Buckingham Lodge Care Home near Watton wins national Easter cake competition
Staff and residents at Buckingham Lodge Care Home, in Carbrooke, near Watton, in Norfolk, are jubilant after their head chef won a keenly-fought national Easter cake contest.
UK top 20 ranked large care home group (carehome.co.uk) Kingsley Healthcare gets competitive juices flowing with its annual cake competition open to its 39 care homes across the UK.
Buckingham Lodge head chef Eszter Kosztolanczi began planning weeks in advance and created every element of her cake from scratch, including Easter bunnies, eggs and ornamental carrots.
The competition was judged by Kingsley’s Operations Directors Sumi Thayan and Debbie McGovern who confessed it was almost an impossible task because of the universally high standard.
Buckingham Lodge Hospitality Manager Anita Bell said: “We are so proud of the cake we have put it on display in reception until it is eaten by residents over Easter. The photographs don’t do it justice. Residents’ families and other visitors have said, ‘Is it real? Wow, that’s amazing’.”
Ms Bell said Eszter had really lifted the quality and range of food at the home since she arrived last year.
“She has brought a lot of new ideas and a sense of adventure to our menus. Of course, she still caters for traditional tastes but a lot of her ideas have been really well received,” she said.
Buckingham Lodge wins £100 for its residents’ fund which supports additional activities; the two runners-up, Yaxley House, near Eye, in Suffolk, and Branksome Heights, in Bournemouth, Dorset, win £50 for their residents’ fund.
