Three pages of A4, five sheets of gold leaf and 'perfect' lemon meringues: The amazing show-stopping confection that saw John Whaite win The Great British Bake Off

By Liz Thomas
PUBLISHED: 20:58, 16 October 2012 | UPDATED: 11:07, 17 October 2012


He was lucky to get to the final and was barely considered as a serious contender on Great British Bake Off.  
But in the end it was a 'perfect slice' of chocolate cake that transformed John Whaite’s fortunes to help him win the competition.
The law student turned banker beat favourites James Morton and Brendan Lynch, charming judges with his exquisite Heaven and Hell Cake.

Victory! John Whaite, 23, was named the surprise winner of The Great British Bake Off on Tuesday night's show

That's one impressive pudding: The heaven and hell cake was hard to master but John pulled it off without a hitch

But viewers at home hoping to recreate the cake may struggle.
The recipe runs for three A4 pages, involves 27 steps and includes 18 eggs, 1kg of sugar, 600g of dark chocolate and five sheets of gold leaf, and he had little more than two hours to make it.

Whaite, 23, who lives in Manchester with his partner Paul, admitted he was 'very, very surprised' to top the search for Britain’s best amateur baker.

The moment of victory: John looked entirely stunned as his name was read out by presenters Mel and Sue as having won The Great British Bake Off 2012

All a bit emotional: The winner failed to hold back the tears as the realisation that he had won the show sunk in

What a winner: John was congratulated by his mother who said she was very proud of him

He told the Daily Mail: ‘I still can’t believe it. I was surprised to even get on the show. My legs went to jelly. I was really shaking when they said my name. My mum was really chuffed. She was crying. ’
Whaite is keen to carve a career in baking and patisserie and plans to take a course in it. 
He added: 'Schools are very expensive so I am still working out about funds. But I am going to work hard and keep developing my skills. I’m still practising each day and putting together ideas for a cookery book.'

Big task: John's Heaven and Hell chiffon cake helped him bag the title

The tasting: Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood were overwhelmed by John's intricate creation

And referring to his shock win, John told the Daily Record: 'No matter how well you have done, you always doubt yourself. You always think, "Right, it won’t be me."
'When they said my name, it was such a huge shock and my legs did go to jelly. I’ve never experienced that before but now I understand the meaning of the phrase.'
However, Whaite's win was later overshadowed by the tragic passing of his grandfather, who died just a day after he clinched the top spot in the prerecorded programme, filmed last summer.
Whaite said of his loss: 'The day after I won, my grandad had a brain haemorrhage and later died. I'm sure he'd be proud of me.'

Perfectionist: John pulled out all the stops to ensure that his creation was a worthy winner

Unusual methods: The winner was seen melting his chocolate cake with a hairdryer

His winning elaborate Heaven and Hell confection, made up of a collection of individual lemon and coconut meringue mini cakes, placed on top of a dark chocolate and orange base cake, won high praise from the judges.
Mary Berry said: ‘It is stunning. What I like is when you cut it and see it on the plate it looks beautiful. The texture is perfect. It is rich and it is absolutely lovely.’
Fellow judge Paul Hollywood added: ‘You should be praised for the look of it. It is very professional. That really works. You have a perfect slice of cake.’
Waite added: ‘I am most proud of the Heaven and Hell cake. It represents the sort of baking that I am interested in – elaborate, glamorous, and brings together different technical skills.’

Careful! John tentatively places the 'heaven' meringues on top of the dark chocolate 'hell' cake

Difficult decision: The judges were seen deliberating over the contestants with Mel and Sue on hand

It was the first all-male final in the programmes’ history and Mr Morton, 21, had been tipped to win.
The medical student had won the “star baker” award three times in the series and had been praised for his 'inventive' creations.
Similarly, company director Brendan Lynch, 63, had won the star baker award twice and was dubbed the 'bakernator' for his precision and technical skill.
The trio were asked to first make a pithivier – a type of pie from France – but Mr Morton struggled to get his pastry right.  

