Monifieth care home crowned Christmas Cake Champion
Excitement is running high at South Grange in Monifieth where the talented residents have been named the winners of the annual Barchester Christmas Cake competition for the North East & Scotland Division.
Each year residents from Barchester’s care homes and hospitals up and down the country compete for the coveted Christmas Cake of the Year title. The competition is run by the central hospitality team and the bar is set very high.
Many of Barchester’s residents are very skilled bakers and the Christmas cake designs can be very elaborate. Competition is fierce and only the very best recipes and designs will prevail.
The residents at South Grange put their heads together and donned their aprons to come up with the most amazing Christmas cake decorated to perfection. Their fabulous cake has three separate tiers - one designed as Santa, the other two tiers are decorated with different types of holly and icing.
It took weeks of planning and preparation; residents couldn’t agree on just one design so that’s when they came up with the idea of making a separate three tier cake and having everyone’s ideas combined. The cakes were traditional Christmas cake packed with dried fruits and some festive spices like cinnamon and nutmeg and covered in a delicious royal icing.
Catherine, General Manager at South Grange said: “Our residents had such a brilliant time taking part in this competition, it has been such fun. Everyone here loves to bake and we all love cake so we were all very excited to take part. It has been a real collaborative process – refining the recipe and trying different versions of the design.
"We’ve all loved eating the previous versions until we came up with the perfect winning design! It really has been no hardship!”
Joan, a resident at South Grange commented: “I’ve enjoyed baking my whole life, I find it so satisfying when a cake turns out well and everyone enjoys it. Christmas cakes have always been a favourite thing of mine to make so when I heard about the competition, I couldn’t wait to get stuck in! I am so proud that we have won, it has made my Christmas!”
South Grange Nursing Home is run by Barchester Healthcare, one of the UK’s largest care providers, which is committed to delivering high-quality care across its care homes and hospitals. South Grange provides nursing care, respite care and YPD unit.