Food award is icing on the cake for Bourton baker (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)

Food award is icing on the cake for Bourton baker

1:00pm Sunday 23rd September 2012 in News

A COTSWOLDS baker has had one of her creations included in the top 50 Great British foods.

Sophie Browne launched Sophie’s Baked Delights in Bourton-on-the-Water in 2010 following a 24 year career in sales and marketing.

Now her M’hencha cake, a Moroccan Berber cake, has been chosen by the select judging panel to be included in the Great Taste Top 50 Foods in Britain.

The awards have been running since 1994 and celebrate artisan food producers as part of the Guild of Fine Food’s annual Great Taste accreditation scheme.

Sophie’s M’hencha cake is made of coiled, sweet almond pastry flavoured with rosewater, orange and lemon and topped with pistachios.

It fought off stiff competition from more than 8,800 entries from across the UK as a judging panel blind-tasted each entry to whittle them down to a shortlist of 123 three-star products. They were then slimmed down further to select the top 50.

Guild of Fine Food chairman Bob Farrand said that each of the food and drink products entered into Great Taste undergoes the most rigorous scrutiny.

“To achieve a three-star grading involves at least 25 experts unanimously agreeing that the product tastes divine,” he said. “But to be included in the Top 50 Foods in Britain meant each one had to satisfy the discerning palates of a further 25 dedicated foodies. These products all deliver the most extraordinary taste.”

A delighted Sophie said: “Great Taste recognise the craftsmanship and dedication that goes into creating exceptional food and drink. The M’Hencha with its utterly exotic flavours and enchanting beautiful coils has been an absolute triumph with my discerning local foodie clients looking for something delicious and different. I am delighted that the Great Taste Award judges feel the same.”

To find out more about Sophie’s Baked Delights go to sophiesbakeddelights.co.uk