AMONG the foodies heading to Marlborough for the annual food and drink festival is 2012 Great British Bake Off quarter finalist Cathryn Dresser.

She will be encouraging visitors to the event to get baking when she makes an appearance at the Parlour Farm Chef’s Kitchen at 3pm on Saturday, May 16.

Ms Dresser came fifth in series three of the hugely popular BBC show.

She now runs a successful market stall in her home town of Sussex and also travels around the country doing cookery demonstrations and baking master classes on ITV’s This Morning.

She also attends world famous events such as BBC Good Food Show and the Cake and Bake Show.

Her first recipe book Let’s Bake was published by Orion Books in summer 2014 and was inspired by her love to bake with her children Maisie and Ambrose.

Written with children in mind, she wants to get families baking together and hopes that she can spread this idea at the Marlborough Food and Drink Festival where young and old alike can watching her cook live.

John Rhodes, director of Garden Events Company which organises the event, said: “Cathryn Dresser is very popular and, with baking being so popular at the moment, I think she will go down nicely.”

Other chefs appearing at the Marlborough Food & Drink Festival over the weekend of May 16 and 17 include Jack Stein, the head chef at The Seafood Restaurant in Padstow, and Stefan Gates presenter of Gastronaut Live.

Wiltshire chefs include Chris Wooldridge from The Marlborough and the head chef from The Bell at Ramsbury.

There will also be free wine talks and demonstrations provided by Yealands Estate from Marlborough, New Zealand.

Tickets are available on the day or from www.garden-events.com

Honey Bee Biscuits recipe

You will need:

125g unsalted butter, at room temperature

65g icing sugar

1 tablespoon honey

1 large free-range egg white

150g plain flour, plus a little extra for dusting

Pinch of salt

50g Demerara sugar

10g each of yellow and black fondant icing

A few flaked almonds

Method:

Line a baking tray with non-stick baking parchment

Beat the butter and icing sugar together in a large mixing bowl until they are pale and creamy. You can do this with an electric hand-held mixer or a wooden spoon. Add the honey and beat a little more, then add the egg white and beat again. Add the flour and salt to the mixture and stir gently until it comes together to form a dough.

Dust your hands with a little flour and very lightly dust the worktop too. Tip out the dough and form into a ball, then roll into a long sausage shape, about the size of a rolling pin (about 30cm long and 5cm wide). Sprinkle the Demerara sugar over the dough and on the worktop. Roll the dough in the sugar until it is covered in a sugary coating.

Cut the dough in half and wrap both halves in cling film, then put in the fridge to chill for about 1 hour. Preheat the oven to 180?C/160?C fan/gas mark 4.

Take the dough out of the fridge and unwrap it. Ask an adult to help cut the dough into discs about as thick as 2 pound coins. Place the biscuits on your prepared baking tray, leaving small gaps between each biscuit.

Put the baking tray into the oven and bake for eight-10 minutes. They should still be pale but firm to touch. Leave to cool on the tray for five minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. When the biscuits are cool, you can decorate them however you like.

For the decorations roll little ovals of yellow fondant icing, then roll thin black stripes to lie over the top.

Stick in flaked almonds as wings.