The results are in, and Mel Giedroyc – TV celebrity, former BBC presenter of The Great British Bake Off and judge of QE’s very own Founder’s Day 2021 Showstopper Bake – has made her decision.
Mel has spent the last few days drooling over photos emailed in to the School as culinary creatives from across the Elizabethan community proudly showed off the fruits of their labour while gathering sponsorship money – turning their dough into dough, as Mel put it. They were free to make any bake of their choice, but extra credit was given for a QE theme or (with equipping the new Music School the focus of this year’s fundraising) for a musical motif.
Here then, in full, is Mel’s adjudication and announcement of the winner:
I’m truly overwhelmed by the amazing standard of these cakes. They really are showstoppers, each and every one of them – huge congratulations to everyone who did a sponsored bake. It’s lovely to think that the dough will become music….from crumpet to trumpet…..ahem…. from crumb to crumhorn……cream horn to French horn…….aaaaargh you can take the girl out of Bake Off etc. etc.
It is genuinely very hard to pick an overall winner from such a glorious collection, and several must be mentioned along the way. Full respect to Matthew Rose [Executive Assistant to the Headmaster, OE 2002-2009] who managed to feature his own surname in his bake. The beautiful ROSE on top of his masterpiece as a nod to the Founder – ingenious. Irfan Ahsan and William Joanes (both from Year 8) delivered scrumptious-looking and highly skilled musical note and grand piano creations respectively.
But the cherry on the icing on the tip of the top of the cake has to be
……drum roll please….
……(deep breath)….
The WINNER OF THE GREAT QE SPONSORED SHOWSTOPPER BAKE FOR FOUNDER’S DAY 2021 (that’s got a real ring to it)…for its stunning colours (the School colours, natch), his use of varied techniques (chequer-board insides and beautifully crafted fondant instruments to decorate) and its overall ‘stunningness’ and deliciousness….I wish it could have been a feast for my stomach, not just for my eyes…
….from Year 12 it is the one, the only, the star baker……Manomay Lala-Raykar!!!!
HUGE CONGRATULATIONS to Manomay!!!!
X X X
Bake and cake creators: captions for the gallery below (click on images to view)
1-2. Manomay’s winning entry
3. Mrs Shirley Wang, mother of Alvin Xu, Year 7
4. William Joanes, Year 8
5. Tunishq Mitra, Year 7
6. Tunishq Mitra, Year 7, with his bake
6. Aston Daniel Anup, Year 10
7. Akhilesh Karthikeyan, Year 8
8. Irfan Ahsan, Year 8
9. Mr Rose
10. Library Services Assistant Corinna Illingworth
11. Director of Music Ruth Partington
12. Rishi Watsalya, Year 7.
