 YUMMY RUMMY
published: Thursday, December 4, 2003
By Nordia Henry, Staff Reporter
Jamaica Gleaner
It was a dog fight to the end. But after two days of tasting, after the potency of five head-spinning rum cakes, after all the giggling and contemplation with each bite by our panel of rum-cake loving judges, Sharon Lindo squeaked through to the top.
With less than one and a half points between her and the third place finisher, the light, buttery texture and wicked, but not overwhelming rum flavour of Lindo's cake won the hearts of the judges.
The winning cake, the first up for tasting last week Tuesday morning, got 40 out of 50 points from the judges who were resolute in their determination to find the 'wickedest' rum cake.
It was an almost dead heat for second and third place with a slender point separating Velia Espeut's crunchy cake from the commercially available Buccaneer cake made by Honey Bun. Not far behind were Rochelle Laing, whose cake had a pudding-like texture, and LaToya Panton's Tropical Island Rum Cake.
THE FINALISTS
1. Sharon Lindo, of St. Andrew, who bakes at home and sells her cakes to individuals and businesses.
2. LaToya Panton, assistant villa manager.
3. Rochelle Laing, St. Catherine, who works at Island Grill and sells her cake on the side
4. Honey Bun, manufacturers of Buccaneer Rum Cake and snack products, East Street, Kingston.
5. Velia Espeut, Clarendon, former food and nutrition teacher of Holy Trinity High School.
Two others dropped out at the last minute, one because of ill health and the other due to a busy schedule.
THE JUDGES
Jennes Anderson, Klao Bell, Leonardo Blair, Nashauna Drummond, Nordia Henry and Claude Mills.
THE CRITERIA
Cakes were given equal marks (from 1 to 10 with 10 being the highest) for appearance, Texture, Taste/Flavour, Rum Flavour and the (unexplained) WICKED factor i.e. yesss, this is baaad.
SHARON LINDO
It's like déja vu all over again. Sharon Lindo, yep the woman who took the crown in our Great Chocolate Cake Hunt last year is again the champ.
Lindo says she learned about the rum cake competition in the same way she found out about last year's contest.
SHARON LINDO SAYS: One of my friends saw the challenge in the Gleaner's Food section on Thursday, November 20, and insisted that I enter but I told her I didn't have the time. However, she wouldn't take no for an answer and threatened to steal somebody's cake when I bake it and send it in to represent me.
When I saw how much faith they had in me and how badly they wanted me to do it I decided to enter. For this cake, which I call 'Tumble Down Rum Cake', I have got many reorders and so I think that justifies my re-entering.
When I bake I start out with a base recipe. For this rum cake a friend gave me the recipe but I played with it a little and so the texture is very different. I have a faithful group of friends who consider themselves my taste testers.
It took me one hour to make the cake. The ingredients have got more costly, especially the rum, sugar and walnuts prices have increased. Depending on what you are putting in it can cost a person under $1,000 to get the ingredients. The texture is moist but not liquid and it's naturally that way because of the butter, sugar and Appleton rum that I used.
When people see the hole in my cake, they wonder if it has fallen in but when they taste it they realise who or what is tumbling down. Many of the requests that I've got for this cake comes from men, those who play dominoes and cards.
I make other cakes like cheese, chocolate, excellent carrot and special cherry berry cake.
Lindo adds that as the mother of three she also likes to make kid-friendly foods because "I like creating and doing things with my hands. For example, I will give my children okra and they don't realise it because it's in a batter and it's nice and crisp."
VELIA ESPEUT
Neither rain nor lack of taxis could stop Velia Espeut from bringing in her cake last Wednesday afternoon.
A resident of Palmers Cross (10 to 15 minutes outside of May Pen), Clarendon, Espeut spent two hours trying to make it to The Gleaner's offices on time.
First, it took about 20 minutes to get a taxi into May Pen. Then, "While waiting for a taxi down came the rain. When one finally came the driver said, 'You have a lovely smile'. All this time the aroma of the rum cake was tickling my nostrils and I wanted to just open the box and bite into the cake but somehow I managed to control myself," explains Espeut, a Trinidadian native married to Peter Espeut.
