Well done to our residents and staff who created a fantastic Showstopper Cake for The Great Nellsar Cake Off competition – The Old Downs recreated in fruit and sponge cake!
We are delighted to have won third prize in the competition and we’ll receive a £50 prize for our Residents’ Fund, which is fantastic news! Well done everyone!
Our Home Manager Caroline commented;
“At The Old Downs we asked our residents what cakes they like;
“I used to do fruit cakes which is what my husband loved.” (Jean S)
“I like plain sponge with strawberry jam.” (Edith D)
“I can eat any cake, fruit cake, chocolate cake!”(Eileen S)
“My favourite cake is fruit cake.” (John H)
“Probably sultanas and dried fruit, it could be chocolate, ginger. My mouth is watering already!” (Gwen A)
With this in mind, we thought about a type of cake to bake. It was obvious – fruit cake and sponge cake! What about a theme? Each of our 37 residents are unique. They are all individuals with different life histories and they have achieved some amazing things in their lives. Their journey on life’s road has brought them all together. What can it be? The answer was all around us! We wanted to showcase the place where we feel safe and happy…our Home!
The ground floor level is made from a fruit cake with mixed spices. The second floor is made of a fruit cake with spices and ginger. The top layer is made with plain sponge, all layered with strawberry jam and marzipan before being iced and decorated. The cakes were baked for about three hours in total. The carving, icing and decorating took about 10 hours in total. We had fun with this competition.”
