The Great Oakland Care’s Christmas Bake Off 2024

In a sweet celebration of creativity, our Oakland Care Homes Catering teams participated in the Great Oakland Care Christmas Bake Off. The event was a delightful showcase of culinary creativity, featuring an array of fantastic baked goods that captured the spirit of the season. It was wonderful to see the dedication and effort that went into each and every entry.

We are thrilled to announce this year’s winner; a massive congratulations to Hyllden Heights!

Their entry, the ‘Hyllden Heights Express Train,’ was nothing short of spectacular. Chef Jo crafted an entire train filled with a delicious lemon and raspberry sponge cake, beautifully complemented by intricate icing decorations.

To sweeten the deal, she also produced a delightful assortment of iced gingerbread cookies, chocolate lollipops, and individually flavoured cupcakes in lemon and ginger, raspberry, carrot cake, and double chocolate, all adorned with a festive Polar Express theme.

While Hyllden Heights stole the show, we would also like to highlight some honourable mentions from this year’s competition, showcasing the remarkable talent of our teams.

We have Osbern Manor with their magical’ 12 Days of Christmas’ cake! This stunningly decorated 5-tier fruit cake was accompanied by a team-building event, during which residents joyfully sang the 12 Days of Christmas each day!

The flavours were exceptional, making this an incredibly close second place! Great job, Team Osbern!

Hastings Court Care Home was impressed with Julia’s ‘Inclusive Family Christmas Cake’.  Their traditional fruit cake was beautifully adorned with personalised gingerbread featuring the names of all the Oakland Care homes. Additionally, they went the extra mile by creating mini beautiful level 4 Christmas cakes to ensure that everyone could indulge this Christmas season. Fantastic effort, Team Hastings!

Following on next was our Beechwood Grove who brought us their extraordinary ‘Christmas Wreath Cakes’.  Their matching wreath cakes featured green icing to complement the main Christmas fruit cake. Skilfully crafted in the same mould and frozen to achieve its shape, the wreaths were filled with pureed cherries and raisins to mirror the flavours of the fruit cake. An amazing display of creativity from Team Beechwood!

Each entry brought joy, flavour, and festive cheer, making this year’s Bake Off memorable. We look forward to more delicious creations in the future and wish everyone a wonderful holiday season filled with sweet treats and festive fun!

Giles Conroy, our Group Executive Chef, and Annika James, our Development Chef, extended a heartfelt thank you to everyone who participated in the Great Oakland Christmas Bake Off last week! Giles commented, “Congratulations to all the Oakland Care catering Teams! There were some absolutely amazing entries and fabulous festive cakes. This year, you all pushed the boundaries with your festive bakes, and the feedback has been truly outstanding.

A special congratulations to Team Hyllden Heights, led by Rob & Sous Chef Jo, for providing such a stunning cake & selection of festive delicacies. Well done, everybody”.