The Great British Baking Show: Every Winner’s Best Showstopper

Over its 12 seasons, The Great British Baking Show has showcased the talents of the best amateur bakers the UK has to offer. It’s also featured some jaw-dropping showstopper challenges, with fans marveling at the baker’s ability to cook up some truly delicious, visually appealing, and, at times, gravity-defying desserts.

As well as astonishing bakes, GBBS has seen its share of controversial eliminations and in the battle to avoid that fate, be crowned star baker, and ultimately win the show, acing the showstopper challenge is essential. That’s why, every season, the eventual winner has delivered at least one epic showstopper.

SCREENRANT VIDEO OF THE DAY

Giuseppe Dell’Anno – Amarena Cherry Cake (Season 12)

An engineer living in Bristol but originally from Italy, Giuseppe Dell’Anno had some delicious-looking and ambitious bakes in season 12. One of these show-stopping desserts was his cherry cake.

For German week, Giuseppe created a Bundt-style cake with a vanilla custard filling adorned with cherries.  The judges were thrilled with the structure of the Bundt cake and its delicious flavors, especially the vanilla leading  Giuseppe to win star baker this week for this delicious-looking showstopper.

Peter Sawkins – Ice Cream Christmas Cake Surprise (Season 11)

Calm, cool, and collected season 11 winner Peter Sawkins, the babyface assassin known for his iconic Great British Baking Show quotes, brought his A-game this season, never letting the competition see him sweat. Although he’s had some amazing showstoppers – including the one that won him the competition – there is one that is too impressive not to be his best.

During 80’s week, the contestants were asked to make an ice cream cake on the hottest day in the tent. For this showstopper, Peter created a Christmas ice cream cake with marzipan on top, a thin layer of Italian meringue, with brandy ice cream. Aside from too much fruit, the cake was delicious and cleverly done with the ice cream setting nicely in the heat, and the judges being thoroughly pleased with its taste and decor.

David Atherton – Cheese-Board Cake (Season 10)

Eventually going on to be crowned winner, David was the best baker in season 10, and he nailed the showstopper challenge with his cheese board cake. In the week ten finale, the bakers were tasked with creating a picnic illusion for their show-stoppers. For his picnic illusion, David portrays cheese made out of cake using the flavor of lemon buttermilk cake wrapped in decorated fondant.

When it came to judgment, David’s bake dazzled the judges with both its taste and look. Paul Hollywood called the dessert and David’s work exceptional. With a response like this, it was no surprise that David eventually took home the win.

Rahul Mandal – Edible Rock Garden Chocolate Cake (Season 9)

In season 9 of the competition, fans were introduced to baker Rahul Mandal. Despite some hiccups along the way, Rahul produced some amazing show stoppers throughout the season.

In the final week of the competition, Rahul presented his edible rock garden chocolate cake that consisted of orange buttercream, cardamom diplomat on a two-tier chocolate orange cake, and orange-flavored green curd. With his clever use of flavor and delicious desserts, Rahul shocked the judge’s taste buds and took home the win this season thanks to his show-stopping rock garden dessert.

Sophie Faldo – Snakes And Ladders Biscuit Board Game (Season 8)

Season 8 of The Great British Baking Show presented some amazing bakers. One of these bakers was Sophie Faldo, who produced some incredible bakes and delicious GBBS recipes to try at home. During biscuit (cookie) week, the bakers had the challenge of creating a biscuit board game at least 40 cm long.

For this challenge, Sophie created her board from lemon and chocolate dough, with 50 lemon squares on the board and 50 chocolate squares. Her show-stopper was intricately designed and tasted amazing, earning her second place in the competition that week.

Candice Brown – Gingerbread Pub (Season 7)

Deciding to replicate the pub that her parents ran when she was a child, Candice Brown took a risky chance during biscuit week’s showstopper challenge. The bakers were tasked with creating a gingerbread dessert scene that was 30 cm high, and Candice chose to create a gingerbread pub with a sticky ginger carpet and ginger thins.

Although faced with an ambitious creation and a small time frame, the judges were delighted with the design and taste of Candice’s pub design, with Paul Hollywood stating the dessert was superb and Mary Berry loving the spices included in the gingerbread. With this showstopper pulling out the win, Candice earned herself the title of Star Baker in the second week of the competition.

Nadiya Hussain – Fizzy Pop Cheesecake (Season 6)

Being arguably one the most successful winners to come from The Great British Baking Show, Nadiya Hussain wowed the judges week after week with her creations. She seemed to go beyond herself creatively with every challenge, and dessert week was no different.

During this week, Nadiya decided to switch things up and created three cheesecakes ranging from flavors like cream soda, ginger beer, and lemonade with an illusion of a soda hovering over pouring down lemon meringue. Although her show-stopper didn’t win her star baker that week, it was one of the bakes that cemented Nadiya as a fan favorite.

Nancy Birtwhistle – Chocolate And Caramel Dobos Torte (Season 5)

One of the oldest winners in the show’s history, Nancy Birtwhistle took on every challenge with the determination and talent to win. During European Cake week, the contestants were asked to make a Dobos Torte that included caramel and chocolate.

For Nancy’s showstopper, she baked a two-tier Italian meringue chocolate buttercream torte topped with chocolate ganache and caramel sprinkled with hazelnuts and caramel shards. Not only did the design of the torte woo the judges, the rich but delicious taste left them amazed with no negative feedback.

Frances Quinn – Three-Tier Midsummer Night’s Dream Cake (Season 4)

Frances Quinn always seemed to push herself in every challenge. She made sure that the next creation was better than the last, and this can be said in the case of her showstopping three-tier Midsummer Night’s Dream cake.

This cake, comprised of the flavors lemon, ginger, rhubarb, and carrot knocked the judges away in the finale of week 10. The judges were not only impressed with the flavors of the cake but also its style and appearance, making France’s cake the ultimate show-stopping winner this season.

John Whaite – Heaven and Hell Cake (Season 3)

Season 3’s John Whaite pulled out all the stops to take home the title of Great British Baking Show winner. Making it to the final three, John had the task of wowing the judges one last time in his bid to win. With his final showstopper, Whaite decided to take a chance and bake a chocolate and orange base cake, with mini lemon and coconut meringue cakes placed on top.

This show-stopping heaven and hell chiffon cake, with all of its ingredients and instructions, truly impressed judges Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry with its taste and intricate flavors, that the cake and John Whaite were chosen as the winners for this season.

Joanne Wheatley – Limoncello And White Chocolate Croquembouche (Season 2)

Joanne Wheatley started her season on the baking competition as the underdog. She had a streak of losses starting the competition, however, she continued to prove what she could do. During dessert week, Jo gave the judges exactly what they were looking for with her French-inspired choux pastry puffs with lemon and chocolate flavors.

The flavors of the dessert and presentation gave the judges a definitive answer on who was going to be to star baker this week. Joanne took the win that week and the ultimate win in week 10 as the second winner of The Great British Baking Show.

Edd Kimber – Tomato And Mozzarella Rolls (Season 1)

One of the first bakers to take home the coveted title of Great British Baking Show winner, Edd Kimber was dedicated to winning. Although throughout the season he had some setbacks and losses, he still came out on top.

One of his most memorable show stoppers came during bread week, with Edd creating 12 tomato and 12 mozzarella rolls that blew the judges away with nothing but compliments on the roll’s taste, flavor, and texture. His propensity to top his standards is what landed him the victory win in the show’s first season.

1000-Lb Sisters: Why Tammy Slaton Might Be Fired From The Show

About The Author

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *