Judge's Choices in Pictures

Here the Hairy Bikers carefully cut into Mrs Burton's Thie Veg- the out-house of her Manx Ginger cottage!
"You can't cut that!" said Si... but we were all insistent- they had to taste it to congratulate the winner of Mr Gawne, MHK & Minister for Agriculture's Judge's Choice award. Mrs Burton is an artist from Port Erin and received Mr Gawne's highest personal accolade.


Mrs Michele Moroney, semi-final judge & surgeon at Nobles, awarded her Judge's Choice to Kelly Smith, praising her use of home-grown carrots and calling it the healthy choice! Here's the Hairy Bikers showing it to the crowd! Kelly made rabbit poo out of sugar-craft for decoration. How creative!

Kate Dawe's Laxey Wheel attracted Mrs Hazel Warburton's, semi-final judge previously of Fortnum & Mason, and a cake judge of the WI, Judges Choice award, largely for her quality of craftsmanship. Guess what's under it's white frosting? Red velvet sponge cake- what a contrast! Well done Kate!

(Hi to Dave from Cupcakes in this pic! the naughty Manx tartan skirts kept falling off the cupcakes so here he is adjusting them. Cupcakes scored one of the highest on taste in the semi-final!)

Kate and Home-baker winner, Chloe, are sisters, and they were up til four in the morning the night before the semi-final completing their masterpieces. Baking talent must run in the family!

the Winners in Pictures

Here is the beautiful "Manx Fuschia Fairy" by Christine McCabe, winner of the Professional division. Christine spent at least 40 hours on "Fiona" the fairy, who was entirely created from sugar paste!










the Hairy Bikers taste Christine's gorgeous creation...















Here's Si the Hairy Biker holding Chloe Dawe's "Loughtan Sheep- a Manx character"
He looks as if he's in heaven, holding the winning cake of the Home-Baker division, yes?










Chloe explains the creation of her gorgeous sculpture cake to the Hairies...


Si himself bought the runner-up in the Professional division- The Peggy Smuggler's Cake- a 150 year old secret recipe, made by Karl Berrie, Chocolatier, of Aaron House, Port St Mary, presented in a wooden treasure box with edible gold running throughout! Here it is!





The Hairy Biker was lucky to nab it at £62!- semi-final judge Michele Moroney bid hotly for it, too!







And here are the Hairy Bikers talking to Emily, one of the Corlett Family of Lezayre's talented bakers of the "Highlights of the Isle of Man" cake. Runner-up in the Home-baker division, it was a delicious fruit cake, as green as our Island, that all the family helped with! Ovarian cancer is a cause close to their hearts. How wonderful that they "entered for fun, shared many laughs along the way" according to Mum Barbara... then won! :)

A Beautiful Baker... and 5 days to go!

One evening a few weeks ago on the internet, I was overwhelmed by some beautiful cakes. Their creator was Mich Turner.

When I went to find out more about her, I discovered this:

"Mich Turner's celebrity clients including David Beckham, Pierce Brosnan, Paul McCartney, Elvis Costello and Diana Krall, and Madonna. Awarded Harpers Bazaar & Chanel Entrepreneur of the Year, author of three books with her first book - Spectacular Cakes - voted Best Dessert Book in the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards. Mich is the leading creator of couture cakes and has also created celebration cakes for Her Majesty the Queen..."

oh, Mich, i thought, you'd be wonderful at the Great Manx Bake-off!

She agrees! But sadly, is too busy baking. Please read her lovely response:

"Dear Samantha

Thank you so much for your very kind invitation to attend your Isle of Man Food and Drink Festival on behalf of The Eve Appeal. I am both touched and honoured you have personally asked me to be involved with your Great Manx Bake-Off. Reading your letter I am encouraged by... how worthwhile your cause.

I am sending you very best wishes to you for a fabulous event, regrettably I am unable to attend due to prior commitments – we are still in full wedding season here in London with a new product launch also planned for later this month.

I should be very happy to donate signed copies of all 3 of my books... you may like to consider them as a prize for the competition or the raffle.

With very warm wishes

Mich Turner"







"Thank-you" hardly cuts the cake! But- thank-you, Mich. I think I speak for all involved with the Eve Appeal and the Isle of Man Food and Drink festival in wishing you every beautiful couture cake contract in Europe!


With only 5 days to go- we have Mich's 3 beautiful books availble to winners of a Raffle on the day...


