Year 7 Ollie Wins Bake-Off Award

Posted at 11:00 am on 26th March, 2024

FutureChef Celebration in London

Ollie, Year 7 Wellacre, has been crowned FutureChef’s Bake-off winner at the Springboard FutureChef national celebration in London on 18th March.

Aimed at students in Year 7 and 8, students were invited to compete virtually by baking a savoury tart, using homemade short-crust pastry, and photographing their process and submitting their recipe online.   

Over 3,000 entries from across the UK were judged by over 65 industry professional chefs, but it was Ollie’s Mediterranean roasted vegetable, goat cheese and chorizo savoury tart that stood out! 

    

The judges were really impressed with Ollie’s choice of ingredients and especially loved his attention to seasoning his tart and the knife skills displayed in his entry. 

Alongside his parents, Ollie travelled to Westminster Kingsway College London to attend the national celebration of 25 years of the Springboard FutureChef competition. 

Ollie added:

“It was brilliant to go to London to be presented with my award and to be picked as the winner because the competition was hard! I also was given my own new chef whites and hat. We had food and drink, and also took a look around the university.”

The event was attended by Michelin starred restaurateurs and celebrity chefs, such as Brian Turner, and also featured the FutureChef National Final competition.  Many awards were presented on the day including the Future Talent Award and Services to Springboard Award.

Mrs Ashburn, Teacher of Food, Cooking and Nutrition, said:

“We are so proud of Ollie winning the Bake-off competition and being invited to such a prestigious event in London to celebrate! 

“The Springboard FutureChef competition is a fantastic chance for students to win recognition for their cooking whilst having fun, showcasing their skills and being creative in the kitchen.”

Since starting at Wellacre, Ollie’s passion for food and cooking has excelled thanks to his weekly food technology lessons.  HIs love of cooking started during the pandemic, when he learned to make bread, pizza and his favourite Oreo mug cakes on Zoom calls with his friends.