St Andrews Graduate Crowned Champion: The Best Moments of The Great British Bake Off 2025
- Lucy Anderson
- 3 days ago
- 3 min read
As the weather gets colder and the nights get longer, what could be a more comforting way to spend your evenings than watching Bake Off?
It’s practically a tradition in my flat to watch the show every year. We bake a batch of cookies, gather around the laptop, and judge masterpieces that we could never actually make ourselves. Although I do love Bake Off, I was slightly concerned when I received a Matt Lucas scented candle for my birthday, which, unsurprisingly, my friends refuse to keep in the living room.
Even though this year’s competition has ended, there’s still plenty to talk about. So, grab a cup of tea and a slice of cake, while we dive into the best moments of the season.
Of course, we have to start with our winner and St Andrews medical school survivor, Jasmine Mitchell. Awarded star baker five times, an achievement only attained by one other contestant in the series, she set a new record by going on to win the overall competition. Her unwavering consistency, unique flavours, and ambitious bakes earned her two prestigious Paul Hollywood handshakes, who described her as “the best [winner] we have seen for quite a while”. On top of the pressure of Bake Off, Jasmine took her end of year St Andrews medical exams at the same time. She described the filming as “one of the most intense weeks of my life: two massive Medicine exams and week 8 of the Bake Off.”
Out of all of Jasmine’s beautiful bakes, her final 1.2-metre cake has to be the most impressive.
Delicately adorned with flowers, strawberries and meringue, this “summer celebration cake” showcases exactly what Jasmine does best. Her professional presentation and delicate flavours combine to create an elegant, classic cake, which ultimately secured her the Bake Off victory.
Moving onto another one of my favourites, we have Natalia’s Ukraine landscape cake.
Natalia was raised in Ukraine and learned baking techniques from her grandmother, moving to England in 2021 to be with her husband. When war broke out at home, Natalia’s family joined her as refugees, and Natalia started “Ukraine Bakes”, donating the money to the British Red Cross. For Natalia, baking encapsulates place and history. This showstopper is a homage to the cities, fields, mountains and rivers of Ukraine. Complete with a heart over Kyiv, the cake demonstrates the love Natalia puts into each one of her bakes, making it one of the most memorable masterpieces of the season.
Next, we have Tom’s chocolate beehive, which caused considerable ‘buzz’ among bake off fans.
A delicate chocolate shell hanging from a tree, this creation pushes the very limits of baking. The piece is covered in individually painted macarons, showcasing Tom’s talent and unrivalled creativity. While the judges criticised Tom for using a chocolate centrepiece in meringue week, the beehive is one of my favourite designs of the season. The bees are adorable, and the hanging centrepiece is a testament to Tom’s unconventional and imaginative style.
Finally, we have Ian’s bin-inspired showstopper.
While this bake isn’t the prettiest, it references an iconic moment in Bake Off history: “Bin-gate”. A few seasons ago, contestants were tasked with creating a baked Alaska on the hottest day of the year. Ian Watters, a former contestant, unfortunately lost his baked alaska to the hot weather, ending with a plate of melted slop. In a moment of justified rage, he threw the whole thing in a bin, resulting in “bin-gate”. As another Ian from Belfast, this year’s contestant Ian Ross decided to pay homage to this unfortunate moment in Bake Off history. He successfully turned a tragedy into the funniest creation of this year’s season.
As we can see from all these wonderful bakes, this year’s contestants were particularly talented. Jasmine’s win, of course, was the icing on the cake. From Prue Leith’s event at Toppings to Jasmine’s victory, St Andrews has cemented its status as the perfect place for Bake Off fans.
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