IT’S OFFICIAL - craft bakery and family owned business Irvine’s Bakers and Confectioners makes the best scone in Scotland.

It’s Chocolate Orange Scone took the top prize in the Scottish Baker of the Year 2016 presented by Mich Turner MBE at a glittering ceremony hosted by Scottish Bakers, the association that supports and promotes the interests of Scottish Bakers across the country.

“We are extremely pleased to be recognised as the baker of the best scone in the land” said Maurice Irvine of Irvine’s. “We take our business very seriously and use traditional methods and craftsmen’s skills to deliver quality every time. But we could not have come this far in the competition without our dedicated and skilled team and without the votes of all of our customers, Thank you.”

Owner of Award winning Little Venice Cake Company and Judge on ITV’s Britain’s Best Bakery Mich Turner MBE, who presented Irvine’s with their award said: “It has given me great pleasure to be involved in the competition again this year.

“There have been some fantastic entries and all the prizes I have handed out to bakers have been worthy in every way.

“I wish Irvine’s well in the coming year as one of Scotland’s premier craft bakers.”

Irvine’s were also successful taking a Regional Gold in the Individual Cake Category for its French Fancy as well as Regional Silver in the Savoury Category for its Steak Pie as well as a Regional Bronze for its Chicken and Haggis Pie.

Chief Executive of Scottish Bakers Alan Clarke commented: “It’s been a long journey to get to this point.

“Over 15,000 customers from across Scotland voted for their favourite bakery products across six categories and in April, more than 110 bakers delivered 600 of the most popular products in the land for scrutiny by a panel of 40 expert and independent judges led by artisan baker Robert Ross and including retired master bakers with extensive experience of the bakery sector in Scotland.

“With products from Stranraer to Shetland, we now have a ringing endorsement for our industry and a worthy winner in Irvine’s.”

The Scottish Baker of the Year Awards was devised by Scottish Bakers to raise awareness of the bakery industry in Scotland.

With baking enjoying resurgence in our kitchens, on our tv screens and on our book shelves, the Association believed it was time to recognise the skills and expertise of the men and women across Scotland who bake for a living.

Scottish Bakers asked customers across Scotland to vote for their favourite bakery items in the following categories: morning roll, scone, small cake, savoury, biscuit and bread scoring each on appearance, freshness, taste and value for money.

The top products in each category were baked and delivered to Dunfermline for judging by a panel of independent experts. The judges had one day only to look at the best baked items in the country in order to decide the regional and national winners.

Each category was divided into 3 regions, covering Highlands, Islands & Grampian, Central Belt & Tayside, Borders & Lowlands.

Within each category the judges awarded a Gold, Silver and Bronze.

All Bronze, Silver and Gold regional winners were then re-judged to identify the

Scottish National Winners for each category and each of them was entered into the business judging stage of the Scottish Baker of the Year competition to select the best bakery business in Scotland, which was won by the Kandy Bar of Saltcoats, as reported in previous weeks.