Help me win Bake Off!

[HighlighterPenPot]

Every year my office has a Bake Off competition for charity- everyone bakes, eats and then votes (blind) on what they like best.

For the last three years I have come second every time 😂

What sort of thing should I make to up my chances? What would you like to eat in an office bake off?

@SpidermanHat those wagon wheel bars look great and perfect to make this week over half term.

Good call. I don't much like chocolate cake but I've had this twice now and it's delicious.

I made a sticky ginger cake (bbc good food recipe) on Saturday, one of the nicest cakes ever, you could bake this in a Bundt tin and get creative with the icing and add autumnal decorations

This:

https://ottolenghi.co.uk/recipes/clementine-almond-syrup-cake

Someone brought it into work, it was declared the best cake any of us had ever eaten. Plus it's a bit different from the usual victoria sponge/carrot cake/chocolate cake. I've made it lots of times, always to a great reception.

It's easy to make, looks great, and is just delicious.

simple but good is Brownie Surprise ideal for parties or for times you have to supply cakes like school fayres etc

make an ordinary Chocolate brownie in a tin more chocolate the better. let it cool until just touchable and sprinkle over lots of small marshmallows. when cool melt equal parts of peanut butter and a good chocolate and pour over the brownie / marshmallow base heavenly

Japanese cheesecake. Light and fluffy. Like eating a cloud. Heavenly.

www.redonline.co.uk/food/recipes/a501701/the-hummingbird-bakery-salted-caramel-cupcakes/
These won our office bake-off. They were a bit sickly for me but very popular with everyone else. The key is something which looks and tastes good, usually it is a choice between one or the other.

Thank you all for some great baking ideas!

What a fantastic thread!

Hope one of these delicious-sounding recipes wins it for you OP!

Apple pie cake worked for me. Basic Vicky sponge or vanilla cake with an apple pie filling surrounded by vanilla buttercream (or add birds custard power to it as well for a different custardy taste). Lovely flavours and really moist.

@Sourisblanche my colleague just won our office bake off with that cake. And it is flipping amazing!! I’d definitely go with the Nigella Chocolate Guinness!

Try cupcakes with different flavours. Biscoff is popular or Oreo. You can do an Oreo buttercream fairly easy and it's tasty. Brownies or blondies that you can decorate up the game rather than being plain. Blondies are popular as well and you can use whatever flavours that you think your office would be partial to.

Our work one was won last year by an amazing dark chocolate and ginger cake. I wish I had the recipe!

Check out fitwafflekitchen on instagram as well, lots of simple recipes and so easy to make

This one is ace - delish and autumnal.

https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/iced-pumpkin-coffee-cake/
😋

At my old work, a lady keeps winning the bake off with her rocky road bars. They’ve got like a sour cherries inside and fluffy marshmallow. Technically not baking, but utterly delicious

I do a minty chocolate cake which my boys always request for their birthdays and it's always goes down a treat at work too. It's a devils food cake then I split it in two and put a layer of choc fudge icing in the middle then cover top and sides with choc fudge icing too, then mint matchmakers round the edge and mint aero bubbles to decorate the top. Smells amazingly minty when you open the cake box!

I can’t decorate anything… even basic icing always looks awful so I stick to avoiding decorating. I have won an office based contest with this recipe into which I added some bake stable sprinkles. They add a fabulous bright array of colours to anything and are way better than anything bought on the high street.

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/best-ever-chocolate-brownies-recipe

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B09F3N27H6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

These peanut butter chocolate brownies are amazing and also vegan. Made them for a work thing that wasn't a competition but everyone raved about them.

if you really want to win

croque-en-bouche
Japanese baked cheesecake
lemon meringue pie
Bakewell tart

are some of the options. tbf they should have a theme otherwise you end up comparing apples and oranges

Cakes with coffee, alcohol and nuts could mean a smaller voting pool, so I'd go for the Ottolenghi apple cake - sustainable, autumnal, delicious... maybe some popping candy for the top?

I've got nothing to add really, I'm a competent baker but don't have any really 'wow' recipes. Just following for the delicious cakey things!

I won a work competition with a triple lemon layer cake.
Three layers of Mary Berry's lemon drizzle recipe, with the bottom layer soaked in lemon syrup, topped by a middle layer with a mascarpone and lemon curd filling while the final layer had the MB crunchy lemon topping. Decorated with slices of candied lemon. (Whole Lemon slices poached in syrup then drained and dried. )
I also did well with a courgette and praline cake with a maple, dulce de leche and cream cheese frosting. No one guessed it had grated courgette in it.

There is a mary berry recipe online for a ginger and chocolate cake

These. They are just exquisite! Hummingbird "Oreos"....

https://marshasbakingaddiction.com/vanilla-filled-chocolate-cookies/