Bake Off is a annual fundraiser for Bobby Golsmiths - one of Australia's oldest HIV charities. All goods entered into the competition are sold off in a silent auction at the end of competition with monies raised providing necessary medication, counselling and support to those who need it. Thus our passion for supporting such a worthwhile cause. This year the Bake Off had a theme of fairy tale and there was a glittering array of judges including Clare De Lune, Masterchef's Christine Batista, chef Martin Boetz and the one and only Adriano Zumbo. Yes Zumbo has tasted our food!
So confession time - I am quietly becoming addicted to competition baking. To be more precise - I am addicted to winning ribbons at baking competitions.
After our success at the Bobby Goldsmith Bake off in 2013 - I have been quietly plotting what would be our next cakey creation for 2014. I was thinking colour, I was thinking same love and I was thinking humour - pretty much everything the Sydney's GLBTQI community represents. So in that vain, it was around January, possibly due to a certain movie I thought what about a LEGO cake - with a twist! Then it was announced that the them of this years bake off would be Fairytale. So the LEZO Castle Cake was born!
So after three sleepless nights made all the better due to a Girls series marathon screening for two of the nights on Foxtel, plus plenty of vino - the LEZO castle cake was created. The base was a rich carrot and walnut cake and the castle created out of rice bubbles and marshmallow. The LEGO pieces were the result of a silicon mould bought from a crafty lady in the UK on Etsy. The beautiful castle walls were down to Liz's mosaic' ing skills and I made the two LEZO princesses from fondant at about 2am the day of the competition. It was a labour of love and one that paid off when we saw plenty of people chuckle when they read the badge.
Competition this year was another level and you can see from the cake next to ours we were up against some professional cake decorators - so to receive a 3rd place ribbon was quite a triumph!
Competition this year was another level and you can see from the cake next to ours we were up against some professional cake decorators - so to receive a 3rd place ribbon was quite a triumph!
Princess and the Pea Cake. Layers of sponge and pistachio meringue with a orange and white chocolate french buttercream.
All in all we entered five categories and won three ribbons. Not bad result in my book. Our efforts raised $240 for a very worthy cause and we met lots of lovely people on the day which was a absolute bonus.
King Midas' Golden Touch - shortbread cups filled with caramel and hazelnuts, topped with ganache. 3rd place - Best Fete Bake!
Cinderella’s Stepmother / Bitter Tart / Tarte au Citron
Spiced Tomato and Onion Relish. 3rd place - Best Preserves
Now what will we make next year?
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