Charlotte, from Stanwick, Northants, picked up the £2,500 prize at Leon’s headquarters in Borough Market, London for her five savoury dishes that she uploaded to the Cook5 website.
The winning recipes included Christmas Tree Twists made from puff pastry, passata and herbs, cheesy bacon parcels and a wide-eyed ‘Minion’ salad, topped with an oversized cucumber and olive eye.
John Vincent said: “Cook5 is all about positivity. We’ve kept our recipes simple so children, and their parents, who don’t usually cook feel they can have a go.
“Cooking is like alchemy; you can spin gold from really basic materials. We want to get more and more children back into the kitchen and experience that magic for themselves.”
John Vincent and Leon co-founder Henry Dimbleby established Cook5 in 2013 with the aim of getting more children aged 5-15 to learn how to cook at least five savoury dishes before they leave school.
Children can visit the Cook5 website and start uploading pictures of the savoury dishes they have produced. Every participant who reaches the target of cooking five dishes will receive a Cook5 certificate and a Little Leon e-book.
Cook5 champion Charlotte Foster, said: “I love cooking. It’s really relaxing and I get to be creative. I cook with my mum, or sometimes with my brother Christopher. I’d really recommend Cook5 to anyone. It’s great fun.”
Every month, the person whose recipe receives the most votes from friends and family will win £50. And everyone who cooks five dishes will be entered into a Grand Annual Prize Draw for £500.
An additional prize of £2000 will be awarded to the school that gets the most students cooking five dishes, to invest in teaching cookery.
The Leon founders co-authored the Government backed School Food Plan in 2013, which set out to transform what children eat in schools and how they learn about food. As a result of the plan the government now provides free school lunches to all infants in years reception, 1 & 2.