A Salted Caramel & Almond Brownie from East Anglian business Two Magpies Bakery was recently crowned the champion of the first-ever Britain’s Best Cake competition.
The event took place on Monday 29 April at the UK Food & Drink Shows, during which more than 130 sweet treats battled it out in a seven categories to find the best cake the nation has to offer.
Here, we take a closer look at the competition, which was sponsored by Dawn Foods, Kluman & Balter, Sonneveld, and Walker Humphrey.
Entries were split into seven categories – Brownies, Classic Cake, Free-from Cake, Fruit Cake, Individual Cake, Occasion Cake, and Traybake – with a winner and highly commended cake awarded in each. From there, the category winners were judged again to decide the overall winner.
Cakes of all shapes and sizes were entered, from elaborate occasion cakes to humble, but delicious, brownies.
Judging
To judge all of the entries British Baker assembled an elite judging panel of experts ranging from retailer buyers and product developers, to technical experts, bakery business owners, and college lecturers.
The judging panel (from left to right) consisted of: Michelle Phillips, founder of Mimi’s Bakehouse; Amy North, editor at British Baker; Charlotte Thompson, senior lecturer at University College Birmingham; Chris Atkinson, buying manager ISB at Asda; Garry Russell, sales director UK & Ireland at Dawn Foods; Daryl Stephenson, assessor at Coleg Cambria; Patrick Wilkins, national president of the Craft Bakers Association; Lee Pugh, head of bakery at Zero2Five Food Industry Centre at Cardiff Metropolitan University; Graham Hornigold, founder of Longboys; Martin Wolstenholme, product developer at Booths; Chris Parrington, NPD & technical manager at Kluman & Balter; Richard Herbert, cake technical manager at Sonneveld; Lee Smith, owner of Poppyseed Bakery; and Johanna Moloney, owner of Caketastic Creations;
Every cake was put through its paces by the team of experts, being assessed on its visual appeal, internal structure and bake quality, as well as aroma and taste.
With the winning cakes and traybakes decided, it was time to inform the creators of their success. The category winners were:
- Brownie: Salted Caramel and Almond Brownie, Two Magpies Bakery
- Classic Cake: Carrot & Pecan Cake, Stir Bakery
- Free-from Cake: Gluten Free Black Forest Brownie, Sweet Treats by Martin Frickel
- Fruit Cake: Dark Chocolate, Orange & Ginger Bara Brith, Wylde Bakery
- Individual Cake: Flower Pot, Anda’s Kitchen
- Occasion Cake: Garden Party Cake, Little Barn Cakes
- Traybake: Orange, Cardamom & Bay Cake, Ginger Bakers
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