In the junior section Rawhitiroa School suffered a set back earlier in the day when one of the cheese scone chefs couldn't make the competition. However team mates Blake Deane (10) and Kauby Ngatai (9) pulled it together and were awarded second place.
"Next time I think we will try something really different like adding chocolate chips," says Blake.
Eltham Primary School took home top prize in the junior section with chefs India-Rose Brown-Martin (12) and Daniel Mackay (12). Daniel is a two times Eltham 4 Square Cheese Scone home baker competition winner and says he and India-Rose were quietly confident.
"It is a lot more pressure cooking in front of a crowd than at home, but we handled it" says Daniel.
India-Rose says their scones impressed the judges because of their secret but simple ingredient, love.
In the senior section of the competition a range of techniques were adapted to create the perfect savoury treat.
The Carac Couplings team believed their precision skills would sway the judges votes while the Uhlenberg Racing team hung their hopes on their secret ingredient. The E-Town Youth team believed it was their experience in the high pressure cooking competition that would see them on top and the Eltham Fire Brigade team thought sticking to a strong classic recipe would win out in the end.
Victory on the night however went to Matthew McDonald and Llew Eynon from the Eltham Lions Club.
"Going into the competition we knew we were the winning team," says Matthew, president of Eltham Lions.
The pair each brought a secret ingredient to the cook-off and while unwilling to share what those ingredients were Llew says it was the combination of the two that made for the winning recipe.
Joyce Carter, president of the Eltham Business and Professionals Association, says she was pleased with the turn out of teams on Friday night. "It was great to see so many people getting involved, all the teams provided wonderful entertainment for the audience."
