This is the official book to accompany the hit BBC2 TV series "The Great British Bake-off," presented by Sue Perkins and Mel Giedroyc. "The Great British Book of Baking" takes us on a tour of the very best in baking our nation has to offer - from Eccles cakes to Cornish pasties, Chelsea buns to Scottish gingerbread. With trips to notable landmarks from baking history - Melton Mowbray and Sandwich among the more famous, as well as locally loved secrets from towns and villages around the country - the book highlights the importance of baking as part of our national heritage. Narrative features explore the regions and showcase the real people behind this hugely popular culinary trend. Recipes that have been passed through the generations, securing themselves as baking classics, make up the chapters of this timely and beautiful book. Throughout the TV series, ten contestants from across the nation battle it out to be crowned Britain's Best Baker. They face a series of challenges to test their baking skills to the max, and these recipes are included in this book. Over 120 recipes, as well as numerous adaptations and suggestions, cover the whole range of baking skills from sweet jam tarts to savoury game pie, with flans, rolls, breads and all manner of luxurious cakes in between. Learn how to make perfect puff pastry, the secrets to traditional hand-raised pies and discover the original recipe for West Country lardy cakes. Whether you want to try your hand at the delicate art of petticoat tails shortbread or dish up a hearty steak pie to a hungry family, you will be looking between the pages of "The Great British Book of Baking" time and time again as it serves up the very best recipes from around the British Isles.