A pupil from St Cecilia’s College and a Food Production student from North West Regional College (NWRC), have been crowned champions at the North West Baking Championships.
The two competitions, which were hosted at NWRC’s Flying Clipper restaurant, required participants to design, create and produce their own Afternoon Tea Menus, paying close attention to quality, time management, presentation and taste.
Leah Kelly, a 15-year-old student from St Cecilia’s College was awarded the Top Baker title in the Post Primary School category, for her afternoon tea package while Marie Mulhern, who is currently studying for City & Guilds L2 NVQ Diploma in Food Production at NWRC Strand Road, was crowned Queen of the Bake Off in the Inter Campus Category.
Claire Goodman from Green Cat Bakery was one of the judges in the Inter Campus Category, she said the judges had a tough time selecting the overall winner given the standard of baking on show.
Claire commented “All of the judges were impressed by the quality of the foods that were produced, but also the work that was done behind the scenes. The work that went into planning the menus, preparation and timings was superb.
“All of the students who took part put a great deal of time and effort in and I’d like to congratulate every one of them.”
Lecturer, Bernadette Peoples said the college’s first ever Baking Championships had been a huge success.
She added: “We were delighted to welcome post primary pupils, and of course our own students, to the industry standard kitchens at Strand Road campus for a competition that has been a huge success.
“With the popularity of shows such as The Great British Bake Off, demand for courses in baking and pastry making has never been higher.
“This year we decided to run the Baking Championships with the theme of Afternoon Tea, challenging all of our participants in both sweet and savoury, as well as testing their preparation, time management and presentation skills.”