Cake made by Workbridge service users crowned ‘Royal Showstopper of the Year’

With only days to go until Harry and Meghan tie the knot at Windsor Castle, service users from Workbridge have been busy creating an award-winning cake fit for royalty.

Their handmade three tier stacked cake - entitled 'You Give Me Butterflies' - scooped the ‘Royal Showstopper of the Year’ award (sponsored by Whitworth Bros. Ltd. Flour Millers) in the Carlsberg UK Northamptonshire Food and Drink Awards 2018/19. Workbridge were joint winners alongside a colourful creation from Jeyes of Earls Barton, and the results were announced on Saturday by TV presenter Nick Hewer at the Althorp Food and Drink Festival.

Made by staff and service users, the cake was decorated to signify change, new beginnings, hope and life.  It featured a delicious amalgamation of flavours – a traditional rich fruit cake for the bottom tier; an American chocolate fudge cake with silky peanut butter filling, encased in chocolate ganache and fondant icing for the middle tier; and a light and fluffy lemon cake with local lemon curd and a Swiss meringue butter cream for the top – designed to celebrate the intertwining of two hearts and two nations. 

“Hours of work went into planning, baking, assembling and decorating the Royal Showstopper; it was a huge group effort between staff and service users,“ explained Louise Ellis-Lane, Vocational Skills Instructor for Workbridge. “We used as many local ingredients as possible in the three tier wedding cake which the judges deliberated over for an hour and a half!  The wait was worth it as we were crowned winner of which we are very proud.”

Sarah Cotton, Workbridge Service Manager, added: “We were really excited when the Royal Showstopper of the Year category was announced and we knew straight away that we wanted to involve as many Workbridge staff and service users as possible.  We ran a competition for our service users to inspire the final design of the cake and the response was amazing.  You can’t have a competition without a prize so all the entrants will have a cupcake decorating masterclass at Workbridge.  The icing on the cake of course was being announced as winner.”

Each week around 250 people with mental illness, learning disabilities, autism or brain injuries access Workbridge to build upon their work and life skills. Workbridge is part of St Andrew’s Healthcare, the UK’s leading mental health charity - click here to read more about Workbridge.