The Great Christmas Bake Off: Who was crowned the first ever festive Star Baker?

Can we go to their house for Christmas next year?



The Great Christmas Bake Off was warmer than a piece of nicely spiced gingerbread and the perfect accompaniment to our Christmas Day afternoon - but even we probably didn't enjoy it as much as Mary-Anne Boermans.

Yep, series two's Mary-Anne got the best Christmas present ever when Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood decided she was worthy of the first ever festive Star Baker title.

She triumphed over fellow returning bakers Ali Imdad, Cathryn Dresser and Norman Calder – and while we're obviously huge fans of Norm, we couldn't be happier for Mary-Anne.

In fact, she was taking the show so seriously that she burst into tears after finishing her showstopper cake, explaining: "To have it looking mostly the way I had imagined it was a bit emotional. I wanted my last cake for Mary Berry to be a good one."

And boy, was it – a beautiful concoction worthy of the finest patisserie featuring orange and lemon curds, cream, moist sponge and speculoos. Any chance you have any left over, at all, Mary-Anne?

But it wasn't just the Showstopper which saw Mary-Anne excel as her signature tree decoration biscuits – chocolate Christmas pudding-themed taste explosions and gorgeous-looking wreaths – earned her handshakes from Paul and Mary. It's a Christmas miracle!

Mind you, it wasn't all plain sailing for Mary-Anne as Mary and Paul were unimpressed with her choux wreath in the technical challenge, mainly because of the swimming pool of melted chocolate in the middle of it. Which to us seems like a good thing, but who are we to say, eh?

The technical challenge was actually won by Mary-Anne's closest rival for Star Baker, Ali Imdad, who wowed with his signature biscuits – including some in the shape of a bauble that earned another of those coveted Hollywood handshakes ("I've never seen anything like it before!")

Sadly for Ali, though, he was slightly let down by his showstopper cake, which was praised for flavour and mousse filling but deemed "overbaked".

One of our favourite bakers to watch again, though, was Cathryn, who didn't exactly have the easiest time in the tent.

Whether it was failing to turn her oven on, losing half a cake in a forgotten freezer, accidentally putting bicarbonate of soda in her biscuits or getting so teary that she needed a Mel & Sue double-hugger, Cathryn reminded us of how we would be in the Bake Off tent... right down to her pout: "It doesn't feel like Christmas any more."

However, unlike us, Cathryn actually managed to turn out some pretty incredible bakes, from candy cane cookies to a Christmas pudding-esque Christmas cake that made us salivate.

In fact, we were a bit sad when the show all came to an end – but never fear, because the festive joy continues with another episode of The Great Christmas Bake Off tomorrow (Boxing Day) at 7pm on BBC One. It's like getting a present late because your aunt missed the last post deadline...