Premier Foods has awarded pupils from St Martin and St Mary C of E Primary School in Windermere, Cumbria, the title of 2018 McDougalls Young Baking Team of the Year.

Five teams took part in the live final that took place at the catering exhibition LACA: The Main Event on Thursday 12 July. They were tasked with creating sweet or savoury recipes that included at least one local ingredient, sourced within a 30-mile radius.

The winning team – which consisted of Finely Park (aged 8), Harry Vinall (aged 9) and Alice Evans (aged 10), supported by school caterer, Nicola Hastie – presented raspberry & white chocolate scones with eggs sourced from a local farm and the chocolate from a nearby company.

The treats were judged by Andrew Green, representing the Craft Guild of Chefs; Carol Harwood, representing LACA; and Mark Rigby, executive chef at Premier Foods. They said St Martin and St Mary C of E Primary School scored highly for their impeccable attention to detail from the mini pots of jam and cream to the ‘beautifully handmade’ chocolate swans.

“We couldn’t wait to see the dishes that each of the five finalist schools had submitted come to life. Every year we are blown away by the standard in terms of presentation, taste and how the teams work together throughout the day,” said Sarah Robb, foodservice channel marketing manager at Premier Foods.

“Huge congratulations to the winning school and a big thank you to all those who took part, the effort that you put into rehearsing for the finals was clearly evident in the high quality of the final dishes.”

A prize of £1,000 worth of kitchen equipment was presented to the winning team by LACA chair Tim Blowers.

Nicola Hastie, from the winning school, said the money would be used to help start a weekly cookery club from September.

“I couldn’t be prouder of the children, you can see such a difference in their confidence from when we first started practicing for the competition. It has really brought all of the pupils at the school together as everyone has got involved with the process and supported us,” she added.

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