Cake competition offers an early taste of Christmas

You could call it a recipe for success.

The Irish Examiner Christmas cake baking competition attracted hundreds of entries from all over the country and yesterday an overall winner was chosen amid a festive coffee morning at the newspaper’s office on Lapp’s Quay in Cork.

As the UCC choir put the 12 finalists and their friends in Christmas mood with seasonal carols, the judges, Irish Examiner food writers Darina Allen, Joe McNamee, and Michelle Darmody tasted the final selection with the help of Pamela Black from Ballymaloe Cookery School.