Do try this at home!

These recipes mean you can create a Signature Bake worthy of the Great British Bake Off tent, say judges Paul and Prue

A NOTE FROM PAUL

I come from a long line of bakers. Not only does that mean that ‘baking’ and ‘home’ are words that, to me, belong together like ‘bread’ and ‘flour’ or ‘pastry’ and ‘filling’, it means that I’ve spent my entire life watching baking transform and innovate in front of my eyes.

The combination of old and new, familiar and fresh, classic and contemporary is at the core of The Great British Bake Off in 2023. Each year we discover incredible stories behind the bakers’ passions, but this year has blown me away. With a brief to add a fresh twist to the classic recipes we all know and love, the bakers created truly aweinspiring signature dishes. Their creations don’t just update old favourites, but — like all the best bakes — reveal stories about the people behind them.

This is the inspiration for our 2023 Bake Off book. You’ll find recipes for Signature Bakes that will sit proudly on the kitchen table, with crowd-pleasing appeal. What could be better than a collection of bakes that epitomise the joy of the kitchen? With biscuits and breads, pastries and patisseries, desserts, chocolate inventions and, of course, cakes, these are recipes we know you’ll want to make at home.

A NOTE FROM PRUE

I have judged The Great British Bake Off for seven years now, and you’d think I’d have had enough of eating cake! But the skill of the bakers and the effort, imagination and passion they put into their baking endlessly fascinates me. Year after year, our bakers are delightful and interesting, and they somehow quickly become a gang of friends. For the 2023 series, we concentrated on the classics, but, in true Bake Off tradition, we asked the bakers to adapt those classics as they wished, to give them an original twist. I had my doubts that some old favourites could be improved upon, but the bakers rose to the challenge magnificently.

Of the three Bake Off challenges, I find the Signature Bake the most satisfying. The recipes are not as elaborate and time-consuming as the Showstopper, and they are based on the kinds of bakes we all love to make at home. These recipes on the following pages are Signature Bakes, each with a Bake Off twist. All you need to do is to follow them faithfully and, I promise you, they will not disappoint.