Botham's of Whitby appears on BBC Countryfile show as presenter tries hand at icing lemon buns

Sean Fletcher, BBC Countryfile presenter, was seen on TV last night rolling up his sleeves as he took part in a lemon bun masterclass with the family bakers Jonathan Botham and Lois Borrett.

From kneading and baking to icing and eating, Sean took an active role in each step of the making progress, all under the watchful eyes of the family bakers, of course.

Jonathan Botham, Elizabeth Botham’s great-grandson, said: “It was our pleasure to welcome Sean and the BBC Countryfile film crew into our Skinner Street bakehouse.

“Sean was very enthusiastic and loved making and eating Whitby lemon buns – he sampled several just to make sure!

"We chatted about Sean’s sourdough starter he cultures at home and I gave him some tips, and he was also very keen to perfect his kneading technique as we prepared the lemon bun dough.

“Sean, and the entire crew, were interested in Botham’s – the history, the products, the baking progresses – and they certainly enjoyed sampling our bakes!”

With mixing, kneading and baking complete, Sean then headed to the Finishing Room, with its view of Whitby Abbey, to get his hands on an icing bag, to see if he could perfect the flick required for icing batches of lemon buns at speed.

Lois Borrett, Elizabeth Botham’s great-great-granddaughter, who heads up the finishing room and ices the famous buns each morning, said: “Considering it was his first attempt, Sean was a natural with the piping bag and, towards the end, he was piping them (almost) to our high standards.

“We would hire you, Sean.”

Out of the bakehouse and onto a bench on Whitby’s West Cliff, Jo then demonstrated the Whitby way of eating a lemon bun, which involves tearing the bun in half and turning the icing inside to make a lemon bun sandwich.”

If you didn't see the show, don't despair - log on to BBC iPlayer and click on At The Seaside episode to watch it.