‘Icon’: Great British Bake Off fans are already enamoured with ‘Compost Carole’

‘Who doesn’t like coffee and walnuts?’ baker asked. ‘Unless you don’t like coffee and you’re allergic to nuts’

The Great British Bake Off returned for a 13th season on Tuesday (13 September) introducing a whole new cast of bakers.

Some will be forgotten, others will fast become national treasures.

One baker showing the early signs of the latter is Carole, a pink-haired, 59-year-old supermarket cashier from Dorset.

Viewers were told early on that her nickname was “Compost Carole”, as she shares her gardening expertise with listeners in a segment on her local radio station.

The first episode began with a signature bake: 12 identical sandwich cakes. Carole revealed that the name of her signature bake would be, “To Bee or not to Bee,” featuring – you guessed it – tiny bees atop her mini cakes.

Later in the show, Carole made a coffee and walnut cake, posing the question: “Who doesn’t like coffee and walnuts? Unless you don’t like coffee and you’re allergic to nuts.”

Carole baking in the ‘Great British Bake Off’ tent (Mark Bourdillon / Channel 4)

“Icon,” tweeted television critic Scott Bryan alongside the quote.

(Twitter)

“When I grow up I want to be cool as Compost Carole,” one fan tweeted alongside a the baker’s headshot.

“This is now a Compost Carole fan account,” tweeted another.

(Tweet)

“In this house we worship Carole,” tweeted another.

(Twitter)

You can read The Independent’s three-star review of the latest series of Bake Off here.

Get to know the rest of the contestants here.