Daintily decorated cakes melt hearts this Christmas

The gift of giving a daintily decorated Christmas cake to spread Christmas cheer was the ingenious idea shared by Meals on Wheels and the Narrabri Cake Decorators Association 15 years ago.

This year, 12 decorators gathered in the Narrabri Craft Shop, under the overseeing eye of the talented Janice Smith to decorate 44 cakes which will be distributed by Meals on Wheels committee members, the week leading up to Christmas.

According to Donna MacMillan, service coordinator for Narrabri Meals on Wheels, the 15-year collaboration started when late founding member of the NDCA Gwen Lawty was volunteering for the organisation and wanted to give more back to the cause she loved so much.

The gifting of the little cakes, perfectly described by Mrs Smith as ‘individually decorated works of edible art’, has become a cherished tradition, much appreciated by Meals on Wheels recipients and beloved by the participating decorators.

“Every year I have 50 cakes up in my office and I just go along and admire them all,” said Mrs MacMillan.

“I had one client who was with Meals on Wheels for 15 years and she kept all her cakes in a display cabinet.

“She wouldn’t allow anybody to eat them, and you could tell which were the oldest because they had started to collapse.

“We want them to eat and enjoy the cakes, but we understand.”

Each year, the NDCA delivers 60 decorated fruit cakes to the Meals on Wheels cheerful Christmas cause, with volunteers from Baan Baa and Boggabri even dedicating their time and sending cakes in.

“Quite often I get committees to do this as a separate delivery and they really love to be able to do it because the joy clients express when they see it is lovely, and the gratitude, and that an extra thought comes to them each year,” said Mrs MacMillan.

“My gratitude to Janice and the ladies who have continued to support us in this way, without them, Christmas would be a much sadder time for our clients.”

Janice Smith is renowned as a well-known cake decorator in Narrabri.

An official judge for the decorated cake section at the Royal Agricultural Society, she travels every 12 months to judge at the Sydney Royal Easter Show and has also taught the art through TAFE and Community College classes.

“I oversee. Many of these decorators here today have been taught by me.

“I love it, I love that I’ve taught them and then we end up with someone like Robyn Pattison who is world-class,” said Mrs Smith.

“When I go to the Royal Easter Show I think, my girls are just as talented.

“People love that we’re still doing it, I’ll send photos down to a Cake Decorators website in Sydney, and when they see it, they are overwhelmed at what we can produce out here.”

Because of her dedication to the craft, the Narrabri Show is also one of the only regional shows that still has a cake decorating section.

“I used to judge them all over, but they stopped having it, and now we’re the only ones that have one, which we will while I’m still here,” said Mrs Smith.

Alongside Mrs Lawty, Dawn Armstrong was also a founding member of the NDCA 34 years ago and admires the ongoing commitment that members have made to the lovely cause.

“We all enjoy what we do, the commitment, we just enjoy the friendship, making our cakes, bringing them in, and decorating them together,” said Mrs Armstrong.

“We get a very good reception, some of the recipients don’t want to eat their cakes because they don’t want to cut them.”

Among the volunteering decorators on the day are the children who attend Mrs Smith’s workshops and put in exhibits at the Narrabri Show, and Narrabri Show champion Robyn Pattison, who recently became an international cake decorator, to the pride of NDCA members.

The current youngest member of the NDCA is Holly Groth, at 26-years-old, leading the new generation of passionate creators.

Robyn Pattison started as a cake decorator nearly 20 years ago, first attending classes with Mrs Smith.

After taking online courses by baker Natalie Porter in England, she had the opportunity to send her Narrabri Show-winning stock flowers to display in a beautiful flower cart at the leading Cake International Show in Birmingham, UK.

“It’s one of the highlights of the year to be able to decorate and hand back the cakes in the community, especially for anyone who can’t get around and do their own thing, it’s nice to be able to give back,” said Mrs Pattison.

As well as many thanks to Janice for her wonderful tutelage and overseeing the annual Meals on Wheels cake decorating day, the NDCA would also like to acknowledge long-standing treasurer Kathy Panton, who was unfortunately unable to attend but well thought of.