McDougalls Young Baking Team of the Year 2016 revealed

11 July 2016 by Katey Pigden

Spaldwick Community Primary School in Cambridgeshire has been crowned the McDougalls Young Baking Team of the Year 2016.

Pupils Maddie Thorpe, Rebecca Lucas and Daisy Ritchie, supported by school caterer Alison Leaver, baked profiteroles using local produce.

Sarah Robb, foodservice channel marketing manager at Premier Foods, said: "Provenance was the central theme of this year's event and the children astounded with their creativity.

"We were very impressed by their dedication, enthusiasm and how involved they were in sourcing local ingredients. Spaldwick Community Primary School used eggs, which were laid by chickens owned by a friend of the team, and strawberries grown nearby to make their winning profiteroles.

"We would like to thank everyone who contributed to making the competition such an unbelievable success."

Spaldwick Community Primary School achieved high scores for teamwork, presentation, taste, aroma and texture.

Rigby said: "We were all extremely impressed with the level of effort each team had gone to in their preparation for the live final. From rising phoenix tear 'n' share bread to crumbly summer fruit sponge, it was an incredibly tough decision, but ultimately Spaldwick Community Primary School stood out to us. To make choux pastry in under an hour and achieve the light texture that they did, is extremely impressive."

The final - involving teams of three children, aged seven to 11 took place at the LACA Main Event on 7 July.

Finalists were Bolsover C of E Primary School, Lymm High School, Phoenix Community Primary School, Spaldwick Community Primary School and Trinity & St Michaels Primary School.

Spaldwick Community Primary School was awarded a cheque for £1,000 for kitchen equipment, which was presented to them by Peter McGrath, chair of LACA.

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