The Final The Great British Bake Off

Welcome back to Bake Off, where 12 bakers have become three.

They have survived 27 challenges and have lived to tell the tale.

Whereas we can't even get off this boat. Help us.

BOTH: Welcome to the final of The Great British Bake Off.

-Oh!

-Just pull it.

-Oh, it's me rowlocks.

'Thousands of people applied to take part in this year's Bake Off.

'Just 12 were chosen to bare their baking souls

'at the gingham altar.'

-We know how to bake, don't we?

-We do. The only thing we know!

'Some reached for the stars...'

Come on, Diane. High-five me.

MARY: A sheer joy to look at.

That is absolutely fantastic.

It's what I call a Showstopper.

'..others crashed to Earth.'

Everything's gone wrong.

-'There were burnouts...'

-Absolutely no idea.

'..there were meltdowns...'

No, no, no, no, you can't...

'There were triumphs, trials...'

-What's in that egg white?

-Lavender.

-Lavender?!

'..and disasters...'

I don't know why I'm crying over cake.

'..along the way to last week's semifinal...'

Flippin' heck.

This is looking all right, isn't it? I'm quite happy with this one.

'..when it was Chetna, the queen of flavours,

'who didn't quite make it to the bitter end.'

It's one of the best experiences of my life.

'Now it's a final festival finale

'as friends and family gather to find out

'if Richard, Nancy or Luis

'will be crowned the winner of The Great British Bake Off.'

-It feels like home.

-THEY CHUCKLE

Just three bakes remain for Nancy, Luis and Richard.

Richard's positivity and precision

have seen him break a Bake Off record.

He's been Star Baker an unprecedented five times.

How can you compete against somebody

that's had Star Baker that many times?

You know what I mean? He's just been on a complete roll.

As the weeks have gone on, he's grown from strength to strength.

Nancy is the queen of consistency.

Since her Star Baker turn in cake week, her wealth of experience

and cool head have kept her near the top of the pack.

I don't think she's had a bad weekend

in the whole time we've been doing this.

When we're trying each other's bakes,

her bakes are the ones I go to, and that's the best compliment

I can pay her, because I love her baking.

Luis' ideas have seen him excel.

Despite winning Star Baker just once,

his imagination and artistry have produced some of

the most stunning bakes ever to grace the gingham.

The brief this week is bold, in your face, and that is Luis.

I think Luis's had his eye on the prize since week one.

HE EXHALES

Good morning, bakers.

It's the final! Congratulations for making it.

Now, for your last Signature Challenge,

Paul and Mary would very much... Hello.

..would very much like you to make Viennoiserie.

Now, these can include things like pains au chocolat,

Danish pastries, whatever you fancy.

Paul and Mary would like you to make two different types

of Viennoiserie, please. You've got three-and-a-half hours.

-On your marks...

-Get set...

BOTH: Bake!

It does feel weird that this is the last Signature I'll ever do.

I just saw the Bake Off as a bit of a challenge, really,

but, crikey, you never think you're going to get here.

It's really weird that there's only three of us in the tent,

so I pretend that the tent's full and everybody's in here,

and they're all behind me.

It's all very well practising at home,

but you get here on the day of the final, the tension,

the worry, with the other two either side of you, the pressure's on.

Viennoiserie is something

that was part of my professional career for over 30 years,

and actually to master is extremely difficult.

If they're going to go for a pastry like a pain au chocolat

or a croissant, they've got to get the lamination,

they've got to get the flake.

If they're going to go for an enriched bread,

they've got to get the bounce inside that beautiful little roll.

-Morning.

-Good morning, Luis.

Tell us about your Viennoiserie.

I'm making chaussons, which are apple, walnut,

raisin and a sprinkling of Cheshire cheese.

-What's the other one?

-I'm doing a pain au...white chocolate.

I love that.

-FRENCH ACCENT:

-"Pain au..."

-CASUAL ENGLISH:

-"..white chocolate!"

-I can't do French!

-Chocolat blanc.

-Chocolate blanc.

Luis' chaussons will be shaped like mini pasties,

and his pains au...white chocolate will be filled

with fresh raspberries and cream cheese.

I'll put a block of white chocolate in there, do the first roll,

then I pipe a row of cream cheese, put a row of raspberries on

and do the second roll,

so you end up with two cores running through it.

So the raspberries are cooked within the dough? That sounds interesting.

-You've got to nail it.

-OK, I'm going to try.

-Good luck.

-Good luck, Luis.

-Great, thank you.

I let the machine do as much work as I can

because I just haven't got the power to pummel it around,

and then I just finish it off to make it look smooth.

-Morning, Nancy!

-Morning, how are you?

-I'm your male judge.

-Yes.

Can you tell me about your Viennoiserie, please?

I'm going to do an almond and raspberry croissant,

and I'm doing a lemon and apple kite.

It's a fairly classic Danish pastry, that one,

but it's the filling that's different.

The filling... I'm doing a frangipane disc at the bottom

and then very thinly sliced apple with the skin still on.

