Baking is a family affair

Some of the region's brightest talents in the kitchen - from those who are making a living out of what they are serving up to those who are wowing with their amateur creations - are celebrating after scooping top awards for their efforts.

West Midland bakers are leading the way when it comes to creativity and they cleaned up at the recent Cake International competition held at the NEC in Birmingham.

Among them was a family of cake bakers from Cannock who took their colourful creations along to the show and came away with a haul of awards.

Samantha Lote, owner of The Funky Fairy Cake Shop in Bridgtown, picked up two golds at Cake International.

Her owl and pussycat cake impressed the judges in the decorative exhibit category. While her two-tier wedding cake, featuring a hot air balloon balanced on top, also wowed the panel.

And her two daughters, Davina, aged 12 and Georgia, 11, also picked up a certificate of merit and silver respectively.

Mrs Lote, 36, said: "I've entered Cake International twice previously and only picked up silver. So I was over the moon to get two golds.

"Everyone starts off with 100 per cent and they are marked down. I got over 90 per cent for both of my cakes."

It took Mrs Lote 85 hours to complete the owl and pussycat cake and another 37 hours on the her wedding day creation.

But it could have been a completely different story after she had a near disaster on the way to the competition at the weekend.

She continued: "The owl and the pussycat cake broke on the way to the competition.

"I cried all the way to the NEC because I knew it had broke. "Thankfully the judges were very understanding.

"I chose to do the owl and pussycat because it's something everyone recognises and knows what is is straight away."

A talent for cake baking also extends to Mrs Lote's mother. Susan Higgs also picked up an award at Cake International - less than three months after being diagnosed with the blood cancer lymphoma.

Mrs Higgs, 64, has been undergoing chemotherapy which numbed the tips of her hands but she managed to pick up an impressive certificate for her allotment cake in the decorative exhibit category.

Mrs Lote added: "I was so proud of her."

Meanwhile Rose Macefield, from Bilston, who owns Rose-Marie's Cakes and Sugar Craft in Coseley, now shares her shop with a life-size replica of Gollum, of Lord of the Rings fame.

Mrs Macefield, aged 40, who has been running the shop for almost three years, won the 'best of the best' prize at the Cake International show at the NEC.

Two other cakes went along with Gollum, which won gold, including a bust of wizard Gandalf, which succeeded in achieving a silver, and a smaller piece with a puppy in a pumpkin called Buster, which came third in its category.

Although Mrs Macefield's cakes did not win best in show this year, a feat she accomplished at last year's show, she was chosen as the best decorator out of all of the competition's previous winners.

Mrs Macefield said: "I first became interested in cake decorating around seven years ago when I baked my son's Christening cake.

"It was very basic but people complimented me and that spurred me on to learn more."

Mrs Macefield went on to teach herself more elaborate skills and even took a course at City of Wolverhampton college.

Now, alongside running the shop on a day to day basis, Mrs Macefield also teaches others how to become star bakers like herself.

She said the process of building the cakes takes several months.

"First I have to come up with the idea, which can take anything up to a few months so I can fine-tune the ideas, then I get to work," Mrs Macefield said. "I think I spent around 100 hours putting Gollum together."

Mrs Macefield said her Gollum 'cake' is actually made mostly from sugar paste and chocolate, although there is a ban on eating him.

"Too much work went into him," Mrs Macefield said. "I will keep him in the shop for a while yet before I decide what to do with him, but he is definitely not getting eaten."

Another winner from the region include amateur baker Lara Clarke from Brownhills who picked up gold for two cakes, a life-sized Katniss from the blockbuster film The Hunger Games and a cake of Tyrion, a character in the hit TV series Game of Thrones.

Shuga Budz in Bridgnorth Road, Compton, won three golds, one silver and two bronze at Cake International held at the NEC.

In the wedding cake category Rachel Wellsbury picked up a gold medal and was awarded third place overall, owner Debbie Mutting won a silver, while Sarah Phillips and Rachel Dale were awarded bronze. In the decorative exhibits category, Vicki Swann and Amelia Mason both struck gold.