent.

-Mmm!

You've nailed that one, Edd, you really have.

I need to make no mistakes, I need to make sure

everything I do comes out the way I've planned it.

Time is up.

HE SIGHS

Erm... Yes.

-It's a beautiful texture, it's lovely and moist.

-Mmm.

But - I've got the mint.

-I've got the mint, yes.

-But I haven't got the ginger.

-They look very pretty.

-Texture's fantastic, moisture's very, very good.

Phew.

It's a very good example of a perfect cupcake.

My issue is - does a cupcake fall in line with an afternoon tea?

-The cinnamon comes through.

-Mmm.

There's bananas, it's lovely and moist.

The taste is fantastic, that Italian meringue is lovely. That's the sort of thing I was looking for.

-If you didn't overfill your mould.

-Yes.

It looks a bit of a mess.

Miranda, Ruth and Edd had all displayed excellence throughout the competition.

For Mary and Paul, deciding who to let go would prove incredibly hard.

There was a big bust-up, actually, to be honest.

For the first time in Fulham for the final

there was Miranda, Edd and Ruth

and we needed two people to go through to the final.

-It's frightening, thinking what's going on with them.

-What are they talking about still?

-I can't remember how many hours we...

-Five hours.

..five hours and this was one of the first programmes...

-Five hours!

-..that we went back to see how they'd done in previous shows.

-That's right, retrospectively, yes.

-..and they have to be consistent.'

-Yes.

-It's no good being good one week and down the other.

-Mmm.

Because you might have too many downs and be out.

-But we got it right in the end.

-Yes, we did.

You know how it works, we can't take all three of you.

And after much deliberation, we're extremely sorry to say

that the person who will not be joining us tomorrow will be...

Miranda.

'I felt so proud. Getting through to the final was just such'

a fantastic achievement. Of course I was disappointed not to go through,

but then to have Mary say I reminded her of her

when she was little, yeah, I was on cloud nine when Mary said that.

And it was just a wonderful way to finish my time in the Bake Off.

After six gruelling weeks, the last day of the Bake Off

had finally arrived, with Ruth and Edd going head to head.

'This morning I'm feeling apprehensive,

'my stomach's all churny and I feel a bit daunted at the moment.'

'I didn't have an enjoyable day yesterday, things went wrong and I was very stressed.'

'Although Edd is very, very good, I'm sure I'm capable of winning.'

That's what I'll go all out to do.

I'd like to think I have a good chance, but it's all down to what happens on the day.

Bakers, it's grand finale day.

We're going to be asking you today to prepare and bake

the ultimate garden tea party

for this beautiful summer's afternoon.

We'd like you to make, please, 24 miniature tarts, 24 scones.

24 choux buns, 24 finger sandwiches

made with the bread that you'll be making.

Now that is an awful lot just to say, let alone bake,

so you'd better get baking.

Edd and Ruth had one final mammoth bake left,

catering for a garden tea party for 40 guests.

And there were a few familiar faces sampling their baking.

So this is the finale, what's going to be the key to success?

They've got to get the timing right. They'll have made timetables, let's hope it's in the right order.

Consistency is obviously the key, the size has got to be the same.

My arm will be dead at the end of this, I'll be all cramped up and stuff.

I feel like I am up against it, but I'm probably not,

I'm probably just having a flap unnecessarily.

OK, bakers, time is up.

'I think everything I have made is good, so I can go holding my head up high, knowing I've done well.

'Through the six weeks I've been a strong contestant, so I can be very proud of what I've done overall.'

'I thought that Edd would be streets ahead of me,

'I really did think he would be.

'But I've come up with some great stuff today. I think we're on a very level playing field

'and of course I'd love to win.

'And I hardly dare hope that I might win.'

After five hours of solid baking, finally it was down to the judges.

I think they look great, there's a lot of different colours there,

the profiteroles have got a nice finish on them as well.

-That looks beautifully even to me. Come on, bread expert, what do you say?

-It's bouncy,

-structured, it's a good bake.

-That is sheer praise from the maestro.

Thank you!

Pastry's absolutely fine, beautifully brown,

I can even see the fork marks through it.

It tastes fantastic.

Don't they look beautiful? Lovely finish.

For me, that is absolutely beautiful.

-It's got the zing.

-Yes.

-It really has got it coming through.

When I touch the bread it feels lovely and soft.

