Cook up some scones for this week's Bake Off challenge

‘As the sun comes out and you start sitting in your gardens, what better than to make a cup of tea and some homemade scones?’ said Bake Off judge Tim Langlois, of Cobo Bakes. ‘I want to see perfect shapes and colour with a well risen bake. Make me want to come to your tea room for afternoon tea.’

Here’s how to take part:

1. Have a go at recreating Tim’s scones recipe, or use your own version of the recipe if you’d rather. Feel free to channel your creativity to find a way to make your creations stand out.

2. Send in pictures of the finished scones to features@guernseypress.com by 9am on Thursday 15 April. You can also post on social media with the tag #GSYBAKEOFF.

3. Tim will select the best scones out of all the entries and the winner will receive a £50 prize.

All your culinary delights will be featured next week.

Good luck!

Tim’s scones

450g self-raising flour

2 tsp baking powder

50g caster sugar

100g softened butter, cubed

2 large eggs

A splash of milk

75g sultanas

Topping:

Raspberry jam

Guernsey salted butter

Guernsey double cream (whipped)

Preheat the oven to 220C/200C Fan/Gas 7. Line two baking trays with greaseproof paper.

Put all the flour, baking powder and sugar in a large metal bowl (if you have one) then add in all the chilled chopped butter and rub in with your fingertips until the mixture turns into a fine breadcrumb mix.

Next get your eggs and crack them into a measuring jug, and then add just enough milk to make the total liquid 300ml and beat with a fork. With a spoon or spatula stir the egg and milk into the flour mix until it is a soft sticky dough (you may not need it all).

Lightly flour your work surface and turn out your dough, knead lightly and work in the sultanas as you do. Roll out to a rectangle about 2cm thick (don’t over-knead the dough as it will go tough).

Using a 5cm fluted pastry cutter, cut the dough into as many rounds as possible and then place them onto your lined baking trays. Brush the tops of the scones with a little milk, or any of your egg and milk left in the jug (you should be able to cut around 16 scones).

Pop them in your preheated oven and bake for 12–15 minutes, or until they look well risen and a pale, golden-brown colour.

Take them out of the oven and pop onto a wire rack to cool.

They are best eaten once cooled a bit but still warm. Also don’t forget to butter your scone with some salted Guernsey butter and to whip up some Guernsey double cream and some raspberry jam to make sure you get the full experience.

Easter treats

GUERNSEY’S keen bakers pulled out all the stops this week for our Easter show-stopper challenge.

Competition judge Tim Langlois, of Cobo Bakes, left the type of cake up to the bakers but requested that they be decorated with an Easter theme.

He said he was blown away by the results.

‘It was so hard to choose a winner as all the entries were just so fantastic. You all captured the Easter challenge so well and showed some awesome creativity and some super looking bakes, so well done all of you.

‘But to find a winner this week I turned to my children, Zach and Evie, to help me. They chose Lou Coxon and her brilliant fun sheep cupcakes. My kids just giggled when they saw these and thought they were just so much fun and would definitely be the cakes they would choose on a table. The creativity was just spot on.’

Lou was delighted to have been selected as the winner of this week’s £50 prize.

‘I’ve never won anything before,’ she said.

‘I had planned to bake something for Easter Sunday for my family. My auntie in Leicester had baked these cupcakes for her grandchildren and sent across some pictures. As soon as I saw them, I couldn’t resist attempting to bake them – they looked so cute and perfect for Easter. My two-year-old niece, Emilia, devoured the one pink sheep I made especially for her in seconds.

‘I had seen the competition advertised on Facebook and thought it was worth a shot (after a few Easter Sunday gins!) so sent in a photo.’

She said she had been baking for as long as she could remember, learning tips from her late grandmother. ‘I was always fascinated watching her bake our favourite rock cakes and waiting to lick the spoon. I’ve recently taken to baking my own dog biscuits – which don’t last long with a bouncy Labrador around!’

Tim also singled out two runners-up, who will each receive a free box of Cobo Bakes cakes.

‘First is Janine Clarke for her brilliantly funny log cake, with the great little Easter bunny hiding underneath. My kids thought it was brilliant,’ he said.

‘Our second runner-up with their amazing creation was Jayne and Amy Wallbridge with their stunning looking big Easter celebration cake, with so much chocolate on it I can feel the sugar rushing through my body just from looking at it. The colours and the layers were brilliant, and a lovely chocolate drip to finish it all off.

‘Well done everyone again, there are some truly talented home bakers out there.’