Winning team crowned in Bake Off: The Professionals final
Three teams were tasked with crafting afternoon tea feasts and chocolate banquets.
The patisserie team from InterContinental London at the O2 have been named winners of Bake Off: The Professionals.
Team captain Tanuj, 29 and team member Narayan, 30, defeated rivals from The Royal Airforce Club in London and Soko Patisserie in Solihull in the final, hosted by Liam Charles and Ellie Taylor.
For their first challenge, the teams were tasked with creating a lavish afternoon tea display, including finger sandwiches, scones and two different types of pastries, while the final challenge of the series required the bakers to create a banquet celebrating the best of British, with a towering sugar and chocolate showpiece and enough desserts to feed 120 people.
The InterContinental team impressed by whipping up a feast including a bamboo charcoal brioche with a citrus crab filling for the tea challenge and a lavish Tower Bridge chocolate showpiece for the banquet.
After their win, Tanuj, known as TJ, said: “We did it, I can’t believe it but we did it! You can see on my face, the tears and the smiles and I am just so happy to see my mum and dad standing there and being so proud of me.
“I was so emotional when they announced our names, it is literally our dream come true!”
He added: “The moment we heard our names announced everyone was quite emotional, the whole room was a bit teary.
“Me and Narayan were in tears, but they were happy tears as we had put so much hard work into this. For us, we were a bit exhausted but it was an immensely proud moment.
“We had a kind of strategy that we would divide the workload between us so we could complete each challenge and I guess it worked in our favour. So there was a bit of planning and I would say quite a bit more than we would do in our normal day work.
“Narayan and me have worked together in various locations as we work for the same chain of hotels.
“We got along so well from the day we met, we always want to throw ideas at each other and we just clicked. We were good friends but since this competition he has become more of a brother.”
Judge Cherish Finden said: “Their final challenge sent a tingle down my spine. I can’t tell you how proud I am.
“They impressed me from day one and each week they came back stronger and stronger. Wow!”
Fellow judge Benoit Blin added: “I am delighted for TJ and Narayan they have been the most consistent team and the level of their work and experience has been the greatest.”
