Colleen Brent, owner and head baker at Cakealicious Cakes, traveled to Napier this weekend to compete in the prestigious Chelsea Sugar Craft Competition. The sun was beating down on the 43 competitors from around New Zealand gathered to exhibit their mastery of baking; despite the heat the competition was an absolute success. Colleen participated in the Luxury Cake Clash, the Pavlova Playoffs and the Bread Baking Battle, taking home trophies for 1^st, 1^st and 3^rd respectively.

Speaking after the competition Ms Brent said she was absolutely elated with her performance and praised the high standard of competition: “That was one of the toughest line ups of competitors that I’ve ever seen in the luxury cake division, I have to admit I was very nervous. When I saw Pierre Patisserie’s spectacular seven tier black forest gateaux, I knew I needed to bring my A game. The pavlova division was equally tough, but I’ve been training particularly hard for that event, so I just stuck with my plan and it all came together. I was slightly disappointed with my results in the Bread Battle, but I’ve really got to give it up to my competitors. Christina Crast created the crustiest Ciabatta I have ever seen, and Dorothy Dow baked the most delicious date nut bread in the history of the competition. I take my hat off to them and look forward to competing against them both next year”.

2020 marks the eighth year that Colleen has competed at the illustrious invitation-only event and provided her most successful results to date, bringing her total trophy count to eleven and confirming her position as one of New Zealand’s most illustrious premier cake designers.