BOTH of this year's Great British Bake Off contestants from Sussex may have been eliminated, but the county's presence on the show is far from over.

On last night's show, contestants were tasked with creating Sussex Pond Puddings as part of a tricky technical challenge.

This element of the show is a surprise even for the bakers, who are informed of the pudding just moments before they are handed a purposefully vague recipe, given the necessary ingredients and told to create the pudding.

And, as judge Prue Leith announced the 17th century bake would be their test this week, they were met with a sea of blank faces.

Prue said: "You are all excellent bakers, so we haven't given you any extra ingredients.

"Get it right, the first time."

Host Matt Lucas elaborated.

He said: "Prue has popped back to the 1700s for this technical. She would like you each to make two Sussex Pond puddings.

"Your puddings should be made with suet pastry and, when steamed, should be golden."

Fellow host Noel Fielding added: "When cut into, the filling should ooze out creating a lemon-y, syrup-y pond."

They were given a tight timeframe of two-and-a-half hours to complete the complex recipe.

"I've never heard of a Sussex Pond pudding," bemused baker Laura Adlington said.

"I think my nan would know what it was."

Fellow baker Hermine added: "I mean, does anybody even eat this in 2020?"

The other contestants in the tent also admitted they had never heard of the obscure bake.

But judge Paul Hollywood said the challenge, chosen to test the baker's mettle in the quarter final of the show, was a "personal favourite".

Prue said: "This is not the prettiest pudding in the world, but it's sort of surprising because there's a whole lemon inside.

"Suet pastry is not the easiest pastry to deal with because it's so pliable, and if it's too floppy it will tear."

But Paul said, if made correctly,m a Sussex Pond pudding could be a thing of beauty - to eat if not to look at.

He said: "Puddings like this go back so far in British history. Steamed puddings were what we were known for.

"That sharpness from the lemon, the sweetness from the sugar and the butter, the rich pastry, it just melts in the mouth."

All of the bakers struggled to come to terms with the tricky techniques needed to perfect the pastry.

Several of the bakes were underdone with raw pastry, while others collapsed in on themselves.

Despite having never heard of a Sussex Pond Pudding before, Laura won the challenge.

However, Prue's review of her creations was less than complimentary.

The judge said: "Laura, I wish I could say it was wonderful, but it really wasn't much better than the rest.

"It was understeamed, it would have been great (otherwise), and the custard was too thin."