Sharma judges mince pie bake-off at Argyle Community Church Christmas Fayre

On Saturday 26th November, Reading West MP Alok Sharma, joined Argyle Community Church members and people from the local community at the Argyle Community Church Christmas Fayre. Alok, along with Reading Mayor Deborah Edwards, was also invited to judge ‘The Great Reading Mince Pie Bake-Off’ which was part of the fayre.

Susanne Courtney from Radio Berkshire, along with Santa, cut the tinsel to officially open the event, which had numerous stalls including Guide Dogs, Via Design, cakes, hoopla, craft and face-painting.

Baking rivalry was rife amongst the 26 entries to the Bake-Off! Each entry was required to submit five mince pies of regular size, made using home-made pastry and with the entrant’s choice of lid/decoration. Alok and Mayor Edwards marked the mince pies on appearance (out of 30 points), texture (out of 30 points), and flavour (out of 30 points) and could award up to 10 extra points for something special!

Alok said: “I was delighted to attend the Argyle Community Church Christmas Fayre and to help judge the Mince Pie Bake-Off. The 130 mince pies from the 26 entries looked fabulous all laid out! All the entries tasted really good but Scott Versace’s mince pies, which had a twist of chocolate in the mix, were a worthy winner.”

The top three positions were occupied by Scott Versace, Janet Riley and Joy Davis.

Lynne Colman, Community Development Worker at Argyle Community Church, said: “Our objective is to hold a great community event and secondly to raise money for charity. The two charities we are supporting this Christmas are Rahab (www.rahab.co.uk) and The Bible Society (www.biblesociety.org.uk). We still have items to sell, but so far we have raised over £600!”

Photo: Alok and Mayor Edwards with the winners of the Mince Pie Bake-Off