Each year Haywards Heath Rotary Club sponsors the Oathall Community College Bake-Off competition. This year’s competition theme was the Rugby World Cup in Japan.

Seventeen students entered by baking a cake at home and sending in a picture for consideration. These entries were then judged on creativity and skills with eight being selected to enter the final competition.

The competition took place in June with competitors being given four hours to bake and decorate their cake from scratch. The cake ingredients were provided by the Rotary Club and the decorations were provided by the students.

At the end of the competition the cakes were judged by a panel made up from WI members Kate Kent and Julia Vokes, and Mike Hoare and Nigel Vokes from the Rotary Club, Emily Hughes and Emma Brown from Oathall’s catering team, as well as Emily Brock, three times previous Oathall Bake-Off winner.

Cakes were judged on appearance, skill level, taste and texture as well as on creativity and originality. The winning cake (pictured with its creator) came top in all of the criteria. The judges were particularly impressed by the original use of Yuzu, a Japanese flavouring in the filling as well as the creativity and professional finish.

Every person who entered received a whisk and wooden spoon with the final entrants receiving an apron and recipe book. The top three entries also received gift vouchers as their prize.