Steven: ‘Find an ounce of his previous form and he will be as perfect a contestant as the show has produced’
Steven deserves to win Bake Off because he’s the best baker, a fact neither his detractors, nor those cheering another team, would seriously dispute. Whether making a savoury sandwich illusion cake, a 100-element chess set or a manchego clutch with breadstick chain, he treats every challenge as if life on Earth depended on it. He’s never heard of pacing himself. Remember his US flag terrine with individual stars piped in jelly, one of the greatest creations the tent has ever seen, which he pulled out in week five?
Pie strings, air vents, shimmer spray – from the start Steven had every angle covered, and some didn’t like it. To supply any dramatic tension whatsoever, producers had to push a “style over substance” narrative. Steven responded by turning his game inside out, creating ugly (by his standard) bakes that focused entirely on flavour. The effort has seen him descend from his early, unruffled poise to nigh-Stacey levels of pinkery, sweat and self-blame. But it worked. From fat Bedfordshire clangers to cracked macaroon balloons, to a rum Nicky that looked like a bowl of mince with a combover; even his worst bakes now taste like heaven. If he can regain an ounce of his mastery of form, he will be as perfect a contestant as the show has ever produced.
The fact that a third of the star baker crowns have alighted on Steven’s head is immaterial. If he wins tomorrow, as natural laws imply he will, I doubt he will enjoy it. He’s too consumed by a greater need: to push baking to the level of art, maybe nirvana. Just don’t be swayed by his self-doubt, or distracted by his quivering emotion. Like all greats, his only true antagonist is himself. He’s not simply ahead of his competitors, he’s running a different race.
Rhik Samadder
Sophie: ‘She can stun Paul Hollywood into silence, for which we must all be thankful’
Hold me closer, army dancer: it’s blind-bakingly obvious that Sophie is the best contestant left in this competition, and therefore she should win this series of the Great British Bake Off. She’s really, really good at baking. Kate is obviously the one you want to win if you’re after the nicest, and Steven’s got flair, though his flavours can deflate his pride like the “hot-air balloon” he flopped out during the semi-finals. But Sophie can nail a technical without breaking a sweat. Her showstoppers taste great and look amazing. She pushes the envelope, tries out concepts that are hard, and usually she triumphs. She can also stun Paul Hollywood into silence, for which we must all be thankful.
There is at least one Sophie on every series of the Bake Off, and as viewers, we tend not to warm to them. The Sophies are brutally competent, and this makes people dislike them on Twitter. When the presenters come around for the mid-bake chat, Sophies say things like: “I’m doing five different types of genoise sponge in the shape of a unicycle with working gears made from spun sugar and a seat of white chocolate and pistachio ganache.” There’s a pause, before they add: “I have no idea if it will work!”, despite the fact that they have spent 20 hours of each of the last five days practising every element of it with terrifying precision. They absolutely know it will work, and you’d better steer clear of their palette knife if you dare to think otherwise.
A Sophie has never won, because we like contestants’ journeys to be more transformative. But now that the renegades have all gone (RIP Liam), this is not a competition of character so much as sheer clinical efficiency. As the Terminator of Tarts, Sophie deserves the crown.
Rebecca Nicholson
Kate: ‘If baking isn’t about fixing the bit that went wonky while dropping the rest on the floor, where’s the fun in it?’
Who should win Bake Off? Well, not Kate, obviously. I mean, come on. This whole series has been defined by two bakers – Steven and Sophie – who are comically superior to all the others, dragging masterpieces from their ovens more suited to the Uffizi than the Bake Off tent, while mere mortals such as Kate look on forlornly beside a gamely attempted sponge animal of some description whose tail has collapsed. But you don’t need to be on deadline with a piece about Why Kate Should Win This Year’s Bake Off to realise that, actually, yes, Kate should win this year’s Bake Off.
First, let’s think about Steven and Sophie’s respective journeys, which have involved them both transitioning from excellent professional-level cake artistes to … ever-so-slightly-better professional-level cake artistes. Well, great, but what has being moaned at by Paul Hollywood for two months actually taught you? And while those two pros are off recreating the nth wonder of the world in flour form, there’s a naive charm to Kate’s bakes – how could you not want someone to win who tried to bake the Liver Building out of 10 dozen eggs?
And yes, I said “tried to bake” rather than “baked”. But if baking isn’t about trying to fixing the half that went unexpectedly wonky while dropping the rest of it on the floor, then where’s the fun in that? Kate represents everyone who has ever been thrown into something way over their head and yet somehow managed to stick around. She’s the Walter White of patisserie, and just like Heisenberg himself she has finally – right at the death – come to realise that she actually quite likes it at the top. As the pressure cranks up, it’s the invincible Steven whose bakes have started to melt in the heat while Kate ploughs on towards implausible victory, her childlike rainbow meringues holding firm. No wonder the baking bores are looking nervous.
Tim Jonze
The Great British Bake Off final is on Channel 4 on Tuesday at 8pm. Follow Rhik Samadder’s live blog at theguardian.com/tv