Bit like a Normandy apple tart in a Danish pastry.

Yes.

Nancy's apple-filled kites will be drizzled with lemon icing,

and her croissant will be flavoured with freeze-dried raspberry powder -

a new departure for Nancy.

Christmas time, because you make a batch of croissants,

there's no point making them other times, because they don't get eaten.

How do you have time at Christmas to make croissants?

Now I can do them in three-and-a-half hours, it's not a problem.

Unlike Luis and Nancy's Viennoiserie,

which can be formed with the same mixture,

Richard's require him to make two different doughs.

-MARY:

-What are you up to?

-I'm doing pains au laits.

-MEL: What are pains au laits?

-Milk breads.

-Oh, pains au lait! FRENCH ACCENT: Pains au lait.

-Sorry, I speak French a bit London.

-It's good.

They were the reason why I first wanted to get into baking as a kid.

We used to have them on holiday in France.

They might be a bit simple for a final day

-but I really just wanted to do the thing that I love the most.

-It's a Signature Bake.

-Exactly.

Richard's also making a laminated dough

to create pains au chocolat with candied pears.

His humble pains au lait will be sprinkled with pearl sugar.

This is very simple. Too simple, maybe.

We'll have to wait and see,

but it has to be absolute perfection.

-It's a dangerous thing to do in the final.

-Yeah.

You see, these men have got lots of muscles and things,

and they can pummel dough around,

so I think I should be given an extra half hour.

As all the finalists' doughs contain yeast,

they'll need to be kneaded well to build up the gluten.

In essence, I'm making a bread dough.

So, you can start to see through it when you pull it out,

and that's the gluten activated.

It's almost there. I mean, it feels nice and tight now.

Right, that's that done.

The doughs will then need plenty of proving time to develop the layers.

This needs to rise to the top of the bowl,

so I'm going to put it in the proving drawer for 20 minutes.

His dough proving, Luis can start to prepare the vital ingredient

of laminated pastry - butter.

Get all the frustration out on this today, I think.

I need to get it out to a rectangle so I can use it in the dough.

Luis and Nancy are folding in their cold butter

the traditional way, as a single sheet.

You want the dough slightly bigger than the butter

because you need to seal it in.

And then cut the butter...

That up there and then fold that over.

So, that's the start of lamination.

You've got dough, butter, dough, butter.

But to make his pains au chocolat, Richard thinks he's found a shortcut.

Normally, if you make this sort of pastry, you do it overnight,

but because we're limited for time,

I didn't think I'd be able to do it with frozen or really cold butter,

so I've creamed it instead, so I can move it about.

I think the idea that he's brushing butter on between each turn

and chilling it down could make it too bready for me.

Hopefully, I'll get away with it, and Paul will be over the moon.

Now I've got to do a series of turns

but they have to rest in between each one.

Bar Richard's pains au lait, it's all about the layers.

Realistically - final, Signature? They all have to be perfect.

I'm just giving it one last fold before I end up shaping it.

I'm just trying to make sure my layers don't lose their layeriness.

There, so that can sit now.

Normally, you'd leave it for 30 minutes between rollings,

so I'm just whacking mine in the freezer for ten minutes,

just to firm up the butter,

because you don't want melted butter oozing out the edge.

One hour remaining.

Cor, that is going down, innit?!

Pastry rested, Richard, Luis and Nancy can start to shape

and fill both batches of their Viennoiseries.

This is freeze-dried fruit powder.

Real fruit, it's far too wet. You couldn't work with it,

because if you have a wet filling around where a dough cooks,

it stays waxy.

It's not a good day to have a disaster, I don't think.

I must admit, pains au chocolat aren't my speciality,

but they don't look too bad, do they?

Not putting you off, am I?

No, not at all. You're trying to learn from me, aren't you?

Oh, yeah.

-Is this man bothering you?

-Yeah.

Right, Paul, we've told you,

there needs to be a metre between you and all the contestants.

Remember the legal ruling?

The tricky bit now is getting them to prove quickly.

They're actually very cold,

so I need them to get back up to temperature

and get the yeast working.

If the butter in their pastry melts, the lamination will be ruined,

so Luis and Nancy are proving theirs at room temperature.

They need about 25 minutes to cook,

so I'm just going to let them prove as long as I can

before I put them in the oven.

But for his pains au chocolat,

Richard is opting for the warming drawer.

We've had to find a way of laminating them in under a day.

While I'm sure that way exists, and Paul knows exactly what it is,

the rest of us have got to try our best.

Having committed to their proving method,

all Richard, Luis and Nancy can do is wait.

Baker finalists, you've got half an hour left on your Vienno...isariaez.

-SUE LAUGHS

-Have you got Viennoisierrhea?

I've got some cream for it.

I'm just preparing my pains au lait.

They're getting egg washed, they're getting cut.

The cutting is a classic style, it gives it a bit of room to grow.

These could have done with a bit longer to prove.

Do or die.

They have risen quite well, they're nice and big.

