Baking competition is piece of cake for care home teams
A kitchen assistant from Crimond House Care Home in Fraserburgh has won a national baking competition, with a hyper-realistic pie and mash cake design.
Talented Caitlyn Mckenzie was voted champion of the 2025 Meallmore Bake Off competition, with over 750 votes cast by the public. Colleagues and residents from Meallmore care homes - one of Scotland’s leading providers of elderly and specialist care - took part in the annual ‘Bake Off’ competition, with entries coming from ten of the 27 Meallmore care homes across Scotland.
21-year-old Caitlyn, who is also studying Food Nutrition and Textiles Education at University of Highlands and Islands, set out to make a cake that fooled the eye. The chocolate layer cake has a fondant icing, coloured to look like pastry, while the rich, glossy chocolate sauce was added to resemble gravy. The ‘mash’ was made using butter icing, with the two veg portions created using fondant icing.
Following a public vote, the top three winners all came from Aberdeenshire, with Kynnaird House in Fraserburgh taking second place and Auchtercrag House in Ellon achieving third place.
The entry from Kynnaird House was a team effort. The vanilla and cream cake sponge was made by kitchen assistant, Kasia Dollberg, with residents providing the decoration with support from Care Home Manager, Roselle Alberto and Activities Coordinator, Chelsey Masson, in honour of a culture and diversity event that took place at the home.
Residents also helped with the highland cow shaped entry at Auchtercrag House. Activities coordinator, Julie Crossen baked the four layered chocolate cake and covered it with chocolate buttercream, while residents created hair and flowers out of fondant for the decorations and all-important finishing touches. The masterpiece took seven hours to complete from start to finish.
Commenting on her win, Caitlyn said: "I wanted to make something fun and completely unexpected, so creating a cake that looked like pie and mash felt like the perfect challenge. I’m over the moon to have won, especially knowing how many incredible entries there were from across Scotland. It’s been a joy to share this with my colleagues and residents – they’ve all been so supportive and excited about the result."
Cillian Hennessey, CEO of Meallmore, said: “The annual Meallmore Bake Off competition is one of the highlights of the year for us. It’s always fantastic to see the wonderful team spirit across the homes, as well as the incredible baking skills and creativity. This year’s winners were as inspirational as ever. We were blown away by Caitlyn’s pie and mash design – it was hard to believe it was actually cake! And we loved seeing the brilliant teamwork involved in the creations at Kynnaird and Auchtercrag. We’ve got a truly talented bunch in our homes – both in the team and our residents. It’s a joy to see this on display. Well done, everyone!”
Meallmore currently operates 27 homes across Scotland: 21 for elderly residents, five for adults with mental health needs and one for adults with learning or physical disability.