Organising a school bake off

[justturned40]

Hi, I am not sure I am in the right section but didn't know where else to post this.
I had the mad idea to hold a 'Bake Off' at our school fair this summer and am now trying to organise it.... has anyone ever organised one of these?

We have the marquee, we are thinking of having an Adults' and Children's sections, and also Sweet and Savoury. Then get the Head Teacher and other teachers to taste and choose winners. We will have prizes for the winners and something small for everyone else (don't want crying children, do we!). What I can't decide is the categories - just keep it simple, or have different categories e.g. large cakes, cupcakes, biscuits... and how much to charge for entry etc.
Afterwards we'll sell the cakes.
Nothing can go wrong surely?......

The tv bakeoff had different sections but they ran over a number of weeks so how much time are you able to dedicate if you are intending to have different sections? Are you providing ingredients or are the contestants going to supply there own?

I think I'd do a section for children on decorating already baked cupcakes then all ages could take part and health and safety would be taken care of.

For the adults I would have three categories, scones, traybakes and a showstopper section.

I have no experience though so maybe someone else who has done this sort of event will be more helpful.

You can google 'how to organize a school bake-off' and you will get lots of hits on Ehow.com etc plus you might find info on County Shows like the one Kirsty Allsop entered when she did scones with damson Jam - was that Devon? The WI even sell a guide called 'On with the Show' for judges and exhibitors. The WI have strict marking criteria - so many marks for presentation, so many for taste etc and you could lose marks if you put strawberry jam inside a Victoria Sandwich as it should always be raspberry. You probably don't want to be that prescriptive but it could help the lucky judges to have a template from which to work.
At my local summer fair, the cakes are put on a paper plate with a number written underneath which relates to the baker so the judges have no idea who made what. Beware of professionals entering - maybe you need to specify 'parents,staff or children of school only' may enter.
For the kids, you might want to do KS1 and KS2 as there is a huge ability difference between a Y2 and Y6.