I'll be just within time, I think. These don't take too long to cook.

OK, bakers, 15 minutes!

They look fine.

I'm not hugely happy that they were connected.

Can't change them now, though.

Some are cooking quicker than others,

so I'm going to start pulling them out as I think they're ready.

Why am I doing that?! It's ridiculous.

I think seconds do make a difference when you're doing these.

It doesn't take much to take them from nice and brown to horrible and black!

They won't win a beauty contest, will they?

Get hasty with your pastry! One minute, bakers, one minute!

Bakers, that's it. Your last ever Signature Bake's over.

Step away from those hot, melted, laminated treats!

They look beautifully uniform.

Some of them are baked more than others.

You have got some attempt at flake there,

but because of the weight of the raspberry,

it begins to soak down,

so you end up with a soggy bit there.

But...let's have a taste.

Raspberry and cream cheese, for me, inside that? No.

Really?

Because the cream cheese adds a chalkiness

-to an already dry pastry.

-OK.

-Right.

-Chaussons.

Like the look of these. Great bake.

Uniformity.

You've got a nice bit of flake going on there, as well.

You started with a circle and you folded it over,

you've therefore got a double layer to get more flakes.

I think your chausson works.

I like the flavour, the butteriness, the flake.

-That, for me, is a winner.

-Brilliant.

-But that doesn't go for me at all.

-OK.

Now, looking underneath - good bake.

You see where it's collapsed in there?

-That's to do with the proving.

-Right.

You nearly got it, you nearly did.

It's a bit doughy in the middle,

but the raspberry is delicious.

Let's move on to the next one. They do look OK.

I think the pastry was a bit too thin.

They could have been a little bit thicker,

which would have made the ridges slightly higher,

but nevertheless, you can see good layers in there, as well.

Mmm!

Absolutely top marks for flavouring.

It's a beautiful flavour.

I'm not too worried about the size and the thinness of the pastry,

but it would be better with a few more layers.

-Yes, I take that.

-Thank you, Nancy.

-Thank you.

Pains au lait. It's very basic.

I think the colour looks good,

however, when I see that, that annoys me.

They should not be touching. This isn't a batch bake.

A batch bake is when they're joined together.

That shouldn't be there.

I expected them to be absolutely perfect

and they're not.

Great bake, great texture.

That's a nice morning roll, that.

It's just that I'm upset about the joining.

-It shouldn't be like that.

-Will you get over it, Paul?

-No.

-I don't... I won't get over it.

-Now...

-did you put these in the proving drawer?

-I did, briefly.

Because you haven't left it to grow naturally,

and by rushing it in a prover, all the butter floods out,

-so what you've got now left is a buttery roll.

-Yeah.

Pear and chocolate go really well together.

-We're not getting the layers, though, are we?

-No.

-Shame.

Yeah, great feeling.

If you're getting some positive feedback in your Signature, job's a good 'un.

I was a bit disappointed that things were not perfect,

but, you know, I think they have to be ultra, ultra picky, as well,

because, you know, it's the final.

It's always disappointing when your bakes don't make the grade.

What can you do?

There are only two challenges left for Richard, Luis and Nancy

to prove they deserve to be crowned Bake Off Champion.

OK, bakers, welcome to your last ever Technical Challenge.

You three have got to be on it like a Jane Austen bonnet.

OK, judges, tutty-byes.

It's a really nice one. Good luck.

She says, with a grimace.

Now, over the last few Technicals,

we have seen you create more and more elaborate bakes.

This goes to a new level.

We'd like to see you master the basics.

So, Paul and Mary would like you to make

12 mini Victoria sandwiches, 12 mini tartes au citron

and 12 mini scones.

You better get a crack on, you've only got two hours!

-On your marks...

-Get set...

-Bake!

-Nancy, have you seen the method?

-Yeah.

The instructions are extremely comprehensive.

My method is three lines.

The first one is "make 12 Victoria sandwiches",

the second one is "make 12 tartes au citron",

and the other one says "make 12 scones".

This is the first time ever Paul and Mary

have asked for three different bakes in one Technical Challenge.

If I can keep my head on and keep to time, I should be all right.

A perfect pastry, a perfect sponge, a perfect scone,

all at the same time, in just two hours.

We've tested them on every single skill,

and we've gone more and more elaborate as we've gone on.

And all of a sudden, we've reverted back to bare basics.

Exactly. These are classics.

They should know it like the back of their hand.

We've asked them to do 12 of each,

but the tricky thing is they've only got two hours to complete it.

And the result has to be sheer perfection, that's all.

Not much to ask.

It's a tough challenge in two hours to make all of those things,

so I'm just trying to figure out an order, more than anything.

I'm going to get my jam bubbling away early,

make my pastry for my tarts, that can rest.

Once I've done that, I'll work out how to do everything else

I'm going to make the pastry first

because then I can concentrate on other things,

because I'll know that the pastry's well underway.

I'm just rubbing in butter into flour

and then I can roll it out and get it into the tart cases.

