Val Stones, our baking expert, loves cooking and baking. She became widely popular when she took part in BBC's The Great British Bake Off in 2016, series 7.  Val grew up in Conisbrough, Doncaster and she now lives in Somerset with her beloved husband Ian.

With her lively personality, Val won over the audience's heart and saw her Instagram followers increase by thousands! She’s been cooking since she was six years old and she took over the family business at the age of 15.

With over 50 years of experience, Val loves traditional recipes with a fun twist, but you could find her searching the internet for new ones. While waiting for the cake to come out of the oven, you might catch her doing some fun workouts!

Val or famously known as The Cake Whisperer which is the title of her recipe book, teaches us alternative ways to check if the cake is ready. You don’t have to poke it with a knife to check if it’s done, as there’s a friendlier way to do that, you’d just have to listen to it, the secret is in the sound the cake is making!

Val has worked with Mark Lane to produce 12 delicious recipes with homegrown delights and tips to reduce your carbon footprint.

Check out the tasty recipes on Val's blog posts and see how to make irresistible cakes and tasty pasties.

Val Stones was among 12 contestants on Series 7 of the BBC series "The Great British Bake Off". Series 7 of "The Great British Bake Off" (TGBBO) was aired on BBC 1 on 24th August 2016 for 10 episodes, attracting around 13 million viewers per episode and nearly 16 million for the final episode. As a prime time evening show, it was rated BBC One's number one ranking show in all weeks. Valerie "Val" Stones, a semi-retired school teacher left the show on week 5 after cooking up a total of 10 dishes.

Series 7 was ultimately won by Candice Brown who contested the final against Andrew and Jane where they were tasked with baking a signature bake of meringue crowns, a technical bake of a Victoria sandwich and finally a showstopper picnic bake.

Episode 1 - Cake

Signature (Drizzle cake) - Val cooks "Mum's orange and lemon drizzle cake"

Showstopper (Mirror glaze cake) - Val cooks a chocolate sponge with four fruit frosting

Episode 2 - Biscuits

Signature (24 iced biscuits) - Val cooks Sunday treat iced ice cream cone biscuits

Showstopper (Gingerbread 3D scene) - Val bakes "From Holland to New York via Yorkshire

Episode 3 - Bread

Signature (Chocolate Loaf) - Val bakes a double chocolate cinnamon twist loaf

Showstopper (Savoury plaited(braided) centrepiece) - Val cooks "And they all went into the ark to get out of the rain"

Episode 4 - Batter

Signature (Filled Yorkshire puddings) - Val cooks Mum's chilli Yorkshire puddings

Showstopper (Churros) - Val bakes orange chocolate churros

Episode 5 - Pastry

Signature (24 breakfast pastries) - Val bakes pecan and maple syrup pinwheels and apple, sultana and cinnamon swirls

Showstopper (48 filo amuse-bouche) - Val bakes caramelised red onion, goats cheese tartlets and mincemeat and apple spiced parcels