Tiers of joy for queen of cakes

CANDICE Brown won BBC1’s last-ever Bake Off. Frankly it was a piece of cake.

Who better than the Princess of Pout to triumph in a royal-themed final?

Candice’s sausage roll pigs for the Queen’s picnic with peppercorn eyes and pork scratching tails were inspired.

She wasn’t even fazed when told they had to bake 49 items in one go. Yes, 49 items! Or, as The Chase’s Mark Labbett calls it, a starter.

Jane almost went into meltdown. Aerospace engineer Andrew used a spreadsheet! The Tilda Swinton lookalike won praise for his “very even rise”, but couldn’t match the quality of his rivals’ cakes.

True, Andrew topped the week’s innuendo chart with: “I’m on a crack watch.” And Jane’s Victoria sponge earned a rare double handshake from Paul Hollywood (“the Roman clasp” gasped Mel).

But Candice, pictured with Mary Berry, cheerfully beat off her rivals by always “going a bit further”. The saucy minx, whose lippy changed more often than Lady Gaga in concert, handled the Email me at: garry.bushell@ dailystar.co.uk or write c/o Daily Star Sunday, 10 Lower Thames Street, London EC3R 6EN semi well (no chortling at the back please). At the death no-one could hold a candle to her four-tiered Pavlova.

“Well-defined, beautifully flavoured” opined Paul. And her cooking looked just as tasty. No-one knows how Bake Off will fare when it moves to Channel 4, largely because no-one really knows why it’s a ratings hit to begin with.

It’s people we don’t know cooking food we can’t taste, buy, copy or smell.

There is zero chemistry between Hollywood and Berry. The two go together like smoked salmon and custard. And Mel & Sue are as funny as cramp.

Yet millions love it. It’s safe, it’s cosy. It’s Middle England with a side order of diabetes. And the innuendos are naughty rather than filthy, the stuff of seaside postcards.

Candice asking Mel “Can you just grab my jugs?” was a classic example and showed early on that the Bedford girl knew exactly how to play it.

Nigella needs to up her game. The odds on Candice landing her own Pies, Pouts & Pastries series are shortening like Crisco.

BEST bake this series: Candice’s pub cake. (Why wasn’t it seasoned with thyme, gentlemen please?)

RUDEST bake: Andrew’s caramel knight, which seemed to come with a thrusting love lance.

TOP goof: Mary to Candice “I’ll eat a bit of carpet”. Runners-up: Paul “You’ve got great penetration with the syrup”. Kate: “I like the flavour of Cox”. CANDICE – pigging brilliant…Jude Law, The Young Pope (SkyAt)…Jeffrey Dean Morgan as nasty Negan, right, The Walking Dead (Fox). CELEBRITY Haunted Hotel – dead silly…The Fall finale – falling flat…The Collection… Ed Balls – what the flying foxtrot is he doing on Strictly?