It's got a lovely structure to it.

-Yes, smells good, baked well.

-Mmm.

I think you've got a great balance of flavour in there as well, the salt's bang on.

That's what I call generous, lots of raspberries, lots of cream.

-Yes, yes and yes!

-Mmm.

Ticks all the boxes, great profiterole, lovely taste.

I think that is lovely, it melts in the mouth.

-I'm in total agreement with you, and that's pretty rare.

-Oh!

-Wow, that's a first!

-Well done, Edd.

Thank you.

Edd and Ruth serve their afternoon tea while the judges were left

to decide who would win the first ever Great British Bake Off.

Can I interest you in some cakes? CHEERING

Overall, the standard's been pretty good. We've got the right two going through.

Oh, today the standard I thought was really excellent.

But - there can be only one winner.

There is only one winner.

Ladies and gentlemen, friends and family,

I'm absolutely delighted to say that we do have a winner for The Great British Bake Off

and I'm very happy to announce that the winner is...

Edd.

CHEERING

Ha, ha! Well done.

It was just the most amazing but shocking feeling.

Think I was in a daze the rest of the day.

Yeah, it was definitely a massively life-changing moment.

Edd for me was the best baker in the whole Bake Off. He showed flair, initiative and knowledge

and he did go on a journey from the start to the end.

-And we were unanimous that he should be the winner.

-Yes.

'Very, very life-changing, all in very, very positive ways.'

I am now a professional baker

and that's what I wanted and that's what I got.

'I think I'm more passionate about baking now than I was beforehand.'

I've no hard feelings or disappointment on my part that I didn't win,

because I have managed to achieve everything I want to do.

It's my job now, and I love what I do.

But even the bakers that didn't make it to the final have found their lives have changed.

Jonathan always wanted to follow in his grandfather's footsteps

and start up his own puddings business.

Since the Bake Off I set up the Pudding Stop

and I've been going for about nine months now

and I sell at weekly farmers' markets and I also supply to

local restaurants and cafes and even a health club.

The Bake Off gave me a lot of confidence to show that I could go out there and sell my products.

So this is now my sole job, this is where my income comes from and it's going really well.

Since coming third in the Bake Off, Miranda has numerous

baking-related projects underway.

Life's changed a huge amount since The Great British Bake Off.

The National Trust approached me to ask if I'd be interested in working with them.

So it's an exciting opportunity and I've got some lovely baking classes planned for the next few months.

Coming to do demonstrations and classes with people like the National Trust

is a fantastic way to be spending my time.

It's just amazing that since The Great British Bake Off

I now have a completely new and exciting career that I love.

Having the chance to come and do classes like this is just fantastic.

David has been planning his new business venture,

an exclusive outdoor catering business.

This is a trial run of the festival kitchen that I've set up.

So we're going to our first festival on Wednesday

and then we've got ten festivals in the summer.

Hello, everyone!

So we're ready to serve, so please come and have some.

CHEERING

We've got either beef or ham, some roast vegetables, roast potatoes or some dauphinoise.

-Are you first?

-Yes.

Seven pounds, please! Not really. Kidding.

The anxiety, the nervousness the stress and the sleepless nights

are starting to turn into a little bit more excitement.

Really I've been counting down to the first day at festival

for so long that I really just want to get there now.

Ruth, the Bake Off's runner-up,

is in great demand and now has a full-time career in baking.

Taking part in the Bake Off has opened so many doors for me.

'Life is very different now, I now have my own business'

and my own website,

and I am teaching baking courses at a cookery school in Derbyshire,

so teaching others to bake, which is really, really lots of fun.

The opportunities that have come along to work with major brands

on major projects has been really phenomenal.

I'd never have been able to do that without taking part in the Bake Off.

Before entering the competition, Edd, a litigation clerk,

had dreamt of becoming a professional baker.

A year on from winning, and his life has changed dramatically.

Since the show finished I quit my job

and then this year I moved to London permanently.

I've spent time in professional kitchens,

so pretty much completely my life's different.

When I got on the show the only thing I was hoping for that it might open a few doors

so that I could do what I loved as a career.

And it has done that. But in very unexpected ways.

The idea of working at Raymond Blanc's was never in my head.

So, yes, it's looking like a nice year ahead, so nice and exciting.

In the end I'm doing what I love as my career and that's what I wanted.

So I'm very, very happy with the way it's turned out.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

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