In the beginning
Good luck in there.
there were 12.
Hello, Prue, how you doing?
I don't want to get emotional.
Everybody's terrified about collapsing cakes.
- Oh, no! - Oh, my God.
- Now - Breathe.
Just remember to breathe.
there are three.
- There's so much to do. - Are you taking the mick?
Do not drop.
This is not going to be pretty.
Can't do anything now, can I?
Oh, the oven is off.
What have you done?
The 2021 final is like no other.
- Are you serious? - Yeah, absolutely.
For the first time ever,
each of our finalists have won two Hollywood handshakes
Oh, my God!
and also been awarded Star Baker two times.
Giuseppe.
It's never been this close before.
Giuseppe, congratulations.
From the beginning, Giuseppe's eye for elegant precision
That looks as neat as a pin.
and consistently stunning Italian-influenced recipes
You'd serve that in a decent hotel.
How many stars?
Oh, a good five.
marked him out for greatness.
I don't have any special strategy for the final.
I'm trying to leave it as a standard baking day
with no extra pressure. As far as I can, at least.
Crystelle has delivered some of this year's most beautiful bakes.
It's a great-looking cake.
And coupled with incredible flavours
from her Goan family recipe book
I have to tell you it was delicious.
she's peaked at precisely the right time.
That, Crystelle, is flawless.
But she's the only finalist yet to win a Technical Challenge.
Maybe today's the day I nail a Technical Challenge.
There is no room for error.
Even if it's a case of, "You've just overbeat your batter by, like, one fold."
Chigs is one of the least experienced bakers to ever reach a final.
- Compose myself. - But you wouldn't know it.
Very clever.
Learning more with each passing week
They're nearly perfect.
his quarter and semi-final bakes
were among the best in this year's competition.
It's exceptional.
You've really been on a journey, haven't you?
I've been an underdog throughout this whole thing.
In my opinion, that is.
It's imperative to have a good start today
to build that confidence and settle the nerves a little bit.
Congratulations, bakers.
You have made it to the final of The Great British Baking show.
Today, for your last-ever Signature Challenge,
Paul and Prue would love you to make an exquisitely decorated carrot cake.
Your sponge should consist of complementary flavours and textures
in the form of fillings and decorations.
Remember, it's not just Paul and Prue you're trying to impress,
Bugs Bunny is going to swing in later to be a guest judge.
He's on the way here now, he's getting a lift from Yosemite Sam.
And there'll be all manner of animated antics and hilarious mayhem.
You have two hours, 15 minutes,
and that's all, folks.
- On your marks. - Get set.
Bake!
I've got an enormous amount of things to squish with in two hours.
I'm not thinking too much about it being the final,
because I'll freak myself out.
I'm not a big fan of carrot cake, but what can go wrong?
Anybody would think a carrot cake is so simple and easy,
but we want something really special and different.
We're looking for inventiveness. We want carrot to be the hero,
but we want to see other highly decorated elements
being added to it as well.
Two and a quarter hours, sounds a lot of time,
but the thing is, you cannot put cream cheese frosting onto a warm cake.
Because the whole thing would just slide and melt.
And it'll look a mess.
- Morning, Giuseppe! - Morning!
- Hello. - Morning.
What are you going to be doing?
I'll be giving a Mediterranean-Italian twist, for a change.
The key element is going to be a fig jam with walnuts.
Lovely.
Giuseppe's fig and walnut jam
will fill an orange zest-infused carrot cake
decorated with a light orange cream cheese icing,
candied walnuts and fresh figs.
I love the idea of the figs.
That's going to be a nice hit on top of a traditional carrot cake.
I like the idea of being able to do all of this in two hours,
'cause there are a lot of baked elements and I'll have to be very quick.
Whilst Giuseppe is giving his carrot cake a Mediterranean feel,
Crystelle is heading a little further east.
This is fresh cardamom.
You should get a hint of orange from the orange curd,
then you taste the pistachio and finally some cardamom on your tongue.
Crystelle's richly spiced sponges
will form a towering four-layered carrot cake
decorated with a pistachio and mascarpone icing.
It's only carrot cake, what could go wrong?
- What could go wrong? - Stop it.
- Because when you say that - This what you make when you're six.
- Er - Carrot cake.
- Yeah. - Lots of kids hate carrot cake.
"Do you want chocolate or carrot cake?"
- Yeah. True. - No kid says carrot cake.
If my kid says carrot cake, I'll push them into a ditch.
- Stop it. - Chocolate.
You can't say that about your kids.
They won't say it. They're cool. "I want chocolate, double chocolate."
"I want all the stuff I'm not allowed to have."
- Fair enough. - No children go,
"I'd quite like loganberry and carrot, please."
With Crystelle and Giuseppe attempting to add their own twist
to the classic carrot cake,
Chigs is also trying something new.
This is the second time I'm making carrot cake.
For his first-ever carrot cake recipe,
Chigs is adding a star anise-infused pineapple jam
and will decorate with yet another first.
I saw something on YouTube
on how to make these look like really tiny, itty-bitty carrots.
How much carrots have got in the actual batter?
Nine-hundred grams.
- In the batter? - In the batter.
- That's a lot. - It's a lot.
- Yeah. - I want its flavour to come through.
Four-forty grams.
The sooner they begin baking, the longer the finalists will have
to cool their carrot cakes before decorating.
