A Ripon mum has baked a cake judged to be fit for a Queen as part of the Bettys Jubilee Bake Off.
Lori Hendry beat three other shortlisted bakers with a Victoria sponge decorated with red, white and blue icing adorned with a crown and Union Jack flags.
Ann Hedges, food and nutrition teacher at St Aidan’s, Paul Farr, food and drink director at Bettys, and Lisa Benninson, development chef and Bettys Cookery School teacher, judged the final on Wednesday, June 1.
Ms Benninson thanked the shortlist of Lori Hendry, Irene Threadgold, Louise Winter and Edward Lee for baking their cakes and said it was tough to pick out an overall winner.
The moment Lori (centre) found out she had won.
The three judges deliberated for around half an hour and assessed each cake against the criteria Bettys uses to test all of its new products.
Delighted with the win and prize of a course of her choice at Bettys Cookery School, Ms Hendry told the Stray Ferret:
“I am feeling shocked to be honest, really shocked. I didn’t expect to win it at all. I am very chuffed.
“I first got into baking because I started baking for the kids really. When you have three kids you always need a cake on the go!”
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Paul Farr, food and drink director at Bettys, said:
“I’ve been in the industry for nearly 40 years but when you are judging you need to be able to pull on all of your experience and your honest appraisal on products.
“There was a high standard so it comes down to those fine points of difference that makes a cake stand out from being really good to being the winner.”
(Left to right) Louise Winter, Irene Threadgold and Lori Hendry. Edward Lee could not make it but his cake is second in from the left.
Ann Hedges, food and nutrition teacher at St Aidans, said:
“It was a real privilege to be part of the judging process. With so many potential winners, I think everybody brought something slightly different to the competition.
“For me it was fantastic to see people’s skill level. We had the cake making, meringue making, the piping. All of those skills are an art at the end of the day. We were very lucky to be able to judge that art.”
Lisa Benninson, development chef and Bettys Cookery School teacher, said:
“I thought it was really great. As chefs and bakers it is always a treat when somebody else makes a cake. It was a really nice thing to do to judge a cake competition fit for a Queen on the Platinum Jubilee.
“We had lots of different flavour combinations. We had a rose and pistachio, lots of Victoria sponges. There was a close finish but it was about attention to detail in the end – and that’s Bettys motto.”
The shortlisted cakes
Lori Hendry’s winning cake (Left) with Edward Lee’s cake.
Louise Winter’s cake (Left) with Irene Threadgold’s cake.
