Great British Bake-Off: The Final, BBC1, review: Tearful Nadiya triumphs in a very British bunfight

In truth it was obvious from the beginning of this final episode that this was hers to lose

Nadiya has a moment with Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry; Ian and Tamal look on (Love Productions/BBC)

In the end it was pretty straightforward. Nadiya Hussain, she of the many wonderful facial expressions and endearing nervous giggle, was named the winner of the sixth season of Great British Bake Off. And it was thoroughly deserved.

“I am never going to put boundaries on myself ever again or say I don’t think I can,” she said, weeping after being crowned champion. “Never.”

In truth it was obvious from the beginning of this final episode that this was Nadiya’s to lose. As the pressure mounted in the tent, the unflappable Ian Cumming found his precision deserting him just as he needed it most, while likeable junior doctor Tamal Ray was unable to conquer the timing issues that have dogged him throughout the series.

“I’m a little bit behind but nothing to worry about,” Tamal announced early on in the signature challenge, in which the three contestants are charged with making 16 iced buns. Five minutes later he swiftly revised that opinion. “If my crème pat doesn’t cool down I’m screwed.” Ah, Tamal, time and Bake Off waits for no man, no matter how good-looking and clever with flavours he might be.

Things weren’t going much better for Ian, who had committed the cardinal sin of allowing his buns to touch during baking. “These buns have touched each other,” exclaimed Paul Hollywood, a Liverpudlian Lady Bracknell overcome by the sheer ghastliness of it all.

Nadiya, meanwhile, had decided to challenge tradition. “My second set of buns will be round,” she announced. The ground trembled. “Round?” spluttered Paul. “Why can’t a bun be round?” interjected Mary Berry. Indeed, Mary, why not? As it turned out Nadiya’s round buns, spiced with cardamom and almond, were “really quite different and full of flavour”, taking her into the lead.

Next up a tricky technical challenge involving raspberry millefeuille. “I’m so confused,” admitted Tamal looking doubtfully at his pastry. “I’ve no idea how to cut these,” wailed Nadiya. Ian, like Nadiya a three-time Star Baker winner, looked purposeful. Was a fight-back on the cards? “Very good pastry, very neat inside, a good strong bake,” pronounced the judges. Unfortunately for Ian, it was Nadiya’s millefeuille they were admiring.

And so to the show-stopper, this year a traditional British cake. While Nadiya calmly made her own marshmallow fondant, Ian and Tamal were playing catch-up. Ian decided that bigger was best and embarked on a crazy carrot cake construction complete with its own special stand and featuring five cakes.

Tamal’s Sticky Toffee Pudding Fruit Cake, inspired by an abandoned Chinese village and dripping with spun sugar cobwebs, was a thing of beauty. Both, however, paled in comparison to Nadiya and her Big Fat British Lemon Drizzle Wedding Cake. Draped in red, white and blue sari cloth, it looked and tasted unbeatable. The judges’ verdict: “Elegant. Beautiful. Stunning.”

Before the final, Nadiya, a 30-year-old mum-of-three from Leeds, announced: “I was a bit nervous that perhaps people would look at me, a Muslim in a headscarf, and wonder if I could bake. I hope that... people have realised that I can – and just because I’m not a stereotypical British person it doesn’t mean I am not into bunting, cake and tea. I’m just as British as anyone else. I hope I have proved that.” She certainly has, and how.