Sweet-toothed Britain finds a new heroine in headscarf-wearing winner of TV baking show

LONDON – In sweet-toothed Britain, the hottest entertainment sensation is a televised baking contest in which amateur pastry chefs battle it out over cakes, tortes, trifles and flans.

And in a country roiled by questions of immigration and identity, “The Great British Bake Off” has produced a new heroine — a headscarf-wearing Muslim woman who’s a genius with sugar, eggs and flour.

Nadiya Hussain was crowned winner of the contest on a program watched Wednesday by 13.4 million people, a fifth of the British population.

The 30-year-old beat two other finalists with her iced buns, millefeuille and a lemon-drizzle wedding cake wrapped in a sari colored red, white and blue like the Union Jack.

Hussain told the BBC Thursday that winning the show was “one of the best moments of my life.”