Junior Bake Off 2013: James Martin’s coffee éclairs test Emma, Griffin, Ellie and Emily in the first semi finals

It the first of the semi-finals, 5 bakers will go head to head to try to secure a place in the final, but first they have to impress the bake-off judges one more time with their very best bakes.

The bakers are: Emma 11, from Pembrokeshire, Griffin 11, Wrexham, Ellie 12, Edinburgh, Ruby 11, Devon and Emily 12, Lanarkshire.

Mary Berry and James Martin will keep a watchful eye on the young bakers baking skills as they take on two tough challenges where mistakes could rule them out of the final line-up. Only two will make it through today to get a chance to be crowned junior bake-off champion 2013.

The first challenge is the technical challenge and it is one of James Martin’s own recipe, coffee éclairs. The bakers had to produce six of them, baked evenly with a golden brown colour. The custard had to be thick and smooth and the coffee icing set and glossy.

The showstopper challenge is one that tests the creativity of the four bakers. For this second challenge, the young bakers had to bake a large saviour tart with the theme of flags from round the world. The bakers were asked to ensure that the flags are clearly design and the flavours work well together.

For his showstopper challenge, Griffin backed his Walsh Flag Tart with Dragon dressing, with his short crust pastry filled with cheese and leeks decorated with a pastry dragon coated in chilli salsa.

For her showstopper challenge, Emma baked her Walsh Flag Tart with a Walsh cheese topping and a wax dragon on top for decoration.

For her showstopper challenge, Emily baked her Flavours of Brazil Tart, topping it with kale and a blue coloured potato.

For her showstopper challenge, Ruby baked her Devon Flag Tart using a flaky pastry and topped with cheese and a variety of locally grown vegetables.

For her showstopper challenge, Ellie baked her Italian Roasted Pepper and Parmesan Tart, filling it with parmesan cheese, peppers and Mediterranean herbs and spices.

The young bakers gave it all their best efforts but in the end only two bakers would go onto compete again in the final and the two bakers chosen by Mary and James were Emma and Ruby.