Wednesday 8 October 2014

Victory for 'Gadget Gran': Nancy Birtwhistle, 60, named as Great British Bake Off winner

Victory for 'Gadget Gran': Nancy Birtwhistle, 60, named as Great British Bake Off winner ahead of bookies' favourite Richard Burr

'Gadget Gran' Nancy Birtwhistle emerges as winner of Great British Bake Off
The 60-year-old used a hand-crafted 'drainpipe tool' to mould brandy snap
The bookies' outsider going into episode became show's oldest ever winner
She won with a windmill cake designed to look like the Moulin Rouge in Paris
Mrs Birtwhistle developed reputation for her original cooking instruments made by her husband

PUBLISHED: 21:01, 8 October 2014 | UPDATED: 21:51, 8 October 2014

She has been dubbed 'Gadget Gran' because of her penchant for using homemade implements to perfect her bakes.

And on Wednesday night Nancy Birtwhistle lived up to her nickname as she propelled herself to victory in the Great British Bake Off.

The 60-year-old grandmother-of-eight used a hand-crafted 'drainpipe tool' to help mould her brandy snap as she became the oldest ever winner of the BBC show.

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Champion: 'Gadget gran' Nancy Birtwhistle - pictured with Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood - defied the odds to be crowned the Great British Bake Off champion in Wednesday's final

Emotional moment Nancy becomes Great British Bake Off winner

Competition: Nancy beat off strong competition from Luis Troyano [L] and bookies' favourite Richard Burr [R]

Mrs Birtwhistle was the bookies' outsider going into the final, having been named star baker just once.

Her hotly tipped rival Richard Burr, 38, was widely expected to carry off the crown after winning the accolade on five separate episodes, while the judges said Luis Troyano, 42, was 'almost professional' in standard.

But in a tense final, Mrs Birtwhistle – a retired GP practice manager from Barton-upon-Humber in Lincolnshire – saw off her male competitors, proving slow and steady sometimes does win the race.

She had stayed under the radar for much of the series, but Paul Hollywood warned early in the final episode that he would not take past performance into account when judging the last three contestants. He said: 'The final stands on its own, we don't look back.'

Slow and steady: Mrs Birtwhistle – a retired GP practice manager from Barton-upon-Humber in Lincolnshire – saw off her male competitors, proving slow and steady sometimes does win the race

Genius: The 60-year-old grandmother-of-eight used a hand-crafted 'drainpipe tool' to help mould her brandy snap as she became the oldest ever winner of the BBC show.

Calm before the storm: For her grand finale, Mrs Birtwhistle created a spectacular windmill, designed to look like the famous Moulin Rouge cabaret in Paris

Winning entry: Nancy's brandy snap won rave reviews from Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood, and saw her take the crown

Worried about winning: Mrs Birtwhistle became increasingly nervous as the tension built up

Great British Bake Off: Nancy puts her bread in a microwave

As the final progressed Mrs Birtwhistle's steady nerves came to the fore. Meanwhile, Mr Burr – who forgot to tuck his trademark lucky blue pencil behind his ear for the first challenge – saw his efforts go from bad to worse and ruefully admitted his challenge had gone 'up the swanee'.

At one point, Mary Berry scornfully compared his Tarte au Citron to 'sweet scrambled eggs', while Mr Hollywood was equally damning about his Pains au Lait.

But Mrs Birtwhistle continued to impress, and won with a spectacular black and white windmill cake designed to look like the famous Moulin Rouge cabaret in Paris.

Getting edgy: As the final progressed Mrs Birtwhistle's steady nerves came to the fore

Nerves setting in: As the other contestants produced their creations, her nerves clearly intensified

Not happy: There were certainly times when it seemed the pressure was getting too much

Joyous: The grandmother was not tipped to win and was overjoyed with the results on Wednesday night

Congratulations: Mary Berry looked on proudly as Nancy received congratulations following her win

And to construct its curved brandy snap roof, she relied on an ingenious home-made stand made by her husband, retired GP Tim.

