Mustique chef wins ECGC National Baking Competition

It was her breadfruit fish pie and chocolate caramelized banana cake that earned Joanne Layne the first place in the seventh annual ECGC National Baking Competition.

Layne, who works at Ultramarine House in Mustique, was overwhelmed when the results were announced.{{more}}

“I feel excited. It’s overwhelming,” she said, smiling.

Layne also said that she expected to win because she practised her recipe repeatedly to ensure that it was perfect for the competition.

When asked about the concept of her chocolate caramelized banana cake, Layne responded, “Everyone wants to eat chocolate, but nobody wants to eat the fruit, especially children, so I put the banana in the chocolate cake to encourage them to eat it.”

Layne also revealed that her winning breadfruit fish pie was made with ECGC’s herbal garlic flour, roasted breadfruit and fried fish, combined into a pie.

At the awards ceremony on May 26 at the Methodist Church Hall, chief judge Ali Medjahed, in his overview of the competition’s entries, said that he was very pleased with this year’s level of competition.

This year’s competition also included a student category, which was contested by representatives from the Georgetown Secondary School, North Union Secondary, St Joseph’s Convent Kingstown, Thomas Saunders Secondary, St Vincent Girls’ High School and Emmanuel High School Mesopotamia.

Medjahed commended the young participants for being a part of this year’s competition.

“This afternoon I saw a great deal of design, a great deal of colours and a great deal of presentation from the young people,” he said.

Medjahed also expressed how impressed he was by Danielle Bess’ breadfruit cheesecake. Bess, who represented the St Joseph’s Convent Kingstown, placed first in the students’ competition.

“I spent 10 minutes in front of her display,” said Medjahed.

The competition’s theme this year was “Celebrations” and attracted 22 competitors, who competed against each other in the cake, bread, pastry and specialty flour categories.

Joanne Layne placed first in the cake and specialty flour categories; Sabrina Marks-Dasent walked away with the first place for the bread category; and the pastry category was won by Ricardo Gordon.(CA)