Among family and friends, Lynne Wickenton is renowned for the culinary delights she creates.

And now, her son Luke is following in her footsteps and making a name for himself on the statewide stage.

Luke has returned from the Victorian Agricultural Shows (VAS) convention in Ballarat with a Victorian title to his name.

Luke, 13, is now the state champion in the carrot and date muffin category.

The Terang College year 8 student starting his journey to victory by winning his category at the Noorat Show in November last year.

From this, Luke found himself in the south-west final, where he competed against winners from shows across the region.

He triumphed in this competition, the win securing a place in the state final at Ballarat.

He was to face stiff competition in the state final, with 10 finalists vying for the Victorian title.

The judges fell in love with Luke’s muffins and he was named the winner, with runner-up Kobe Davison (northern district) and third placed Sebastian Reino (central and upper Goulburn) sharing the podium. 

Luke said he was excited with the biggest win of his career so far.

“It was pretty good to win, it was a set recipe everyone had to use to make the muffins,” he said.

“I’ve been baking for about four years, mum has taught me heaps.”

Mrs Wickenton said the win was a good reward for Luke’s hard work. 

She said he had confidence in what he was creating.

“Luke had won at Noorat a few times but hadn’t progressed further than that before this year,” she said.

“When I bake, I tend to do a few practice runs first until I get it right,” she said.

“But when Luke baked his muffins he was happy to go with his first batch.

“We are very proud of him, baking is a great skill to have.

“I think the fact he enjoys it so much has a lot to do with the success he has had.”  

The convention also hosted the state carrot cake final, with Warrnambool’s Alice Hirst runner-up to Elizabeth Schultz (north eastern).