A north-east Great British Bake Off veteran has praised winner Peter Sawkins for defying the judges’ expectations by using Scottish flavours to seal victory.
The Edinburgh student took inspiration from cranachan to make his custard slices with raspberries, oats and Speyside whisky in the televised finale.
An audience of 9.2 million viewers, a record for the final on Channel 4, tuned in to watch the 20-year-old become the first Scot to win the competition in its 11-year history.
And Buckie native Norman Calder, who won the hearts of the nation during his spell in the tent in 2014, reserved special praise for this year’s winner.
He said: “I was very happy to see Peter win. There aren’t many people from Scotland who have been on Bake Off, I think you could count them on one hand.
“His pastry looked very nice. Generally speaking, Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry didn’t like Scottish stuff, particularly Mary Berry.
“So it was nice to see the Scottish influence being successful.”
Sawkins’ cranachan-inspired pudding left him in second place behind competitor Dave Findlay in the technical challenge.
However his showstopper, which featured components including a Victoria sandwich, choux buns and Battenberg biscuits, led him to clinch the prize.
After rising to the top when the show was filmed in the summer, the accounting and finance student has been forced to keep his triumph a closely guarded secret since.
Sawkins watched the final with his flatmates in Edinburgh before celebrating with a homemade chocolate cake.
He told the BBC’s Good Morning Scotland: “There is something very nice that I can finally stop keeping the secret and share it with friends and family.
“It’s an absolute dream. I was really pleased with how I managed to step through all the challenges.
“I feel in a really privileged position because of course there will be some opportunities that arise from this, and it would be amazing to try and explore them, but at the same time I am going to keep on going with my degree, so I’m in a nice position.”