2017 Dec 14
8 irresistible cake creations now available throughout the season!
This December, Fonterra’s Anchor is treating Colombo to a tongue teaser like no other. The Xmas Cake off held at their Innovative Kitchen in the centre of Colombo gathered chefs from 8 of Colombo’s top specialty bakeries and cafes to showcase their creativity, unique blend of talents and flavor combinations through their very own take on a seasonal cake.
The participants included Tea Avenue, Skrumptious, Baguette, Mrs. G’s Delights, Coco Veranda, Mitsi’s Delicacies, Divine and Bread Talk.
The Competition
The competition followed very simple rules: The theme was Christmas and the participants needed to use at least one Anchor Food Professionals dairy product, whether it be Anchor Butter, Anchor Extra Whipping Cream or Anchor Cream Cheese. The cakes were judged based on adherence to the theme, flavors, textures, neatness, precision, choice and use of colour, creativity, difficulty of technique/ design and general appearance.
The competition was judged by 3 acclaimed figures in the food and beverage industry Chef Tilak Rodrigo, a renowned Executive Pastry Chef with over 35 years of experience, Ms. Narmada Muller, Editor of the much loved Gourmet Circle Magazine with over 20 years in the F&B industry and Chef Jaime Aserappa, Anchor Food Professional’s very own in-house chef counting over 20 years of international and local industry experience.
The Cakes
The competition hosted 8 entries in total but now the real question arises – did they deliver? Boy, oh boy, did they! There were colors and structures that exceeded everyone’s expectations and made the judge’s tasks that much harder. Each cake had its own unique features and elements that made the competition that much better, but some of the entries were really something to talk about.
The Best Part
The greatest thing about the competition, especially for us consumers is that these special Christmas cakes featured in the competition will be made available at each of the outlets that participated! So keep your eyes peeled for all the delicious creations and don’t miss out on an opportunity to have the best gastronomical adventure of this season!
About Anchor Food Professionals
Fonterra’s food service business, Anchor Food Professionals, is Sri Lanka’s first dairy innovation kitchen to help chefs deal with the rising demand for out-of-home dining experiences. The kitchen trials new dairy products and work with chefs to develop new recipes and flavours that suit the tastes of Sri Lankan consumers. The dairy innovation kitchen provides added technology and tools that will increase the ability to develop innovative new recipes using Anchor products, train chefs on bakery concepts and develop cost effective solutions to help create more value for customers. Further, Anchor Food Professionals is a market-leading supplier of dairy products for more than 700 hotels, restaurants, fast food outlets, bakeries, catering and food businesses across Sri Lanka.
Mitsi’s Delicacies
Aptly named the “Christmas Ying and Yang”, the Mitsi’s Delicacies cake submission was a red and green masterpiece depicting the age old concept of balancing out the bad with the good. Miss Mitsi used Anchor Cream Cheese and Anchor Butter to bring together her creation, alongside other elements like a Death by Chocolate base, chocolate mousse, almond sponge and blueberries!
Baguette
Baguette Sri Lanka prides themselves on employing the youngest member of the Chef’s Guild of Sri Lanka, Chef Ashok, and for good reason too. Their submission to the Xmas Cake Off was elaborate and definitely memorable. Topped off with tons of white icing, mistletoe, ginger bread men and Santa figurines, the two-tiered structure depicted the epitome of Christmas. Chef Ashok titled his cake a “Christmas Highland” and used Anchor Butter and Anchor Milk for his creation. Elements such as gingerbread, Christmas cake and dried fruits also came into play to complete this submission.
Skrumptious
Known for their delicious brownies, Skrumptious did the smart thing and put a spin on their specialty. Named the “Christmas Brownie” it was an amalgamation of Christmas cake and brownie topped with strawberries, cream and pistachios. They also used Anchor Butter, Whipped Cream and Cream Cheese for their cake, making the taste that much better!
Tea Avenue
Known for their famous cheesecakes, Tea Avenue’s submission to the competition incorporated Christmas into their comfort zone with an interesting combination of elements. The “Christmas Cheesecake” used all three Anchor ingredients – Butter, Cream Cheese and Whipping Cream, to make a ginger bread base and a love cake layer that was topped off with cheese cake and Christmas cake batter. The cake was decorated with eggnog and cream frosting, as well as meringue and white chocolate to bind together all the flavors and make it taste incredible.
Mrs. G’s Delights
Aptly named the “Christmas Fantasy” Mrs. G’s submission to the competition was made by a mother-daughter duo and brought together many Christmas-like elements to one delicious cake. Incorporating Anchor butter, cream cheese as well as whipping cream, the tried and tested creation used sponge cake, Christmas cake, brandy butter, meringue and mousse and tasted heavenly!
Coco Veranda
Coco Veranda boasts many a Barista award and their cakes fall no short of their coffees. Their submission to the company used Anchor cream cheese and Anchor butter to make a fruit based cake, incorporating other flavors and textures like pineapple, banana, walnut, and cinnamon powder.
Divine
The absolutely Divine submission from the cake brand that has been around since most of our childhoods brought together elements such as desiccated roasted coconuts and roasted almonds to portray a creamy yet smoky Christmas creation. Everything was pulled together by the Anchor Cream Cheese that was used to top the cake off, making it moist and delicious!
Bread Talk
One of the most interesting submissions of the day, Bread Talk displayed a cake fit to be named “A White Christmas”. Only using gold and silver accents, the cake was completely white until it was cut into. The red velvet base and moist rainbow inner side brought a pleasant surprise and was executed to perfection with Anchor cream cheese, Anchor butter and Anchor whipping cream.
