Greenaway Award crowns Scotland's best amateur pastry chef

Matthew Wood has won the Mark Greenaway award, which aims to find Scotland's best amateur pastry chef.

Wood won the accolade following a competition yesterday (Sunday 8 December) at Restaurant Mark Greenaway in Edinburgh.

The award-winning chef, who teamed up with Scottish independent brewer, Innis & Gunn, began the competition in November.

Greenaway was joined by judges Leila Kean of Innis & Gunn and Donald Reid, food and drink editor of The List to select a winner from five shortlisted entrants:

Matthew Wood from Prestonpans;
Katie McFarlane-Slack from Ballachulish, Argyll;
Carol Henderson from Aberdeen;
Marie-Joëlle Schmidt from Edinburgh;
and Karen Cranfield from Milltimber, Aberdeenshire.

Wood, a 32-year-old project manager for a scientific research company, impressed the judges with his dish of baked apple terrine with puff pastry and vanilla cream, blackberry jelly, spiced apple spheres and caramel sauce.

Greenaway said: "We saw five very enthusiastic and talented amateur pastry chefs here today and it was difficult to choose a winner. However Matthew's dessert shone through for its classical presentation and well-matched flavours."

As well as having his dessert featured on the menu at Restaurant Mark Greenaway, on a night when he will also be there to prepare it for diners, Wood took away a trophy, a case of limited edition oak-aged beer from Innis & Gunn and a set of personalised chef's whites.

Wood said: "I have always admired Mark's attitude and cooking style since I first saw him on the Great British Menu. I love cooking for other people, and to do that in Mark's restaurant, even for one night, is a dream come true."