The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Ella lets train take the strain for prestigious cake competition
St Cyrus woman learns from flying mishap and decides to take train to Birmingham
A businesswoman let the train take the strain as she travelled to Birmingham to compete in an international cake competition.
Ella Barton, 43, learned from past experiences after her intricate work, which can take weeks to create, was damaged in transit on a flight to London.
It resulted in a frantic repair job before Ella went on to pick up a gold award at Cake International 2017.
This time, her travel plans stayed on track as she boarded the train with her two exhibits which were judged alongside hundreds of other cakes from competitions from all over Europe.
There was also a strong contingent from China taking part, but Ella was delighted when her work picked up silver and bronze awards.
The silver was for chocolate creation depicting a mother at play with her daughter, whilst the bronze award went to a marionette-type figure playing a cello.
Ella, owner of the Old Bakery Coffee Shop by Cake Addict in St Cyrus, said: “Everything is made from chocolate and icing sugar and everything is edible.
“In the past I have picked up a gold award for an exhibit I had in a competition in London.
“For that I decided to fly down but it was damaged during the flight and I had to do an emergency repair.”
EasyJet staff stepped in to help and gave her cake its own seat on the plane as she travelled for the UK’s biggest cake competition at Alexandra Palace.
She continued: “This time I decided travelling by train was the easier option.”
The silver-awarded cake took Ella three weeks to make, but she finished the bronze-winning cake in three days.
An avid baker, Ella produces cakes to order for her customers but has no intention of taking her love of baking to another level.
She said: “I always get a little bit stressed entering competitions but have no plans to enter the Great British Bake Off – I don’t think I would be good enough.”
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Everything is made from chocolate and icing sugar and everything is edible