PubChef Food Excellence Awards WINNER - Desserts

Just like the first friendly greeting when a customer arrives in a pub, final impressions count. As the last course of a pub meal, desserts often...

Just like the first friendly greeting when a customer arrives in a pub, final impressions count. As the last course of a pub meal, desserts often determine whether a customer returns next time, so they have to leave people wanting more.

Marion Cummins

Position: Pastry chefPub: The Linnet, Great Hinton, WiltshireContact number: 01380 870354Dish: Ginger pudding with ginger toffee sauceClick here to see the recipeCost of ingredients: £1.50Menu price: £4.90GP: 68%Why you chose this dish: "This is a family favourite, a variation of sticky toffee pudding. It's good, traditional comfort food."Background: Although Marion modestly claims to have been a chef for only two years, she has been cooking professionally for much longer. For four years, she was a pastry cook in a school and then ran a successful coffee shop for the army. When she moved to Wiltshire, Marion worked part-time in two pub kitchens - the Greyhound at Bromham and the New Inn at Avebury - while studying part-time for her NVQ level 2. She joined the Linnet in 2005. Marion says: "I believe in cooking instinctively and want people to enjoy the taste and smell of natural ingredients. Even at home I cook from scratch on a daily basis." Best-selling dishes include: Warm treacle and pecan pudding with clotted cream; warm pear and blackberry strudel with brandy custard, and blood orange meringue pie.