Pastry tutor Mark Tilling and two of his former pupils have been crowned the winners of BBC2's Bake Off: Crème de la Crème.

Mark, Head of Squires Kitchen International School, and star pupils Helen and Samantha beat 14 other teams to the top spot to be named the crème de la crème of British pastry in the tense finale on Tuesday 19th May. Hosted by celebrated chef Tom Kerridge, the début series of the show featured teams of professional pastry chefs going head-to-head to create stunning bakes, chocolate and sugar work for expert judges Benoit Blin, Claire Clark and Cherish Finden.

Scraping into the semi-finals on a wildcard as the highest-placing runners-up, Mark's team won their semi-final with a stunning chocolate egg sculpture which earned high praise from all the judges.

They then showcased their high-end skills in the final with an impressive fine-dining dessert banquet for no fewer than 100 guests.

Twice winner of the UK Chocolate Masters, Mark, said: “We were up against two very good teams and I was worried that we hadn't done enough to show the judges our skills for the final. We were right down to the wire on the day with what we had to do. It felt great to win but it took a while to sink in as we were so tired! It was fantastic and I still can't quite believe it now.”

ENDS

NOTES TO EDITORS

1. All press enquiries for Bake Off: Crème de la Crème please contact shelaghpymm@blueyonder.co.uk with a copy to amanda@consolepr.co.uk

For further information about Squires Kitchen International School, please contact Jennifer Kelly:

Tel: 0845 61 71 810 or +44 (0)1252 260 260

Fax: +44 (0)1252 714 714

Email: jennifer.kelly@squires-group.co.uk

2. Squires Kitchen Sugarcraft Ltd. is a division of the Squires Group:

'Create, Bake, Decorate'

Established nearly 30 years ago, Squires Kitchen manufactures over 2,000 own-brand, high-quality, innovative products and is a global leader in the cake decorating and sugarcraft market worldwide.

'Everything you need for amazing cakes and fabulous food'

Squires Kitchen Shop sells over 6,000 products for the cake decorating and sugarcraft market. Shop online 24 hours a day at www.squires-shop.com. Our Farnham store is open from 9am to 5.30pm on Monday to Saturday and 10am to 4pm on Sunday. Office Hours: 9am to 5.30pm, Monday to Friday.

1. Dutton Publishing publishes specialist cake decorating books and magazines for readers with a passion for creativity. Find out more at www.bdutton.com and www.cakesandsugarcraft.com

'The confidence to create'

Squires Kitchen International School is the leading independent school of cake decorating, sugarcraft and baking in the UK, welcoming students from around the world to attend professional courses. Find out more at www.squires-school.co.uk. Office Hours: 9am to 5.30pm, Monday to Friday.

3. We have a limited number of samples available. Images available on request. Please note that images may only be reproduced with credits and prior approval from Squires Kitchen.