Over 300 cakes were baked in the Craigard Tearoom bakers challenge.

Proprietor of the Tearoom and masterbaker Melanie Andrews set local professional bakers the challenge of producing equally delicious cakes without adding any sugar.

Bakers from the area who won Melanie’s Scottish Baking Awards accepted the challenge along with Knockderry House’ pastry chef and Helensburgh’s own chocolatier CocoMo on Sunday, April 24.

Each baker had a remit to bring 36 pieces of cake and Melanie herself baked over 150 pieces, totalling over 300 cakes which were eaten by customers in under 3 hours.

By advertising locally Melanie found that there was a massive demand for diabetics who love cake but couldn’t eat it because of the sugar. Melanie set the challenge to prove that either you could or couldn’t make delicious baking without using sugar.

The bakers rose to the challenge and the public enjoyed tasting the selection of treats on offer, while the Scottish band, Reely Jiggered kept them entertained.

Melanie said: “It was a resounding success, all the cakes were demolished, there was nothing left by 3pm and the event was supposed to finish at 4pm.

“The feedback was astonishing, that could bake a cake with no sugar in the first place and that it was equally as good if not better than the sugar alternative.

“The bakers more than exceeded my expectations and proved that refined and unrefined sugars are not needed for great looking and tasting cakes.”

A few hundred people went through the Tearoom doors to cast their vote on the best tasting sugar free cake. According to social media alone the orange and cardamom cake and the French cream and strawberry sponge were hits but given that all the cakes went, it proves that they were all equally as popular.

Melanie intends on hosting a quarterly event and said the next one will be chocolate followed by gluten free and then fat free.