And 25 lovely entries competing in the first Eve Appeal's Great Manx Bake-Off

15 Home Bakers
and
9 Professionals

will submit glorious lip smacking, manx-ingredients cakes to showcase the best of our beautiful island.

Come to the Villa Marina Arcade on Saturday from 11am to drool over and perhaps select yourself a slice!
The Hairy Bikers are in for a sweet surprise!


(below, 2 of Mich's beautiful, autographed books. For lovely inspiration, visit the Little Venice Cake Company or do seek her out on Youtube!)

The Taste of island baking- that's what we want!

Here's the thing: you don't have to be the most supersonic cake decorator to enter the Great Manx Bake-Off.




Perhaps you've got an absolutely delicious recipe that uses Manx produce... Laxey Glen Mills Flour; Gellings, Staarvey Farm or other local eggs; and Isle of Man milk...





Not decorated or shaped like the TT course? Don't worry! YES it will be wonderful to put on display your gorgeous Manx-themed cake... but, above all I suspect TASTE is what our judges will be looking for. There's also the judge's choice award- given on their own unique criteria- who knows what will tickle our esteemed panel's fancy?



Plus your contribution will be sold for donation to the Eve Appeal if it doesn't make the Final and the Auction by Si & Dave, the Hairy Biker boys, and every cake submitted will be on display on the Friday evening at the Festival's launch party with the baker's name on it...




So what do you think? Will your delicious family cake rise to the challenge? You can download an entry form in the top right hand corner of this page



Not entering? Come and attend a cupcake decorating workshop on Saturday courtesy of Cupcakes, Ramsay, to develop a new skill perhaps, for next year's entry!



amazing Halloween cake from Martha Stewart. For recipe inspiration, visit the delicious Joy The Baker!

Hairy Bikers roaring in for Manx cake bake event!

In the Isle of Man Examiner out now there is a lovely article calling all Cake lovers and makers to hop on board the Eve Appeal Great Manx Bake-Off with the Hairy Bikers! Check it out online here! And here's what the article, by reporter Lottie Ray, says, below...

"FANCY flaunting your baking skills in front of the BBC's Hairy Bikers for charity at the Isle of Man Food and Drink Festival next month?

The Great Manx Bake-Off cake competition will celebrate Manx produce while raising money for the Eve Appeal Gynaecology Cancer Research Fund which aims to halve death rates in British ovarian cancer patients.

'We are hoping to get both home bakers and professionals across the Isle of Man creating a spectacular display of Manx cakes,' explained Samantha Honey-Pollock of the charity. 'I was inspired by the pictures of the delicious cakes on the Eve Appeal's fundraising ideas web pages and then even more so by the availability of local Manx produce to bake with. So I decided to take a leaf from Ilovemanx.org and suggest to the Department of Tourism and Leisure that an exciting cake baking competition using Manx ingredients to raise money for the charity be planned. And the idea just grew from there!'

Last month, Samantha, of Ballasalla, won the southern heat of the I Love Manx Chef competition at the Southern Agricultural Show with her honey pollock and rose petal salad dish. So, as well as organising the cake competition, she will also go head to head with northern winner Lizia Medina Quinn, of Andreas, at the festival where the Hairy Bikers will choose the overall winner.

The Great Manx Bake-Off will take place at 3pm on Saturday, September 26, as part of the festival in the Villa Marina Arcade where the finalists will be judged by the bearded television presenters. Islanders will also have the opportunity to take part in a fun auction with the celebrity duo, a cup cake workshop for kids and kids at heart, a cake quiz and a sale of the competition cakes.

'I love to cook, yet my own cakes are usually disasters,' explained Samantha. 'But cake does happen to be my favourite food on earth. I can't think of anything more comforting than sitting down with a beautiful china cup full of tea and a fresh slice of home-baked cake.' All cakes must be Manx-themed and made using Manx flour, eggs and milk - with extra points being awarded for using even more Island products. 'Maybe we will have entries that look like a Manx cat, TT motorbike or Tower of Refuge,' said Samantha.

There will be two categories in the competition: one for professionals and another for home bakers. All entries, which can be individual or as a family, workplace or group of friends, are free.