Because I've got four layers,
I want to make sure that each layer is the same.
Whilst Crystelle and Chigs are hoping to speed up the cooling process
by baking individual sponges,
with his final Signature, Giuseppe is taking a huge gamble.
He plans to bake one large cake and then slice it into three layers.
I'm using a heating rod in the centre
and a cake belt around it, to homogenise the heat across the cake.
These are going to go in now.
I'll do 23 minutes first.
I'll check it at 30 minutes. It might need an extra 10 minutes after.
I'm there. Done.
One hour and 15 minutes.
A long time.
Bakers, this is the last time we will be telling you
that you are halfway through a Signature Challenge.
A classic carrot cake
is decorated and filled with a simple cream cheese icing.
I want to try something new with it.
But for the final Signature bake,
that won't be enough for Paul and Prue.
This is the pineapple jam.
For me, pineapple is one of the best fruits ever,
and I think it might complement the cake.
Hello. Congratulations.
- Thank you. - You're in the final.
- I can't believe it. - Wow.
I mean, this time last year, you hadn't even started baking, had you?
Erm No, no, yeah, I was baking last year.
- This time last year. - Oh. Mmm.
The year before that I wasn't.
That's not that good then, is it, for the show.
Bit disappointing.
Hi, Chigs.
Congratulations on making it to the final.
What you've achieved in one and a half years of baking is amazing.
Bubbled away in the tent, none of this year's finalists
have seen their family and friends for almost two months.
I'm so proud of you.
And your dad would be proud of you too.
All the best for next two days.
I love you so much.
I lost my father when I was young.
I think I was 12 years old. He died really young.
So I just take every opportunity I can.
I'm not gonna wait for things to happen, I just do it.
That's the reason why I wanted to come here.
Because I know I'm gonna make amazing memories.
- Say, "Good luck on Bake Off." - Good luck on Bake Off.
Getting into the final's a big thing.
Getting onto this show was massive, let alone the finals.
So you've been baking for not even 18 months?
- Yeah, that's right. - I would expect you to be here, then.
It's easy, isn't it?
- In many ways you've under-achieved. - Exactly.
- I'm not talking to you. - Clearly.
Whilst Chigs attempts to add pineapple to his first-ever carrot cake
This is going to take me forever.
Giuseppe has a filling that goes back generations.
Figs are very common in the hottest part of Italy.
So, it's the family jam.
Baking is in the family DNA.
'Cause that's a main discussion at our family gatherings.
What's going to be for dessert? Who's done it and how?
Whilst Giuseppe was growing up on the west coast of central Italy,
the person who could always answer those questions was his dad, Cosimo.
He was a baker by passion.
Every Sunday he'd put the dessert in front of us after our main meal,
and I really wanted that to be the case for my kids.
It was so pleasurable for me,
that I couldn't just let the tradition die.
- Here we go. - Oh, no.
Giuseppe
I wish you luck.
Infinite.
You're going to make me cry, now.
Because you are better than me.
By far.
I send you a big hug. A huge one.
I'm surprised that my dad managed to do that.
Yeah
He's not very well.
He's getting towards his elderly stage.
He said that I've become better than he ever was as a baker.
Which is absolutely a lie.
I've got some pictures of the things that he used to make when he used to work.
And they would make very good Showstoppers
for The Bake-Off.
My great aunt makes this every year, and it's a figs and walnut jam.
And it goes very, very well with carrot flavour.
Funnily enough, there isn't any family recipe.
There's no godmother or auntie that has a carrot cake recipe.
So, I've just gone for full-on orange curd.
At home, I've got my mum, my dad, my two sisters and my auntie.
I wouldn't have had the confidence to apply if it wasn't for them.
I've had a few turning points in my life.
One when I was at school, teachers called me the class clown.
They hated me. I was just an absolute terror.
My parents sat me down and said, "You need to sort your life out."
"We're not going to spoon-feed you. You need to work hard."
And I thought, "Okay." That was one turning point.
The second one is definitely this.
Hi, Crystelle!
How on Earth have you made it to the final?
It was Crystelle's parents,
along with her sisters Corelle and Chanelle,
that convinced her to apply for the Baking Show.
I was adamant. I said, "No way I'm going to get on."
And they said, "No, you better do it because you never know what will happen."
And you know, Crystelle,
Granddad will be looking down on you from up above
with the biggest smile on his face.
No matter what happens,
you have made us the proudest family in the world.
We love you, Crystelle!
They think I can do it.
- Can you do it? - I don't know.
But I'll try my best.
Yeah.
The longer the sponges stay in the oven,
the less time they'll have to cool
Oh, no. Just ain't happy.
forcing the bakers to decorate a warm cake.
I think they look all right.
And the first bake in the final will end in disaster.
I've got 30 minutes for the cake, and then I have to bake the walnuts.
So I'm, literally, to the very last second.
Then they have to go on for decoration. Cold.
Bakers, you have half an hour left.
Half an hour.
Let these cool. Chill, chill, chill!
I've started making the frosting now.
I'm going to say this, and I'm going to get letters.
Basically, carrot cake is for people who think they're being healthy.
And they go, "I don't eat cake,
apart from carrot cake, which is really healthy."
And you go, "I don't think it's that healthy."
There is a quarter of a litre of oil in mine.