Simply wonderful: Despite his precision Brendan failed to impress the judges the most

Precision: Brendan's cake proved popular with the judges

In the second round they were asked to create 25 fondant fancies with Mr Lynch and Mr Whaite scolded for their poor attempts.
Hollywood warned the decision on the winner would come down to the final 'showstopper bake', which required contestants to create an 'inspirational' cake.
He said: ‘It has never happened before that it all goes down to the last challenge.’

Fallen at the last hurdle: James won the technical challenge but failed to win the title of Great British Baker

What on earth is that? James' five cakes proved too much to stomach for judge Paul

Mr Morton attempted to impress judges with his 'showstopper' – creating five different cakes to celebrate the United Kingdom.
But disaster struck when he knocked the mixture for one of his creations on the floor and was forced to start again, before Mrs Berry and Hollywood branded the final results 'dry'.
They commented that while Mr Lynch excelled at creations he could practise at home, he struggled when given new challenges.

I'm not sure about these! The fondant fancy technical challenge proved difficult for all three of the bakers

Not so pretty in pink: Brendan and James both found the process time-consuming and messy

Not impressed: James won the technical challenge, but Mary and Paul stressed they were distinctly underwhelmed by the standard of the fancies

The show was filmed over the summer and Waite admitted the pressure of studying for his law finals – he subsequently graduated with a first - at the same time as competing on the show took its toll on him.
He is currently saving up to go to Paris to train as a pâtissier.
Like John, finalist James also passed his university exams and Brendan is planning to teach baking in care homes.

Oven watching: John watched as his Italian sausage and roasted vegetable Pithivier baked away

Challenge: A Pithivier is a round pie made by baking two discs of puff pastry, with filling in between

This has been the most popular series yet for the Great British Bake-Off with a peak of 5.5 million tuning in for the semi-finals and six million predicted for last night’s final.
In 2011, it was an all-female final and the show was eventually won by grandmother Joanne Wheatley, while in 2010 Edd Kimber beat two women to take the title.
They have both gone on to release best-selling cookbooks of their own.
To apply for series four of The Great British Bake Off, click here.

Tasty? The judges tuck in to Brendan's new potato and pepper Pithivier

Next! The judges then moved on to taste James' pastry creation

JOHN'S WINNING HEAVEN AND HELL CAKE (TARTURUS ET CAELI)

Hell: dark chocolate and orange cake. Heaven: lemon and coconut meringue cakelets. A stunning cake worthy of a Bake Off final.
Equipment and preparation: You will need a 28cm/11in cake tin, 16 x 5cm/2in cake tins, a chefs’ blow torch, half a dozen straws and a piping bag with a small nozzle.

Ingredients:

 For the hell cake

           9 free-range eggs, separated
         60g/2½oz cocoa powder
        230ml/8fl oz hot water

        320g/11oz plain flour
        450g/1lb golden caster sugar
        1½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
        1½ tsp salt
        155ml/5½oz sunflower oil
        2½ tsp vanilla extract
        2 oranges, zest only

 For the heaven cake

        285g/10oz plain flour
        180ml/6fl oz water

        1 tsp baking powder
        1½ tsp salt
        250g/9oz golden caster sugar
        120ml/4fl oz sunflower oil
        2 unwaxed lemons, zest only

        6 free-range eggs, separated
       1 tsp vanilla extract

 For the hell filling
        600g/1lb 5oz dark chocolate
        300g/10½oz double cream
        200g/7oz good quality cherry jam
For the hell mirror glaze
        2 leaves gelatine
        225g/8oz sugar
        2 tbsp golden syrup
        150g/5½oz cocoa powder
        120ml/4fl oz double cream
For the heaven meringue and filling
        3 free-range eggs, whites only
        160g/5¾oz caster sugar
        1 tsp golden syrup
        ½ tsp vanilla extract
        200g/7oz best quality lemon curd
        300g/10½oz desiccated coconut
        1 booklet (5 sheets) gold leaf, to decorate
For the hell piping and chocolate shards

