"It looks very soggy" — The Great American Baking Show judge Prue Leith criticizes Adela's Showstopper cake

Season 3 of The Great American Baking Show premiered on April 11, 2025. In episode 6, the Grand Finale, finalists Kim, Adela, and Daniel competed for the win. For the final challenge, they had to create a spring-themed centerpiece with a cake as the focus. Adela made an Earl Grey orange cake, but the judges were not impressed with its texture.

While tasting the cake that was layered with grapefruit curd, The Great American Baking Show judge Prue Leith said:

"It looks very soggy on the bottom."

However, she appreciated the overall flavor of the cake and said the curd, especially, was "delicious." Co-panelist Paul Hollywood was equally complimentary about the flavor but could not overlook the texture of the cake "at all."

Adela's Showstopper performance failed to earn her the coveted cake stand, as Kim Clarke walked away with the winner's title based on her performance in the final round and the overall competition.

The Great American Baking Show finalist Adela made a Springing Amongst the Tulips centerpiece

For the final round of challenges, the judges asked the bakers to create a spring-themed landscape centerpiece with additional bakes, one of which had to be savory.

Adela's Springing Amongst the Tulips centerpiece featured a choux puff pastry filled with pandan lemon pastry cream. Her Earl Grey sponge cake layered with grapefruit curd resembled a windmill and was topped with a spinach and feta hand pie.

While preparing her pandan pastry cream, Adela mentioned that it was not a flavor most were familiar with, and because it was "vegetal," she worried the judges would find it "odd" when included in a sweet bake. However, she was confident that the overall taste would impress them.

Soon after, the finalist of The Great American Baking Show was shown wringing out the water from the spinach that she would put in the hand pie to ensure there was no moisture left, or else it would tear apart her pastry.

After blending the pandan leaves with the milk, she confessed it was the "riskiest flavor." However, she was hopeful that the judges would appreciate it. While pointing out the vibrant green color of the cream, she said:

"That's not any food coloring, that's just completely natural."

The Great American Baking Show contestant then moved on to creating her choux dough pastries, saying she enjoyed making them. Although she admitted feeling underconfident inside the tent, she hoped the choux pastries would "come out well."

Adela also prepared a craquelin that she topped her choux with to give the pastry a crunchy element. While stacking her sponges, she mentioned that they would have a "firm" mouth feel, but would not be too dense.

After the round concluded, the contestants brought their centerpieces to the judges for deliberation. Paul and Prue tasted the spinach and feta pie first.

"Spinach and feta, and pastry almost cannot go wrong. It's such a classic combination," Prue said.

Paul also appreciated the taste. Then they tasted the cake, which they thought was "very soggy" and unpleasant texture-wise.

While tasting the choux buns, Prue said they were "absolutely delicious." Paul echoed the sentiment, noting that the pandan flavor was "quite nice."

"The bake on it, I'm particularly impressed with, because the craquelin's been baked well," he added.

After The Great American Baking Show panelists tasted all three dishes, they deliberated who to give the victory to. Paul and Prue concluded that "the only not good cake was Adela's," even though the flavors were correct. Consequently, they decided not to make her the winner and gave the win to Kim.

The Great American Baking Show is available to stream on Roku.

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