So, that's not Look at this.
Where you've gone wrong, when you're trying to be healthy, is cake.
I'm just gonna start on my pistachio mascarpone frosting.
I'll start making the frosting.
Frosting is ready. Jam is ready. They have to be baked.
Just cake now. Two minutes.
I can start assembling, which is stressful stuff.
Quite nice and firm, which is good.
Let's get this jam on here.
It's done.
And I can go straight in with those.
Four layers,
but more layers means I can put more filling in
and pack as much flavour as possible.
Now, it's all about getting stuff as cool as possible
so that it doesn't collapse.
You have 15 minutes left.
Do you think Giuseppe's got enough time, there?
It's still very hot. I've got no options.
I'm gonna have to slice it. This is not gonna be pretty.
The judges have demanded exquisite decoration
My hand is shaking.
worthy of a baking show final
I'm going to stick in a dowel, just to stop it sliding around too much.
You've got a baby carrot and made smaller carrots.
Yes.
And then you're going to make smaller carrots out of those?
- I might quarter them. - And then even smaller?
- Can do. - Don't go too small.
They'll be invisible to the naked eye.
- They'll lose their impact. - We'll know they're there.
- It's literally steaming.
This is going to be carnage. If it breaks, it breaks.
I don't I can't
This is what The Bake-Off is about, isn't it?
There is a slight lean.
I'll put in a few dowels to make sure that this stays where it needs to be.
It's really crumbly. This is going to fall to pieces.
Stay calm. Stay calm.
- How long do we have? - Five minutes remaining.
It's breaking up in front of my eyes.
Better have enough buttercream.
This is going to be messy.
It's leaning, and I'm sure that's not gonna do me favours.
- How long have we got? - One minute left.
- It's just okay. - These are still very warm.
No!
That's enough.
It's horrible because it's melting, but I will be able to finish it.
Time is up.
It's finished.
It's so wonky, but still.
Mine looks like my face over the years.
It's melting down. Ooh.
Well done, my friend.
It's judgement time in the final Signature Challenge.
- Hello, Crystelle. - Hello.
- I wouldn't have made it this high. - Yeah.
By stacking it, you're retaining the heat.
And then you're going to get some movement.
And it doesn't say to me, "carrot cake,"
but it might when it's opened up.
There are a couple of dowels in there, just to try and hold it together.
Mmm. I love the flavour.
You've got cardamom, pistachio and then orange.
- Together, it's a really nice flavour. - You taste all of them.
Yes, and it's well balanced.
But it's not the best-looking thing you've done.
I particularly like your baby carrots.
I think it looks very nice. I love the pipe work.
- A bit solid. - Yeah.
You had a lot of carrot
and the carrot releases water once it's in the batter.
I think the pineapple works well. That bit of sweetness comes through it.
You expect a little bit of stodge with a carrot cake.
- But this is a little bit rubbery. - Okay.
You were affected by heat. It wasn't cold when you put it together
and therefore you've got a bit of movement.
- But it's fairly level. - Yeah, I like the look of it.
It's three layers of sponge with figs and walnut jam in between.
It has an absolutely delicious flavour, but the texture is very soft.
Because the cake was warm when you did it,
that's what's causing you to think, "Is it underbaked, stodgy?" It's not.
It's just you've got the cream cheese and you've got the jam
and it's soaking into a warm cake.
- So that's - It's added moisture.
Yes, it has.
But I think the flavours are delicious. The idea of introducing figs was good.
And it still tastes like carrot cake. Which is important.
- Thank you. - Thank you.
Well done.
The look of the cake wasn't particularly stunning,
but I'm glad they managed to see through that.
The fact that I made my least nice-looking cake on the final
is probably not the most fortunate thing.
The thing is, nobody smashed it.
Everybody got some feedback, so
It's not a tragedy. It's not finished.
The bakers must now face their final gingham-wrapped mystery.
Well, bakers, I know you must be devastated
that this is your last Technical Challenge.
Crystelle, my thoughts are with you.
Shedding tears.
Now, this challenge has been set by Paul Hollywood.
Paul, any pearls of wisdom to impart?
You'll have to use your baking knowledge on this one
because we've taken out most of the method.
As ever, this task is judged blind.
So we ask Paul and Dame Prue to leave us alone.
For your Technical Challenge,
Paul would love you to make 12 Belgian buns.
Your Belgian buns must be filled with sultanas and lemon curd.
You have two and a half hours.
- On your marks. - Get set.
Bake!
- Is that it? - Are you taking the mick?
- What are you laughing at? - There's two instructions.
-Oh, my God. That's it? - Yeah!
"Make Belgian buns. Fill it with lemon curd and sultanas."
That's cracking.
I've done a cinnamon bun so I feel like that's enough bun knowledge.
Maybe today's the day that I do well on a Technical.
I've never seen a Belgian bun. I have no idea what they look like.
Paul, for our final Technical Challenge, we've got Belgian buns.
You haven't taken all the method out, have you?
- Yeah. - Paul,
I think that's unbelievably unkind.
You can see where it's been coiled around.
- Yeah. - You should get that lemon,
and a bit of sweetness coming from the icing.
It's just got that bit of chewiness, which I like.
I don't think there'll be any trouble with them making the dough.
And of course they know how to make lemon curd.
It's what to do with them when they've got them.
