The Mayor of St. Ives presented prizes to three winners of the All Saints St. Ives Bake Off competition on Saturday 2nd November including one 10 year old winner.
Christopher Foster won second prize with his Fizzing Firework cake filled with his own homemade jam and received great praise from judge, Tom Dalby from Tom’s Cakes in Somersham; “That’s the sort of imagination I would like to see in my business and very impressive in such a young baker. The flavours were excellent. I would like to offer Christopher an opportunity to come to my shop and find out how our professional bakery works.”
The Bake Off competition was judged by Tom Dalby alongside Head Baker of Greggs, Gerald Fegan and Mayor of St. Ives Nick Dibbon.
First prize went to Carole Verneer for her excellent Autumnal pumpkin decorated carrot cake. Looking professional even though she is an amateur baker, the cake took Carole a week to make. Carole won a food mixer donated by John Lewis who also donated prizes for Christopher Foster who won second place and Iona Wilson who won third prize for her velvet strawberry cake.
The Bake Off took place during the All Saints Autumn Fair which is now an annual event in the town’s calendar and included a vibrant programme of family fun alongside craft and gift stalls including jewellery, cakes, sweets, ‘nearly new’ bargains and Christmas gifts, as well as fun games from “Whack-a-Rat” to the lucky tombola. The Fair raised over £2,000 for the church and is much welcomed support.
Elaine Midgley, PCC member and Fair Organiser said “The parish church enjoyed running the Bake Off for the first time this year which added a lot of fun to our Fair. The support to the church can help us to grow and better serve the town. All Saints is taking on new activities, such as running the town’s Foodbank to support people on very low incomes in need of food donations and support like this can help keep us running.”