The Great British Baking Show : The 2021 Season Ends with a History-Making Winner
Mark Bourdillon/Netflix
Warning: This article contain's spoilers!
The Great British Baking Show's 2021 finale was one for the history books!
On Friday, the hit series wrapped up its season on Netflix by naming amateur baker Giuseppe Dell'Anno the winner — marking the first time an Italian has ever won the show in its 12-year year history.
"There are no words. I'm speechless for once," the 45-year-old engineer said after his victory. "I'm in shock, I'm in shock, I'm in shock."
"I don't say often and lightly that I'm proud of what I do, but in this case, I can't possibly not say that. I'm really, really proud I did this," Dell'Anno added. "It's unbelievable. It's unbelievable."
While he might have been surprised, judges Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith noted how Dell'Anno's eye for elegant precision and consistently stunning Italian-influenced recipes marked him out for greatness from the beginning.
"The first time I walked into the tent for the first signature and saw his minirolls, I went, 'That looks like our winner,' ' Hollywood, 55, said. "You could see the heart and soul going into his baking. He's done an incredible job."
"He's such a classic, beautiful baker. He represents a long tradition of classical Italian baking and done it brilliantly through the way through," said Leith, 81. "So I'm going home to make lots more Italian cakes, because they really are good."
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Mark Bourdillon/Netflix Giuseppe Dell'Anno
Dell'Anno may have wound up the winner, but fellow finalists Chigs Parmar, 40, and Crystelle Pereira, 26, gave him a run for his money throughout the finale's three rounds.
Each was evenly matched with wins going into the finale too, another Baking Show first. In the previous weeks of the competition, all three had been awarded Star Baker twice before and were given two coveted "Paul Hollywood handshakes" a piece.
"The 2021 final is like no other," co-host Noel Fielding said at the top of the show. "It's never been this close before."
At first, it looked like Dell'Anno might not clinch the win.
He nearly ran out of time during his Signature bake (a three-layer orange-zest infused carrot cake with fig and walnut jam, decorated with a light orange cream cheese icing, candied walnuts, and fresh figs). The crunch meant that his cake didn't properly cool down before he iced it, adding a lot of moisture as the heat forced the cake to absorb the icing and jam. "It has an absolutely delicious flavor but the texture is very soft," Leith said. "It still tastes like a carrot cake which is important."
The Technical didn't go any better for Giuseppe either. His lemon-curd Belgium buns were over-baked, a mistake that landed him in third place. "Giuseppe in the technical, what was he doing?" Hollywood asked afterwards, noting that Pereira — who won her first Technical — was going into the Showstopper round in the lead.
But the Alice in Wonderland "Mad Hatter's Tea Party"-themed Showstopper is where Dell'Anno clinched the win — even though that round came with some trouble at first when forgot to shut his over door properly, causing the appliance to not preheat.
Still, in the 4? hour bake time, Dell'Anno created a masterful spread, at the center of which was a giant mushroom made of tear-and-share brioche filled with chocolate and hazelnut filling. That towered over mango and passionfruit "drink me" panna cottas with brandy snaps, orange and fig heart-shaped muffins, and an asparagus and pea-filled choux caterpillar.
Every element got high scores, but the panna cotta was the clear star.
"The panna cotta is delicious. It really is stunning," Hollywood said. "I might finish this one."
"I'm taking it away with me," Leith added. "That is the most perfect texture for a panna cotta. Just set and it sort of cracks as you touch it. Absolutely delicious. The panna cotta is bliss."
The Great British Bake Off/Channel 4
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Even Parmar and Pereira agreed that Dell'Anno's bakes had made him the deserving winner.
"I am over the moon that Giuseppe won because I know how hard he has worked throughout this whole competition," Parmer said. "It's a euphoric moment."
Pereira got emotional talking about Dell'Anno. "I am so happy for Giuseppe. He's an incredible an incredible guy," she said, choking up and holding back tears. "[He's] so genuine, an insane baker, and he really, really deserves that win. His family are going to be so proud of him."
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Mark Bourdillon/Netflix
Family was at the top of Dell'Anno's mind after his triumph.
Earlier in the episode, Dell'Anno opened up about his father, Cosimo Dell'Anno — an amateur baker himself who inspired his son to get into the kitchen.
"[My dad] was a baker by passion," Giuseppe recalled, remembering his childhood on the west coast of central Italy. "Every Sunday he'd put the dessert in front of us after our main meal. and I really wanted that to be the case for my kids as well. It was so pleasurable for me that I couldn't just let the tradition die."
Giuseppe was then surprised with a video from Cosimo who told his son, "I wish you luck, infinite, because you are better than me by far. I send you a big hug. A huge one."
That made Giuseppe tear up. "I'm surprised my dad managed to do that," Giuseppe said. "He's not doing well, he's getting towards his elderly stage. He said that I've become better than he ever was as a baker which is absolutely a lie. I've got some pictures of the things he used to make when he used to work and they would make very good Showstoppers for [Baking Show]."
"All I can think of is the reaction I'm going to get from my mum and dad," he said, after his win. "The fact that everything I've done to deserve this come from his heritage, is going to be the best thank you note I could possibly send him. He's going through a very hard time, health-wise, so I think this is going to be a boost."
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So how did they react? Well according to the post-finale credits, when Giuseppe told his parents he won the Baking Show, "his dad was incredibly proud" and "his mum said she wasn't surprised."
"To ensure all their family recipes are passed on, they are planning on writing a cookbook together," the show also said.
As for how Giuseppe's kids reacted, that remains a mystery. The father of three — who shares young sons Alberto, Riccardo, and Giorgio with his wife — famously said during the season that he wasn't even going to tell his boys he was filming the show until after it wraps (due to the coronavirus pandemic, the bakers now stay in a filming bubble for 2? months, rather than return home for four days between weekend competition rounds).
They clearly know by now, Giuseppe posting a photo of three of them on Instagram watching the show.
"Life doesn't get and sweeter," he wrote in the picture's caption.
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On social media, Giuseppe — who is now working in Milan — also shared a post of himself posing with his trophy.
"You think you know what you're getting yourself into when you sign up… it's a physically, psychologically and emotionally draining experience. But also exciting and exhilarating. And I could have never done it without the support of my wife, my fellow bakers and the constant support from the production team!" he wrote.
"Thank you all out there, for reaching out and showering me with love!" he added. "I will be forever grateful!"
The 2021 season and previous seasons of The Great British Baking Show are now streaming on Netflix.