I mean, how did they know what a Belgian bun looks like?
We've got three great bakers in there. Someone will get it right.
It's an enriched dough. I've done enriched dough in the past.
This will be a very sticky dough. It's gonna be very difficult to handle.
You need to work the hell out of it
to work up all that gluten.
My dad used to do this very often when we made pizza dough.
"Refine the dough," he said. I don't know what that means.
At last, I'm as tall as Giuseppe.
- That's not something to be proud of. - Hello.
There's no more Italian thing you could be doing right now than this.
If there was an advert made for Giuseppe,
- this is what you'd be doing isn't it? - There you go.
It will go, "Giuseppe, coming to a cinema near you from Italy."
- Giuseppe. - That sounds like a very American accent.
"He likes limoncello and cappuccino
and arms as long as other people's legs."
"He wore gloves where his shoes should be."
- "He was Giuseppe." - If I ever make it to Hollywood,
I'll give you a shout.
Dough done.
So I'm now gonna prove this for an hour minimum.
Paul's demanded a creamy lemon curd filling
I made an orange curd this morning.
with no explanation as to how to make it.
- Have you seen that? Paul Vaguey-wood. - Really helpful.
I have never made curd. Ever.
That's gonna be a wild guess.
Lemon curd looks very much like a custard.
So it needs to be like a creamy liquidy thingy.
Okay, curd has gone in the freezer,
- just to chill. - Mmm.
Does this look like a curd to you?
I'm saying nothing. "Belgian Buns."
- Do you know what they look like? - Do you not know?
Some sort of cinnamon bun swirled up.
Have you been to Belgium?
I've been to Belgium a few times.
- Yes. - Have you? Why?
Bakers, you are halfway through.
It looks like it's twice the size.
I think that's fine.
The question is, how do we shape this?
I don't know what to do now.
Just don't know what that man wants.
There is no point in going back to the instructions,
because they say, "Make the Belgian buns."
God, it's really hard. God, I hate this.
Matt's mentioned a swirl somewhere.
So they might be like cinnamon buns.
Roll it out, spread the curd
Sprinkle the sultanas?
I'll roll this out flat, spread over the curd,
sprinkle all the sultanas, roll it up like a little sausage.
Split the dough into two and get a rough rectangle shape.
I want them to get an even, thick layer of curd.
This is going to all be very tight.
It is very tricky because they did say, "Perfect swirl."
The longer your dough, the more of a swirl you'll get,
because you can really roll it up.
Let's see what happens.
I can only hope that this is right.
Each roll needs to be the same. I'm sure they'll want uniformity.
How thick should each bun be?
If the buns have to be like cinnamon buns,
they would have to be a couple centimetres each.
If I do 1.2.
Five.
It needs to be a significant swirl.
I think whenever they ask for a swirl, it has to be visible.
Mine look too high.
I rolled it the wrong way. I rolled it long way upwards.
Whereas those guys have done the short side and gone that way.
And we have lift-off.
Can't do anything now.
Bakers, you have half an hour left.
Sorry. I was just on the ceiling, eating bugs.
Okay.
I'm just going in at 180.
'Cause that's the bit of information they did give us.
I'll go for 20 minutes first.
Fingers and toes crossed, say a little prayer and hope for the best.
Coffee time.
You have 15 minutes left.
They look a little bit pale. Hmm.
They're browning. It's looking good so far.
I think they should be golden brown.
I don't know, is the honest answer.
I'll keep them in there until they are an even brown colour.
The swirl's the only thing I'm worried about.
There's only three of us now. I could be in last position.
You watching your bake?
- It's a very good perspective. - Happy?
Yeah. Unless I've burnt them. What should I do? What should I do?
Just chill out. Don't worry about it. It's only the final.
I might be cutting it a bit fine.
I might have to cut this down by about two to four minutes.
By doing that, it should give me enough time
for my buns to cool before I glaze them. Before I ice them.
Don't, Matt, come on.
- I'm better than that. - You're better than that. Don't you dare!
The tension is palpable.
Bakers, you have ten minutes remaining.
Thermometer says they're baked.
They look like baked. They just look very small.
They look ready.
The worst thing that can happen is that they are underbaked.
So I'll keep them another couple of minutes.
They need to cool because I need to put icing on them.
Just stick them in the freezer. Do not drop.
This one's got "last" written all over it.
Yeah.
They're definitely done.
His look burnt.
Is this what Belgian buns should look like?
Bakers, you have five minutes left.
Taking them out now.
- I'll put icing on it. - I can do this. I can do this.
I hope I haven't overbaked them.
Some of them are very dark.
Oh, God. Why are my hands shaking?
Turned into a shaking puppet.
I have to be quick. Cherry in the middle.
I'm almost there. There's no time to waste.
Bakers, your time is up.
Please bring your bakes and place them behind your photo.
Paul and Prue are expecting perfectly swirled, golden Belgian buns
filled with silky lemon curd
and topped with icing and glace cherries.
Right. Now, these aren't too bad.
They're a little uneven. The icing is a bit erratic.
- But the colour's pretty uniform. - Yeah.
Mmm. Good lemon curd.
- It tastes all right. - I think that's very nice.
Let's move on to number two. They're too small, too high.
Cooked too thick. Let's have a look inside.
