Britain’s Best Cake – Judge’s Tips

3rd April 2024

At Kluman & Balter we’re very proud to be a sponsor of Britain’s Best Cake 2024. Ahead of the competition, we asked our very own NPD & Technical Manager, Chris Parrington, a judge at this year’s event, for his top tips when it comes to entries.

Competitors can submit to any of the six categories; Classic Cake, Free-From Cake, Fruit Cake, Individual Cake, Occasion Cake or Traybakes and will be judged on their appearance, aroma – and of course – taste!

Appearance

You eat with your eyes and when it comes to award-winning cakes, appearance is crucial. Whether it be an occasion cake, or cupcake, uniformity is important. Not only will your cake look the part, but they’ll bake evenly resulting in a better overall finish.

Don’t forget about decorations! The finishing touches are just as important. With the rise of social media, ‘Instagrammable’ cakes are ever more popular, so don’t be afraid to get adventurous with designs – from the bold to the elegant, retro coloured to the glossy mirror cakes or even naked cakes!

This is especially true in the Occasion Cake category, with show stopper cakes that go above and beyond the everyday cake – it is here precision and detail are essential. Especially when it comes to icing – smooth icing that evenly covers the bake will elevate your finish.

Aroma

We all know the adage ‘the smell of freshly baked bread can help sell a house’, so it is clear aroma is an important sense, but how does this help with cakes?

A delicious smell is always the sign of a good cake. The traybake category this year is varied, so entrants don’t have to stick to a typical sponge base, they could even bake brownies or blondies! This means we could be spoilt with the scent of chocolate, amongst other flavours.

We all know that aroma will elevate any bake and add another dimension. Spices like cinnamon or nutmeg and citrus fruits are not only flavourful but smell delicious too! For bakers wanting to evoke nostalgia, floral scents like rose could be an interesting option – and tie in nicely with any decoration too! Whatever competitors choose, bakes that capture all the senses are bound to impress.

Texture

Texture will play an important role and can add interest to any bake, especially in the Fruit Cake category where entries will be required to have candied or dried fruit included in the recipe. Cakes in this category can be regional specialities, and don’t have to be decorated, so the texture of each bake can help be a real point of difference – as well as influencing flavour.

Taste

Probably our favourite part of cake testing – but what does Chris think?

Global flavours are entering the bakery world, from Yuzu to tropical fruits and even Chai. It will be interesting to see how competitors use flavour in the Britian’s Best Cake competition with so much choice. Will they stick to the classics such as Lemon Drizzle, Madeira or Black Forest that evoke nostalgia or go bold with something new?

At Kluman & Balter, we’ve even seen a demand for a range of sweet and savoury flavours, from Raspberry & Rose to Pink Lemonade and we can’t wait for the event to see what’s hot out of the oven!

Britain’s Best Cake will take place at the UK Food & Drink Shows at the NEC, Birmingham on Monday 29th April 2024. We would like to wish all the competitors the very best of luck and look forward to seeing you all there!

For more information on this year’s event, why not visit the website?
https://britainsbestcake.co.uk/live/en/page/home