The birthday of Druskininkai is traditionally celebrated in the second half of June, and for the third year in a row it will be celebrated with not one, but with a whole bunch of cakes! They will be baked by the city’s cafes and restaurants as well as by all Lithuanian confectionery enthusiasts.
On the occasion of the birthday, a virtual competition of the Cake Tournament, which started a few years ago in Druskininkai, will be organized, where everyone who wants to share their love and passion for confectionery and Druskininkai resort is invited to participate.
The global pandemic has prompted more people to create
“As summer approaches and the birthday of my hometown approaches, both last year and this year, we have received countless of questions whether the Cake Tournament, which gathered confectionery enthusiasts two years ago, will take place. Last year, unfortunately, we had to skip Cake Tournament. This year, although opportunities are still limited by the pandemic, we will finally be able to arrange our beloved Cake Tournament. We can clearly feel how important and interesting the tournament is for the cake-baking community and the city, so we invite all confectionery enthusiasts – both professionals and amateurs – to participate in a cake competition and share their passion for cake-baking and love for Druskininkai, ”says the author of culinary books and creator of the blog “Seasonal Kitchen”, the initiator of the cake tournament – Renata Ničajienė.
“It’s hard to imagine a birthday without a cake – it’s an integral part of this special holiday. When we celebrated the 225th birthday of Druskininkai and donated 100 cakes to Lithuania, we saw that this initiative sparked an interest in a lot of people and had a lasting value. The theme of this year’s Cake Tournament is Druskininkai. I have no doubt that it will inspire many professionals and amateurs to create the most interesting recipes. I know that during the pandemic, those who like to bake used their time usefully and spent more of it on improving their knowledge and developing their skills. Those who were reluctant to start baking earlier, before the pandemic, now started attending virtual confectionery courses, creating and sharing their achievements on social networks. And now they will be able to demonstrate their abilities in the Druskininkai Cake Tournament,” said Ričardas Malinauskas, Mayor of Druskininkai.
Participants of the competition will be rewarded with prizes that are necessary and useful for confectionery purposes
According to Renata Ničajienė, who spent most of the pandemic in her native Druskininkai, the first tournament was never forgotten not only by the participants, residents of the resort but sponsors as well: “We appreciate and are glad that this year our idea was welcomed and supported once again by the city of Druskininkai. Our loyal friends agreed to become sponsors, who will award the participants with valuable prizes that will allow them to further nurture and strengthen confectionery skills.”. The main prize of the Cake Tournament competition was established by the home appliance manufacturer Bosch – the winners will receive a kitchen appliance that facilitates the baking of cakes. The gifts of other prizes, including the winner of the Facebook followers’ most loved prize, were established by Santa Maria, a producer of spices and world cuisine products, Malsena, one of the most advanced companies in the grain processing industry in Lithuania, and a manufacturer of pastries, decorations and desserts. Oetker and other sponsors of the competition.
The winners will be selected both by social media followers and judges of the competition
Contestants will have the opportunity to be evaluated by their friends, followers of social media on Facebook as well as judges of the competition. One of its members is Andrius Zubernis, the winner of the first Cake Tournament in 2019, for whom the victory in the tournament opened up many new opportunities. “I received a lot of attention – more orders, more customers. Restaurants of both Lithuania and Northern Ireland asked me to compile their menus and train their staff. After the tournament, I was also invited to participate in the famous “Great British Bake Off” TV show and other competitions, and I can confidently say, that participating in such TV shows, helps you free your creativity and it encourages you to improve.” says A. Zubernis.
The theme of this year’s Cake Tournament competition is Druskininkai. Cake enthusiasts are encouraged to reveal it in the most creative and interesting way: the appearance of the cake, the taste and / or the presentation of the cake. Participants are invited to submit to the competition organizers: a short presentation of the cake, explaining how their work reveals the theme; cake recipe: list of ingredients and production process; a brief description of the taste of the cake; two photos: a photo of the cake and a photo of the slice of the cake; a short video of up to 15 seconds showing the cake being cut. Vertical videos can also be filmed on a regular phone. It will help the competition judges evaluate the cut of the cake.