You've got to keep pastry cold,

that's why I want it to rest for half an hour.

Cool that for ten minutes.

Right, I'm just going to make a start on the Victoria sponge.

Right, jam. I make all my own jam.

All my own marmalade, lemon curd, all that sort of thing.

-How are you?

-Jam's on.

Jam's on... Good. Is the order of things really important?

-Presumably, it is, isn't it?

-Yes.

Oh, it's just one panic after another, innit?

There is no hiding place on this one.

If you can't get the basics right,

then it'd probably raise a few questions.

I'm looking for a light sponge.

The worst that can happen here is that you get a curdling...

when the eggs start to go in,

so I'm putting a spoonful of flour in every time

and that stops that happening.

I'm just bashing my butter up at the moment

so that I can get the sugar mixed into it,

then I'll get the eggs mixed into that,

then I'll fold the flour in.

And that will be the basis for my Victoria sponges.

-I think I'm going to whack these in the oven.

-OK.

How long are these going to bake for, Nancy?

-I reckon these are going to need something like 16 minutes.

-OK.

Quite precise, Nancy, I like that.

60 minutes to go.

They need a few more minutes yet.

I need to start thinking about my pastry.

So, this is the pastry, which I'm just making next.

Just let them cool in there for a few minutes.

Yep. They're done.

I'm trying to make it as thin as possible.

Mary likes thin pastry.

I hate thick pastry.

And especially in a tart.

It's so hot in here, though.

The pastry's really, really thin and it's making it difficult.

You can just patch it up, but obviously it's not ideal.

I'm popping the rice in, giving it a bit of a press down.

I'll put them in for about ten minutes, I think.

They're only little, so they shouldn't take too long.

Right...

I'm going to start weighing my scone stuff out.

Right, scones...

Yep, I've done that wrong.

The recipe said two eggs,

so, like an idiot, I put two eggs in,

but one of the eggs is for painting egg on the top at the end.

I'm going to re-do it.

30 minutes! Well, you wanted it basic.

Yeah, it's basic, everything's basic.

-Have you started another one?

-This is a new batch.

-What happened before?

-I over-egged it.

You literally over-egged the pudding.

No, I'm not happy with that. It's too thin.

Better, a lot better.

I'm hoping my scones will rise.

I must admit, there have been times in my life where I've felt calmer.

Not great. They're just a bit overdone, I think,

but the paper was sticking, so I left them in a bit longer.

-Nightmare task, this one, isn't it?

-You're on about 20 minutes now.

Oh, my God.

-It's holding up pretty well, though, that pastry, isn't it?

-Well...

Just keep patching.

Just keep patching, mate, it'll all be good.

Keep patching. What could go wrong? They're just tarts.

-There's a little bit of rice in there.

-Oh, God.

I got it.

OK, bakers, 15 minutes!

I've got loads to do and no time to do it.

What I've got on there is the filling for my lemon tarts,

which I'm just very gradually going to warm up.

I've boiled my cream before I put it in the egg mix,

just to warm things through a bit,

and then it won't need as long in the oven.

Tarte au citron's not something I've ever made

so the plan is to mix everything up, chuck it in the pastry cases

and whack it in the oven, hope for the best.

That might be the stupidest thing anyone's ever done,

but I shall see what happens.

I don't know how much to put in. I'm just pouring to the top.

Finalists, you've got ten minutes left.

Richard, how's it going?

It's a bit fraught at the moment.

-Liquid's just soaking straight in, I think.

-To the tarts?

-Yeah.

What a nightmare.

These are done, because, if I move them,

they're not wobbling anywhere.

The tartes au citron are a disaster.

I'm feeling like that's this weekend up the Swannee.

OK, bakers, five minutes!

I've got a nicely set jam, a bit too set,

but it's better than it running all over the place.

The jam could be thicker, but it'll taste like jam.

I'm feeling like I could have done better.

Time's up! Step away, please.

Step away, everybody away from their bakes.

Ooh-ooh-ooh. Well done!

Well, that was good.

Please bring your bakes up.

Pop them on the gingham altar behind the photo of yourself.

You know the drill by now.

Mary and Paul are looking for light, fluffy sponges,

well-risen scones and crispy, thin pastry

filled with a smooth custard.

SHE EXHALES

Right, start from the top with the scones.

They're very pale, no glaze.

-They are baked.

-And the texture inside's all right.

So, we come to the Victoria sandwiches.

There's been some attempt at some piping work in there.

It's got a decent colour on the top, actually,

of the sponge, hasn't it?

I think the overall texture's all right, actually.

But when we look at the tartes au citron...

Um...

The pastry's on the thick side.

-It's been over-cooked.

-Patched up.

And then to finish it all off, there's no piping on it at all.

Let's look at these guys over here.

They're a lovely texture, and nicely baked underneath.

I think, possibly, they've been left in there a little bit too long.

They just feel a bit dry to me.

So we're on to the Victoria sponge.

Very nice colour, perfect bake all the way round.

We haven't got piped cream in these.

