Charity Bake Off competition at The Lansdowne in Leicester

Bakers, cake makers and those with a sweet-tooth helped The Lansdowne in Leicester to raise almost £450 for charity.

The pub in London Road staged a ‘Let them eat Cake’ Bake Off event in aid of Coping with Cancer.

It attracted almost 90 entries from amateur and professional bakers, which were then sold to pub customers to raise money for the Leicestershire and Rutland charity. The Lansdowne’s sister pub The Orange Tree in Leicester and nearby pub The Marquis helped out by also selling some of the cakes to regulars.

“It was a massive success and we’d like to thank all the bakers who took part and all those who bought cakes afterwards to help us raise money for Coping with Cancer,” said organiser Alex Lumley. “The judges had a really tough job choosing the winners. The standard of baking was exceptional.”

Open to amateur and professional bakers, the contest was judged by Holly Bell, finalist in last year’s BBC Great British Bake Off TV programme, Matthew Wright, editor of Great Food Magazine, Char Lavender of Bitsy's Cupcakery, and Tom Brucciani, managing director of craft bakery and café company Brucciani (Midlands) Ltd.

The winners for the signature bake were: home baker - Chet Vallabh, with special mention to Matthew Freeman and Cat Hanlon; under 16 - Alice Featherstone; professional - Elaine Priestly. Winners for the brownies section were: home baker - Shenila Chawda, with special mention to Lucy Ward; under 16 - Ewan Keith Driver.

Winners for the cupcakes were: home Baker - Marie Coleman, with special mention to Katie Turner and Sally Stevenson; under 16 - Phoebe and Katie Drury; professional Priti Meredith (Sugar 31). Winners for the specialty bread section were: home baker - Joseph Sarris, with special mention to Bob Neely; professional – Bruccianis.

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