An Extra Dash Of Festive Joy For Our Christmas Cake Competition Winners!

We love making cakes at Caring Homes, especially when there’s a special occasion to bake for – and there’s no better reason than Christmas! Our annual Christmas Cake Competition was briefed in October - plenty of time for any resident, chef, team member or relative to put forward a recipe.

A Variety of Inspiration for Creative Cake-Making

Our homes were keen to come up with something special for the competition and the brief encouraged creativity and originality. We saw some fantastic entries which ranged from traditional cakes to recipes inspired by festive celebrations in other countries, favourites from childhood and ingredient-led twists on the classic Christmas cake.

Many of the cakes submitted were visually stunning and marks were given for creativity and design, suitability of the design, technical skills, taste and texture - plus, all the decorations needed to be edible.

Finalists’ Cakes Sent to Grand Judging Event

After the first round where all the entries were assessed and scored, Group Executive Head Chef Steve Wright shortlisted four finalists to be judged in the Grand Final.

• Homefield Grange: a beetroot, white chocolate, and mascarpone cake
• Castle View: a traditional Christmas cake made in the shape of presents, baubles and a train
• Sanford House: traditional Christmas cake presented as mini cakes in the shape of tree decorations
• The Pines: a traditional Christmas cake decorated with edible pine trees

The tasting was quite an event, with a panel of judges gathering under strict instructions to take all of the criteria into account when giving marks. After much deliberation, with some judges claiming they needed second helpings to come to a decision, the winner was announced!

And The Winners Are …..

Congratulations to the residents at Castle View Care Home on the Isle of Man who were awarded first place. Head judge Steve said, “The cake itself was a beautiful, moist fruit cake - excellent quality with real depth of flavour. On top of that, the originality shown by the residents in creating a Christmas parcel delivery scene complete with a tiered Christmas present cake, edible baubles and a steam train was impressive. This entry ticked every box”.

And well done to our runner up, resident David at The Pines, in Putney, west London. Steve commented, “This was a real Christmas classic – a well-made fruit cake with perfect marzipan and icing layers. The charming Christmas scene featuring snowy white icing, decorated with edible pine trees, also appealed to the judges”.

A round of applause for Sanford House and Homefield Grange, both exceptional entries which were highly commended for their strong presentation and creativity, and a very big 'thank you' to all the homes who mixed, baked and decorated cakes for the competition.

Christmas cake will be served over the next few weeks in every one of our 21 Caring Homes and whether it’s a proper fruit cake or a modern-day interpretation of the classic, you can be sure it will go down a treat with a cup of tea as our residents and teams embrace all their favourite festive traditions!