I think when you're trying to impress, you do pipe.

This is the final of The Great British Bake Off, Mary!

You pipe!

And then we come to the tarte au citron.

It's got a nice shine to it, that's what I always look out for.

They're very neat and the writing on it's pretty good.

Nice and sharp.

Yeah, they're not bad, them, they're not bad at all.

Now, actually, I quite like these scones.

They're good consistency, quite flat on the side, nice and soft inside.

Nice flavour. I think they're nice scones

They're good.

Then we come to the Victoria sandwiches.

Looking at these, the jam is too runny,

it is weeping into the bottom part of the sponge.

Right, move on to the tarte au...

I can't read that. "..colon?"

-Colon. Tarte au colon.

-LAUGHTER

It's a new kind of French delicacy.

-Now, look at it. It's...

-Scrambled egg.

-It's scrambled egg.

Wow.

They are totally over-baked,

and the mixture has curdled.

A sort of sweet scrambled egg, I'm afraid.

MEL: Mary and Paul will now rank the bakes for the last time.

I'm going to tell you who is in third place. Who did this?

Right.

The disaster, I'm afraid, were the tartes au citron.

In second place is this one.

Actually, your sponges weren't too bad,

-but your lemon tart...

-I'm really embarrassed,

-I'm so sorry.

-I'm not even going to talk about them.

-No.

And in first place,

your piece de resistance was the tarte au citron.

-So, well done.

-Well done, Nancy.

Well done, Nance.

It feels great to come first on a Technical.

I feel set up for tomorrow.

I feel I could go in now and do it.

I think I was very lucky there.

I would have put me last, without a doubt.

I would love to have done better today.

It would have been brilliant.

I'm not going to beat myself up about it.

I'm just going to go in, eyes wide open,

crack on and do my best tomorrow.

It'd be nice to finish it off with something that I can stand by

and be proud of. I'd like that.

The festival finale is just a few hours away,

but before they can celebrate with friends and family,

Nancy, Luis and Richard must bake the ultimate Showstopper.

So, finally, the sun is shining,

and, behind you, we can see Glaston-Berry,

which we've assembled for family and friends.

I suppose breaking news today is Richard, I suppose.

He doesn't usually make mistakes,

but that tarte au citron was just overcooked.

How the mighty fall.

-MEL: Can he pull it back, though?

-Any one of them could win still,

but it's more likely to be Nancy or Luis.

MARY: The great thing about Nancy is she has a wealth of knowledge

and she is consistent and she's calm.

MEL: But Luis' forte is his design and this is Showstopper,

surely he'll really come through with this?

It does play to his strengths, but this final stands on its own,

we don't look back.

Three guys are here because they deserve to be here,

and at the moment, the way it stands, Nancy and Luis,

one of those two guys could win.

Or Richard's got to do something magnificent.

Good morning, bakers, and welcome to your last ever challenge.

Now, for this rather marvellous occasion,

we want you to create something rather marvellous. A piece montee.

Now, this is a rather spectacular, enormous

and elaborate patisserie centrepiece.

It conventionally consists of cake, sugar work,

choux and petits fours, any kind you like.

Now, Paul and Mary would love you to construct this piece montee

into some kind of design.

It could be a design that means something to you. Richard, it could

be a building site. Nancy, it could be your beloved vegetable patch.

Luis, it could be the Hacienda nightclub from 1980s Manchester.

Make some noise!

It's got be spectacular and it's also got to taste increds.

You've got five hours. On your marks...

-Get set...

-Bake!

You don't get another go after today.

I'm trying not to think about the fact that it's a final

and you could win it at the moment.

This is the ultimate patisserie challenge.

We've deliberately chosen a Showstopper

because it is very, very tricky.

For the final, this is perfect.

I think of the ones that I've seen in 18th- and 19th-century pictures

and you'd have everything from palaces to Le Tour Eiffel.

They're vast and very intricate.

They've got to get it absolutely perfect,

utilising all the skills they've learnt over

the whole of Bake Off and bring in their characters,

bring in their strong flavours, this will be fantastic.

Do you know, week one now just seems so easy.

-Morning, Richard.

-Morning!

-Piece montee.

-Piece montee.

-Who is Piers Monty?

-What have you decided to do?

I come from a place called Mill Hill,

our village sign is a windmill, so I'm making a hill out of

an almond sponge with a raspberry jam, and I'm going to make the

base of my windmill out of a ginger sponge with a lemon and lime curd.

Then I'm making a croque-en-bouche on top of that

with an orange custard, drizzled in an elderflower liqueur,

white chocolate ganache.

Richard's Mill on the Hill will also feature an almond brittle stone wall

and sails. It's sponge hill will be covered

in iced green grass and meringue mushrooms.

How are you really feeling about it?

Nervous, it's the Showstopper, isn't it?

I had lots of ups and downs yesterday, mainly downs,

so I'd like to redeem myself today.

-Keep to your timetable.

-I'll do my best.

-Good luck, mate.

-Cheers.