She explained: 'Tim made me this gadget because I wanted to be able to mould my brandy snap around something. I said 'Make me a drainpipe or something.' I think it's a drainpipe.'

Mr Birtwhistle's very first contraption was seen at the start of this year's series, when she used a homemade guillotine to chop 36 miniature Jaffa cakes into perfect squares.

At the time, Mrs Berry said the cakes were a 'sheer joy' to look at and praised her ingenuity, saying: 'Your little gadget for cutting them in half worked really well.'

Mary Berry said her cakes were a 'sheer joy' to look at and praised her ingenuity, saying: 'Your little gadget for cutting them in half worked really well.'

Emotional: The contestant consistently wowed the judges - Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry

Loving embrace: The winner was supported and cheered by family and friends

NANCY'S SHOW-STOPPING RECIPE

For her grand finale, Mrs Birtwhistle created a spectacular windmill, designed to look like the famous Moulin Rouge cabaret in Paris.

She said: ‘You’ve got to think burlesque, and red and black, and can-can. Sort of sinister.’

To make your own:

Create a four-layer Victoria sponge cake. This will be the base of the windmill.

Cover in red icing and decorate around the edges with mini-shortbread petit fours.

Next, create a Croquembouche tower, made from choux pastry balls filled with passion-fruit flavoured cream.

On top of this, you place the body of the windmill, made from ginger and orange biscuit slabs held together with icing.

The sails are made from red-dyed caramel.

Finally, the roof is a strip of brandy-snap, carefully cooled over a drainpipe to create an elegant curve.

But how do you make it so good? Mary Berry couldn't hide her admiration as she chatted to Nancy during the show's finale

Gotta make sure it tastes right: Nancy - who won with a windmill cake designed to look like the Moulin Rouge in Paris - made sure to try out her recipe as she went along

What a pro: Nancy emerged as the winner thanks to her ingenious gadgets designed by her husband and her own baking skills

In the second episode, Mrs Birtwhistle unveiled another gadget designed by her husband, a spiked implement designed to put dimples in her biscuits that host Sue Perkins described as a 'biscuit iron Maiden'.

However, her love for mechanical assistance almost proved her undoing in the quarter final, when she used a microwave to help her bread dough rise more quickly.

The cheat visibly shocked the judges and was condemned by the Craft Bakers' Association. And it backfired when the microwaves damaged the protein in the dough and caused it to collapse.

Close: Nancy shared a laugh with rivals Luis Troyano [L] and bookies' favourite Richard Burr [R] as they waited for their results

Tense: However, it wasn't long before things turned tense for the final three

Gadget gran: Nancy was previously blasted for using a microwave but the judges overcame their reservations to award her the prize

PREVIOUS BAKE OFF WINNERS

Now she has won the coveted Bake Off crown, Nancy Birtwhistle has hinted she may come out of retirement and teach her pastry-making techniques to a live audience. The show’s previous winners have all done their best to cash in on victory by publishing baking books, setting up cookery schools and appearing on TV. This is what they have done.

Edd Kimber, 29

The show’s first ever winner in 2010, Mr Kimber used his victory to escape his ‘soul destroying’ job working as a debt collector for a bank in Bradford.

He worked briefly in Raymond Blanc’s pastry kitchen in Oxfordshire before publishing two cookbooks, Say It With Cake and the Boy Who Bakes, which sold 35,000 copies. A third, Patisserie Made Simple, will be published next week to benefit from the Bake Off final publicity.

Mr Kimber also writes a popular blog, The Boy Who Bakes, has taught macaroon making classes in London, run a pop-up bakery in Fortnum & Mason and is ‘resident baker’ on The Alan Titchmarsh Show on ITV.

Joanne Wheatley, 45

Shortly after she won the second series, Mrs Wheatley’s life was thrown into turmoil when her husband Richard, a professional gambler, was jailed for his part in a money laundering scam. He was later forced to pay back £720,000 of his ill-gotten gains.

