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Great British Bake Off winner is (officially) crowned

Updated / Friday, 3 Nov 2017 15:53
The Great British Bake Off winner is crowned
The Great British Bake Off winner is crowned

The winner of this year’s Great British Bake Off has been officially crowned after being prematurely revealed by new judge Prue Leith earlier on Tuesday. Oopsie down cake.

Leith came under fire from fans of the hugely popular baking show when she accidentally revealed the winner hours before the finale was due to air on Channel 4.

While the surprise was spoiled by some fans of the show, there were many who managed to avoid the major spoiler and watched Sophie Faldo beat off the competition from co-finalists Steven Carter-Bailey and Kate Lyon to win the top spot. 

Great British Bake Off winner Sophie Faldo creating her showstopper 

Sophie, a former Army officer aged 34, pulled out all the stops for Tuesday night’s finale of GBBO, showing off her skills with a variety of tasty bakes. 

Bualadh bos for Sophie!

She impressed the judges for the tenth week with three different varieties of bread for the signature challenge and came second on the ginger biscuit technical. However, it must have been her showstopper that cinched the deal for Sophie, as she whipped up a honey bee-themed version of a traditional entremet cake.

This mindblowing creation, which was described as "stunning" and "original" by Leith, featured lemon curd, white chocolate and lavender mousse, set honey custard and hazelnut feuilletine from scratch, as well as edible bees and a gorgeous marbled mirror glaze. Truly scrumptious.

Sophie has a lark in the tent with GBBO host Sandi Toksvig

Sophie said of her win: "It was very surreal, and I hadn't allowed myself to think that I could win it up to that moment in time when they said my name and then the enormity of it hit me.

"I do keep my emotions under control, so there wasn't really a point in the tent that I would burst into tears. It wasn't going to happen at the end of the final either, because if anything it was a relief.

"I think I am pretty cool, calm and collected. I don't mind working under pressure, so being in the tent working under time restraints and the hot weather made me more focused and better organised.

"I am a girl who is pretty unfazed by most things, and I really enjoy throwing myself into the deep end in anything, so the challenges in Bake Off were something I enjoyed, not feared."

She added of her plans going forward: "I am not sure where I will go from here. It would be wonderful to write a patisserie book, but let's see what comes my way. I would like to try travelling the world for inspiration for starters."

Faldo’s victory concludes the first Bake Off series since the programme moved from the BBC to Channel 4 after last year’s run and it has gone a storm with fans.

However, there were some dissenters in the mix who thought that Steven or Kate deserved the GBBO victory more.

Many viewers also mourned the elimination of drama student Liam earlier in the series. Gone from the show but not forgotten!

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