THE heat is on for a Bolton schoolgirl who is hoping to become the Junior MasterChef 2012.

Georgie Crowther, a Year Seven pupil at Bolton School girls’ division, will join young chefs from across the country to battle it out on national television to impress judges John Torode and Donal Skehan by cooking up delicious meals from scratch.

Georgie, who started cooking at the age of four when she baked cakes, says her favourite dish to cook is pork and lettuce wraps with shallots and cashew nuts. Her favourite meal is moule mariniere with frites The 11-year-old, from Smithills, applied for the show after seeing it advertised on the internet and has now made it through to the quarter final, which will be aired today.

She said: “It was really hard cooking under pressure. You are very conscious of the time and they remind you too, telling you when you reach the halfway point. I ended up rushing a bit and actually finished ahead of time.”

More than 5,000 children applied and the talented youngster made it through a telephone interview before auditioning on film, where she had to take along one of her creations.

She took a type of onion tart — a Pissaladiere — which impressed judges and secured her a place on the show. Georgie says she loves cooking and regularly creates meals for her family. In Year Six she was a member of the school cookery club and was given the chance to use the facilities in the senior schools.

Georgie said: “It was really exciting filming in London and it gave me the opportunity to try out new and more ambitious recipes and to really test my cooking skills.”

Filming took place in the school holidays over August.

She was chosen to go through to the last four after winning over the judges with her “sophisticated” dishes. Georgie said: “I am really surprised and just really excited now and happy.”

You can watch Georgie in action at 4.30pm on CBBC.