Bake Off: The Professionals - The winning team 2025

The search for the best patisserie team in Britain ended tonight after ten intense weeks of patisserie prowess, as The Ned were crowned the winning team of Bake Off: The Professionals 2025. The nail-biting episode hosted by Liam Charles and Ellie Taylor ended on a dramatic and fabulous finale, as The Ned survived all the sweet but tough challenges as Team Captain Darian, 32 and team member Yadira, 28 both from London, came through together to patisserie victory.

Returning for their tenth series were judges Benoit Blin, Chef Pâtissier at Raymond Blanc’s Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons, and Cherish Finden, formerly Executive Pastry Chef of the Pan Pacific London Hotel. The judges cast their expert eyes and several thousand expert tastebuds, over the works of culinary genius produced by the 12 teams taking part this year.

The talented teams decorated, sculpted and built their way to success this year representing all sorts of establishments spread across the UK, from hotels and restaurants to bakeries, patisseries, contract caterers and culinary arts schools. The other teams were:  Marriott International; The Pony, Chew Valley; Lexington; Vacherin; Crumbs & Doilies; Hyatt Regency London – The Churchill; Capital City College – Westminster;  Ladurée; Corinthia London; Hotel Café Royal, and Amun & Abbie.

The series, filmed in the spectacular Firle Place in Sussex, featured some truly jaw-dropping challenges, including the show’s first ever showpiece floating on water. Other themes included tiered wedding celebration mille-feuille, Japanese Gardens, extraterrestrial sugar and jelly desserts, a tiered St Honore, some fiendishly clever illusion showpieces, and the intriguing-sounding Whoops I Dropped the… suspended showpiece.

The chefs were subjected to the usual array of diverse challenges designed to test the range of their skills. From classics like Petit Antoine and Framboisier to reinvented fruit tarts and s’mores, and savoury dishes Pate en Croute and Paris Brest, the chefs immersed themselves in every facet of pastry work. Their improvisational skills were also tested with a range of secret challenges.

For the final, the remaining three teams The Ned, Hyatt Regency London – The Churchill and Vacherin poured all their patisserie passion and expertise into two epic final challenges, where nothing less than brilliance would be good enough at this stage of the competition. 

For their first challenge, world class patisserie chefs and expert judges, Benoit Blin and Cherish Finden, demanded the teams hit the right trend with a Viral Patisserie Window display. Hoping to get the judges hitting the ‘like’ button, their displays had to include gourmet cookies, gateaux de voyage and filled laminated buns – 12 of each and all baked to perfection in just 4 hours. 

At the end of day one, our judges decided for the first time ever on Bake Off: The Professionals which team would fall at the final hurdle, and sadly it was the Hyatt Regency London – The Churchill. Leaving just two teams The Ned and Vacherin to battle it out for the very final time in a gruelling seven hours where they were challenged to create a banquet celebrating Great Train Journeys with a towering sugar and chocolate showpiece and enough desserts to feed 120!

The two teams showcased their incredible culinary talents in a really tough patisserie final. But it was The Ned that most impressed the judges and were crowned the winners of Bake Off : The Professionals 2025. 

After their win, Team Captain Darian said ‘Unbelievable. It’s just insane and the best team mate I could ever choose is Yadira and without Yadira this would be impossible.’   

Judge Benoit said: ‘It was an incredibly close result and an incredibly difficult decision for us to make.’

Here team captain Darian talks about winning the trophy:

‘When they announced our names I was literally about to pass out, I lost the strength in my legs. We always felt that I could win it, and there was a lot of self sacrificing along the way, but because we believed in ourselves I think that really helped. 

‘My strategy was never to lose the focus, keep going step by step, and then think about the next week. I had to keep 100% in the zone, and in the last two episodes we were really exhausted so we decided to stop practicing as we knew we had to rest and sleep so we were ready and had enough energy for what was to come.

‘My team mate Yadira and I have known each other for 9 months, we both met working at The Ned in the City of London. So, we haven’t worked together for long but we make a great team and we have learnt very quickly how to adapt and support each other’s strengths and weaknesses. 

‘We brought the trophy back to the Hotel and in the Concierge area so all our guests can see it. I want to get a second one for Yadira to have at home!

‘In the first challenge of the final it was pretty tough to be honest. We had to prove the Danish pastry overnight, and in the morning I checked it and nothing had happened, zero.  I was in shock but we hit the ground running and started again. It did turn out alright though, and we made it literally to the last second.

‘I really enjoyed week 2 and week 3 when we won it gave us strength and hope, we were proud but then we scratched it off and concentrated on the next week. On the train back home, we talked through what we had to do for the next episode, so not much time for partying or celebration!

‘I coped well with the cameras, we were always getting asked questions, but it wasn’t a big deal. We struggled with the temperatures sometimes and the humidity, but I guess that is all part of it, and everyone was feeling the same.

‘We all became fast friends with the other teams, and we spoke about so many things like pastry, hobbies, and it wasn’t just about the show. We are all very respectful of each other’s experience and knowledge and became a community that relied on each other through the pressure of the show. We still meet after work, or chat on the phone or texting.  Sometimes we actually get together for afternoon tea, and that is quite cool.

‘I have only been in London for two years, so I wasn’t sure who Liam and Ellie were at the beginning, I googled them and worked out what they did. I wasn’t overwhelmed by them in that way and really liked them. Of course I knew who Cherish and Benoit were.

‘Red is my favourite colour and I definitely didn’t want black on our chef whites, but it seems it did bring us luck, so it turned out quite well! And I also had my lucky charm - a little rubber sheep that I brought in from the beginning which my wife gave me. When I retire, I want to have a sheep farm! My wife has been supportive throughout the whole experience, and I hardly saw her for two months, she has been great.

‘It was very hard to keep it a secret as people do ask but I guess that of course they don’t want to know the answer as it would spoil the ending. I really don’t have a poker face so it has been quite hard…And also the feedback on social media has been very positive with lovely texts and messages, it has all been a pleasurable experience.

‘I loved my time on Bake Off: The Professionals and I’m already missing it. I learned so many things about myself, sugar and chocolate. I will never forget it and the amazing people on the production team and crew. The time limitations are a different story. I know how to push myself, to be fast and go crazy but sometimes I was struggling a lot with the time aspect.

‘Next for me in the patisserie world: I want to get better in chocolate and sugar showpieces and want to grow as a pastry chef. I’m looking forward for more and new challenges and to bring new skills into The Ned. I am already thinking about how we can elevate The Ned and its desserts especially Afternoon Tea. 

‘I would definitely say to anyone out there who is thinking of applying for the next series that they need to be prepared, you can have fun but if you want to really win this you have to give it everything, 100%.’

To apply for the next series go to: channel4.com/takepart