A three-foot mountain of snowy whipped sweetened cream was the focal point around which 40 -odd bakers were busy decorating their cakes. Dollops of cream scooped out of this mound were being handed around to be slapped and pasted over the cakes and the clock was ticking away. The bakers had flat 15 minutes to display their skills and craft. And lo what a job they did.
Eye-catching designs
At the end, the onlookers and the judges were left astounded by 40 beautifully eye-catching cakes, dressed to the hilt. Fun, banter, excitement marked the event, ‘Bake with Mauri Carnival 2012', which had 400 bakers and homemakers joining in a day packed with live demonstrations, video shows and this exciting cake decorating contest. The competition, of course, was really the icing on the cake when a whole range of baking products was also launched.
Sosha Zacharia, faculty, Bakery and Confectionary course at Food Craft Institute of Catering, who has been teaching the art for 30 years, was quite speechless at the expertise of the bakers. She said that the event was grand and that she had never seen such efficiency. As part of the jury she found it extremely difficult to choose the top three contestants and had to request for more prizes. At the end, she says, all participants were equally good and winners.
Cookery expert and one of the judges, Anita Issac, too, was all praise for the bakers. She has been into this field for years teaching the very art and was absolutely charmed by the craftsmanship and skill of the participants. “Mind you they just had flat 15 minutes to do this,” she said.
Keeping the time factor in mind the job was indeed well done. Cakes which showed “no panic” were declared winners. Bakers who executed the finishing touches perfectly and were not ruffled by the paucity of time and the discerning hard gaze of onlookers, the noise and the excitement were the winners.
For Jai Krishnan K.S. of Super Bakery from the city, a participant, the competition was of a very high standard because of “limited time”. One works better under pressure, he believes, and said that a bakery rush hour had similar tension. His cake was a simple one with clean lines and a rose flower. He is anti-bright colouring. The mud pot cake was a conversation piece with its artistic tilt and the creamy swell of flowing water.
Winners
Binu Varghese, Executive Director of AB Mauri, the company which held the competition, said, “This is one of the best responses we have had.”
Kerala
is witnessing a trend where baking is no longer the annual Happy Birthday Cake. It has broadened to include muffins, brownies, cup cakes and cookies.
AB Mauri products range from essences to seasonings and flavours.
The winners of the competition were Suresh Babu from Cee Cee Bakery, Shaji from Ojin Bakery, Calicut, Suresh from MRA Bakery, Thiruvananthapuram and Rajesh from Raju's Bakery, Kollam.
Vinod Panikar of Ambrosia Bakers, Thiruvananthapuram, was one of the judges.
