Army chefs put their skills to the test in a Christmas cake baking competition at Chetwynd barracks in Chilwell.
The competition, which saw 30 Christmas cakes put under the scrutiny of three judges, was held at the Officers’ Mess.
Six units from 7 Infantry Brigade and Headquarters East, including Chetwynd Barracks, had six weeks to come up with an original Christmas cake idea and bake it.
The winning cake took around 20 hours to make
One of the three judges, Nick Gillespie, head chef at La Rock Restaurant in Sandiacre, said: “There are some cracking cakes which made judging more difficult, everyone that competed is from slightly different backgrounds which gave a nice overall decision.”
The Christmas cakes were marked out of 10 their appearance, technical ability and originality.
Sergeant Justin Cerqua, who came second with his cake that was designed to look like a church, said: “It took a lot of time to do in my evenings but I didn’t mind doing it, I took the lead in helping some of the juniors who have never had to make anything this detailed before.”
The entries for the cake competition were split into three categories, Junior, NCO, and senior NCO, and had to be made around the chefs’ work commitments.
- Picture: Rob Hussey and Paul Chamberlain with some of the entries
Warrant Officer Rob Hussey, who trains chefs at Carver Barracks, Essex, picked up five awards on behalf of his unit including best overall cake.
He said: “The Shrek cake which was made by sergeant Hubbard was the overall winner and took around 20 hours to create.”
The other army units who competed in the Christmas cake competition were from Swanton Morley, in Norfolk, Whitton, Woolwich and Cottesmoore.
At the end of the competition the cakes were taken back to the units where they will become charity raffle prizes.
