Talented apprentice helps Busselton bakery to victory

A Busselton bakery is celebrating some big wins this week, returning home from the prestigious Perth Royal Bread & Pastry Awards with a swag of accolades.

The awards form part of the Perth Royal Food Awards organised by the Royal Agricultural Society of WA (RASWA) and recognise exceptional producers from across WA, showcasing the quality and diversity of WA’s bread and pastry industry.

Seven experts evaluated more than 160 entries from 19 producers, including Baked Busselton, recognised with three major gongs.

The Queen Street Bakery, owned and operated by husband and wife team Chris and Candice Barton, took home Most Successful Pastry Exhibitor, Champion Pastry Exhibit, and Champion Cake.

Even more impressive is the fact two of those awards came at the hands of Baked Busselton’s apprentice baker, Eltiah.

“Eltiah is a young apprentice who started working for us as a shop assistant when she was 15,” Head Pastry Chef and Co-owner Chris Barton told the Mail.

“She saw what our pastry chefs were doing and soon asked if she could join the team as an apprentice.

“She is an amazingly hard worker and has plenty of talent in the pastry area.

“She is a gem, we could not ask for a better one.

“She has passion skill and work ethic… she deserves all the awards.”

For her part, Eltiah said she was “pretty happy about it”, but Chris said while he was sure she felt some pride, nothing matched that of her proud mum.

The judging panel assessed each entry in the awards process for criteria such as taste, texture, aroma, and overall quality.

Chris said the gold medal performance demonstrated the Baked Busselton team’s attention to detail and high standards.

“I am very proud of the team, it feels great to get the recognition that what we do really is of high quality,” he said.

“You do your best but when you’re awarded like this it shows that we are on the right track. It’s just awesome to know that the product we provide is of the highest quality.”