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Celebration Cake Maker of the Year 2024 showcases businesses who can demonstrate outstanding cake baking and artistry skills, awareness of current trends, and customer service.

As part of the judging process, the businesses shortlisted were asked to create a cake around the theme of ‘nature’. The resulting cakes, which were on display at the Baking Industry Awards on 24 October 2024, included a proud ethereal stag, Mother Nature, a happy kingfisher amidst a woodland scene, and detailed English garden rose (photos of all are included below).

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Winner: Elaine’s Creative Cakes

Elaine Hamey has proved herself a master at cake making and decorating once again as her business Elaine’s Creative Cakes is named Celebration Cake Maker of the Year 2024. It is the second time she has secured the trophy, following up her win in 2018 with an oceanic themed masterpiece.

Her skills come from decades of experience – she started decorating cakes at 18 years old before progressing to become a lecturer in the artform at Tameside College. She formed Elaine’s Creative Cakes 13 years ago, operating a shop in Urmston, Manchester from which she creates bespoke celebration cakes, as well as cupcakes, and baked goods for several local coffee shops.

Elaine sought inspiration for the nature theme from riverbanks as she looked to incorporate trailing honeysuckle, foxgloves, reeds, water, and several creatures – including a kingfisher, bumblebee, and mouse – with a broken tree trunk as the centre point for the design.

The 3D design, which invites you to look closer regardless of which side is facing you, showcases a myriad of techniques from marzipan and sugar paste modelling to airbrushing, hand-painting, brush embroidery, using boiled sugar to create rocks, and isomalt for a realistic water effect.

The sheer volume of techniques on display, and the fact that they were executed to such a high level, blew the category judges away. “Every single element has been thought about meticulously,” noted the judges, who praised the innovative use of materials to achieve a realistic effect. A particular highlight was the use of semolina on sugar paste to make the bulrushes. “The textures and colours really brought the scene to life,” they added.

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Finalist: Bombshell Bakes

Claire at Bombshell Bakes started her business in 2018 by selling brownies and cakes but grew the offer to include afternoon teas and elaborate celebration cakes over the years. A trained patisserie chef, she says ‘flavour is at the foreground’ of the Bombshell Bakes offer with her bestselling cakes being sticky toffee, lemon & blueberry, and carrot cake.

Over the next few years, she has ambitions to expand with a shop, move from her current Cupcake Stand to a food truck, and expand her team.

She drew inspiration for her ethereal stag cake from the four elements displaying different techniques for each. Her design includes the use of wafer paper, pastillage, palette knife painting, and modelling chocolate among others.

The stag “absolutely catches your eye” said the judges, who praised the attention to detail and execution of techniques right down to the ‘galaxy’ painted in the stag’s eyes.

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Finalist: Caketastic Creations

Johanna at Caketastic Creations is no stranger to this award, having previously secured the trophy in 2022 for her Platinum Jubilee themed cake. Her journey in cake decorating started in 2011 after she was made redundant from her job as a clinical researcher in oral health. Now, she makes luxury celebration cakes from a shop in Middleton, Manchester.

Buttercream and fondant covered creations are her specialty alongside 3D sculpted cakes with a wide range of flavours to choose from including sticky toffee, choc orange, raspberry ripple, and orange Madeira, to name a few.

Her specialist skills can be seen throughout her entry. The creative process led Johanna to be inspired by Mother Nature, whose face is featured at the top of the cake. Below it are different examples of habitats including a seascape, woodland, and the grasslands of Africa. There are numerous hand-moulded and hand-painted animals, including a whale painted with cocoa butter, as well as shaped wafer paper to add texture.

The sheer volume of different elements and models on the cake was described by the judges as “seriously impressive”, with particular praise given to the attention to detail on the turtle, octopus, and giraffe models, which were beautifully hand painted.

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Finalist: Little Barn Cakes

Debbie has been running Little Barn Cakes for the past decade, building a loyal client base for her celebration cakes as well as running cake decorating courses through her cake studio. She ‘can make anything from a cake’ with a tractor, laced up boot, and prancing horse among recent creations.

Her specialty, however, is producing realistic, handcrafted sugar flowers – a skill which she also teaches. A sugar flower-topped Garden Party Cake also saw Debbie secure a trophy in the Occasion Cake category at the Britain’s Best Cake competition earlier this year.

She drew inspiration from her garden for the nature-themed cake, which lends itself perfectly to her specialty. The resultant design features a rose in an embossed planter complete with patio stones, trowel, and creatures. The flowers are made from homemade sugar paste and meticulously painted. Debbie also utilised wafer paper, hand-modelling, and hand-painting as well as stencilling to create other elements, with several items such as the bugs, glazed for added realism.

“Those flowers are so realistic they would look at home in any garden,” stated one of the judges. They also praised Debbie’s use of texture in items such as the planter and paving stones, which really levelled up the design.

Topics

Baking Industry Awards 2024 winners revealed