A selection of the Middle East’s most promising home bakers have been given the opportunity to take part in a private workshop with celebrity pastry chef Nicolas Lambert thanks to the Butter of Europe campaign.

Participants have been selected based on their entries to the #brokieschallenge, which tasked food lovers, home bakers and culinary event amateurs from across the Gulf to create new additions for the ‘Bro’kies’ – a family of broken, but adorable, butter-loving biscuits.

The budding bakers behind the most promising entries have been given an opportunity to hone their skills during an in-person session with Lambert, who is the executive pastry chef of Four Seasons Resort Jumeirah Dubai and the Four Seasons Hotel DIFC.

Lambert said: “I was looking forward to spending the day with so many passionate individuals. The participants have been selected based on their competition entries, so I knew they had talent and plenty of enthusiasm for baking. Because butter is an essential ingredient for pastry chefs, it was necessary to highlight the importance of choosing a premium dairy butter, as it enhances the flavors of all the other ingredients used in a dessert or a pastry.”

Marie-Laure Martin from The French Dairy Board said: “It is a great opportunity to promote natural French butter in the Middle East. This ingredient has been produced in the same traditional way for centuries. From home cooked fare to fine pastries, dairy butter can help to turn a humdrum dish into something truly delicious. It’s easy to work with and, most importantly, quality pastry made using dairy butter simply melts in the mouth.”

Butter of Europe works to spread the word about the benefits of cooking with natural French butter, not only in terms of baking but also as an easy-to-use, flavor-enhancing ingredient for a range of other recipes.