Oliver, 17, is king of the UK’s young bakers
9:15am Monday 6th February 2012 in Your Town
TEENAGER Oliver Campbell is celebrating being crowned BBC Young Baker of the Year.
The 17-year-old beat off competition from 100 other hopefuls, aged between 16 and 25 years old, to the title.
He was the youngest of the 20 semi-finalists, four of whom made it to the final, which was broadcast on BBC Three.
And judges, including food writer Gizzi Erskine and Gerhard Jenne, founder of the London cake shop chain Konditor and Cook, voted him the winner.
The former Canon Slade pupil said: “It’s amazing. I never even thought I would get through to the semi-finals. It has all gone so fast.
“All the way through I couldn’t believe it — when they said my name I was in shock.”
In the first round of the final, Oliver showed off his baking skills by making a quiche lorraine and a peach and frangipane tart.
He then had to make three types of bread and chose white bread rolls, chilli and parmesan cheese plait and a white tin bread.
After completing a theory round, Oliver made a three-tiered sponge cake decorated in ivory sugar paste.
It had a Hollywood and glamour theme, with different coloured flowers on the top tier, a crimped rope edge on the second tier and a ruffle effect on the bottom tier to look like a dress.
Oliver, from Four Lane Ends, is studying for an NVQ Level 2 in bakery at Tameside College.
He said: “Baking was the only thing I was really passionate about and thought I would want to do for the rest of my career. There are pictures of me at about three years old sitting on the worksurface helping my mum mix a cake.”
Oliver also works in the confectionery department at Slattery’s, in Whitefield.
He said: “It was really nerveracking because even though you are doing what comes naturally, in the back of your mind you know if you do something wrong it will show up on camera.”
Oliver hopes to set up his own business.
