42 cake Bake Off reaches final stage!

This year’s 42 Technology Bake Off was a hotly contested affair with twenty entrants rising to the challenge.

Week One saw five bakers entering their Alice in Wonderland themed cakes.

Director Jon Spratley’s ‘Cheshire Cat’ was so geometrically perfect that we had to use digital Vernier calipers to assess stripe-straightness.

At 18″ high, Kate Kell’s six-layer Vanilla-Coffee-Chocolate-Vanilla-Coffee-Chocolate ‘Down the Rabbit Hole’ cake was as much a feat of engineering as it was of baking!

David Griffin’s ‘White Rabbit’ cake suggested that he didn’t get the memo that this was supposed to be a Competition…

Clare Hall’s ‘Cheshire Cat’ was so delicious that it was half-eaten before we even managed to take any pictures.

…but it was Sarah Knight’s ‘Mad Hatter’s Tea Party’ that emerged victorious in Week 1. Her home-made chocolate teapots, miniature ‘cup’ cakes and chequer-board cross-section impressed the judges!

Week 2’s 42 Technology goes to Hollywood theme saw movie-themed cakes taking centre-stage…

Lauren Clark’s ‘The Man with Two Brains’ red velvet cake was as tasty to eat as it was disgusting to behold!

Always health-conscious, Simon Copley served his ‘The Mummy Returns’ cake with a side of broccoli trees.

Adam Robinson’s ‘Hollywood Hills’ cake went to show that you don’t have to have any culinary experience to enter a company baking competition…

Inside all of that icing and popcorn, Sue Smith’s ‘Bag of Popcorn’ was a delicious five-tiered jam sponge. Sue refused to be drawn on whether her daughter is currently doing baking for her Duke of Edinburgh award…

…but in Week 2 it was Simon Jelley’s ‘Back to the Future Delorean’ that played to the crowds and was selected as Best Cake.

Week 3 saw bakers take on their favourite Nostalgic TV Shows.

Francesca Stephen’s ‘Art Attack’ chocolate brownie bake did well.

As did Duncan Wales’ ‘TV’ coconut, chocolate and biscuit fridge cake.

Zane van Romunde’s ‘Thunderbird 2’ cake was FAB.

Andy Finch’s ‘The Good Life’ flan was our first savoury entrant.

…but in Week 3 it was Timi Oyedeji’s ‘Here’s One I Made Earlier’ concept cake that took him straight through to the final.

Week 4’s The Twelve Days of Christmas took place in the last week before the Christmas break and was the last round before the Grand Final, which was planned for the New Year.

Director Andrew Chapman went savoury with his partridge pies…

Laurence Pritchard’s ‘Partridge on a Pear Tart’ thankfully contained no actual partridge.

Tom Copeland’s ’42 Days of Christmas’ baked the company’s logo into the cake cross-section

Omar d’Agostino’s ‘Partridge in a Pear Tree’ really changed everyone’s perceptions as to what a cake can be…

…but it was Tom Hellier’s ‘Seven Swans a Swimming’ Christmas cake, containing 36 eggs and 4.5kg of sugar that won the day!

The Grand Final was held in January, just long enough after the New Year that everyone had forgotten their resolutions and good intentions. The theme was The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy…

Simon Jelley’s ‘Pangalactic Gargleblaster’ (” like having your brains smashed out by a slice of lemon wrapped around a large gold brick”) also featured an edible bowl of petunias, whale, babelfish and Marvin.

Timi Oyedeji’s ‘Destruction of the Earth’ had separate layers for the Earth’s crust, magma and mantle

Tom Hellier’s ‘So Long, and Thanks For All The Fish’ cake was also multi-layered, with different sponges for each section of the earth’s core

…and the overall winner was Sarah Knight’s ‘Slartibartfast’s Workshop’ cake which had brownie crust, multiple sponge layers, breadstick scaffolding, melted-mint ice caps, miniature earth-building tools, and an edible bowl of petunias.

As the winner of this year’s 42 Bake Off, Sarah wins a one-of-a-kind 42 baker’s apron and a small amount of kudos!

Well done to all who took part and good luck for next year!