Semi-finalists will be selected on Friday, September 25. All cakes submitted will receive a £5 voucher for Shoprite, which, as supporter of the competition, has also donated more than £400 worth of prizes to be won. Proceeds will go to the Eve Appeal, which shares its donations with Ovacome - a charity that offers support and advice to ovarian cancer sufferers. 'I have personally been touched by an ovarian cancer scare,' said Samantha, 'and was quickly given excellent treatment at Noble's Hospital before being transferred to Liverpool Women's hospital at the end of last year.

''We have lost ladies in the Isle of Man to this disease which is often left undiagnosed until it is too late,' said Samantha, 'Support helps raise awareness and the funds necessary to provide an early detection technique for ovarian cancer and help save 4,400 women's lives a year.'

The closing date for entries is Friday, September 11..."

Fancy flaunting YOUR baking prowess? Download an application form in the box top right! We hope to raise more than £2500 this day- oh how wonderful- so delicious cakes of all shapes and sizes made from fresh Manx produce are invited.

did you know... your cake will be on display at the prestigious launch party of the Isle of Man Food & Drink festival on Friday night? And, if you'd want to keep your masterpiece and not have it sold or auctioned by the Hairies, you can donate £30 to the Eve Appeal and keep it all- as well as the glory (!)- for yourself. The Entry form has full details!

Entries Invited!

Entries are open now for the Eve Appeal Great Manx Bake-Off!

You can click on the image below and download an application form. Here's some quick details:

• Entry is free and yes, you can be a team of more than one "Manx Baker"



• You can enter in one of two categories: Home-Bakers, or Professionals



• £500 worth of prizes are up for grabs with a £5 Shoprite voucher for every submission!



• Your cake must be made of Manx flour, eggs and milk (if these form part of the recipe)



• The cake should have a Manx theme and will be judged on taste, appearance and “Manxness”. “Manxness” in this instance means the proportion of Manx ingredients used as well as the theme of the cake



• The cake Final will be judged by the Hairy Bikers of BBC fame at the Villa Marina on Saturday September 26th as part of the Isle of Man Food & Drink festival!
  
  

Our lovely sponsors include Shoprite, Boots, Viking Office Systems, Cupcakes Isle of Man and some help from the WI to date... many thanks for your kindness & generosity! Entries close September 11

On the day, there will be Cupcake workshops for Kids... and Kids-at-heart

"So you think you can Bake?"- a cake-quiz for the smarty-pants out there- with great prizes! ...

PLUS- you'll be able to buy a slice- or a whole!- of the entries OR bid in the fun public Auction with the Hairies to get your hands (and tastebuds) on the Winning Cakes!

all in the beautiful mezzanine level of the Villa Marina Arcade as part of the Isle of Man food & drink festival.

Look! isn't it a gorgeous location?

And all proceeds going to the Eve Appeal with it's aim to halve death rates from ovarian cancer in women across the island and the UK.

yum yum!

57 days to go!

I am so excited putting together The Great Manx Bake off that I can barely sleep at night! Visions of delicious cakes swirling round my brain...

We have devised such a wonderful event on Saturday 26th September 2009, as part of the Isle of Man Food & Drink festival, to raise funds and awareness for the Eve Appeal!

Of course more details of prizes offered by our super sponsors and details of how to enter will be here soon!

And for now...

click on the image to discover more about the event!

The Hairy Bikers and good news for The Eve Appeal on the Isle of Man!

How exciting! We are hatching a very special fundraiser for The Eve Appeal on the Isle of Man at the Isle of Man Food and Drink Festival on 26th and 27th September. All manx cooks, dust down your aprons! We will be inviting all scrumptious, creative cakemakers on the island to shine for The Great Manx Bake-off!

The final on Sept 26 will be judged by BBC stars, cooks and Isle of Man enthusiasts, the Hairy Bikers, and our semi-final judges include highly-esteemed Isle of Man individuals with public health and food & drink responsibilities.

There is lots going on at the Isle of Man Food & Drink festival in September! As well as the Great Manx Bake-off will be the I Love Manxchef live cooking showdown.

And if you are in town - ie Castletown showgrounds, 12.30pm- tomorrow, please come cheer me on in the South island semi-final! I will be cooking a delicious energy and health filled lunch special; a manx-produce based recipe of course, which is the criteria!

More details of The Great Manx Bake-off for The Eve Appeal to come! please email if you'd like to be part. Women's gynae cancers are part of many of our lives and the Isle of Man is such a big place to spread this message to.