Turtle power is icing on the cake as Wolverhampton baker wins gold
Tasty turtle power has seen a Wolverhampton mother bake her way to a prestigious culinary gong.
Clare Banks, from the East Park area of the city, recently won gold at the Cake International contest at the NEC in Birmingham, a flagship competition which attracts top bakers from across the globe.
The mother-of-two created a turtle cake, which she named H, and beat 80 rivals to gobble up the top prize.
After going close in her previous three attempts at the annual contest, she was overjoyed to get her just desserts.
Clare, aged 34, said: "I've been trying to win it for four years. I got bronze the first year, silver in the next two and then gold this year so I'm delighted to get the recognition.
"It took me about 20 hours to make, with airbrushing it and waiting for it to dry."
She added: "The results were out on my Granddad's birthday so I really wanted to win it for him.
"I wanted to create a turtle because we went on a family holiday to Turkey this year where we saw them, and my son loves them.
"And I called him H after my Grandad, Harry Riley, who's one of my favourite people."
After taking up baking as a hobby, Clare now runs her professional cake making service from home, called Sugar Dreams, mainly catering for friends and family.
She said: "I've always loved cooking, and I once tried to make a Morris Minor cake for my dad's birthday.
"I was shocked at the amount of feedback I had with people telling me how good it was, and I've just gone on from there really."
And what do her children Kelsey, aged 16, and Jack, aged 12, think of their mother's tasty talent?
"They love it," she said, "because when it comes to their birthdays it gives me an excuse to make something extravagant, then their friends always want one as well."
Now H is enjoying a happy retirement, taking pride of place in the family living room, and Clare can't bear to allow anyone to eat him.
She joked: "No-one's putting a knife to him!
"He's just sitting there at home, my entry from last year's competition lasted about eight months before it started sinking!"
