After ten episodes, it’s goodbye to Frances’ creative cakes, Kimberley’s perfect pies and Ruby’s tantalising tarts - the latter always delivered with a hefty dose of self-deprecation on the side.

Surprisingly, the all-female trio of finalists proved to be unflappable during the last stages of the competition as they tried to ice, whip, fold and whisk their way to victory. The first demand was for a savoury picnic pie, which saw Ruby fretting that she was on the “verge of a baking abyss” with her halloumi and couscous offering. Mary Berry seized an opportune moment to tuck in to some asparagus spears set aside for Frances’ rainbow trout and vegetable pie, while Kimberley soldiered on with her chicken and pig pie, which involved green and pink pastry wrapped around a black pudding centre.

Round two offered no respite for the bakers. They were tasked with making pretzels from a Paul Hollywood recipe. No pressure, then... Just another chance for him to give his honest opinion of their efforts with an amused eyebrow raise. In what can only be described as pretzel gymnastics the competitors boiled and baked away to produce a robust biscuit that wouldn’t wither away under the judges’ exacting gaze.

The episode rattled along with uncharacteristically brutal efficiency, leaving little time for Mary’s cosy encouragement as the clock counted down towards Judgement Day. The final task was to make the “showstopper of all showstoppers”, a wedding cake. Again, no pressure. Just to check that the stress-o-meter wasn’t running too high, presenters Mel and Sue were dispatched as usual to check to see the contenders’ hands weren’t shaking too much to make a culinary masterpiece able to appease even the most dissatisfied bridezilla.

Frances'  A Midsummer Night’s Dream-inspired extravaganza was praised as “contemporary” and “attractive”. Next up was Kimberley, with her “languages of love” cake, which saw her stamp heartfelt declarations on the top layer in twenty-eight languages. Although there were no tears during the three-tiers challenge, as feared by Mel and Sue, Ruby’s sunset-themed creation proved to be her undoing. Mary criticised the “overbaked” raspberry cake, while the icing was just “wrong”.

Despite Raymond Blanc’s recent cryptic tweet about the apparent winner, we were kept in suspense right to the end. Would Ruby’s notoriously high standards match Mary and Paul’s criteria? Would Frances marry style with substance in her wedding cake? Frances was eventually declared the winner, with the X-Factor-style tension of the announcement quickly being dissipated by the cosily convivial atmosphere of a typical British garden party that was, thankfully, untouched by that other seasonal British event we have grown to love: the torrential summer downpour.