No Soggy Bottoms At The Great Village Bake Off

Sunday 21st of August saw the Village Bakers whip up a storm in Manchester’s Gay Village as part of The Great Village Bake Off which was part of Manchester Pride’s Superbia Festival. It was a truly spectacular event and the culmination of a huge amount of baking endeavour and talent, from camp cupcakes to fairytale creations the colourful array of magnificent cakes saw the Pride Festival start which sugar high.

Hosted by Manchester’s own Drag Queen Misty Chance who was excited to be hosting this year for the first time and said “These types of events give the LGBT community a wonderfully warm dimension and demonstrate that it’s not all about clubbing and getting drunk.” Misty Chance wasn’t the only honorary Village Baker, the contest welcomed this year’s celebrity judges, Sandy Docherty (BBC The Great British Bake Off 2015) and Howard Middleton (BBC The Great British Bake off 2013).

Howard explained “it was fantastic to be asked to judge the Village Bake Off again, and lovely to be able to bring a friend – Sandy from last years GBBO” he added “the standard of baking is always extremely high and there were some amazingly creative ideas. It’s also such a friendly, though highly competitive, fund raiser! The icing on the cake for me was being made a VIP member of the Village Bakers – I’m so chuffed”

The event attracted over 80 spectators, packed tightly into The Molly House whilst the judges sampled and deliberated over 35 entries. The cakes themselves were truly awe-inspiring, thinking outside the box with a huge amount of effort from each competitor.

Kevin Sargent, chair of Village Bakers said “The effort and ingenuity which had gone into the entries was immense. Sandy Docherty commented that she was truly impressed with the baking talent in the LGBT community. It was wonderful to see the LGBT community come together at such a diverse event and all in aid of the Manchester Pride Community Fund.”

The winners of the Great Village Bake Off 2016 included Best Beginners Cupcake: Geoff Blunt for his impressive Drag Queen Cupcakes, Best Fairytale Creation and Best in Bake Off Winner went to Pau Cordellat Navarro for his creative Fairytale Garden.

The Great Village Bake Off raised in excess of £200 for the Manchester Pride Community Fund, this was only possible with help and support of local businesses including; The Molly House, Oscar’s Bar, Arnero Restaurant and The Co-Op Food

Paul Duffy, a member of the Village Bakers and general manager of The Molly House continued “I was delighted that the Great Village Bake Off was a tremendous success with a varied and astounding range of imaginative bakes on offer. The gay village demonstrated fantastic support and interest in this fundraising event, which showcased the work that The Village Bakers do as an inclusive community group. Roll on Great Village Bake Off 2017!