-Bonne chance.

Richard caught the baking bug when he was just 14.

He became the fourth generation to join the family building business.

But before bricks and mortar, he was crafting something a lot sweeter.

Richard had a job in the local high street cake shop

before he'd left school, Saturday job.

I think they gave him the doughnuts to cook!

The building business and baking both require

a bit of determination, and that's what Richard's got.

Richard built his family home

for his wife, Sarah, and his two daughters.

Richard and I have been together for 13 years

and he is so modest and so humble.

Even though people are telling him every week that he's doing so well,

Richard never sees that in himself.

Everything Richard does makes me proud...

..and of all the things he's done, apart from being a really great dad,

this is by far the thing I'm proudest of.

I'm making the mix for my ginger sponge at the moment.

I am a ginger lover. I did marry one.

All three of the finalists have chosen to use sponge cake as the base for their construction.

Because I need to get ahead time-wise, I'm doing

an all-in-one sponge. I'm just throwing it all in.

-Morning!

-Morning.

-So, how are you feeling about it today?

A bit excited. So excited I have flour everywhere but, anyway,

I'm sticking with the French theme.

-I've decided to do the Red Windmill.

-The Moulin Rouge?

-Indeed.

And how are you incorporating all the elements?

I'm going to have a four-layer cake at the bottom,

then I've got my croque-en-bouche,

and then the body of the windmill will be a ginger and orange biscuit.

Nancy will also be making mini shortbread decorations

and she'll be using red-dyed caramel

to create the Moulin Rouge's iconic sails.

You've got to think burlesque and red and black...

-Paul thinks of nothing else.

-..and cancan. Sort of sinister.

Sinister? Ooh, very nice.

Good luck, Nancy. This is going to be quite a size. I think it's...

Do you know what? I think she CANCAN do it.

Nancy grew up in Hull and after raising a family,

in her forties she went to university

and gained a Masters degree in Business Admin.

She's been married to husband Tim for 20 years.

She's focused on whatever she does.

I mean, one time she was training dogs

and got as far as taking the dog to Crufts.

If she's determined to do something, she'll do it.

Throughout the Bake Off, Nancy's had the support

of her biggest baking fans, her eight grandchildren.

Excellent, Ed, in you go.

I think Granny in the Bake Off is good and a good baker.

She taught me how to bake cakes and buns and lemon cake.

It's good that Granny's in the final and I wish she wins.

So I've practised it twice to try and get on top of it. I think

I'm all right with all the component parts. My issue is time.

I've got two batches of cake to do

so I'll get one done and get it in the oven quickly.

In you go.

With multiple elements and fillings to make,

any delay in getting the first sponges into the oven will make

the piece montee even harder to complete on time.

Mine's called The Village Where I Live.

So I come from a village called Poynton,

which is an old mining village.

The undercurrent theme of flavour is chocolate through everything.

So I'm doing a chocolate cake, a vanilla cake, which will then

be flavoured, the bottom one is going to be orange and almond.

-The next one will be chocolate and hazelnut.

-Works for me.

Luis' Village in Chocolate will also be decorated

with mini chouquettes and mint macarons.

To top it all will be an edible tribute to his home town of Poynton.

I'm doing a mining wheel out of biscuit, which will be out of the

top of the cake, and then there'll be a choux rope going over it.

-This will be interesting. It's all about timing.

-Yes, it is.

Five hours. Have you done this before - completely?

-Well, the last time I did it, I did it in two days so...

-Two days?!

Well, I'll tell you something,

I'm not coming back tomorrow so you'd better get it finished.

When he's not baking, Stockport-born Luis channels his creativity

into performing with his local ukulele club.

# ..Blow my blues away... #

But it's his work as a graphic designer that has helped him hone his skill for style.

Ever since I've known Luis, he's been creative.

We met at art college so he's always had a creative streak.

I think that's really helped him with his baking.

Luis can thank his Spanish parents,

who migrated to the UK in the '60s, for his early baking inspiration,

and his family have encouraged him ever since.

-Are you nervous, Luis?

-No.

We're nervous for you!

He's just really worked hard, and now he's at the final,

you just go, "Wow!"

So it's just... So proud.

I'm just making choux pastry now just to get different things done.

Choux buns are a vital component to any piece montee,

and are traditionally stacked to give the structure height.

You have to throw the flour in really quickly and then bring

it down to temperature slightly before you add the eggs.

I'm just cooking the flour for my choux.

I've put the choux pastry in the machine,

to cool it down to about 100 degrees before I put the eggs in,

-otherwise the eggs will cook.

-Not quite ready yet.

You need to get the choux not too wet, not too dry.

You should be able to pick it up

and it should only just about start to drop off the spoon, like that.

I'm piping out my profiteroles so, as soon as that sponge is done,

they can get in and get inflated!

These will puff up in the oven - hopefully -

and then I can fill them with passion fruit cream.

I mean, they're normally bigger than this, but I chose to do small ones

because I didn't want them to dominate the windmill.

