First Windmill Festive Bake Off
Alice Cornelius reports on the inaugural Festive Bake Off Contest
Sunday 16 December was a chilly but jolly winter’s day in the Windmill Gardens, where people and families flocked to enjoy Christmas crafting workshops, festive treats galore and a fantastic bric-a-brac stand. Oh, and how could we forget Santa’s grotto in the Windmill itself, which brought with it an almost never-ending line of families excited to meet the big man himself!
There was also a great spread of cakes, cookies and breads – all made using Brixton Windmill flour – to be judged in our first ever Festive Bake Off. Competition was fierce, as volunteers and local businesses had all donated food, drink and other goodies to be included in the overflowing festive hampers for the winners.
Everyone was on tenterhooks as Richard Scroggs, co-owner of the Old Post Office Bakery in Clapham, painstakingly sampled and judged each of the bakes. Richard also provided every individual baker with valuable in-depth feedback on their creations, based on his 30 years or experience as a baker!
Competition was tight competition for both the adult’s and children’s (under 14) categories, with no one in the audience knowing which way it was going to go. In the end, the winner of the adult’s category was Prilly Lewis, the creator of a beautiful miniature version of the Brixton Windmill, made from Victoria sponge. Besides looking incredibly realistic, it was also delicious and surprisingly light.
The children’s category was neck and neck, meaning that we ended up with two winners: a vegan chocolate and ginger cake using homemade oat milk made by I-Light, and a Christmas tree made out of iced cookies by Satsuki. Two very talented junior bakers!
A huge thanks to everyone who brought a bake in – we can vouch for the fact that they were ALL delicious. And thanks as always to our committed volunteers, especially those who stayed after the event to put everything away in the pouring rain.
We’ll be publishing the winners recipes soon, so watch this space!
Images below by David Wilcock and Jeff Thomas