- They're a bit too chewy and too solid. - The dough may have been too thick.
- So, instead of rolling out thin - I think it needed to be bigger.
Yeah. And have several spirals.
Moving on to number three.
- These are overbaked. Massively. - Overbaked.
They're very technically neatly done.
The icing's perfect, the shape is lovely.
Everything except leaving them in the oven too long.
Oh. That's such a pity, because this is the final.
- Dry as a bone. - Hmm.
Overbaked.
Paul and Prue will now rank the final Technical Challenge.
Okay, in last place, we have this one.
Giuseppe. Massively overbaked.
They would have been number one, bar for the colour.
So, in second place we have this one. Who's that?
Chigs.
That's what you should have been rolling up
and what you were rolling up is that
- Which means - Oh, my God.
In first place we have this one. Crystelle, the colour's good.
The roll is good. Well done.
I cannot believe I've come first in a Technical Challenge in the final.
Took me ten weeks, but I got there.
It's very disappointing.
Overbaking is something that, at this stage, I should know better.
I'm second, by the skin of my teeth.
I just need to have an amazing day tomorrow.
I've done it before. Can I do it again on the final?
Not asking for much, am I?
I don't make things easy for myself. That's my problem.
There's just one challenge remaining
in The Great British Baking Show of 2021.
Ooh.
It's the last time we'll be doing this
walking into this tent.
We always say this. It all depends on the Showstopper.
This time it really does, doesn't it?
I would say that Crystelle was slightly ahead of Giuseppe,
who's slightly ahead of Chigs.
Giuseppe in the Technical, what was he doing?
He said he was watching them all the time.
- He couldn't have been. - I might've distracted him a little bit.
- So, it's your fault? - Probably.
What has been so amazing is the progression Crystelle has made.
But Chigs has been so good of late, you know.
If he has a banger, he could be up for a shout.
I think today's gonna be a real marathon.
Yeah, it's called Snickers now.
Oh, is it? Sorry.
Bakers, it's time for your final Showstopper Challenge.
Paul and Prue would like you to create an outstanding
Mad Hatter's tea party display
worthy of your final challenge in the tent.
The judges are looking for a magical display
of sweet and savoury afternoon tea treats
shaped and decorated in a Mad Hatter kind of a way.
Your display should showcase
at least four different baking disciplines.
You have four and a half hours.
- On your marks. - Get set.
It all comes down to the Showstopper.
Bake.
Breathe.
Just remember to breathe.
There's a load to do. Everyone's going on a mad one today.
There's so much to do.
This theme is the Mad Hatter's tea party.
So, we should have a feeling that this is Alice in Wonderland.
It's all an illusion. We want some of that craziness.
We want at least four disciplines of baking.
A little bit of sweet, a bit of savoury to find that balance.
There's an element of juggling. You want that oven full.
So, one straight after the other.
If you've got an empty oven, for me, something's wrong.
Get everything baked as quickly as possible,
then you can cool and decorate.
I want to see perfect bakes.
Amazing decoration.
And a whole display that transports us into Wonderland.
- Hi, Chigs. - Morning!
Mad Hatter's tea party,. What are you doing?
My centrepiece is going to be a cake flavoured with orange curd
and it'll look like the Cheshire cat.
Second thing I'm doing are jammy biscuit playing cards,
but the jam's gonna be flavoured
with strawberry, elderflower and black pepper.
Interesting.
The Cheshire cat and playing card biscuits
will be joined by chicken and mushroom pocket watch pies
and toadstools made from coloured brioche
filled with a lemon and lime crÃ¨me patisserie.
Have you done a timing sheet to get it all done?
I've done a list of everything in the order I need to do it.
We've given you a fair amount of time, but you've got to rise brioche.
Fair amount of time, Paul?
- Good luck. - Thank you very much.
Whilst Chigs races to prepare the dough for mini brioche toadstools
I just hope I'm able to finish off everything I've got in my head.
Giuseppe's hoping to grow something much bigger.
My dough will be filled with chocolate and hazelnut filling,
shaped in the form of a mushroom.
A giant tear-and-share brioche mushroom
will tower over mango and passion fruit "drink me" panna cottas,
orange and fig heart-shaped muffins,
and an asparagus and pea-filled choux caterpillar.
- Hopefully, I won't burn anything. - This is your challenge, surely.
- Do you think? - Yeah.
I'd say you've got four baking skills, whereas the other two, not sure.
Maybe two and a half.
As dough needs time to prove,
all of the finalists have begun with their bread.
It's very wet dough. I always like to finish it by hand.
Leave it any later and it won't have long enough to rise.
Dough is gonna have to go in to first proof, for about half an hour.
But Crystelle has taken this time pressure
to the heart of her Showstopper.
My main centrepiece is going to be a focaccia.
Erm, which will be a clock.
And that's got za'atar and garlic in it.
Crystelle's focaccia clock
will be surrounded by chick pea, curry-filled Mad Hatter's pies,
cardamom and pistachio toadstool biscuits and chai cake talking sunflowers.
You're carrying quite a load with your tea party.
Yes, I am.
It's going to incorporate all my favourite flavours,
things that I enjoy making.
Everything combined into one.
- Good luck. - Thank you.
Self-raising flour.
With dough in the proving drawer,
the finalists need to get their first of four bakes into the oven.
Cake, cake, cake.