        200g/7oz dark chocolate

Preparation method:

• Preheat the oven to 150C/300F/Gas 2. Grease and line a 28cm/11in cake tin.
• For the ‘tartarus’ hell cake, beat the separated egg whites in a bowl until stiff.
• In a large mixing bowl, mix the remaining ingredients for the hell cake together. When well combined, fold in the egg whites.
• Pour the mixture into the prepared cake tin and bake for 1¼ hours.
• Remove the cake from the oven and, once hot enough to handle, turn out, upside down, on a cake rack to cool.
• For the ‘caeli’ heaven cake, grease and line 16 5cm/2in diameter cake tins.
• Repeat the process for making the hell cake with the heaven cake ingredients, but pour the cake mixture evenly into the 16 moulds rather than one cake mould.
• Bake for 17 minutes. Remove from the oven, trim the cakes to make them exactly the same size, then turn them out upside down onto a cake rack to cool.
• For the hell cake filling, make a ganache by placing the dark chocolate and cream into a bowl and heating in the microwave for 30 seconds at a time, until the chocolate has melted. Mix the cream well into the chocolate. Set aside in a bowl.
• For the hell cake mirror glaze, soak the gelatine in cold water for five minutes until it softens.
• Heat the sugar and 120ml/4fl oz water in a pan until boiling. Add the golden syrup, cocoa and cream. Heat through, then strain the glaze through a sieve into a jug. Add the soaked gelatine to the strained glaze, stirring to make sure it’s evenly dissolved. Set aside until needed.
• For the meringue coating for the heaven cakes, place the egg whites, sugar, golden syrup and two tablespoons water in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Whisk the mixture for 7-8 minutes, or until stiff and glossy. Add the vanilla extract and mix in well. Set aside.
• Cut the cooled hell cake horizontally, to make two discs. Wrap each disc in cling film and place in the freezer for 10 minutes to firm up and cool further.
• Place the lemon curd in a piping bag, with a small nozzle. With a small knife, cut a hole into the heaven cakes, to create space to pipe the curd into. Pipe the curd into the cakes.
• Cover the filled heaven cakes with the meringue (reserving a little of the meringue to hold the heaven cakes in place) and roll in the coconut.
• Stack the heaven cakes on a 15cm/6in cake board using straws to hold in place.
• Remove the two hell cake discs from the freezer and spread one with one-third of the ganache and another with the cherry jam. Sandwich the cakes together. Using a palette knife, cover the outside of the cake with another third of the ganache.
• Carefully place the coated hell cake in the freezer for 10 minutes to firm up.
• Meanwhile, temper the chocolate for the chocolate shards. Chop the chocolate into equal sized pieces, and place half of it in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Allow to slowly melt. Once melted, take the bowl off the heat and add the remaining half of chopped chocolate. Mix into the melted chocolate until everything has melted and allow to cool to 30C/86F (use a thermometer to measure this). Once it reaches temperature, it’s ready to use. Spread most of the tempered chocolate onto silicon paper and leave to cool completely - once cooled, it should snap into shards. Pour a few tablespoons of the chocolate mixture in a piping bag with a small nozzle and pipe ‘tartarus’ on the silicon paper - leave this too cool too.
• Add another coating of ganache (using it all up) to the hell cake to get very straight sides, and return to the freezer for 15 minutes.
• Remove the cake from the freezer, warm the glaze in a small pan and carefully pour the glaze over the hell cake and smooth.
• Heat the glaze with a hairdryer so that it is very shiny and even.
• Place the ‘tartarus’ piped chocolate nameplate on the cake.
• Insert straws into the hell cake, to hold the heaven cakes in place. Cut the straws off to a suitable height. Place the stack of heaven cakes onto the hell cake, secured with the straws.
• Pipe swirls of meringue over the gap between the heaven and hell cakes, then toast the meringue with a chefs’ blow torch.
• Finish the cake with shards of tempered chocolate around the edges.
• Finally add gold leaf to the heaven cakes to decorate.