Blend together a Michelin star chef and Bettys Cookery School and you have the perfect recipe, as Lizzie Anderson discovers

Bettys Cookery School in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, is buzzing with excitement. It is a bright spring morning and 25 people are gathered awaiting the arrival of Michelin starred chef Frances Atkins. Seated in the light dining area that adjoins the school’s well-equipped kitchen, the foodies talk about their love of cooking, while smothering strawberry jam onto freshly baked croissants and sipping Taylors coffee. I am sure many, like me, are speculating about what Frances will be like and anticipating the pearls of wisdom she will serve up during the course of the day.

Frances, of The Yorke Arms in Ramsgill in Nidderdale, is delivering four cookery demonstrations at Bettys this year, with each session inspired by the season. It is a partnership brought about by a shared passion for the many seasonal ingredients Yorkshire has to offer, a passion both Frances and Bettys are keen to promote.

Cooking and Conversation with Frances Atkins is a chance for home cooks to watch the chef – one of only six women in the UK to receive a Michelin star – prepare a taster plate of culinary delights. As well as getting the chance to devour her creations over lunch, Frances will also offer us advice and answer questions posed along the way. We are the lucky lot who secured a place on the inaugural session, a celebration of spring, when fresh flavours can be found in abundance.

After a brief welcome speech by members of the Bettys team, we are led to the demonstration area where Frances and her sous-chef Roger Olive are waiting for us. Frances is far from the stereotype chef. There is no shouting of orders or expletives and a perusal through our menu pack reveals no sign of wacky dishes that glow in the dark or erupt like mini volcanoes. Instead, it is full of innovative, carefully thought-out courses, inspired by nature and its many fruits and flavours. The vast majority of fruit and vegetables served at The Yorke Arms is grown by Frances in the restaurant garden and she is adept at unlocking the potential of fresh local produce.

A fellow of the Masterchefs of Great Britain, Frances could be forgiven for being a little snooty, but this is not the case at all. She is warm and down-to-earth, happy to chat, answer questions and suggest alternative ingredients and methods for her recipes.

Once the introductions are over, Frances and Roger discuss the importance of creating a good ‘dashi’, a Japanese cooking stock which forms the basis of soups, sauces and other dishes. Packed full of tasty vegetables and herbs, a dashi is part of the signature taste of a restaurant and bubbles away on a low heat for hours to intensify the flavours.

It is now time to start preparing our taster plate and first up is a morel tart with cucumber and radish. Frances passes a bowl of morel mushrooms around the group so we can smell their wonderful earthy aroma. She starts by making the pastry, using the less glutinous 00 pasta flour and good quality butter to ensure it is light and crumbly. The filling is a delicious combination of flat and morel mushrooms, shallots, butter, cream, brandy and egg yolks, blended until smooth and then piped into the delicate cases.

Frances tells us that Michelin judges looks for continuity and consistency. Watching her and Roger work, it is clear they have thought about every last detail of the dish. They refuse to cut corners and use traditional and innovative methods to achieve perfection. All of the sauces at The Yorke Arms, for example, are passed through muslin to ensure they are completely smooth.

Other mouth-watering dishes to be demonstrated include a skate and asparagus terrine and a pea and Jersey royal press, served with seared king scallops and wild garlic dressing. Frances also creates a refreshing non-alcoholic drink to accompany our meal, a recipe she devised as an alternative to rich fruit juices, comprising iced mint, bergamot, ginger, heather honey and Granny Smith apples.

Bettys Cookery School is the perfect setting for the demonstration, with plenty of space to sit around the long workbench and a large television screen overhead providing a close up of the culinary wizardry taking place. Bettys' tutor Lisa Bennison assists Frances throughout and also shares her wealth of experience and knowledge.

Located in Plumpton Park, the cookery school was founded in 2001 on the back of the famous Bettys tea rooms. Its team of chefs, master bakers, chocolatiers, confectioners and tea and coffee blenders deliver a variety of courses suitable for all ages and abilities. Their talents are demonstrated in the exquisite trio of desserts which follow Frances’ spectacular lunch. It is impossible to say which I prefer out of the rich chocolate torte, rhubarb fuel and delicate macaroon.

The taster plate, meanwhile, is utterly scrumptious, full of fresh and zingy ingredients which complement one another to perfection. Gaining an insight into her cookery methods has inspired me to be more adventurous in the kitchen and I will certainly be paying a visit to The Yorke Arms in the near future.

The summer, autumn and winter courses takes place from 10am to 2pm on Tuesday, June 23, Tuesday, September 15, and Tuesday, December 1, respectively. The cost is £95 per demonstration. To book, call 01423-814016 or visit bettyscookeryschool.co.uk