One thing we all look forward to is The Great British Bake Off. We get very excited at prospect of a new series. For us it has it all, humour, ingenuity, cake and of course Paul Hollywood with his twinkly eyes. 
Many of us have been avid bakers, some of us still are and look forward to baking club here at Timken. We have attempted some wonderful recipes but nothing quite as challenging as the contestants on the show.
This week Bake Off is back and to celebrate this auspicious occasion the team here put on their own Bake Off and we were asked to step into Paul and Pru’s shoes and judge the creations. 
I’ve never been asked to judge anything before, so I was a little nervous at the thought. When you hear judges stating that they have had a tough time deciding you think that they are being kind, but this judging game is hard. The cakes were amazing, who knew that there was so much talent within these four walls.
We were treated to an array of savoury pastries, decadent chocolate cakes, gooey cheesecakes and much more. We had to judge on appearance and taste, so we had to taste everything; it was a tough job, but we ploughed through.
The morning began with just us and the lifestyle girls, but the team here can sniff out a sweet treat from great distances and before long the room was awash with judges all voicing their opinions and going back for second helpings to double check their decisions.
 It really was almost impossible to choose a winner, but we finally agreed that the chocolate fruit and ginger cake made by Louise was the winner. It was a combination of flavours that not many of us had tried and it was delicious and moist, like a good cake should be. We couldn’t decide on a second place, so it was awarded jointly to Steph and Emma, Steph’s chocolate cake was beautifully designed and very moreish, and Emma’s delicate miniature Victoria sandwiches were so dainty and delicious.
I don’t envy Paul and Pru their tough job judging, week after week, but I am slightly envious of the vast amounts of cake they get to eat. Nice work of you can get it.