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'Latin' wedding gateau named Britain's best cake

Andy Gill
BBC News, Liverpool
BBC A four layer chocolate cake with chocolate icing and red glace cherriesBBC
Laura Johnson created the cake for her own wedding but never got chance to sample it on the day

A "Latin" wedding cake created by a Colombian baker for her own big day has been voted as the best in Britain.

Laura Johnson, who owns Abba Cakes in Hoylake, Wirral, took British Baker magazine's prize for her signature chocolate cake.

Laura said combining British sweet indulgence with some Latin flavours proved so successful on her wedding day in November 2019 that she was not even able to sample her own cake.

"When I went to try it after the pictures, there was none left, so I knew that people liked it," she added.

The cake contains a double chocolate ganache, dark chocolate sponge and a layer of dulce de leche - a caramel made of butter, milk and sugar with extra cream which is popular in Latin America.

Judges praised the cake's contrasting flavours and rich texture.

Laura, whose maiden name was Alejandra, said she had always planned to share her recipe more widely after the wedding.

"I said at that time 'If I ever have a cake shop, I'll put it on the menu' and since then, it's been the favourite in the shop."

Laura Johnson smiles at the camera. She has long dark hair pulled away from her face. She is in her shop and a basket of cakes sits behind her left shoulder.
Laura was born in Colombia and studied catering in Spain before moving to the UK

Laura, originally from Colombia, studied catering in Spain before moving to the UK five years ago.

She said the prize "meant the world" to her and her team.

"Chocolate cake is not a big thing in Colombia and when I was studying there was nothing like 'cake' done," she said.

"I absolutely love everything about British cakes, so when I was studying, I decided to try [British] recipes with [Colombian] flavours.

"That's why it has dulce de leche - it's a little bit Latin."

The awards' organisers said Laura's cake "got the judges' nod ahead of more than 100 other entries".

They said the cakes were assessed on their "external appearance, internal structure, aroma and taste" by a team of baking experts.

Other category winners at the NEC Birmingham on Monday included a Middle Eastern kunafa pistachio brownie, a gluten-free chocolate cake with pistachio and berries, and a wheat-free brownie.

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