A piece of cake!

The 14-year-olds from Cransley School, Northwich, were among the winners in a hotly-contested schools challenge set by Reaseheath College.

Their cake took third place in the college’s year nine Schools Bake Off competition, which attracted 120 entries from 45 secondary schools in five counties.

The friends impressed with their beautifully-decorated sponge, which was set off with roses made from icing, catching the eyes of the judges, who were looking for originality, presentation and taste.

Contestants had to produce a cake or pastry with a royal theme, and Sam and Lily received a cash prize.

Sam, who is a keen home baker, said: “I wanted to make my cake original, so I tried out lots of ideas at home and at school.

“The competition was great fun, and I got feedback from the judges. It’s made me even keener to look at food science as a career.”

Ten entries made it through to the final, held in Reaseheath’s specialist Food Centre.

The final was judged by professional chef Brian Mellor, Cheshire WI judge Mary Hignett and Peter Wright, chairman of the Wrights Pies Food Group, which sponsored the competition.

Teams of Reaseheath’s food technologists selected the finalists after visiting schools throughout Cheshire, Staffordshire, Manchester, Wirral and mid Wales to view and taste the cakes and test the knowledge of the young bakers.

The competition was so popular there are plans to repeat it next year, with a savoury meat theme.

“We were amazed by the pupils’ novel ideas,” said Reaseheath food curriculum manager Nick Blakemore.

“It was a very hard job to select the finalists because each entry had something to bring to the table. It was even harder to choose the winner.”