Meet the Bakers
It's finals week on Junior Bake Off and 40 bakers have been reduced down to 10. Who will prove they have what it takes to be the Junior Bake Off Champion? Get to know the bakers who won their heats and made it through to finals.
Heat 10 Winner - Rachel!
12, from Solihull
Baking Faves:
Rachel particularly loves going wild with celebration cakes for her family and has taken over from her mum for family birthdays.
Rachel was taught to bake when she was very young when she used to ask to help her mum at every opportunity. She dreams for the future to revolve around her love of baking and she would like to become a pastry chef.
Heat 9 Winner - Macy!
12, from Coventry
Baking Faves:
Macy likes traditional bakes with a twist, including tropical ginger cake with pineapple, toffee brownie and chocolate ganache truffles.
Macy started baking with her mum at the age of 4, but has since learnt to bake independently and bakes almost every day! When she isn't baking she is captain of her netball team and also loves drawing and recently won an award at school for her art.
Heat 8 Winner - Lottie!
12, from Cheshire
Baking strength:
Her cakes “always get a rise”.
At the age of 4 Lottie was taught to bake by her mum and gran. Lottie’s father took on the responsibility of teaching Lottie how to bake bread. She is also very arty and loves painting pictures of how she envisages her bakes to turn out.
Heat 7 Winner - Maisie!
12, from Swindon
Most proud of:
Her cake creation in the shape of a football stadium.
Maisie has been baking since she was 4 years old and was taught by her mother and grandmother. She is an advanced baker with an impressive amount of baking experience, ranging from simple biscuits to technically demanding pastries.
Heat 6 Winner - Jenna!
11, from Nottingham
Baking Faves:
Macarons, eggless Christmas cookies for her aunt, three tiered Easter piñata chocolate cake, millionaire’s shortbread, choux éclairs, vegetable plaits and snail shaped bread.
Jenna was taught to bake by her gran and her mum. As she is creative with everything she does, Jenna veers towards sweet bakes over savoury as it means she can decorate them, but she has plenty of experience in savoury too.
Heat 5 Winner - Nikki!
11, from London
Baking Faves:
Nikki enjoys baking more extravagant bakes, including multi-tiered cakes, profiteroles, croque en bouche, pastry and adding her own touches including biscoffee icing, caramel and crème patisserie.
Nikki has been baking since the age of 4 when she developed a natural skill and interest. She has a food dictionary which helps her decide what flavours go together and is able to substitute ingredients and find alternatives for high sugar recipes.
Heat 4 Winner - Zac!
11, from London
Baking Faves:
Zac bakes at least once a week, as well as attending several baking and cooking courses. He feels passionately about healthy baking and often adapts his recipes to make them less fattening.
Zac loves baking for charity events, including his own bake sales where he raised money for Macmillan Cancer Research. He also likes to lend his mother a helping hand by making desserts for her when she’s having dinner parties.
Heat 3 Winner - Francesca!
12, from Middlesex
Baking Faves:
Francesca likes to reference her Chinese heritage through her baking, either by decorating with the colours of the Chinese flag or by using oriental ingredients and spices.
Francesca first started baking at the age of 7 and was taught to bake by her mum. Now she uses her parents as guinea pigs, as she is a complete perfectionist and insists upon critical feedback from them for all of her bakes.
Heat 2 Winner - Evie!
11, from Leicestershire
Signature Bakes:
Raspberry crumble cake, chocolate gateau, cherry shortbread, choux buns and eclairs
Evie started baking with her grandma at the age of 9. She baked for a school bake sale and it took off from there. Evie now likes baking items that have more than one element and layer to them, so that she has the chance to be creative and express herself as much as possible.
Heat 1 Winner - Tyrese!
11, from London
Signature Bakes:
Red velvet cake with Italian meringue buttercream, plaited bread rolls and puff pastry apple pie.
Tyrese’s grandad was a baker, so he has baking in his blood. He has two older brothers who always look forward to his bakes, so he has to make sure has plenty left over for when they get home!
