Sadly, we’ve reached the Final of 2020’s Great British Bake Off. A slightly subdued undertone was apparent with the lack of usual family and friends in the beautiful gardens surrounding the tent, awaiting the outcome. This year the guests comprised of a combination of crew and hotel staff, all of whom had spent the previous 6 weeks together in the Bake-Off bubble.
Poor Laura really tried her best, but the sweltering 34-degree heat in the tent was unforgiving when it came to cooling custard for her yuzu slices in the signature challenge, and tempering chocolate for the walnut whirls in the technical. Even her showstopper appeared lacklustre and thrown together, despite Paul and Prue being unable to fault each element individually. Once again, Paul had to admit that Laura’s flavours were (as always) excellent.
Dave did himself proud and managed to hold his nerve throughout. His caramel latte custard slices appeared to be perfect, but the custard was slightly too solid. His walnut whirls looked exceptional and authentic – an amazing achievement considering the temperature in the tent that day. Dave’s plan for his final showstopper was to perfectly prepare all his bakes which hadn’t been successful in previous weeks, and he almost pulled it off, with only a few tiny errors separating him from the inevitable winner.
Peter’s cranachan topped custard slices not only looked amazing but tasted fantastic too. His walnut whips were slightly squashed where they had been defeated by the heat, but still looked recognisable and eminently edible. His final showstopper creation of a Bonkers Bake-Off bubble cake comprised of several elements which were infinitesimally better than Daves, in the opinion of Prue and Paul who had the unenviable task of choosing between the two. Jeepers Creepers!
Noel and Matt tried desperately to give kindly words of encouragement throughout, and I doubt anyone left last night’s episode without secretly thinking to themselves “Ahh – I really love Noel!”
So, we now have the youngest ever winner at only 20 years old and baby-faced Peter is also the first ever Scot to take home the coveted cake stand prize.
However much you may have wished for another contestant to win, through his hard work and sheer determination not to lose his cool and carry on regardless, Perfect Peter was unequivocally the most deserving winner this year. Tuesday evenings will sadly feel dull without him and the rest of the gang.
Roll on GBBO 2021.…