As part of National Apprenticeship Week 2026 we took part in the Great Apprentice Bake-Off. The event was organised by the North East Apprenticeship Ambassador Network (NEAAN) and the British Army and was held at Grantham Barracks in Lincolnshire in their kitchens.
We were up against two apprentices from Jet2 and they provided some very tough competition. As part of the competition, we were required to produce a bake that celebrated apprenticeships and also complete a technical baking challenge that was only revealed on the day.
Our celebration bake was a banoffee cake in the shape of an ‘A’ for apprentices. We chose this flavour because Elijah had recently brought some cupcakes to a company bake sale and everyone thought they were great!
The technical challenge was difficult as neither of us had attempted to make macarons before. We tried our best to get the recipe right.
The other team won the celebration cake round, but we won the technical challenge. At the time I wasn’t sure which way it would go, but we were really pleased to learn that we had been chosen as the overall winners.
Well done to the other team (it was a close one!) and thank you to everyone involved with organising the event. We had a great time, and it was definitely a different Monday to what we’re used to.