However, she managed to launch a career of her own, running cookery courses from her home in Essex. She has also given cake-making demonstrations in London, appeared on The One Show and The Alan Titchmarsh Show, enjoyed a week-long guest slot on Channel 4’s What’s Cooking?, wrote a recipe column for Sainsbury’s magazine and published two books, A Passion For Baking and Home Baking.

Her blog, Jo’s Blue Aga, has 32,000 followers.

John Whaite, 25

After winning the third series in 2012, Mr Whaite gave up his career in commercial law and started baking full time. He earned a patisserie diploma from Le Cordon Bleu in London before publishing two cookbooks, John Whaite Bakes and John Whaite Bakes at Home. According to his latest company accounts, they earned him £52,000.

He also launched an artisan chocolate shop, became resident chef on ITV’s Lorraine, and is about to open a cookery school called John Whaite’s Kitchen on his family’s dairy farm in Lancashire.

Frances Quinn, 31

Miss Quinn has put her career as a children’s clothing designer on hold since winning last year’s series. She has spent the past year writing for magazines and newspapers and giving cooking demonstrations on TV and at festivals.

Recently, she made a Giant Chocolate Fudge Fancy cake for the opening of an exhibition of the works of illustrator Quentin Blake, and designed some branded biscuits for a Nike promotion.

Her first book, Quintessential Baking, is set to be released next August.

During last night's final, Mrs Birtwhistle declared she prefers to use mechanical assistance when mixing her dough, even though the mixture exploded in her face at one point, covering her in flour.

She said: 'I let the machine do as much work as I can because I haven't the strength to pummel it about.' She joked: 'These men have got lots of muscles so they can pummel the dough around. I think I should be given an extra half hour.'

Mrs Birtwhistle said Bake Off gave her a 'terrific buzz' and was one of the best things she has done in her life.

She added: 'There is nothing so scary as the final, and I didn't know if I would be able to cope with it, but I was fine. I have never been tested to that extent, or had that pressure before, but I realised I could be pretty stoic about it all.'

Mrs Birtwhistle said Bake Off gave her a 'terrific buzz' and was one of the best things she has done in her life

She has it in the bag: Mary and Paul smiled happily at Nancy as she completed her final task

Now that she has won, she hinted she will launch a new career giving live cookery demonstrations. Mr Hollywood and Mrs Berry have both forged lucrative side-lines teaching bakery to audiences around the country.

She said: 'What I enjoy doing is teaching people how to make pastry, and it really is easy, so I would like to share some of what I know. You learn all these skills through your life and you have to pass them on.

'I have never stood in front of big crowds but I think I could be good at that. I have learned that I am good at keeping my head.'

Mrs Berry added: 'Nancy has remained constant throughout. I think it was her quiet determination that drove her through, and the fact that she never really lost her cool.

'It was a close run when it came to judging the final, but Nancy is deservedly our winner and I must admit that I have been inspired by her baking.'

Teary: The win was clearly an emotional moment - causing her to cry tears of joy

What does the future hold for her? she hinted she will launch a new career giving live cookery demonstrations

Mary Berry added: 'Nancy has remained constant throughout. I think it was her quiet determination that drove her through, and the fact that she never really lost her cool.'

PAUL WHO? MARY BERRY MORE POPULAR THAN CO-STAR HOLLYWOOD

They may have equal billing on the show.

But judging by the stir she causes on Twitter, it seems Mary Berry is more popular than her Bake Off colleague Paul Hollywood

The 79-year-old has been mentioned 44,700 times on the social networking site since the latest series began on August 5.

Many of the Tweets have been generated by fans who wanted to share their admiration of her colourful jackets.

Meanwhile Mr Hollywood, 48, was only mentioned in 16,400 Tweets.

Overall, the series was mentioned 998,500 times on Twitter, compared to 370,000 times last year.

Fans shared 199,500 pictures, the phrase ‘soggy bottom’ was mentioned 5,100 times, and there were 10,500 mentions of the ‘Bingate’ scandal, when Iain Watters threw away his Baked Alaska.

KATCHING MY I

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Wednesday 8 October 2014