Children go back to basics this Christmas with cake tins on their wish list Supermarkets Waitrose, Sainsbury's, Asda and Morrisons have all reported the show having an effect on sales of baking ingredients and decorations as well as cookware. Sainsbury's, which sells its own The Great British Bake Off line, said cooling racks had done the best, up 172 per cent, while tart tins saw a rise of 77 per cent on last year, with children keen to try their hand at it after the show's episode on tart making. Their children's baking books are also up 32 per cent this year. Marks and Spencer said its pre-prepared baking mixes were up 74 percent, while children's television character Percy Pig cupcake mix is one of its best selling items. "It seems that it is parents doing the buying of baking accessories and pretty display plates and stands, but the message we are getting from our personal shoppers is that they are purchasing for their children for Christmas," said Elena Antoniou, Debenhams spokesman. It is not just girls, but also boys, who are taking more of an interest than ever before in cooking, and especially baking. They are not only using recipes from the show and techniques they have seen on TV, but they are also increasingly asking for equipment, cooking tins, bowls and plates they can use to get the same effect as The Great British Bake Off contestants. The last series of the programme featured the first all-male final, which stores say has given baking a more manly image and encouraged boys to try their hand at it. James Morton, the 21-year-old finalist from the last series of The Great British Bake Off, said: "I've been baking since I was tiny, and almost every day I'd go round to my gran's house to bake with her after school, so it's definitely best to start them early in the kitchen." Mr Morton, who impressed the judges with a choux pastry shaped like a bicycle and a parsnip upside-down cake, said his best piece of advice to young and aspiring bakers was to "keep innovating and never dismiss something just because it hasn't been done before." Caroline Walker, 46, from Wiltshire, has seen her 15-year-old son Conor inspired by the BBC show: "He is taking GCSE cooking and loves watching The Great British Bake Off," she said. No one is more amazed than me about how serious he is about cooking. He loves his football and is very competitive - I think that is what appeals to him about the show. He and his friends are always trying to outdo each other during their cookery assessments to see who can get the most A*s, so I was not totally surprised to see a new mixer and set of cooking utensils on his Christmas list, along with the X-Box 360 games and a request for a new mobile phone.