Brooke's icing on the cake: 'I'M IN LOVE AGAIN!'

The Bake Off winner tells how the competition has reignited an old passion

- Hayley McLarin

It was hiding right there in front of them. Friends and family were so used to seeing Brooke Walker with cake stands, they hadn't realised the latest addition to her collection was the prize for winning this year's Great Kiwi Bake Off.

Her glass cake stand trophy has been on a high shelf in the kitchen since she won it months ago. It was only when she served cake while everyone watched the final last week that they realised what it was.

"It was a fun secret," the Auckland marketing coordinator says. "The majority of our family and friends have seen it, but it looks like a regular cake stand." Brooke was thrilled she pushed herself enough to go from being an average competitor to star baker.

"My strategy was to be in the middle of the road you're not at the bottom, just stay another week.

Once I started getting good feedback, I started to do more and it got to the point where sometimes I'd go a little bit rogue with flavours," she says laughing.

It was the praise of judge Jordan "The Caker" Rondel that empowered her.

"I like Jordan's influence on the way she sees flavours, so I took more risks," tells Brooke, who works for food company Leader Brands, a supermarket range of packaged salads.

"I was really proud of how far I pushed myself," she enthuses. "I have my tried-and-true recipes, but I put in so much more with the show and discovered new things.