A Cornish chef won the desserts category in the latest PubCh

Gareth Eddy, 31, is head chef at St Austell Brewery's Old Custom House in Padstow, Cornwall. Eddy, who trained under Rick Stein, impressed the judges with his dessert of baked organic Cornish Cox's apple crumble, scented with lavender, served with vanilla and rhubarb custard ice cream. Gareth was one of five finalists taking part in the cook-off, which was held last week at the Meat & Livestock Commission in Milton Keynes. The desserts category was sponsored by Jus-Rol, the UK's leading supplier of prepared pastry. Judges of the category included Ian McKerracher, former chief executive of the Restaurant Association, Andrew Pring, editor of the Morning Advertiser and Greg Nicholl, owner of Nicholl's Country Inns. The four other finalists were Paul Morgan of the Hampshire Arms in Crondall, Hampshire; Gareth Davies of the Windmill in Adlington, Macclesfield; Susan Hammett of the Pickwick Inn in St Issey, Padstow, and Laura Todd of the Bull Inn in Witherley, Warwickshire. All the chefs had one hour and 15 minutes to prepare and present a dish of four servings. No pre-prepared ingredients were allowed. For more coverage of the PubChef Awards, see the next issue of PubChef, out with next week's Morning Advertiser.