Celebrity judge for St Michael’s NS bake-off in Ballyduff

Baking, icing, stewing and sautéing are just some of the kitchen skills already perfected by many of the children attending St Michael’s NS, who entered a lockdown cooking competition organised by Louise Daly.

“We received more than 89 impressive entries to my callout for entries, in which we asked children to provide a photo of themselves in the process of making their dish, alongside their finished dish,” said Múinteoir Louise.

Children at each class level served up cakes and bakes of various kinds, and lots of other delicious dishes.

Renowned chef Rory O’Connell of Ballymaloe Cookery School had the unenviable task of judging the creations and whittling down the entries, of which, many stood out.

Aoibhinn Barry from 2nd class impressed the judge with her heartshaped Valentine’s themed biscuits.

Continuing on the Valentine’s theme, sisters Ellie and Katie Kenny wowed the judge with their heart-shaped fruit flan.

Darragh Kearney from 3rd class stood out for the judge with his savoury entry, creating his pizza from scratch.

Twelve-year-old Alannah Martin wowed the judge with her stunning presentation of a lemon curd and raspberry sponge cake.

JEFFREY, NOAH & FIONN OVERALL WINNERS

Chocolate proved a popular ingredient for many pupils, however, 5th class pupil Caroline Kenny led the way with her delectable chocolate cake.

Isla Mai Scanlon from 1st class made the judge egg-static with her beautiful Easter cupcakes.

After long deliberations, celebrity judge Rory O’Connell awarded three overall prizes.

Nine-year-old Jeffrey Lawlor secured a win after impressing with a fruit roulade and while meringue is notoriously difficult to get right, Jeffrey made it look easy.

Noah O’Gorman also landed a top spot by demonstrating fantastic culinary skills at the young age of ten with his ‘cake within a cake’.

Finally, five-year-old Fionn Noonan gave a skilful attempt at iced queen cakes and left judge Rory O’Connell especially impressed with the Head Chef hat Fionn made in order to fully immerse himself in his work.

(Pic: John Ahern) BALLYDUFF’S BRILLIANT BAKERS: Teacher, Louise Daly from Kilworth, with St. Michael’s National School, Ballyduff pupils, who were successful in the bake off competition. The standard was very high with participants showing wonderful creativity and no little skill.