Great British Bake Off 2023: Hampshire contestant gets stuck into Channel 4 show with first episode

Keith dedicated his first cake of the season to his dad who served in the second world war and was a prisoner of war on starvation rations.

He said that because of his time in the war, his dad would indulge in sweet treats.

He did his dad proud and his first creation was a chocolate orange vertical-layered cake which wowed the judges with Paul Hollywood branding as ‘absolutely delicious’.

Dame Prue Leith said: “I think it looks so dramatic and the colours are so strong contrast and they look so wonderful.”

Humble Keith, from Lee on the Solent, said: “I’m flabbergasted, I was worried I wouldn’t measure up.”

SEE ALSO: Meet contestant Keith Barron

The second challenge was to bake one of the most famous cakes in the show – that iconic chocolate fudge cake which appears in the opening credits of the programme.

Judging the technical challenge, Paul said: "It has a nice shine.”

Keith did a brilliant job and the judges ranked him fourth in the first technical challenge of the season.

The third and final bake of the first episode put the contestants to the challenge and they had to create a cake in the shape of an animal. Keith made a ‘Maisie Cake’ which was based on his dog and the creation was made from orange and lemon sponge cake with buttercream.

Paul said: “It’s far more elegant inside than it is outside – it is a straight forward cake and you have got the right level of flavours running through each layer. Well done.”