VELIA ESPEUT SAYS: I love cooking. I love to modify recipes. When people eat my food they go back to the pot for more. I believe that however good a cook you are you have to know how people will respond to your cooking which should be tasty and attractive with the use of local ingredients.
I started cooking when I was 13 years old. My grandmother was a very good cook, she would call me and say, 'Ann, come and look at how I'm preparing this. She tested me to see how well I learned plus I did food and nutrition class at school. I also taught food and nutrition at Holy Trinity High School and at present I'm trying to develop a programme in customer service relations to gain competitive edge in the hospitality industry.
Two weeks ago while reading the Food section I came upon the challenge and decided to enter for the fun of it. I e-mailed Lisa, my sister, and some friends to ask what they think and my sister replied, 'Mi a wet up di desk' (meaning that her mouth was already watering) while Ingrid my Jamaican friend said, 'Where's my slice?'
It took me one-and-a-half hours to bake my 'Sweethan's Rum Cake' plus I put a little extra for the competition. In order to get the texture, colour and taste right I mixed the alcohol, cherry and brandy. I used raw fruits, added a little passion fruit with a mixture of Trinidadian and Jamaican rum. Then I used cherry and blackberry to drizzle on the cake and blended the rum with Red Label wine.
When I got to The Gleaner I felt happy that the judges were still there and willing to have a taste of my fantastic cake.
HONEY BUN: BEST TEXTURE
Michelle Chong was 10 when she got her first cookbook which helped to hone her skills in the kitchen.
In 1982 Chong and her husband Herbert bought Honey Bun on East Street in downtown Kingston. For the Buccaneer Jamaican line of cakes and snack products she has handpicked a few persons because Chong says she believes expense should not be spared in developing quality products.
It takes nine hours to make 250 cakes and the texture comes from the natural ingredients used like the sugar, and buttery rum sauce.
She entered the Rum Cake Challenge after her husband saw the promotion in the Food section and suggested that they enter. Honey Bun, he believes, makes the best Jamaican rum cake complemented with one of the most appealing packaging.
Chong attended York University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, where she did a degree in Psychology:
"At first I wondered how I would use psychology in baking but now I realise that it really helps with employees because the company is not me, it's everybody. When everyone is not making their imput positively then you are not going to get the right end product."
ROCHELLE LAING
The hint of rum in Laing's cake has a definite kick to it.
It hits your taste buds, leaving a slight 'stinging' effect on the tongue that stream down the throat.
ROCHELLE LAING SAYS: I saw the promo and a friend encouraged me to enter. I decided to do it although I was tight on time.
Laing, who started baking back in her high school days, was also a finalist in our Great Chocolate Cake Hunt competition last year. She left school in 1991, but notes that she knew what she wanted to do even back then. She studied catering at the University of Technology (UTech) and realised that pastry making was her calling. She subsequently worked for a year in the pastry shop of Couples Ocho Rios and is at present working at Island Grill.
Outside of that she makes and sells a range of cakes and pastries.
LATOYA PANTON: BEST APPEARANCE
When the judges first opened the box with Panton's cake, an immediate wow went up in the air. Decorated with orange and purple flowers in the centre, and sprinkled with powdery white sugar a powerful and pleasing aroma of rum also wafted from the box. The judges were eager to dig in.
Panton, a 26-year-old mother of a two-year-old daughter, had to resort to sending her cake by couriers, because her busy schedule did not allow her to bring it in herself.
LATOYA PANTON SAYS: I have been cooking ever since I can remember. My mom always made me help her in the kitchen and I did, among other subjects, food and nutrition at St. Jago High and then went on to do a diploma in Institutional and Catering Management at the University of Technology (UTech).
It cost me about $275 to get the ingredients for the cake and 40 minutes to bake it from start to finish. My cake is from a cake mix combined with butter, sugar and glazed pudding mix. When I'm baking I combine different recipes and work them. For this particular rum cake, I got the recipe on the Internet and modified it but entered the competition because I knew my cake is good and I wanted to see how good it was compared to others.
Panton, who worked in catering at Walt Disney in Florida for a year, came home and has been doing her own thing since. At present, she is assisting with the management of two Villas, one in Tryall, Hanover, the other in Silver Sands, Trelawny.
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