Byline: Michael Odell

As he invites me into his Bristol home, Giuseppe Dell'Anno makes a terrible admission: he hasn't baked me any of his famous Italian cakes. Instead he seats me in the living room and serves coffee accompanied by chocolate truffles. He watches me take a bite before imparting some news. "Those were a present from newly crowned King Charles III!" he enthuses. "Yes, you are eating truffles from the King!"

This year Dell'Anno, 46, provided a recipe for the Big Jubilee Lunch. His puff pastry cream horns with smoked mackerel creamy pate must have gone down well, because he was summoned to a lunch hosted by Prince Charles, as he was then. "He came to my table to say a personal thank you. He is so charming, but I suppose that's his job. But then afterwards I was also sent a hamper, which was just too much!"

If you saw him win last year's Great British Bake Off you'll recall that Dell'Anno is pretty charming himself. On the floor next to us is the Fortnum & Mason hamper (that's where the truffles are from he's saving the nice-looking biscuits). Next to that sits a model of a cake topped with little figurines of Dell'Anno alongside GBBO presenter Matt Lucas and judge Paul

Hollywood. Whoever made it has been kind to Hollywood. "Yeah, he's not so narrow in real life," Dell'Anno notes.

On last year's show Dell'Anno was lauded for his amarena cherry cake, his focaccia and his striking accent. When Lucas asked him about the difficulties involved in making filo pastry, his response caused a stir. "All I said is that it's a big 'assle," he says in his syrupy-thick accent. "But of course this is Matt Lucas, so he thought I was being very inappropriate."

He and his wife, Laura, came to the UK 20 years ago, and he describes himself as "a real Britalian. I...