Staff Bake Off 2024

by Mrs Guerrero & Dr Strong

On 11 June under the supervision of Mrs Guerrero and with Miss Pallot and Mrs Donaldson as the sweet round judges, Mrs Stringer, Mrs Whittock, Dr Strong, Miss McLaren, Mrs Wilson, and Mrs Barrett had two hours to bake and present four eclairs, with flavours of their own choosing.

Mrs Stringer and Mrs Whittock went for traditional cream and chocolate flavours, serving delicious mini-eclairs to the judges, earning them points on taste and presentation.

Dr Strong and Miss McLaren experimented with a chocolate crème pâtissière piped directly into their choux pastry, with judges noting good taste but room for improvement on presentation.

Mrs Wilson and Mrs Barrett made both lemon curd and raspberry eclairs, with the judges commending their presentation and bold flavours.

 

Though there could only be one winner for our dessert round, all involved had a fun time and went away with lots of leftover sweet treats. With only a point difference, Mrs Wilson and Mrs Barrett won this year’s Common Room Bake Off  sweet round - congratulations, Team Follies!

On 12 June we had the Common room savoury Bake Off round - competing were: Mrs Clark and Miss Donaldson with their Malaysian curry pasties, Ms Scofield and Ms Jackson who made salmon, dill and couscous pasties and Mr Williams and Mrs Moor with their gluten free vegan pasties.

Judges commented on the delicious dahl and their intricate pastry work as well as the tasty spiciness of the filling made by Miss Donaldson and Mrs Clark.

Mr Williams and Mrs Moor. Judges said that the presentation was outstanding as was the flavourful mushroom ketchup and the two flavours of vegan filling. The posh chips went down well too.

 

These salmon pasties made by Ms Scofield and Ms Jackson were considered by the judges to be light, flaky and fresh - perfect with the cucumber and yoghurt dip.

Judges for this round were Jo Bannister who works as a kitchen assistant in our Catering department and Caroline Marrazzi, owner and baker at the Little Artisan Bakery, Sparlings Farm, Felsted.  There was just one point separating the winners from those in joint second, with the judges awarding Mr Williams and Mrs Moor the champions of this round with their vegan pasties. Feedback was that their gluten free pastry was delicious, and their attention to detail in their presentation was spot on. Everyone had a brilliant time and we all enjoyed tasting the food together.