The LDS kitchen buzzed with creativity and competitive spirit this summer, as the ‘Great Island Bake-Off’ raised over £650 for Body & Soul and provided a platform for hidden baking talents from 27 participants.

The rules, set out by organiser David Mackay, were simple:

1) all entries must involve baking by the contestant

2) voters must pay a pound to taste, and give a mark out of ten

3) all marks will remain secret and results announced after the final contestant has baked

4) no two entries will happen on the same day

Entries ranged from the homespun to the technically challenging, from sweet to savoury.  Special mentions should go to Mel’s chocolate Guinness cups, Paul’s perfect Fraisier cake and Andrea’s special “B&S” pizzas (no mean feat in an office without an oven). Katharine’s entry was the most conceptual – a Chapman Brothers-esque tableau of savaged gingerbread men. Abigail recreated her current project in chocolate brownies, complete with green-dyed Rice Bubble trees.

The winner of the LDS chef’s hat was Adrian Lindsay, who treated the practice to the “V8 Cake” created by patissier Adriano Zumbo in honor of Australian kitchen doyenne Margaret Fulton. The cake has eight layers and textures of vanilla, takes seven hours to prepare and uses 11 types of real vanilla sourced from specialty stores and online. Adrian credits his win on his previous career as a chef rather than his architectural training, though he says he is “fuelled by perfection”.

The recipe for the V8 Cake is available here – there are over 70 ingredients, and it comes with a warning that ‘precision scales’ are required.

Bon appétit!