Tarts, buns and pies on show at first Culdrose charity 'bake off'

Dusting off their food mixers and Delia Smith cook books as well as digging out old family recipes, civilian workers and service personnel got busy in kitchens around the base and at home. Organisers were amazed at the standard of the bakes and the embarrassment of riches that were offered up for the judges.

“Taking inspiration from the BBC Great British Bake Off we hoped people would contribute a few cakes,” said Petty Officer Aircrewman Shona Smith, herself a very keen baker at home. “In the end we were overwhelmed by all the different pies, cakes and pastries they entered”.

A judging panel made up of Gillian Keeble from The Women’s Institute, Brian and Juliet Shore of Horse and Jockey Bakery and Jude Kereama of Kota Kai restaurant in Porthleven, set about their task well, prodding and tasting every bake that came their way and dishing out some great cooking tips to all who were watching.

Impressed by the high level of competitiveness and the variety which Culdrose personnel came up with, they expertly commented on the creativity of all the entries.

One particular bake worthy of note was by Chief Aircrewman Ian Macmeikan of 824 NAS, who made a replica of a naval rum barrel, served up with a tot of rum. Although not a main category winner he won within the cake section for creativity alone, as his icing, although good to look at, was not kind on the eye.

“A few of the cakes were very well baked and looked nice but lacked any distinctive flavours", said Brian Shore from Horse and Jockey Bakery. “It’s all about using the right ingredients, getting the look, taste and texture, and if you get all three you can be really pleased with your results.”

The overall winner was Lieutenant Andy Bird from 824 Naval Air Squadron who impressed the judges with his strawberry cake and relied on a family secret to take the prize.

“My secret was having a French wife,” said Lieutenant Andy Bird. “I made my strawberry cake from her family’s recipe, which was full of fresh fruit and used a lot of cream. The judges commented that it could equally have been classed as a dessert.”

He was even up at 05.30am on the morning of the bake to ensure that the syrup had the right consistency, and the mousse was set correctly before layering the cake.

Shona added: “I’ve been very impressed at the standard of cakes and bakes entered, it always amazes me that sailors and personnel from Culdrose can find the enthusiasm to still help this community event. We raised around £230 for charity and certainly boosted morale; I'm looking forward to next year’s competition already.”