Anyone who knows me will testify I’m very keen on food.

For years I’ve been spoiled by a busy mum who is an excellent cook capable of rustling up anything at five minutes’ notice.

However, during the past few years I’ve been as interested in how it comes to be on my plate as I am about eating the end result. And it was in search of a cooking education, I headed to the excellent Bettys Cookery School.

Bettys has been synonymous with its fine cafes and tearooms across Yorkshire for the best part of 100 years.

But one of the most recent additions to the brand’s bow is the Cookery School, which promises to lift the lid on the secrets behind some of Bettys best recipes.

I went along to one of the one-day Sweet Success courses, with the promise of lessons on producing a lemon meringue pie, cherry chocolate cheesecake, apple strudel and sticky toffee pudding.

I also booked a spot for my mum, Jayne. For her, it was more like a finishing school. For me, it was like the first day of junior school.

There were 18 of us on the course, 16 women and two men, starting at 9.15am at Betty’s headquarters in Plumpton Park, Harrogate. Throughout the day we were given demonstrations by the course’s excellent chefs, Michael Vanheste and Melissa Hudson.

For novice and master alike, there was plenty to take in and plenty to learn as we constructed our first dish, the lemon meringue pie.

Michael and Melissa were on hand to cast their expert eye over our efforts. Of course, it is difficult to go wrong when all the equipment you could need is at your fingertips and the ingredients are measured and set out in front of you.

As the pie pastry was in the oven, it was back to the demonstration area to learn how to make the meringue and then straight on to the cheesecake. Thankfully, my meringue turned out a treat.

The same could be said for the cheesecake and I was understandably pleased with my efforts as we took lunch.

Chef Michael promised things could get tougher after lunch and he was not wrong.

I had never made strudel pastry from scratch and I can now assure anyone who tries it is a difficult, and frankly, hilarious, task. After creating dough for the pastry, you are required to spend 15 minutes swinging it onto the work surface as though it were a club. I made an utter pig’s ear of mine and the official diagnosis was it had become too dry.

Chef Michael kindly, and secretly, lent me some dough he had produced earlier and I was able to make an apple strudel like everyone else.

We then learned how to make the individual sticky toffee puddings, courtesy of Melissa. This time I managed not to make any errors.

The time was well after 5pm and it was the end of a full-on day. I felt tired, but delighted with my efforts, and although they have not all been eaten yet, the lemon meringue pie and sticky toffee puddings were wonderful.

* To find out more, go to bettyscookeryschool.co.uk or call 01423 814016.