Any delay in these early stages
Two tea bags.
will mean less time to cool and decorate
the most important bake in the competition.
I don't usually like muffins,
but these with figs and oranges are just delicious.
The talking flowers are one of the coolest things in Wonderland.
So I am doing chai-flavoured sponge
and I'm going to cut these into little circles,
and turn them into talking flowers.
Whilst Crystelle and Giuseppe have planned small individual cakes
Chigs' sponges will be transformed into one of the tale's biggest characters.
I'm doing a centrepiece cake that'll look like the Cheshire cat
but in the colours of Leicester City football club.
- Wow. - I don't even support Leicester city.
- Don't you? - No, but I'm going to do it for my city.
Don't say that on television, you're from Leicester.
- I know. - Who do you support?
I can't say that on TV.
Be good to me, please.
The moment the first bake hits the oven
preparation for the next one has to begin.
Speed baking.
I can do this. I can do this.
Now putting my muffins in the oven.
And the oven is off.
The door wasn't closed properly.
Giuseppe's oven is cold.
Switched off.
Jesus. Yeah.
It's a setback that could lose him priceless minutes.
I really don't need this.
Bakers, you have three hours remaining.
Come on!
Whilst Giuseppe waits
How do I reach 350?
Crystelle and Chigs have moved on to their savoury treats.
I am making sweet leek and chicken and mushroom pies.
The tops of the pies are gonna look like clocks.
- Are you doing little curry pies? - I am.
- They're going to be top hats - Top hats.
With little bunny ears coming out of them.
As well as being behind on his baking,
Giuseppe is the only finalist
that needs to find time to set a tea party treat.
Panna cotta in Italian means cooked cream, and that's what it is.
The idea is that Alice should be drinking this.
I will have "drink me" bottles.
Half of it is going to be flavoured with mango,
the other half with vanilla.
I should be shaping the dough now.
I want to finish the panna cotta first.
This little guy has literally just been proving in olive oil,
and I've got my infused olive oil with za'atar and garlic.
It's done.
This will make the base of the mushroom.
I'm just going to push this into the corners.
Very oily.
I'm going to let this prove for another whole hour.
This is all thanks to Jurgen.
- Oh, really? - Jurgen taught me how to do this.
That's the base of the mushroom. That'll be filled with crÃ¨me pat.
- Matt? - CrÃ¨me Matt.
Perfect!
These go in to set.
And finally start making the bread.
Okay.
Oh, that's my cake.
One bake down
Before I forget, let me whack up my oven.
three to go.
- I've got loads, Noel. - Have you given yourself a crazy--
A crazy amount of cakes, biscuits, pies.
- It's the final. You gotta go for it. - You've got to.
- Pastry going all over me. - You're on wheels.
If anyone can pull this off, it's you.
I'm going to be shaping this into a mushroom.
I'm not gonna have time to bake everything.
Pie base. We're gonna go in now.
I'm just going to knead in that green food colouring.
Tops of the pies.
The head on the mushroom is going to be layered.
So I'm going to be making discs, layer them with chocolate and hazelnuts,
and then prove them again.
Biscuit, biscuit, biscuit, biscuit. We're on track, we're on track.
Might just step it up a gear after I've done this.
Did you sleep last night?
I actually did, although I had a recurring dream
that I forgot to prove my focaccia.
And I kept waking up, like, "Why did I not put my timer on?"
And what was the consequence of it?
I don't know what happened. It was one of those cliff-hanger dreams.
Whilst Crystelle is still haunted by a focaccia clock
I'm takin' them out.
time is still proving a nightmare for Giuseppe.
'Seps, I heard you forgot to turn your oven on.
- I didn't forget to turn my oven on. - What happened?
The door wasn't fully closed.
- All right. - The oven didn't shut--
Let me tell you a few things about baking, all right?
You need heat.
Mainly from an oven.
They're done.
Am I late for a very important date? I'm not sure.
Brioche has gone into the oven now.
Biscuits are going in after the bread.
Good luck, hats. Please be good to me.
Now we're starting some choux buns
and shaping them as a caterpillar.
How long have we got?
Bakers, you have one hour left.
Hi! I'm here with Mervis the Alien.
Er, Mervis, erm
Who do you think is going to win?
That's interesting. I thought Jairzeno left in week two.
- Hmm. - Ah!
The batter is slightly too wet.
There's the brioche.
This is gonna go in the oven very shortly.
I only learned this from bread week that it's supposed to be so oily.
So I thought the more oil, the better.
I'm gonna put the biscuits in now.
These are going in.
As well as attempting to stick to an incredibly tight baking schedule
This little piggy is going in for 15 minutes.
the finalists have multiple fillings to squeeze in.
Right. CrÃ¨me pat. Lemon and lime flavour.
This is going into the brioches.
I'm preparing the filling for the choux buns.
The flavours will be asparagus and peas.
The peas are there just to give some sweetness and creaminess.
I should add panna cotta layer.
Before that, I should
- Got a proposition for you. - Oh, no!
This is Mr. Spatula.
Look, he's crying because he knows the result.
- Stop it. - But he can also change the result.
Don't tell me I've got to kiss that spatula. I'm not doing it.
I'm not doing it.
I knew you were gonna ask me to do it and I'm not.
- He's crying. - Can I give him an elbow pump?
