The Great British Bake Off so far...

The eleventh series of The Great British Bake Off has flown by, but not before offering a range of charismatic and talented bakers to entertain us on a Tuesday night. Whether you were charmed by Linda’s bubbly optimism, or Sura’s sense of humour, the normality of these very typical people is always a warming watch.

We are now down to the final five and, as last week’s finger-doughnut technical proved, the competition is intense. Lottie could not quite handle the heat in the ice-cream cake showstopper, leaving Dave, Laura, Hermine, Peter, and Marc as the quarter-final contestants.

After scraping through in Japanese week, digital manager from Kent, Laura, forgot to press the ice-cream setting on her mixer, giving her two wobbly weeks in a row. At this stage of the competition, she will need something truly outstanding in desert week to make her a serious competitor.

Armoured guard, Dave is a humble member of the Bake Off tent. After suffering an accidental and highly memorably sabotage in week one, Dave has had some highlights, from his week 2 ‘Star Baker’ title to, more recently, his Matcha Shiba Inu Kawaii cake in Japanese week, but the cracks started showing last week as he came last in the technical challenge with his over-cooked donuts. If he can keep his cool, he may well make it to the final, but he has some tough competition.

Peter, Aged 20 is the youngest in the tent now by a decade. He has watched every series of the show, and has been baking seriously since he was twelve years old. He started the series by winning ‘Star Baker’ and has gone on to impress almost every week. On paper Peter is certainly an obvious winner, but I can’t help but wonder if his polish might be a bit too bland. Paul and Prue like their winner to grow, and perfect Peter may be lacking room for improvement.

It is impossible to watch Marc Elliot bake and not believe that there is good in humanity. After suffering personal tragedy, including a motorbike accident in 2016 which saw him lose a leg, he took up bread-making as a form of therapy, before entering Bake Off to show his daughters that “even when life throws obstacles at you, you can rise to new challenges and develop new passions”, according to Channel 4. Marc is a support worker and single parent who travelled the world as a young man and, now aged 51, he has impressed both Paul and Prue. His skill saw him declared ‘Star Baker’ in bread week, previously significant as an indicator of the overall winner.

Hermine is the series’ underdog. Until the weaker links fell away, her humility made her easy to miss, but she is fast emerging as a potential winner. She won her first ‘Star Baker’ title last week, putting her in a strong position. Her pride in her win was matched by Stephen, her son, who announced, ‘I’m proud of you’, bringing the Bake Off fandom out in absolute raptures. Her Instagram post summed up the beauty of the moment: ‘Steven shed tears of joy... It was so lovely hearing him say he was proud of me. Hopefully, I inspire him in all I do…’

Prediction-wise, my money is on Hermine, although I wouldn’t be surprised to see Peter lift the Bake Off cake stand. Fond as the fandom is of Laura, I do not expect to see her after next week, unless she can really up her game. So, who will take the final spot in my hypothetical final? It is a close call between Dave and Marc, and both have had their moments of triumph and disappointment, but I’d probably estimate that Marc will pip Dave to the post for the all-important final spot.

Edited by Jemma Snowdon