The winning cake, Kevin Stewart's Fabulous Pumpkin Fruitcake. Photos by Nashauna Drummond

One of the staples of a Jamaican Christmas menu, the fruitcake, made an appearance in varied forms at the offices of The Gleaner Company on Wednesday, December 17.

The creators of the beautiful table-toppers, the nine finalists in The Gleaner/Red Label Wine annual Christmas Cake Competition, came to Kingston to have the newspaper's Food section's selected judges weigh in on their recipes.

But only one would be named the winner and he was Kevin Stewart, the only male among the finalists. He won the judges over with his 'Fabulous Pumpkin Fruitcake'.

"Initially, we were sceptical about the pumpkin and the fruit, but we were pleasantly surprised," said chief judge Safiya Burton from Pastry Passions.

Shed tears

Overcome with joy, Stewart shed tears and expressed thanks to God, lecturers, Winston Piper, Michael Edwards; his friends, Karen Vows and Karen Dunkley and the University of Technology (UTech) family.

"I wanted to do a cassava cake, but it would take too long so I decided to do pumpkin instead," said Stewart who is a lab assistant at the bakery at UTech.

Third-place winner, Black Knight Christmas by Claudette Morgan.

Second-place winner, Paula Sterling's cake.

Second- and third-place winners were Paula Sterling and Claudette Morgan, respectively. Sterling, an operations manager at a fish farm, said she had never marketed her baking; she did it for family and friends who recommended her work.

"I decided to venture out and see if it's as good as people say," Stewart said.

Claudette Morgan, who is a chef, said her recipe was an original and she could always be depended upon to do the cooking when she was growing up. Morgan hopes to continue mastering her craft by furthering her studies and experience overseas.

The other contestants all shared a passion for baking. While the professional touch was obvious, the generations-old recipes were common among the group, with many saying they began honing their skills at their mother or grandmother's apron strings.

Was curious

Veronica Royes, 78, a retired science teacher, entered out of curiosity and revealed that she had been baking since she was a child.

"I assisted as a child when we had to use a wooden spoon to rub the butter and the sugar. Now it's an electric mixer and it's done in a flash," Royes said. She entered using her grandmother's recipe.

Another contestant, Sue-Ann Montague, co-owner/executive chef at Sha Su's Catering service has made food her profession, but baking is her passion. Her company has perfected a line of cookies: island coconut; apple crumble; amaretto cheesecake; rum and raisin; chocolate chip and oatmeal and raisin.

Last year's winner, Claudette Franscique, who caters from home, said her family encouraged her to enter again this year and she was up for the challenge.

Determination

Sophia Campbell, 32 and nine months pregnant, was determined. A human resource practitioner, she fell into baking relatively late in life, when she got a bite of a friend's carrot cake. She loved it so much she kept asking her to bake it again but she never got around to it, so Campbell took the recipe and made it herself. That's where her love began. Now her entire family likes to get involved. "My two-year-old son, Nathan, likes to hold the mixer," said Campbell, adding that her husband ensures the quality.

Ann-Marie Barrett, a primary school teacher, said she had always been an observer of the competition but this year, when a friend showed no interest in the contest, she decided to give it a try.

"It's one of my favourite pastimes," said Barrett. Her favourite desserts to make are fruit cake, carrot cake and bread pudding.

The first-prize winner received $30,000, the second-prize winner took home $20,000 and the third-prize winner got $10,000. The top three participants received baskets of Wray and Nephew products. All the contestants received certificates of participation, along with gifts from the The Gleaner Company and Wray and Nephew. And, all finalists were given a dozen eggs, courtesy of The Jamaica Egg Farmers Association (JEFA), for their recipes. The JEFA sponsored October's Egg Month contest.

The other judges on the panel were Marilyn Bennett and Romaro Samuels from J. Wray and Nephew, celebrity judge Zahra Burton and Barbara Ellington, Lifestyle Editor.

Fresh eggs, courtesy of Jamaica Egg Farmers Association. - Aston Spaulding photo