Tim Fisher, a pastry chef from Lexington’s Subsea seven contract, won the BakeStar 2024 award and Samantha Polmear, barista from Lexington’s Schroders contract, won the BariStar accolade.
The inaugural BakeStar competition focused on plant-based baking adding an extra layer of challenge to the competition. Contestants prepared tray bakes during the qualification round and eight identical afternoon tea-sized cakes for the final.
Tim’s winning creation was a sweet pastry tartlet with layers of British apple, cobnut dacquoise, vanilla cream, caramel and cobnut brittle. The baked goods were judged on flavours, textures, decoration, workflow, neatness and the locality of ingredients. His concept will be rolled out across Lexington’s client sites.
The BariStar competition is designed to assess participants on the art of coffee science and preparation. The final measured creativity, presentation and execution quality. Samantha's coffee was a banana bread latte crafted with steamed Minor Figures oat milk. Her concept will be served across all Lexington client sites for one season.
Matt Wood, managing director of Lexington Catering, said: “We are so proud of the talent we have at Lexington and the amazing achievements of our winners, Tim and Samantha. Their award wins are testament to their incredible expertise and baking and barista skills, as well as the delicious creations they craft for our clients and customers, every day. All of our contestants were fantastic and the bar was certainly set high.”