You wanna, what, just smash him in the throat?
So, hats.
This is Mr. Spatula and he knows the winner.
He also has the power to change the result.
- All you need to do is kiss there-- - No.
- Like you'd kiss the Pope's hand. - No.
This should be my focaccia.
I might just prove it.
It's really hard 'cause there's piping hot oil in there.
Oh, that definitely seems done.
Yeah, I might take it out.
This is Mr. Spatula. You just have to kiss his head and then you win.
She wouldn't do it and he wouldn't do it.
Yes!
The majority of it's all done.
I have to bake my biscuits, then it's a case of decorating everything.
I'm going to start doing that now.
Yeah. Yeah.
Bakers! You have half an hour left!
I might have to miss out on some of the elements.
They need to go now.
Gotta get that cake done.
And these guys are gonna bake for 12 minutes.
Crystelle and Chigs may be ready to begin assembling and decorating,
but Giuseppe, despite running behind schedule,
has given himself yet another element to make.
Ginger snaps. These will go on the panna cotta.
I've gotta fill my piping bags and then I'm gonna start piping!
There's two blues. There'll be stripes.
'Cause the Cheshire Cat's stripy, isn't she? Or he? Or whatever it is.
These are going to become little sandwich cakes.
What I can do now is to fill these
Smooth down these sides.
The outside I'm making in purple.
It needs to be psychedelic and mad.
This will be a sunflower.
Come on.
That's the cat done. How long do we have left?
Fifteen minutes left.
That'll give me enough time to put everything on the board.
I'm not gonna get to do all of my extra bits.
I think they look all right.
Eleven minutes.
All that's left is to pipe little faces.
This is not a Sharpie, by the way.
Edible pen.
So nice seeing it come together.
Can't believe I'm done.
I have to assemble things, but I don't have to make anything else.
But Giuseppe's assembly isn't straightforward.
You only have five minutes left.
This mushroom's done.
The head.
I'm sweating.
They're very well done.
- Done. - One minute left.
What am I missing? Oh, yes, the caterpillar.
Oh! God, they're all falling.
My hearts are falling.
Representing my love life.
Your time is up!
Oh! Oh, my gosh! You're gonna break your back.
Oh, my God!
Well done!
Completed it, mate.
It's judgement time for this year's final Showstoppers.
Giuseppe. Would you like to bring out your Showstopper?
Oh, God.
It's very precarious.
Well done.
I think it's simple and effective.
These are all very small. I expected them to be a little bit bigger.
Okay.
I don't mind because it's a caterpillar.
The caterpillar is choux buns
with asparagus, peas filling and mascarpone topping.
Mmm. Delicious. You certainly get the asparagus. And pea.
Because it's been filled with this creamy mixture,
they're quite soft now.
Which is a pity, because it's all the same texture.
- Mmm. - Let's look at the sweet bread.
So the centrepiece is filled with chocolate and hazelnut.
Goodness! That is quite complicated.
Hmm.
- It's very Italian in its flavour. - Isn't it?
I like it, the bread is so crispy.
This is lovely.
- This is the - Orange and figs.
- Orange and fig. - They're very cute.
They're very soft, they're juicy, and they have a lovely flavour to 'em.
- They're very good. - You can take one of these, Prue.
They're passion fruit, mango, panna cotta
with brandy snaps.
The panna cotta is delicious.
I mean, it really is stunning.
That is the most perfect texture for a panna cotta.
Just set and it sort of cracks as you touch it.
- I might finish this one. - Mmm.
- I'm taking it away with me. - Yeah, you did well. Thanks very much.
I like the choux buns.
Love the heart cakes.
- And the panna cotta is bliss. - Thank you very much.
- Thank you. - Well done.
Chigs, would you like to bring your final Showstopper up here?
Please may I have a hand carrying it to the front, Matt?
- Massive. - Sorry.
To me.
- To you. - To me.
To you.
- Okay. - Thank you.
I'm quite impressed with the overall look of them.
I think you've got the Mad Hatter's tea party very well.
I think the colour of the cat I love the cards.
-These are particularly interesting to me. - There's something mad.
Which is part of the sort of surreal thing.
These clocks look quite neat.
- Shall we start with the savoury first? - Yeah, why not?
Chicken, sweet leek and mushroom pies.
- That's delicious. - Mmm.
One of my favourite things.
Very nice pastry. Has it got thyme in there?
- Thyme and tarragon. - That was delicious.
This is a brioche?
Yes. Filled with a lemon and lime crÃ¨me pat.
Delicious crÃ¨me pat.
It's beautiful. It's nice and sweet, but just the right level of sweetness.
It's nice-looking.
These are shortbread biscuits
with strawberry, elderflower and black pepper jam.
- I think it's beautiful. - It is.
The punched-out hearts are charming.
- Don't really like to spoil it. - Go on, Prue.
- Mmm. Very good. - Jam's very good.
Jam is excellent.
It's a nice, buttery biscuit. I'm not getting the elderflower.
- I'm getting strawberry. - And black pepper?
- No. - Okay.
The biscuit is delicious with it.
- Okay. - Right.
- This is orange cake? - Yeah.
It's got orange curd and mascarpone cream in the middle.
I was looking forward to the Cheshire cat's grin.
I know. I'd kind of run out of time.
- That's a delicious sponge. - It's really good.
