Wrexham Museum’s Courtyard Cafe team are celebrating after winning top spot at the North East Wales Year of Discovery Dessert Challenge 2019!
The Museum’s winning entry, simply called ‘Heaven on Earth’, is a dreamy combination of chocolate cake, berries and espresso ice cream.
It was voted the winner by a panel of judges at a live ‘bake-off’ style final, held yesterday at the Celstryn Restaurant on Coleg Cambria’s Deeside campus.
A celebration of local food
The North East Wales Year of Discovery Food Challenge is all about celebrating and raising awareness of the amazing food scene we have in our local area.
19 eateries from across North Wales took part altogether in a range of food categories.
The finalists in each category were shortlisted by a team of mystery shoppers who were given the task of tasting and scoring the dishes.
Wrexham Museum’s Courtyard Cafe pipped their fellow finalists, Strawberry Fields Cafe at Bellis Brothers (in Holt), to the top spot.
The award was presented by Dafydd Elis-Thomas AM, the deputy minister for culture, sport and tourism.
‘Over the moon’
Karen Harris, part of the Museum’s Courtyard Cafe team, said: “We’re absolutely over the moon to have won! It’s a real honour to have come top of a list that included some of the top cafes and restaurants in North Wales.
“Our entry was a real celebration of local food in North Wales, something we’re very proud of showcasing at the Museum Courtyard Cafe. We used a range of local food suppliers to create the dessert, including Eat My Flowers, Celtic Honey Smith, Chilly Cow Ice Cream, Aballu Artisan Chocolatier and Mrs Picklepot. It’s great to see that this has been recognized.”
Lead Member for People – Communities, Partnerships Public Protection and Community Safety, Cllr Hugh Jones, said: “This award is fully deserved and I’m delighted that the hard work of the Museum’s Courtayrd Cafe team, Karen Harris, Paula Hanmer and Caroline Roberts has been recognised on such a prestigious stage.
“The Courtyard Cafe really has done wonders for showcasing local food suppliers, not only with the competition entry but with all their main dishes and the produce they sell.
“This award will only enhance their reputation further and I would encourage everyone to visit the Museum and Cafe and try some of the very excellent food they have on offer.”
If all this food talk has got your tastebuds going then you might want to pop to the museum and try ‘Heaven on Earth’ for yourself. It’s available now!
Main photo, left to right: “Jim Jones (North Wales Tourism), Karen Harris (Wrexham Museum), Dafydd Elis-Thomas AM, (Deputy minister for culture, sport and tourism), Paula Hanmer (Wrexham Museum), Grant Williams (Head Chef, The West Arms).
Photo credit: Ginger Pixie Photography