Flour POWER!

DAME PRUE LEITH and PAUL HOLLYWOOD on why judging this year's Bake Off wasn't a piece of cake

- CAREN CLARK

THE GREAT BRITISH BAKE OFF

NEW TUE, 8PM, C4 COOKERY

After years of sampling all manner of biscuits, bread, cakes and confections in C4’s The Great British Bake Off, judges Paul Hollywood and Dame Prue Leith can still be astounded by the exceptional standard of the bakes.

In the new run, it was the Swiss rolls in the first Signature that bowled the pair over.

‘They were incredible! I looked at Prue and went, “Oh dear, we have a problem. This is going to be difficult to judge,”’ chuckles Paul, as TV Times joins him and Prue at a north London studio to chat about the return of the much-loved baking contest. ‘This was the hardest year to decide who's going to leave. The quality was excellent.’

‘Yes, every year I think it can’t get better,’ adds Prue. ‘But it does!’ As the 10-parter begins, the 12 new contestants - under the supportive gaze of hosts Alison Hammond and Noel Fielding - head into the tent to show off their baking skills in Cake Week, which, along with the Swiss rolls, sees them make fondant fancies for the Technical and a landscape cake for the Showstopper. And later in the series, they also tackle two new themes - Back to School Week and Meringue Week.

Here, Paul, 59, and Prue, 85, tell us all we knead to know...

This year's bakers range from a medical student to a bridal designer. What did they bring to the tent?