Dawn Twemlow, head cook at Intake Primary School, has lifted the 2017 Big School Bake Off trophy following two fiercely contested heats at the LACA Main Event on yesterday (July 6).
Finalists had one and a half hours to transform their paper entry into a showstopper under the watchful eyes of the judging panel, including Chief Executive of the Children’s Food Trust Linda Cregan, LACA representative Sylvie Babout and UFS Executive Chef Alex Hall.
At the end of the session the judges sampled each of the creations. The panel looked for taste, creativity, visual appeal and appropriateness for school menus. Each recipe had to be the baker’s own recipe and contain at least 50% fruit (half of the total ingredients’ weight) aligning with the School Food Standards in England for fruit-based desserts served at least twice a week.
Judge Alex Hall, Unilever Food Solutions executive chef, said: “This competition gets better and better every year. It was an extremely close-run final and the creativity on show was of a high order – a brilliant example of the level of talent that’s out there in school kitchens the country over. Massive congratulations to Dawn.”
As well as the title of 2017 Big School Bake Off champion, Dawn takes home £500 Love2Shop vouchers and a trophy, a further £100 Love2Shop voucher courtesy of competition supporter Hobart UK and a Let’s Get Cooking extravaganza for her school.