Monday 3rd August 2015
Back in February we called upon cake decorating businesses in the UK to enter the Baking Industry Awards for the chance to win the prestigious title of Celebration Cake Business of the Year, sponsored by ourselves.
You may remember other winning cakes from this category by Terry Tang Designer Cakes (Around the World theme – 2013) and Slattery (Best of British theme – 2014). If not, here’s a little reminder, and an idea of the quality of the cakes to come in this year’s competition…
L-R: Terry Tang Designer Cakes, Slattery
We were overwhelmed by the quality of the entries this year but luckily we had the expertise of Jackie Kelly of Totally Sugar to assist in the judging process. Jackie was impressed by the different elements, styles and approaches to each cake, and it really did make judging a tough but fun process. Now we’re pleased to announce the three finalists and the winner will be announced at the Baking Industry Awards night on Wednesday 9th September. Can you guess what this year’s theme is from the teaser images below?
Brown’s Cakes were one of the finalists in this category in last year’s Baking Industry Awards. The business began in 2008 and is now based in Rochdale, Gtr Manchester with a team that is continuing to grow. Brown’s specialise in wedding and celebration cakes for birthdays, christenings and other special occasions that have a personal touch for the customer, and they enjoy creating unique and interesting designs.
At Brown’s Cakes you’ll find a ‘Cupcake of the Week’ in a different flavour each week, and they love to hear new ideas to try out from followers on social media.
Front row: Lindsey Davies, Mia Beresford -Carter, Maureen Karran
Back row: Anne Catterall, Natasha Brown
Finsbury Food Group is a cake business built on bakeries with over 100 years’ experience and over 2000 people working across their sites. Finsbury’s main speciality is in birthday cakes, which range from carriages with edible horses to popular Minions.
Finsbury also have a training school for their staff so that there is continual development throughout the business, and they take great pride in their staff and all that they do.
Top row: Andrea Pitt, James Mensikov, Clare Andrews, David Languerand, Katherine Haspal
Bottom row: Emma Collier, Claire Eagle
Zoe’s Fancy Cakes also specialise in wedding, birthday and other celebration cakes, and are based in Leeds. What started as a hobby has developed into a successful business with a strong presence on social media.
Zoe also provides a range of modelling classes throughout the year and her YouTube channel for cake decorating tutorials has over 41,000 subscribers.
L-R: Stephen Hopkinson, Zoe Hopkinson, Richard Eckles
Below are some teaser images from our three finalists during the process of making their competition pieces. We wish the best of luck to the three finalists and can’t wait to share the full photographs and announce the winner on Wednesday 9th September.