Grenada Cake Wars in Trinidad!

I know I'm a bit late, but it's better late than never, and I just have to share my experience thus far. Grenada Cake Wars is growing in ways I can't possibly imagine. My team was given an opportunity to showcase our skills at the culinary competition "Making The Cutt" on January 15th, 2016.

Making The Cutt is an annual competition that is organised by the Trinidad Hotel, Restaurants and Tourism Association. This Competition would identify talented chefs, pastry chefs and bartenders who will then form their national culinary team to compete at the "Taste Of The Caribbean" competition. Now, I've done my home work and I can tell you that Trinidad has been on a winning streak for the last couple of years. Although we were not a part of the competition, with the level of skills that we saw, we were a bit intimidated. But of course, we still wanted to do our best and we were ready for the challenge.

We had 2 days to prepare our game plan;

 and with team work we would be able to execute the cakes we decided on. We may have gotten a little carried away with how beautiful Trinidad is, and I had to remind them why we were here, well......try.

Show me your game faces

Day 1 was all about getting the ingredients together for our cakes. We spent our day with Mrs Michelle Young who is the Executive Assistant of the THRTA. She was so kind, and full of joy. I have never met someone so easy going and down to earth; she was like a breath of fresh air. The day was long, but we managed to stay focused. We even went the extra mile by offering to prepare breakfast which included a fruit bowl and lunch for the THRTA team. 

Day 2, we headed to the Culinary institute to get started on the cakes. We were greeted by an amazing team of people who were willing to share their knowledge in a heartbeat. There were a few set-backs which only added to the nerves, but we managed to pull ourselves together. Yes I know, most of you probably said it at the beginning of the blog....she can't bake. I know I had the easiest part because I was no baker. However, i tried to help in any way I could. I was given to task to grease the pans, which I think is just as important as baking the cake... :).

Not only did we had an awesome day at the institute, but we also learnt a lot  from the Chefs and Pastry Chefs and was so excited to put it into practice. Dinner was served by Mr. Ottley and his trainee team....and boy I tell yuh, the food was out of this world. 

We were served, lamb stuffed with dried fruits, with vegetables and fried okra. For desert we had black pepper ice cream. I know what you're thinking ...black pepper????? Yes!!!! Most interesting flavour I've ever tasted. More Please!!! 

The day was finally here; not only did we have to cover two 3 feet cakes, we also had food that needed to be prepared on the same day of the exhibition!!!!! How are we going to pull this off???

Kellon Maximay was a true team player; we arrived at the culinary institution around 9 am, where he went straight to work. For breakfast, he prepared roasted bake with scrambled eggs and saltfish souse. For those of you who don't know what that is, it's one of Grenada's traditional dishes that includes saltfish and vegetables.

Breakfast was served with a fruit bowl,which included pineapples, bananas, watermelon,

and cantaloupe.

For lunch, he served stir-fried pasta, sautéed vegetables with Italian bake chicken. Yuuuuuuuuummmmy; was I proud of him.

Food was completed, now for the cakes. They only had 4 hours to pull this off. You would think that 4 hours was a lot, but trust me it wasn't. But we had a great support team back home, who motivated us and was there every step of the way.

  We are one people and together we will aspire

As the time elapsed, the cakes started to take their shapes, boy was I doing my happy dance. Creativity at it's best!  Rachael Peters and Kellon Maximay gave it 100%. 

     Rachael Peters cake

 

  Kellon Maximay's Cake

   He also got a helping hand from Chef Jenny.

I was impressed with the Final product. The audience was stunned, because there is no such thing as a cake decorating competition in Trinidad, so seeing a cake come to life was new and they loved it. They were amazed that the design was all cake and the details were edible. 

Rachael Peters cake reflected on the most well known elements of Trinidad's Carnival, Pretty Mass. It's interpretation of the spirit of the masqueraders who revel from sunrise to sunset.

Cake Flavor Mint Chocolate Chip.

Light mint pound cake infused with our very our Grenadian Chocolate Chips.

Kellon Maximay's Cake reflected on one of our main highlights of carnival...JAB JAB. JAB JAB is a traditional J'Ouvert Band. I have fond memories of being afraid of them as a child. They would cover themselves with ole' oil, carry chains and live snakes and wear a helmet made out of cow horns. It sounds scary, but once you put the ole oil on your skin you instantly become one of them. The vibes real nice.

Kellon's Cake

 

With his designed, he also incorporated our local Rum, and the many flavors we have to offer. He made a sponge cake with our local Coconut Rum.

We were very happy with the finished product. Kellon and Rachael were awarded certificates for participation.

This experience is one that will always be remembered. The lessons that were learnt and the obstacles that were faced: with determination any thing is possible.

I would like to thank Mr Brain Frontin and his team for giving us this opportunity to come to their beautiful island Trinidad.. Also, to the Grenada Distillers and the Cultural Foundation for their contributions. Thank you to the persons that supported us throughout this journey.

Grenada Cake Wars; where family and creativity comes together.