The new series of Junior Bake-off kicked off on the CBBC channel today, with judges Mary Berry and James Martin keeping a watchful eye on the young contestants.

Sadly there is no Mel and Kim to host the show, but the youngsters and the judges are in the capable hands of presenter Aaron craze.

This year 40 young bakers will compete for the title of Junior Bake-off champion 2013, and today in the first episode we met – Griffin, 11, from North Wales, Alexandre, 12, from Hertfordshire, Brinta, 12, from London and Anna, 11, from Kent– who all got straight down to business to take on the first technical challenge of the series, James Martin’s biscotti biscuit recipe.

The final task for the contestants today was the showstopper challenge. The four young bakers were asked to bake a cake based on a racing theme. They all came up with great ideas, but in the end only one contestant would go on to compete in the next round.

The judge’s decided that the winner of the first bake-off round was Griffin, who will now go on to compete in the next round.