A TOP Marlow chef joined a stellar line-up including Raymond Blanc and Michel Roux Jr for a fundraising bake-off with a festive twist.

Michael MacDonald, Chef Owner of the Vanilla Pod on West Street, created two boxes of his signature mince pies to be auctioned off for charity alongside some of the top chefs in the UK.

Last week’s auction was part of the Mince Pie Project, which last year raised over £30,000 for good causes.

Michael’s creation, with macerated fruits in cognac and port, golden sugar coated short pastry, pulled in £154 for the project.

The top selling boxes belonged to Neil Rankin of the Smokehouse in north London, which fetched £2512.

This year’s charities are FoodCycle and Kids Company, with organisers hopeful of raising £40,000.