THE hunt is on for the world’s champion Welsh Cake maker.

Bakers are being invited to show off their culinary skills at the first Jones Crisps World Welsh Cake Championships in Llandudno.

The contest, on November 17, is being organised by Welsh-based Jones Crisps and is part of the Llandudno Christmas Fayre. The contest will be held at Trinity Church and is being run in partnership with Bodnant Food Centre Wales, Go North Wales, Llandudno Chamber of Trade and Merched y Wawr.

Registration has to be in by November 12. Entries, with a sample of four cakes, need to arrive at the church hall between 5pm to 7pm on November 16  while postal entries must land at Jones Crisps head office in Conwy’s Riverside Business Park by November 16. Each entry must be accompanied by a list of ingredients showing clearly what has been used to bake the Welsh Cakes.

Geraint Hughes of Jones Crisps said: “I love Welsh Cakes and I want to celebrate the very best that Wales has to offer.

“For me, it’s a real taste of Cymru and something that we should be proud about. It’s a simple snack made from butter, flour, sugar currants and eggs, though  it’s known by a variety of names in different areas of Cymru, such as Picau ar y Maen, Pice Bach, and Theisen Radell.

“Also, some cooks like to add extra spicing or ingredients to their recipes, so we’ve added an Alternative Flavour class, as well as the Traditional category. For example, recently in her BBC2 cookery show Nadiya Hussain, winner of the Great British Bake-off, added her twist to Welsh Cakes by adding fennel seeds and a blueberry coulis - though it did lead to some raised eyebrows here in Cymru.

“This competition is all about fun so we are expecting some wild and whacky tastes for the Alternative Flavour section - I’m sure the judges will be up to the task to sampling the entries, no matter how unusual.”

Last year, the World Bara Brith Championships attracted entries from Japan and Australia.

For more details on the Jones Crisps World Welsh Cake Championships visit www.madryn.co.uk or telephone 01758 701380