More cooks sought for annual bake off

Jessie Rowe has been baking scones for the best part of a century and clearly practice makes perfect because the Geraldton great-grandmother’s creations won best scones at last year’s Big Bethanie Bake Off.

She learnt to bake at her mother’s side, compelled to help out in the kitchen from an early age to feed five siblings after their father didn’t come home from World War II.

Friends and family have raved about her scones for decades but she said the Bake Off win, against competitors from around WA, was something special.

“I’m well over 80, so to have waited that long to be honoured for them was a thrill,” she said.

In case you were wondering, there’s no real trick to the recipe — four cups of self-raising flour, a cup of cream and a can of lemonade.

But one suspects Ms Rowe’s experience is the secret ingredient.

“You’ve got to have the brains,” she said.

We asked the great-grandmother what sort of cream was best and were left in no doubt as to what she thought of the MasterChef generation of oh-so-precious home cooks.

“Any cream, cream is cream,” she asserted.

Bethanie Aged Care’s Bake Off is now looking for entries for this year’s instalment.

And it’s not just for Ms Rowe’s demographic.

School kids are encouraged to research their grandparents’ background to discover a favourite family recipe, then produce it with the help of said grand-parent.

You have until October 7 to enter, so visit bigbethaniebakeoff.com for information.