Patteela Prathumars’ winning cake. Photo Pornphan Apichatwiwat Text Machteld van Kempen, photos Hugo van Driel
Following the success of last year’s event, a new cake-baking contest was held last week. The event was to raise funds for a PhD trip to Canada for the Food Physics group. Thirty-seven bakers, 120 testers and eight organisers participated in the event. Tasters paid a 5-euro fee. Patteela Prathumars, from Thailand, won with her mango cake.
The creations ranged from a zucchini-chocolate mud cake to a Czech honey cake. Surprisingly, there were many vegan cakes this year. Lingtong Gai used her PhD research on watershed management and restoration as a source of inspiration for her unusual creation. Laura Outhuis participated with a Halloween-themed pumpkin cake inspired by the fall season. The cake consisted of two layers made from carrot cake and macaroons.
Originality
The submitted cakes were judged by a jury made up of Senna Janssen (last year’s winner), baker Mas Muniroh, culinary expert David Millenaar and researcher and Resource -columnist Guido Camps, who participated in the TV show Heel Holland Bakt. The public also got to vote. The jury considered such aspects as originality. Camps: ‘A standard Dutch apple pie is not enough. It must be something special that makes you want to keep eating.’
A standard Dutch apple pie is not enough. It must be something special
Guido Camps, jury member and amateur baker
Master student Biology Julia van Holst decided to join when she saw the announcement in the group chat. ‘I like to bake, so I thought: why not? You may even win. That is what we all secretly hope for.’ Lot van Berkel, a master’s student in Environmental Policy and one of the tasters, particularly enjoyed the international influences. ‘There were some unexpected flavour combinations. It is great to taste something different.’ The bake-off was a low-threshold way to raise funds and attracted a lot of attention. After all, as Van Berkel put it: ‘Who doesn’t like cake?’
Mango sticky rice
The winner was Patteela Prathumars – Polly – who included her Thai heritage in her creation, making a cake inspired by the popular Thai mango sticky rice dish. The cake consisted of three layers: whipped coconut milk, sticky rice mousse and mango sauce. Making the perfect cake took her approximately six hours, and although she had not expected to win, she was delighted with the result. The audience gave her a loud round of applause. Polly was awarded a trophy and sponsored prizes: A Columbus cookbook, baking ingredients from De Vlijt wind-powered grain mill and a Bagels & Beans gift card.
