Lorraine Kelly and HP are collecting family recipes for the National Book of Bakes, as a poll of 2,000 adults found 51% believe traditional British baking is being forgotten.
Lorraine Kelly is on a mission to stop classic recipes from disappearing for good. The TV favourite has teamed up with HP to launch a new appeal asking Brits to share their best-loved family baking recipes. Once they’re sent in, the recipes will be printed out using an HP Smart Tank printer, bound together and kept in a special printed collection called The National Book of Bakes.
The initiative comes after a survey of 2,000 adults revealed that many beloved traditional treats are being prepared with decreasing frequency – amongst them spotted dick, lemon drizzle cake and even the iconic Victoria sponge.
Even fan favourites like chocolate brownies have only been created by 39%, along with chocolate chip cookies (38%) and the classic hot cross buns (11%).
More than half of those polled (51%) say traditional British bakes are being forgotten, while 67% have a family recipe handed down through generations that they fear could be lost. Of these, 18% put this down to it being written on a scrap of paper which is falling apart, while 22% said it’s just in their heads.
Lorraine said: “There’s something so special about having an old family recipe, especially when it’s written by hand by someone you love.
“On paper it might just look like instructions on how to make a cake, but it’s so much more than that. It’s a piece of family history. Especially if it has been handed down through generations.
“I found my Granny’s recipe for a Dundee cake in one of my old recipe books. It’s a bit battered and tatty round the edges but it’s one of my most precious possessions.
“I’ve printed her recipe off to keep for myself and to pass copies onto my daughter and my friends and other family members. This will keep it safe and ensure my granddaughter Billie will be able to bake the same cake one day.
“I’d urge everyone to preserve these precious memories by doing the same. It’s quick and easy and a wonderful way to remember those we love.”
The study also revealed that 61% of people believe fewer bake nowadays compared to older generations. Only 11% bake on a weekly basis, while 17% admit they never bake at all.
Despite this, Gen Z appears to be reviving the tradition, with younger adults using the oven more than twice as frequently as Boomers (22% vs 11%).
Overall, 72% were in favour of preserving family recipes so they could be handed down through generations, with 79% stating that printing them out is the most reliable way to safeguard them.
A third said they trust a printed recipe book most when it comes to keeping a beloved family recipe safe for the future.
The survey, commissioned through OnePoll, revealed that 42% said family recipes make them feel closer to their family, while 41% said they feel connected to their childhood.
Jaina Mistry, UK and Ireland home print category manager at HP, said: “A family recipe can be incredibly precious, but also surprisingly fragile – scribbled on an old piece of paper, buried in a camera roll or simply remembered by one person.
“This project is about using print to give those recipes a more permanent home.
“With HP Smart Tank and three years of ink included, we can bring recipes from families across Britain together on the printed page, preserving not just how something is made, but the handwriting, notes and stories that make it part of a family’s history.”
THE TOP 30 BAKES AT RISK OF DYING OUT:
- Cream fingers
- Battenberg cake
- Eccles cakes
- Chelsea buns
- Spotted dick and custard
- Blondies
- Treacle tart
- Bakewell tart
- Custard tarts
- Hot cross buns
- Profiteroles / eclairs
- Banoffee pie
- Jam roly-poly
- Sticky toffee pudding
- School cake / school dinner cake
- Millionaire’s shortbread
- Donuts
- Coffee and walnut cake
- Bread and butter pudding
- Gingerbread
- Lemon drizzle cake
- Christmas cake / fruit cake
- Carrot cake
- Trifle
- Shortbread
- Banana bread
- Chocolate chip cookies
- Chocolate brownies
- Scones
- Victoria sponge



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