The ‘Great Bucks Jubilee Cake Off’ winners announced

It was a magnificent feast for the eyes and the taste buds as school children from across Buckinghamshire took part in the grand finale of Buckinghamshire Council’s Platinum Jubilee Schools Cake Competition on Tuesday (7 June).

After fierce competition across schools in the county, a budding group of bakers competed in the final. The 13 finalists each created incredible Jubilee-themed cakes, which were judged by Buckinghamshire Swan Envoy Lorraine Kelly, The Countess Howe, HM Lord-Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire, Chairman Dev Dhillon, Cllr Anita Cranmer, Cabinet Member for Children’s Services and Chief Executive Rachael Shimmin at the event at the council offices in The Gateway, Aylesbury.

The competition was extremely close, but cream of the crop was the Chiltern Way Academy who received the top prize. Describing their winning cake, they said: “It represents a tradition that we know The Queen is very fond of and is replicated up and down the country by millions every day – a cup of tea and biscuits!”

Second place was Swanbourne Church of England School and third place was Loudwater Combined School.

The winners and runners up will all receive vouchers for their schools.

A special mention goes to a last minute entry from a pupil at the Hamilton Academy. As one of three Ukrainian families recently arrived at the school, they wanted to express their thanks by taking part in the competition. A representative from the school explained: “A lovely cake (in yellow and blue) with written explanation as per the rules has come in from one of our Ukrainian families – the sentiment is really heartfelt and wonderfully supportive of the celebration. I wondered if we could enter this one as ‘an extra’ despite it not having a jubilee design. We have three Ukrainian families now sending their children to our school and they are keen to participate and embrace school life to the full which is lovely.”

Cllr Anita Cranmer said: “It was a wonderful afternoon spent talking to the children about their fantastic cakes and of course taking part in the all-important taste testing. We were so impressed with the quality of the cakes produced and it was very difficult to decide on the winners. Congratulations to all the children who took part.”

Full list of finalists:

1st place – Chiltern Way Academy

2nd place – Swanbourne Church of England School

3rd place – Loudwater Combined School

Runners up:

• Stony Dean School
• Bedgrove Infant School
• Haddenham Community Junior School
• St Mary’s Farnham Royal CofE Primary School
• The Disraeli School
• The Iver Village Junior School
• Marlow Church of England Infant School
• Hamilton Academy
• Manor Farm Community Junior School
• Great Kimble Church of England School