The orange really works.
You're left with a beautiful floral flavour in your mouth.
You've not put too much buttercream round the edge, so it's not too sweet.
That's a very nice cake.
- Very good cake. - Thank you.
- Well done. - You've done a good job.
- Well done, Chigs. - Thanks.
- Amazing. - Thank you.
Crystelle, would you like to bring out your Showstopper?
Please may I have a hand?
Three two one
- Lift. Yeah. - You got it?
- Yep. - I've got puppet legs. Don't drop it.
It's okay. I'm bending my knees and it's fine.
- Don't let go. - Where you gonna go?
This way.
Don't go low on me.
Okay, we're gonna Okay.
- Right. Er - Brilliant.
There you go.
It looks quite impressive. It's colourful.
I like the little sunflowers with their faces.
What did you say these biscuits were called?
They're called nankhatais. They've got brown butter, cardamom and nuts.
- It's very fudge-like, isn't it? - Yeah.
It's got a lovely balance of flavours with the spices in there.
Delicious.
- Let's move on to the talking-- - Sunflowers.
Which are chai sponges with cream cheese frosting.
I think that cake is really delicious. It's very soft.
The chai comes through beautifully.
Then the cooling from the cream cheese, it blends nicely together.
This is hot water crust pastry.
Yeah. Filled with chickpea and potato curry.
Very nice curry middle.
It's quite solid. But I really like that.
- Absolutely lovely. - It's a Goan curry? It's delicious.
It's got a lovely kick to it as well.
That's three out of four.
- Right. Focaccia. - Yeah.
Which is a za'atar, garlic and honey focaccia.
Er
This is not recognizable as focaccia.
- Oh, no! - That's raw dough.
- What have you done? That is raw. - I don't know.
- Has it been in the oven? - Yeah.
I don't know what happened.
- That's bizarre. - There's no rise at all.
That's inedible, that one.
- That's a pity. - Never seen anything like it.
I'm really sorry. I don't know what happened. That's bizarre.
But over all, I think your flavours of what we did try was very good.
Thank you.
- Thank you. - Thank you.
Obviously, I focus on the negatives, right?
There was a big fat negative in there.
I'm just baffled.
How the hell did that happen to my focaccia?
I feel confused.
Pretty much everybody had very good comments,
something that didn't quite meet the expectations of the judges.
I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous.
I've been waiting all this time now. Ten weeks.
I want to know the result now.
Everyone in our bubble who has been locked down
and worked so hard to make the Baking Show happen
has been invited to the greatest Mad Hatter's tea party
of 2021.
And to witness who will be crowned champion.
Do you think Crystelle could still win this?
It's got complicated
because she's dropped, because of the focaccia being raw.
- I could see her heart sink then. - I know. Poor girl.
So Chigs has come from the outside.
You were very impressed with Chigs.
You were pretty impressed with Giuseppe but when it came to this,
- you couldn't stop eating it. - That was very good.
We don't want to rush into picking someone,
so we'll sit down, have another cup of tea,
maybe a couple of glasses of wine.
See you tomorrow, chaps.
- See you tomorrow. - We might not be back, is that okay?
That's fine, we'll do it ourselves.
Well, before we do anything else,
I would like to thank, on behalf of the show,
everybody who looked after us here at the hotel.
The cleaners, the caterers and all of the staff.
Thank you so much.
And, now, I would like to invite our three finalists
to come and join us.
Giuseppe. Come on.
You guys are amazing.
Bakers, thank you so much for bringing your warmth
and good humour and, of course, your brilliant bakes into the tent.
And now, I'm going to hand over to my colleague, Mr. Noel Fielding,
who has something to tell you.
The winner of The Great British Baking show is
Giuseppe.
Oh, my God! Oh, my God!
- Congratulations! - Congratulations, man.
Well done, Giuseppe.
Thank you. Grazie.
- Well done! - Grazie.
There are no words. I'm speechless.
For once.
You're the first Italian to ever win it.
From the first time I walked into the tent,
on the first Signature and I saw his mini rolls, I went,
"That looks like our winner."
You could see the heart and soul going into his baking.
He's done an incredible job.
He's such a classic, beautiful baker.
He represents a long tradition of classical Italian baking.
And done it brilliantly the whole way through.
So I'm going home to make lots more Italian cakes,
'cause they really are good.
Come on. Well done, my friend. You deserve it.
I am over the moon that Giuseppe's won
'cause I know how hard he has worked throughout this whole competition.
It's a euphoric moment.
It's time to move on to the next challenge in my life.
Bake Off final. Tick.
Thanks. Sorry about the focaccia.
I am so happy for Giuseppe.
He's an incredible I'm getting emotional.
He's an incredible guy.
So genuine, an insane baker and he really deserves that win.
His family are gonna be so proud of him.
- Let that sink in. - I'm in shock. I'm in shock.
All I can think of is the reaction I'm gonna get from my mum and dad.
The fact that everything I've done to deserve this
comes from his heritage.
I think it's going to be the best thank-you note I could possibly send him.
He's going through a very hard time, health-wise, so
Er, I think that this is going to be a boost.
- Go take a bow. - Go on!
I don't say often and lightly that I'm proud of what I do
But, in this case, I can't possibly not say that.
I'm really, really proud that I did this.
It's unbelievable, it's unbelievable.