Bakers to raise money for National Star at Lumière Cake Off

It’s mixing bowls and spatulas at the ready as bakers prepare to get competitive with their cake making skills to raise money for National Star.

The Lumière Cake Off will see amateur bakers whipping up their best cakes, brownies, biscuits and other sweet treats before a panel of celebrity judges tuck in to a taste test.

‘Everybody likes cake so it seemed like a good idea to have a baking competition,’ says Katie Dainty, Assistant Manager at the Cheltenham restaurant.

‘I wanted to enter but I’m not the best at making cakes, I just enjoy eating them so I’ll leave it to everyone else. We’re going to make it a fun day and there’s plenty of space for all the cakes so we’re hoping for a lot of entries.’

The bakes will be judged on Sunday 7 May by Lumière Head Chef and co-owner Jon Howe, TV GP Dr Dawn Harper and celebrity Jackie Llewelyn-Bowen at StarBistro at Ullenwood, based at National Star’s Cheltenham campus. There will also be live music and face painting.

Pictures of the entries will be posted on social media to allow the general public to vote for the best presented cake.

The categories are over 18s small bites like brownies and biscuits, and large cakes with the same categories but for individuals or teams, which could include parents and their children.

Great prizes have been donated by companies around Gloucestershire, including Sunday lunch at Malmaison, days out at Cotswold Farm Park and Cotswold Wildlife Park and a cookery course at Foodworks Cookery School near Cheltenham.

Entry costs £10 with all the proceeds going to National Star.

Four members of the Lumière team and four of their friends and family are also doing a skydive on 21 May to raise funds for us.

‘We support National Star because we know all the money people raise goes to make life better for the students,’ Katie says. ‘You can see that it actually helps people to smash the stereotypes and get on and prosper in life.’

Find out more about entering the competition or pick up a registration card from Lumière on Clarence Parade.