These are little choux balls

so they'll all interlink.

Better just look at these cakes.

That is one hell of a cake.

They're like tyres, aren't they?!

But not rubbery.

I'm making a ginger and orange biscuit,

got to make a building out of it.

I'm just making some chocolate biscuit, which I can then

make the centrepiece for the top of the piece montee.

Nancy, Richard and Luis have just two hours left

to complete their spectacular final Showstoppers.

Is anyone else in a silent panic, or is it just me?

Constant, constant... I wonder how long I'll be able to keep it up!

Just to add to the pressure,

outside, friends, family and a few familiar faces have gathered

for a very special Bake Off festival finale.

It feels so lovely to be back. I've been so lucky

because I only had to be away for one week,

I don't think I would have lasted staying away for more than that!

Ahhh, I'd love to be in that tent. I'd love to be as exhausted

and petrified and terrified as they are all feeling right now.

Who is it going to be? So close, this is a close one.

I think the people who got to the final definitely deserve it.

I think I'd put my money on Luis to win.

I would vote for Richard. I really hope he can go that last mile

and actually win it.

I'd like Nancy to win because she's a woman, so woman power, really.

I would really, really like Richard to win.

If I had to choose one to put a pound each-way bet on,

I'd definitely pick on Nancy.

This is the mix for my petits fours.

I quite like making macarons, but they did take a long time to try

and figure them out and I'm still not perfect at them.

I do like a nice pretty bit of baking. I do have daughters.

You've got to bake for the people you love, haven't you?

I can forget about that for an hour.

Tim made me this gadget

because I said I want to be able to mould my brandy snap

around something, and I said maybe a drainpipe or something like that.

I think it's a drainpipe.

Bakers, you've got an hour left on your final Showstopper Challenge.

Obviously baked my little petits fours biscuits,

but they spread a little bit in the oven, so I'm just re-cutting them.

I've got to ice the cakes, I've got some sugar work to do,

and I've got to make the central top structure.

I definitely gambled with time, definitely,

but...just got to keep going.

This is where I might lose my sponge.

I've got to make the sails for my windmill now.

To decorate their Showstoppers,

the finalists must display to Paul and Mary their skill at sugar work.

This is for my sails.

The mixture is just melted sugar with flaked almonds in it.

So hopefully, the almonds should give it a little bit of stability.

Just get the outlines, and then I'll fill them in.

I'm going to start building a croque-en-bouche soon.

Before this week, I have made zero croques-en-bouche in my life.

I made two this week.

Try these offcuts. This is Nancy's.

I've done it in component parts and timed those,

but that's not a bit the same as doing it like this.

-That's a lovely cream, isn't it?

-Isn't it?

I'm trying to get as many finishing touches done as I can

before time runs out.

-That's our next course.

-We'll leave those.

-Are those offcuts?

-Oh, yeah.

-Are they?

-Pipe 'em and eat 'em.

Why aren't you using these, love?

-I always make extra so I can make enough...

-For us?

Just so you guys have got something to eat!

I've never filled one of these before. Do it.

Ready? Down in one?

-Cheers.

-One, two, three...

15 minutes left, bakers! On your last ever challenge, 15!

Mmm-mmm!

If I can get this in how I want it to,

I'll be happy, definitely. But flippin' heck!

This is the tricky bit,

and when I practised and put it up there,

the whole thing fell to bits.

OK, my love, the cake colliery is nearly complete.

Five minutes, bakers. Five minutes.

I think I'd rather have ten minutes.

Gosh...

I'll just get my sails.

One of my sails has fallen off.

My hands won't keep still because they're too nervous. Oops!

Not having it.

Finalists, time's up!

Well done, your Bake Off 2014 is over.

Step away from your bakes.

Richard, stop tinkering with that windmill!

HE SIGHS

Richard, please, could you bring your Showstopper up?

Interesting colours.

THEY LAUGH

I'm a man with small children.

Yeah, and I can see that appealing to them.

The height's there, I like the sails,

bit of moisture has got to that one, which is why it's bent.

I like the croque-en-bouche, particularly.

-It is pretty bright, it's fun.

-I'll take "fun".

-Right.

The sponge looks good.

MEL: (Very good jam.)

I think the flavour of it is fantastic.

The almond coming through is lovely, the raspberry jam is nice and tart.

It's lovely. It is very, very good.

It's a lovely contrast to the layer below -

it's very spicy, it's moist.

-That's lovely, that. The ginger's lovely.

-Oh, yes!

But I think what we need to do now is check out one of the choux.

That's a first-class choux.

Lovely filling, and you've got so much in, they're so tiny,

and you've filled them cram-jam full and that's what I like.

The...

..brittle is very good.

Your component parts are all very, very good.

-Thank you very much, Richard, well done.

-MEL: Well done, Richard.

Nancy, CANCAN you bring that up, please?

Looking at it, I think you should be very proud of that.

The skill with which you've done the brandy snap at the top,

the piping, and the windmill even moves round.

I think we should try one of those biscuits first, shouldn't we?

