Series 6 of The Great British Bake Off is almost over, as Tamal, Nadiya and Ian prepare to do battle in the final.

The original 12 have become three; tons of flour and sugar and eggs have been converted into glorious bakes; tears of joy and defeat have been shed.

Looking back, here are our top 9 most memorable moments from the series.

1. When Dorret had a chocolate disaster.

Dorret on the Great British Bake Off
Dorret on The Great British Bake Off (Mark Bourdillon/BBC)

Dorret created one of the most disastrous bakes of the entire series when her Black Forest Gateau melted into a mess of chocolate mousse.

As her creation dripped sadly down the cake-stand, she sobbed: “I can’t believe this is happening!”

Host Sue Perkins reassured her: “It’s just a cake,” but Dorret replied: “It’s not just a cake.” And it wasn’t.

While Mary was kind, Paul said it looked like a “mudslide”. Ouch.

2. When Paul created an actual lion out of bread.

The Great British Bake Off's Paul Jagger
The Great British Bake Off’s Paul Jagger (Mark Bourdillon/BBC)

Crumbs! “Other” Paul seemed like any run-of-the-mill Bake Off contestant – until he created an absolutely magnificent bread-lion. Even the claws were made of edible almonds. Flawless.

Judge Paul was completely blown away – it was one of the “best things” he’d ever seen made out of bread. The bake earned Paul a firm handshake – and a place in the annals of Bake Off history.

3. When Hipster Stu was over before he began.

GBBO's Hipster Stu
GBBO’s Hipster Stu (Mark Bourdillon/Love Productions)

Remember Stuart? He was in the Bake Off tent for just one week before getting the boot.

The professional musician, with his trendy tattoos and felt hat, was just a little bit too kooky for judges Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood – who were not fans of his weird beetroot Black Forest Gateau.

Stu explained: “In the future I will make Black Forest Gateau my way – in the show I covered it in Italian meringue and I put beetroot in it. Maybe I should have made it in a more traditional way for Mary, she is awesome and I have followed her recipes for years and Paul’s but hey, I’m not that traditional myself.”

4. When Mat created a hellish tennis cake.

Great British bake Off contestant Mat Riley
Great British Bake Off contestant Mat Riley (Mark Bourdillon/BBC)

Mat the firefighter was utterly perplexed by the tennis cake technical challenge. We can’t blame him – whoever heard of tennis cake?

But while other contestants managed to fashion something that looked vaguely tennis-court-like – with little iced rackets and wonky nets – poor Mat created what Paul called “the tennis cake from Hades”.

He even oven-baked his tennis net, to Nadiya’s horror.

5. When Ian revealed his love of roadkill.

The Great British Bake Off's Ian
The Great British Bake Off’s Ian (Mark Bourdillon/BBC)

In Episode 7, the Bake Off tent came over all Victorian. Sadly this didn’t mean the contestants had to come in fancy dress (although we think the show’s producers missed a trick there), but they did have to master some Victorian recipes and delicacies.

This included the meatiest game pies possible, with rabbit, duck, partridge, guinea fowl, venison, bacon, pork belly, pigs’ trotters, pheasants and several pigeons all going into the mix.

A Victorian pie
A Victorian pie (Love Productions/BBC)

Ian clearly felt this was his time to shine. “I’m very excited,” he grinned. “This is the week I’ve been waiting for.”

The travel photographer was cooking Roadkill Pie, and explained he’d been inspired by finding a dead hare on the road. “Thus began my passion for picking up animals that had been, um, bumped on the road,” he said. To each their own.

6. When Nadiya created a fizzy drink masterpiece.

Nadiya is nothing if not ambitious, but she even scared herself with this one.

“This is Italian meringue,” she explained. “I’m trying to create the fizz that comes out of the pop can. That’s going to be the main decoration on my tiered cheesecakes. These are going to be my crystalised ginger and lemon bubbles.

“I’m going to have them cascading down the side of my Italian meringue foam out of my… levitating… can…”

At this point she clutched her head and despaired: “Oh my God, what have I done?!” and pulled one of her famous facial expressions.

The Great British Bake Off's Nadiya
The Great British Bake Off’s Nadiya (Mark Bourdillon/BBC)

In fact, Nadiya’s face itself has been one of the highlights of this year’s series, as she veers from confusion to joy to anxiety.

We’re not quite sure how she did it, but Nadiya somehow managed to make a can of pop levitate over her cake. Now that’s the sign of a baker who deserves to be in the final.

7. When the nuns collapsed.

Paul and Mary surely must spend the rest of the year thumbing through recipe books, trying to find something obscure and new for the bakers to tackle every week. This year, the poor bakers had to tackle religieuse a l’ancienne – which apparently look like nuns.

Sadly, the nuns were not very stable – probably because they were made of choux pastry eclairs, standing on end, and glued together with buttercream. There’s a reason choux pastry is not usually used in load-bearing walls. “I’ll be so glad when this stupid nun thing is done,” grouched Tamal.

The Great British Bake Off's Tamal, with Sue Perkins
The Great British Bake Off’s Tamal, with Sue Perkins (Love Productions)

To make matters worse, the nuns were left in the tent for a couple of hours after baking, to see if they were durable.

But when the cameras returned, it was a sorry sight. Nadiya’s bubblegum-flavoured offering had become a leaning tower of pastry; Paul’s banana-flavoured nun had suffered a total collapse; And Flora herself had cracked, dividing her bake into two pieces before it had a chance to tumble. It was a sorry state of eclairs.

Only Tamal and Ian escaped disaster.

8. When the semi-finalists faced a staggered start on the souffles.

Everyone was bewildered when Mel and Sue announced that the technical challenge would be staggered, with each of the contestants given different start times. What was going on? All soon became clear – the contestants were each called into the tent and instructed to make a chocolate souffle, with Paul and Mary on hand to test them as soon as they were done.

Poor Flora went straight into meltdown: “This is the least funny thing I have ever done in my entire life… will you remind me to breathe?” (Of course, she went on to win the challenge.)

The Great British Bake Off's Flora
The Great British Bake Off’s Flora (Love Productions/BBC)

Ian, next into the room, promptly forgot every ounce of his baking knowledge. “I just can’t remember anything,” he complained. “I need to get a grip.” Later he promised: “If that makes souffle I’ll eat my hat.”

He came in third, with something resembling a souffle, but declined to consume any headgear.

The contestants then had to watch anxiously from a distance as Paul and Mary tucked in.

9. When Mel and Sue were as witty as ever.

Sue Perkins and Mel Giedroyc
Sue Perkins and Mel Giedroyc (Mark Bourdillon/BBC)

Each episode brought a wealth of fantastic cringe-worthy puns and innuendos from the presenting duo.

“OK bakers, 15 minutes until your ganache hits my ga-nashers,” punned Sue, while the choux pastry nuns inspired her announcement: “I don’t want to make a habit of this, guys, but you’ve got one minute left.”

Victorian week was also perfect for punning, as Sue was able to say: “Pigeon, jelly and tennis. It’s been game, set and match, quite literally.”

Meanwhile, Mel informed the contestants: “Bakers, we want to see 27 tiers. On the benches, not rolling down your cheeks.”

The Great British Bake Off final can be seen on BBC One at 8pm on October 7.