This week on The Great British Baking Show, the three remaining bakers are competing in “The Final”. They will face three challenges that will result in one of them becoming the winner of The Great British Baking Show 2022.
Signature Challenge
For the Signature Challenge the bakers were given three hours to make a summer picnic using seasonal sustainably grown ingredients from across the UK. This picnic had to include six mini cakes, six individual vegetarian pies, two loaves of white bread and six finger sandwiches using one of the white loaves. Considering that this was a Signature Challenge, the bakers were asked to make a lot more than usual, even compared to other finals. This challenge was difficult in terms of time management and managing different baking disciplines at the same time.
Syabira made vegetarian pies that contained aubergine, mushroom, quail egg and piccalilli. She also made heart-shaped broad bean, coriander paste, and salsa verde sandwiches and elderflower-infused Swiss rolls with strawberry jam and rosemary cream. The judges liked how identical all her bakes looked. They thought her sandwiches had an unusual flavor but were delicious and had a great texture. Her pies were neat and robust, but her filling needed a little more salt. The judges loved the decoration of her Swiss rolls and thought the sponge was soft and beautifully baked. However, her rosemary cream overpowered the other flavors.
Abdul made pies that contained Yorkshire fettle cheese, leek, onion, rocket, and mint. His sandwiches contained grated carrot and beetroot, cream cheese, chive, and dill and he made Swiss rolls with cherry and tarragon jam. The judges liked the look of all his bakes. They loved the flavors and textures of his sandwiches but thought that they were a little uneven in size and a bit thick. They loved the combination of herbs in his pies and thought his pastry was great. They also liked his Swiss rolls but thought that they were quite pale, and they couldn’t taste the tarragon.
Sandro made cauliflower cheese pies and egg and watercress sandwiches. He made lemon and elderflower cakes which contained mixed berry compote and a cream cheese filling. In true Sandro fashion, he made more than he needed to. He also made six fruit tarts and six blueberry jam biscuits. The judges loved the look of his bakes and thought his display looked very generous with the extra bakes. However, they did say that they wouldn’t try the extras as they weren’t part of the challenge. They thought his sandwiches tasted heavenly, with a nice kick of mustard, but they were massive and not very elegant. His pies were also delicious, but his pastry was undercooked. His cakes, once again, had great flavors and they loved the tartness of the berry compote. However, they were also too big and not “mini” cakes.
Technical Challenge
For the Technical Challenge, the bakers were given two hours to make a summer pudding bomb using a recipe that they had never seen before with minimal instructions. The bomb had an elderflower and berry jelly middle, surrounded by a meringue and raspberry mousse-like filling, surrounded by raspberry syrup-soaked bread, and topped with glazed fruit. The judges ranked the bakes from worst to best in a blind judging, not knowing which tarts belonged to which baker.
The bread used in this pudding was the loaf that the bakers had produced in the Signature Challenge. Luckily, they had all produced good bread. The main problem in this challenge was getting it all to set. The bakers had to use vegetable gelatin which must be boiled to activate, not just bloomed in hot water. The bakers were not told this as part of their instructions. They also all struggled to work fast enough to give everything enough time to set properly, which meant that none of the bakers did particularly well with this challenge.
Sandro came in last place. He didn’t know about having to boil the vegetable gelatin so none of his elements set and were liquid. They burst out through the pieces of bread which he had cut into circles (the wrong shape). Prue was impressed with his glazed fruit though.
Syabira came in second place. Her jelly was set but her raspberry filling hadn’t, as she had run out of time. It was also bursting out of her bread and looked messy even though it tasted good.
This left Abdul in first place. Although his raspberry filling also wasn’t quite set, it was the most set out of all of them. His decoration was alright, his bomb tasted good, and they liked his meringue. However, his bread around the outside was not soaked properly and was a little pale.
Showstopper Challenge
For the Showstopper Challenge, the bakers were given four and a half hours to make a large edible sculpture. The theme for the bake was “Our Beautiful Planet”. They had to bake a large cake base and showcase at least three additional baking skills. The judges were looking for flavor, color and imagination.
Sandro made a sculpture entitled “The World from Different Angles”. His large cake base was a three-tiered lemon sponge with plum compote which was ocean themed. This was surrounded with lemon, honey and cream sweet buns which acted as ocean pebbles. Above this cake he had white chocolate and raspberry cream profiterole clouds and then lemon biscuit sun and stars. He also planned to make blueberry cake pop planets, but he ran out of time and decided to not make these. Unlike the other bakers, Sandro decided to bake his large cakes by eye rather than timing them. It was very important to get the time and temperature right for these cakes to bake evenly due to their size. Sadly, Sandro turned the temperature up too high and so his cakes browned very quickly but weren’t cooked on the inside. This meant he had to continue baking it which resulted in his cake being burnt around the edges. The judges thought his sponge had a great flavor though. They also liked the flavor of his sweet bread but thought it was a little too chewy. The flavor of his profiteroles was very nicely balanced, but Paul thought that they could have been decorated better. His biscuits also tasted nice but were overbaked. Overall, they liked the look of his sculpture but sadly, Sandro struggled on quite a few elements.
Abdul made a cake that celebrated bees. His cake base was a honey-soaked sponge with blackberry jam, strawberries, and Italian meringue buttercream. He also baked raspberry profiteroles, bee-shaped macarons and elderflower and almond biscuits to make a beehive. The judges liked the color of his sculpture but thought it looked a little messy up-close. They liked his sponge, but Prue thought that with all the honey it was a little too sweet. His macarons had a great texture and flavor, but they didn’t have a dome as they weren’t rested enough and could have been more bee-shaped. His choux buns were a disappointment as they were flat and so many of them couldn’t be filled. His biscuits were a triumph though as they had the perfect texture and flavor.
Syabira made a sculpture of an orangutan holding up a forest. The body of the orangutan was a black pepper cake with blackberry jam and hazelnut chocolate buttercream fur. The head was made from tarragon shortbread with blackberry buttercream. The forest was made of inverted gooseberry meringue kisses and strawberry and rhubarb custard tarts. The judges thought her sculpture was clever but that the face of the orangutan could have done with more work. They thought her sponge was delicious but disagreed amongst themselves as to whether there was too much buttercream. Her shortbread was buttery and crisp, but they couldn’t taste the tarragon. Her tarts were a little messy but tasted fantastic. Overall, they loved her flavors, but expected her bakes to be neater than they were.
Results
In a big celebration including the bakers’ friends and families and the eliminated bakers, Syabira was announced as the winner of The Great British Baking Show 2022. She impressed the judges all season with her unusual but spectacular flavors. Her bakes were always original and creative, and she always practiced her bakes. It was a well-deserved win.
Baking Show Best Bits
Here are some of my favorite non-baking moments from this week’s episode!
- It’s always a joy in the final episode, to see supportive messages from the bakers’ friends and families.
- Sandro praying to Beyonce that his jelly would set in the freezer during the Technical Challenge.
- Seeing clips of this season’s bakers hanging out after the series had finished.
We’ve thoroughly enjoyed this season of The Great British Baking Show and we can’t wait for it to return next year. Make sure you check back here for all the latest news.