-I'd like to have seen them a bit neater, if I'm honest.

-So would I.

I think they're a bit rough round the edges, you know?

That's a first-rate shortbread biscuit.

What I think we'll do is we'll cut into the base sponge

and have a look at this.

What I like to see is that you've got the layers -

those three fillings are in proportion.

Flavours are good - it reminds me of a birthday cake I had

when I was a kid, actually.

It's beautiful - very, very good, very, very light.

Let's have a look at some of these profiteroles, shall we?

Mmm!

Passion fruit is one of the flavours that I really enjoy -

it's very intense and it's slightly sharp,

which is good, because you get the caramel on the outside,

which is very sweet.

You probably could've done with the profiteroles being slightly bigger.

Now...

MEL AND MARY GROAN

- We could just break a little off... - Don't break the house!

-It's nice, that's a good biscuit!

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

Cheers, Nancy, thank you very much.

Luis - mine, all mine. Come on.

MARY: I think, when you look at that, it doesn't half draw your eye to it

and it does show us a lot of skills, and you're so good on design.

I like the wheel,

I love the way you've done the chain with the profiteroles, very clever.

That is gorgeous, it really is a piece of art.

Now if we start with your petits fours,

-which I take it is a macaron, yeah?

-Yes.

-Let's take one of these.

Often, when you start adding the flavour of mint and peppermint,

it's too strong - that's just perfect.

Let's try one of these chouquettes.

I like the idea with the chocolate on the top.

Mmm - cute.

Right...sponge.

Striking.

The chocolate one is just a little bit dry.

-The Italian buttercream, I think it needs more flavour.

-OK.

All right, let's try the top one.

I think the flavour of the chocolate one is lighter,

I like the hazelnut as well, I think that works.

But I do like the top layer of sponges,

I think they're much, much better.

Now, moving on to the top -

-I'm tempted to try a bit of the biscuit...

-Go for it.

But I'm petrified about it all coming down.

It won't, it won't come down.

The miners have been through enough, Paul. Don't break their wheel.

MARY: But your skill in the piping and presentation of that

-is very, very good indeed.

-Thank you.

-Beautiful chocolate biscuit.

-Mmm! Crisp, lovely.

-Full of flavour - well done.

-Thank you.

-You've done well, thank you very much.

-No problem.

Thank you very much, I appreciate that.

CROWD CHEERS AND APPLAUDS

Whilst Richard, Luis and Nancy join their friends and family...

..Mary and Paul have one final decision to make.

It's been a very fraught Showstopper with some extraordinary results.

First, Richard - what impressed you about Richard's Showstopper?

I thought Richard's did look a bit child-like,

-but the flavours were unbelievable.

-Let's move to Nancy.

The sails on the windmill, that glorious red caramel,

and of course, she got her flavours right.

The symmetry of the whole piece was perfect.

The profiteroles filled with passion fruit was very good.

However, you saw the gaps, you saw the work

and I think if they were bigger, or more,

it would've covered it up more.

Let's look at Luis' - I mean,

that is a spectacular rendering of a hometown if ever I saw one.

That was really stunning.

The whole chain and design of the wheel at the top,

both of them tasted great.

I thought the flavour combinations in the bottom tier didn't work,

but the flavour combinations in the top did,

and did work extremely well.

So, Paul and Mary, time for the big decision.

Do you know who is going to win?

We...

We, for once, are in total agreement.

-Absolutely.

-Do you know already?

-Like lovebirds.

I told you this would be the series they finally...

Don't start on me.

CHEERING

OK, bakers, the time has come -

I'd like you please to come and step forward.

Give them a round of applause.

All right, my loves.

Well done, all three of you.

Now, bakers, finalists of 2014,

Paul and Mary have made their decision,

and I'm delighted to announce

that the winner of The Great British Bake Off 2014 is...

..Nancy.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Nancy, good for you! Well done!

Nancy!

Well done, Nancy. Well done.

MARY: It's been a pleasure - you should be so proud.

I don't know how I'm feeling, really.

Absolutely overwhelmed and...pretty speechless

and a bit emotional, but...

I can't...I...

Who could believe it, you know? That I could win it?

Can you believe it?

Nancy has the instinct. She loves baking.

And, of course, she is a perfectionist.

And to win The Great British Bake Off,

that's just what you have to be, a perfectionist.

-So proud.

-Thank you.

Everything just joined together for the final.

I think it worked beautifully for her

and I think Nancy absolutely nailed it in the final.

Honestly, I'm so overwhelmed. It's been amazing today.

And without a doubt, hand on heart, the right person won.

I think the greatest lesson I've taken away

is that if you want to do something, just crack in and do it.

If you don't just open the door, you'll never find out.

I knew it! I knew it! I'm so proud!

The male judge said, "Have I got a name now?"

So I said, "Yeah, it's Paul.

"And I've been secretly in love with you all the time.

"I had to call you 'male judge' to be able to control myself."

Made him feel all right.

SHE LAUGHS